March 27, 2007

events! events!
Mood:  cool

March 5, 2007

UFC 68: The Uprising Randy Couture
Mood:  celebratory

AMAZING! Couture Shuts out Sylvia to Win Third UFC Heavyweight Title!

COLUMBUS, OH, March 4 – After losing two out of three fights to UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell and a tearful retirement in 2006, most believed that Randy Couture had run out of miracles. But before a packed house at the Nationwide Arena, the 43-year old UFC Hall of Famer shocked the world once again, dominating Tim Sylvia for five rounds, en route to a shutout five round decision that earned Couture a third UFC heavyweight championship.

“Not bad for an old man,” said Couture, whose three belts are now added to two UFC light heavyweight championships, giving him five total belts.

“He kept me off balance all night,” said Sylvia, a two-time champion himself. “He kept me guessing the whole 25 minutes.”

Entering the Octagon for the UFC 68 main event to the strains of Aerosmith singing ‘Back in the Saddle’, Couture smiled from ear to ear, seemingly overjoyed to be back in action as an active fighter. Conversely, Sylvia was all business – for him, this wasn’t a celebration; it was an affirmation that he was the UFC heavyweight champion and that an aging legend wasn’t going to change that fact in the next 25 minutes or less.

Then again, the former two-time heavyweight and light heavyweight champion never operated by anyone else’s plans, and with the first right hand he threw, Couture dropped the 6-8, 263 pound champion and pounced on him, looking to end the fight as the arena erupted. Soon, Couture had Sylvia’s back, but the champion took his time calmly as he tried to escape ‘The Natural’s clutches. Couture continued to work for the finish throughout the rest of the round though, as Sylvia arched backwards in an effort to weigh down and tire the challenger until the bell rang.

Couture quickly closed the distance to open the second, and despite being tossed back by Sylvia on his first attempt, his next try was more successful as he drove ‘The Maine-iac’ to the fence in an effort to get the takedown, which he got with 3:30 left. On the ground, Couture was active with both hands in order to not only score points but to keep his dominant position, and it wasn’t until there were 30 seconds left in the round that referee John McCarthy stood the fighters up. But it didn’t matter, as Couture landed with a solid left and took Sylvia to the mat yet again before the end of the stanza.

Sylvia pressed the action to begun round three, but Couture still amazed with his crisper standup and his impressive defense, complete with quick head movement and bobbing and weaving while he potshotted the 30-year old champion. Soon, his right hand was finding a permanent home on Sylvia’s left cheek, which began to swell, but he was still fighting with the discipline of a fighter who knew that one overeager mistake could mean the end of his night. Sylvia knew this too, and he kept trudging forward, hoping for the one right hand that would put him back in the fight.

Visibly winded between rounds, Couture had built enough of a lead that he could conceivably run out the clock for the next two rounds, but that’s just not his style, so he immediately sought – and obtained – another takedown of Sylvia to begin the fourth frame. From the ground, Couture conserved some energy while continuing to potshot Sylvia, who held the challenger until McCarthy stood them up with under three minutes to go. But again, it was Couture dominating the standup until he could put Sylvia on his back once again with just under two minutes left. As the one minute mark approached, Couture got into the full mount briefly before Sylvia escaped and started to put his own offensive together, but it was too little too late, and suddenly Couture was five minutes away from an unprecedented third heavyweight championship.

With his title slipping away, Sylvia again tried to land the equalizer on his opponent’s chin, but Couture would not be denied as he took the champion down and worked his way into side control. Sylvia had no answers on the bottom as Couture fired knees into his side and dropped forearms on his head, and then moved into the full mount with a minute and a half left in an improbable comeback that few believed he could realistically pull off. But in the final 30 seconds, the crowd that had been behind him from the opening bell roared and stood in unison for the new king.

With the win, Couture improves to 15-8. Sylvia falls to 25-3.

Ohio’s own Rich Franklin showed no ill effects from his devastating first round loss to Anderson Silva last October as he broke down and eventually stopped tough contender Jason MacDonald in two rounds.

