Ryder’s Random Rants

joblessness. for some it’s bliss. for me, well, it was probably bliss the first couple weeks. but after my digital art studies at PCCI, i was anxiously waiting for the phone to ring or for my cell to receive that magical message to take a test, interview, or whatnot. then when i got into this company called Femar Integrated, i came in with mixed feelings. i really wanted to be in the creatives of an advertising agency conceptualizing and creating ads, more on the art side of things. but since our company mainly does Final Art for McCann, HK, and JWT and is upstarting a design wing called Cross+Media, that focused more on below-the-line efforts and print media, i felt i was still heading in the right direction but not in the exact environment i wanted to be in. my first couple of weeks here at Femar were pretty slow as i got accustomed to the place and the people. at first i was helping out all over the place, from marketing strategy, copywriting, and design… but i quickly realized graphic design was what i really want to do. i was so impressed by the skills our all our artists… i quickly grew addicted to opening our works for coca-cola, smb, mentos, and designs for our own clients and analyzing how these guys did their little digital tricks. i was so humbled, and i am motivated to work and learn hard to be an inch within the same level as these guys. i had to handle programs that were new to me, like freehand mx, and do designs on the fly with a short deadline. i learned for the first time the printing process, color separation, masking… and other boring stuff like this if you’re not into graphic art, but very much eye-opening to me. everyone is always willing to help you out, there’s no selfishness here whatsoever. now, after a month, i can safely say that this place feels like home away from home. even better was our overnight x-mas party at leisure farms batangas! it was as if i had been with the company for 3 years, not 3 weeks. masaya talaga yung bonding… all the games, crazy performances, exchange gifts, booze and partying all throughout the night, it was all a total blast and i felt i knew everyone already. i really have to mention our high-production value performances that included cross-dressing, fire torches, drums, and pompoms. oh, and who could forget the whole company dancing Pinoy Ako during the bar/disco portion of the evening? iba talga ang bonding ng x-mas party kapag whole day out-of-town and overnight.

    i’d just like to thank these peeps for making me, and all my fellow newbies feel at home at FEMAR:

patrick - for taking us under his wing and believing in us
jowy - for guiding us and teaching us the fun after work
gilson - for making us laugh with his kikomatsing impersonation and big brother dance
rachel - for being super nice and a beam of sunshine that brightens up everyday… oh, and for getting me my exchange gift! haha tnx uli=)
mj - for being her sassy self and funny haha
jenny m - for being uber nice and always cool under pressure
pinky - for being witty and expanding my vocabulary… she’s a walking thesaurus=)
mannette - for encouraging me to join the company in the first place!
mark - for sharing his knowledge and ‘explosives’ with us hehe
dio - for never getting ‘pikon’ when he’s teased and teaching us adobe tricks
cass and paul - for print prod knowledge and ka-chill pag y-break
pearl - for always riding my jokes and helping tease a ‘certain’ someone haha
greg - for being crazy and screaming like a girl when he gets scared
willy - for taking a broken bone and cut forehead and STILL dancing their team’s cheer at the x-mas luau
jeraisy - for blessing us all with his godly flash skills
sir jun - for being one of the boys and a cool cat
sir arnel - for being beyonce at our presentation=)
raffy - for pouring his drunken heart out and keeping our IT in check
mang gil and ric - for breaking my back in musical newspaper dance
mam rose - for being our ever-so wise and thoughtful matriarch
mam nats and nina - for keeping everything in order at the office!
everyone at JWT, HK, accounting, management, and the boss DLR and anyone i may have left out, for welcoming me, abstract, paulo, mark, solo, glenn, tom, and jennie with open arms.

    i am sure i’m going to add many more nice things to say about these guys and this company in the near future, so looking forward to more good times, stressful work days, and great friendship. oh, one last thing… i love that butterfly logo.

if you don’t care about pro-wrestling, whether u hate it being sports-entertainment and not a ‘real’ sport or just don’t give a crap, stop reading this blog entry right now. if you care about losing someone u care about even if its just as a fan, read on. this entry is about the loss of one the most talented performers in wrestling history. this sunday morning, at around 2am, i was shocked to find out from the web that Eddie Guerrero had just passed away at the age of 38 in his hotel room. i couldn’t believe, it just couldn’t be true. i almost cried when i saw the confirmation from the wwe.com website. i am not ashamed to proclaim i am a fan of pro-wrestling, and eddie was my favorite in-ring performer becaused he was an increadible wrestler with one of the most entertaining personalities in the sport. his motto of ‘lying, cheating, and stealing’ to win was classic; it didn’t matter if he was a face or a heel, the fans loved him nonetheless. he was blessed with a great family of wrestlers dating back to his father Gory, brothers Mando and Chavo Sr., and nephew Chavo Jr. he was one of the rare superstars who’s tremendous charisma is matched with in ring ability: he was a technitian, a luchadore, and had awesome mic skills. he had one of the most inspiring redemption stories not only in wrestling but in life. he battled numerous addictions and inner demons such as alchohol, painkillers, and other substance abuses, cleaned himself up, put his life back together and went on to win the WWE Championship in one of my favorite moments in wrestling history, hand in hand with his moment with Chris Benoit as they were both world champs in Wrestlemania XX. no one ever thought he would get to the top and be the world champ, especially with all his demons, but he did it, and is an inspiration to anyone going through their own troubles and trying to succeed. eddie proved you can achieve redemption if you work hard and straighten yourself out. He just celebrated his 4th year of sobriety, was on the verge of becoming a top main event champion again, when all of a sudden, his life was taken away. now we’ll never know if he would be champion, or see more classic matches with top superstars like Rey Mysterio, Dean malenko, and Benoit. millions of fans including myself will miss him dearly… but it doesn’t even compare to the grief eddie’s wife and 3 daughters are experiencing for the loss of a great husband and father. there is only one eddie guerrero, and i will never forget him. life reminds us that you don’t know what you have until it’s gone, so make the most and appreciate things while they are still here… never take anything for granted. thanks for the wonderful memories eddie…

