* Creating Enchantment *

Things just change, I guess. Hindi naman pwedeng ganun nang ganun na lang parati. Siyempre, tumatanda tayo, so nagbabago ‘yung mga role natin sa mundo. So nagbabago ‘yung mga priorities, ‘yung mga pangarap, ‘yung mga pangyayari.

In an earlier post, I promoted the Mangaholix Convention ‘08. And I said that my friend J and I wouldn’t be able to go because we both had classes that day. I had a Nihongo class in Makati, and she had review classes in UST for her impending Board Exam. But as it turns out, she was able to go. She got there at 7PM, and the convention was almost ending, but she still paid the Php100 entrance fee. I told her that if she talked to the organizers, she may have been able to get in for free (Note: Some of the organizers are our friends from high school), but she said she didn’t want the hassle, and that she wanted to go anyway, “Even if alam kong lugi ako,” she said.

If only she’d told me sooner that she was going, then I probably would’ve gone as well. Of course, I wasn’t able to because other than my Japanese class, I also had to work that day (I’m talking about last Saturday, May 31, by the way). It’s not because our company’s a slave driver, the overtime is really due to my own irresponsibility. Ayoko nang mag-elaborate dahil baka kung ano pa ang masabi ko. So I’ll just stick to the topic. The Mangaholix Convention. Right. So, I wasn’t able to go, but from the looks of the pictures posted in my friends’ Multiply pages, and from J’s story, I’d say it was a lot of fun. But other than that, it looked like a really big thing, nearly as big as the Hero Channel Convention (perhaps because the venues were the same?), and that was organized by a big TV Network.

I guess because we started so small, that’s why it’s hard for me to believe that my friends have gone this far, to actually being hosts and organizers of a big event, getting famous bands (like Urbandub and Kala) to perform, and famous celebrities as their hosts (I don’t know who the host this year is, but last year it was the model, Sabrina Asano). Did I ever think that our after-school hangouts at Carl’s Jr. in ATC would get them to where they are now? Not even when they began to hold weekly art workshops in Ortigas did I ever think that they’d ever be able to get this “big time”. Maybe others think they’ve “sold out” (it’s usually the case in the art world, right?), especially since their material is more inclined to cater to the mainstream, rather than the serious artists (I say this because they have a lot of articles featuring mainstream stuff that I think are more for publicity rather than the “art” value, but of course I could be wrong), but I admire them for sticking to what they like to do, and making it this far anyway. I don’t think they ever compromised their integrity as artists anyway. Even if they have a lot of “publicity stunts”, the art they produce is still very good art. Although personally, I would’ve been happy even if they just published at an indie-comic level and people got to know them from that. I’m a fan of those “underdog” stories, after all. But again, this isn’t about that. What am I talking about, really?

I guess I just feel weird, because I wasn’t able to attend the convention. I haven’t attended one in a long time (It’s been exactly half a year, today, that I haven’t gone to one.) you see, and I kind of missed it. J said she had a lot of fun because she saw a lot of old friends and acquaintances, and she felt like she really belonged. Although we’re really close friends, she really knows more people than I do, mainly because 1) She played Ragnarok and so has an entire “guild” of friends, and 2) She’s really a lot friendlier/sociable than I am. There was a time when I did feel like that, like in the Mangaholix Convention last year. I didn’t have a Staff ID (don’t ask me why), but hung around the Mangaholix booth. One volunteer (I don’t know who, he must’ve been new), called my attention and told me that only volunteers were allowed inside the booth. I raised an eyebrow and the friend I’d been talking to at the time said to him that I was with him, so it was okay. Before the other guy could react, other staff members of Mangaholix showed up and they all greeted me by my name, thereby proving that I really was friends with them, and therefore it was okay for me to be there. I wasn’t just some random convention-goer, trying to get access to something I shouldn’t have access to. It actually upset me when he told me what he did, because he looked like he was asking me to leave. Hmph. Didn’t he know who I was? (Obviously not. Well, I’m not that popular anyway, and I didn’t have an ID, so yeah, it was an honest mistake, but I’m a brat. Haha.)

Well, it seems like I’m just rambling on and on without a point. I guess what I really want to say is that I feel bad that I wasn’t able to to go the convention, but at the same time, for some reason, I do feel sort of like, I don’t belong to that world, at least, not anymore. I don’t think I’ve “grown out of it”, because I don’t think I’ve grown at all, and it’s not like I’m no longer interested in anime and comics and toys and games. I still am, but somehow… maybe… I was content with just sitting on the sidelines, watching the cosplayers, and just going around the convention having fun. I don’t think I’d have any fun if I had responsibilities (like if I were an usher or a cosplay judge (not that I’d ever be one.)). I never really want to make it to the big time, after all. But I am real happy for my friends that they’ve achieved their goals (or at least one of them).

I don’t know if I’ve told you, but I actually like clothes. No, I don’t think they’re a way to express yourself or whatever other deep things that people who like clothes tell you. I’m not a fashionista or anything (in fact, I don’t/can’t dress well), but I like looking at fashion magazines and looking at people who dress well. A number of my contacts in Multiply are those “business sites” that sell clothes, dresses in particular. I’ve never actually bought anything from them (mostly because I don’t have the money), but I like looking at the new designs that they come up with.

Anyway, one of the sites, let’s call it Fashion Site A (I debated on whether to put here which site it is, but I’m deciding not to because I don’t think it’s fair to give them bad publicity, they’re not bad people after all) has just posted a new fashion line, and the dresses look great, but I want to comment about the photos that they took of it. The photos are, well, they’re not very good. In fact, they’re very not good, that even though the models are beautiful and the dresses are beautiful, I don’t think they were able to advertise their product all that well.