“I was a little jittery at first, but I felt great in there tonight,” said Franklin, who has his sights set on regaining his UFC middleweight title belt in a rematch with Brazil’s ‘Spider’.

“Even though he doesn’t have the belt, he is still a champion,” said a gracious Silva of Franklin. “I hope I can give him the same opportunity he gave me.”

With the deafening roar from his home state fans ringing in his ears, Franklin (23-2) won the early battle with MacDonald (19-8) as he fought off his takedown attempt and came back with a quick flurry that put ‘The Athlete’ off balance briefly. MacDonald quickly recovered and again tried to put the Cincinnati native on the mat, but Franklin stayed upright as he looked to work his knees on the inside before again bringing the fight to long range, where he potshotted his foe with accurate shots from both hands. With a little over a minute to go, MacDonald hit the mat and tried to lure Franklin in, but all he got was a cut right eye and some punches to the head for his trouble. Finally, with 30 seconds to go, MacDonald got the takedown but Franklin was never in any danger as he put an impressive round in the bank.

MacDonald went for Franklin’s leg to start the second round, with Franklin pulling himself loose from his opponent’s grip and again going on the offensive. To his credit, MacDonald never stopped trying to implement his gameplan, and when the bout went to the ground at the 3:25 mark, he briefly got Franklin’s arm secure. Again, Franklin eluded trouble and soon got into the full mount position, where he began to rain down punches on MacDonald, who battled his way back to a more favorable position for a few moments until Franklin got the mount again and pounded away until the bell rang. Thankfully, the battered MacDonald’s concerned corner had seen enough, and they called the fight before the third and final round began.

Former UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes got back in the win column for the first time since losing his title to Georges St-Pierre last November with a no-nonsense three round unanimous decision over Chris Lytle that saw the Hillsboro, Illinois native get back to his ground and pounding basics.

All three judges saw the bout the same: 30-27 for Hughes.

Lytle looked to test Hughes’ standup early with a quick combination, but Hughes took it well and immediately brought his foe to the canvas. Lytle responded by locking in a guillotine choke, but with the crowd screaming his name, Hughes eventually broke the lock. While still on the mat, Hughes continued to work, eventually getting into side control, where he started to finally open up a sustained ground and pound attack. Lytle refused to go away though, swinging his legs over Hughes’ head in a choke attempt, which Hughes turned into an armbar try just before the bell rang to end the opening stanza.

The bout quickly went to the ground as the second round commenced, but Hughes (43-5) jumped out in front this time, pounding and cutting Lytle (32-14-4) over the right eye with forearms as the two grappled against the fence. But just when things seemed bleakest for Lytle, ‘Lights Out’ was able to reverse his position and get some breathing room, albeit briefly as Hughes again assumed side control until the round ended.

Looking to turn the tide, Lytle made a last-ditch effort to work his standup game in round three, but again proved unable to stop Hughes’ takedowns. For his part, Hughes was steady but unspectacular on the mat, unable to provide the flurry that would end the fight, drawing boos from the crowd and a warning for more activity from referee Mark Matheny as the seconds on the round and the fight ticked away to zero.

“The fight didn’t go the way I wanted it to, but I got the victory,” said Hughes.

Light heavyweight contender Jason Lambert scored the biggest win of his MMA career, stopping former UFC title challenger Renato ‘Babalu’ Sobral in the second round of a back and forth 205-pound showdown.

After a few tense early moments, Sobral (27-7) pounced with a flurry of punches that took Lambert off guard and allowed ‘Babalu’ the opening he needed for a takedown. Once on the mat, the Brazilian proceeded to drive Lambert to the fence as he looked to take the Californian’s back and sink in a choke. With a little over a minute left in the round, he succeeded, but Lambert escaped and was able to find his way to his feet. Once standing, Lambert pounded away with uppercuts on the inside, cutting his opponent over the left eye. Seconds later a big overhand right stunned Sobral and sent him to the canvas in a delayed reaction. Lambert then went on the ground attack, only to have the bell intervene.

