DINAGYANG 2010 LIVESTREAM

AVATAR-IZED.... Watching twice on 3D wasn't enough!

Avatar is a landmark film of tremendous value for audiences and the entertainment industry. James Cameron, the producer, writer and director has done the near-impossible by creating a truly original theatrical experience through his technical and artistic mastery of the medium of film. He does not rely on Hollywood star power or adaptations of source material from books, comics or television. He creates a vision of another world in another time which is realistic, fantastic and totally immersive using advanced 3D technology of his own design. His story is classic in structure, predictable when it needs to be but carefully crafted to heighten the dramatic conflict between the industrial world's crushing demand for resources vs. the balanced natural world of mutual co-existence.

He has used technology to create characters and environments which are real, believable and surprising. Given that half the characters are computer-generated models based on real actors, the risk of being detached from their plight is a concern, which was why Cameron waited until the creation of Gollum in Lord of the Rings before committing to making Avatar. Gollum's realistic screen presence proved the viability of alien creatures, far removed from the old Godzilla days of a stunt man in a rubber suit crushing miniature buildings.

The story of Avatar hinges on the audience engaging with the plight of the Na'vi as their exotic world of Pandora becomes the target of a mining company's plan to exploit a rare ore deposit directly under their village. It is this battle between industry and nature which drives the personal story of a soldier's transformation from a human who obeys orders to a Na'vi tribesman in a symbiotic union with an entire planet.

It is, without a doubt, the movie of the year. Looking past all the hype of how much it cost, the audience pays the same ticket price as anything else tossed at us by Hollywood. For once, we've received far more than our money's worth. I believe we all have moments in the past where we treasure our first viewing of a film, our joy of discovering a turning point in storytelling on the screen. Your first viewing of Avatar will live with you for a long time, as one of those unique and memorable events of entertainment.

The Story
Avatar starts with an eye opening, literally Jake Sully's eye opening from a deep space sleep as a great long space ship arrives at Pandora, a planet rich with life and natural minerals waiting for exploitation by humanities need for more of whatever. Handicapped by a spine injury which cannot be fixed under his soldier's medical plan, Sully has joined the expedition as a replacement for his dead twin brother, who was trained to seduce the native Na'vi tribe into relocating their village through the use of an "avatar" body, built tall, slender and blue like the Na'vi but controlled by a human mind in a pod capsule with a computerized wireless link.

The story takes time to reveal the culture and complexity of the Na'vi world, with the tribe in intimate contact with nature through the tendrils of their braided hair which co-mingles with animals and plants allowing mutual understanding to pass between them. Sully joins this tribe and learns their ways through the growing relationship with a Na'vi babe named Neytiri who is (of course) the Na'vi Chief's daughter. Together, they learn to ride lizard birds and fall through forests and eventually bond as man and wife, or surrogate being and wife to be more accurate.

At the same time, we also learn about the great mining corporation who needs a boost to their next earnings statement by exploiting the rich ore deposit and thus, are rushing to start open pit mining where the Na'vi hometree sits. This tree is enormous and spiritually bonded with the tribe so you know, we have an explosive conflict building between the immovable object and the irresistible forces commanded by a tough badass nature-is-inmy-way Colonel Quaritch. He's got the claw scars on his face to prove just how dangerous an opponent the Pandora wildlife can be. He also has a crew-cut, eliminating any chance for a hair-to-hair bond between him and the beasts of Pandora.

Once the plot moves to conflict, the story becomes a visual explosion of technology vs. nature with victories by both sides and tough choices for our main characters. Who's side are they on? We humans are the bad guys in this tale so we end up rooting for the blue tribe against the white tribe (nary a character of color on the staff of the mining company). While in Titanic, there were historical facts to follow, Cameron was free to sink or save the mother ship in Avatar and he chooses the ecologically sound solution to this conflict. By the end, we have come full circle, with a sampling of the same kind of Lion King music, as the tribe gathers to heal their wounds. Like the start of the movie, we end with an eye-opener, Sully again. Eyes wide open. Perhaps Cameron hopes his movie with open more eyes to the plight of industry vs. nature. Regardless, it is all about our eyes, taking in this exceptional movie like no other we've ever seen.

The Genre
The sci-fi genre has always been a world of wonder and imagination. We enjoy traveling to exotic worlds and unknown galaxies, populated with aliens of all sizes and colors. It is our own world reflected through the imagination of others and when done well, it is a glorious leap through hyper-space which audiences reward handsomely.

Sci-fi knows no boundaries and solves all problems with a new technology or magic or whatever the filmmakers imagine is needed to allow humans to travel, breathe and understand the great unknown. If you ask too much, audiences bail from the story in disbelief. If you offer too little, you bore people.

Avatar wins the credibility battle with audiences by creating a believable yet exotic world (yes, they have trees on Pandora just like on earth!), aliens with pretty faces (so we can overlook the blue tones because they are slim and move with a feline grace) and instantly recognizable bad guys (corporate weasels and their hired guns - hey they're not bad guys, just trying to do their jobs!)

