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Subscribe To David Fincher In Early Talks To Direct Aaron Sorkin's Steve Jobs Script Updates
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Four years ago, The Social Network captured the zeitgeist of young America, portraying Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's rise to fame as a demonic young opportunist who would sell out his friends for the right price. The union between director David Fincher and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin was a novel one: Sorkin believed that progress would make slaves of humanity and natural kindness, taking to an extreme the idea of American Exceptionalism being a form of Social Darwinism. And Fincher, the black-hearted auteur, knew how to get at the primordial ooze seeping out of every pore of the over-privileged and under-loved, turning a success story into a diseased tragedy of technology over man.
So hey! Are you ready to be uplifted again?? THR reports that the duo are reuniting once again, with Fincher in early talks to direct Sorkin's script about the late innovator Steve Jobs. Sorkin was working from a biography by Walter Isaacson, which painted Jobs are the ruthless maverick at the head of Apple who nonetheless struggled to form inter-personal relationships and benefitted from the slave labor in Third World countries. Sorkin and Fincher likely wouldn't bite if the project stayed away from those darker elements.
The untitled project, which is being produced by The Social Network producer Scott Rudin (who is also overseeing the tech-based Console Wars), has kept a fair distance from the other biopic about Steve Jobs, the obnoxiously-titled jOBS. That film, from director Joshua Michael Stern and writer Matt Whitley, crashed and burned at the box office earlier last year after a muted festival reception, with only $35 million in box office receipts. The picture only carried a $12 million budget, so we'd be talking a huge hit if Open Road didn't make a strong advertising push. Regardless, now that it's basically disappeared from our collective memory, Sorkin and Fincher are free to keep this film from essentially being their White House Down to jOBS' Olympus Has Fallen.
Fincher remains heavily in-demand in the industry, though this will be a test of the usually-flashy auteur: Sorkin previously revealed that the screenplay would have only three scenes, each taking place behind the scenes at one of Jobs' product launches. That's ambitious, for certain, though knowing Sorkin's gift of gab and Fincher's sharp experience (this would be his next film following Gone Girl), it would easily land on the radar of most anticipated projects of 2015, particularly considering Isaacson's book plumbs the depths of Jobs as a person, suggesting this would essentially be something of a spiritual sequel to The Social Network: what happens when the difficult genius needs to pretend to be everyone's friend in order to push product? THR claims an A-Lister is sought for the role: if Fincher commits, expect that name soon.


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Secretary of State Scott Gessler takes a page from John Hickenlooper's "gift" book
Secretary of State Scott Gessler said he wants to do the right thing in preparing for his trip to the Republican National Lawyers Association seminar in Las Vegas in August. But he also wants to test the fairness of the Colorado Independent Ethics Commission, a body that ruled he breached the public trust last year. Gessler has called the commission "corrupt" many times since.
He submitted a request to the commission for an advisory opinion in April and fashioned his request to highlight the exceptions used by Gov. John Hickenlooper for a trip to the Democratic Governors Association in Aspen last year, when the organization picked up the cost of Hickenlooper's attendance. His staff, on taxpayers' time, helped him prepare for it. Amendment 41 was passed by voters in 2006 and limits the value of gifts a public official can receive to $53 a year. The ethics commission dismissed the complaint, filed by the conservative group Compass Colorado, without a hearing.