The combatants kept up the torrid pace in round two, with both fighters trading strikes before going to the mat. This time, it was Lambert in control from the top, as he fired away on Sobral until a standup from referee John McCarthy brought a break in the action. But what might have been seen as a break for Sobral turned out to be anything but, as a short left hook from Lambert when the two engaged dropped ‘Babalu’ hard to the canvas, with a follow-up by ‘The Punisher’ producing a stoppage at the 3:35 mark.

“I had confidence coming into the fight,” said Lambert, who upped his record to 23-6 in his first fight since a loss to Rashad Evans last year. “I knew his submissions were great, but I weathered the storm and my conditioning prevailed.”

In a middleweight swing bout, Martin Kampmann lost the standup battle to concussive punching Drew McFedries, but he won the war, taking the bout to the mat and scoring a first round submission to run his unbeaten UFC record to 3-0.

McFedries (5-2) looked for the home run shot early and often, with Kampmann (12-2) responding with head kicks to keep the Iowan at bay. McFedries dropped Kampmann with a right hand though and after a brief scramble on the ground McFedries continued on his seek and destroy mission, leaving an impression on Kampmann’s rapidly bruising face. With under three minutes to go, ‘The Hitman’ decided a better course of action was due and he took McFedries to the mat to try his luck there. He quickly worked his way to side control and sent knees into his foe’s side before suddenly sinking in an arm triangle that put McFedries to sleep at 4:06 of the opening round.

In a battle between Ohio wrestlers, Columbus’ former Division I National Champion Rex Holman (Ohio State) may have shown the right stuff to throw off the attacks of Cincinnati’s Division III National Champ Matt Hamill (Rochester Institute of Technology) if they were competing in a wrestling match, but when it came to striking and a complete mixed martial arts game, ‘The Hammer’ was leagues ahead of Holman as he pounded out an impressive first round TKO win in a light heavyweight bout.

Holman (4-2) showed his wrestling acumen early as he easily rose from the mat after Hamill (5-0) briefly got him to the mat, but his striking was poor in comparison to the veteran of the third season of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’, a fact made more obvious as the seconds ticked away. By the second half of the round, Hamill, sporting a small cut under his right eye, was moving in for the kill, and once he got Holman to the mat, it was game over, as he pounded away on his foe until referee John McCarthy halted the bout at the 4:00 mark.

In welterweight action, highly touted contender Jon Fitch improved to 18-2 with a second round submission win over Luigi Fioravanti.

Fitch controlled the first round with a takedown and his trademark ground and pound attack, but Fioravanti (11-2) was able to escape with a nick over his left eye and a one point deficit on the scorecards.

Fioravanti was unable to get back in the fight in the second frame, and with Fitch seemingly able to put the fight wherever he wanted it, it was just a matter of time before the hard-hitting Floridian found himself on the losing end of the bout, and that time came at the 3:05 mark, when Fitch sunk in a rear naked choke that produced a tap out.

Gleison Tibau’s first foray to the UFC lightweight division was a successful one as he outpointed Jason Dent over three rounds in a fairly uneventful preliminary bout.

Scores were 30-27 across the board for Tibau.

Tibau opened the fight strong with a thunderous takedown and a sustained choke on the game Dent, who fought off the submission and earned himself a standup from referee Herb Dean which allowed him to last out the round.

It was more of the same in the second and third, as Tibau continued to control the action, albeit in unspectacular fashion, as Dent was unable to mount any offense against the Brazilian, who improved to 24-3. Dent falls to 12-8.

In the UFC 68 opener, Jamie ‘The Worm’ Varner (10-1), fresh off an impressive effort in defeat against number one lightweight contender Hermes Franca last August, got it right his second time around in the Octagon, making short work of UFC newcomer Jason ‘The Gizzard’ Gilliam (11-1) with a rear naked choke submission at 1:34 of the first round.

March 2, 2007

The Philippine Komiks: A New Era
Mood:  special

PHILIPPINE KOMIKS: A NEW ERA
Brief Report on the 1st Philippine Komiks Congress

The 1st Philippine Komiks Congress has finally concluded yesterday, February 27, 2007 At NCCA Building , Leandro V. Locsin Auditorium ,Intramuros, Manila. And it got its first success—a creation of new awareness of an existing Komiks Industry in the past and in the present.

