Wednesday x Alfred

Spur of the moment kind of thing...
Yesterday I had a little throwback moment when I watched The Addams Family, and my fascination with Wednesday Addams was ignited for a second. I really love Wednesday, because of a lot of reasons:
1.) She's extremely bright
2.) She tells it how it is
3.) She has hard core principles (at a young age)
4.) She's like a mini Coco Chanel (except about the constant lying part)
5.) She's a mini Blair Waldorf (They're experts at scheming)
6.) She lives, breathes, and rocks BLACK.

I love how Christina Ricci portrayed Wednesday much more believable and realistic than the 1960s live action series.

I'm very much in love of the fact that Wednesday is slightly psychotic, and her fascination of death and everything evil and dark. She allows me to explore my dark side, which connects my interest to Alfred Hitchcock, another psychotic genius.

I had an instant idea of making a slightly small capsule collection, and ended up having this after a couple of hours of work which is highly inspired by Wednesday and Alfred's dark minds..

 So first, I formulated my mood board for about thirty minutes, and I ended up with this, I wanted to emphasize on the black tones, and the red touches as well to symbolize blood.

When I was drawing "My Wednesday", I decided to go on a more youth-young-doll-ish style in illustrating, which is kind of to pay homage to Wednesday's favorite Marie Antoinette doll.

 The first two "Wednesday Dolls", are more youthful and innocent, but still has a touch of edge to represent Wednesday's spunk. The first one (L), is primarily inspired by Wednesday's usual style. And the second one (R), is a trench coat, kind of a mix of her "strategic General" within, hence the boots.

The third and fourth one, are the older looks of Wednesday in my opinion, more chic, minimalistic and edgy.

You have to forgive me about the coloring, I ran out of actual water color and had to use my watercolor pencils one, which is kind of difficult when blending, a little messy. (Not my best work)

This last drawing is more evident of the touch of Hitchcock, because of the feathers, spikes and I can definitely see Wednesday wearing this, a more modern and evolved Wednesday.. Edgy and Chic at the same time. 

-WS

2013 finals flashback

A good friend of mine Angela, wrote an article 4 months ago, a month before the PBA and NBA finals even began, and as I look back I realized that all her predictions actually happened, and I just wanted to share her article for people to see, because it actually deserves to be shared to wandering minds out there. So here it is...

BASKETBALL FRENZY: An inside look into the PBA and NBA scene

By Angela Louise Pel

American writer John Edgar Wideman once said “When it’s played the way it’s supposed to be played, basketball happens in the air; flying, floating, elevated above the floor, levitating the way oppressed peoples of this earth imagine themselves in their dreams.” Basketball is indeed exciting and exhilarating whether you are playing or simply watching it on Television or by the stands cheering with the crowd.

There may be a lot of basketball associations across the globe, but surely for the Filipinos the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) and the National Basketball Association (NBA) are the two leagues that stand out.

This season of 2012-2013, nothing can beat the heat of the basketball athletes in both NBA and PBA.  PBA celebrated their 38^th season, while NBA celebrated their 67^th season. Every time of the year, these two associations bring the best out of every player. This is the time where the basketball teams show their fullest potential to reach the championship spot.

The PBA

The PBA uses a three conference system. It started with the Philippine Cup that started on September 30, 2012 and ended on January 26, 2013. In this conference, they do not allow any foreign players to join the game. Ten teams compete from elimination rounds up to finals. 

Ranidel de Ocampo, who is a currently player of Talk N’ Text, was awarded as the MVP during the Philippine Cup. Now the Philippine Cup is all wrapped up, the Commissioners Cup is now in progress. In Commissioners Cup the team participating are expected to have an import or a foreign player. The latest conference for the PBA is about to end with the start of the finals showdown between the Alaska Aces and the Ginebra Gin Kings. 

The Alaska team has been on top since the start of the conference credited to great performances of its players.  On the other hand, Ginebra has struggled in the early games and had to survive pulsating do or die games to reach the finals.  The finals is expected to go down the wire with both teams desperately longing to catch the most coveted crown and title which have eluded them for the past years.  Tickets for the finals are almost sold out and the “Gatas Republic” and the “Barangay Ginebra” fans to include avid PBA supporters are also expected to occupy the whole coliseum each and every scheduled game.

The NBA started a little later on October 30, 2012 and the playoffs have just begun on 30^th of April this year. During the regular season, there was an episode where first time in the history of NBA that the earliest head coach firing happened. 

