Cold and Heartless

Oh Freaks!

2007-03-29T07:11:39Z

Now scientists create a sheep that's 15% human
By CLAUDIA JOSEPH » Last updated at 15:53pm on 27th March 2007

Scientists have created the world's first human-sheep chimera - which has the body of a sheep and half-human organs.

The sheep have 15 per cent human cells and 85 per cent animal cells - and their evolution brings the prospect of animal organs being transplanted into humans one step closer.

Professor Esmail Zanjani, of the University of Nevada, has spent seven years and £5million perfecting the technique, which involves injecting adult human cells into a sheep's foetus.

He has already created a sheep liver which has a large proportion of human cells and eventually hopes to precisely match a sheep to a transplant patient, using their own stem cells to create their own flock of sheep.

The process would involve extracting stem cells from the donor's bone marrow and injecting them into the peritoneum of a sheep's foetus. When the lamb is born, two months later, it would have a liver, heart, lungs and brain that are partly human and available for transplant.

"We would take a couple of ounces of bone marrow cells from the patient,' said Prof Zanjani, whose work is highlighted in a Channel 4 programme tomorrow.

"We would isolate the stem cells from them, inject them into the peritoneum of these animals and then these cells would get distributed throughout the metabolic system into the circulatory system of all the organs in the body. The two ounces of stem cell or bone marrow cell we get would provide enough stem cells to do about ten foetuses. So you don't just have one organ for transplant purposes, you have many available in case the first one fails."

At present 7,168 patients are waiting for an organ transplant in Britain alone, and two thirds of them are expected to die before an organ becomes available.

Scientists at King's College, London, and the North East Stem Cell Institute in Newcastle have now applied to the HFEA, the Government's fertility watchdog, for permission to start work on the chimeras.

But the development is likely to revive criticisms about scientists playing God, with the possibility of silent viruses, which are harmless in animals, being introduced into the human race.

Dr Patrick Dixon, an international lecturer on biological trends, warned: "Many silent viruses could create a biological nightmare in humans. Mutant animal viruses are a real threat, as we have seen with HIV."

Animal rights activists fear that if the cells get mixed together, they could end up with cellular fusion, creating a hybrid which would have the features and characteristics of both man and sheep. But Prof Zanjani said: "Transplanting the cells into foetal sheep at this early stage does not result in fusion at all."

Congratulations, Congratulations, Congratulations!

2007-03-24T12:22:27Z

Just a little bit more and this semester will be finally over…over! It does get tougher each and every semester, and true enough, this has been the toughest.

Since I took a blog rest, I’d like to congratulate a number of people.

To this year’s thesis batch, congratulations! You all did great and even greater with the thought that they were individual thesis projects. Now, that the college is sending you off, do us all proud.

Also, I’d like to congratulate the students of Arch 197- Sustainable Design for all the brilliant and well-done plates. It was great seeing next-level design projects and I think many had remarkable designs. I wish I brought my camera, but well. Looking at the designs, I can say we are all ready for Thesis, yey!

A whole lot more of congratulations to my sister for surviving grade school.

And congratulations to me for this really nice picture. I’m with my most recent design project for Arch 197- Building Science.

Oh, btw, Devil’s Dictionary defines “congratulation” as civility of envy. Hehe. But hey, I mean all the above felicitations in the most genuine sense.

I am tired

2007-02-27T13:39:10Z

There is this something great that I am holding to. A personal choice I have been caging myself in for years. But in moments of failures and disappointments, it feels like its the end of the world. Its like tripping a small step when you see yourself crashing down the cliff. I know I can do anything. I just fear the moment when I think I had enough.

I'm in a phase right now of losing interest in whatever I'm doing. I feel tired. Not the accomplished-tiredness I usually get. I'm tired because I'm tired. And I need something to make me move on.

...Why is it so fucking hard for me to just shrug it off?! Why?!

The self-destruct button

2007-02-21T14:29:19Z

...So why do I keep hitting myself with a hammer?
Because it feels so good when I stop.

