Forum Where?

The year 2003 was the onslaught of Cebu discussion boards and forums. But since the internet is an ever changing landscape and at the present times most of these have been overtaken with web 2.0 sites that provides for more inter-activity and greater internet user participation.

Again, what happened to these forums now;


www.teamrevindel.com
www.chikaground.net
www.artistsassembly.com


Where are they now.

Filmmaking Group

Where are the filmmaking groups in Cebu now? What have they produced so far? Any noteworthy news?

There used to be an event at Handuraw for showing of local indie films but hey Handuraw have closed their doors too. And so where have all the Cebuano filmmakers gone....

Change In Format

Since this blog has already acquired a new domain and so I would be changing its format from Cebu infoblog to a somesort of blog for blind items pertaining to Cebu. Here's for a start;

What happened now to a graphic multimedia company who used to do the graphic o.b.b of some of the local cable channel here in Cebu. Yes, they are good in creating eye popping graphics animation but where the hell they are now. I have checked their website site but it is no longer available.

Here's a hint, their animations used to be shown at the Fuente Osmeña video billboard.

Totally Cebu

Thanks for visiting. We have a new domain now. Please proceed to TotallyCebu.com

The Feast of Sinulog: Cebuano Heritage

Okay, now let’s see. The first time I saw the yearly celebration of Sinulog was on television and that was way back in the early 90’s. I was still a kid though and I didn’t know what it’s all about… but I did like the colors and choreographies.

Let’s take a little peak about the Sinulog festival’s history, briefly.

It began years ago back in April 7, 1521, to be precise, when a Portuguese explorer named Fernando de Magallanes landed in the beaches of the early Cebu. He was greeted by Rajah Humabon and in return, Magallanes presented an image of the child Jesus, a Santo Nino, to Humabon’s wife, Hara Humamay. Upon receiving the image, it was said that she danced with joy and, along with her, the townsmen followed. This was thought to be the first celebration of Sinulog.

Since then, the celebration has been forgotten until 1980 when the Cebuanos proclaimed the first actual celebration of Sinulog. From then on, year by year dancers from Cebu put on several costumes, masks, face paints and heavy presentation of dancing to honor the Santo Nino. Currently, this has paved way for several participants from several locations of the Philippines to take part of the festivity.

I have been able to take part with this celebration since we moved to Cebu in the early 90’s. The Sinulog parade begins in the early morning when the rerouting of jeepneys and several vehicle directions are posted on the newspapers as well as reports on local television. Me and my parents would normally embrace the long-distance walk from kilometers away to watch the live parade. Several places are jampacked; the malls, restaurants, hotels and others. The streets are flooded by people, captioned with the excitement and delight about the celebration. The fun starts whenever we arrive at the presentation spot where thousands of people flock together to watch several groups of dancers strut their stuff along with the Sinulog beat. This albeit the dreaded heat and the distance of what they are about to go.

At the end of the day, remnants of the celebration linger and it’s time for the people, who attended the celebration, to rest. But to all Cebuanos who have attended or watched the celebration, be it live or television, the excitement of the event is hinted anew and to expect the same celebration again the next year. Now, that’s something worth waiting for.

Bisrock: The Elevation of Cebuano Music

The slow revolution of Cebuano music has elevated itself to become one of the most celebrated genres of today. Actually, through the years, I’ve been hearing songs from notable Cebuano singers/composers such as Max Surban and Yoyoy Villame and they do have talents as well as skills into making their songs match their personalities. And the melodies are contagious too. They do it naturally and it sticks to the minds of the people who have heard it. And lucky me, I do hear those kind of songs ever since I opened my eyes the first time.

Today, the modern Cebuano music, or popularly known as bisrock, has encouraged several Cebuanos to give the Cebuano language the full-blast back into the music scene. Especially for the young minds, this is an opportunity to contribute what they have to the vast world of music and not just simply do “cover songs” to boost their status to the higher rankings. Now all they have to do is to put their minds to the extent into making original Cebuano compositions that unfolds the discovery of creativeness that are dwelling inside the minds of every Cebuano.

Bisrock, is short for “bisaya na rock”. “Bisaya” is the Cebuano term for Cebuano language and this has proved to become the ultimate name for the new genre, that is, modern Cebuano music. Talented individuals have provided their own compositions and have notched up to be heard by everybody on the radio waves and especially to the whole world. This goes to show that Cebuanos are in for the ride and not to be left over. After all, the local scene has geared towards the unfolding of the new generation and bisrock is one of them.

Istorya.Net

Southern Philippine’s premiere discussion/forums abode

Websites are the common places that we can entirely find out something about a certain subject and learn something about its history and background. Actually, I’ve been dwelling into a certain website that focuses mostly on my interests. I seem to be on the verge of lameness until I stumbled upon the development of discussion threads or message boards that discusses about the certain topics. The most interesting thing about this website is that, most of the members are Cebuanos. “Now this is new”, I said. I clicked the link and there popped out istorya.net/forums.

“istorya”, in English, meaning “talk” gave me the overall idea that it provides the opportunity for someone like me to jump on the bandwagon and get involved. Of course, it gives me a great feeling that a website like this exists, not only to the Cebuanos but to the world.

Istorya.net is actually more into just forums since they also feature several destinations and gives opportunity to every member to post their pictures and images to artistic values or simply share photos that captivates the Cebuano lifestyle. Also, the people of istorya.net not only posts their messages and views about certain subjects, they also provide help to the less fortunate ones who are struggling to keep themselves in their lives. Together with all these features, istorya.net continues to dominate the Cebuano online spot where some discovers great opportunities to discuss something like national and local politics, sports and recreations, share funny stories, great destinations for local and tourists and other things.

I started out back in October 2005 and, up to now, I still enjoy posting my point of views, especially about NBA basketball. I did explore some of the website’s other threads and there are a lot of people getting involved in several discussions. This goes to show that Cebuanos do have their own perspectives when it comes to certain things and that istorya.net is the place where they can share their views and converse, be it with sense or not.