It's Basketball Season once again

If you seen me lately then you will definitely say that I am out of shape. If you are thinking of a circle I am definitely out of shape since I have additional curves. In the past three to four years I believe my drive to play basketball has dwindled thanks to the increasing weight, sleepless nights and aching feet. Last year alone I remember playing less than ten games the whole year, a far cry to the times when I would play ten times in a week! Back then I breathed basketball and lived to play it. These past three I had the privilege of playing in two short tournaments, out STI Sportsfest and the Ateneo Alumni league ABL. My team in the ABL made me come home as my High School classmates and I formed a team to renew ties of playing back then in high school. I am happy that it took just a short while that my shooting hand finally came back. The conditioning though is another story since the road to fitness will definitely take a long time. It took three games in the ABL since my first two games I just scored two and four points respectively in limited minutes. My breakout game came at the time when I realized that I was like a diesel engine that needed to heat up before coming up with big shots. In that game I sank three 3 pointers that suddenly changed the complexion of the game. That alone gave me a big smile because it has been years since I played like that. Two days later we started our Sporsfest in the office and we were only seven in the team. Still sore from the game I played two days earlier I still managed to put up decent numbers since the opposition was a little less competitive than the ABL. Last weekend was the big night for me as the 2^nd game of our sportsfest came along. Funny thing was that it was literally a 5 on 5 as both teams played without reserves. I started the game missing my first 7 shots as our opponents started like a house on fire and buried as 20-4! To make a long story short, we lost but we did not go out without a fight. It was a long time since I last played for 40 minutes and the only consolation was that at the end of the game I asked for the box scores and I was surprised I sank 9 triples enroute to a game high 33 pts. Wow it’s been a while since I scored that many. Anyway, there are more games ahead and I am excited to just play and have fun. Like what I said…I’m back!

The STI 13th National Youth Convention

How does one conduct a convention? Well, for those of you who have not yet seen the STI National Youth Convention then you are in for a treat coz i have always said that our conventions are very unconventional! STI is the only school in the world that creates a nationwide convention for its students. This convention started in Baguio in November of 2007 and has travelled to Cebu, Bacolod, Kalibo, General Santos City, Cagayan de Oro City, Ormoc City and Metro Manila. There was a total of 23, 000 Students and Faculty members present in this convention with the bulk coming in the two day Metro Manila convention at the Aliw Theater. Finally the months of preparation that I invested in this event has come to an end and the fulfillment of seeing thousands of STI students happy and proud is the only thing that makes me want to strive to do better. Every STI convention has a perfect blend of entertainment and education rolled into one-edutainment as we would love to say it is. There were three topics that the students got to witness, A Brand of Innovation which focused on STI's partnership with Google Inc. The Country consultant of Google to the Philippines, Aileen Apolo, was on hand to share her expertise. The second topic is A Brand of Ingenuity which was ably delivered by two young Entrepreneurs, Dennis Evangelista who is the Managing Directorof his own training company Evans Consultancy and Adrian Ding who is also a Youth Pastor. The third topic was done to give confidence to all STiers nationwide. A Brand of Inspiration was delivered bombastically by Jojo Recio and Stanley Dimain, two former STI professors.

The thing that makes this convention very dynamic is its resident funnyman/ emcee/ camera man handsome guy. Bill Kosme (dats me) always keeps the students alive with witty one liners and flabergasting dance moves! The STI convention is truly a spectactular roadshow presentation. To all STIers in the Philippines...see you next year!

For more about the convention click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Om3T9Wenlb0
Enjoy.

SINTA

when one does not remember the last time one has performed, that means its a really a long time ago. When i joined the fabled drama group of the Ateneo known as the Dulaang Sibol in 1984 I never knew that the guidance of Mr. Pagsi would later on help me set a direction in my life. As a young sophomore then I was already an understudy of five characters then and joined the Sinta cast until 1992 when the Sinta original cast last played. It was fun being the youngest in the group that included Jimmy Hofilena, Rhoda Santos, Ray Miranda, Fred Ortiz and Stella Pagsanghan whose performances gave audiences a lot of great stories. On some nights Sinta fanatics, fans who have seen the show at least three times, will occupy almost 90% of the theater and would anticipate every joke cracked.

Last saturday I got to join the practice of the new Sinta cast. For me they are new since they were the 90's version and beyond of Sinta. I hope that i will be able to memorize my lines in time for the next run rehearsal date.

Watch Sinta on February 8, 12,13,14,16 and 23, 2008 at the Tanghalang Onofre Pagsanghan at the Ateneo. I will be performing on the 13th, 14th and 23rd. See you there.