Reincarnating the Adventures of Doctor Pitufo

My blogspot has flatlined, but here I am injecting a dose of epinephrine and defibrillating this almost comatose site; I am pulling my site away from the clutches of the grim reaper.

Tomorrow I shall talk about my travails of the digital darkroom and how I am caught in between the currents of traditional photography and its egotistic offspring - digital photography.

It's a Jekyll and Hide phenomenon indeed.

The State of Philippine Football

In neurology, we have a form of grading that we use to assess patients in coma, and it's the Glasgow scale. The rating is based on three parameters with a ranking from 3 to 15. A scale of Glasgow 3 is a patient in very deep coma with hardly any chance of coming back. This is a patient that does not even react to pain.

The state of football in the country would probably be somewhere at 4 or 5. It would need massive doses of epinephrine to jolt it back to life.

There are a few philanthropists in the country who can infuse the epinephrine and revive the Joga Bonito in our 7 thousand islands, just like how the sport was in the 1920's, when we produced legends like Paulino Alcantara.

In the next few years, I will see it my mission to turn this country from a hoop-loving nation (borne out of our desire to be another America, God forbid) to one of the best goal-scoring strikers of Asia.

After all, what is life without GOALS???

It's Sweeter the Second Time Around

(the tromp for the 2nd match of Union v. Kaya FC)


rain rain rain rain rain rain
rain rain rain rain rain rain
more rain...
rain rain rain rain rain rain
rain rain rain rain rain rain
and more rain...

wet wet wet wet wet wet
wet wet wet wet wet wet
we were getting wet...
wet wet wet wet wet wet
wet wet wet wet wet wet
we were getting very wet

rain rain rain rain rain rain
rain rain rain rain rain rain
Golazo by Ross!
rain rain rain rain rain rain
rain rain rain rain rain rain
and much more rain...

water water water water
water water water water
water everywhere...
water water water water
water water water water
water anywhere...

slip slip slip slip slip slip
slip slip slip slip slip slip
slippery all over...
slip slip slip slip slip slip
slip slip slip slip slip slip
Shit another goal by Ross!

slide slide slide slide slide
slide slide slide slide slide
Sliding here and there...
slide slide slide slide slide
slide slide slide slide slide
Sliding like a skater...

agua agua agua agua agua
agua agua agua agua agua
A fantastic goal by Tson!
agua agua agua agua agua
agua agua agua agua agua
A desperate Kaya team...

3-0 3-0 3-0 3-0 3-0 3-0
3-0 3-0 3- 0 3-0 3-0 3-0
Final score that killed them
3-0 3-0 3-0 3-0 3-0 3-0
3-0 3-0 3-0 3-0 3-0 3-0
Final score that drowned them

The Gods Favor The Brave

It was an omen, that day that we played Kaya for the semifinals, when the heavens sent the blessings of rain. A good omen. I sat on the official bench amazed that two minutes before the ref's whistle, the sky turned grey and drizzle came. It was the much awaited re-match between arch nemesis Kaya and the fortified blue machine of Union FC. As legend would have it, the two teams that battled each other the last time was in the same field, on a rainy day. Now that the sky showered once more, it was a message from the gods: Same field, same enemy, same weather. It's your chance to prove yourself, Union FC.

And so the battle begins. At the line of Defense: Mike the Benedict, Fabi the French executioner, Brieuc the Belgian machine and Echin D' Virgin. One man in front of the defending line: Anto the crouching tiger. Four midfielders, whose names are as ominous as they sound: Bulldog, Tyson, Balot and Alvin the Brave. One man in striking position: Ross Pitufo musiko. And goalkeeper Jeff Pitufo Calmado Blake makes eleven.

The drizzle turns into a shower. Only TFC braved to stay on the bench. There were many chances to score in the first ten minutes, with Balot almost hitting the back of the net at least twice but the keeper managing to secure the ball. Add to that the fact that the Kaya defense was fortified by national captain Ali Borr, making it difficult to break their defense line. Once a pitufo crosses from the wing, the ball is picked up like candy by Ali who stood at 184cm. Pitufo musiko Ross was also afforded some goal-scoring opportunities, but the gods liked to play a tad bit, preferring to wait it out, intermixing rain and slush, ref's whistles and shouts of despair. At 29'' the gods got tired, and breakthrough was made, with Balot finally putting one behind the Kaya keeper. One-zero for Union FC.

The weather started to clear and the pitufos picked up the pace of the game, putting one more into the Kaya net at 37''. This time it was Tyson's goal. It was a good omen, the rain. The gods are smiling. Half time came like a sweet aperitif in the middle of an excellent meal.

When second half commenced, spirits were high, until as fate would dictate Kaya's Freddie Gonz put a header on Jeff Pitufo Calmado's blind side. Two-one. The Union bench starts to choke on the delicious meal. As timely as it was, a sign of a second good omen arrived: the rain starts to pour again. The union defense holds the fort tightly until signs of weariness made the defenders struggle in the rain. Dominic TFC commense the infusion of fresh legs and fresh juice into the blue machine. Marco Kaiser charges into the brigade, replacing Alvin the brave. Lloyd comes in for Bulldog. Carlo Blanco, Nich Severino and Romario Gaucho all come to fortify the perilous last few minutes. At last the final whistle, and the gods smile their devious smiles. Union FC wins back the glory, only to await the next battle on glorious Sunday.

Ode To Tish

(A celebration of the good life)

It seems not so long ago

A maiden named Tish

Found a dirty dog

And kept him on a leash

And so the story goes

The cycle of time went spinnin'

Dirty dog became a pet lappin'

On Mdme Tish hands a-beggin'

But Tish was a dutiful master

And Dirty dog went into the washer

To clean his paws full of dirt

To take the soul out of the hurt

And after one hundred and so days

Plus some two thousand

Dirty dog was set free from his leash

By the beautiful Madame Tish

Only to find Dirty dog

In the pigpen, where to go not knowin'

And his paws tracked mud aplenty

Like a lost, little puppy

Take the leash back, Dirty dog

Lest the world send you back

To the race of life without seein'

The days of good livin'

And so the story goes

The cycle of time stopped spinnin'

And Dirty dog comes back lappin'

To Mdme Tish without her callin'

You are quite noble, Tish

Quite a plenty on your dish

This Dirty dog's a little devil

So keep him on the level!

Farewell to Freedom

(Eulogy for Dominic TFC)

I savor the sweet aroma

Of sweet November

Amidst the glorious days past

Of Beers forever

To shackle the warrior

Never in November!

I feel the cool air

Of chilly December

The kisses for Christmas

From wild side gals

To tempt the warrior

A bachelor forever?

In swings the new year

And the 4th of January

In Boracay beach tis' set

The battle for the warrior

A maiden in blue like the sea

And the warrior no longer free

Farewell to freedom, TFC

The beers and babes swept out to sea

And the pitufos agree

She knows, she knows

The maiden wins always

With the ceremony!

ABOUT DOCTOR PITUFO...

An ophthalmologist, and thus someone who highly values the gift of sight, he collects visions of a changing world through the medium of photography to show us a fragment of our time, our history and our very existence.

"These images are moments frozen, each a trickle of seconds in the eternal flow of the dimension of time; these images I bring to your senses to show you what I saw and felt at that moment, in the hope that they will bind us and make us realize that we all belong to the same small world. Imagine us ebbing and rising as one singular body of water, continuously flowing in an ocean. Every image then is a trickle of water, of human existence, fragmented and captured from the whole and from the flow of time, yet cannot be torn apart." - docpitufo