subset: commoncrawl


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The company had been packing a 40-by-60-foot rental space here with racks of computer servers that were needed to store and process information from members' accounts. The electricity pouring into the computers was overheating Ethernet sockets and other crucial components.
Thinking fast, Mr. Rothschild, the company's engineering chief, took some employees on an expedition to buy every fan they could find — "We cleaned out all of the
That was in early 2006, when Facebook had a quaint 10 million or so users and the one main server site. Today, the information generated by nearly one billion people requires outsize versions of these facilities, called data centers, with rows and rows of servers spread over hundreds of thousands of square feet, and all with industrial cooling systems.
They are a mere fraction of the tens of thousands of data centers that now exist to support the overall explosion of digital information. Stupendous amounts of data are set in motion each day as, with an innocuous click or tap, people download movies on iTunes, check credit card balances through
A yearlong examination by
Most data centers, by design, consume vast amounts of energy in an incongruously wasteful manner, interviews and documents show. Online companies typically run their facilities at maximum capacity around the clock, whatever the demand. As a result, data centers can waste 90 percent or more of the electricity they pull off the grid, The Times found.
To guard against a power failure, they further rely on banks of generators that emit diesel exhaust. The pollution from data centers has increasingly been cited by the authorities for violating clean air regulations, documents show. In Silicon Valley, many data centers appear on the state government's Toxic Air Contaminant Inventory, a roster of the area's top stationary diesel polluters.
Worldwide, the digital warehouses use about 30 billion watts of electricity, roughly equivalent to the output of 30 nuclear power plants, according to estimates industry experts compiled for The Times. Data centers in the
"It's staggering for most people, even people in the industry, to understand the numbers, the sheer size of these systems," said Peter Gross, who helped design hundreds of data centers. "A single data center can take more power than a medium-size town."
Energy efficiency varies widely from company to company. But at the request of The Times, the consulting firm McKinsey & Company analyzed energy use by data centers and found that, on average, they were using only 6 percent to 12 percent of the electricity powering their servers to perform computations. The rest was essentially used to keep servers idling and ready in case of a surge in activity that could slow or crash their operations.
A server is a sort of bulked-up desktop computer, minus a screen and keyboard, that contains chips to process data. The study sampled about 20,000 servers in about 70 large data centers spanning the commercial gamut: drug companies, military contractors, banks, media companies and government agencies.
"This is an industry dirty secret, and no one wants to be the first to say mea culpa," said a senior industry executive who asked not to be identified to protect his company's reputation. "If we were a manufacturing industry, we'd be out of business straightaway."
These physical realities of data are far from the mythology of the Internet: where lives are lived in the "virtual" world and all manner of memory is stored in "the cloud."
The inefficient use of power is largely driven by a symbiotic relationship between users who demand an instantaneous response to the click of a mouse and companies that put their business at risk if they fail to meet that expectation.
Even running electricity at full throttle has not been enough to satisfy the industry. In addition to generators, most large data centers contain banks of huge, spinning flywheels or thousands of lead-acid batteries — many of them similar to automobile batteries — to power the computers in case of a grid failure as brief as a few hundredths of a second, an interruption that could crash the servers.
"It's a waste," said Dennis P. Symanski, a senior researcher at the Electric Power Research Institute, a nonprofit industry group. "It's too many
At least a dozen major data centers have been cited for violations of air quality regulations in
A few companies say they are using extensively re-engineered software and cooling systems to decrease wasted power. Among them are Facebook and
Many of these solutions are readily available, but in a risk-averse industry, most companies have been reluctant to make wholesale change, according to industry experts.
Improving or even assessing the field is complicated by the secretive nature of an industry that is largely built around accessing other people's personal data.
For security reasons, companies typically do not even reveal the locations of their data centers, which are housed in anonymous buildings and vigilantly protected. Companies also guard their technology for competitive reasons, said Michael Manos, a longtime industry executive. "All of those things play into each other to foster this closed, members-only kind of group," he said.
That secrecy often extends to energy use. To further complicate any assessment, no single government agency has the authority to track the industry. In fact, the federal government was unable to determine how much energy its own data centers consume, according to officials involved in a survey completed last year.
The survey did discover that the number of federal data centers grew from 432 in 1998 to 2,094 in 2010.
To investigate the industry, The Times obtained thousands of pages of local, state and federal records, some through freedom of information laws, that are kept on industrial facilities that use large amounts of energy. Copies of permits for generators and information about their emissions were obtained from environmental agencies, which helped pinpoint some data center locations and details of their operations.
In addition to reviewing records from electrical utilities, The Times also visited data centers across the country and conducted hundreds of interviews with current and former employees and contractors.
Some analysts warn that as the amount of data and energy use continue to rise, companies that do not alter their practices could eventually face a shake-up in an industry that has been prone to major upheavals, including the bursting of the first Internet bubble in the late 1990s.
"It's just not sustainable," said Mark Bramfitt, a former utility executive who now consults for the power and information technology industries. "They're going to hit a brick wall."
Bytes by the Billions
Wearing an
Aisle after aisle of servers, with amber, blue and green lights flashing silently, sat on a white floor punctured with small round holes that spit out cold air. Within each server were the spinning hard drives that store the data. The only hint that the center was run by Yahoo, whose name was nowhere in sight, could be found in a tangle of cables colored in the company's signature purple and yellow.
"There could be thousands of people's e-mails on these," Mr. Tran said, pointing to one storage aisle. "People keep old e-mails and attachments forever, so you need a lot of space."
This is the mundane face of digital information — player statistics flowing into servers that calculate fantasy points and league rankings, snapshots from nearly forgotten vacations kept forever in storage devices. It is only when the repetitions of those and similar transactions are added up that they start to become impressive.
Each year, chips in servers get faster, and storage media get denser and cheaper, but the furious rate of data production goes a notch higher.
Jeremy Burton, an expert in data storage, said that when he worked at a computer technology company 10 years ago, the most data-intensive customer he dealt with had about 50,000 gigabytes in its entire database. (Data storage is measured in bytes. The letter N, for example, takes 1 byte to store. A gigabyte is a billion bytes of information.)
Today, roughly a million gigabytes are processed and stored in a data center during the creation of a single 3-D animated movie, said Mr. Burton, now at EMC, a company focused on the management and storage of data.
Just one of the company's clients, the
EMC and the International Data Corporation together estimated that more than 1.8 trillion gigabytes of digital information were created globally last year.
"It is absolutely a race between our ability to create data and our ability to store and manage data," Mr. Burton said.
About three-quarters of that data, EMC estimated, was created by ordinary consumers.
With no sense that data is physical or that storing it uses up space and energy, those consumers have developed the habit of sending huge data files back and forth, like videos and mass e-mails with photo attachments. Even the seemingly mundane actions like running an app to find an Italian restaurant in
The complexity of a basic transaction is a mystery to most users: Sending a message with photographs to a neighbor could involve a trip through hundreds or thousands of miles of Internet conduits and multiple data centers before the e-mail arrives across the street.
"If you tell somebody they can't access
To support all that digital activity, there are now more than three million data centers of widely varying sizes worldwide, according to figures from the International Data Corporation.
Nationwide, data centers used about 76 billion kilowatt-hours in 2010, or roughly 2 percent of all electricity used in the country that year, based on an analysis by Jonathan G. Koomey, a research fellow at
The industry has long argued that computerizing business transactions and everyday tasks like banking and reading library books has the net effect of saving energy and resources. But the paper industry, which some predicted would be replaced by the computer age, consumed 67 billion kilowatt-hours from the grid in 2010, according to
Direct comparisons between the industries are difficult: paper uses additional energy by burning pulp waste and transporting products. Data centers likewise involve tens of millions of laptops, personal computers and mobile devices.
Chris Crosby, chief executive of the Dallas-based Compass Datacenters, said there was no immediate end in sight to the proliferation of digital infrastructure.
"There are new technologies and improvements," Mr. Crosby said, "but it still all runs on a power cord."
'Comatose' Power Drains
Engineers at Viridity Software, a start-up that helped companies manage energy resources, were not surprised by what they discovered on the floor of a sprawling data center near
Viridity had been brought on board to conduct basic diagnostic testing. The engineers found that the facility, like dozens of others they had surveyed, was using the majority of its power on servers that were doing little except burning electricity, said Michael Rowan, who was Viridity's chief technology officer.
A senior official at the data center already suspected that something was amiss. He had previously conducted his own informal survey, putting red stickers on servers he believed to be "comatose" — the term engineers use for servers that are plugged in and using energy even as their processors are doing little if any computational work.
"At the end of that process, what we found was our data center had a case of the
The Viridity tests backed up Mr. Stephens's suspicions: in one sample of 333 servers monitored in 2010, more than half were found to be comatose. All told, nearly three-quarters of the servers in the sample were using less than 10 percent of their computational brainpower, on average, to process data.
The data center's operator was not some seat-of-the-pants app developer or online
In many facilities, servers are loaded with applications and left to run indefinitely, even after nearly all users have vanished or new versions of the same programs are running elsewhere.
"You do have to take into account that the explosion of data is what aids and abets this," said Mr. Taylor of the Uptime Institute. "At a certain point, no one is responsible anymore, because no one, absolutely no one, wants to go in that room and unplug a server."
Kenneth Brill, an engineer who in 1993 founded the Uptime Institute, said low utilization began with the field's "original sin."
In the early 1990s, Mr. Brill explained, software operating systems that would now be considered primitive crashed if they were asked to do too many things, or even if they were turned on and off. In response, computer technicians seldom ran more than one application on each server and kept the machines on around the clock, no matter how sporadically that application might be called upon.
So as government energy watchdogs urged consumers to turn off computers when they were not being used, the prime directive at data centers became running computers at all cost.
A crash or a slowdown could end a career, said Michael Tresh, formerly a senior official at Viridity. A field born of cleverness and audacity is now ruled by something else: fear of failure.
"Data center operators live in fear of losing their jobs on a daily basis," Mr. Tresh said, "and that's because the business won't back them up if there's a failure."
In technical terms, the fraction of a computer's brainpower being used on computations is called "utilization."
McKinsey & Company, the consulting firm that analyzed utilization figures for The Times, has been monitoring the issue since at least 2008, when it published a report that received little notice outside the field. The figures have remained stubbornly low: the current findings of 6 percent to 12 percent are only slightly better than those in 2008. Because of confidentiality agreements, McKinsey is unable to name the companies that were sampled.
David Cappuccio, a managing vice president and chief of research at Gartner, a technology research firm, said his own recent survey of a large sample of data centers found that typical utilizations ran from 7 percent to 12 percent.
"That's how we've overprovisioned and run data centers for years," Mr. Cappuccio said. " 'Let's overbuild just in case we need it' — that level of comfort costs a lot of money. It costs a lot of energy."
Servers are not the only components in data centers that consume energy. Industrial cooling systems, circuitry to keep backup batteries charged and simple dissipation in the extensive wiring all consume their share.
In a typical data center, those losses combined with low utilization can mean that the energy wasted is as much as 30 times the amount of electricity used to carry out the basic purpose of the data center.
Some companies, academic organizations and research groups have shown that vastly more efficient practices are possible, although it is difficult to compare different types of tasks.
The National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center, which consists of clusters of servers and mainframe computers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in
A company called Power Assure, based in Santa Clara, markets a technology that enables commercial data centers to safely power down servers when they are not needed — overnight, for example.
But even with aggressive programs to entice its major customers to save energy, Silicon Valley Power has not been able to persuade a single data center to use the technique in Santa Clara, said Mary Medeiros McEnroe, manager of energy efficiency programs at the utility.
"It's a nervousness in the I.T. community that something isn't going to be available when they need it," Ms. McEnroe said.
The streamlining of the data center done by Mr. Stephens for LexisNexis Risk Solutions is an illustration of the savings that are possible.
In the first stage of the project, he said that by consolidating the work in fewer servers and updating hardware, he was able to shrink a 25,000-square-foot facility into 10,000 square feet.
Of course, data centers must have some backup capacity available at all times and achieving 100 percent utilization is not possible. They must be prepared to handle surges in traffic.
Mr. Symanski, of the Electric Power Research Institute, said that such low efficiencies made sense only in the obscure logic of the digital infrastructure.
"You look at it and say, 'How in the world can you run a business like that,' " Mr. Symanski said. The answer is often the same, he said: "They don't get a bonus for saving on the electric bill. They get a bonus for having the data center available 99.999 percent of the time."
The Best-Laid Plans
In Manassas, Va., the retailing colossus Amazon runs servers for its cloud amid a truck depot, a defunct grain elevator, a lumberyard and junk-strewn lots where machines compress loads of trash for recycling.
The servers are contained in two Amazon data centers run out of three buildings shaped like bulky warehouses with green, corrugated sides. Air ducts big enough to accommodate industrial cooling systems sprout along the rooftops; huge diesel generators sit in rows around the outside.
The term "cloud" is often generally used to describe a data center's functions. More specifically, it refers to a service for leasing computing capacity. These facilities are primarily powered from the national grid, but generators and batteries are nearly always present to provide electricity if the grid goes dark.
The Manassas sites are among at least eight major data centers Amazon operates in Northern Virginia, according to records of Virginia's Department of Environmental Quality.
The department is on familiar terms with Amazon. As a result of four inspections beginning in October 2010, the company was told it would be fined $554,476 by the agency for installing and repeatedly running diesel generators without obtaining standard environmental permits required to operate in Virginia.
Even if there are no blackouts, backup generators still emit exhaust because they must be regularly tested.
After months of negotiations, the penalty was reduced to $261,638. In a "degree of culpability" judgment, all 24 violations were given the ranking "high."
Drew Herdener, an Amazon spokesman, agreed that the company "did not get the proper permits" before the generators were turned on. "All of these generators were all subsequently permitted and approved," Mr. Herdener said.
The violations came in addition to a series of lesser infractions at one of Amazon's data centers in Ashburn, Va., in 2009, for which the company paid $3,496, according to the department's records.
Of all the things the Internet was expected to become, it is safe to say that a seed for the proliferation of backup diesel generators was not one of them.
Terry Darton, a former manager at Virginia's environmental agency, said permits had been issued to enough generators for data centers in his 14-county corner of Virginia to nearly match the output of a nuclear power plant.
"It's shocking how much potential power is available," said Mr. Darton, who retired in August.
No national figures on environmental violations by data centers are available, but a check of several environmental districts suggests that the centers are beginning to catch the attention of regulators across the country.
Over the past five years in the
Despite all the precautions — the enormous flow of electricity, the banks of batteries and the array of diesel generators — data centers still crash.
Amazon, in particular, has had a series of failures in Northern Virginia over the last several years. One, in May 2010 at a facility in Chantilly, took businesses dependent on Amazon's cloud offline for what the company said was more than an hour — an eternity in the data business.
Pinpointing the cause became its own information glitch.
Amazon announced that the failure "was triggered when a vehicle crashed into a high-voltage utility pole on a road near one of our data centers."
As it turns out, the car accident was mythical, a misunderstanding passed from a local utility lineman to a data center worker to Amazon headquarters. Instead, Amazon said that its backup gear mistakenly shut down part of the data center after what Dominion Virginia Power said was a short on an electrical pole that set off two momentary failures.
Mr. Herdener of Amazon said the backup system had been redesigned, and that "we don't expect this condition to repeat."
The Source of the Problem
Last year in the Northeast, a $1 billion feeder line for the national power grid went into operation, snaking roughly 215 miles from southwestern
The work was financed by millions of ordinary ratepayers. Steven R. Herling, a senior official at PJM Interconnection, a regional authority for the grid, said the need to feed the mushrooming data centers in Northern Virginia was the "tipping point" for the project in an otherwise down economy.
Data centers in the area now consume almost 500 million watts of electricity, said Jim Norvelle, a spokesman for Dominion Virginia Power, the major utility there. Dominion estimates that the load could rise to more than a billion watts over the next five years.
Data centers are among utilities' most prized customers. Many utilities around the country recruit the facilities for their almost unvarying round-the-clock loads. Large, steady consumption is profitable for utilities because it allows them to plan their own power purchases in advance and market their services at night, when demand by other customers plummets.
Mr. Bramfitt, the former utility executive, said he feared that this dynamic was encouraging a wasteful industry to cling to its pedal-to-the-metal habits. Even with all the energy and hardware pouring into the field, others believe it will be a challenge for current methods of storing and processing data to keep up with the digital tsunami.
Some industry experts believe a solution lies in the cloud: centralizing computing among large and well-operated data centers. Those data centers would rely heavily on a technology called virtualization, which in effect allows servers to merge their identities into large, flexible computing resources that can be doled out as needed to users, wherever they are.
One advocate of that approach is Mr. Koomey, the Stanford data center expert. But he said that many companies that try to manage their own data centers, either in-house or in rental spaces, are still unfamiliar with or distrustful of the new cloud technology. Unfortunately, those companies account for the great majority of energy usage by data centers, Mr. Koomey said.
Others express deep skepticism of the cloud, saying that the sometimes mystical-sounding belief in its possibilities is belied by the physicality of the infrastructure needed to support it.
Using the cloud "just changes where the applications are running," said Hank Seader, managing principal for research and education at the Uptime Institute. "It all goes to a data center somewhere."
Some wonder if the very language of the Internet is a barrier to understanding how physical it is, and is likely to stay. Take, for example, the issue of storing data, said Randall H. Victora, a professor of electrical engineering at the
"When somebody says, 'I'm going to store something in the cloud, we don't need disk drives anymore' — the cloud is disk drives," Mr. Victora said. "We get them one way or another. We just don't know it."
Whatever happens within the companies, it is clear that among consumers, what are now settled expectations largely drive the need for such a formidable infrastructure.
"That's what's driving that massive growth — the end-user expectation of anything, anytime, anywhere," said David Cappuccio, a managing vice president and chief of research at Gartner, the technology research firm. "We're what's causing the problem."Continue reading the main story