Sci-fi fans also love technology, so the 3D presentation, the motion-capture simulation of the actors and the vivid re-imagining of the undersea world of earth as the forest of Pandora are all lures to catch the avid fans of this genre. There is also a love story, another Cameron trademark, for those who have to attend because their spouse insisted. The PG-13 rating means this film will do great business, which it deserves. The bar is now set higher again, which will thrill all sci-fi fans for the future of film.

The Overall Quality
Avatar's quality features are all on the screen for everyone to see. The acting, imagery and 3D effects all merge together into a realistic and credible experience of an alternative reality. I found I forgot about the 3D and the CGI models and all the other movie magic behind the scenes. Avatar is truly immersive for audiences. You are there, in the trees, flying over the forest, facing the gunships with your puny bows and arrows and bonding tendril to tendril with the beasts. Pandora is real, as are the characters and their conflicts.

The actors loses none of the nuances and impacts of their performances by shifting from human to avatar. You still believe Sully is still Sully even though he is tall and blue instead of crippled and white; he is still the same character, played by Sam Worthington. Zoe Saldana plays Neytiri and, unless you've seen her in Star Trek as Uhura, you might not connect her features with this blue babe with the bow and arrow, but she is recognizable as a real person, not some fake pixilated approximation. On the human side, Stephen Lang is memorable as Colonel Quaritch, getting the job done as efficiently as possible. Only Sigourney Weaver fails to connect as the cigarette-smoking head of the avatar program, looking really lame in blue.

If you've seen other 3D movies this year, you know filmmakers are tempted to toss projectiles and swords and any other crap they can at you, but Cameron resists this cheesy effect to let the depth of scene enhance the story instead of intrude through the "fourth wall". The 3D forest world is rich and vivid, with Cameron's inspiration from the depths of the ocean on display with phosphorescent plants, floating jellyfish seedlings and retracting plants. He also creates hellish hounds, emerging from the darkness in all their glistening glory as they pack-hunt Sully in his first night alone in the forest.

If there is any doubt about how innovative this movie is, stick around for the credits to see the army of people who contributed to it's creation. If you've ever wanted to get into movies, just copy down some of these job titles and get started on a new resume. These are the new faces of Hollywood magic, these visual effects wizards of our cinematic future. Perhaps a move to New Zealand is in your future, to jump-start your new career. The final measure of quality is the word of mouth: would you encourage others to see this movie? Would you go back and see it again? Yes, enthusiastically, to both questions.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/24327768/Avatar-Movie-Review

CHRISTMAS STATION ID 2009: WHO FARED BETTER?

It's that time of the year again when the big networks ABS-CBN and GMA-7 partake of holiday cheer and reinforce the values of family and togetherness by unveiling their Christmas station plugs. The scale and production values of the holiday IDs have risen in direct proportion to the escalation of the network wars, becoming mini-movies in their own right.

The handles of the plugs themselves say nothing new on the surface-ABS-CBN's tagline is "Bro, Ikaw ang Star ng Pasko" while GMA's is "Sama-Sama Tayong Mag-PasaLove Ngayong Pasko." But this year presents a bigger challenge than years past: Coming from a particularly devastating typhoon season and a gloomy global economic outlook, the Christmas spirit has never seemed so far away for the Filipino audience...and never more needed.

This is perhaps the reason why both network holiday plugs have deliberately shy away from portraying lavish Christmas feasts or profligate gift giving, and instead focus more on acts of charity. In the GMA-7 plug, for instance, a family residing in a gated village come home--supposedly from a late party--and stop momentarily at the guard house so that the little boy in the backseat can drop off a present for the late-shift security guard. What's equally notable about the vignette is that nowhere in the production design do you see the car laden with presents.

The GMA-7 plug makes the admirable choice of not deploying their celebrities, instead highlighting the plight of ordinary Filipinos as they struggle to keep the Christmas spirit alive. There is nothing wrong with this creative choice per se...but it would have worked better if the plug itself had said something new, insightful, or impactful. There are vignettes showing a farmer worrying about his crop and getting a morale boost from a fellow tiller of the soil; an elderly woman getting a visit from loved ones; a pair of girlfriends walking home from a shopping trip who encounter a homeless mother and child curled up in a kariton. We've seen these vignettes--and their implied message of philanthropy and love--before. Are platitudes all GMA can offer us in these trying times?

The kariton vignette, in particular, feels tonally wrong. Yes, every little act of kindness goes a long way. Yes, it is wise to never portray the giving of money to beggars or panhandlers. But there is something vaguely Paris Hilton-esque about going on a shopping expedition with your BFF, then giving away a cardigan to the shivering child sleeping in the garbage cart. Like the rest of the plug and its generically clever message-Sama-Sama Tayong Mag-PasaLove Ngayong Pasko"--the act of charity seems to fall short; somehow it is not enough.

