BATANGBALER

July 12, 2008. Lahat ng may nais ay inaanyayahang maki-oron mamayang alas-dyes ng gabi (oras sa Pilipinas) sa Batangbaler chatroom. Ito ay isang open forum kung saan pag-uusapan ang kung paano makakatulong sa kaunlaran at kaligtasan ng Aurora.

Ito ang chatroom ng batangbaler: www.batangbaler.net/chatroom

Update: Ayus ang kwentuhan kagabi. Gagawin na daw itung linggu linggu kaya oronan uli sa isang linggo.

Sa nakaraang sakuna dulot ng bayong Frank, ang Aurora ay pinalad na hindi masalanta. Madalas tayong makatanggap ng tulong sa oras ng ating pangangailangan. Ngayon ang tamang panahon para tayo naman ang tumulong.

Pumunta dito para sa impormasyon kung paano makakatulong.

Isang paumanhin sa halos apat na araw na pagkawala ng Batangbaler. Nagkaroon po ng problema sa ating hosting company, na naayus naman matapus ang ilang araw na pangungulit. Salamat sa nga nagpaabot ng pag-a-alala. Wala pong planong magsara ang Batangbaler kahit paminsan minsan ay nag-iisip na ang inyong lingkod na magretire na dito. Kung sakaling mangyari iyun ay hahanap muna aku ng kapalit.

Samantala. Naisipan kung mag-Tagalog na lang muna para maiba naman. Tuluy ang byahe ng Batangbaler!

In case you’re wondering how much a Batangbaler advertisement costs, the Boristravel and Philippine Property Listing ads on the sidebar (169 x 86 pixels) are worth 10 pesos per day each. For that price your business, product or event would get 1,000 page views per day, which is the average number of visits that Batangbaler gets. Your ads here not only promotes your products or business but you’re also helping this website survive. Suggested ads would be tourists related (like resorts, hotels, tour packages and surf lessons), transportation (air travel, bus services, van rentals), real state (houses, lots, etc), local products and events. Of course paid ads are only for businesses and other for-profit services and products. Announcements, greeting, news releases, non-profit events and advocacies are still FREE. Email admin@batangbaler.net if you’re interested.

Things are pretty busy with yours truly this week, so i’ll just round up the herd, so to speak.

1. Good news for all arts and culture enthusiast of Aurora, the Aurora Arts Council was organized at the provincial capitol yesterday. I was invited to join and contributed my 5 centavo worth of opinions. Things are pretty much still in the planning and organizing stage but thanks to two artists consultants for making the birthing of this much needed council a painless experience. They were Junyee and Jun Nicdao, tapped by Sen. Angara to help organize the council. We visited Gov. Castillo after the meeting. I managed to chit-chat with her about Batangbaler on the way out of the door. I’ll update more about this Arts Council thing in the future.
2. And I was informed by Ms. Rose Querijero and Noli Guerrero during the meeting yesterday that they have just organized a new arts group in Aurora called Dimalangat, named after that small rocky islet jutting out of the dibudulan headland on the left of Baler bay. They will have their first exhibit on June 15 at the Bistro Baler. The good news is when Junyee found out that there’s an active community of artists in Baler, he changed the plan of inviting artists from other provinces to have an exhibit at the Museo de Baler during the Philippine-Spanish Friendship day celebration. Instead, the local artists will be tapped for the exhibit therefore turning the spotlight on them and not the other way around.
3. Oscar Querijero - I was talking with Tya Rosa yesterday about some unrecognized artists from Aurora and she mentioned about Oscar Querijero, who was a cinematographer from the 70’s up to the late 90’s. A quick IMDB search later and I have Mr. Querijero’s filmography: Cinematographer for Tar-San (1999), Isprikitik, Walastik Kung Pumitik (1999),Hataw Tatay Hataw (1994),Hulihin: Probinsiyanong Mandurukot (1993), Tangga and Chos: Beauty Secret Agents (1990),SuperMouse and the Robo-Rats (1989), Elvis and James, the Living Legends! (1989), Panday IV (Ika-apat na aklat), JR (1983), Kapag buhay ang inutang (1983), Daniel Bartolo ng Sapang Bato (1982), Mr. Wong Meets Jesse James (1982), Masikip Maluwang Paraisong Parisukat (1977), Sapin Sapin Patong Patong (1977), Makahiya at Talahib (1976), Bagsik at kamandag ni Pedro Penduko (1974), Dragon Fire (1974); Camera and Electrical Department: Curacha ang babaeng walang pahinga (1998) (camera operator: second unit)
4. I just came from Manila and attended the International Symposium on emerging Trends in ICT in Education. The symposium was held at the Peninsula Manila and surprisingly, I managed to stay awake throughout the whole gig. Must be the great foods.
5. And here’s your chance to help your province with the gift of knowledge. The Aurora State College of Technology is looking for instructors to be hired this school year. If you’re into the field of Engineering, Tourism, Hotel and Restaurant Management, Computer Science and Information Technology, and have majors in English, Filipino and Mathematics, and like to experience the joy of teaching, drop your resume at the Aurora State College of Technology, Brgy. Zabali, Baler, Aurora. Or you can email ascotbaler@hotmail.com.
6. These new courses are also being offered at ASCOT: Associate in Tourism and Resort Management, BS Hotel and Restaurant Management, Associate in Aircraft Maintenance Technology (in collaboration with PHILSCA), and BS Fisheries (to be held at Brgy. Esteves in Casiguran)
7. I was also alerted that a girl with the last name of Fernandez from Baler is competing at the Little Ms. Urduja contest at Eat Bulaga. She won the daily round last Thursday, so she could be up for the weekly finals today. Watch it for what it’s worth. She could be the next Charice Pempengco.
8. from inquirer.net: Highlight of a Filipino-Spanish Friendship Day to be marked on June 30 will be the screening of a documentary by Spanish filmmaker Jesus Balbuena Garcia on the historic “Siege of Baler” in Aurora Province.
9. On to the congratulations:
   • Congratulations to my bro Dr. Ericson Friginal for finishing his Ph.D. (in Linguistics, i think) at the Northern Arizona University.
   • Congratulations to MS. BERNADETH P. JAVAR for passing the examination in the COMMISSION OF GRADUATES OF FOREIGN NURSING SCHOOLS (CGNFS) and in the NATIONAL COUNCIL LICENSURE EXAMINATION (NCLEX) -Registered Nurse. NEW YORK.
   • Congratulations to Ms. Jessica Gonzales for making it to Westpoint Academy.
   • Congratulations to Jan Joshen de Guzman and June Lowell Uy for passing the Electrical Engineering Board Exam.
10. And lastly, the Batangbaler Forums is slowly being populated. there are already more than 15 users and i’m just waiting for them to have their first dip in the pool. If you recently registered and didn’t receive your password in the your mailbox, click here to get your password. The BB Forums is here.