Of a Regret and a Crash Course Chinese 101

2007-02-09T16:29:47Z

I came home with a boulder of regret. It was supposed to happen today. I told myself that the time has come today. But no!!! *toinks And as Sir Bronne puts it, I just need some kick in the balls. Why can't things be easier? Or am I just making things too complicated!?

The brief talk with Sir Bronne really made up for it. Im glad he listened and did his part as a mentor. I just can't believe I told him everything...well, not really. Anyways, thanks for the dumplings treat, sir. We should do this often. That holding the chopsticks properly (your manner being the easiest and the most effective among all manners) was a relief. Now I know how to use it and how to eat a-la-Chinese.

And more than that, it was nice to see some people, some special friends, to be having a great time (I'd like to think they did) after all that have transpired this hectic-ness of a week. I'm also glad that they got to see the other side of Sir Bronne they don't usually see in school.

On other news, I have already updated our Building Science Design Studio class' multiply site. Feel free to move around and see what our class have been up to lately. Below are the preliminary design concepts and translations for the Off-the-Wall design project.

We would like to hear constructive criticisms and reactions to the projects.

Christian Cruz - Paradox

Richard Lasam - The Hive

Maricel Turgo - Shell-House

Keizah Escobar - Untitled

Marco Martinez - Untitled

Jed Yabut - Pipe

NC Batangan - Anatomy

Ken Romay - Interweaving Dualities

Photos of other works will be posted soon.

Chill, jed, chiiiiillllllllll!!!!

Imeldific day!

2007-02-07T14:47:29Z

imelda marcos (n.) a person who lived a life vindicating herself.

I just met THE imeldific herself. I was starstruck, really. I know her from history books. I have seen her in all forms of media. But it was different seeing her in flesh. She is truly a walking ICON. Unbelievable!

You should have heard her speech. You would feel so sorry for her that you conclude that she is a person living a life vindicating herself...until her dying day!

Congratulations to my really dear mentor and friend, Dr. Gerard Rey Lico for a very successful and wonderful exhibition. You should all come and see his exhibit at the 4th floor of the National Museum.

Sobering up

2007-02-05T17:39:37Z

pakerdemmet...i miss my blog!!! Second entry of the year...wahahaha!

well actually, not much to say. i just thought of dropping by and saying hi to my pensieve, the Blog of the Cold and Heartless. keeps me reminded to be cold and heartless....but im barely cold and heartless these days. hows that?! i just love the company. and lets take it just at that. everyday is a new day. im in no rush.

its hellweek for arki students at the moment, this means its the feast day of Batman. Bahala ka na! Due of a bigtime esquisse tomorrow and structural exam. (oh no, calculations once again ladies and gents). and so with all the hecticness on hand and on head, im still on appointments, so schedule early. =P

to the two people im in word war with: i just love the idea that you dont bother speaking to me. makes my day looking at your weird and always confused faces. sooner or later, you will become masters of paranoia! learn it the hard way, kids! just know that im no christina yang. she spoke first and so Burke won.

Blogging for blogging's sake

2006-12-18T12:23:39Z

Since I am a fan of bullets (in an attempt to organize a mind-mess), I am summarizing my blog absence in 8 points.

1. A big congratulations to UP Architecture for winning Best Lantern, Best Booth and finishing 3^rd in the UP Carol Fest 2006. As always, UP Architecture has proven what it takes to go the distance. Congratulations to my bets, Tyler and James for winning the Amazing Race. To Yeng in PDA. Such a predictable win. And Yul, though Ozzy was my bet, you did really well. Well deserved.

2. My design of the UP Architecture t-shirt has been received warmly by students and faculty members (especially the College Secretary and the Dean). Unfortunately though, many problems took place and the printing had some few problems. The Student Council deeply apologizes and will do their best to better the result in the next batch of printing.

3. My first Project Runway project was such an achievement. Frankly, I had a great time dressing the Architecture chorale for the Carol Fest 2006. The group looked so adorable. Thanks to Shamcey and Macel for the help. Pictures of the gang here . Thanks to Rich for the pics.