The ABS-CBN plug fares much better. While cynical viewers may hate themselves for getting taken in by the presence of a gazillion celebrities in choir formation a la "We Are the World," the formula undoubtedly works. But there are other formidable tricks up this mini-movie, as well. While the GMA-7 plug preferred to stay in well-trod territory by offering up a generic message of love and compassion, the ABS-CBN station ID zeroes in on something specific: the struggle to overcome the recent ravages of Ondoy and Pepeng. Interspersed with the images of Piolo Pascual and KC Concepcion singing and the subtle selling of the John Lloyd Cruz-Angel Locsin tandem as they get set for their new teleserye, we see workers tying up relief goods, a little boy picking up a parol and saluting army men as they go off on a relief mission, a community cleaning up a mud-strewn chapel. Powerful images, indeed.

Equally powerful is the jingle, co-written by advertising industry stalwart Robert Labayen. After one viewing, I immediately latched on to its chorus: "Salamat sa liwanag mo/Muling magkakakulay ang Pasko/Ang nagsindi nitong ilaw/Walang iba kundi ikaw/Dahil ikaw, bro/Ang star ng Pasko."Granted, there's something theologically unsound about the message (after all, isn't Jesus Christ the reason for the season?), and yes, station plugs are unabashed exercises in audience manipulation. But for the space of four minutes, it's touching to see celebrities pay tribute to the tireless relief worker, or the priest who is the moral center of his ravaged community. With this instantly catchy plug, ABS-CBN seems to be telling its audience that love isn't just needed this holiday season--it's something positively heroic.

http://www.pep.ph/ by Andrew Paredes

PICS

LAKBAYAW FESTIVAL COPIES ENTIRE DINAGYANG DANCE ROUTINE / CHOREOGRAPHY FOR TWO STRAIGHT YEARS

To the Dinagyang fans' awe: I was flaming with anger and disbelief of what i saw, a contigent from Tondo, Manila is performing a cheap copy of Tribu Paghidaet's routine performed last year (2008) in Aliwan. Worse, this copycat group claims to come from a legitimate festival. Wow, imitation they say is the highest form of flattery, but copying the whole routine which is the brain child, the intellectual property of Tribu Paghidaet's choreographer is not a simple imitation, it's a theft... an art theft. This is so far the grandest art

theft I saw being showcased in the grandest festival of the Philippines.

LAKBAYAW FESTIVAL'S ROUTINE IS SO FAR THE CHEAPEST AND THE WORST FORM OF ART I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE.

THE ORIGINAL: TRIBU PAGHIDAET OF DINAGYANG FESTIVAL FROM ILOILO PERFORMING IN ALIWAN 2008
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THE "ART THIEVES": TRIBU MODELIAN OF LAKBAYAW FESTIVAL FROM TONDO PERFORMING IN ALIWAN 2009

Added post: January 20, 2010, to highlight yet another act of theft!

I again would like to emphasize and point out that Tribu Modelian of Lakbayaw Festival from Tondo has committed the same theft again. The entire dance routine / choreography of Tribu Paghidaet of Dinagyang Festival which was performed in Aliwan Fiesta 2009 last year was copied / imitated and falsely-owned by Tribu Modelian. In fact, that same performace of Tribu Paghidaet in Aliwan last year was performed by Tribu Modelian, in its entirity, in the recently concluded Lakbayaw Festival 2010 in Tondo, Manila.

THE ORIGINAL PERFORMANCE BY TRIBU PAGHIDAET (DINAGYANG) IN ALIWAN FIESTA (APRIL 2009)

THE COPIED / STOLEN DANCE ROUTINE / CHOREOGRAPHY OF TRIBU MODELIAN OF LAKBAYAW FESTIVAL SHOWCASED IN THE RECENTLY CONCLUDED LAKBAYAW FESTIVAL 2010 IN TONDO, MANILA


I therefore urge you to sign the petition I made, calling the attention of the authorities in the preservation of arts & culture to sanction or penalize Tribu Modelian and Lakbayaw Festival: Tribu Modelian for blatantly copying a brainchild of Paghidaet's choreographer and for Lakbayaw Festival for allowing such act to go on in their festival.

click on this -->
LAKBAYAW FESTIVAL SHOULD BE SANCTIONED FOR BLATANTLY COPYING DINAGYANG - 2ND PETITION - thepetitionsite.com

photo credit: www.ilonggos.net

My hunch was right! Takipsilim is a hoax!

My hunch was right! Twilight Filipino version does not exist. Tssk tssk! I just cannot understand how some people can waste so much of their time and effort to create an imaginative work just to discredit one party, in this case ABS-CBN. I also cannot bear the idea why some Twilight fans would overreact to an unverified information. I hope next time these fanatics will learn. Haay, Twilight is such a lousy novel and movie for all this trouble! I bet Miss Meyer is very jubilant about all these publicity.

