Saturday, October 31, 2009

Ghost In The Machine: A Haunted Mix From NPR Music


HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
Listen to 'Ghost In The Machine': A hunted mix from NPR (National Public Radio) Music. Hear Hours Of Songs About The Spirits That Haunt Us. Booooo...!

Thursday, October 15, 2009

It's Already Begun! [Blog Action Day 2009]


Living in the Philippines could be very stressful sometimes especially when you realized that you're living in an island, in the Pacific where most of the typhoons are born. I know most of you have heard what had happened in the Philippines and most especially in Manila just a few weeks ago, although I was not there, it scares me, thinking that my whole family was there and thank God they were not affected yet it scares me, who knows what will happen the next time that same kind of calamity strikes again. Never (and I can say it again, Never ) in my 37 years have I ever seen nor experience such kind of calamity before.

It seems that storms are becoming more and more stronger and powerful and they said it's connected to global warming or due to climate change and that the earth's weather pattern are changing bringing much stronger storms, while in the north and south poles, ice sheets are melting in record speed fearing that most coastal cities and those low lying islands around the world will be in danger of flooding.

Last week there was an article that I've read on CNN.Com about the president of Maldives setting a cabinet meeting on October 17 underwater to highlight their country's problem, the possibility that they will lose their country to the sea. The ministers are already learning the basics of scuba diving, president Nasheed is already a certified scuba diver, according to the article. Isn't it unfair?, they are paying the price for something they did not do.

I wish we could realize that we are all living in the same planet and that all is inter-connected, that all bad things we do to nature and our planet, we do to ourselves. Let's stop being greedy for just a moment, look into ourselves and ask, Is it all worth it? Where will my children be the next 10 or 20 years? Well, I hope they know how to scuba dive or even swim because the magnitude of what we are facing is no joke and it's already begun.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Blog Action Day 2009 - Climate Change

On October 15, 2009, thousands of bloggers, with morethan 10 million readers from more than 100 counties will unite in posting for Blog Action Day 2009. This years theme: Climate Change. Be a part of it!



Saturday, October 3, 2009

Friday, October 2, 2009

Ang Camera Ni Cabrera


It was during my childhood days when I was watching movies, oftentimes there were scenes that show a person going inside a red-lit, dark room to develop a photograph. I often said to myself, "Wow!, I wanna do that.", but it was more on the process of developing the photograph rather than taking it that inspired me, maybe in my mind I just find it "cool", taking a piece of paper dipping it in different solutions at a time and then the picture starts to show and there you have it, a photograph.

During those days, my grandmother was still alive and she was living with us that time and I had this old film camera, (I think it was my uncle's) I saw my grandmother having her siesta on a wooden bench outside the house, I can't believe my luck, then I took a photo of her and it was perfect, beautiful and I called it "Siesta". This photo is very close to my heart.

When I was growing up the dream of photography was stalled, but my eye for beauty grew. It was not until I came here in Saudi Arabia for work, that that dream of photography was slowly awakened. It started when I bought my first digital camera, I remember it was a Samsung digimax 301, I'd been using it until 2006, I didn't like it that much but that was the only camera that I could afford at that time, any camera cheaper than that would probably render useless (that was a joke). I didn't see any reason why I should buy a new digital camera, since I was not deeply interested in pursuing my dream of photography, at least not yet.

In 2008, I've learned about blogging, and this blog was the first one I've created. My objective was to express my thoughts and feelings while living here in Saudi Arabia, and as you may all know, Saudi Arabia's society is not normal compared to, let say, the Philippines or the U.S.. I then added my second blog which I appropriately called "Camera Ni Cabrera", my initial objective here was to capture in picture the country's surroundings and it's culture. This blog gave me the renewed interest in pursuing my dream of photography and with this blog, I've decided to take digital photography to the next level and even though I don't have proper training, I will just have to let my instinct and my love for beauty to take over. I'm sure I have this within me.

Digital photography is just a hobby for me and it will remain that way, I don't have any plans to be a professional photographer. This is just probably my way of escaping the boredom and loneliness that I'm experiencing here in Saudi Arabia. Every time I look at my photoblogs and seeing those tiny, little flags which indicate where the visitors of my blog came from, I feel a different kind of happiness, somehow I feel like I'm accepted, a part of the system.

Taking photos here in Saudi Arabia can be a little frustrating sometimes. Most people don't welcome the idea of a camera pointing at them specially women and children, but sometimes you get lucky. At this moment, I have 3 photoblogs. I've already mentioned the first one, the second is "La Fotografia de Pepe" on wordpress, which is a back-up blog for the first one and the third is the newest, it's just a couple of weeks old, It is called "La Fotografia de Pepe Cabrera" hosted by Aminus3 Photoblogs.

I'm inviting all of you to visit my photoblogs sometimes. I want to share to you all what I've seen through the lens of my camera. I guarantee you that it'll inspire you and bring out the artistic side of you, like what it did to me.
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Thursday, October 1, 2009

Donate to the Philippine National Red Cross


You can help those affected and displaced by typhoon Ketsana in the Philippines by donating through PayPal to the Philippine National Red Cross.