The event was considered now to be one of the biggest concerted effort staged by Komisyon ng Wikang Filipino, National Commision for the Culture and Arts and Filipino Institute for Komiks Arts and sciences and by various supporting key personalities in the industry. It brings new hope to everyone.

As far as it was remembered, Komiks Congress was been conceptualized since before or early year 2000 but it was been finally realized yesterday after consecutive 5 official meetings held since last month to gather support. This is in hard effort of the KWF Commisioner Joe Lad Santos, KWF Chairman Ricardo Ma. Duran Nolasco and NCCA Exec. Director Cecille Guidote- Alvarez with the support of volunteers from the Komiks people itself.

The Komiks Art Exhibit was been formally opened before going to Komiks Congress proper. The opening was done by cutting of ribbon attended by several key personalities In the Philippines including PCSO Director Manuel Morato, PUP President Dante Guevarra, former Senator Heherson and other Big names in the Philippine scene that are so many to mention. Director Caparas together with his wife Ms. Donna Villa has arrived a few minutes after the cutting of ribbon and their presence made the Media people in frenzy. All of the attention to the art exhibit has halt due to the presence of one of the successful local Komiks writer and creator—Carlo Caparas.

The event was not just been attended by several people, it was also attended by many art students and Komiks fans and ethusiasts in the past and in the present who happened to get impressed on the Komik artworks that existed a long ago and even today. This is the real showcase of Filipino Talent. Coching, Redondo, and Alcala’s works are also being exhibited there.

The opening of Komiks Art Exhibit was supposed to beheld last February 22 but they made it clear that it was postponed in order for the organizers to invite more key personalities and prepare more on the said event.

After the opening, everyone who was there proceeded to the Auditorium to formally open the First Philippine Komiks Congress at around 11:30 in the morning. KWF Commissioner Joe Lad Santos patiently entertains the audience and made effort to create important opening messages benefiting the Komiks Industry. NCCA Exec. Dir. Cecille Guidote- Alvarez made inspiring messages that also opened the eyes of everyone inciting Komiks as one of the powerful force of Education and Heritage and should not be abandoned. Director Carlo J. Caparaz together with his wife Ms. Dona V has also made the audience smiled and neutralized the emotional nostalgic atmosphere of the opening of the congress. Carlo J. Caparaz also made promise to fully support Komiks since he never forget that he came from Komiks and now he wanted to return the favor to it by sponsoring a Komiks Contest with cash prizes amounting more than 200, 000- 300, 000 pesos.

The ATLAS Publication Presence.

The most intriguing part is the presence of Deo Alvares,, the general manager of Atlas Publication made speech upstage and made important messages. Atlas is the biggest and the only publication of the Philippine Comics Industry and everyone never forgot it.

Deo Alavarez has ironically considered himself as the “villain” of the Kongress since The Fall of Atlas Publication, it also temporarily put the Komiks Industry into halt for almost more than a decade. He explained the business side of Philippine Komiks and its downfall. He enumerated some of the biggest factors why the Philippine Komiks has declined:

1.ALL OUT WAR ON MNLF IN MINDANAO. It has declined the 30% of its Sales and gross profit during the all out war against the insurgents called Muslim National Liberation Front in the Mindanao region.

2.THE MOUNT PINATUBO VOLCANIC ERUPTION. It has also declined 30% of its Sales and Gross Profit in which they still having problem From recovery in Mindanao.

3.UNCONTROLLABLE INCREASE ON PAPER COST.

4.TV CONSUMPTION AND OTHER NEW SCAPIST MEDIUM.

5.DECLINATION ON KOMIKS READING.

Deo Alvares has also made a brave decision to appear in the congress even on the wake of Atlas Controversy and he said ATLAS do their best and made several attempts but it failed eventually due to its lack of capacity to compete against the rise of new multimedia and globalization. He was also happy to see people from komiks and he still has the love for it that’s why he showed.