4. The 20^th ASAPhil-UP festivities are over. Though admittedly I have been missing in action in a number of events, I have seen how the members were able to pull off the events to bring success to each. Looking back weeks ago, it gave me thousand reasons to attest why I made the right-est decision to join this organization. Good job guys! To Alvin, minus the Homecoming number, you’re really the Man!

5. Hosting a-la-stand up comedy is something I didn’t see myself doing. But well, if the situation needs be, why not?! Sharing that rare moment with Lea during the ASAPhil Alumni Homecoming was a blast. But to host the Arki Party was a struggle. The fuming anger and the supposed-to-be-a-fun-filled night are mixed up. But well, you have to do what you have to do.

6. The cancelled Lantern Parade was a big boo. While I remember myself hurrying up to buy a car battery for Mariel, I said that it won’t happen again. I need to see the lantern parade from now on. But even though it pushed through, I was doomed to not see the parade. I was hurrying again, buying halogen flood lights for the Arki Party. Boo.

7. I love the weather and the new bedsheets. It makes me want to shop even more. It makes me smile. No, don’t even think about your classic Hollywood scene when someone smiles outdoors walking along NY’s streets. That’s exaggerating it. But it’s weird actually when we realize that our actions have been immortalized on film (ie. The helpless crying at the door when someone has left) and suddenly it gives us a peculiar feeling of goosebumps to the point of laughing about it when in fact, the film was the one who emulated the reality of emotions.

8. For a long time, I have felt loneliness. Missing friends is really dreadful. It has been a year and thinking about it is really SOMETHING. Hay!

The CLIMAX of this post is a very timely holiday season rant! Enjoy!

It’s the holiday season and it won’t be the same without the dramas. But truth is, I hate meddling with those petty and immature high school dramas some people would like to stir up. If I would, then that would make me the sore loser in the end while I ride on to their juvenile issues. Perhaps, they need attention. No, need is an understatement, demand would be more appropriate! But to end such annoying rants coming from an almost invisible group of people, I want you to know that you have no license to behave in such manner. You haven’t proven anything yet to make yourself worthy of a diva-attitude. Such audacity! And with that threat…who cares anyway if you’re gone?! Will that prove you right? Oh please, that will only make you the bitterest bunch of lemons there is. I don’t even know why I’m taking this time and effort to think about this triviality. Afterall, this bunch of lemons never occupied a part of my brain and recall!

As they say, “Kababawan ang pumatol sa kababawan!” Fine. Then take me behind bars.

And to this duo that seems to be inseparable, don’t give me reasons to hate you both. I never did. But to cut short your string of paranoia, expect me to take my hands off in any business you need to attend to in the future. If my genuine intention to help would always be stained with malice, I’d rather shut up in the corner to leave your sight. And to you who have been growing a chip on a shoulder at me, you don’t need to prove anything. You have proven yourself to everyone enough that merits deep respect and admiration. I know I have it for you. So please, stop this loathing or your so-called “rivalry”! It’s not healthy anymore.

Hay. Can't wait to spend Christmas in the province!

To be, or not to be

2006-12-01T04:18:37Z

Architecture post first:

1. Francis D.K. Ching’s A Visual Dictionary of Architecture is heaven. Once I get myself a copy (of which time can only tell), it will smell like Jed. Now, This is the architecture students’ bible while the Graphic Standards would only be the constitution. This is like the Construction series compressed in one book.

2. The UP Architecture Shirt will be available for pre-orders next week. Designed by yours truly.

To be, or not to be: that is the question.

Due to a momentary stopover of schoolwork (or the lack thereof), I decided to see Dulaang UP's Hamlet Redux, Filipino version last Wednesday night. Arnold Reyes topbills the play so it really is a must-watch! Quite frankly, this was the first of the many Shakespearean plays I only saw proving I am no Shakespeare fan at all. But suffice to say that this play made me realize how enviable and precious Shakespeare's right part of the brain is. Hamlet is surely THAT one of his best pieces.

In a fastrack review of the play, I thought about 10 bullets.