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Bruce Doscher
Posted by Cycling Shorts. on July 18, 2011 · 1 Comment
Today I spoke to the multi award winning designer, keen cyclist and triathlete Bruce Doscher to chat about his own incredible annual illustration – based Tour de France. Bruce goes through the daily deadline pain barrier to produce a poster for every day of the Tour de France as it happens. Tell me a bit … Continue reading →
Filed under Anna Magrath, Bruce, Competitions & Prize Draws, Cycling Art, Design & Photos, Interviews, Leisure Cycling, Main Menu Bar, Pro Cycling, Road, Urban Cyclist · Tagged with aesthetics, America, Andy Scleck, architecture, art deco, art nouveau, Auckland, award winning, awards, Bruce Doscher, Cadel Evans, Cannes Cyber Lions, Cannondale, Cannondale R700, classic jersey, coffee, Communications Arts Annual, crazy4cult, creative review, Cycling, cycling jersey, cycling kit, cyclist, design, digital, double chocolate muffin, electronic media arts, engineering, Etape, ffffound, Flat White, football, FWA, graphic design, illustraion, illustrator, Ironman, jersey, jersey design, Latte, Long Island, marathon, Mark Cavendish, Montauk, New York, New York Addy, New Zealand, photoshop, poster, posters, road cycling, San Francisco, team kit, The Headlands Loop, Tour de France, triathlete, triathlon, USA, Webby Award, World Cup