Philippine Komiks History, The Present and The Future

Randy Valiente, presented a much a larger history of Philippine Komiks Industry in a power point presentation and discussion. Randy’s presentation was been highly researched and it showed a clearer idea on what is komiks in the past and in the present and challenged the people who attended on handling its future.He cited how the Philippine Komiks Industry started and even stated that Jose Rizal, the National Hero was the first Komiks Cartoonist. He tried very beautiful reviews on how Coching has started a new artform in komiks that later made Redondo, Alcala, Alex Nino and the other Filipino Komiks Artist to arise on the scene. He pointed out the Filipino Komiks Artists Invasion in 1970’s that marked a global phenomenon before the Manga Equation. And he is also more visionary that there is a possible next wave of Invasion of Komiks Artists from the Philippines in a global scale due to the success of the present generation of Artists who made it in the US Comics Top Titles from giant companies such as DC and Marvel. He also emphasize that there is independent publishers and creators unknown to majority that existed after the fall of a Monopolized Komiks Industry. But unlike from the past, the present generation did not made it into a mass based consumption due to its limitation of scope specially on distribution. And this “indies” are growing in numbers and some of them developed a higher aspect of Komiks---the Graphic Novels. The same thing of that is happening in the US Comics Industry---they have now their so called “Rise of Grpahic Novels”. However, according to Randy , if we will look back at the rich history Of the Philippine Komiks, we are the first on the Graphic Novels if we try to compile all those “serialized novels.” And we are about to realized it. Randy has also cited some problems that occurred triggering the downfall of the Komiks Industry and some of them were being mentioned by Deo Alvares, the Atlas General Manager. He also pointed out A “gap” between this two generations and the only way to bridge it is by listening to each other’s need. He also pointed that before the Komiks Congress there were Internet effort in bringing back the awareness of some new generations about the history of Komiks, this includes the link, The Philippine Komiks Board, link and link PILIPINO Komiks Blogspot, and so many others. Randy Valiente together with Mario Macalindong and John Becaro were the representatives of a younger generations of Komiks Artists and Creators that also participated on the Komiks Exhibit.

The Forum

The Forum has started at around almost 3:00 p.m and has ended past 5:00 p.m…It was patterned from a traditional semi parliamentary form where everyone can standup, speak and question the member of panels and even everyone. Sad to say, the forum has started late and it ended in a very short time. A lot of questions were being raised including the participation of the publishers and the government. Few audiences have participated due to the shortage of time and it was cut off because NCCA is simply until 5:00 pm because it’s a government establishment. The audience made some very good questions and points while the panelist tried to answered it in an objective manner with an appeal to everyone to UNITE in the end. The panelists includes KWF Comissioner Joe Lad Santos, Exec. Dir. Cecille Guidote- Alvarez, Carlo Capraz and wife Donna Villa.

On Carlo Caparas, Politics and Komiks Congress

Aside from being one of the sponsors, Carlo is a prime factor in this advancement of public awareness due to it celebrity status that can bring the interest of media. His arrival has ended in TV News just last night and probably in Newspapers today. He has made hundreds of komiks novels already and shifted on becoming a well- known Film Director. Most of his works includes Panday that was being aired sometimes last 2005 in ABS CBN and Bakekang in GMA Network last year 2006. ATTENTION is what we need in bringing back the interest of the Filipino people on Komiks---and Carlo Capras can hit it in the media in very fast moments.

We smell the upcoming elections and it is inevitable at this very moment specially that this Komiks Congress has also got the attention of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.The proof of that will be concluded today, February 28, 2007 because the present Philippine President will honor Carlo Caparas, Coching, Alcala, Ravelo and many others in their achievement in Komiks as part of the celebration of the Arts Month. This move was the first time that Komiks was being recognized by a Philippine government and its very positive since it is the duty of the government to recognized Komiks as one of the most powerful tool that help spread the national language, art and heritage . This maybe naturally touched by politics but it is just but one of the key factor that the Komiks Industry needed today because it will be part of the government and Komiks can demand support on that. Again, Komiks needs attention and support until it can walk in its own feet again.