1. Lex Marcos' stage design is too simple. I didn't like it.
2. The opening scene is amazing! I just hate the inconsistency of the growls and screeches of the ghosts. It reminds me of sporadic high-pitched bitch catfights that explode your eardrums in no time. So annoying.
3. The girl who is playing Ophelia will be a brilliant thespian in five years. She is definitely a theater gem. The guy playing Claudius should be employed in a gay bar: though he has a voice of a thespian, he can't act.
4. I LOVE how Rolando Tinio translated the Old English to Filipino. That was tough, you know! But well, coming from a "dalubhasa", the words just came out naturally. Seeing the play, you will love the Filipino translation. More than that, you will love the Filipino language even more.
5. I enjoyed the jologs-cum-modern adaptation of the play. I never thought Ipods, video cams, cellphones exist in Denmark centuries ago.
6. I love how the characters are construed to become druggists, incestuals, homosexuals and transvestites. It completes the young-generation equation.
7. The battle scene at the end of the play is fun! It’s unusual…really.
8. This is a play where besides enjoying the play itself, you enjoy the audience's reactions.
9. I appreciate the amount of kissing scenes that were displayed throughout the play. I delight on them. Thank you.
10. Lastly, Arnold Reyes as Hamlet is like Frank Gehry. He never ceases to make your ears clap in complete admiration. His stage presence is felt within a hundred-meter radius and his lines seem to flow effortlessly even in that 3rd degree deep vocabularies. Arnold is such a honed actor and I have nothing but superlative respect for him.

The only thing I regret about is not realizing the soliloquy of “To be, or not to be” had passed. I would love to hear the Filipino translation. A critic said it was beautiful. Too bad I couldn’t say that as well. Here’s to another screening, December 9 at 3pm it is!

What goes around comes around

2006-11-27T13:43:29Z

I really have no intention to blog right now, but I feel the need to put these thoughts in words.

Well, it has been a year! Yeah it was! And I remember those days when it was all fucked up, some people took over and feasted on what we have left behind. Something unresolved. I felt mugged, you know! Its that feeling when your last penny is being stolen from you. The robber's every trudging step is a needle pierced to your heart while he disappears before your very eyes. Fuck, I don't even want to remember those days. Not now!

But just to clear the air, I have no hard feelings to any people whatsoever now. Mehn, that is so 2005! Im neither happy nor sad if something's going on with you guys. I really don't care. I just felt the need to say this: "What goes around comes around!"

Peace out!

THE SCIENCE OF SLEEP

2006-11-04T14:43:41Z

THE SCIENCE OF SLEEP by the ever-genius Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) is MY BEST FILM of 2006.

It all happened in some strange string of events. Four o'clock pm of yesterday when I found out that SM Mall of Asia will be showing its Asian Premiere of Michel Gondry's Science of Sleep. I have been fucking-waiting for months to see this film as I have been wanting to have that Michel-Gondry-kind-of-mindfuck again. So Jade and I rushed to Centerstage and surprise surprise it was certainly the place to be. The Opening of the 2006 Cinemanila International Film Festival. And only by that moment did we realize that Science of Sleep is opening the International Film Fest, much like the Da Vinci Code opened the 2006 Cannes. VIP's here and there all donned and dressed up with beautiful gowns and coats, French guests, the French Ambassador, Cong. Gilbert Remulla, Jay Sonza, known local directors, some national artists for film, some respected business people and of course, Mr. Fu! But I was wearing my usual UP get-up: shirt, shorts and beach sandals. LOL.

We saw first a local short film entitled Maicling Pelicula Ng Ysang Indio Nacional by Raya Martin. The film was an effective attempt to emulate the 60's Hollywood silent film. Radioactive Sago was perfect to give its Live musical scoring. Then came the part everybody was itching to see. And when the camera panned to Gael Garcia Bernal, you wouldn't believe how deafening the roar was. I was fucking laughing at that moment until now! Good thing, Kriz wasn't there or else...

Stephan is a schizometric guy who mixes up his dreams from reality and Stephanie is a beautiful girl boarding the other room of Stephan. Boy meets girl. Girl meets boy. Boy dreams about girl. Girl dreams the same dream of boy. Boy dreams the same dream of girl. Parallel Synchronized Randomness.

