pondering thoughts

At long last my artbook, INSPIRATIONS: the Art of Paolo Ramirez is finally on sale! I’m so ecstatic to literally get my works to your hands instead of seeing it on your computer screens. With over 80 detailed pixelious digital artworks, I hope it will leave you feeling inspired!

This coffee table book is an excellent gift and collector item for those who appreciates and love art.

You can order it via lulu.com, just follow this link: http://www.lulu.com/content/645471

TO PREVIEW THE BOOK and for further information visit my website at: http://www.pbozproduction.com

For buyers in the Philippines: The first 100 people you’ll avail it get a free poster together with the book.

You can also email me at pbozproduction@yahoo.com for your questions regarding the artbook and or the services I offer.

I Hope you could get a copy of it!

Thanks very much!

Hello everyone!

Here’s my MULTIPLY PAGE: http://pboz.multiply.com

Feel free to visit and add me up if you already have a account there.

You can also check out some of my artworks there and the watch the preview of my artbook… so go ahead and enjoy!

I love music whatever genre as long as it appeals to me! I just can’t begin to imagine what I do without music because I know I might not be this ’inspired *’ if I can’t have a mood altering song or two to accompany me in the things I do. I just bought me a copy of Urbandub’s new album last Nov. 22 and I’m listening to it together with other songs like Kyla’s Heartfelt.

URBANDUB: Under Southern Lights

They’re back! Urbandub doesn’t disappoint and they have proven it in the past as fans feared that the band will loose its luster and sell out after seizing a major record label deal but fears were shattered with their successful ‘Embrace’ album under EMI Phil. The new album entitled, ‘Under Southern Lights’ is a metaphor for their hometown, Cebu and the ‘guiding light’ that is their family and friends as what Gabby Alipe said, the lead vocals of the band. They retreated back to Cebu just to write the tracks and let the creative juices flow and got back to Manila for recording of the album. I just love the music style of Urbandub, the heart-pounding head banging beats and the genius lyrical poetry that you can’t help but relate to. The Album boast 10 fresh tracks and includes a duet with lead vocals of Sinosikat in ‘Inside the Mind of a Killer’ which tells story of a couple who are at the end of their relationship first the blaming then the compromise to give it another try. ‘The Fight is Over’ tells the bittersweet fate of lovers that can’t be mended not even through time. ‘Cebuana’ is a song about finding new love. The catchy chorus of ‘Evidence’ is for someone who caught his/her significant other cheating and literally ‘in the arms of another’ (chuckles! karma!). The perfectly entitled ‘Anthem’ is just that, giving you a nice feeling of letting go and moving forward after a storm. The first single off the album is ‘Guillotine’ which is doing well in radio, they also shot a music video and will be aired soon. I like it that the songs plays around relationships and love in general which I think is has the potential to grab and reach wider audience.

KYLA: Heartfelt 

You have seen her awesome performance as she sang our national anthem with pride in Manny’s fight and now Kyla, dubbed as the Philippine’s R&B Princess, returns with her ‘Heartfelt’ renditions of classic love songs that you love but with a fresh and distinct touch that only she can provide. Kyla is not a stranger in the music business in fact with 6 albums under her belt, numerous awards and commendations, performances and TV hostings - she’s really one busy woman. As they say the lady is now a woman evident in the new sexy and edgier look and the kinds of songs she chooses. The Album has 16 tracks plus one alternate version of a song and includes one original ‘Someone’ an upbeat tempo track about someone asking those lingering hard-to-ask questions that sticks in the mind whenever you’re committed with someone. The carrier single ‘Love will lead you back’ updates a Taylor Dayne original with her soothing and soulful voice that pierces through the heart. My other favorites includes ‘Home’, Idol Elliot Yamin’s ‘Wait for you’, ‘With this Tear’, ‘I don’t have the heart’, ‘Last Chance’, ‘Always and Forever’, and ‘One day in your life.’ All in all, Hearfelt is not just great remakes with Kyla’s stamp on it – it’s Kyla growing and maturing in every sense of a Woman.

So if you’re a music freak like me check these two albums out and please buy the original copies not the one you find in streets…

* INSPIRATIONS: The Art of Paolo Ramirez 

It’s finally coming! The Wait is almost over - well that is for me and the others who are anticipating it hehehehe! Updates and new information to follow.