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People You Should Know
Advocacy through fashion with the 'Ukay-ukay Diva'
In 2013, 21-year-old Alem Garcia started posting what he called as "diva stuffs" in his Facebook account. To Alem's surprise, the posts succeeded in getting him attention, so that – eventually – it "jumpstarted a whole new identity" as the "Ukay-ukay Diva". And it is now with ukay-ukay that he said he wants to "help advance a feel-good defiance to the standards of gender expression."
In 2013, 21-year-old Alem Garcia started posting what he called as "diva stuffs" in his Facebook account. He dubbed the series as "Diva tips 101." To Alem's surprise, the posts succeeded in getting him attention, so that – eventually – it "jumpstarted a whole new identity".
And so "Ukay-ukay Diva" entered the scene.
Alem – a graduate of an Advertising Arts degree from the University of San Carlos – now continues giving his "Diva tips 101" in his blog and vlog. "(I see this as) more than a passion," he said. Instead, "it's a dream."
Ukay-ukay are, of course, "secondhand items, hand-me-downs, cast-off apparels and fashion accessories that you would not commonly see in average department stores."
Alem believes that these items could showcase one's personality in creative ways.
"I'm a big fashion and style enthusiast," he said. "However, 60% of my clothes are not branded; they came from ukay-ukay."
And it is now with ukay-ukay that he said he wants to "help advance a feel-good defiance to the standards of gender expression." Alem wants to "break standards and forward high levels of self-esteem through clothing regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity."
Alem isn't just into fashion. During his days as a student at the University of San Carlos, he co-founded the Student Advocate for Gender Equality (SAGE), a student organization for LGBT people longing for belongingness. And now, he continues to actively advocate for LGBT rights and welfare in the university as a member of KABATAAN and other student/youth organizations.
As the "Ukay-ukay Diva," he sees his work as something "beyond style inspiration". Instead, it is "as an advocacy to promote and strengthen gender expression – that regardless of a tight budget, you can still fully express yourself," he smiled.
Perhaps also because of his gender expression, Alem is no stranger to discrimination.
But he said that "amid all the obstacles I have experienced, I was still able to emerge as an individual bursting with passion and dreams. That even though I am a (gay), I can still defy all the (odds)."
Alem credits his family and friends for helping him "be true to who I am."
In 2015, Alem was invited to be part of Adober Studios (ABS-CBN's MCN), broadening not only his reach – but perhaps just as importantly, if not even more importantly, the chance to somehow inspire others.
"Never be ashamed," he said; then adding with a laugh, "even if what you have on are from ukay-ukay."
FOLLOW ALEM GARCIA ON IG AND TWITTER (@ukayukaydiva), CHECK HIS FACEBOOK ACCOUNTS (www.facebook.com/RedefiningAlem, www.facebook.com/ukayukaydiva), OR SUBSCRIBE TO HIS YOUTUBE CHANNEL (www.youtube.com/UkayUkayDivaNow).
The lone drag queen
Kenneth Lemuel Esteban interviews Lawrence Villiones, a.k.a. Wire Shun, the 23-year-old lone drag queen of San Jose City, Nueva Ecija, who believes that doing drag is not just a way of expression but is a way of self-empowerment that can also empower other people.
This is part of #KaraniwangLGBT, which Outrage Magazine officially launched on July 26, 2015 to offer vignettes of LGBT people/living, particularly in the Philippines, to give so-called "everyday people" – in this case, the common LGBT people – that chance to share their stories.
As Outrage Magazine editor Michael David C. Tan says: "All our stories are valid – not just the stories of the 'big shots'. And it's high time we start telling all our stories."
"It is very hard to fight for my sexuality and, at the same time, fight for my drag artistry here in the province because most people here are not open enough to understand both."
So said Lawrence Villiones, a.k.a. Wire Shun, the 23-year-old lone drag queen of San Jose City, Nueva Ecija, who continues to experience hardships for being part of the LGBTQIA community and for being a drag artist in the province.
For Lawrence, discrimination happens every day for him as a member of the LGBTQIA community. "On a daily basis, discrimination is inevitable here in the province. You can witness discrimination in public and sometimes even at work."
And as if Lawrence is not oppressed enough because of his sexuality, he is also forced to abstain from being the drag performer – something that he always wanted to become – due to the lack of drag culture, and the knowledge and appreciation of the same in the province.
"Being a drag queen here in the province can get really hard… because we don't have nightclubs and bars that (hire) drag artists for gigs just like in other cities. If there only is a drag culture here in the province, I'd be able to live and enjoy my drag career to the fullest," he said.
Not surprisingly, Lawrence hopes that "someday, I want be able to have a platform to showcase my talent and show the people that I am more than just someone who can do drag make-up. I want to show them that I can also perform. I can also 'lip-sync for my life'."
Lawrence discovered the art of drag when, "I was in high school, I saw 'Rupaul's Drag Race' on TV, and I got curious. I just tried to watch a single episode." Lawrence said that at that moment, "I had zero interest and idea on what drag is. I just got the urge to know more about it."
As soon as he finished college, he tried looking for a hobby, and "I rediscovered drag artistry on social media and I had the time that I didn't have before so I decided to explore more from the world of drag."
Lawrence's drag name is Wire Shun, inspired by his favorite character from a Korean drama that he always watches.
Sometimes, Lawrence wants to go outside as Wire Shun but he can't because "people here in the province might not understand my art." he said. "Most of my neighbors might judge me because of my craft because other than the fact that they don't understand the concept of drag, my drag style is very different and creepy so things might get too overwhelming for them."
Lawrence added that "even my family is not aware that I do drag… No one knows that I do drag and that drag is my passion."
And so for Lawrence, the only way for him to express his artistry is "by performing alone in my room."
His drag style is, "very alternative. I serve looks that are very unique, spooky and sometimes it may even look alien-ish," he said.
Alternative drag is, Lawrence said, not the typical style that other drag artists do. "It is very different from the looks of other mainstream queens appearing on television because those queens are more focused on serving beauty pageant aesthetic and feminine looks. "
For him, "alternative drag on the other hand has no limitations when it comes to expressing your artistry"
Lawrence is very different from his drag persona; they are like a paradox.
Lawrence can be just as "mundane as I could be. I am just a person trapped in what the society expects me to be. I am just an artist looking for a way to express my talent and creativity." When out of drag, "I am just this shy person who lacks a huge deal of confidence." But when he is finally in drag, he can "get very wild and cocky… a complete opposite when he (I am) out of drag."
Lawrence believes that doing drag is not just his outlet and way of expression, but is also his way of self-empowerment with hopes of empowering other people.
Nowadays, people often judge other people through race, size and gender preferences so Lawrence thinks that, "as a member of the LGBT community, we should convey messages of inclusion and diversity." He gushed as he added that for him, "my drag artistry is my way of expression and through my art is how I convey that message to people."
To the aspiring drag queens and artists in general who thinks that they are limited because they are in the province, Lawrence has this to say: "Living in a (non-metropolitan) city is not that big of a deal because no matter where we are, we can showcase our talent and artistry. We just need to learn how to be resourceful. Just unleash your creativity and you can do it no matter who you are. All drag is valid. So just keep on honing your craft and artistry. Let's just live on and keep on learning so that we'll be able to reach our goals in life."
People You Should Know
What it's like to be a lesbian artist in this generation
Meet Pixie Labrador, an openly lesbian singer/songwriter, who laments the under-representation of lesbians in the music industry, which is unfortunate because she believes that music can help mainstream discussion of LGBTQIA issues. "Lesbians get invalidated, discriminated and fetishized because of who we choose to love, and it's disappointing to know that… some people would choose to overlook the passion and dedication we've put into honing our art," she says.
"Lesbian artists in the Philippines are not being represented enough. In fact, if I'm being honest, it would've taken me a while to name a few at the top of my head, which is alarming and something I'm not proud of. It's a shame because we are part of such a talented, inspiring community, and very few people recognize it."
That, according to Pixie Labrador, is the current state of representation of lesbian artists in the Philippines.
And for her, this is bad because "lesbians get invalidated, discriminated and fetishized because of who we choose to love, and it's disappointing to know that the close-mindedness of some people would choose to overlook the passion and dedication we've put into honing our art."
Pixie is an openly lesbian singer/songwriter, with over 9,095 monthly listeners on Spotify. Her most popular song on Spotify – "What's it Like" – is about unrequited love, but uses just the right amount of pronouns for fans to openly identify her pride on her gender identity. The same song – which has a stanza that goes: "And I know from a distance| That I can't compare | To the burn in her eyes | Or the love that she bears | It's too much to hand over | But you never cared | For as long as your heart was with her" – is also included on her first album, "Does It Hurt"".
"Sometimes people would assume that in my music, I'm talking about being in love with a man (even) when the pronouns I use are very clear in the lyrics of the song," Pixie quipped. "It's another case of heteronormativity and invalidation, and It needs to be stopped."
Being a lesbian "kind of" affects her craft/music, Pixie said, "in the sense that my music is heavily targeted towards the queer community, and it's mostly based off of my personal experiences on loving other women." However – and Pixie stressed this – "although I feel that rather than saying 'being a lesbian' is affecting my music, it's really more of just me being my genuine self, if that makes sense. Like, I don't write because I'm a lesbian. I'll write what I feel and think regardless of what I identify as, simply because it's something I love to do."
But by and large, for Pixie, sexuality does not really matter when creating music.
"That's the great thing about art: anyone can make it, and it's so expressive and limitless. I don't think it would make sense to have sexuality matter in making music. I feel like it disregards people who are questioning or unsure of their own sexuality, as well as people who just don't give a damn about labels, which is also entirely valid. It just so happens that I have a specific style of writing that touches on my sexuality, but it doesn't mean everyone has to do it that way. Basically, you don't have to question yourself to make music. Just do it."
Pixie is actually fortunate that "my audience, my family, and my friends have all been so accepting and supportive of me… When I started writing more frequently, and was trying to find my own unique style, writing in regards to loving as a lesbian just came so naturally to me. I published 'Maybe' and the response was so overwhelming. I didn't realize how many people I've helped with just one song. So after that, there was a click in my head that made me think: 'This is what people need: LGBT representation by LGBT creators.' So I wanted to give exactly that. Eventually, my fans started giving me nicknames like 'Lesbian Queen', 'WLW Icon', 'Queen of The Gays', and things like that. It's because of them that it kind of became my branding. My family seems to recognize this too, and they're all for it as well. My parents show their support by coming to whatever gigs they possibly can, even though they're heard me live dozens of times. I feel really blessed."
Pixie is also "lucky enough to not have experienced discrimination during gigs, and hopefully I never will. Most of the gigs I've been to were at safe spaces, and I'm glad I can feel comfortable working with trustworthy organizations, and in certain venues."
Pixie recognizes, however, that the struggle of the LGBTQIA community particularly locally is far from over.
"There is still so, so much we need to fight for before we can even get close to the kind of acceptance we hope to achieve. Every time I think we're getting closer to our goal, I would see something on social media, like a news headline, about something terrible that's happened to someone in the community. It's truly devastating," she said.
But for Pixie, "the LGBT community is really the strongest bunch of individuals that I know. Despite the challenges that come with being our true selves, we push through every day, 365 days a year. We might not be where we want to be right now, but I know our struggles will all be worth it someday."
And how does Pixie use her platform as an artist to help the LGBTQIA community?
"I'd like to think that as an I artist, I touch on topics that are very real and relatable, especially to people who are still figuring themselves out. It's actually quite cliché when you think about it. 'Maybe' is about falling in love with your best friend. 'For You' is about being in love. 'What's It Like' and 'Use Me' are about unrequited love. It's not all that different from mainstream media. When it comes to my writing, I don't talk about the LGBT community in such an 'in your face' kind of way; but it's more of using real, firsthand experiences to make unaccepting people realize we're not as alien as they think we are. We are capable of feeling what they do, and we deserve to be loved just as much as them. I think this whole thing also applies to the community itself. By writing about these things so casually, I'm putting out a message that basically says 'Hey, I'm gay, and it's okay to talk about it.'"
And so, as an openly lesbian singer/songwriter, "to me, it feels really empowering to be fighting for equally every single day, and with every song that I write and put out into the world. It's so heartwarming to see milestones of the LGBT community being recognized – like the recent legalization of same-sex marriage in Taiwan, or the Metro Manila Pride March reaching over 70,000 attendees, for example. In a more personal case, I've gotten messages from listeners saying that my music has given them the courage to come out, or has just helped them through difficult times in general. There may be pitfalls every now and then, but I do strongly believe that we are progressing towards a more love-filled world; and it's a nice feeling to think that I am and always will be a part of what made that happen."
But it wouldn't hurt if – as she earlier mentioned – lesbian artists in the Philippines start getting being represented enough.
"It would be nice if the media (shone) light on a more diverse range of lesbian artists. Like people of different skin tones, different body types, different ethnicities, et cetera. Because there's no right or wrong way to 'look like' or 'be' a lesbian. It doesn't have to feel so limiting," she said. "Plus, there may be a number of under-appreciated but extremely talented lesbian role models whom the world needs to know about."
But at least for now, her music is helping fill a void as Pixie Labrador continues to be a lesbian artist particularly in this generation.
Pinoy wins Mr. Gay World 2019
John Jeffrey Carlos won as Mr. Gay World 2019, the second time the title went to the Philippines (and Asia).
Pinoy rainbow pride.
John Jeffrey Carlos won as Mr. Gay World 2019, the second time the title went to the Philippines (and Asia).
The 41-year-old local of General Trias, Cavite is not new to pageantry, first trying his luck to represent the country in the same pageant in 2016. He placed fourth runner-up then, losing to John Raspado, who ended up winning the first Mr. Gay World title for the country.
Carlos is actually also already relatively known in various circles – e.g. in Facebook and Instagram, where his repeatedly "liked" photos range from showcasing living a luxurious lifestyle in Manila, traveling from one country to another, flexing his muscles during a workout, or wearing swimming trunks and posing provocatively for no other reason but to satisfy the fantasies of his social media followers.
Carlos – who obtained his bachelor's degree in hotel and restaurant management at the Cavite State University, where he also played for the men's varsity volleyball team – also appeared in some movies directed by the late Wenn Deramas, such as "Moron 5.2: The Transformation" (2014) and "Wang Fam" (2015).
"When it comes to pageantry, the best trait of Filipino representatives [in general] is they always surprise people with their biggest ideas, just like what Catriona Gray did [in Miss Universe]," he said to Outrage Magazine in an earlier interview.
Perhaps typical of many beauty titlists who are new to their advocacies, Carlos only recently partnered wth Mental Health PH, an organization that promotes awareness about mental health through social media, a few days after winning the Mr. Fahrenheit 2019 title.
All the same, he said that "I think it's a very good platform for me to push my advocacy, as it is very timely and relevant, especially with the LGBTQI community… We've heard so much about mental health issues and things are getting worse. In my own little way, I want to spread awareness about depression, so people will know what to do in case they feel some of the symptoms of this mental illness, affecting us and our loved ones."
As Carlos wears the second Mr. Gay World title for the Philippines, he stressed: "We have to reach out to people with depression. Together, we can turn this illness to wellness."
Carlos – who competed with 21 other contestants in Cape Town, South Africa – has a partner and they've been living together for the past seven years.
People You Should Know
Overcome doubts to be happier version of yourself, says gay Ateneo grad who topped 2018 bar exams
Openly gay, Atty. Sean James Borja obtained the highest score of 89.3060%, leading the 1,800 aspiring lawyers who passed the bar exams.
"Definitely there were a lot of times I doubted myself but I'm happy to say that I did overcome those doubts and insecurities and I'm just happy to be me right now."
These are the words of now Atty. Sean James Borja, an Ateneo de Manila University alumnus, who topped the 2018 bar exams.
Openly gay, Borja obtained the highest score of 89.3060%, leading the 1,800 aspiring lawyers who passed the bar exams.
Interviewed by ABS-CBN News Channel following the Supreme Court's announcement of the results of the 2018 bar exam, Borja was asked if he had ever felt that "being gay did not make you worthy to follow your aspirations."
Borja was quoted as saying that "definitely… I guess especially during grade school — you know how grade school is like when you're being bullied for being different and it was during that time… where you think you're not good enough to be at the top; to be a lawyer to fulfill your dreams just because of who you are."
When Borja delivered his valedictory address for class 2018 of the Ateneo Law School, Borja actually talked about his being part of the LGBTQIA community.
The rest of the top 10 are:
- Marcley Augustus Natu-el, University of San Carlos, 87.53%
- Mark Lawrence Badayos, University of San Carlos, 85.842%
- Daniel John Fordan, Ateneo de Manila University, 85.443%
- Katrina Monica Gaw, Ateneo de Manila University, 85.421%
- Nadaine Tongco, University of the Philippines, 85.032%
- Patricia Sevilla, University of the Philippines, 84.859%
- Kathrine Ting, De La Salle University-Manila, 84.857%
- Jebb Lynus Cane, University of San Carlos, 84.805%
- Alan Joel Pita, University of San Carlos, 84.693%
The 2018 bar exam posted a passing rate of 22.07%, which is lower than the previous year's passing rate of 25.5%.
People You Should Know
John Jeffrey Carlos eyes Mr. Gay World 2019 title in South Africa
A closer look at John Jeffrey Carlos, a 41-year-old realtor and online entrepreneur from Cavite, who will compete with 24 other gay men in the 11th installment of Mr. Gay World contest in Cape Town, South Africa.
It may be difficult to fill the void left by John Raspado, who won the country's first Mr. Gay World title in Maspalomas, Spain two years ago because the original always seems better; and to keep pace with him, the next Filipino Mr. Gay World aspirant needs to be worth twice as much.
When John Jeffrey Carlos first tried his luck in Mr. Gay World Philippines pageant back in October 2016, he was deemed by the pageants fans and pundits as "the one who would make the others compete harder." Prior to the competition, he was already known to some circles via Facebook and Instagram, with repeatedly "liked" photos ranging from living a luxurious lifestyle in Manila, traveling from one country to another, flexing his muscles during a workout, or wearing swimming trunks and posing provocatively for no other reason but to satisfy the fantasies of his social media followers.
But the judges that time didn't give this flawless-skinned gay hunk from General Trias, Cavite high enough scores to enter the final round of the competition. "Janjep" (his nickname) finished in fourth place. It was Raspado, a native of Baguio City, who walked away with the top plum. He would later on become the Philippines' first Mr. Gay World victor, in Maspalomas, Spain.
Fast forward to the present and Carlos was teary eyed while thanking everyone who attended his send-off press conference arranged by Mr. Gay World Philippines national director Wilbert Tolentino, at The One 690 Entertainment Bar in Quezon City. Winning the Mr. Fahrenheit search three weeks ago gave him the golden-ticket opportunity to wear the Philippine sash in Mr. Gay World 2019 in Cape Town, South Africa between April 28 and May 5.
Mr. Gay World, a "four-day challenge" founded by Australia-based philanthropist Eric Butter, is now on its 11th year of determining which cisgender gay man supposedly best represents his national spirit while serving as an ambassador for LGBTQI rights worldwide.
Carlos, a realtor, online entrepreneur and "cyber star" from General Trias, Cavite, who is already 41 years old, will be competing with 24 other gay men to be the successor of Jordan Bruno, a 26-year-old Australian reality TV chef, cookbook author and owner of an LGBTQI cooking school.
Though Carlos wants to replicate Raspado's historic feat, he said to Outrage Magazine that he's uncomfortable being likened to the titlist.
"When it comes to pageantry, the best trait of Filipino representatives [in general] is they always surprise people with their biggest ideas, just like what Catriona Gray did [in Miss Universe]. Perhaps I'll just take my inspiration from her. It's like from day one, she's [already] a fighter… I will surprise them with my ideas, like what she did, from what she wore, from the way she spoke, everything… well-planned. That's how I prepared, with the help of my mentor and our national director, boss Wilbert, and Sir Rodgil Flores of the Kagandahang Flores camp. They really groomed me for Mr. Gay World 2019."
Without revealing what he would be wearing during the preliminaries and coronation night, he – nonetheless – named those who helped him: Albert Andrada, the designer behind the iconic royal blue evening gown of Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach, provided his formal wear; Razen Montero, for his national costume; and Domz Ramos, the official swimwear designer of Binibining Pilipinas pageant, for his swimwear.
And if Gray has "lava walk" and "slow-motion twirl," Carlos has the "baklava walk".
Carlos obtained his bachelor's degree in hotel and restaurant management at the Cavite State University, where he also played for the men's varsity volleyball team.
Striking the ball before it touches the ground gave him everything—his education was paid for, along with his food and board. It also gave him a support group—teammates and coaching staff who all wanted him to succeed and strive for excellence, in and out of the court.
After he got out of school, started working, paying for his own expenses and providing for his family, he realized how incredible it is to graduate not owing any money.
He also appeared in some movies directed by the late Wenn Deramas, such as "Moron 5.2: The Transformation" (2014) and "Wang Fam" (2015).
Carlos has a partner and they've been living together for the past seven years. And even if he's openly gay, there are still women who get attracted to him. "There were cases wherein some of them were very vocal about their feelings toward me. But I never concealed 'the real me' ever since. They tell me they know that I'm gay, so I don't have to explain myself," he said with a wide smile.
If his Mr. Gay World Philippines predecessors focused their respective reigns on HIV prevention, de-stigmatization and care, Carlos is taking a different route.
"My advocacy focuses on fighting depression, through my #IllnessToWellnessCampaign," he said.
A few days after he won as Mr. Fahrenheit 2019, he partnered with Mental Health PH, an organization that promotes awareness about mental health through social media.
"I think it's a very good platform for me to push my advocacy, as it is very timely and relevant, especially with the LGBTQI community… We've heard so much about mental health issues and things are getting worse. In my own little way, I want to spread awareness about depression, so people will know what to do in case they feel some of the symptoms of this mental illness, affecting us and our loved ones."
A month before joining Mr. Fahrenheit, Carlos traveled to South Africa. It included a trip to a psychiatric rehabilitation facility catering to impoverished communities.
"I had a chance to visit Cape Mental Health and I saw the situation there. We have to be informed. We have to reach out to people with depression. Together, we can turn this illness to wellness. I'm happy to come back in Cape Town, as I am now more familiar with the port city as well as with the people's way of living."
Tolentino was the first Filipino to compete in the inaugural edition of Mr. Gay World, in Whistler, Canada in 2009. He topped the sports challenge and harvested the Best in National Costume, Best in Formal Wear and Mr. Gay Popularity special awards. He received the local franchise for the Mr. Gay World pageant in 2016, after it was held by Noemi Alberto since its inception a decade ago.
Under his management, the Filipino representatives' standings in Mr. Gay World improved: Christian Lacsamana, a 30-year-old public high school teacher from San Fernando City, Pampanga, topped the online voting, named Mister Social Media, won the Best in National Costume award, and placed second runner-up to Roger Gosalbez Pitaluga of Spain in April 2016. Raspado, a 36-year-old online entrepreneur of health supplements from Baguio City, made history by becoming the first Filipino and 100% Asian to win the title in May 2017.
But Tolentino shocked Mr. Gay World Philippines devotees when he announced his resignation as national director two months after Raspado won. Coming from a very conservative Filipino-Chinese upbringing, he wanted to spend time with his parents, especially with his aging father, as well as to focus on his then newly born son.
But "a few months back this year, I dreamt that the Philippines will have three consecutive wins in Mr. Gay World. That prompted me to once again assume the national directorship [for Mr. Gay World]. And this year, we are very proud to say that we have the best delegate. I promised that as national director, I would do my very best in preparing Janjep for his international competition."
Mr. Gay World 2019's roster also includes Australia's Rad Mitic, 36, business development manager; Nick Van Vooren, a 22-year-old polyvalent caregiver from Belgium; Botswana's Oratile Victor Phofhedi, 26, chef and book author; Raphael dos Anjos, a 31-year-old Brazilian teacher and sign language interpreter; Canada's Josh Rimer, 41, travel vlogger, show host and producer for national LGBT TV station OUTv; Carlos Navarro, a 30-year-old sexual diversity and gender equity activist from Chile; Costa Rica's Marko Soto, a 25-year-old Greek immigrant, veterinary student and gay rights activist; Ismo Poutiainen, 35, hairdresser from Finland; Germany's Marcel Danner, 30, marketing officer for an art house cinema group and crowd funding campaigner; Oliver Pusztai, gay rights activist and lifestyle blogger from Hungary; India's Suresh Ramdas, a 37-year-old information technology executive; and Guilherme Souza, 25, writer for Gay Community News national monthly free gay magazine in Ireland.
Japan's Tiger Shigetake, 21, multilingual gay rights activist, motivational speaker and international business student; Kaleb Omar, a 30-year-old international business graduate, professional model and sports coordinator from Mexico; Namibia's Rivelino Reinecke, 21, gay rights activist and law student; Nick Francis, a 27-year-old Samoan immigrant who is an ambassador for New Zealand's Aids Foundation; Panama's Iann Carlos Jean, 25, entrepreneur; Jorge Seminario, 28, management officer for an international tourism company in Peru; South Africa's Chris Emmanuel, a 42-year-old fitness buff and gym owner who champions the need for wider acceptance of the LGBT community; Francisco Alvarado, 29, physician from Spain; Taiwan's Colin Lu, a 27-year-old health and fitness professional; Chayodhom Samibat, 35, personal trainer, chef and mixologist from Thailand; and Walter Moreno, a 24-year-old model and surfer for Venezuela's national team.
Filipinos can help Carlos win the Mister Gay World Internet Popularity special award to advance in the semifinal round, by visiting https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xvgcps7X34Y and clicking the thumbs up button below the video; they can also register and cast their votes 10 times every 24 hours via https://mrgayworld.com/vote/ until 5:59 a.m. of May 4, Saturday (Manila time).
Mr. Gay World 2019 finals will be held at the Cape Town City Hall in Cape Town, South Africa, and will be streamed live via the organization's official Facebook page and YouTube channel on May 5, Sunday, 1 a.m. (Manila time).
Gay in the highlands
What is it like to be gay and belong to an ethnic tribe in the Philippines? For Romnick Ampi, he only knew of acceptance and being encouraged to live a better life, showing that LGBTQIA people can achieve more. And he hopes for this to be the general concept – i.e. that looking down on LGBTQIA people stop to focus on what they can achieve in life.
This is part of #KaraniwangLGBT, which Outrage Magazine officially launched on July 26, 2015 to offer vignettes of LGBT people/living, particularly in the Philippines, to give so-called "everyday people" – in this case, the common LGBT people – that chance to share their stories.
As Outrage Magazine editor Michael David C. Tan says: "All our stories are valid – not just the stories of the 'big shots'. And it's high time we start telling all our stories."
Romnick Ampi, 27, from Barangay Meohao in Sitio Palusok at the foot of Mount Apo in Mindanao, was in elementary school ("Around 12 years old") when he knew he's gay/a member of the LGBTQIA community.
"At that time," he said, "hindi ko maiwasan magkagusto sa kapuwa ko gender (I couldn't help myself from getting attracted to other men)."
At first, Romnick thought that what he was feeling wasn't real. "But I observed that what I really feel for men is different. Yung puso ko ay parang puso pa rin ng babae (Like heterosexual women, I was attracted to men)."
But – belonging to the Manobo ethnic tribe (his mother is Visayan, while my father is Diangan) – Romnick said he only knew of acceptance.
"Yes, I told my family about me being gay. They did not have bad reactions. I am happy that they even support what I do. They particularly support my means of living that is aligned with my being part of the LGBTQIA community," he said.
Romnick noted – and stressed – that "nirerespeto po nila gaya ng pagrerespeto nila sa kaloikasan atsaka ng mga ninuno. So sa tao po, nirerespeto nila kung ano po ang LGBT (members of our tribe respect LGBTQIA people, just as they respect nature and our ancestors. They respect people, including LGBTQIA people)," he said. "We are not discouraged to live as LGBTQIA people," even if part of this acceptance is anchored in the stereotypical expectation that LGBTQIA people (gay men and trans women, in particular) "bring… happiness particularly during local celebrations."
This acceptance makes Meohao an ideal place for Romnick. In fact, he said, if one goes even higher in mountainous areas, it's common to see members of the LGBTQIA community. "And even when I go to more mountainous areas, no one is surprised with a gay man like me. No one there bullies people with the same gender as me."
Not surprisingly, "ang feeling ko ay happy, sa tingin ko ay walang kalungkutan na mangyayari ditto sa Meohao dahil nakita ko naman na ang lugar na ito ay peaceful at mapagmahal yung mga tao (I feel happy here; I feel that there's no sadness here. The place is peaceful. And people here are loving/accepting)," he said.
Romnick's family was originally from Davao, but because of his father's belonging to the Manobo tribe, they moved to Meohao.
Romnick has four siblings; he is the only one who goes to school. "All the others stopped going to school because of financial issues," he said. "This is why I am studying hard so I can graduate and then be able to help them. I particularly want to help my siblings make a living."
Romnick currently takes up Bachelor of Science in Food Technology at the University of Southern Mindanao, a course that is in line with his field of interest – i.e. events organizing.
"Perhaps this is also God's gift to me – to take a course that is in line with the skills I now have," he said.
Now moonlighting as an events organizer, Romnick had an early start working. "I discovered I have skills in organizing events when I was still in elementary school. While watching my teachers do the decorating in school events, such as the closing ceremonies, they told me to give decorating a try," he said.
And nowadays, "per event, I earn from P5,000 – at least for the smaller events."
Now single, Romnick said that not having a boyfriend is, for now, ideal. "Mas mabuti yung wala pa akong jowa para makapag-focus ako sa family ko at sa sarili ko (This way I can focus on my family and myself)."
To people who belittle LGBTQIA people, Romnick said "don't look down on us."
For him, LGBTQIA people thrive – and this is even if they are not supported by their parents/families. "Because LGBTQIA people are skillful. They will find ways to make a living," he said. "I'm seeing it now in the world, and for myself, that LGBTQIA people can do good things even if they're (just) LGBTQIA people."
This is also what he eyes to do in life: Do acts so that others to see that not all gay men are weak, that gay people are also skilled. "What heterosexual people can do, LGBTQIA people can do, too."
Particularly for younger LGBTQIA people, Romnick advised: "Huwag kayong huminto o huwag kayong ma-discourage kahit sa ano man yung sasabihin ng ibang tao. Dahil hindi nila alam ano ang feelings ninyo as… LGBT. At ipagpapatuloy ninyo dahil alam ko sa bandang huli… and Panginoon nga may plano sa ating lahat (Not to stop being who they are; or be discouraged because of what other people say. These people do not know what you feel as LGBTQIA people. So just continue being who you are because I know that in the end, God has plans for all of us)."