I came to see this film with a great expectation that it should top Eternal Sunshine in my all-time best films. Sadly, it didn't. For the most part, this film misses the emotional impact of what Eternal Sunshine has left on its viewers. This film didn't really bother touching that department because true enough, Eternal Sunshine had that "awww moments" well-kept in the bag. Rather, the film focused more on the ooomph's, wooah's, and LOL's only sounds and interjections could express. It is certainly disturbing, almost bothering to think about. But sometimes, when it bothers you the most, you would think it was an effective film. And it certainly was!

In this film, Gondry puts up again a lot of juxtaposition of things that shouldn't be together (ie. feet inside the fridge, cellophane water, a city of cartons, tub inside the office), only that it was plenty of them, nearly over the top. He has his unique style of special effects that is quite refreshing to the brood of Hollywood films we see these days. He veered away from all the CGI's and all the special effects LOTR has exhausted. Instead, he made use of old cartons (a LOT of cartons), cellophanes, bottles, and scraps into making this film. Quite interesting, eh?! More than recognizing the effort of the production, the comedic interpretation has totally made this film very well different from its predecessor. Bernal is an effective actor who will force you to laugh at his very serious scenes. The more serious and emotional parts will all be offset by just one silly move he makes. However, the over the top injection of comedy makes this film rather cold and insensitive at some parts. Screenplay is a home-run: quite vulgar, very witty and has lots of subtleties.

At some points, Stephan's dream world becomes a Psychology class where the audience is braced onto their seats while being taught of some concepts of dreams and the brain's simple complexities. Parallel Synchronized Randomness. Stephan tells us that "Destruction is the obstruction to the construction". He showcases his groundbreaking inventions of the time machine, of a gadget that could read minds and a 3D eyeglass. Disasterology. Stephan reaches out to his viewers, sharing them his dreams of realities and his real dreams. While achieving that, he tells his story of his love, his schizometrical love to Stephanie. He wants us to dream with him, in his dreamboat with Stephanie, riding the velvet horse.

TANGINA! This is certainly a must-see film for all you intellectual elites. TANGINA talaga. Michel-Gondry-kind-of-mindfuck is an expensive orgasm you can't afford to miss.

Orson is Happiness

2006-10-31T05:30:43Z

hehe. i have been wanting ORSON to put up a video of my favorite song, Happiness. lo and behold! it has been up since July!!! wahahaha. but nevertheless here it is for sharing.

"How about a 5-star Happy Meal?"

Mehn-oh-mehn

2006-10-30T15:50:15Z

mehn-oh-mehn.

just when I thought I could see a Jude Law film at last, him portraying an architect...mehn-oh-mehn, damn was it close! he's a LANDSCAPE architect! *toinks

but its alright. AT LEAST, there's THAT architect word there. Can't wait for Breaking and Entering! He's reunited with one of my favorite directors again, Anthony Minghella who directed my 2nd favorite film of all time, Cold Mountain (which includes Jude Law again). Amidst all the controversies, the 2006 invisibility, and the 2005 Oscars joke of "What film is Jude Law not on?", well the Law is back and he's gonna rule! Hopefully with another Oscar nomination perhaps on All the King's Men, a film surely in the running for Oscars 2007!

And speaking of films, I havent seen The Prestige and The Departed. Both of which I should not miss. Because certainly, I could just feel the Oscars vibe. So certain that it needs a day to watch all these.

Anyways...Another thing I should not miss is to greet a Happy Birthday my dear HS classmate, Arvin! I had lots of fun awhile ago and thanks for the annual invitation to your house. hehe. This will certainly mark an annual reunion for the four of us. LOL. And Jade, what can I say!? I just feel the need of someone like you in UP everyday just so I could gradually be converted from agnoticism. :p

So, till this Friday!

PS. AMAZING RACE totally ROCKS! Go Tyler and James! And since I am not cursed as much as black_auteur is, YOU GUYS WILL SURELY WIN! Lol. According to a handful of spoilers...KRIZ, now is the time to shut your eyes... --- the Barbies and the Chos are not up in the Final 3...however sad this supposed spoiler is (coz I do want the Barbies to win as well...i really do), we may perhaps still see an All-Female win! hmmm. hint hint, Kriz. You love spoilers, eh!