If you’re idle and have time, please take a look at my new artworks and the rest at my deviantart gallery: http://pbozproduction.deviantart.com

Anyway, if ever you were wondering why I devoted 3 artworks for Kyla (the other one is at deviantart, not shown above duhh), well that is because I’m a fan of her and her music. I brought her new album and all the songs are warming up to my liking… don’t get me wrong I do love it but just a few weeks before the release of her Heartfelt album, I saw the list of songs which are all remakes except one and there it was "Somewhere over the rainbow" hehehe I wasn’t sure if I’m going to like the song even if it was sang by someone I adore, but hey what do you know? I liked her version of the song thanks to the fresh musical arrangement and Kyla’s soothing voice - the classics sounds updated and soulful…

As for my very delayed artbook, A little more time and before you know it, it will be on your hands - a perfect coffee-table book.

Yes you heard it right! CORELWORLD is back bringing with it tons of cool activities such as:

• a On-the-Spot design contest
• Seminars and amazing Demos
• the formal launching of CorelDRAW Users Group
• a week long exhibit featuring the works of Kenneth Ong, Jobert Togonon, Paolo Ramirez (That’s me! hahahaha), and of course, Mr. Ray Rubio (CubePixel), the award-winning CorelDRAW designer who is responsible for this great event.
• Information on Corel Schools Integration Program
• and much, much more.

So mark your calendars, it’ll be on October 5-6, 2007 at the NCCC Mall here in Davao. See you there!

—————————————————–

Links:

1. "the prince" - my work-in-progress artwork as seen above: http://pbozproduction.deviantart.com/art/The-Prince-65754443
2. CUBEPIXEL Design Studio: http://www.cubepixelstudio.com

When we hold each other, in the darkness, it doesn’t make the darkness

go away. The bad things are still out there. The nightmares are still walking.

When we hold each other, we feel - not safer, but better.

"It’s alright," we whisper. "I’m here. I love you."

and we lie, "I’ll never leave you."

For just a moment or two the darkness doesn’t seem so bad.

When we hold each other.

—————————————————————————-

Excerpt from Hellblazer comics #27 which is one of my faves, written by Sandman Creator, Neil Gaiman.

Speaking of which, I was estatic a month ago when I came to know that for the first time, FILBAR’S will have a new branch here in Davao. For weeks and weeks I patiently waited for its opening. I occassionally snuck out of school (when I could) just to see if it’s open. It was even weird that when I asked the customer service of the mall about it, she was completely clueless she didn’t even knew that there’ll be a new store - when duh! she should have.

Anyway, all my waiting was wasted when just yesterday a friend of mine told me that it was finally open, Yey! well not really - in fact It was horrible. I mean you would have just mistaken it for another magazine store or something, selling local and US tabloid magazines and such. WTF?! Where are all the comics?! The collectables?! The action figures?! The graphic novels I long to have?! It should have been a specialty store for them. Except of course for a few number (and I mean a just a handful) of X-men comics and them sweet Neil Gaiman Sandman compilations (which I want to have), it was all garbage! Hehehe I wished I was back in Manila and I hope for the coming weeks, the "Filbar’s" branch here in Davao will house more and more items that made Filbar’s what it is and should be.

Just WOW! What else could I possibly say?! Visit the official movie site of BEOWULF to view the jaw-dropping, spanking new trailer! Starring Angelina Jolie as Grendel’s hot momma among others. Enjoy!

Link: http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/beowulf/

My ear is stuck listening on P. Diddy’s song, Last Night. It features vocals from Keyshia Cole which I think single-handedly sells the song, well apart from Diddy’s celebrity status of course. I love the meaning and Keyshia’s part:

If I told you once, I told you twice, you can see it in my eyes. I’m all cried out, with nothing to say. You’re everything I wanted to be. If you could only see, your heart belongs to me. I love you so much, I’m yearning for your touch. Come and set me free, forever yours I’ll be, baby won’t you come and take this pain away.

I need you, and you need me. This is so plain to see, and I will never let you go and, I will always love you so. I will… If you could only see, your heart belongs to me. I love you so much, I’m yearning for your touch. Come and set me free, forever yours I’ll be, baby won’t you come and take this pain away.