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Iranian emigres Niyaz are based in Turkey these days. Here performing the Kurdish song Sosin in Guanajuato, Mexico:
It is currently Sun Dec 15, 2019 10:14 pm
Chris P wrote:Kara Gunes (Black Sun), a great band, also a street band in a different incarnation, and a largish venue filler in other repertoire:
Chris P wrote:Same song - Koyma Beni (Place Me? Put Me?), in street version & different instrumentation
Don't miss these last 2 postings, they're the real thing, if you're so inclined
Chris P wrote:Kalan picking up and giving the gold star treatment to more music that's been out on the street:
Sedat Anar (peace be on him):
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Best Chiropractic For Knee Pain Holiday Hill, Florida
Knee pain is an increasingly more common problem in our society and as a result we see more and more patients with knee problems in our centers. Therefore to resolve the Best Chiropractic For Knee Pain may also treat other areas, to maximize long-term improvement. One big reason is if the knee pain is severe enough to limit your ability to function normally in daily life. Each stride you take when running can place up to 550% more force on your knee than just standing, so whether you are running, playing soccer, walking, dancing, or hiking, all that force can wear on the structures of your knee.
This training gives patients the confidence that their doctor is providing thorough chiropractic knee pain relief. Football and hockey players often incur these kinds of injuries, which are frequently accompanied by a pop sound followed by a buckling of the knee sideways. Your Doctor of Chiropractic can accurately diagnose and treat chondromalacia patella using therapeutic ultrasound and gentle chiropractic adjustments to the knee. Of course, once they injure their knees, they become all too aware of just the amount of load the knee is expected to bear.
How can Holiday Hill, Florida chiropractic help with knee pain?
All usual everyday activity such as bending down to carry a box or bag, getting on a bus, climbing the stairs or just getting out of your car can be so tough if you are having knee pain which definitely affects your ability to function correctly. The three most common knee injuries occur at the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), the medial collateral ligament (MCL) and the meniscus. Symptoms are exacerbated with sporting activities that involve jumping (basketball, volleyball, running) and/or on direct contact (e.g., kneeling). It also keeps your femur (thighbone) and tibia (shinbone) from grinding against each other.
Even impact sports, which are often thought to cause knee pain, may actually prevent knee osteoarthritis, when training is not done to excess. Overuse can cause the tendon to stretch like a rubber band, later becoming inflamed. A Duval County, Florida Chiropractor will address the issues in and around the knee from the pain, but will also investigate if other alignment issues in other areas of the body may actually be the true cause of the knee pain, or at least contributing to it. Chiropractic treatment may involve spinal adjustments, joint manipulation, stretches, exercises and advice on footwear or orthotics that will address the cause of your knee pain and start you on the road to healing.
Is chiropractic care expensive in Holiday Hill, Florida?
A chiropractor in Holiday Hill can work with you on correcting poor habits and maintaining optimum posture. This critical joint is located next to the spine and connects the sacrum (the triangular bone at the bottom of the spine) with the illium (pelvic bones). The over-use stress and jarring of routine running activities coupled with a poor tracking ability of the kneecap will wear down and inflame the knee joint cartilage. Too many folks unfortunately don't know that their knee hurts because it is wearing out or is overly tight, misaligned and weak, and simply needs to be adjusted, strengthened and naturally stabilized, not drugged or operated on.
Knee pain is a highly common complaint among Americans – especially those who are active in sports or are victims of repetitive use injuries. There are many causes of knee pain, including arthritis, inflammation, and injuries to the connective tissues. As chiropractors we take a comprehensive medical history and perform a thorough physical and biomechanical examination in order to make an accurate diagnosis – without an accurate diagnosis, the treatment will not be successful. Knee pain definitely has a negative effect on your ability to function optimally.
Find a chiropractor near you:
- Sundown Estates Mobile Home Park
- Hogan
- Oakwood Villa
- Southside Estates
- Killarney Shores
- Azalea Terrace
- Spring Glen
- Pineland Gardens
How to choose the right chiropractic clinic Holiday Hill, Florida?
There are many causes of knee dysfunction, most of which are treatable with conservative care such as chiropractic manipulation, myofascial release, and rehabilitation. This can put unusual torque and stress on your knee leading to friction on the joint itself and tightness and inefficient use of the muscles around the knee like the IT band, quads, and hamstrings. Obesity or excess weight, or repetitive stress injuries from sports, are the culprits most of the time. Your knee symptoms can include pain, swelling, stiffness, or locking joints. Athletic knee injuries are common in sports like basketball, football, and running.
Your Doctor of Chiropractic in Holiday Hill, Florida 32216 can perform a thorough consultation and examination to determine the best treatment options for your knee osteoarthritis. Another case report in the December 2010 issue of the Journal of Chiropractic Medicine discussed a 60-year-old woman with a medial meniscus tear to the left knee. Chiropractic gives the best chiropractic care that continuously provides more relief in lesser visits.


