It is still a fortnight to go till the Valencia GP so I went around looking for my F1 fix by searching for YouTube video clips of F1 drivers who appeared in TV adverts. There is quite a lot. I suppose with all the sponsors for each team, part of the deal would be for these drivers to appear in marketing activities. Anyway, these are the ones I liked the best and perhaps I will dig out some other later. Meantime, enjoy!
With my Nokia 5800, I am able to record good quality videos, which is saved in MP4 format. However, the video that I recorded while having the phone in portrait is still displayed in landscape when transferred to my PC. Why it does that, I don’t know.
I am, therefore, needing to rotate the video or have the viewers tilt their heads 90 degrees. You’d think it would be easy. It’s not! After searching and several trial and errors, this is how I managed to do it — without buying any special software. If you can suggest anything easier (and FREE) then please feel free to comment at the end of this post.
In light of ex-President Cory Aquino’s passing, here is my first and only written account of the People Power Revolution in the Philippines.
It was 1986. I was barely a teenager when my mother took me to EDSA — Manila’s main thoroughfare — and saw waves of people instead of cars and buses. There were praying and singing but the mere presence was enough to feel how desperate the nation was for a change. I remember sitting in the middle of EDSA amidst the crowd, playing with my Game & Watch, without any idea of what was really transpiring around me.
All of a sudden I was dragged to my feet and started running. We then stopped and I found myself in front of this tank. It was trying to move forward but the crowd was pushing it back. I remember feeling that strong force behind me but there were some who were looking out to make sure that I didn’t get crushed. The tank stopped and the people rejoiced. When I looked up, I saw a nun offering yellow-coloured flowers to the soldiers and one of them accepted, which made the crowd cheer some more.
But I recall that there were some teargas explosions in the peripherals so when we had successfully stopped the tanks from advancing, some people rushed to help out there. We stayed where we were.
There was also moments when jet fighter planes were flying overhead. We would duck our heads down everytime it flew over. It was never known if the intention was to shower bullets over the crowd or just a scare tactic.
And then the next vivid memory was pushing through the gates of Malacañang upon hearing the news that the Marcoses had fled the country. The force was even greater and the people more determined to break down the iron gates. I cried out that I was being crushed and I remember someone picking me up and placing me on top of the front hood of a jeep that was also bulldozing its way though the gates. And then we were in. There were joyous celebrations manifested by the tearing down of curtains and smashing windows.
It was over, Marcos was gone.
Afterwards, I watched Cory Aquino being sworn in as the President of the Philippines on TV, marking a new era of democracy for the country.
Below is video capturing that moment in Philippine history.
Today, a nation remembers the events that transpired 23 years ago in honour of the passing of the symbol of what the people fought for. She may not have masterminded those events but she was the beacon that the people looked to for CHANGE and FREEDOM. May you rest in peace.
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