We all know that advertising is a big part of selling things. If you’ve got a bad advertisement, it doesn’t matter how good your product is, it might not sell. And vice-versa (meaning, if you have a bad product but good advertisement, then people will still buy it). I don’t want to be a stick-in-the-mud (in Tagalog, Epal) and PM the people behind the website that their photos suck (because to them, they might not actually suck), I should just leave them be, it’s their business anyway, and I shouldn’t be sticking my nose into it. Still, I can’t help but think that maybe what I want to tell them can help them advertise their product better somehow.

A newer website, which I’ll call Fashion Site B, has shown up recently and although they haven’t started selling their clothes, they put up a few pictures from a photo shoot they did, as a preview of what people can expect from their store. From the comments in the websites, I can tell that more people are more excited about Fashion Site B than Fashion Site A (A’s website hardly had any comments/responses at all), even if it seems that the clothes they’re selling are equally great. Of course, I can’t base everything on the number of comments that a website gets. Maybe Fashion Site A’s customers just aren’t as internet savvy as the customers of Fashion Site B, but still, I still think that Fashion Site A needs to step their ads up a notch.

Especially when you’re selling on the internet, where the only basis of people for your products are pictures, shouldn’t you, as a seller, do everything you can to make the pictures of your products look great? I’m really tempted to send a private message to Fashion Site A and tell them to hire a professional photographer (a good one), and have someone better direct their models, but another side of me wants to see how they’ll improve, even if no one tells them that their pictures aren’t that great. (It’s possible that I’m the only one who thinks their pictures suck, but I think after looking at so many fashion websites and magazines, I can also tell what’s good and what’s not.)

I actually don’t understand how they can allow sub-standard pictures on their site. I mean, being fashion designers (and they’re good designers, too), shouldn’t they be good artists as well? Shouldn’t they be able to tell whether a photograph is good or not?

I know, I know. I should just leave these people alone. Hey, I’m already not mentioning their names, so I hope this isn’t considered bad publicity. It’s just a rant, which I hope they’ll read, and will make them improve their advertisements in the future. I’m not starting a war here, I just like looking at pretty pictures is all.

(Click on Image to Enlarge)

The poster already has these details, but I’ll say it anyway. The Filipinas Heritage Library is holding an Art and Writing Workshop from June 7 - 28, 2008. As much as I want to join, I can’t because it conflicts with my Japanese classes. It’s too bad really, I’ve gone on one of their workshops before (Travel Writing & Photography) and it was lots of fun. This one is also something I’m really interested in, but oh well, maybe next time. I’m putting it up here anyway in case anyone else is interested.

Hola Patolas! The 2nd Mangaholix AniManGaming Convention is just a few weeks away! Can you believe it? I can’t. But then again, of the two of us, I’m more likely the only one who knows (unless you’re one of my close friends from high school) how long it’s been since the people behind Mangaholix have wanted to produce comics on their own, and hold their own conventions. I have to admit I had my doubts about such big dreams becoming reality, but I guess the world is a lot nicer to people with dreams than I originally thought.

Did I ever think that my friends would hold their own animangaming (this, by the way, for those of you who don’t know, is a combination of the words anime, manga, and gaming; meaning the convention covers those 3 areas) convention? Of course not. Not, cynical little me, oh no. I thought they’d be doodling behind their notebooks forever. Okay, that’s a little harsh, considering I’d seen how their art has improved through the years, but good artists aren’t all that’s needed to make a good comic. Enter, the other people invovled whom I didn’t know in high school. I guess they covered the marketing strategies, and all the other official stuff, and it’s mostly due to them that my friends have come this far (that is, of course other than because of my friends’ hardwork (naks, may ganon?)), but I think it’s cool to have so many people collaborating on something that just used to be a dream, or a joke that you would throw around at parties along with the other crazy ideas that you never thought possible.

Of course, success (or fame?) doesn’t come without a price. I guess it’s inevitable, especially with a big group of people, that because of all this commercialization and official-ness, the get-togethers with high school friends at the local fast food while doodling each other’s faces and making new private jokes is no longer possible. And neither are the free art workshops where you could just hang out and talk to the other artists whom you’d feel like you’ve known for a long time but really have just met that day (and then never see again, haha!). Not that I’m an artist, but I did meet a lot of people, despite the limited no. of Saturdays I spent on that workshop. (Even if I wasn’t a participant of the workshop and I just, er, handed out sandwiches. :P) I guess I managed to make a couple of new friends along the way, and still see some of ‘em now in events like these.

I honestly liked how things were before, when everything was just fun and games, and we didn’t have to think too much about money, and legal issues, or strategic marketing (not that I think about those things now, I’m no longer part of the comic group after all, but I can imagine that they (those involved) are thinking about it). It was fun, just drawing (for them), and thinking up weird concepts, and joking about cosplaying (and then eventually going through with it :P). But I guess change is inevitable (whoa! did i really say that?! :P) and I’ll just have to accept that this is how things are now:

There’s an Animangaming Convention on May 21st of this year and

1. Two of my friends from high school are right in the middle of all the organization and preparation (being the Editor-In-Chief and Circulations Manager and all)
2. My other friends who are in a band (The Kagaws) are playing during the event, along with a number of other bands, some even mainstream popular, such as Urbandub and Kala.
3. My closest friend who’s into comics won’t be able to attend because she has Saturday classes (she’s reviewing for the architectural board exam taking place in June); and
4. Neither will I. (Because I have Saturday classes as well–I’m learning Nihongo.)

So, this is really just an advertisement for those of you who can come. I really hope you do. I was at the 1st Mangaholix Convention last year, and if this one’s anything like that, then it’s going to be a LOT of fun.