Well just watch it and you’ll know what I mean. Here’s the video for the song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-k7p06rNpEg

And here’s a talented girl doing a acapella of the song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ax4U5XTFPE4

I don’t like getting sick often.
Back when I was still in school I’ve no problem with getting sick heck I even pretended to have a fever just so I won’t have to go to class but now it’s different. I realized that your health is definitely your insurance so better invest on it. I consider myself fit and healthy though there are just these instances that I’m plague with sickness and it’s unavoidable, I’m not superman after all. It’s been like two week already of being sick and it’s really evident – I’m thinner than before the bones in my wrist is now visible. The first week I got a fever probably because of the rainy nights we’ve been having. So I diligently took my medicine and after that I was cured or so I thought. It wasn’t long that I developed tonsillitis and that’s not all, soon enough little white spots begin to pop out all over my tongue. I was freaked out, I mean WTF man, what the hell is this!?  It was very annoying and painful especially when food touches my tongue it was like sipping boiling hot coffee – awww! It was so painful to even chew yet alone swallow food, needless to say my diet was affected. I find it hard to ingest chucky food so I was constantly eating arozcaldo and plenty of water and what not. I asked my ‘nurse’ sister what will happen if I continue with this kind of diet, she said I would be like Palito – thin with bones protruding and the way I see it now it’s not that far of an assumption. My sister even joked around and calls my attention if she’s eating scrumptious looking food – just my luck! A few days followed and it got worse the soreness of my whole mouth has reduced my communication skills to that of a mute person. Well at least mute people know sign language, me I struggle to communicate with pen and paper. It was serious and even though I’m very afraid going on checkups it needed to be done. So my uncle accompanied me to the hospital. It was nerve wrecking, I don’t know why I’m a bit nervous with I’m in hospitals and clinics with doctors and nurses around. It was also very nostalgic, I remembered the time I was confined for pneumonia wherein I was literally on the brink of death if I was even admitted to the hospital a day late. Those were fun times heheh. When we got there, we scanned through corridors for the doctor’s clinic only to find that we would have to wait till 3pm for his arrival. The wait wasn’t really that long and soon enough the doctor came and thankfully we were first on the list. He was not that old as I imagined, in fact he was still young in his late 30’s to 40. He commented if I was really 23 heheh I figured he was just making me feel at ease. As he began to diagnose my condition I can’t help but feel uncomfortable as I surveyed his hip yet sterile clinic - I can’t wait to get out of here. But a few minutes passed and I was asking questions (trying hard to talk) to the doc regarding my condition and what should be done to prevent this to even talks of surgically removing my tonsils… After the checkup we were handed a prescription and let me tell you the drugs are very expensive another reason why we should not get sick (Clusivol – “bawal magkasakit”).

Now that I’m recovering I felt a tad relief and hope I won’t have to go through that again.
So what’s next? Well I need to eat more! I made a promise to myself that as soon as I was feeling better I’ll go food tripp’n and maybe a movie too.

I hate being
drunk.

The light-headedness sensation, like the world is spinning - literally.
The momentarily urge to go to the johns or if it’s not a
convenient time, dark alleys would do just fine…
Or the certain mannerism people engaged to hint that he’s
drunk. Of course there are different sides of people and you’ll most probably
see it manifest when your jugging down beer or any liquors…
Going home with a new stale scent – too much beer de u
cologne…
The agony of a hangover the other day…
And not to mention throwing up…
But don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate drinking – I just hate
the post drama.