Numerous players and coaches were awarded; Lebron James of Miami Heat was awarded as the most valuable player, Mark Gasol of Memphis as defensive player of the year, and George Carl of Denver Nuggets was awarded as coach of the year. There may be a lot of blissful events, but numerous people sympathized for Kobe Bryant who couldn’t play for at least 6 months after he tore his Achilles tendon.

But this is not the reason for Los Angeles Lakers to not compete; they will still continue to fight. For the NBA, it’s still a long way to go before the finals.  During the playoffs, we have seen some of the more favored teams collapsed and beaten. The second round of the playoffs is becoming more interesting with the considered underdogs performing at par or even better than the usual favorites.  The Golden State Warriors are about to make history now that they are tied with the San Antonio Spurs.  The team has made a great leap from their previous records. 

The Indiana Pacers is back to reclaim old glory by taking the 3-1 advantage over the New York Knicks.  The Memphis Grizzlies is determined to take revenge over the Oklahoma Thunders that eliminated them early in the last conference.  The Grizzlies are also enjoying a 3-1 edge over the Thunders.  Last but not the least, the Miami Heat which is expected to repeat their last conference’s triumph and take consecutive championship titles, are also more focused than the Chicago Bulls which does not only missed its key players but has been on disarray the past games.  The Bulls are down 1-3 and are on the verge of elimination if they continuously lose control.

            Whether it’s the PBA or NBA, both of them deliver true and worthy hard court action which never fails to bring enjoyment to viewers. One can never know what would happen and which team would is bound to win, the court is rectangular and the balls are round. Whatever happens basketball should not be taken for granted it bring a lot more, it isn’t just for fun it’s, it’s like an unnamed kind of electricity, something you feel much more from within. 

Jason Collins: beacon of light

Jason Collins: A beacon of light
 

by Alisa Dizon 

With gay rights as the global trend of the moment, more gay people are finding the courage to publicly announce their sexuality, one of those being NBA (National Basketball Association) player Jason Collins.  Last April 29^th, this 7 foot Center of the Washington Wizards was trending worldwide on Twitter, he shocked the sports world with the big news, becoming the first openly gay professional basketball player.

The news was received with a mixed response although a recent poll conducted by the Langer Research showed that 70% of the surveyed adults support his decision.  Fellow NBA star Kobe Bryant, as well as President Obama, and his teammates have applauded him for making such a bold move. Believe it or not, Collins was previously engaged to Carolyn Woos (a WNBA [Women’s National Basketball Association] player and also a Center), and shared a eight-year relationship, but ended in 2009, Woos had mixed feelings after finding out in the Sports Illustrated Issue Collins was featured on May 2013.

When he [Collins] learned former Stanford roommate Joe Kennedy joined the 2012 Gay Pride Parade, it stirred him and since then he realized the time was right that he too should be proud of who he was.  In the last May 6, 2013 issue of Sports Illustrated, Collins released a very moving and sentimental statement saying: “I didn’t set out to be the first openly gay athlete in a major American team sport. But since I am, I’m happy to start the conversation”.

He stands as a source of inspiration to others that one’s potentials should not be defined by the labels placed on a person, especially the discrimination that exists in the field of sports. As is so, he is set to receive the Courage Award from the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Network at the group’s Respect Awards on the 20^th of May. Now he treads on a new path, one that may not be easy however, the long struggle to keep up his mask is finally over and he is happier than ever.

Filipinos & Football

(ANOTHER) BALL GAME WITH A GOAL

  by: Ram Macapagal

When it comes to sports, Filipinos are passionate, dedicated and supportive. Whether they are athletes, fans or just someone who happens to walk by and decide to watch the game.

For years, Filipinos give off a great amount of attention to basketball and boxing. However, lately their attention shifted to a distinct sport. It seems that football made an impression for our country after some successive games.

The sport was recognized when the Philippine National Football team “Azkals” won over the Vietnam team which is the defending champion in the 2010 ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asia Nations) Football Federation Suzuki Cup. It was indeed an impressive game because the Philippine football team has never triumph over Vietnam for over 2 decades. 

The crowd was not only for the game, but also for the good-looking players of the team. Before, only a few were aware that the Philippines had a football team, but now, the team is treated like celebrities, especially the Younghusband brothers.

             

Football is starting to become famous in our country and Filipinos are really good at it. With the biological make-up of football players, Filipinos are perfect for the sport because of their average height and they are fast runners. There’s nothing more exciting than supporting athletes and the sport especially if it is a Filipino.