rebooting @reboot.10

2nd day in copenhagen for the annual reboot conference and enjoying all the musings, viewpoints, questions, stories -- it's my annual information-binge before i turn off and hibernate ;-) (awake by monday though ;-p )

reboot 10 is al about that everyday, sometimes controversial, sometimes invisible, often taken for granted stuff called 'free'. ranging from the philosophical and political to the cultural and technological, this year's theme is both bite-size and a buffet table depending on which talks you attend. so far my menu has consisted of large helpings of:

architectural principles applied to urban warfare
urban elements and the creation of play / games
social justice, well-being and freedom
democratic organisations who are transparent, let employees collaborate, vote and directly affect policies -- and they make millions, too
new journalism
some talks about spam on the side

two more hefty meals on the way before i curl up and suffer from indigestion, and later throw up and feel sick with all the information and inspiration! and after the delirium, when i finally reboot in my beloved holland, the after-taste of too much thinking still fresh in my mouth, i will sit quietly and relish the memories of the fiesta of inspiration and interaction that was reboot.

White choco-raspberry cupcake

Melts-in-your-mouth cupcakes from Mali :-D. Whee!

Thank you, Burmese citizen journalists

“They came and put the flag, gave us 10 candles but no food.”

“They don’t help, but force us to leave. Where should we go, my young man?”

“Nobody comes (to help)! But they have taken away all the donations from us.”

-- survivors expressing their anger at the Burmese government


We are in trouble, help!
We are hungry!
- written on the road after the storm

Enabled in part, and mediated by today’s internet and networking technologies, citizen journalism—or participatory journalism— has become a more permanent element of the media landscape. Whereas before was a clear delineation between author and reader, news maker and audience; today’s social, networking and collaborative-based applications like blogs, wikis, forums, widgets combined with easy-to-use but hi-tech digicams and mobile computing have blurred the lines between ‘amateur’ and ‘professional’ in the world of journalism.

That average citizens can engage in the writing, production and distribution of news and opinion is not an entirely new concept. It has been rooted in many struggles for change in world history and advocated in recent years by development workers.

Thanks to many ordinary citizens who participate as both witness and storyteller of the world around them, even more people like us get to see the world from a point of view other than that of oragnised media industries. More than this, in the midst of danger and conflict, the world is given the chance to see what’s real, raw and unglamorous — reality uncut. Like the plight of Burma.

Burmese citizen journalists
The devastation of Burma in recent weeks was not really unleashed by Cyclone Nargis. It was its military junta who made a natural catastrophe an unbearable tragedy. This I learned thanks to the Democratic Voice of Burma and its group of Burmese reporters and photo-journalists — all ordinary citizens — working covertly to bring the world the real story of the storm. The DVB is based in Norway and comprises a handful of Burmese activists in exile.

Burma's military junta, with its tightly controlled state media, paint a picture of a country quickly recovering, with mostly upbeat images of the country's military leaders handing out aid to survivors. Photo-journalists are not allowed to take photos of the more gruesome reality: hungry survivors squatting on roadsides, stinking corpses floating in flooded waters, injured survivors waiting hopelessly for help. Local relief organisations and volunteers are threatened to not coordinate with monks, who are once have gathered in the streets not in protest, but merely to help the communities.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has claimed that as many as 127,990 people may have died as a result of the cyclone, while the UN says more than 100,000 may have perished. The UN also estimated that between 1.6 and 2.5 million people have been severely affected by the disaster.

As of this writing, the UN is still unable to mount a full-scale relief effort, because Burma has not yet granted visas to dozens of disaster relief specialists. This despite the fact that US and French ships loaded with aid are in the waters close to the country, but without clearance to port. Even Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa has stood up to say that the junta has committed crimes against humanity in its handling of the catastrophe; that the regime had "effectively declared war on its own population."

Thanks to Burmese citizen journalists, we are not kept in the dark and fed false images of recovery Hopefully, the world can repay them with supporting the Burmese people in their struggle not just to survive this natural catastrophe, but also to regain its freedom and a better quality of life.

