Tuesday, May 13, 2014
It's been a while. ha-ha
This past April, I just graduated from the University of The Philippines Diliman. Before this could happen a LOT of things happened. ha-ha. Anyway it was still a blessing to finally graduate. Now I am off to explore the world outside the confines of an educational institution. Pray for me. This will be an adventure to remember.
Sunday, January 19, 2014
GUNPLAAAAA!!!!!
Okay so I have imparted a few of my favorite stuff namely: fantasy and geography. Now on to the next part.
I LOVE GUNPLA. For those of you that do not know what gunpla is google it. If you are to lazy, shame on you. But, I will explain anyway. Gunpla is a contraction of Gundam Plastic Model. Hence, gunpla. These models are based on mechanical robots that are featured in the various shows of the meta of Gundam. They are awesome. Ever since I was a kid I loved to build these models. Even to today I love building these models. I love building and creating PERIOD (I will get to that later).
Moving on what is so awesome about gunpla, is the fact that you can mix and match parts and make your own. Those with greater skill even custom paint their own. Initially these models were not made to be mixed and matched, it was more of a thing that some advanced modellers did. But because of recent developments, Bandai itself is encouraging this customization. The recent release of their new Anime, "Gundam Build Fighters", features characters who customize their own gunpla. What sets this anime apart from most toy related animes, it is actually pretty good in terms of story. Good toys, good anime to tie it in. What more can you ask. So go ahead, check it out and some of you might even like it.
I LOVE GUNPLA. For those of you that do not know what gunpla is google it. If you are to lazy, shame on you. But, I will explain anyway. Gunpla is a contraction of Gundam Plastic Model. Hence, gunpla. These models are based on mechanical robots that are featured in the various shows of the meta of Gundam. They are awesome. Ever since I was a kid I loved to build these models. Even to today I love building these models. I love building and creating PERIOD (I will get to that later).
Moving on what is so awesome about gunpla, is the fact that you can mix and match parts and make your own. Those with greater skill even custom paint their own. Initially these models were not made to be mixed and matched, it was more of a thing that some advanced modellers did. But because of recent developments, Bandai itself is encouraging this customization. The recent release of their new Anime, "Gundam Build Fighters", features characters who customize their own gunpla. What sets this anime apart from most toy related animes, it is actually pretty good in terms of story. Good toys, good anime to tie it in. What more can you ask. So go ahead, check it out and some of you might even like it.
Sunday, January 5, 2014
What is Geography Part 2
In my previous post I had begun a discussion what Geography really is, coming from a Geography major. I introduced two definitions and ended with an observation from reading fantasy novels. This time I will discuss more on the active role of Geography in our lives through specific examples.
If you read my previous post you may remember the concepts of space and place and Ackerman's definition that geography is studying man and his environment. This time I will give a specific example of these concepts in action. I am from the Philippines and our national hero is a talented man and prolific writer named Jose Rizal. His main works, Noli mi Tangere and El Filibisturismo, were attributed to being instrumental in the beginnings of revolution and eventual independence in our country. Whether or not this was Jose Rizal's intent is still up for debate. But, let's get back to what I was really trying to say. You see Jose Rizal was not only a scholar, but also a rather traveled man. And this can be seen through the change in the tone of his works and attitudes. In a way the places, his environment, influenced his works.
I was given the pleasure of mapping his journey thanks to a subject I took about a year and a half ago. I wish to show the power of Geography in influencing us through these maps that I made. I put a link to the site where our class displayed our map projects. Feel free to look at the whole site after you have viewed my maps. You can learn a lot more of what Geography is through the other maps. I hope you find them useful and insightful.
A Hero's Journey - Geography in action.
If you read my previous post you may remember the concepts of space and place and Ackerman's definition that geography is studying man and his environment. This time I will give a specific example of these concepts in action. I am from the Philippines and our national hero is a talented man and prolific writer named Jose Rizal. His main works, Noli mi Tangere and El Filibisturismo, were attributed to being instrumental in the beginnings of revolution and eventual independence in our country. Whether or not this was Jose Rizal's intent is still up for debate. But, let's get back to what I was really trying to say. You see Jose Rizal was not only a scholar, but also a rather traveled man. And this can be seen through the change in the tone of his works and attitudes. In a way the places, his environment, influenced his works.