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Tips, Tricks & Techniques to Improve Your Photography
The top online guide to digital & conventional photography
PhotographyTips.com is for everyone with an interest in photography. It is intended to help beginners get started in photography, and become so good at it that they turn into advanced amateurs. Accomplished photographers will also find useful photography tips and hints here.
This great photography information site has been praised by the British Broadcasting Corporation (the BBC), Australian National Radio and in numerous publications around the world. It was selected as a prestigious Hot Site by USAToday. It was featured by the Kim Komando Radio Show as one of its Kool Sites to Visit, and has been extolled in PC World magazine and on PC World.com. Many well-known organizations, internationally and here at home, have had good things to say about PhotographyTips.com. Check out our credentials.
MEMBERS - Login here or click on the Member Login button on left to log in.
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Learn from experience: Drop into our online discussion Forums. Share your comments, questions, experience and knowledge with other viewers. Bring up a subject, ask a question that has been troubling you, and you will be sure to draw out people who have been there, done that, and who have something valuable to say about it. You can even pick a cartoon character to reflect your personality from our "author's icon" selection. Never used a forum? It's easy. Just log in here, and you're on your way. We're all students, and this is the place for us to talk to each other.
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Do you need photography goods and services? Find the service or product you've been looking for, or perhaps you should list your business with us if you have something of value to offer our viewers. List now. Models can list for free at any time.
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Materials & Coatings
Rolled Alloys Expands Portfolio via UK Acquisition
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Friday, May 1, 2009
Rolled Alloys, Temperance, MI, a provider of heat- and corrosion-resistant alloys and branded stainless steels, has acquired Weir Materials, Manchester, England. The new company, RA Materials, will offer Weir's Zeron 100 alloy, a high-strength corrosion-resistant super-duplex stainless steel. Zeron 100—25 Cr, 7 Ni, 3.5 Mo—is supplied as seamless and welded pipe, butt-weld fittings, forged flanges, plates, bars and welding consumables. It's also available as custom-made pipes, tubes, fittings, forgings, wires, fasteners and machined parts to order. It is used in the oil and gas, desalination, chemical processing, pollution control and mining industries.
Rolled Alloys: 734/847-9424; www.rolledalloys.com
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By completing your order, you understand that the products(s) you are purchasing are U.S. models and may have power / voltage requirements different from that of your country.
Prices shown in currencies other than US Dollars are estimates based on current exchange rates. We will charge your credit card in US Dollars on the day your order is shipped, and the conversion to your local currency will be done at the prevailing rate by your credit card issuer.
PSSL will not mark your parcel as a "gift", declare a value lower than the actual price paid, or otherwise prepare false customs information.
The Shure ULXD2 is a handheld wireless transmitter compatible with ULX-D Digital Wireless Systems. With a rugged yet lightweight aluminum body and integrated antenna, the ULXD2 delivers uncompromising audio quality and RF performance, AES 256-bit encryption for secure transmission, and advanced rechargeability options for professional sound reinforcement applications.
This handheld transmitter includes a Beta 57A microphone capsule.Features:
Most wireless mics are available in a range of frequencies. If you are planning on using multiple receivers in your system, call one of our product specialist today to help you choose frequency ranges that won't interfere with each other.


