The C-Spot: A Photography, Travel and Culture Journal

A typical scene in the Philippines on All Souls' Day - a time for remembering and honoring the dead. (Below, in the comments box, is the cover photo of today's issue of the Phil. Daily Inquirer.) Buti pa sila, being honored and remembered. Pero not to worry. Our time will come :-) sooner or later. But I hope later, than sooner.  And do you know the name of this cemetery in Davao? It's called ....  Wireless Public Cemetery! No kidding.  Well, I guess it's all in the spirit of fun :-) (pun intended). Here's the caption: " THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES. Kith and kin begin the annual ceremony of remembering their dearly departed at the Wireless Public Cemetery in Davao City ahead of next week’s All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day. BING GONZALES/INQUIRER MINDANAO"

Rating: ★★★ Category: Movies Genre: Drama Director: Oliver Stone Writers: Allan Loeb, Stephen Schiff Release Date: 29 September 2010 (Philippines) Stars: Michael Douglas and Shia LaBeouf Plot As the global economy teeters on the brink of disaster, a young Wall Street trader partners with disgraced former Wall Street corporate raider Gordon Gekko on a two-tiered mission: To alert the financial community to the coming doom, and to find out who was responsible for the death of the young trader's mentor. - from Internet Movie Database (IMDb) MyTake The original title would have been Wall Street 2. That would have been right since it is considered a sequel to the 1987 movie of the same title. But for me, adding, "Money Never Sleeps" to the title doesn't serve any purpose. It doesn't add anything to the movie's appeal or lack of it. The people behind the movie says it was necessary to give this 2010 version a contemporary tone or flavor. They also...

Rating: ★★★★★ Category: Books Genre: Nonfiction Author: Carl Honoré NOTE: I can't quite decide whether to classify this book under Entertainment, or Professional and Technical, or Religion and Spirituality. So I decided to classify it under a neutral classification as Non-fiction. I've long been searching for something that would explain to me why I am what I am or why I do things the way I do things. I'm pretty much certain that I walk, talk and even think slow. Some people get bothered or irritated by it. Some even ridicule me for it. I have given those remarks a typically long but hard look. And I was just about to conclude that these people were right and it's about time I started speeding up things. But as it is my character to take things slowly, I procrastinated and decided to put it off for another day. That day is yet to come. One day, while I was browsing through my favorite bookstore, and contemplating on how I will actually change from what I am to (slow) to...

In summer, after schools close for the much anticipated vacation-time,  we spend some of our days to fly a kite. Summer afternoons are the best times to fly a kite. I remember when I was in grade school, there was a big open space near our school bounded on the east side by the city church and the west side by the province's first and only seminary at that time. It was a perfect place to fly our kites which were made out of plain grade school writing paper (or sometimes just a small piece of yesterday's newspaper). They were just simple kites but it was pure joy to fly them while running around that great big open space trying to catch the wind, "out-flying" everybody else's kite. It truly was a happy and memorable time of my life.  But more than the fun and the excitement, there were things, too that I learned that would later prove useful in my adult life. It's just that the use of such lessons wouldn't become apparent to me until I reall...

I've been going to Manila ever since I was a boy in the 60s. I don't remember exactly how many times. In all of these trips, I've always been going with either my mother or father or both. Most of these trips were for the purpose of visiting my elder sister who was then already going to the university, and a few trips were actually for some sight-seeing, e.g. Manila Zoo, Quiapo, etc. I remember we always had to pack as early three or four days before and all of our luggage will be neatly lined along the hallway all zipped-up and ready to go (and not to be touched by anyone, except by my mom, of course). But there is one departure that will forever remain in my memory - the day I left for college. On the day of my departure for college, Conching went through the same meticulous preparation except that this time a few more items were added to the things we're bringing on the trip - a basket full of half-ripe bananas, half a sack of ...

Rating: ★★★★ Category: Movies Genre: Mystery & Suspense Director: Roman Polanski Starring: Ewan McGregor, Pierce Brosnan, Kim Cattrall, Olivia Williams Synopsis: A writer has been tasked with completing the memoirs of a former UK prime minister. As he digs into the life of his subject, he discovers sensitive secrets that soon put his life in danger. My Take: Okay, after a long excursion to fantasy land and wallowing in the technological magic of CGI with movies like Avatar, Clash of Titans, Last Airbender, Toy Story, and even Inception, to name a few, I'm slowly creeping back to realism via the movies like Salt. And now The Ghost Writer, a mystery suspense-thriller directed by the ever controversial Roman Polanski. Although this is not a spy movie, The Ghost Writer carries all the elements of one, i.e. anytime there is deceit and the CIA is involved, it is always a spy movie. Of course, it's not the kind of thriller that the Bourne series is well known fo...