I love the taste of beer in my mouth and I’m saying that in a way
not to label myself as some kind of hard drinker for I only drink on occasions. Occasions
like parties, meet ups, or birthdays, just a night ago I received a call from a friend, seems that
they’re having a bit of a celebration at their house and invited me to come
over. After a rendezvous with another friend, we headed on a quick commute to
the said venue. Arriving there, it was
packed with people, relatives and friends all noisy chatting, singing with a ‘magic-sing’, eating and sometimes doing all those things at once. Our host
greeted us as he ushered for us to eat in their kitchen. Phillip is one of my friends
in college, noted MVP for great sportsmanship during our college intramurals
only to regret not being active in his former years, a silent type and a good
cook. In fact his mother told us that all the food we saw are of his recipe and
let me tell you that it’s was yummy! Odrale, the one I went with to get there
was also a friend back in college and quite the opposite of Phillip’s shyness –
loud and a bit of a prankster he had no qualms with people although he has
always been shy around sales people. Actually we were a pack of four me,
Phillip, Odrale, Innie who don’t have the luxury of joining us since she’d
migrated to manila so a sms message won’t hurt - she won’t be left out. We ate
and talk taking time to catch up with what’s going on with each or our
respective lives – agrrh I think I’m in a phrase in my life were I’m always
getting stuck a constant rot hehehe. The food was great there’s no denying that
it left us a tad sweaty afterwards, that and the weather nowadays so we opted
to go outside for air. Soon after a drinking session commenced I hesitated at
first but that cold beverage is just what I needed to start of another week of
just being me - living. Phillip’s barkadas and some random joes joined in as
they passed on a glass in turns one after the another. I noticed that I have a
separate glass at odds I say I’ll be the one to sleep at the table first,
what’s this some kind of a plot to get me drunk fast? It didn’t bother me though, as batches of
‘pulutan’ appears, Sisig with egg on a sizzling platter just like eating at a
fancy restaurant, hmm did I mention Phillip’s a good cook?! As it progressed
and after a few trips to the CR, we continued the random, funny and sometimes
senseless talk inside and decided to have some ‘videoke’ action. I contained
myself from taking the mic, heck I have no talent in that department, I just
sang along as others boisterously sang proud. We were tipsy by the last grande
and Odrale wants some coffee (although changed to hot chocolate instead) so we
set out to have one outside just a few blocks was MTS, a popular hangout with
their eclectic brands shops and bars. After that was as far as I could remember
hahaha riding a taxi I can only see blurs of light as it drove through the
empty streets. I was knock out cold when I got home, I changed into fresh clothes
and jumped to bed. I need not try to make myself sleepy by counting a herd of
sheep or thinking of some pressing issues, I was too sober that I presumably
snored through dreamland.

In the morning, I woke up to the sight of my sunlit room. My
eyes was squinting like being expose to glaring flashes illuminant photons but
it was just another new day. For a period of time I stared at the ceiling
mind’s a blank and then suddenly I felt a jolt on my stomach. I was about to
puke needless to say but I want to tell you the details hehehe. I got up still
tipsy and drowsy. My room was a mess (an ordered mess as I would like to call it) the shoes and clothes I wore that night laid on the
floor, I picked them and throw them in the hamper as I made my way to the
bathroom. I remember my first time it was back HS days I puked at the side of
the street and continued it at home hahaha memories from the past can sometimes
be funny. In that moment my stomach started to turn upside down burping to the
smell of beer I took off my clothes and sat on the bathroom floor. The coldness
of floor tiles sent shivers throughout my body. I turned the faucet as a steady
stream of water flowed. My mouth was numb as I salivate uncontrollably. I tried
to mimic what bulimic/ anorexic people are used to doing – forcing themselves
to throw up. I placed my hand inside my mouth and try to gag myself into
throwing up but I only recoiled with a cough and teary eyes. Moments later after
some focusing and what not, I began throwing up. My stomach was not accustomed to all the squeezing and purging process and yes puking does hurt. I loathe that feeling. I stared on
the floating mess below and entertained myself thinking this was what I had for
dinner, I saw bits and portions like a sample of everything I ate. There were
pineapple tidbits (since fibber rich foods takes long to digest and some can’t) from ‘afrida’, spaghetti noodles, ‘sisig’ bits and a chuck of meat from ‘patatim’ (what
did I do shove it me without chewing?!) and the murky reddish brown liquid
probably from the chocolate we had to conclude our night. It built up quite a
volume of water since larger pieces can’t go through them tiny drain holes. I
inhaled and then exhaled. Breathing deeply and steadily and felt relief. Gone
are the stomach grumblings. It’s a great feeling having that out of your system
like a streak of freshness that exudes throughout your body. However, I wasn’t
that fresh so I cleaned up and took a long shower. It’s amazing how fully
charged and new I felt after that, but all the voluntary/involuntary act of
throwing what I ate left me with a bit of a hunger and wondered what’s for lunch…
hope it’s any good.