do we have dirty water? MWSS, Maynilad & Manila Water and the fees we pay

when “50 shades of grey” joins an advertising agency

(double click image to enlarge)

cut and pasted here:

“How hard is it for you to do as you’re told?” she bellowed, infuriated at my defiance. I could feel her gaze burning through my pitiful existence. My heartbeat racing, I held my breath, anticipating the punishment that was in store for me. “Let’s start over, shall we?” she said, as she stood up. “Try these briefs on for me. Remember, just these briefs.” I glanced at what she held in her hand. My eyes widened. I knew I was going to be disciplined, but three briefs all due tomorrow is just too much!

interesting take on “50 shades of grey” when it joins grey advertising one of the largest ad agencies in the world.

macho theme for ateneo blue eagle’s quest for the One Big Five

 

they have t-shirts with the line proclaiming “we fight for the blue and the white”. it’s a provocative line but it is very aggressive and combative, perhaps too much? we have not seen lines like that for a very long time.

so maybe it’s appropriate now given that the ateneo blue eagles are fighting to make it 5 consecutive championships this UAAP 75 season. getting it 5 straight will make history if ateneo pulls it off this year. players do graduate after 4 or 5 years and that means a change in crew, a loss of power every year. winning the championship in consecutive years in college basketball is indeed very hard. losing your top players every year to be replaced by rookies mean you need to have a great coaching staff and equally important a well oiled and strategic recruitment program.

ateneo has won the UAAP championships 4 straight years. that means this year all the players it had the first time it won are all gone and others in between have been lost to graduation.

ateneo had their first game this season last sunday and they did very well beating adamson on a pile of many points – tambak in other words. that could be a good sign. the game with adamson started on shaky grounds for ateneo. the team lost it’s defensive skills, something they are known for in the league, during the first half of the game. the shooting prowess was still there, including the most feared fast-break shots made on transition but they allowed too many open shots for adamson and some errors.

norman black, ateneo’s legendary coach made the adjustments and the defense came back in the second half, enabling ateneo to comfortably pull away in the second half.

the usual suspects, actually stars were there – slaughter, salva and ravena killing adamson on defense and offense. it was also good to see buenafe back. buenafe’s presence was not yet felt as much as he was still recovering from an injury. but he played good minutes on the court so that can mean the injury is all healed and he just needs to get back on the groove. when he does, it can be very devastating to the opponents of the blue eagles.

slaughter has improved a lot. he has added new shots to his repertoire of shots. he was unstoppable when he was close to the ring and all he needed to do was to gently scoop or drop the ball inside the ring. the coaches has done very well to sharpen slaughter’s guns, exploiting his height to the max.

the ateneo blue eagles are known for two deadly things in the league – defense and the fast-break. no team has yet discovered a system to beat them on those.

ateneo will play UST today, a team seen as a top four contender. we will see how much prepared this new ateneo team is for a strong team like UST. coming from a four-peat championship win, ateneo’s top four players slaughter, salva, ravena and buenafe will pour it in to make one big five this season. UST can be ateneo’s 2nd victim in the league.

 

 

“make it makati” campaign – logo that works hard and beautifully

we have been seeing these banners on the main streets of makati along the ayala avenue business area and it caught our attention on the positive side.

we think it’s a good logo design and even more brilliant was how the logo design concept elements of colorful lines were flawlessly incorporated into the banner design. the whole thing is so put together with elements or components  and the whole working well together.  it’s a very classy logo and banner design which is a perfect fit to makati city and most appropriate to the target audience of business people and investors.

our push back though, although minor is the readability of “makati”. the lines in white and color makes it not very easy to pick up. the eyes naturally separate the lines, deconstructing the shape of the letters.

taxis that run on LPG – metro manila’s toxic taxis?

this is all over metro manila – taxis that use LPG to power the taxi instead of gasoline or diesel. most of these taxis are old taxis but there are a few that are still new. LPGs are used because of it’s low cost compared to regular gasoline. low cost of fuel means higher income for the taxi driver and the taxi operator.

but is this higher income for the taxi driver worth his health?

we talk to the taxi driver about LPG taxis every time we ride a taxi. it is unanimous – each and everyone of the taxi drivers we have talked to says LPG taxis have made them sick. they know this based on their own experiences or they know of taxi drivers who say the same thing. even drivers who drive LPG taxis admit their health is being affected.

these are the most common health complaints of taxi drivers who use LPG in their taxis:

• very dry mouth and throat
• headaches
• very dry skin
• dramatic weight loss
• weakness
• gets easily tired

the dry mouth and throat is so rampant and severe that drivers who use LPG are forced to have a big bottle of water beside them in their taxis for them to often drink from. they report they usually consume several bottles (several litters) of water a day.

these drivers are inside their taxis, their lungs taking in the toxic air inside their LPG taxis for at least 18 to 20 hours a day. the driver is allowed to drive their taxis for 24 hours but many of them can only drive for that period of time as they do need sleep.