On Readings

2006-10-27T12:46:03Z

Its amazing what a semestral break can do- I get to organize all my stuff back again, throw those piles of unwanted paper, clean up the bedroom, update my webspaces and upload files for sharing. But most of all, I-CAN-READ-A-BOOK-AGAIN. Oh how I miss my books.

To start my book reading chronicles, I took some time last night on re-reading the script of Oren Safdie's wonderful architectural play called Private Jokes, Public Spaces...(isn't that a wonder, an architectural play...such a rarity!) Anyway, I'd love to share some lines from that play- the one that really cracks me up everytime I read it. And its quite timely to be posting these lines since I just saw earlier my LA 1 grade. (Landscape Architecture 1...that Super GE, as they say) Fuck that grade! Now I know why I should hate Landscape Architecture even MORE! Here's to that subject. Here, read it if youre that interested. Text edited for fast reading

William: (pointing to the drawing) This thing here, right on the edge of the swimming area...looks like a...lamppost?

Margaret: That's a tree.

William: Landscaping!

Margaret: No. That tree presently exists on the Northeast side of the property. A large Maple. Quite healthy.

William: Wouldn't you have more flexibility if you removed the tree?

Margaret: Old trees can't be moved...I see nature as much part of the architecture as the building itself...

Colin: (getting up, putting his jacket to leave) Okay, I've heard enough...Let the environmentalists worry about that damn tree, Margaret. This is an urban site. Next thing you know, you'll want to preserve the rats. If architects had to worry about every weed, where would people live? Where would we work? Where would we die?

Margaret: Weeds are different, they kill trees.

Colin: Weeds kill to survive!

Erhardt: Colin...please sit down...Allow me, please...

Colin: (to Erhardt) I mean, she cannot go around doing whatever she likes and think that there are no consequences-

Erhardt: Colin, please. (pauses) Margaret, this is the point we've been trying to make. Herein lies the most dfficult barriers for you, the insurgent architect, to overcome. In facing up to a world of uncertainty and risk, the possibility of being quite undone by the consequences of our own actions weighs heavily upon us, often make us prefer "those ills we have than flying to others that we know not of".

Margaret: I don't see how-

Erhardt: And it is perhaps no accident that architecture as a supremely speculative and heroic profession- rather than as either a platonic metaphor or craft- emerged in Italy along with the merchant capitalists who began upon their globalizing ventures through commercial speculations in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

Margaret: So how does this relate to my project?

Colin: FUCK THE TREE! All right? Take that tree and cut it up into firewood! We'r e not butterflies, we're not grasshoppers, we're living, breathing, human beings!

...LOL!!!

Next up...heto, kamusta naman talaga!

TASCHEN’s new architecture series brings a unique perspective to world architecture, highlighting architectural trends by country. Each book features 15 to 20 architects—from the firmly established to the up-and-coming—with the focus on how they have contributed to very recent architecture in the chosen nation. Crossing the globe from country to country, this new series celebrates the richly hued architectural personality of each nation featured.

...and here's the catch, a book costs USD25! mehn...come over here, you damn books!

In the meantime, semestral break is for Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead. So far so good, what can I say?! Amazing read though a bit predictable. I can't help but compare the plot somehow with Memoirs of a Geisha. Only that they differ in context.

Anyways, thats all for now. Will be busy in the next few days.

Multiply site

2006-10-25T18:26:00Z

Finally, im done organizing my multiply account. Here, Jed's Multiply site.

Feel free to check it and post some replies. Add me as contact as well.

Sem's officially over. Thank you.

Quake!

2006-10-21T18:40:25Z

Dang it.

It has been quaking for two days. Scary.

Conference pic post when I can.

break. conference. pandora.

2006-10-16T14:28:46Z

My semester is finally over...with a big celebratory bang and hopefully with good marks! Now i can rest, can have fun, can slack off, can run desperate housewives/ greys anatomy/ amazing race marathons, can glutton, and can catch up with some greatly missed friends!

