San Miguel Light as an economic indicator

Some people watch the price of crude oil, gas, diesel, rice, dollar, eggs, sardines, chicken, the stock exchange, unemployment rate, inflation, etc., etc. as an economic indicator of how things have changed so that they can adjust appropriately.

Me, I simply watch the price of beer.

Taking a quick survey of the bars in Dagupan City (courtesy of the powers of my old N70), I came out with this list tonight (Note: for this purpose, we shall define beer to be San Miguel Light beer):


Mouse House - P35
Quattro - P40
Hall of Fame - P45
Music WareHouse - P45
Diner's - P45
Joshua Tree - P49
Shinjuku - P60
Disc Capsule - P65
808 - P70

While I still have a few bars/cafes not on my list yet, I can conclude a few things and derive the following:

Mean Price of Beer - P51.56
Median Price of Beer - P45.00
Mode Price of Beer - P45.00

For mortals who puke at the sight of complicated numbers with weird operations and labels, let me translate:

Mean is the your usual average, computed the usual way (total divided by the number of values), median is the middle value (values arranged from lowest to highest or vice-versa) and mode is the value that appears most often. In this case, (pun intended) the median and mode have the same values.

If you think this is complicated stuff for illustrating my choice of an economic indicator, you should figure out the scoring system of say gymnastics or diving in the Olympics starting Friday. Before computing for the final score among a panel of judges, the lowest and highest scores are first stripped out, averaged, then multiplied by the degree of difficulty of the routine.

Beer becomes lovelier after this.

Anyway, if you can still remember how much beer cost a year ago, I'd say the average beer was P40, about P10 lower compared today. If THAT doesn't indicate something in the economics of your current paycheck, then lucky for you. It's either your boss have appreciated the intricacies of this economic indicator and have adjusted your paycheck appropriately or your boss have deppreciated you, simply.

In addition to beer being a valid economic indicator (I assumed you have agreed with me since you have followed this spirited discussion up to this point) don't you know that just by knowing the price of beer in a particular place, one can speculate with precision what kind of crowd a place have more accurately than forecasting the forex for the next day?

Take the case of a P35 to P45 a bottle range. The crowd for sure you'll find in these bars that have this price range are college kids. They'll probably buy a bottle and sit it out for an hour or more, not even caring to look at the pulutan section of the menu.

For crowds of the P60 to P70 a bottle range, expect a high profile crowd in the working class, from the yuppies to the executives, from the konsehal to the congressman. (Of course, beer for the female sex in a majority of these places have a much higher price range for reasons I cannot comprehend.)

So next time the big three in the oil industry announces another oil hike, don't get affected. Get out, hit the bars and monitor the price of your beer instead. The higher crude oil gets, the more reason you should enjoy your beer. Why, because even if beer is a valid economic indicator, the price of beer is not directly proportional to the increase of the price of crude oil. Rather, the price of beer is inversely proportional to the price of crude oil because beer is now actually cheaper than the price of diesel and gas, by-products of crude oil.

Cheers.

Homo habilis

Homo habilis is second in line only after Hominid primates in an illustration I googled at terrestrialextras.com explaining the evolution of man. The website, as its name suggests, actually focused on Nativus coniunctus, a future derivative of man...but that's not the intention of today's exercise.

Furthermore, Homo habilis had a short body and long ape-like arms like the australopithecines. But they were distinguished from earlier hominids by their big brain (c. 630 cubic centimetres) and small teeth, according to another website at bbc.co.uk.

Now take a look at my shot taken three nights ago as we were on our third bottle of cold beer together with Kinigtot Bacolor, my artist buddy at the Dagupan Artists' Circle and Joy Ramos, my basketball buddy. It was one of those rainy nights we couldn't resist, most specially now that a night's out in our favorites bars in Dagupan just wouldn't equate anymore. An average bottle of beer cost about forty pesos before the oil crisis started this year. Now, a bottle of beer cost on the average fifty pesos! And even my favorite pulutan sashimi has inflated so much (I was talking about of the price, not its geometric volume), I reckon the average bar in Dagupan which keeps stock of it have problems with extending its shelf life for a few more days..


Well, the resemblance isn't exactly obvious, unless I subject my photo to Bones, America's famous forensic anthropologist (on television at least) to hypothesize how my subject would look like without his clothes on. Of course, he would have to be dead first since Bones only work with bones.

Drop the idea. Even if Bones were non-fiction, I wouldn't want to share this piece of supposedly extinct stage of man's evolution with her. He's mine. I rightfully own him. I even gave him a name, Carding. Shot him first almost two years ago (Takeout) when I started shooting "mga taong grasa ng Dagupan" as one of my more serious photography projects.

