Taking Over Your Radio

So, this is what I get for spewing random one-liners into microphones…

For the past week and a half or so, I’ve been doing voice work for my sister’s radio production project, which happens to be a radio drama. It does have its random moments of sheer frustration, but helping out on it has been a fun experience, if you ask me.

Last Friday had us scrambling to get everything together for the live recording my sister’s group’s presentation. Being among the first to get there, it was upon me to help out with checking out the equipment, particularly the microphones. Everyone else was making last checks on the script, getting the props together, fine tuning sound effects, and pretty much anything else to make sure this operation went without a hitch.

My sound checks weren’t your simple “mic check… one, two” affairs. For every mic, I’d throw in some random joke or one-liner; it was my way of keeping myself awake. We started at around 8am and I’ve only had roughly two hours of sleep before that… what’s  a guy to do?

A couple of minutes and jokes about Jill’s tardiness pass… and I get called into the control room by my sister’s instructor. The first thing that went through my head was “Oh shit, I knew I should’ve dialed down the jokes a bit.” My sister thought I was called to help out with some technical issue with the canned sound effects we had.

That wasn’t the case.

I was asked… if I have experience working in radio. Well, I said yes, but explained that it was for a small operation back in Mamburao a couple of years back. She then went on to ask more questions about my age, whether I was in school or not, etc. The coup de grace was an offer to apply for a spot at Mellow 94.7, since she says they have a vacancy.

It’s been years since I did anything resembling radio work, but I was assured that I’ll be fine and that I sound fit for the job. So there, a job offer of sorts all because I made fun of Jill being a sleepyhead and all. Well, looks like I gotta buy her coffee sometime soon.

Anyway, I’ll give it a shot this week. My sister’s instructor also says that I can try out for other stations, but my best chance lies with 94.7 for the meantime.

On a side note, news of this reached a friend and co-worker of mine who I met up with at gig over at 6 Underground. Does anyone remember the really old Mellow Touch jingle? Yeah, they broke out into that jingle after the this job offer was brought up.

I promise not to be a complete jerk if ever do get to go on air.

Harbinger of Doom

I had my first ever crack at conducting applicant interviews today. Now, I kinda expected to have this kind of responsibility somewhere down the line, but not exactly in the way I thought it’d happen. It was a spur-of-the-moment thing, since our PM shift head teacher, HR officer, and trainer all had their hands full. So, interview duties were passed over to me by my boss. I just got to the office, so the whole moment pretty much zipped by as I tried to make heads or tails of what the hell I was gonna ask the applicants.

Fortunately, I was reassured that it’s pretty much like giving mock interviews in the job interview preparation subject we offer here. That, and I was pretty much responsible for deciding if they were eligible to move on and take our applicant exam.

Great. So, here are the rules I set for myself while conducting the interview:

1) Don’t be a jerk.
2) Ask sensible questions, but still try to challenge the applicants.
3) Don’t be a jerk.

I’m not gonna go at length about how the interview went. What I can tell you, though, is that the didn’t make the cut. Not that I set this ridiculously high bar for applicants going through interviews with us… in fact, I was willing to cut them a bit of slack. But no, anyone here will most likely tell you that they won’t make it past training, let alone the interview. We had to let them go. To be more specific, I had to tell them that.

I’m not sure how reality show hosts feel when breaking the bad news to eliminated contestants, but I’m pretty sure what went through my head today was pretty close. I’m sure it’s never an easy thing to tell anyone that they can’t be taken in. But then again, every company has policies and standards to uphold. This is all part of how things work in the real world. I should know this, since I’ve been on the receiving end of it a couple of times.

So yeah, I could be doing this a little more often. I guess I’ll just have to tell myself to man up… I’m sure they can take it.

Because It’s Wednesday

Things have been a mixed bag for me lately, but thankfully, most of the developments have been on the favourable side. It’s been a while since I wrote a post in this format, but then again, I really don’t have anything worth speaking at length of coherently. So here it goes…

