Three Words: Finger

Now, to finish the Three Words entry, I am writing about the last word in the series that represents another one of my passions, one of the greatest and most popular sports ever created: BASKETBALL. I know what some some of you might think upon reading the word finger (Oh yeah, you green-minded ones), but I used this word to represent the sport mainly because one needs to use his/her fingers to shoot the ball in the goal. Plus, it rhymes with my other two words, shutter and trigger. Okay, enough with the explanations and the excuses, I'm starting to sound a bit defensive already.

Finger

For most of the little boys, especially in the later generations, basketball is part of everyday life. Most, at an early age, have become familiar with the rules, the trends and the big names of the sport. Well, I am not one of those boys. I was not interested in basketball, I didn't want to play basketball. In fact, I hated it. My time was spent drawing and sketching, making my own comics and stuff, watching cartoons and animated TV shows when I was just a kid. I was mainly interested in art (a passion I'd always have but seldomly use in the recent years - a passion which can also be represented by the word finger). My mind was so blown and fascinated by the vibrant colors and creative images of comic strips, cartoons and animation, that all I ever wanted was to draw. I had to admit, my greatest dream still would be the dream that I used to motivate myself when I was still a growing child, that ultimate dream of mine is to become an animator or an illustrator. I have never imagined myself becoming a professional basketball player. Well, that never happened. Both of it.

Basketball entered my life when I was in fifth grade, when my classmates listed me up in the class's basketball team for the intramurals, probably just because I was one of the tallest guys at that time. I didn't even know how to play the game. I know the aim is to shoot the ball into the hoop. That's it! I was almost as dumb as a dog trying to meow. I didn't even know how to shoot the ball!

Since then friends and neighbors were inviting me to play for a league or a team, again, that's because of my height. They always put me in the center position. During my first years of playing basketball, all I did was rebound. Once I get the ball, I'd wait for the point guard to get to me then I hand him the ball...job's done.

When I entered high school, that's the turning point of my love for basketball. I became friends with these guys that I really never thought to be basketball enthusiasts. One is very good in lay-ups, one is in dribbling and shooting the ball. They try to teach one another the skills that they're good at, and they try to teach me and our other friends, too. From there I started to familiarize myself with the rules and the different aspects of basketball. I started to become interested in watching basketball games like the NBA and the PBA. And since then, I try to improve by joining teams in different leagues.

When I got to college, I tried out for my school's varsity team. I never made the cut. But that experience just gave me a different dimension to my game. I am not really that comfortable with playing the center position. I discovered that I am a natural guard. I play best in the shooting guard or small forward position. At half-inch shy of being a 6-footer, I am pretty big for the position in small-time amatuer basketball leagues. I am not really good, but my love and dedication for the game has given me some acheivements. Something I wish I have accomplished when I was still a young boy. I was thankful, nonetheless, that I was able to achieve them. Maybe I was just a late-bloomer.

Up until now, even though I hardly played the game for about a year now, basketball has always been, and will always be, a love and a passion that I will share and play with my neighbors, my friends, my cousins, my brother and my dad.

Three Words: Trigger

Like what I've said in my previous post, I am posting the Three Words entry into three parts. I wrote about my latest hobby addiction last time, photography; and this time I will be talking about a passion that has been with me since I was a kid.

Trigger

Airsoft and airsoft guns originated here in the Land of the Rising Sun in the 1970’s when the Japanese government made it illegal to own or possess a real steel firearm. The Japanese had a lot of interest in firearms and weaponry though, so manufacturers produced replicas of real firearms that shoot plastic pellets or BBs(ball bearings). With a wide range of models of these guns, any gun fanatic or enthusiast can surely get the class that he/she likes. Third party manufacturers, mainly for aftermarket/upgrade parts has been popping out like mushrooms on the ground as they try to offer the best modifications to almost any airsoft weapon. This has been limited by the Japanese government due to some incidents involving the use of airsoft guns for pranks in the public. Therefore established is the Sword and Gun(or vice-versa?) Law, which limits the power of any airsoft gun to just 0.98joules(approximately 98m/sec using 0.20g BBs). The average stock gun has a ballistic speed of 84-86m/sec.

Just about any boy has played “cowboys and indians”, and I was no different. I grew up playing toy guns, improvised or not, with my brother and my cousins around our neighborhood. It was fun, having to imitate those heroes from TV like the Lone Ranger and some animated shows.

Airsoft is just about the same, only this time it’s “toys for the big boys”. This extreme sport is an honor game of honesty, strategies and camaraderie. Known to be a “gentleman’s game” (though its widespread popularity has influenced and encouraged many ladies to join), airsoft is a military simulation game using toy/replica BB guns with a general rule of having 2 teams trying to outplay one another either by “killing” the opposing team’s members or capturing the flag of the opposing team.

Any player who got hit by an enemy(or a teammate in some cases) is considered out/dead. The player who got hit should acknowledge and call himself/herself out of the game by shouting “HIT!” then raising his/her hand(and the weapon) for other players still active on the game to know that he/she is already dead thus will not try to shoot at the dead player anymore. Generally, any hit on any part of the body(including gears and everything attached to the player’s body except the gun) is considered a hit. Only direct hits are counted therefore discounting ricochets.

Airsoft games also put so much priority to safety. A player should have at least a proper eye or face protection before he/she can play the game. Other accessories like grenades(working or dummy) are optional.