The succeeding lines were lifted from Inquirer.net in an article by Gerry Plaza posted last December 30, 2008 and included ABS-CBN's denial that they will produce a Twilight Filipino version entitled Takipsilim.

MANILA, Philippines—ABS-CBN has no plans of producing a Philippine adaptation of Stephanie Meyer’s best-selling book “Twilight,” which has recently became an international hit movie, a network statement said.

The network denied a recent report published on the Hollywood gossip blogsite PerezHilton.com that the Kapamilya network was already preparing production for the local version.

“There is no truth to the web reports, particularly in the Perez Hilton blogsite that ABS-CBN is doing a local adaptation of ‘Twilight,” Bong Osorio, ABS-CBN Corporate Communications chief said in a text message to the Inquirer. “ABS-CBN will be the first one to announce if it is, in fact, doing so.”

PerezHilton.com splashed an alleged poster of the alleged Filipino adaptation, titled “Takipsilim,” which it said will star Rayver Cruz and Shaina Magdayao and directed by Cathy Garcia-Molina. The blogsite said filming for “Takipsilim” will start in February 2009.

Visitors to the site had expressed outrage over the supposed plans.

TAKIPSILIM: Twilight Filipino Version

I have been surfing the internet this past few days since it was Christmas vacation and it has already become my way of reconnecting to the real world since I barely had the time to watch TV or surf the internet when I am having classes in med school. December 26, in one of my millions of site surfing activities, I bumped into PerezHilton.com and was surprised to see a post in that blog stating that ABS-CBN, a Filipino broadcasting network, will be doing a Filipino version of Twilight by Stephanie Meyer.

PerezHilton.com blogsite that published the supposed to be plan of ABS-CBN to do a
remake of Twilight by Stephanie Meyer.

Surprised and at the same time amazed about what I saw in PerezHilton.com, I searched for more articles or websites using the tag "Takipsilim", the rumored title of the Filipino remake. I found out that other entertainment sites like Yehey, Mukamo, Zimbio and Blogpipiatbingi among others also had the same posting about the Filipino version of Twilight. The articles in the said websites indicated that ABS-CBN has acquired the rights for US$1 Million to do a remake of Twilight and has even included a list of Kapamilya stars as the cast. The said websites also stated that Ignite Media will be the co-producer and even contained details like the names of the lead stars; Rayver Cruz as Edward Cullen and Shaina Magdayao as Bella Swan. They also included the name of the would-be director (Cathy Garcia-Molina), start of shoot dates and even the would-be locations. I was stunned in disbelief with my newfound information. I started doing some sleuthing to confirm my doubt regarding the ramake, that this story is not true. I went back to PerezHilton.com website to scrutinize the Takipsilim poster, saved it and looked for the original Twilight poster, saved it then compared the two.

the original commercial poster of twilight with MTV logo at the bottom as the producer of the poster

Takipsilim top-bills Rayver Cruz as Edward Cullen and Shaina Magdayao as Bella Swan;

Circulating copies of Twilight posters include the theatrical version with all the cinema credits at the bottom and a commercial version solely for the purpose of advertising, which I posted here, has no theatrical credits and instead indicated the participation of MTV in the production of the poster. This simpler version of the poster was, for me, the source of the "photo shopped" Takipsilim" poster. Comparing the two posters, you would easily find that Rob and Bella's coat, Bella's hair and position of hands and fingers are exactly the same in Twilight and Takipsilim posters. The only difference I saw are the title change, addition of a few lines and an ABS-CBN logo. The Takipsilim poster was obviously made to look faded and older in effects to hide the changes: that Takipsilim's poster is no different than Twilight and it is a product of photo shop technology.

I admit that upon seeing the Perez Hilton post regarding Takipsilim, I believed it at first especially after a news article of the remake from the ABS-CBN News website. But it was not long when I started to doubt basing on the obvious facts and inconsistensies especially when the same news article about Takipsilim cannot found in ABS-CBN's website anymore. With the following developments at stake, I started to entertain the idea that the ABS-CBN News website was either hacked by an intruder with an intention to taint ABS-CBN's name or an employee of ABS-CBN itself was responsible for such a demeaning and erroneous press release.

My hunch is that Takipsilim is a hoax and that the idea and the conceptualization of it came from the wild imagination of a desperate Filipino "genius". It became more eminent after I saw that the post about Takipsilim was made last December 23 and they were actually posted a few hours earlier in ABS-CBN News website and other Filipino blogs like Yehey than it appeared in PerezHilton.com which is mostly Hollywood based and American in nature.

Taking into consideration all viable information, I believe that Takipsilim is a hoax and a product of a lucid imagination of a person who would only like to discredit ABS-CBN. The following substantiates my claim:

1) Acquiring the exclusive rights to do a remake of a movie does not give the acquiring party the right to use original or existing materials and merchandise that were already used in the original version.

2) The selling of rights for a movie remake does not happen especially if the movie has sequels more so if they are not yet shown or produced.

