Music: Praan
Written by Garry Schyman
Singer: Palbasha Siddique.
Lyrics: Bengali poem Gitanjali (”Stream of Life”) from Rabindranath Tagore:

Bhulbona ar shohojete
Shei praan e mon uthbe mete
Mrittu majhe dhaka ache
je ontohin praan

Bojre tomar baje bashi
She ki shohoj gaan
Shei shurete jagbo ami

Shei jhor jeno shoi anonde
Chittobinar taare
Shotto-shundu dosh digonto
Nachao je jhonkare!

The same stream of life that runs through my veins night and day
runs through the world and dances in rhythmic measures.
It is the same life that shoots in joy through the dust of the earth
in numberless blades of grass and
breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers.
It is the same life that is rocked in the ocean-cradle of
birth and of death, in ebb and in flow.
I feel my limbs are made glorious
by the touch of this world of life.
And my pride is from the life-throb of ages dancing in my
blood this moment.

Although, my heart still belongs to Ian Thorpe:

Look at those swift powerful kicks. Kakalurky. >_<

Unfortunately the Aussie opted to retire young. But here’s me hoping he’ll make a comeback. I think I might renew my membership in Richmonde so I could use the swimming pool again. Thanks to Phelps, swimming lessons enrollment in the US is an at all time high. Kids wanna be like Mike.

Haylavet. She’s starting to look like Jackie O

Unedited video. You’ve been rick rolled.

• Teresa Herrera did a good job hosting the show.
• Cute si Eli. (sorry girls, I don’t think he is rooting for our team.)
• Editing and shots were not bad. They’re pretty good to be honest.
• No contest for models unlike in the original PR version
• The designers were given only portable machines. Ang 3rd world naman. I know Brother is the sponsor but Brother produces industrial sewing machines too, right? There is a big difference between using industrial and portable sewing machines. There are fabrics that is very difficult to sew in portable machines. Speed is also compromised and portable machines have to be oiled everyday. Industrial sewing machines are more professional.
• We’d like to hear more from Joji Lloren. His advice is more technical than those of Tim Gunn. I think Joji is great.
• More design oriented shots/comments and less drama please.
• Teresa Herrera’s version of “auf wiedersehen” was “Ingat”? Lol. She din’t say “paalam” but I heard her say “ingat”.

Now for the controversies, a reality TV show is no good without the controversies.

• Aries & Veejay - both have showed in Philippine Fashion Week, have done various spreads for various magazines, either won/finalist in design competition and both are recent members of the Young Designers Guild of the Philippines. Eli mentioned that the slot should have been given to other undiscovered designers. In the US version of PR, contestants have already worked for several fashion houses like Viviene Westwood, Ralph Lauren, Alexander McQueen etc. But the industry there is different from the industry here. I think I would agree with Eli on this one, don’t get me wrong I love Veejay (lol, si Veejay lang) but they have already the access to some of the prizes - fashion spread in a magazine and showing your work at Phil. Fashion Week. Although I think the main reason they joined is the prize, the money could perhaps help to expand the business.

Everyone also seems to hate Aries. He is really like that in person. Hehe. He was my teacher in FIP and know him pretty well. I don’t hate him tho’. He is like fungus, just grows on you. Undeniably he is also very talented specially in construction techniques which also he undeniably learned from Sir Shanon. But I will keep my mouth shut now. Haha. I bumped into him Aries last Saturday and told him he was the cattiest person in the show and he denies that he is the bad guy. Well, to borrow a quote from a friend “good for the network ratings, too bad for him.”

It was so insensitive of Aries to make that comment –”that T’iboli girl may ibubuga pala” although the comment was good in a way there was malicious intent in the way he said it. For the record too, the T’iboli ethnic group has a very rich cultural heritage. Hindi pa dumadating ang mga Kastila, “pashion” na sila. He might also be alienating prospective clients with his bitchy attitude in the show. Sometimes he is also bordering on rude specially the way he treated Loida. If Loida was my mom, I’d probably smite Aries. Hahahah. But Aries is Aries. I’ve pretty much accepted that part.

I’m rooting for Veejay and Ivan. I like that Ivan incorporates our cultural background in his works.

And HI to contestants, I know you’ve been leaving comments here. I think you guys are brave to join a show that will be grilled by the public. It really is never as easy as it looks on TV.

First, it’s my work, mydesign, my concept. If I gave him/her permission it will haunt me back, who knows, tables could turn and I could be accused of using someone else’s portfolio a few years down the line. I felt a little disgusted when I was asked that question. A straightforward NO was all I could spare.

The local web/design design industry is a small, small, small word. One should never take credit for a design that isn’t her/his own. It’s just wrong in so many ways. Here are two classic examples:

Bel of Greencapsule.org recently posted in her Multiply account about someone taking credit for her designs.

It’s not a case of web designs, this time.. it’s PDF portfolio ripping off. I honestly do take pride in how my PDF portfolio looks like, coz I have spent a lot of time doing it’s design, typography, colors, and layout just to impress employers or clients. Just this afternoon, a friend of mine who works in Lawton Yeo informed me that they just interviewed one Filipino guy (named Jay Patrik K. Elemento of http://xeoxile.cjb.net) through phone yesterday and was surprised to see that he used my PDF Portfolio as a template and have just replaced the texts and images on it. Everything looks the same.

The guy eventually apologized.

There was also a popular thread in Philweavers.net about a certain Voltaire Estrada. This incident is one for the books. The person involved used several flash portfolios that he claimed he worked on. He applied in one design studio. Presented his portfolio to a panel of interviewers, also web designers/developers — and in a funny twist of fate, one of the interviewees was the actual person who coded, developed “his” portfolio. CLASSIC! … And it gets better. I thought the name was familiar. It rang a bell. I remembered the person applied in my previous company. Guess what? He failed the basic HTML slicing and flash animation test.

Should they start teaching professional ethics 101 in design schools? Ladies and gentlemen, if you’re either a fresh grad or an expert in this design industry take into consideration the following:

• Never, ever take credit for someone else’s work.
• The industry is small world. The advent of the internet makes it’s easier for word to get around. You don’t want a prospective employer to Google your name and negative comments about you would pop in the results.
• If you worked on a project with a team, state that in your portfolio. This has been a common incident I’ve experience in the hundreds of interviews I’ve conducted. I’d see one portfolio by an applicant and wonder why it looked so familiar. Only upon further prying that I will discover it was done by team effort.
• Employers will blacklist you. In the case of Voltaire, it was just too bad for him that the complaint was posted in Philweavers. A site every headhunter/hr manager in the local industry visits to source for prospective talents.
• The old adage “face the music” rings true. You may eventually get the job by cheating but when push comes to shove and you need deliver a complicated project, how are you going to do it?

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery but not in this case. Great execution means the real designers/developers have poured hard work, sleepless nights and unlimited cups of coffee to come with such results. If you want to kill your career as a designer then claiming credit for someone else’s work is the best way to do it.

I honestly don’t know what to think of it. Seeing it’s a touch screen and I HATE fingerprints on my screen so I’m not really looking forward to this if indeed it was even true. I want a lighter Macbook , one with a 12-inch screen.