I was given the pleasure of mapping his journey thanks to a subject I took about a year and a half ago. I wish to show the power of Geography in influencing us through these maps that I made. I put a link to the site where our class displayed our map projects. Feel free to look at the whole site after you have viewed my maps. You can learn a lot more of what Geography is through the other maps. I hope you find them useful and insightful.
A Hero's Journey - Geography in action.
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
What is Geography? Part 1
So, I will formally begin this with a bit of an introduction of myself. I am Cole, currently a student of Geography in the University of the Philippines Diliman. I am on my final semester as I am writing this and I got to say the feeling is bittersweet with a dash of anxiety, ha-ha. Anyway I was born and raised in Metro Manila, Philippines. I am a Christian, I love fantasy (can't emphasize this enough ha-ha), I love Gundam, and well I wish one day to be a Wizard of Earthsea (I'll explain this soon).
Now if you haven't read the title of this blog entry yet, and have not guessed what it is about then let me lay it down for you. I am about to explain what Geography is in the simplest sense. Why am I doing this you might ask? Well I am a student of Geography and I have been studying it for the past 3 or so years. Every time I tell someone this they end up asking this all too familiar and annoying question "What is the capital of (insert random country of your choice)?", followed by the even more annoying "so what will you do after you graduate, be a teacher?". THIS ANNOYS AND INFURIATES ME TO NO END. But, I get it. Not much light has been shed on my course so I'll help by first saying that, no my course isn't all about memorizing the world's countries and capitals. It is only a teensy weensy, tiny, minute part of what Geography really is. Geography is really about Space and Place. Or as the Association of American Geographers call it, the science of Space and Place.
Now with Space and Place these two terms are key to understanding what Geography really is about. Because the key question that Geography asks is where. That is why Geography is easily associated with countries and capitals. But, what geographers do with knowing these countries and capitals goes beyond simply memorizing them, we ask why they are there, how are they affected with where they are, what makes there location advantageous or disadvantageous? These questions can be applied to places on a global scale or on a local scale. Why does this city experience more storms then others? Why is the Central Business District located here and not there? These questions can be answered with Geography.
Another definition that can show what Geography is given by Ackerman (1963). He says that Geography is the understanding of humanity and his interaction with his environment. This definition is a more specific take of what the Association of American Geographers defined earlier. This time focusing on where something is and how it affects man. From that alone you can see how Geography is actually essential in our everyday living. This is another reason why Geographers usually go to the field of Climatology or Meteorology. Weather systems and Climate affect man differently depending where they are.
Now I think I'll stop there for now. I'll be adding a few more of these in the coming days, but I'll end with an observation that I have obtained from reading fantasy novels. Geography is important in fantasy. Tolkien, Lewis, Sanderson, Martin, etc. know this. Where something happens is important in knowing how the whole story unfolds, that is why fantasy novels are usually accompanied bu numerous maps. The authors knew the importance of how the environment and landscapes can affect their characters. This is the same in reality, where something happens is important. With that I urge you to think more Geographically, Tolkien did. ha-ha.
Now if you haven't read the title of this blog entry yet, and have not guessed what it is about then let me lay it down for you. I am about to explain what Geography is in the simplest sense. Why am I doing this you might ask? Well I am a student of Geography and I have been studying it for the past 3 or so years. Every time I tell someone this they end up asking this all too familiar and annoying question "What is the capital of (insert random country of your choice)?", followed by the even more annoying "so what will you do after you graduate, be a teacher?". THIS ANNOYS AND INFURIATES ME TO NO END. But, I get it. Not much light has been shed on my course so I'll help by first saying that, no my course isn't all about memorizing the world's countries and capitals. It is only a teensy weensy, tiny, minute part of what Geography really is. Geography is really about Space and Place. Or as the Association of American Geographers call it, the science of Space and Place.
Now with Space and Place these two terms are key to understanding what Geography really is about. Because the key question that Geography asks is where. That is why Geography is easily associated with countries and capitals. But, what geographers do with knowing these countries and capitals goes beyond simply memorizing them, we ask why they are there, how are they affected with where they are, what makes there location advantageous or disadvantageous? These questions can be applied to places on a global scale or on a local scale. Why does this city experience more storms then others? Why is the Central Business District located here and not there? These questions can be answered with Geography.
Another definition that can show what Geography is given by Ackerman (1963). He says that Geography is the understanding of humanity and his interaction with his environment. This definition is a more specific take of what the Association of American Geographers defined earlier. This time focusing on where something is and how it affects man. From that alone you can see how Geography is actually essential in our everyday living. This is another reason why Geographers usually go to the field of Climatology or Meteorology. Weather systems and Climate affect man differently depending where they are.