3) An author (e.g. Lord of the Rings' JRR Tolkien and Harry Potter's JK Rowling) does not sell exclusive rights to different media outfits, what more for a remake. Exclusivity ensures quality and consistency in movie production results.

4) A media outfit, more so a local network, will not spend US$ 1 Million for an exclusive right to do only one movie remake. That is very expensive.

5) Takipsilim's poster is a photo-shopped version of Twilight. Examine both pictures and see the similarities.

6) ABS-CBN News website has already removed the article regarding Takipsilim's existence. That act clearly states that the company disowns the article. An erratum is usually made when there was an error in previous news articles made and the original is usually not removed from the archives ans instead retained for reference purposes.

7) In my view, the culprit hacked and penetrated ABS-CBN's website and posted the news article there to make his concept believable and convincing taking into account that ABS-CBN itself announced Takipsilim's existence.

8) The mere fact that the "news" about Takipsilim came out in Filipino websites first (hours earlier) before it appeared in foreign websites like PerezHilton.com, implies that the author of the scam is a Filipino with clear intentions to discredit ABS-CBN.

9) One line in the Takipsilim poster blew my mind off: Madilim 'pag Takipsilim; Ang galing ng Pinoy --> what on earth is this? Some corny joke?

With all these bruhaha, I firmly stand by my claim that ABS-CBN's stake to film a Twilight remake in the form of Takipsilim is a hoax, a fake news that is mainly geared towards discrediting ABS-CBN. Therefore, Twilight fans should stop making a big fuzz out of this controversy. Twilight, in the first place, is a simple novel that failed to incorporate exchanging conflicts in the content and obviously has no climactic plot. The story is simple, dragging and boring. The movie was as lousy as the book itself.

A snapshot of a search result showing Takipsilim news articles appearing in ABS-CBN News official website

A snapshot showing that the Takipsilim article is no longer accessiblein ABS-CBN News website after clicking the search result

Yehey website posted the article 9:31 AM of December 23, several hours earlier than a post in Perez Hilton at 10:45 AM

*Unfortunately, I cannot post a snap-shot of the date and time the article was posted in ABS-CBN News website as an evidence since the article was already removed by ABS-CBN from its archives. Nevertheless, for the sake of revealing the information, I can clearly remember that it was posted December 23, 2008, 8:25 AM.

GMA Network sets terms for return to KBP fold

(An article by Mary Ann Ll. Reyes Updated July 22, 2008 12:00 AM from the Business section of Philstar.com and annotations by lakingmcdo from ABS-CBN Forum)

Publicly-listed GMA Network will return to the fold of the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) only if the latter stops regulating the broadcasting industry, emphasizing that KBP’s 18-minute per hour advertising load limit is unconstitutional.

GMA chairman, president and CEO Felipe Gozon said KBP’s regulatory function only duplicates the role of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB), the Philippine Association of National Advertisers (PANA) and the Advertising Board of the Philippines (AdBoard).

GMA withdrew its KBP membership in 2003 after clashing with the body over certain policy matters, including KBP’s implementation of an 18-minute per hour limit on the advertisement load that KBP members can carry. “In fact, we became number one without KBP,” Gozon said.

While he confirmed that KBP has invited GMA to return to its fold, he said this will only happen if KBP gives up its regulatory function. “I told them that KBP should instead promote and advance the common interest of the members and should stop regulating. It is not their business to regulate. In fact, we have been more strict than their Code of Ethics. It’s different if its voluntary,” he stressed.

He emphasized that the 18-minute advertising load limit has no basis and other countries recognize higher limits. “I am more in favor of a self-imposed 20 to 21 minute load limit. The load does not affect the impact of advertising on the viewers.”

GMA’s top official also stressed that the limitation is unconstitutional as it promotes monopolies and combinations in restraint of trade.

He cited the case of the US National Association of Broadcasters which imposed an advertising load limit. The US Justice Department said the limit is in violation of the Sherman or Anti-Trust Law.

But according to KBP president Maloli Espinosa, the 18-minute rule will benefit not only the public but the advertisers as well since the strict implementation of the rule will prevent advertising clutter and promote lesser but better advertisements.

Annotations:

The statements indicated in the first (yellow) highlighted paragraph is erroneous especially with GMA's claim that the 18-minute advertising load limit per hour is unconstitutional. Indeed, the rule is not included in the Philippine Constitution but it is clearly stipulated in the by-laws and regulations of PANA, AdBoard and KBP.

The statement of GMA Network in the second highlighted paragraph stating that the 18-minute advertising load limit has no basis and other countries recognize higher limits is baseless. In fact, other countries imposes a shorter time for advertising. The whole of Europe and Australia imposes that there should only be 12 minutes of advertising for every hour of broad while the United States allows only 16 minutes and extends up to 21 minutes of advertising only in special events where sponsors are needed. The longest advertising load limit on record is that of the Philippines which allows 18 minutes of commercials per hour of broadcast.