Komiks Congress is but just one of the move that Komiks needed the most today…but it does not just starts or ends there..it continue to us…to all of us, the Congress is but just one component and Historians will tell that someday. Though it may not be perfect due to some technical operation problems, still it has a big contribution in bringing back our own attention on our local Komiks industry.

On Faith Cuneta and Film Industry

Faith Cuneta was one among the most competitive singer/performer from our country, she honored all of us who attended because she sang the Philippine National Song. She also rendered a very beautiful song she dedicated to everyone. Her presence only shows that she supports any Filipino endeavor. And NCCA will also conduct a similar congress of film called Film summit tackling the issues concerning the local Industry. In this way, NCCA will try to bridge the partnership of Komiks and Film. And this means another positive move for the Komiks industry.

Side Comments

In the case of my Komikero friend—Jonas Diego, the Congress needs focus on addressing certain issues by providing more and quality time to forum and deliberation the next time it will be conducted. He , together with some others were not given the chance, considering the fact that they attended because they wanted to share their important ideas. The first Congress overlooked some factors and only give more time on the past events instead of giving a more specific actions that we needed the most. Also, it is understandable that the effect of the Congress cannot be felt right now; it can be felt as good as in 3-5 years after. By giving more time, we can open more ideas beneficial to the Komiks Industry. We need Actions, enough on the past, lets concentrate on the present and the future. Let’s all face the challenge altogether.

More representation from the Present generation will spark the bigger support from the them which is essential in the trancession of Komiks Legacy and to show the open arms of Komiks Congress to everyone.We could not just ignore them.

There are LOT of other artists who was not able to participate in the Komiks Exhibit.

The finalization of a Body/ Association that will definitely lead and sustain the Komiks Congress to its operations. A more definite action plans is what we need the most.

If most them cannot be delivered by this Congress, we will only got problems.

On Perseverance

One thing I can feel on KWF Joe Lad Santos is his patient and determination. The Komiks Congress cannot be simply realized with out him showing this perseverance in pushing this event to his government colleagues. If I cannot sense this, I would probably left him hanging. But how can you leave a man who showed these beautiful values to you? They need support and I feel his craving for it. When I was attending the early meetings, I felt their love on this medium, and how come I will not support it if we have the same feeling? We must remember that during the time of the Roces or the Monopolized Komiks Industry, we still didn’t have Komiks people in high strategic positions such as the case of this Commissioner on National Filipino Language that fortunately came from Komiks. It’s but just a big factor if Komiks got a good representation in our government and this is the time for them to show their love for this medium.

A New Era of Hope for Philippine Komiks

This event has a possibility to result into a new era of hope for Philippine Komiks Industry since it opened a new opportunity to all of us who involves in Komiks. It gathered new interest due to a fact that the government has tried to help this hibernating industry. Much more positive to all of us is that this opened a new windows For a new creative developments and bridge a gap that has blocked all of us to move on.

Mabuhay Tayo Lahing Pilipino.!

February 2, 2007

John Beatty in Manila!
Mood:  cool

January 24, 2007

Upcoming Filipino Komiks Congress
Mood:  happy

Joe Lad Santos, Commissioner on National Commission for the Filipino Language (Komisyon ng Wikang Filipino) had recently announced its plan to sponsor a Komiks Congress in a gathering held last January 21, 2006 in Loren Banag's Place, Valenzuela City, Philippines.

The said Congress will tentatively be set on February 16, 2006 and the venue is still on the process. This will showcase an Art Exhibit featuring the masterpieces of the great Komiks Illustrators of 1960's up to present. Various activities and competitions are being lined up also. Its primary objective is to promote an awareness in the past Glory of the Philippine Komiks Industry and to create new actions to refresh it and be able to campaign for public acceptance once again.

In the process, the Congress will also identify some selected persons to carry out projects benefiting the welfare of the Komiks Industry and its people.

The event will be a little bit of similar to Komikon that was held in two consecutive years but with the focus on the past Komiks Industry and with the attempt to merge it in the the present generation of Komiks Industry. This time the past generations are already bigger in numbers when it comes ton public appearances participation. Read more here!

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