Well, tomorrow's the start of the Youth Professionals Fellowship Conference. I am off until Saturday evening. I am super excited and hopeful of very fruitful and productive outcomes, in whatever forms they may take shape. And to fulfill the above list, the conference will be taken both as a learning experience but moreso, a VACATION. hehe.

I deserve a break. woohoo!

Oh yeah, I remember to tell you guys that I have been into the songs of Jump, Little Children lately. And yes, they got real good stuff. Unbelievable. Listen to their song Rains in Asia...great, great, GREAT! Got to hear their songs from Pandora, the Amaaaaaaaaaazing Music Genome Project! Big thanks to Manu for introducing me to this site. :D

.

An Ode to this Semester!!!

2006-10-13T13:38:25Z

i love this semester.

no kidding. i just fucking love every bits of this semester. one more plate to go and its all over.

FINAL design esquisse (i.e. mini-board exam) is over and done. could genuinely smile and sleep at this very moment. you know, for the past few days i was deprived of proper sleep. in architectural schools, there is actually an unwritten law that sleeping is a crime...and yes, im guilty most of the time. i skipped lunch again (the other being the structural whole day exam) just to hurry up the plate. my head is twitching and my stomach is like only processing the residue of my digestive acids.

but there was one thing that i proved to myself after this day's esquisse...that i can draw decent interior and exterior perspectives WITHOUT tracing them over a sketchup print-out!!! haha. come on, those were pretty darn good drawings i did; since admittedly, i draw fucking bad!!! (so david, congratulate me :P)

i love this sem. i love how i was driven far up the edge. i love the sleepless nights. i love that moment i cried FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME in my archi life because i thought i was helpless. i love the fulfillment grades can bring after some exhausted efforts. i love how i truly bonded with people while making all those projects. i love how all opprotunities have opened up for me. i love how i have been IN CONTROL of myself and my grades throughout the entire sem. i love all the important and influential people i met this semester: all my Canadian friends (who im missing so much...Yan, Manu, Dani, Hans, Matt, Jill), Arch. Freeman Chan (who is coming back to Manila, yey!) and Arup Manila's Engr. Raul Manlapig (who inspires me so much to become someone like him, you know--to be THE boss). i love this sem. i am SO fulfilled.

all in all...this has been the BEST and the WORST semester so far.

to that mysterious entity above who made us all, THANK YOU! truly, there is a GOD.

i want to rest...

2006-10-10T17:40:55Z

finally, bridge testing is over! t'was a learning experience and surely a breather from all these hectic-nesses! btw, all bridges have to carry the six most beefy guys in class and thankfully, our bridge survived all them weights. (approx. 500 kilos)

lookie, lookie...a shot from the behind. ehehe

2 more exams to go, 2 plates and 1 hell of a bigtime esquisse. after all these things, i can finally finally finally rest. i cant wait till this effing sem is over. can't wait for the conference on the 17th!!! at least, i have something to look forward to. and on Oct. 26, Freeman is coming back to Manila...so grand!

soooooo tired

2006-10-09T14:31:51Z

how do you articulate a deep sigh over LJ??? however you do that, ima do that right now!

shit, im dead tired..........

later.

*i miss friends.

an icebreaker...

2006-09-27T14:00:50Z

WHAT IS GOOD DESIGN?

2006-09-23T11:46:53Z

THIRTEEN COMMANDMENTS for searching and finding the beautiful:

1. Good design is what is done by A-plus students at school.

2. Good design is what is published in magazines.

3. Good design demands firmitas, utilitas, venustas (thank you, Vitruvius).

4. Good design is what The New York Times architecture critic says it is.

5. Good design is like pornography; it can't be defined, but I know it when I see it.

6. Good design demands critical text and subtexts (thank you, Heidegger, Levi-Strauss, Derrida, et al.).

7. Good design is what makes clients happy.

8. Good design in Santa Fe, New Mexico is a building not to be noticed.

9. Good design in Bilbao is a building to be noticed.

10. Good design is made where employees stay for a while despite low salaries.

11. Good design need not cost any more but usually does.

12. Good design responds to the zeitgeist rather than fashion (if one can perceive the difference).

13. Good design is what hangs in architectural firms' reception areas.

After some days of LJ absence

2006-09-21T16:46:10Z

.