• I’ll be studying again this year - It’s been quite some time since I stopped going to school, so I have these little apprehensions about having a head full of cobwebs and rusty cogs. Then again, I’m feeling a little more optimistic than I thought I would. Guess it’s just the feeling that I’ve hit my stride and found something (however unlikely) that I’m comfortable with, and that’s being an ESL teacher. I’ll take something a little more in line with what I’m doing now, like a degree in English or Communication. Wish me luck with that. Speaking of work…
• I just might move the entire operation to the comfort of home - I mentioned a couple of posts ago that I’d let my contract expire. Since I’m being sent back to school, there’s been a change of plans. Looks like I’ll be sticking around for a little longer than expected… probably until summer. When school starts, I’ll quit then just teach from home. Why? 1) All the money gets sent directly to me and I can charge less for it. 2) I’ll have a little more control over my schedule. Besides, I have students who’ve brought up the idea a couple of times already and are just waiting for the moment I consider really doing it.
• DOT Accreditation - Due to my stint as a tour guide for the Miss Earth candidates back in November of last year, the wife of our good mayor is considering getting me accredited with the Department of Tourism as a duly licensed tour guide. At first, I thought I’d need a tourism degree or something related to it. But apparently, all it takes is a couple of government-issued documents and a couple of seminars and workshops, and I’m all set… or so I think.
• Additional responsibilities for the Mamburao Tourism Office - It seems a lot of important people back home have caught wind about my various online activities that give Mamburao exposure to the greater populace. Because of that, I’ve been tasked with making use of whatever means I have to spread the word about our humble little town and what it can offer tourists. Hell, if I heard it right, I might even have to promote the entire province online… and get paid for it, of course. Time to brush up on my social media skills.

Valkyria Chronicles 2 Demo Impressions

I’ve been hearing a lot of good stuff about Valkyria Chronicles, mostly from the folks over at GamesRadar. Besides, I love myself a good strategy RPG every once in a while, so I’ve made it a point to make it part of that large (and growing) backlog of games I need to play when I get a PS3 sometime this year.

I downloaded the demo for Valkyria Chronicles 2: Gallian Royal Military Academy last night, despite having close to non-existent Japanese skills. Thankfully, it wasn’t as daunting as I thought it would be. I’ve played through a whole bunch of other Japanese demos and full games and I’m glad this is one of the easier ones to get a grasp of. Come to think of it, it’s pretty surprising, given the fact that it’s an SRPG.

So there, you’ve got you’re requisite training/tutorial mission and a sampling of about eight battles to go through. I’ve already gotten a basic grasp of how combat works, but still need to work on the finer points of it. On a basic level, it works like a whole lot of SRPGs out there. However, it’s the effective blending with third person action that I’m really digging here. As for the presentation, I really have to give props to Sega for successfully shrinking down the first game’s unique look down to a smaller screen. The orchestral score, ain’t too shabby, either.

Well, looks like I’ll be picking this one up when it finally makes its way to English-speaking territories sometime in the middle of this year. Either that, or I’ll take a crash course in Japanese so I can play this closer to its Japanese release on January 21.

Possible Blazblue Portable US Release Date?

Blazblue: Calamity Trigger was one of the more well-received releases of last year’s fighting game resurgence. Due to the fact that I don’t own any of the current-gen consoles (yet!) it’s out own made me miss out on it. Fortunately, for those like me itching to take it for a spin, the good folks over at Arc System Works are working on a PSP version entitled Blazblue Portable.

Siliconera, by way of Joystiq Playstation, ran a story about games rental service GameFly listing BlazBlue Portable as an upcoming title with a March 11, 2010 release date. Cool, if you ask me. Normally, I’d expect it to take a lot longer than that for it to get an English release. I’ve been hearing nothing but praise for this slick spiritual successor to Guilty Gear, especially from my friend Tim.

So, what’s the cherry on top of this already awesome cake? March 11 also happens to be my birthday. *cough* Friends, now you know what to get for me. *cough*

Here’s the link to the GameFly page, by the way.

A Patch of Sand

I’m pretty sure this is standard whenever this time of year comes around. The holidays are getting closer and everyone who originates from outside Metro Manila’s hankering to get back home. I don’t know about you, but it seems to hit me a little harder this year. Hell, if I could at this very moment, I’d take whatever bus to Batangas I can find and get on a ferry home. All this would be possible if reality hadn’t come and kicked me in the face and say “Son, you still have stuff to do here, wait ’til next week.”

Curses.

I guess I’ve been going through a bit of a rough patch lately. Work-related and personal woes have finally managed to catch up and get their filthy, grubby mitts on me. I’ve been left spaced-out, confused, frustrated, and generally wandering into WTF territory for the past couple of weeks. I can’t make heads or tails of what I’m supposed to do for the next couple of months. In short, I need a place to rest my head… and some advice, preferably over drinks.