As for me, I have been introduced to airsoft at an early age. I was in 6^th grade then when these spring powered airsoft guns, mostly handguns, started making their way to public markets in the Philippines. Gas powered guns are also available but they are too expensive. I remember buying my first ever airsoft pistol, a Colt M1911A1, on December of 1993. We’ve done some skirmishes with friends and some relatives.

But I have never played organized airsoft until February 29, 2004, when then fellow newbies, one veteran pointman and myself formed a team based in my hometown Cavite, the Special Warfare Airsoft Group (SWAG). It pays homage to the real SWAG (Special Warfare Group – the Philippine equivalent of the US Navy SEALs) a branch of the Philippine Navy, also stationed in Cavite. From then on, I was practically playing on every weekend possible. When I came here in Japan, I got acquainted with fellow Filipinos whose passion for airsoft is just as deep as mine, thus we formed the first ever recognized Filipino airsoft team in Japan. We named it Team PAIN Japan (Pinoy Airsofters In Japan).

Three Words: Shutter

Okay...so I feel like I'm on the groove and in the mood to blog and to write so here's another entry. As you can see, the title of this blog is Shooter's Bounce and below it the words Shutter, Trigger and Finger are written. Three words that connect to my being a shooter. These three words actually represent my major hobbies being photography, airsoft and basketball, respectively. Not one being on top of the other. I love these hobbies almost equally.

This was supposed to be a single entry entitled just “Three Words” but I forgot to pull the handbrake when I was writing this so I decided to have it posted in parts, or else this will be the longest three words you’ll ever read, I suppose.

Shutter

I have been into arts for as long as I can remember. Photography, being an art, and being around a lot of people whose passion revolves in the very colorful universe of cameras -- be it film, digital, classics or high-techs, point and shoots, SLRs (single-lens reflex) or even toy cameras – I was easily hooked and my own passion for landscapes, portraits, street photography, macro shots and several other kinds of photography has grown.

But it really all started on December 10, 2006, when I met the man we fondly call Manong Ben, a photographer (I’m not actually sure if he’s a pro but his shots are definitely not those of amateurs) who did a photo cover for our then newly formed Filipino airsoft team here in Japan on our first ever jungle game. I saw him unloading from the trunk of his car what seemed to be an aluminum hard case withholding a radioactive bomb of sorts. In there lies his Pentax digital SLR and a couple of lenses, I guess.

He shot us with his camera as we shoot enemies down from the hills, the forest and the grasslands. After each set he would show us how the pictures turned up and it was really impressive. (You can find some of his shots here. The photo on the banner is also his shot during that day). It was then that I told myself, if ever I would get myself a camera it would be a DSLR.

DSLRs have gotten more popular and photography has really taken a whole new popular culture worldwide in the past couple of years. And being in Japan, where technology and gadgetry is fast evolving, one will see the swarms of cameras and its almost required accessories at about anywhere in and out of the cities.

I had to admit that DSLRs are relatively pricey on the consumer line. I actually had to save up for about 2 years before I could afford one. My eyes were already trained on two major players in the camera business, Canon and Nikon. But I am actually inclined on buying the latter. Though it was a Canon that my hands first got its grip on, I ended up buying the freshly released Nikon D90 last September 21, 2008 right at the heart of technology in Japan – Akihabara, Tokyo (Japan’s electronics town district). It was really a matter of personal choice and not the performance comparison as I have always believed that Canon and Nikon are both great brands and have their own pros and cons.

Since the acquisition of my own camera, I have been shooting almost non-stop. I haven’t actually found my forte yet but recent activities and acquaintances lead me to enjoy fashion and glamour (portraiture) photography. Still, my dwelling with this new found passion is in the exploration stage and there are a lot of things to try and to be learned.

Empty

Last April, I signed up at Blogger to make my very own blog. At that time I don't have anything in mind to blog so I told myself,  I'd just leave it as it is and once my creative juices start flowing I'd come back and start blogging. Days, weeks and months passed by and from time to time my mind would start to work on some things which are blog-worthy for a starting amateur blogger such as myself.  But I have never thought of blogging them because...(drumroll) I forgot I have a blog! Yeah, you got it right.

I just happen to bump into my blog account when recently(okay, that was just last night) I visited one of my friend's blog. I noticed on the upper right part of the page, my email address indicating I am signed in...and there's a dashboard tab! I checked it out and found out that everything is just as I left it(of course).

And so, I started setting it up from the lay out to the colors, etc. I realized that this blog of mine has been hanging empty for the past six months, so I have decided that my very first post would be a poem I wrote last July entitled Empty. I hope you'll like it. Here it goes...

Empty
(2009.07.08)

empty as a bin
deep in a shallow tin
a slightest nudge brings
echoes to the rim

traces of the trash
marks left wouldn't pass
decorated with a glaze
but inside is a maze

deceiving case of filthy plenty
overwhelming spilling dirty
garbage endlessly unloaded
stink been lid-covered

constantly a boastful scrap
to a distance pitching junks
fell upon by own debris
shy away until steady

braced along a mighty steel
punctured to a wall and sealed
fragile immobility
rubbish-full though empty

My blogger friend actually put some melody into this composition. He initially intended it to be some rap song but he ended up making it into a ballad. He made it just up to the first verse though, ha-ha! I'm still hoping he could finish it sometime soon; he's really put a good melody into it.


This now concludes my very first blog entry. Pardon me for this, because I really don't have anything to blog right now. I just forced myself to write this entry just to make me officially a blogger, ha-ha!

'Til next time(I really hope there is a next time). Ciao!

PS.

Happy birhtday to my friend, Kathy, who's living in the U.S. right now. I know you'll read this...I'll make you read this! Harhar!