In fact, according to content analysis of the two leading networks' programs conducted by students of De La Salle University, GMA & has an average commercial load of 30 minutes per hour.

According to Emily Abrera (regional chairman of the New York based advertising agency McCann World), the local advertising industry has prescribed a limit of 18 minutes of commercials per hour of broadcast, which is already the highest in the region. In other Asian countries, TV ads are limited to between 12 and 14 minutes per hour.

Sources:

>http://businessmirror.com.ph/07022008/opinion01.html

>http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?language=NL&type=IM-PRESS&reference=20071112IPR12883

>http://www.acma.gov.au/WEB/STANDARD/1001/pc=PC-91796

>http://medlibrary.org/medwiki/Television_in_The_United%20States

>http://business.inquirer.net/money/breakingnews/view_article.php?article_id=124381

A VERY MEANINGFUL CHRISTMAS EVER

It was Christmas Eve, my niece to my sister-in-law will be spending Christmas with us. Her mom happened to have work that day so we decided to invite her in. That day, my wife and I were very busy choosing gifts for our little boy, Todd and my niece Yana. We were actually looking for cheap but nice gifts because we wanted to buy as much gifts for them and enjoy watching as they open the gifts one by one. Soon after the Christmas rush, we took a very late sumptuous lunch at The Old Spaghetti House in SM Marikina (loved their Taco Pizza a lot). It was already 4PM and we still have to fetch Todd who spent a few days vacation with his Granny who just arrived from abroad. We got home at around 6PM, tired but excited because that was the first time the family will be attending a Christian church service on Christmas Eve. We have been Born Again Christians for eight years now but this year marked our first to attend a Christian service on Christmas Eve. I was so excited... never imagined that it would be the most meaningful Christmas ever!

Nighttime came and it became quite frustrasting initially because I was expecting my brother, who doesn't attend church services with us, to join us that night but unfortunately changed his mind. Furthermore, my dad was in a bad mood so he didn't join us too. Christmas is supposed to be celebrated with the family (ergo, the whole family should've gone to church altogether) but I think they (dad & bro) didn't realize it that night. Nevertheless, the whole family (except for the two, of course) went to church to thank the Lord for sending His Son over to us.

Just like the ordinary church service, singing of praise and worship songs came first. Pastor Eniong sang "Oh Holy Night" with the worship ministry, with me singing along. Little did I know that tears were already flowing down my eyes and I was literally feeling my heart move. I started to tremble as the the song continued. As the song played, more tears flowed down and it was there that I realized how much the song meant, as if I am singing a ballad, a song for my wife while i was still courting her. I have been singing and hearing the song (Oh Holy Night) for years and this was the first time that the song got into my nerves (and senses). I then realized that it was my relationship with God that has gone deeper and upclose, very personal.... that made me feel that way.... that made me cry. "O Holy Night".... as simple as it is... became the most meaningful song for me for the whole year. It became more valuable and meaningful... because for me "Oh Holy Night" was my Grammy song of the year.

My Christmas was actually that simple yet that meaningful, and "Oh Holy Night" made my 2008 Christmas the most meaningful ever. For it was already God who was speaking to me, speaking to me through the Holy Spirit.... and that too was my greatest miracle so far.

wiSh liSts aNd mOrE WisH LiStS

--- *-* ---

my wish list (any one of the listed below):

Hillsong United - This is Our God CD

Hillsong United - All of the Above CD

Hillsong United - King of Majesty CD

-- i just love Hillsong United worship songs...

just imagine yourself praising God and at the same time listening to

non-earthly alternative and rock songs plus ballads

-- after my class had a party last night, i got what i wanted...

a "HILLSONG UNITED - THIS IS OUR GOD" CD

courtesy of my "Small But Terrible Awardee" classmate,

and Physical Diagnosis demo partner --> Ram Malapitan

-- he told a common friend that he wanted to get all three for me...

he was shocked after seeing the price...

exchange gifts were valued at 400, the CD costs 450 - 550..

-- thanks for the effort to give all my three wishes, RAM!

but one is already enough for me... God bless you.

--- *-* ---

my monita's wish list:

a cool bag where she can conveniently place her manuals

a 2 gig usb flash drive

a functional study lamp

-- i got her a nice bag from Clipper and a usb flash drive..

didn't have much time to look for a nice and functional study lamp..

the two gifts are obviously more than 400,

would even reach 900 with the lamp, but who cares, it's christmas!

--- *-* ---

dottie, my cell group leader in school...

(i have a different cell group in Faith Fellowhip)

a few days before the party, wished that I should have

picked her name instead...

-- she said that i'm galante daw!

-- haha she was right... she didn't get a gift that night!