That one spot on the beach out front is where I sit and have random moments of clarity. One may call it meditating, but for me, I just plant my ass firmly in the sand, think, and go back inside the house feeling better for it. I miss that right now and I haven’t been able to do much of that over my recent visits home.  I’m sure we all have our little corners and spaces where we feel calmest or safest. That one’s mine.

So, in the evening of the 22nd or 23rd of this month, that spot is where you’re likely to find me. Bring drinks, or I might have some with me in the first place. Feel free to sit down, too. The rest of the world can go about with its business and everything will be fine.

Now, if I could just hold out a little longer.

Yep, I Was a Tour Guide (2 of 2)

(First of all, I know there are crazier things going on in our country, but I might as well get this out of the way so even in some little way, we can show that everything’s not all gloom-and-doom here. More than anything, I’m outraged at the fact that the actions of a few can make the rest of us look bad in the eyes of the world.)

The first thing on the list of stuff to do for that day was breakfast over at the mayor’s compound at 8AM. I made the mistake of staying up the previous night and ended up waking up at 8:30. Good thing my stepdad was around to nudge me out of my deep, deep slumber. I hurriedly got ready and… wait for it… walked over to the breakfast venue. I guess I was lucky that breakfast was being held there since it was literally a stone’s throw away from where I lived. Otherwise, I could be running around and scrambling like a headless chicken while screaming expletives at the top of my lungs.

So there I was, still trying to get the cobwebs out of my eyes. Hell, for a second, I forgot we had guests. I know, I sound like a complete tool, but hey, I just woke up, cut me some slack. Anyway, I greeted the ladies and helped myself to a big ol’ plate o’ breakfast. As it turns out, one of my former teachers from high school was in charge of the catering. She was surprised to see me, so I explained what I was doing there and complimented her on how good the food was… and trust me, it was.

Yep, I Was a Tour Guide (1 of 2)

I gotta say, for my first stab at being a tour guide, I sure landed a pretty sweet gig. If any of you who’ve been following this can recall, I posted about it some time ago. Even in the days leading up to it, my brain still had a hard time registering the fact that I’ll be acting as a guide for a contingent of lovely, lovely ladies from around the globe. Well, it’s over and done, and I can pretty much say that I had the time of my life… jitters, stress and all.

Let’s start from Day 1, shall we?

Ticking

I’ve managed to survive for two and a half years in a job that, despite how much I actually like it, just doesn’t pay enough. There have been times in the past where I’d consider letting my contract expire or just simply leaving, but somehow something always manages to pull me back in. It’s not happening next time. When that contract comes, I’ll just put the pen down and gently push it back.

Thanks, but this is pretty much the end for me here.

You let me be myself, and though my methods may be questionable, you let me continue. I just wish everyone else had that chance. They’re good people, and pretty competent too. Now, if only you’d focus on what they can offer rather than what they can do wrong. Things will be fine without me, I’m sure of it.

I’ve got about three months left. I promise I won’t half-ass anything or hold back. I’ll just be… me, going about with my stuff as I always have.

Me? A Tour Guide?

I woke up to a couple of text messages this morning from friends and family. It was the usual assortment of forwarded quotes and jokes and people asking how I was. After all, I came home from a night of drinks with friends from work. Strong beer and exhaustion from a hellish week make for a pretty damn good night’s sleep, I’m tellin’ ya. I haven’t gotten to my point yet, though.

Anyway, among those messages was one from my mom. She was asking if I can be in Mamburao (Occidental Mindoro) from the 10th to 12th of November for a special job. Now, I normally get these kinds of offers, and oftentimes I have to turn them down due to scheduling conflicts and/or budget shortages. However, this one in particular caught my attention, not because I’m getting paid (handsomely, as my mom implies), but because of who I’ll sorta be working for.

I have to be a tour guide…

… for this year’s Miss Earth candidates…

… when they drop by my hometown.

I shit you not.

Given how much exposure Mamburao’s been getting in various travel publications and shows lately, It’s not too surprising that it’s gonna be part of their itinerary. Apparently it was our mayor’s wife (and a good friend of my mother’s for that matter) who picked me for the job. When it comes to qualifications, I guess I got the basics covered like 1) I’m from the town itself 2) I speak English 3) I have experience dealing with foreign cultures. I’m not too sure if my personality’s the “winning” kind, though. There’s still time to brush up on it, at least.

So that’s it. Looks like I’ll be adding “part-time tour guide” to my resume soon. For the meantime, I’ll sort this out with the people back home and try to get more details on it.