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Quick Search: Choose Model and Year, then enter search topic.
Page: 56
Displaying the phonebook
Calling a phonebook entry
Sending a vCard
You can send phonebook entries directly as vCards. A vCard is an "electronic visiting card" that a recipient can accept directly into their phonebook.
List of previous calls
The Previous calls telephone function
automatically stores the numbers of the last 25
calls you made.
The PCM can distinguish 5 different cell phones in connection with this. If a cell phone known to the PCM is connected, the last telephone numbers dialed with the PCM are displayed for this device. If one of the telephone numbers matches an entry from your phonebook, the name of the person called is displayed instead of the telephone number.
Displaying the list
Calling a number from the list of previous calls
Storing a number from the list of previous calls in the phonebook
This function is only available when there is a SIM card inserted.


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What does the name Zarmineh mean? Find out below.
I do not know how you feel about it, but you were a male in your last earthly incarnation. You were born somewhere around the territory of Bulgaria approximately on 1775. Your profession was sailor and shoemaker.
As an inquisitive and inventive person, you liked to get to the very bottom of things and to rummage in books. Talent for drama, natural born actor. Your lesson - to learn discretion and reason and then teach others to do that. Your life will be happier, when you help those who lack reasoning.


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"Normal's so boring. That was much more fun." - Kittrina on why she prefers to enter via window rather than use the door like a "normal" cat-person.
With the recent spate of "support this Filmation character for MotUC" threads, and she having made it to the final ten in the "off-limits" MotUC 90-to-1 (over staple "we want THIS one" characters like Lizard Man, Strongarm and Icer), I thought it was time the thief and titular feline from "The Cat and the Spider" got her own thread!