--- *-* ---

December 18, a day after Pharma & Derma exams...

the party was held in Parilla along Don Antonio Heights,

-- boring place, poor ambiance, lousy service

-- the place was not exclusive as i should've have thought

-- whoever organized the party should consider improving the skills next time

-- the food was so-so, didn't really like it

-- iced tea was only a single serve, i hated it

-- good thing the games were superb

---> special thanks to Anj and Sid...

a grand consolation came when I won a watch in FUNNY BONES with Mary

and another consolation: rubber shoe key-chain as a token

greatest consolation: spending the party with my classmates

... they are my new-found friends now (my source of daily smiles)

another greatest consolation: my Hillsong United This is Our God CD

[the heck, i can't eat those, my tummy's shouting for food]

[AND MORE FOOD... buffet that is]

[i don't like parties where mediocrity is greater than reality]

[games should be subtle and food should overflow]

[next time i will attend a party, i will tell myself not to enjoy anything... hehe mediocre]

[EXCEPT FOR THE FOOD]

--- *-* ---

i got home half an hour past 12 midnight...

my unit was all dark, cold and lonely,

thinking that my wife and son were already asleep...

i heard my son's voice coming towards me after i close the door,

i was happy to see him run towards me...

-- then i felt my tummy rumbled; a rumbling borborygmus...

then asked around if there was still food...

-- and alas! there was none!

-- 87000 was the magic number!

half an hour after, it came...

2 piece chicken joy (all thigh) for Tim,

cheeseburger for Tere

and large fries for Todd

-- there goes one happy family...

all munching that feast from Jollibee...

after a failed Christmas party... wheew!

--- *-* ---

ANAK: A project in Introduction to Clinical Medicine

This movie clip was filmed by my group during our freshman years in the Institute of Medicine of FEU-NRMF. A requirement to our subject Introduction to Clinical Medicine, the movie clip depicts a how a physician-patient relationship should ideally be in the clinics particularly in the aspect of history taking. It also depicts the proper way in telling the bad news to the patient and/or relatives about a regressing state and how to comfort the patient and his relatives professionally yet with empathy and compassion.

TUSKEGEE SYPHILIS STUDY: A sad moment in the history of Medicine

The proponents of Tuskegee Syphilis Study

One of the published books about the study written by Fred D. Gray

WHAT IS THE TUSKEGEE STUDY?
The Tuskegee Syphilis Study from 1932 to 1972, also known as the Public Health Service Syphilis Study was a clinical study, conducted around Tuskegee, Alabama, where 399 (plus 200 control group without syphilis) poor and mostly illiterate African-American sharecroppers became part of a study on the treatment and natural history of syphilis. This study became notorious because it was conducted without due care to its subjects, and led to major changes in how patients are protected in clinical studies. Individuals enrolled in the Tuskegee Syphilis Study did not give informed consent and were not informed of their diagnosis; instead they were told they had "bad blood" and could receive free treatment, a free ride to clinic, one hot meal per day and in case of dying: $50 for the funeral.

By 1947, penicillin had become standard treatment for syphilis. Prior to this discovery, syphilis frequently led to a chronic, painful and fatal multisystem disease. Rather than treat all syphilitic subjects with penicillin and close the study, the Tuskegee scientists withheld penicillin or information about penicillin purely to continue to study how the disease spreads and kills. Participants were also prevented from accessing syphilis treatment programs that were available to other people in the area. The study continued until 1972, when a leak to the press -- rather than any ethical or moral consideration -- resulted in its termination. The Tuskegee Syphilis Study is often cited as one of the greatest ethical breaches of trust between physician and patients in the setting of a clinical study in the United States. The Tuskegee Syphilis Study led to the Belmont Report and establishment of National Human Investigation Board, and the requirement for establishment of Institutional Review Boards.

STUDY DETAILS
The study was originally started as a study on the incidence of syphilis in the Macon County population. The subject would be studied for six to eight months, then treated with contemporary treatments (including Salvarsan, mercurial ointments and bismuth) which were somewhat effective, but quite toxic. The initial intentions of the study were to benefit public health in this poor population as evidenced by participation from the Tuskegee Institute, the Black university founded by Booker T. Washington. Its affiliated hospital lent the PHS its medical facilities for the study, and other predominantly black institutions as well as local black doctors also participated. The philanthropic Rosenwald Fund was to provide monies to pay for the eventual treatment. The study recruited 400 syphilitic Black men and 200 healthy Black men as controls.

The Tuskegee Study Group Letter inviting subjects to receive "special treatment", which was actually a diagnostic lumbar punctureThe first critical turning point in the Tuskegee Syphilis Study came in 1929 when the Stock Market Crash of 1929 led the Rosenwald Fund to withdraw its funding. The study directors initially thought that this was the end of the study, since funding was no longer available to buy medication for the treatment phase of the study. A final report was issued.

