Forward motion

Sen. Richard “Dick” Gordon gave a long, inspired and sincere speech before a sea of red-shirted volunteers, supporters and admirers Monday evening, thanking everyone, and saying that although he had lost his bid for the presidency in the May 10 election, he felt he and his vice-presidential partner, Bayani Fernando, were winners.

Dick was poetic and sometimes teary-eyed as he talked about the political campaign and the realities it brought him. Some of his lines I decipher from my notes I wrote, tipsy from overflowing wine:

“I feel that we won. Sometimes you win in a contest, sometimes you lose. What’s important is that you know what you are fighting for.”

 “We ran an honest campaign, we received contributions from the rich, the middle-class and even the poor, some of whom gave their last centavo ‘because you are fighting for us.’”

“I’m like Don Quixote in the man of La Mancha, who said, ‘The politics of madness is seeing life as it is, not what it should be.’”

 “Even if winds were unfavorable, I always stood on course, even in the midst of doubts, indifference, and the complacency of men.”

 “I was never unhappy during the campaign . . . my eyes were opened, my mind was focused. If I had known what the results would be, Dick Gordon will still go for it.”

“I try not to ride on a high horse . . . I run where the brave dare not go.”

“Behind Dick, idealist and founder of Bagumbayan Party, were emblazoned on the large tarpaulin his slogan: “Bagumbayan: The Quest Continues, Our Cause Endures.”

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Quietly seated at a table with his wife Marikina Mayor Marides was Bayani Fernando, Dick’s running mate. I asked the three-term Marikina mayor and chair of Metro Manila Development Authority what he will be doing now. He smiled, and said, “I will go back to doing project design, and look for a club where I could sing.”

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On another front, truly, art has come so far from the static paintings and sculptures that we have been exposed to. In the traditional sense of the word, art is the process or product of deliberately arranging elements in a way to affect human emotions. From music, literature, film, photography, sculpture, and paintings to television, advertising, graphic novels, and all sorts of animation, we are constantly pushing the envelope of our imaginations.

With this development, art is no longer confined to the circle of the elite and the fuddy-duds. Many of my young friends have told me that contemporary art has its own lineup of Mona Lisas, Davids, Don Quixotes and Lady Macbeths in the depths of what we once knew as “comic books” and “cartoons”.

A good example would be the blockbuster movies that have, of late, been entertaining and keeping audiences in awe. Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, Avatar, A Christmas Carol — to call these films mere products of animation demeans the complexity of the characters, the richness of the story, the mastery of direction, and the overall artistry it took to render such life-like yet fantastic forms that leave us in complete amazement.

Well, a little research and background provided by knowledgeable techie friends have given me a bit of education on this matter. All these films employ a technique known as motion capture, the process of recording movement and summarily uploading it in digital form to a 3D animation; I remember watching the making of “Happy Feet” on television last year and they showed famed choreographer Savion Glover in a black bodysuit, covered in what seemed to be ping pong balls with radio transmitters. A look at the digital screen on set showed a series of lines and points moving with the same fluidity and ease that Glover took years to perfect, in a matter of minutes.

In motion capture, the subtle nuance of a gesture that we take for granted, or the way our muscles contract under the skin — these things are recorded with space-age accuracy and precision, all adding to our experience of the 21st century film.

The Philippines, perhaps the only place in the world where artistic prowess seems to be endemic, is not left out in the cold when it comes to motion capture either. Animation Vertigo, Inc., the country’s only legitimate and licensed motion capture animation firm, has its Asian headquarters in Ortigas, Greenhills, with a staff working tirelessly to fill the demands of its numerous clients in the United States and Europe.

Originally based in San Diego, AVI is celebrated throughout the global entertainment industry as being the firm that really delivers what it promises. Founded by Filipina entrepreneur Marla de Castro Rausch less than five years ago, AVI has already worked with billion-dollar companies in triple-A game development and resounding box office hits. Having delivered the opening salvo by bringing motion capture to the Philippines, Rausch deserves credit for taking Filipino animation an imperative step forward.

It’s always a pleasure to see our natural advantages harnessed towards something that will catapult the Philippines to the international stage. If New York is known for art galleries, Paris for the Opera House, and London for the Globe Theatre, there’s no reason why Manila can’t be acknowledged as the stronghold of motion capture expertise. More than just connecting the dots, motion capture is on the front lines of art as we now know it.

We’ve come a long way from Walt Disney’s world.

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The Gloria D. Lacson Museum, established to honor an outstanding nurse and educator, was blessed last week in San Leonardo, Nueva Ecija. The museum is at the administration building of the Dr. Gloria D. Lacson Foundation Colleges which is headed by Dr. Cresencia VC. Shamsoddin and Dr. Massoud N. Shamsoddin, president and vice president for administration and finance, respectively.

The late Dr. Lacson, a native of Balanga, Bataan, was president of Wesleyan University Philippines in Cabanatuan City. She enabled the institution to widen its national and international linkages, and become a center of development in Central Luzon.

Prior to her WUP presidency, she was dean of the Mary Johnston School of Nursing in Tondo, Manila, her background as an efficient military nurse as well as her compassionate nature serving as the directors’ considerations for picking her for the job. Mary Johnston is one of the country’s finest nursing schools today.

The Shamsoddins chose to name the school they founded after Dr. Lacson, with whom they shared a deep bond of affection and admiration. They teamed up with Nellie Lacson Mercado, Dr. Lacson’s youngest sister who is a former vice-president of Republic Bank and executive director of Kapatiran Kaunlaran Foundation, Inc., to put up the Gloria D. Lacson Museum.

 The museum displays facets of Dr. Lacson’s journey, as a military nurse, school dean, university president, and her socio-civic, professional and religious involvements. It includes some of her favorite gowns and the academic regalia she wore at her conferment with the degree of Doctor of Education, honoris causa, by the Philippine Women’s University.

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