they say that when they get home, they are unable to do anything else and quickly fall to sleep form so much tiredness driving their toxic taxis. they said that this did not happen when they were driving taxis that use regular gasoline.

we can tell if a taxi is using LPG. the air inside the taxi has a certain smell. it only takes 20 minutes of being inside the taxi and a massive headache sets in. that is spending just 20 minutes inside the taxi – what about the taxi driver who spends 18 to 20 hours in it? some taxi drivers also say call center agents who work the night shift refuse to ride taxis that use LPG.

we have talked to several taxi drivers who tell us that they have tried LPG taxis before and all of them give up on it just a few days after driving one. one driver quit after just 1 day of driving an LPG taxi. almost all of them say they know of one or two drivers who have actually died after driving an LPG taxi.

why are they still using LPG taxis?

it’s the additional earning they get from it. drivers say that even though the boundary for LPG taxis is higher than those that use regular taxi. they earn an additional P200 to P400 per day.

taxi operators like it too because of the additional earning on LPG taxis – they raise the boundary to P1,700 per 24 hours for LPG taxis versus P1,100 for regular gasoline taxis. the additional income per day of P600 is huge when you consider operators own dozens to hundreds of taxis.

between the two it is actually the operators who benefit the most while the drivers suffer the most harm and possibly irreparable harm. the additional income they get from driving LPG taxis will not compensate for what it does to their health and the ensuing health care cost that they will need to spend later on. besides, drivers do not have a choice if the operator decides to convert all his taxis to LPG use.

drivers who refuse to drive LPG taxis have reached the same conclusion – they feel the harm on their health is not worth the additional income they get from driving LPG taxis. besides, they feel the additional income is really not that high and definitely not worth it.

the history of LPG taxis is an interesting one. taxi drivers say that the only way the LTO will extend the life of a taxi franchise is if it is converted to LPG use. there is a law that mandates taxis at a certain age are supposed to be retired. this law is waived if it is converted into LPG, thus you can see that most of the old taxis run on LPG.

taxi drivers have also said the korean-made LPG conversion kits is a business owned by ex-FG mike arroyo. the rampant conversion to lpg of taxis occurred during the arroyo administration.

the marketing behind LPG use in taxis is also very aggressive. most of the LPG fill up stations are owned by a mike arroyo crony. these LPG fill up stations have an aggressive rewards marketing program where drivers who patronize the fill up stations accumulate points that can be exchanged for almost everything and anything for the home and their families like t-shirts, kitchen and dining utensils, school items and other goodies.

aside from the aggressive rewards program, these fill up stations also provide sleeping quarters for use of the drivers who fill up with LPG for free. they have comfortable beds in air-conditioned rooms, bathrooms and even meals for free for the drivers.

these aggressive marketing programs obviously keep the drivers loyal to the fill up stations and the use of LPG. add to that the additional earnings and you have them hooked but all of these in exchange for their health and if the stories are to be believed, their lives.

in recent months, we have also seen in the news of taxis that catch fire while on the road. these are LPG taxis. LPG is highly flammable and all it takes is a spark to set it afire when the gas escapes from the tank and the tubes. taxi drivers are saying this happens when the engine overheats that cause a spark and in turn sets the taxi ablaze.

what is the government doing about it? none that we have heard of. the taxi drivers are not complaining and the operators are certainly keeping quiet about the problem. owners of fill up stations will also be quiet. toxic taxis has not been reported in media as much as well.

when will the government do something about it? we think it will do something about it when a tourist or a foreigner falls victim to the toxic taxis and then the line “it’s more fun in the philippines” is rendered a lie.

click to read :

Metro Manila’s Toxic Taxis : DOH says high levels of carbon monoxide and hydrogen sulfide found in blood of drivers of toxic taxis

a farmer’s immortal love letter to his departed wife can only be seen from the air

this is probably the best love letter and tribute any man has ever made for the love of his life – a heart shaped meadow on his property that can be seen from the heavens and yes something that can last forever.

the wife from heaven will be smiling forever.

British Farmer Creates Heart-Shaped Meadow as Tribute to Late Wife

When Winston Howes’ wife Janet died 17 years ago, he wanted to find a meaningful and lasting way to honor her. So Howes headed out to the 112-acre (45 hectare) farm he owns near the town of Wickwar, in the southwestern English countryside. He set aside a 6-acre (2.5 hectare) plot and spent a week planting thousands of oak saplings, leaving a perfectly heart-shaped clearing in the middle.

The heart measures about an acre across and points to the childhood home of Howes’ wife, the Daily Telegraph reports. She died at the age of 50 after suffering from heart failure in 1995. The pair had been married for 33 years.

Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/07/15/british-farmer-creates-heart-shaped-meadow-as-tribute-to-late-wife/#ixzz20qA5Y9UN

wit and humor – most fitting way to say goodbye to dolphy, the comedy king