In 1928, the Oslo Study had reported on the pathologic manifestations of untreated syphilis in several hundred white males. This study was a retrospective study; investigators pieced together information from patients that had already contracted syphilis and had remained untreated for some time. The Tuskegee study group decided to salvage their study and keep going and perform a prospective study equivalent to the Oslo Study. This was not inherently wrong in itself; since there was nothing the investigators could do therapeutically, as long as they did not harm their subjects, they could study the natural history of the disease. This would be of benefit to humankind. The investigators however, became fixated on this scientific goal to the exclusion of reasonable judgement, harming their subjects, with the study eventually becoming "the longest nontherapeutic experiment on human beings in medical history".

Ethical consideration, poor from the start, rapidly deteriorated. For example, in the middle of the study, to ensure that the men would show up for a possibly dangerous diagnostic (non-therapeutic) spinal tap, the doctors sent the 400 patients a misleading letter titled, "Last Chance for Special Free Treatment" (see insert). The study also required all participants to undergo an autopsy after death—participants were never informed of this requirement. For many participants, treatment was intentionally denied. Many patients were lied to and given placebo treatments—in order to "observe" the fatal progression of the disease. In 1934, the first clinical data was published, with the first major report being released in 1936. It is important to note that this was not a secret study, with several papers published throughout the study.

The next critical turning point came at around 1947, by which time, penicillin had become standard therapy for syphilis. Several U.S. Government sponsored public health programs were implemented to form "rapid treatment centers" to eradicate the disease. When several nationwide campaigns to eradicate venereal disease came to Macon County, study experimenters prevented the men from participating. During World War II, 250 of the men registered for the draft and were consequently diagnosed and ordered to obtain treatment for syphilis, however then the PHS exempted them. The PHS representative at the time is quoted: "So far, we are keeping the known positive patients from getting treatment.

By the end of the study, only 74 of the test subjects were still alive. Twenty-eight of the men had died directly of syphilis, 100 were dead of related complications, 40 of their wives had been infected, and 19 of their children had been born with congenital syphilis.

STUDY TERMINATION AND AFTERMATH
In 1966, Peter Buxtun, a PHS venereal disease investigator in San Francisco, sent a letter to the director of the Division of Venereal Diseases to express his concerns about the morality of the experiment. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) reaffirmed the need to continue the study until completion (until all subjects had died and had been autopsied). To bolster its position, the CDC sought and gained support for the continuation of the study from the local chapters of the National Medical Association (representing African-American physicians) and the American Medical Association.

With his concerns rebuked, Peter Buxtun went to the press. The story broke first in the Washington Star on July 25, 1972, then became front page news in the New York Times the following day. As a result of public outcry, in 1972, an ad hoc advisory panel was appointed which determined the study was medically unjustified and ordered the termination of the study. As part of a settlement of a class action lawsuit subsequently filed by NAACP, 9 million dollars and the promise of free medical treatment was given to surviving participants and surviving family members who had been infected as a consequence of the study.

In 1974 the National Research Act became law, creating a commission to study and write regulations governing studies involving human participants. On May 16, 1997, with five of the eight remaining survivors of the study attending the White House ceremony, President Bill Clinton formally apologized to Tuskegee study participants: "What was done cannot be undone, but we can end the silence...We can stop turning our heads away. We can look at you in the eye, and finally say, on behalf of the American people, what the United States government did was shameful and I am sorry."

ETHICAL IMPLICATIONS
The early ethics of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study may be considered in isolation at study inception. In 1932, treatments for syphilis were relatively ineffective and had severe side effects. It was known that syphilis was particularly prevalent in poor, black communities. The intention of the Study was in part to measure the prevalence of the disease, to study its natural history and the real effectiveness of treatment. Prevailing medical ethics at the time did not have the exacting standards for informed consent currently expected; doctors routinely withheld information about patients' condition from them. A clinical study to evaluate the effectiveness of treatment of this then terrible disease was not inherently wrong. However, this study exploited a vulnerable sub-population to answer a question which would have been of benefit to the whole population. This was, some argue, a manifestation of racism on the part of the study organizers.

However, with the development of an effective, simple treatment for syphilis (i.e. penicillin), and changing ethical standards, the ethical and moral judgements became absolutely indefensible. By the time the study had closed, hundreds of men had died from syphilis and many of their wives had become infected and their children born with congenital syphilis. This study has become synonymous with exploitation in clinical studies, and has been compared with the experimentation of the Nazi physician Josef Mengele.

Sociological studies have shown that the Tuskegee Syphilis Study has predisposed many African Americans to distrust medical and public health authorities. The Study is likely a significant factor in the low participation of African Americans in clinical trials and organ donation efforts and in the reluctance of many Black people to seek routine preventive care.

The aftershocks of this study led directly to the establishment of the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research and the National Research Act. This act requires the establishment of Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) at institutions receiving federal grants. Special consideration must be given to ethnic minorities and vulnerable groups in the design of clinical studies.

This post is an original composition of this blog's author and contains factual accounts taken from the following manuscripts and online sources: Wikipedia, Ethical Spurs in Medicine, The Tuskegee Tragedy, The American Journal of Medicine Review on Syphillis 2006, The Tuskegee Syphilis Study