Donating for the good of Filipino society

It doesn’t hurt to cough up a little money to help make my country’s society better. Please donate to charity. I usually donate to Bantay Bata , The Philippine National Red Cross, Gawad Kalinga, Caritas Manila and any other groups with worthy causes. An amount as little as 5 pesos can make a difference. If you want to see a better Philippines, donate now.

The Moth and the Star

Lico:  This is one of my favorite fables when I was a kid.  I thought it’d be nice if I share it with you guys.

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*The Moth and the Star*
by James Thurber (from “Fables for Our Time”)

A young and impressionable moth once set his heart on a certain star. He told his mother about this and she counseled him to set his heart on a bridge lamp instead. “Stars aren’t the thing to hang around,” she said: “lamps are the thing to hang around.” “You get somewhere that way, ” said the moth’s father. “You don’t get anywhere chasing stars.” But the moth would not heed the words of either parent. Every evening at dusk when the star came out he would start flying toward it and every morning at dawn he would crawl back home worn out with his vain endeavor. One day his father said to him, “You haven’t burned a wing in months, boy, and it looks to me as if you are never going to. All your brothers have been badly burned flying around street lamps and all your sisters have been terribly singed flying around house lamps. Come on, now, get out of here and get yourself scorched! A big strapping moth like you without a mark on him!”

The moth left his father’s house, but he would not fly around street lamps and he would not fly around house lamps. He went right on trying to reach the star, which was four and one-third light years, or twenty-five trillion miles away. The moth thought it was just caught in the top branches of an elm. He never did reach the star, but he went right on trying, night after night, and when he was a very, very old moth he began to think that he really had reached the star and he went around saying so. This gave him a deep and lasting pleasure, and he lived to a great old age. His parents and his brothers and his sisters had all been burned to death when they were quite young.

Moral: Who flies afar from the sphere of our sorrow is here today and here tomorrow.

Bored

I’m so boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooored! 

By the way, I’ve uploaded pages 1-12 of The Fifty-Peso Ninja Act 2.  Check them out in FPN Saga.

The Fifty-Peso Ninja Saga

Dealing with racist parents

A female friend of mine is very unhappy about her family and lovelife.  She complained how “racist” her parents are.  You see, she’s from a Chinese family and her parents disapproved her relationship with some boy because… well… he’s not Chinese.  I tried to play the role of “surrogate big brother”.  However, I’m ashamed to admit that I don’t know what advice I could give her regarding this situation.  Can anyone help me out here?

Give a little

Once in a while, I would urge anyone to donate a little money to charity.  This is not just for the street kids or the crippled, this is for the future of our country.  I believe that just by donating even at least 1 piso as much as possible, this country has hope in becoming prosperous.

For instance, I prefer donating money to humanitarian groups that deals with children.  Why?  Because, like the song goes, I believe the children are our future.  Teach them well and let them lead the way.  I theorized that if we focus on helping and (of course) educating the children (especially the ones from impoverished homes), we’ll be able to mold them into ideal citizens and competent leaders.  In the future, poverty will be decreased and the crime rate will drop. 

It’s a longshot but I don’t care.  It’s better than doing nothing.

So please, give a little.

Passion versus Discipline

A few months ago, Lyndon Gregorio (creator of Beerkada) talked about the power of passion versus the power of discipline.  What he said at that time does makes sense.

“A person with discipline can work and get tired.  A person with passion can work and never gets tired.”

Now this is not just a strategy for success.  It can be a strategy for effective leadership.

It’s true that Filipinos tend to hate discipline.  However, Filipinos are a passionate people.  Here’s my theory: a good leader who can ignite and guide the passion of the followers towards positive means is an effective leader.

So much for my previous belief that discipline can make this country more prosperous.

Shakyamuni Buddha (art)

Buddha bless you.

Beautiful Buddhist Chanting

This is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen and heard.

The Chant of Metta

Ninja Plugging

The Fifty-Peso Ninja Act I: Wandering Weirdo is now available in i.ph.  Click on the link below to view it.

The Fifty-Peso Ninja Saga

Resume of a ninja cartoonist

For all those employers seeking for a cartoonist/writer, I lend my sword.

Lico Reloj
Cartoonist/Penciller/Writer

Published Work
THE ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN SCAM (2005-) Siklab
RUMI-NATION (2005-) Yehey.com

Other Comic-related Experiences
-Leader of the Filipino independent comic group Asong Makulit Productions.
-Core member of Artists’ Den, a support group for artists based in the Philippines known in local pop culture circles.
-Took part in lecturing the creative writing aspect of comics (specifically in the area of idea generation, character development and creativity improvement) in ICA (Immaculate Conception Academy) in November in the year 2004.
-Was a lecturer in a comic seminar (again, the creative writing aspects) for high school students in Antipolo.
-Took part in a Creative Writing Workshop as co-lecturer in the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde on March 9, 2005
-Completed Education Direct’s Cartooning course on May 3, 2005

Breaking into Comics
I’ve been in the independent comic circuit for some time but I’ve never considered going pro til recently. Lawrence Mijares of Siklab magazine hired me to create The Adventures of Captain Scam, a gag strip about a superhero who has the superpower to con people with ridiculously extreme ease.

Influences in Comics
I had a lot of influences but the biggest ones were Pol Medina Jr. (a popular Filipino cartoonist who inspired me to draw comic strips when I was a child), Shotaro Ishinomori (for his trademark cartoony manga style), and Stan Sakai (for his clean, simple yet elegant lineart and cinematographic paneling in Usagi Yojimbo). Cartoons (especially Spongebob Squarepants, Samurai Jack, Fairly Odd Parents and Cow and Chicken), fantasy stories, video games and martial arts movies also play a big part in their influences on me.

URL/E-mail
fiftypesoninja.i.ph  
goh.deviantart.com
gohlico@yahoo.com

Shameless Plugging Attack!

Please check out the Komiks section under Funnypages in Yehey.com.  My comic strip series Rumi-nation is going on there.  It’s a romance-comedy about a cartoonist and a muse.

Here’s a preview:

Click on the image above to read the strip.

Oh and visit my Deviantart gallery.

It’s Hotei The Laughing Buddha!

Click on image to see a larger version.

Hotei (or Budai) is the famous Laughing Buddha, a monk legendary for his (what else?) laughter and smiles.  He’s one of my favorite Buddhist figures because his cheerfulness is so infectious and uplifting.  I made this artwork as some kind of tribute to him.

Go ahead and rub his tummy, it’s for good luck. 

FPN preview

Hello everyone!  I’m Lico Reloj, the creator of The Fifty-Peso Ninja.  The Fifty-Peso Ninja was originally a joke character I acted just to get attention for my comics.  Since the ninja got more attention than the comics, I’ve decided to create a graphic novel that features his first major adventure.  Below is a preview of the first page of the first act.  Click on the image to read it.

Alternate link

FPN Brief Intro

Alternate link

The Fifty-Peso Ninja (teaser poster)

Click on the image to see the poster.

Here’s an alternate link to the image.