Ang Alamat ng Kibit

May 28, 2008
Bistro Baler
8:00 PM

featuring:

Bubblegoo
Ohmsapien
Covenant
Blue Island
Mitochondria
L.A.
Pedophile
and more

Last month, I had to remove the original Batangbaler messageboard on account of spams and malware infiltration. It had caused Batangbaler to be blocked by some servers in the web. I have no initial plans of replacing it with a new one, but people miss the forums and asking me where it was. So i had to install a new one.

So, ladies and gentlemen, presenting, the all-new BATANGBALER FORUMS. The address to remember is www.batangbaler.net/board.

Update: Apparently, users are not getting their passwords on their email. I’m still troubleshooting the problem. In the meantime, I will manually change your default password to your username whenever I check the forum. So if you register as pisepis your initial password will also be pisepis. You can change the password in your profile after you logged-in. Visit this forum topic to check if you can already log-in. Thanks.

If you like reading Batangbaler, you might want to donate for the continuous operation of this website. You can email me at batangbaler at gmail dot com or use this nifty paypal option:

Thanks in advance!

I regularly open (and close) new blogs. This is the latest:

Promditek Blog

It’s about tech life in the Province. Did you know that byte for byte, text messaging is actually expensive? Check out the math. Visit and link.

Watch it on Saturday May 10, 18:00 GMT (Sunday May 11 @ 2:00 AM Philippines)

In 2006, filmmaker Jehane Noujaim wished for a day where people all over the world would unite through the power of film.

Now, two years later, Jehane’s wish is coming true.

Millions of people in more than 150 countries will come together this Saturday at 18:00 GMT to watch a 4-hour program of 24 short films from storytellers around the world. Films were chosen based on their ability to inspire, transform and allow us to see the world through another person’s eyes.

Pangea Day films will be coupled with talks from CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, Queen Noor of Jordan, child soldier Ishmael Beah, and many more.

The program will be hosted by Lisa Ling, Current TV’s Max and Jason, and June Arunga.

Pangea Day will also include live music, including performances by the Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart, Gilberto Gil, Rokia Traore, Mohamed Mounir and Iranian rock band Hypernova.

Think of it as a global campfire, and an opportunity to take part in a moment in history.

See you on May 10th!

-Delia Cohen and The Pangea Day Team

Go to the Pangea Day website

more info on how to watch the event after the jump

(more…)

I’ve been toying around with the idea of creating a video version of Batangbaler. It’s basically a weekly online video about Baler and Aurora posted on a youtube channel. Hopefully, with help from some friends, we could be ready with the pilot episode in a couple of months time.

The first step in turning this plan into reality is finding a couple of kids to do the hosting job. What me and my secret partner in crime decided to do is have an audition. We’re looking for two peeps between 15 and 20 years old, based in Baler with videogenic qualities and loads of sense of humor. We will setup an audition date this month or next depending on the weather at a still undisclosed location.

This is not the official call for entries. Just watch out for the announcement on your favorite local radio stations (all 2 of them), cable TV and this website. If you can’t wait, you can email me at batangbaler at gmail dot com for early reservations.

P.S. We’re also open for sponsorships. This episode is brought to you by……

Due to some problems with malwares and spams, I have to close the messageboard. There were more spammers in the forum than real people.

To the forum members who turned homeless because of my demolition job, I have created a yahoo group where we can continue our discussions. the group name is batangbalergroup. Go there and sign-in for membership. Here’s the long address:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/batangbalergroup/

To the ANSHS grads populating the alumni thread, please go to the Galing Ansci website and offer yourselves for adoption. To my batchmates using the Batch 88 thread, email me at batangbaler at gmail dot com for plan B.

For those looking for a quick fix, the Batangbaler Chatroom is just one click away.