wow, i never thought i would give in to PBB fever but i finally gave in this week after 70 something days! haha. ok so here’s how it happened… i went to makati last wednesday to meet a balikbayan friend of me and junnis’. but it turns out junnis had some OT work at Lowe… somethin’ bout translating Argentenian spanish to english for the sake of some Axe ad. anyway, being the supportive and *ahem* patient boyfriend i am (haha), i decided to wait it out. too bad the only place i could hang out in this ad-agency was this small TV room with only local channels (can’t be spying on all the top secret ads and stuff). well, being the cable guy that i am, i was forced to entertain myself with Encandadia and Sugo… i was waiting for the effects but all i got was surreal dialogue and people i don’t care about (sorry for the fans out there, haha). anyhoo, i switched over to the ‘kapamilya’ network, and lo behold, Pinoy Big Brother was just starting. i never really watched an episode and didn’t care much, but u can’t deny it’s popularity (especially with our kasambahays). since there was nothing else good on tv, and one of my fav tv personalities toni gonzaga was hosting, i figured i’d give the show a shot. i slowly gained interest in these ‘housemates’ cuz’ it was real (or they’re really good actors), as opposed to the over-the-top characters in those fantaseryes. i slowly started to appreciate the quirkiness of these uh, contestants. uma’s flambouyant, gotta-be-gay but is he? personality is entertaining. say’s kulitness and chemistry with hearthrob sam. cass and her charity work. i really couldn’t connect with jason and nene though. oh, and the rule-breakin’ franzen who picks his nose in front of live tv and doesn’t care. gotta love that, haha. and if that wasn’t the end of it, i saw vhong (another entertaining guy), bayani, and the rest of the Yes Yes Show gang sing a rendition of ONL’s ‘Pinoy Ako’ but funnily changing it to ‘Penoy Ako’ (btw, ONL ripped off the song "Chandeliers" by The Care for their PBB flagship song… ironic for a song titled ‘pinoy ako’ but anyway…). it was then i had an epiphany… i was finally converted to ‘jologs’! haha, and proud of it hehe. well, after around 8 years since coming back to the Pinas, i’ve finally succumbed. anyway, all i can say is i’m hooked and can’t wait to find out what happens sa bahay ni kuya haha. see? sometimes if u break ur habits and what ur familiar with u might enjoy something unknown… haha. till’ next time… peace guys!=)

hooh boy, i have absolutely not written anything in this blog thingy! haha, well i had such an eventful day today, i really feel like rambling some thoughts…

first, i had a test at gma7 for a visualiser position. and boy, did i screw up! i was missing my transcript of records, sent out of the test room cuz i was wearing shorts, and the ENTIRE test was in filipino! holy crap, yes it was UPCAT all over again for me who, btw, is very tagalog-challenged, haha. at least i know i got good at the math and logic parts! anyway, lesson learned… until the next screw up. hahahaha.

secondly, i had a block dinner with my old SDL IMC
blockmates from UA&P. i really missed them and
the good ol’ college days where u see each other everyday. miko, bran, emily, tin, myra, tania, eds, judi, tiff, and mich were all there (even though a lot weren’t as well) and had a great time catching up with each other at masas and mccafe in greenbelt makati. i wonder when the day will come when the WHOLE group is complete, but i guess everyone’s got their own thing these days… anyway, i hope to see u guys again real soon!

thirdly, i went to a hale and cueshé concert at metro bar with junnis, my bro, and sis. sulit noh? two of the hottest up-and-coming bands in one gig! hale played first, and cueshé  second. i’ll be honest before the concert i was a ‘haler’ MORE talented vox and guitarist. i totally marked out for of u2’s ‘with or without you’, and aerosmith’s ‘don’t wanna as champ calls the fans, and for the first part i was, as hale did one of my fave songs ‘broken sonnet’ and a few classic coldplay covers ‘fix you’ and ‘yellow’. but when cueshé took the stage, i was blown away by their immense talent! as you know they have two vocalists, jay the boyband guy who’s got an average voice, and ruben the MUCH this band. ruben did PERFECT renditions miss a thing’ that was definately at par or better than the originals. oh, and that other less talented jay just sat back as insignificant stage fodder. haha, i guess im now an OFFICIALLY converted ‘cueshéan’ as the band calls their fans. can’t wait for bamboo this thursday!

***UPDATE: i’m slowing reverting to a ‘Haler’ again… i just love ‘Kung Wala Ka’. hehe

all in all, it was a pretty cool day that started off bad and ended pretty darn good. well, this blogging thing seems ok, so thanx to whomever went out of their way to read this. sorry for wasting your time, hahahaha! just kiddin’…. peace=)

ok, this is the first time i have EVER used this blog thing. let’s see if it’s really cool…