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Adventure Power conventional motorcycle batteries combine time-tested technology with modern manufacturing processes, resulting in unparalleled reliability at an affordable price. Adventure Power batteries feature high cranking amps, superior vibration resistance, and minimal maintenance. Primary Applications: Motorcycle.
- Polypropylene case and cover has superior resistance to gasoline and oil, withstands extreme weather conditions
- Poly-seal terminal seal eliminates acid seepage reducing corrosion and extending battery life
- Dry-charged plates retain 70-80 percentage state of charge when initially filled with acid
- High cranking amps
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Arcade Fire "Reflektor"
Arcade Fire changes direction with a danceable album that matches rock and funk influences from the 1970s with a new interest in global music.
When the Canadian indie-rock band Arcade Fire won the Grammy Award for album of the year in 2011 it came as a shock for band members and for mainstream America. "Who?" was the prevailing response from the public. "Us?" was the response from the band. The Suburbs deserved the accolades. It is an incisive examination of social class and mores set to a rock anthem soundtrack. It would have been an easy choice for the band to rest on its laurels and repeat the pattern, but easy isn't a word associated with these musicians.
For its follow-up Arcade Fire took influences as diverse as the film, Black Orpheus, the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, rara rhythms, and 1970s rock and funk. Lead vocalist Win Butler and fellow band member and wife Regine Chassagne traveled to Haiti, the country of her family's origin. Picking up on the sounds of their new surroundings, the pair began exploring Haiti's musical culture. In a recent interview Butler reported, "Going to Haiti for the first time with Regine was the beginning of a major change in the way that I thought about the world."
Reflektor "reflects" that thought process as Butler switches gear from heavy rock anthem to danceable tracks that often find synthesizer trumping guitar Haitian percussionists don't override the band's more traditional rock drumming style, but they do off-set it. "Flashbulb Lights" shimmers with island rhythms and marimba. "Here Comes the Nighttime" takes off at breakneck speed, then settles into a rara beat. Here the band lyrically picks up the flavor of the Haitian streets. "You Already Know" showcases the band's signature sound while adding guitar riffs that could have been lifted from a Smiths' recording. "It's Never Over" brings to mind mid-80s Cure. There are so many new elements woven into the mix that you might want to keep a score card near. Shreds of Stones-like funk, Talking Heads-esque production, and a good dose of glam rock, including the very Bowie-esque title track – which features the backing vocals of the White Duke, himself.
The band began recording the album in Louisiana, then later traveled to Jamaica and New York to complete the project. James Murphy, the force behind LCD Sound System, acts as producer. His hand in production can best be picked up on the dance-oriented tracks. Win Butler's vocals still hold center stage but Chassagne is featured prominently throughout. Lyrically Butler continues to express tensions between competing aspects of life's challenges and expectations.
Reflektor has already won comparisons to great albums including Radio Heads' Ok Computer, Bowie's Low, The Talking Heads' Remain In Light, and the Rolling Stones' Exile On Main Street. Perhaps this album will become a reference point for future albums – ones that reflect a new musical categorization that I'll call "Global Glam."
Rosemary Welsch (Afternoon Mix)


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Uniclectica Antiques & Collectibles Online
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The World in Photos According to Kathy Griffin
Hey bitches and Kath-eters alike, I'm the new intern at Gawker. Here's my first journalistic assignment. Enjoy these photo captions. Oh, I'm on an Ambien, Adderall & the world's last remaining Quaalude.
"Woohoo! I AM a goddess. Look, he finally took a shower. He has a collar shirt on and EVERYTHING!!!" [Image via INF]
"Oh crap, I guess I shouldn't be trying to steal this new Mercedes with this blue wig on. Everyone's LOOKING!" [Image via INF]
"Reminder to self: return this tank top I'm wearing to Miley, as she would def see it as an Oscar dress contender." [Image via Pacific Coast News]
"Excuse me, sir?? I'm at my own movie premiere and I'm not sure how to pronounce my own last name. Any ideas??" [Image via Getty]
If that was my dad, I'd be really embarrassed. [Image via Pacific Coast News]
"Is this daisy covering my no no parts? Because some one behind me thinks me a virgin. Shhhhh." [Image via Getty]
If there's a god in heaven, the blond is Debbie Reynolds and these two are about five minutes away from a girl fight."[Image via Bauer-Griffin]
"I can't scream in to Jake Gyllenhaal's cock anymore, so this microphone will have to do." [Image via Bauer-Griffin]
Stiffler's Mom gets de-flowered...again. For the last time...honest. [Image via Getty]


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A perfect blend of immense resources, choice and unique style; an exclusive decoration for any room can be acquired. However, there are some common decorating mistakes that you must avoid. No matter, it is a traditional decor, casual decor or kid's room; here, we have listed a few sterling tips that you must follow for avoiding decoration disaster.
Do not choose over-sized furniture:
When it comes to shopping for outfits, you get conscious of the size. You do not buy a dress that doesn't fit you. Akin to this, do not buy furniture that doesn't make a fit in the room. Whether you are buying a fresh or used furniture; jot down the space on a piece of paper. Accordingly, hold yourself and stick to your decision of not bringing mammoth size or tiny size sofa or bed. The best way would be discussing with interiors expert, so that you get the exact idea of furniture. The bottom line is, your furniture must look like Ice on the cake.
Don't clutter unmatched patterns and prints:
Do not buy whatever you like, instead bring the stuff that matches your wall and floor. Discuss with the experts about the color scheme. Accordingly, choose an exclusive pattern for prints, stripes and plaids. Following a single pattern and choosing a large print will give you an alluring interior. Additionally, interesting weave and solid-colored texture are also trending because of their excellent look. [Read more…]


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Plant plumeria for hint of the islands
Have you ever wanted a touch of Hawaii in your yard? The lovely plumeria will make you feel like you have just landed on the islands. What a beautiful fragrance!Any good flight to the island of Hawaii ends with the passengers departing the plane and someone putting a lei around your neck. That lovely traditional lei is strung with the blossoms from the ubiquitous plumeria plant.
The plumeria blooms throughout the year in the tropics, but it will give you gorgeous blooms for months here in Southeast Texas. It has an active fan club in our area, where we can complement our landscape with its color in all but the coldest months.
Plumeria (plu-MARE-ee-aa) are also known as frangipani, melia and temple trees. They are native to the Caribbean, Central America, the Yucatan and tropical America.The plumeria are commonly seen as small (30 feet) trees near temples and graveyards in Hawaii. The flowers are delicate and very fragrant. You can find the frangipani blooms in pinks, red, yellow, whites and combinations of these colors. From March through November, you are treated to the delicious scents of their delicately sculpted flowers.
Area gardeners usually use the frangipani as a container grown ornamental. You can plant directly into the ground but be prepared to protect them in freezing weather. They like everything we have in this area: lots of bright sun or high shade, slightly acidic soil and lots of moisture.
To keep your baby plumerias happy, be sure to keep them well watered. Don't allow them to dry out between watering, but no soggy soil, either. Fertilize with a high phosphorus (the middle number) product every few weeks. Winterize when temps fall below 40 degrees. They require no light or water during winter storage. The leaves will fall from the plant during winter dormancy.
Area nurseries have plumeria varieties they can suggest. Bring it home, keep it watered and enjoy a taste of the islands.
Joette is an avid gardener and prides herself on staying up-to-date on the latest gardening activities and tips. To share your gardening news with Joette, call (409) 832-1400 or fax her at (409) 832-6222. Her e-mail is joreger [at] msn [dot] com.


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Belkin Belkin Air Protect SheerForce Case for iPhone 7 Plus - Silver
at Dallas StoreNot Carried
Safeguard your iPhone 7 Plus with this gold Air Protect SheerForce Case from Belkin. This slim, form-fitting case utilizes Air Protect technology to deliver better impact absorption. Additionally, the SheerForce case is abrasion-resistant and specially treated to remain unaffected by UV rays, so it stays clear and won't discolor over time. The case's raised bezel design means your iPhone's screen is less likely to get scratched when you place it face down on a flat surface. It's also designed to protect the buttons on the sides of your iPhone without losing the "push and click" experience. To ensure functionality isn't hindered, the SheerForce allows your iPhone's ports and speakers to remain exposed, so normal access remains easy and readily available.
Belkin Air Protect SheerForce Case for iPhone 7 Plus - Silver
at Dallas StoreNot Carried


text: 1% for the Tetons is a member-funded organization providing leadership and financial support to innovative conservation projects in the greater Tetons region. 1% for the Tetons was founded eight years ago, with inspiration from Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard and Blue Ribbon Flies owner Craig Mathews, and is the first and only local chapter of 1% for the Planet. 1% for the Tetons members contribute 1% of annual revenue to local conservation projects.


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Next stop: Flavortown. Guy Fieri would be proud.
This coming November, Japanese fragrance startup Scentee will unveil Hana Yakiniku ("Nose Grilled Meat"), an add-on device for smartphones designed to upgrade your dining experience by giving off the aroma of a delicious Yakiniku BBQ dinner. Basically, it's a BBQ-scented air refresher, although we're not sure whether it will be an enhancement or a really cruel tease for those who can't afford that every night. The scent cartridge is priced at 3,480 yen ($35.57 USD) and comes in three scents (short ribs, beef tongue and buttered potato) along with a free smartphone app.