Unlike Eva Tot (see previous blog), Carding is one taong grasa I do not wish to communicate with.

Taong grasas are generally peace loving people. They try, as much as we do, to avoid contact of any sorts (not that contact) with other people.

However, Homo habilis had a secret weapon: stone tools. Crude stone implements were used to smash open animal bones and extract the nutritious bone marrow, bbc.co.uk continues.

That is why I am doing this comparison. Carding is one exception. Seemingly harmless, I wouldn't shoot him with a lens less than or equal to a focal length in a 2-digit range. I saw him once hurling rocks at some people who obviously earned them his ire. Mean. He didn't exactly smash open the skulls of these people, but if his aim had been as accurate as David (as in Goliath), the effects would have been the same.

Certainly, he is one violent soul, if he had one. I mean, if this guy was really a survivor 2.3 million years after he was supposed to be non-existent, he really wouldn't have one. Only Homo sapiens have souls I believe.

But then again, if supposing Carding didn't have a soul because he never fully evolved into a full Homo sapiens he was destined to be, what the hell is he still doing here, in the streets of Dagupan City?

An old pair of maong pants: Priceless

I just shot the newest member of the cast of my ongoing human study project classified "mga taong grasa ng Dagupan" this morning.

After missing Marimar for about a month now, who mysteriously disappeared just like that, from her usual routine walks along Burgos-Extension-Tapuac road right before school started, I finally found a second female subject for this obsession.

Eva Tot, at least that is what she told me her real name to be, thus became the first "taong grasa" I spoke to.

I was on my way to work this morning (a rarity in my nocturnal schedule) toting my camera which I started carrying again after quite some time now since I haven't shot any of my forgotten friends lately...and suddenly, there she was...

She was sitting on our neighbor's front plant box...rummaging thru her earthly possessions when I spotted her. Nothing much really...a used Northern Cement bag filled with assorted foliage of some unknown species probably picked around the neighborhood and ordinary grass...a small spiral notebook and a pen...a yellow clutch bag and wallet...a Robinson's plastic bag filled with plastic bottles and probably filled with the rest of her dirty wardrobe...and a small bible.

Taking pictures of my forgotten friends was an idea which started more than two years ago. With a 70-200 lens, my fears of having an ugly unforgettable encounter was quite remote. After all, who could read the minds of these unstable members of society.

Talking to them WAS an entirely different matter. No matter how I convince myself that I should try make an attempt to somehow make contact with whatever is left of their inner minds, I chicken out at the last minute.

Once, I got too close for a tight shot of Simeon (I made this name up) during the last Bangus Festival. I didn't know he had radars underneath those camouflaged rags continuously monitoring "normal minds" if they strayed into his 1 square meter world. He gave me a cold cold stare, and wham! He gave me short chase, more of a dart really. Like a cobra, striking with the momentum of his hooded head on instinct. Luckily, the grip of my 30D sort of gave me a counter balance enough to maneuver me out of harm's way...

Picture, picture, I told her in my most casual voice as I removed the lens cap of my trusty 70-200. Cge lang, she nodded, an answer I didn't expect. Not bad for a start.

After a few laid-back "practice" shots, a technique we photographers use guaranteed to put any subject at ease, I started with a casual conversation... Ano pangalan mo? Not sure whether to use Pangasinan or Tagalog. Wala, she says without even looking at me. She was busy arranging and re-arranging her stuff in the white plastic bag with her right hand while holding her notebook and pen on the other. Ano ginagawa mo, I changed the subject. Nagsusulat, kung minsan nagbabasa, in a good Tagalog accent. She's not from here I assumed.

Ano pangalan mo, I repeated. Wala nga e. She said. Bakit wala? Sira daw ulo ko e, her eyes avoiding my camera. Sino naman ang may sabi nyan? I continued clicking. No answer. After a few more unsuccessful attempts, I dropped the subject.

Lets concentrate on the shot, moron. You're a photographer, not Cris Zuñiga. Smile naman dyan, I said since she never gave me an eye contact during the last 3 minutes. Bayad muna, she proposed. 20 pesos was her opening offer. Wala e, kinse pesos lang ang nandito, as I got some loose change from my pocket. Cautiously, (a flashback of the bangus man momentarily occured) I went near her, extending my arm with the coins to close the deal without giving her any chance to haggle, a technique I learned as a businessman..