Since my last entry, I...

...went to Arup Manila office for our bridge consultation.

YES!!! I, together with Dred and Laurence went to Engr. Raul Manlapig's office in Makati. YES!!! Engr. Raul heads the Manila branch of the most accomplished-freaking-outstanding-high profiled engineering firm there is in this whole world whose job is to make architectural miracles and turn engineering impossibilities to casual realities. YES!!! Arup has been the most demanded engineering consultant of ancient and contemporary starchitects. To name a few, Arup's line up of accomplishments includes the Sydney Opera House, Kansai Airport, Pompidou Center, Millenium Bridge, HSBC Hongkong, Koolhas' TVCC. At the moment, Arup is busy with the Bubble Cube and the Main Stadiums for Beijing 2008.

All in all, the consultation was quite overwhelming but very short...concise to say the least. We learned so much in a day and it is quite humbling to know how such a top-dog engineer would take time for some pathetic students like us, sit down with us and help us as much as he could. And yes, we got more than we bargained for. He is a generous man and I don't know how could I possibly payback the generosity that he has come to provide. So at the moment, as a student, plugging is the least I could do...So to all budding architects/ starchitects of my generation, in the event that you need an engineering consultant, Arup Manila is certainly the one to call. Here, visit the ARUP site and you wouldn't actually believe yourself how much they have achieved since. Indeed, Arup is an engineering amazingness!

...went to Sariaya to lecture and facilitate a workshop.

Sariaya is better the second time around! Sounds cheesy but true. Sariaya witnessed my FIRST EVER architectural lecture: PRINCIPLES, ISSUES and VALUES of HERITAGE CONSERVATION. And hell, modesty aside, I freaking did well. Partida, wala pang tulog yan before the lecture! Si Yan kasi pinuyat ako sa MSN messenger.

But the grand part was the Sariaya Beach. Beach. BEACH. Imagine that! The last time I went to a REAL beach was Boracay 2004 and I had no idea since how a beach would look like. Crazyness talaga...lI missed THE nature and I missed the smell of provinces! We had a small bonfire during the night, some drinks and loads of emo conversations like what you would expect in scenarios like that. And since I had no sleep, I went to bed early depriving myself of some throw ups and tipsy moments.

...at long last, had a spontaneous trip inside Coconut Palace.

Having been an Amazing Race 5 obsessed fan, I have always wanted to see the Manila pitstop since. I had dreamt on walking the same pavements, Brandon and Nicole (my fave team) walked on after they knew they weren't eliminated in a non-elimination leg of the Philippines.

The Coconut Palace is simply a masterpiece. Exquisite and soul-affecting. It didn't disappoint me as it took me years of wanting to see the place for myself. Well thought out building, elegant furniture and all in all, an incredible design project. Imelda got taste, for sure! This building is really something the country must take great pride on, a beautiful example and a proof of FILIPINO tropical architecture. Pictures of the trip in Jed's Flickr album

* * *

Certainly, this sem has to be the best sem so far in my college life. The unending series of happy and enlightening events have proved to be the best one. I am so blessed to have all these things happening to me at such an early age...At the moment, I am just so thrilled at what is to come for me and my career.

Life. It never ends...neither do we want it to!

DRED

2006-09-06T13:21:50Z

Dear Dred,

Thank you very much from the bottom of my heart!

Sincerely,
Jed

announcement from a friend

2006-09-01T18:43:16Z

May band line-up changes sa concert. Ito na ang final line-up ng mga bandang tutugtog..Urbandub, Join the Club, Kala, Orange and Lemons,Shimmer, Popfilter, Aroma, Spoon, Soul Collage, Pards, Kastigo, Ishlavoo.

120 Php pa din ang ticket.May libreng globe simpack!

September 12, 2006 na ang bagong date.

Pls contact HANS at 09063093289 for tickets.