Now I think I'll stop there for now. I'll be adding a few more of these in the coming days, but I'll end with an observation that I have obtained from reading fantasy novels. Geography is important in fantasy. Tolkien, Lewis, Sanderson, Martin, etc. know this. Where something happens is important in knowing how the whole story unfolds, that is why fantasy novels are usually accompanied bu numerous maps. The authors knew the importance of how the environment and landscapes can affect their characters. This is the same in reality, where something happens is important. With that I urge you to think more Geographically, Tolkien did. ha-ha.
A New Year a New Beginning
It has been brought to my attention that the world we live in has been, for the most part, taken for granted. We set it too much in schedules, meetings, work, and all other things that are quite mundane in some sense that we forget a lot of things. Chief of those is the wonder and magic that life holds. I have traveled a long and arduous journey this past year that has changed my view of the world. This journey is incomplete and may take awhile before it actually does, but I am not in a hurry.
What I wish to do with this blog is to share with you the experiences that has changed my view of this world and the events that I will experience this coming year that will further contribute to this view. Simply put, I want people who read this to know that the world is magical and wonderful, we just have to learn to see it. We have to learn to look past all that seem to drag us down and actually view the wonder beneath it all.
The chief contributor to this new view is my faith. It has been wonderful to see the world knowing that you have a purpose, that there is more to the pain that we have to endure, that there is always hope. I wish to discuss this some other time for I feel it will take quite a long time if laid it all out right now.
But, one other contributor to this new world view, and one that you will here of very often, is the world of fantasy. I love this genre. It has shown me that not everything that we see is what it seems. It has shown me that dragons, demons, dark lords, and inner turmoil can be conquered. Lastly, it has shown me that the wondrous landscapes of Middle-Earth up to Westeros are not confined in the pages of a book, they are out there. I have seen for myself the beauty that this world has, the Misty Mountains are real, the isles and waters of Earthsea are here. I can already imagine a scowl and a sarcastic remark forming in your head, "huh, what is this buffoon talking about?", "this guy has read far too many books.", "they can't be real, I don't see them nor hear about them." Here in lies the problem, to find these wonderful places and landscapes we must do what Bilbo and Ged chose to do, go out there and look for them. We have let ourselves sink far too deep in the comfort of the internet and the cemented walls of our schools and offices that we've stopped looking for the wonder and beauty in our lives and consequently just simply stopped seeing them.
I end this with a challenge, many of us envy the heroes of our stories. They get to go on an adventure, they go to such wonderful places, they always have the happy ending. Truth is this can be our lives, if we truly want these things to happen it is time we stopped envying the hero and become one ourselves. Look for your adventure.
What I wish to do with this blog is to share with you the experiences that has changed my view of this world and the events that I will experience this coming year that will further contribute to this view. Simply put, I want people who read this to know that the world is magical and wonderful, we just have to learn to see it. We have to learn to look past all that seem to drag us down and actually view the wonder beneath it all.
The chief contributor to this new view is my faith. It has been wonderful to see the world knowing that you have a purpose, that there is more to the pain that we have to endure, that there is always hope. I wish to discuss this some other time for I feel it will take quite a long time if laid it all out right now.
But, one other contributor to this new world view, and one that you will here of very often, is the world of fantasy. I love this genre. It has shown me that not everything that we see is what it seems. It has shown me that dragons, demons, dark lords, and inner turmoil can be conquered. Lastly, it has shown me that the wondrous landscapes of Middle-Earth up to Westeros are not confined in the pages of a book, they are out there. I have seen for myself the beauty that this world has, the Misty Mountains are real, the isles and waters of Earthsea are here. I can already imagine a scowl and a sarcastic remark forming in your head, "huh, what is this buffoon talking about?", "this guy has read far too many books.", "they can't be real, I don't see them nor hear about them." Here in lies the problem, to find these wonderful places and landscapes we must do what Bilbo and Ged chose to do, go out there and look for them. We have let ourselves sink far too deep in the comfort of the internet and the cemented walls of our schools and offices that we've stopped looking for the wonder and beauty in our lives and consequently just simply stopped seeing them.
I end this with a challenge, many of us envy the heroes of our stories. They get to go on an adventure, they go to such wonderful places, they always have the happy ending. Truth is this can be our lives, if we truly want these things to happen it is time we stopped envying the hero and become one ourselves. Look for your adventure.
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