She kept her part of the bargain and gave me a few, well, not exactly smiles. They were more of a mimic of me taking pictures of her using her hands as a camera, the sort of play kids do with an air camera. This is queer. Two months ago, I took real cool pictures of Moe from Mayanmar who did a stunning performance art like this during Tama '08 here in Dagupan.


And I went into short film mode. Clicking at around 2 to 3 frames a second. This is certainly much better than a smile. Syet, this will definitely look good with my collection. Pipo, my photography buddy, will give me another pat on my back.

Hmm.... After shooting about 10 to 15 encounters with my forgotten friends, I realized I was wrong. A bigger percentage of "normal" people I dealt with don't just keep their part of their bargains anymore, especially on money matters.

So ano ba talaga pangalan mo? Wanting to maximize my 15 pesos' worth. Wrong move. She went back to her stuff. She's good. Probably a better businesswoman during her "normal" times. Wala na akong pera e. That was the truth. Honest. I had a few more coins on my truck but I was afraid the short trip to get there and back might prematurely cut the encounter short. And I was having the time of my life!

Damit na lang, ung maganda ha, she said, and the most beautiful smile formed on her otherwise unwashed face. And instead of shooting, I just stared at her, half frozen. After my experiences in shooting street-dancing festivals, one of my favorite photography subjects, my finger almost never leaving my shutter button in case of a perfect moment, I was in freeze-mode! Damn. What was I doing? Hindi ka bisita! I can almost hear myself shouting at Renz, my photography buddy and "apprentice" during a paid shoot.

When I was able to compose myself, the f*@#n moment was gone! While thinking a million words to complete the phrase "this could've been ______", I sort of sunk into the pavement of my instant outdoor studio. (Incidentally, around 4 to 5 people in the neighborhood gave me a funny look during this fantasy shoot as they happened to pass by, not sure who was nornal and wasn't.)

Ok, back to reality. Pantalon na lang, I suggested. Wala ako damit pambabae e. After agreeing and somehow getting an old pair of maong pants to her, she was ecstatic. The pants was big, but she didn't care. She had another smile on her face. But somehow, I stopped clicking. Was this the moment us photographers feared? Being attached to the subject? Hell I don't know. She was probably 55 years old!

During the remaining minutes of this "chance" encounter, I finally squeezed out what her whole name was. Eva Tot. The surname was obviously made up but I accepted it. I also found out that her address was "kalsada". I also found out that she once had children....

The shoot lasted around 9 minutes, based on the time stamp of my digital files from the first to the last shot. The whole encounter was around 20 minutes, tho. What does that leave me with?

After stereotyping that "taong grasa" were dirty, useless and dangerous people, maybe I changed my mind. Eva probably had a deeper story to tell. Had I offered her GSM Blue instead of 15 pesos and pantalon, our outdoor set might have changed to an instant bar and who knows what our conversations might have led to.

Perhaps, she was a professor, an attorney, a hooker, or a politician (yup, probably a politician). A once normal person in our terms (I wasn't referring to the politician). Probably she had encountered many difficult downs in life. Until one day, probably she gave up on the world...or the other way around. Decided to live alone on the cruel streets of Dagupan, giving up family, friends, work, honor and her cellphone. Giving up the daily routines of grooming and took the concept of simplifying life to the most simple of simplicities.

Very interesting people, really. Robin Williams once portrayed one of these people existing even in rich America in the movie The Fisher King, of course with a better storyline fit for Hollywood consumption. But, really, they are the same. They are real people we encounter daily on our way to work, school, church. Everyone sees them on the streets, yet try to ignore them.

We pretend to be a caring people especially during a natural disaster like Cosme, joining civic groups to organize relief operations to help other normal people who lost their roofs, their homes. We lend a hand so that these unfortunate people can go back to their daily normal lives...

Hehe, nice one. Mga "taong grasa" ng Dagupan will never be normal again. Forever they will remain as the "conscience of our society" and remain just that. Just a conscience.

I shoot them with my camera, yes, because I am quite fascinated by them, probably like that weird girl who studied bears I saw on Discovery Channel. I do not intend to suggest a solution or movement like Pay It Forward and stumble into Trevor's grandma, another Hollywood "taong grasa". I do not intend to start a care home for them. Shouldn't this be what DSWD should be doing anyway? Or was it the Philippine Mental Health in Arellano-Bani Street?

But somehow at least, because of my verbal chance encounter with Eva Tot, I was able start my first blog, another obsession I was trying to start. Finally I had something to write about. Forgive me if I got carried away a little bit and sort of created a short story.... I'm an art photographer, not a writer.

And what did it cost me? 15 pesos and a pair of old maong pants. Cheaper than GSM Blue.