Crispin Beltran, Grand Old Man of Philippine Labour

'Ka Bel', as he popularly known and fondly called by fellow labourers and comrades in the Philippine labour movement, has passed away. He was 75 years old.

Just read in the news that the tireless labour leader and Congress Representative died 11:48 a.m., Philippine time. He fell from the rooftop of his home, the head injuries proved to be fatal. He was fixing a leak on the roof. Fixing stuff around the house was part of his morning ritual according to his family.

He always said he would like to die in action. That he died in an accident and that his death was not expected, doesn't make his life any less heroic. It only makes his death a greater sorrow. He is truly one of the Philippines' modern heroes. This loss will reverberate strongly in the hearts of Filipino workers around the globe.

Rest in peace, Ka Bel.

Blogging from I-Touch

Off 2 Hong Kong

Dim sum, here I come!

Of Mangas and Shakespeare and why I *heart* comics

Rome and Juliet in modern-day Tokyo, where the warring Capulets and Montagues are represented as Yakuza clans. Hamlet in an Earth devastated by global climate change and where the cyberworld is in a state of war. A Second Dark Age caused by a global energy crisis as setting for ‘The Tempest’.

These are some of the titles from the ‘Manga Shakspeare’ collection by UK publishing house SelfMadeHero. The collection showcases Shakespeare’s classic tomes combined with the iconic Japanese comic book style. It has been flying off the shelf in the UK and Asia since it was released in 2007.

Seven works were released in 2007 as part of the "Manga Shakespeare" series -- "Romeo and Juliet," "Hamlet," "The Tempest," "Richard III," "A Midsummer Night's Dream," "Macbeth" and "Julius Caesar." Adaptations of "Othello" and the comedy "As You Like It" are due out in autumn this year.

‘Manga’ is a Japanese word for comics and print cartoons, and when literally translated, means "whimsical pictures". The dynamic, emotional and cinematic character of Manga complements perfectly the drama, intrigue and intensity of Shakespeare’s plays, magnifying the storytelling prowess of both. This unique approach has gained the interest of a broad audience: it has appealed to the younger audience, and also captured the interest of educators, who have included the series in the school curriculum.

The might of comics worldwide has been evident since its mass publication became more in demand in the early 1900s. Comic books or comic books style-based publications have not only served the call of entertainment, but have been widely-used tools for educational and political reasons.

A great example of educational comic books is The For Beginners® documentary comic book series, which has been passed on from one curious reader to another in many years. It has sold more than one million copies. Its titles range from philosophy to politics, art, and culture, and other concepts and discipline — all of which entertain and respect the intelligence and intellectual curiosity of its audience. ‘Chomsky for Beginners’, ‘Domestic Violence for Beginners’, ‘Erotica for Beginners’, ‘Che for Beginners’, ‘DNA for Beginners’, ‘Elvis for Beginners’, and the list goes on.

My own interest in history, mythology and writing can be traced directly to the comic books my father regularly bought for me and my brother. From the bunch of superheroes in Marvel and DC (which I would re-write so that someone’s bound to fall in love with another), to historic figures like the Native American Hiawatha and the Philippine’s Jose Rizal; from the gods and goddesses in Mount Olympus to the ‘diwata’ (fairy of the forest) Maria — protector of ‘Makiling’, the mountain of my childhood.

My years in college and the early period trudging through the ‘professional world' were spent feeding my imagination with Gaiman’s Sandman comics on one hand, learning the real state of economy in the Philippines with IBON comic strips in another hand, while tucked in my backpack were the reader-friendly political comics I used in training sessions with farmers. And then there was the occasionally required Heavy Metal reading ;-)

One thing though -- I was never as smart as my brother who actually drew comic strip for his classmates and charged them for it. ;-p Anyway, see for yourself some of the Manga Shakespeare series artwork.