Life and the future of this blog

This blog has been in a state of limbo since 2008 pretty much, and for that I apologize to my readers (if I have any left). I did write an update in February 2011 and following up from that, I did not end up graduating in June 2011 and going to grad school as planned.  So, I ended up postponing graduation until December 2011. I'm glad I did - I took a couple more linguistics classes as well as taking an intensive course on Icelandic!

Since then, I have been working at Google, but that is about to end by the end of this week. I was accepted to a graduate program out east. Yes, it's in linguistics.

I am not sure yet what I will do with this blog.  I am thinking of reviving it in grad school since I can talk about what I am researching and studying, and we shall see.  If you have any questions to ask me, feel free! :-D

Until next time...

--Chris

*taps mic* hello?

I have not written in this blog for three years!

I am sorry, but real life got in the way. I got busy at work and other things. Then in 2009, I decided to quit my job and return to school to get my bachelor's degree in linguistics.

Here I am, just three months left until I graduate. I have applied to graduate school, and hopefully I will get accepted.

So, yeah, these past two years have been really eventful for me. But I am still doing stuff about Philippine languages. My honors thesis, will be about Tagalog historical morphology. It's been fascinating researching this stuff and going over it with my advisor.

One of these days, I shall write about the whole Jejemon controversy. In fact, I am taking a discourse analysis course right now and it has given me a new perspective on it with regards to the great negative media coverage it has been receiving since last year.

I wish I could resurrect this blog. Maybe one day I will. And I think one day I may move it to another blogging service. I'll keep y'all posted.

--Chris Sundita

ABS-CBN NOW finally adds three more

ABS-CBN's on-demand service has finally added more regional programming from Bicol, Zamboanga, and Cagayan Valley!

http://now.abs-cbn.com/index-tvpreg.aspx

As someone of Bicolano heritage, I've been wanting to see programming in Bikol for a very long time. Not only is TV Patrol Bicol available but also Bikol Espesyal and Marhay na Aga, Kapamilya.

For Chavacano, there is also Zambowow which seems to talk about cultural happenings around Zamboanga.

I am very disappointed about Cagayan Valley's TV patrol. It's in Tagalog. I know media in Ibanag is a long shot, but at the very least it should've been in Ilokano. But I suppose they have their reasons.

TV Patrol in Waray-Waray now available online!

Yay!

ABSCBNNOW now has TV Patrol Tacloban! Finally, news in Waray-Waray! All the Visayas are now covered.

http://now.abs-cbn.com/index-tvpreg.aspx

It also looks like they added TV Patrol from General Santos, which is in Tagalog.

I am hoping that the versions from Bicol, Zamboanga, and Pampanga will be added soon.

Bikol Wikipedia is now open

Mga Kahimanwa kong Bikolano ~

The Bikol Wikipedia is now finally open.

http://bcl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pangenot_na_Pahina

This is for, more or less, the Naga-Legazpi Standard variety (aka Northern Bikol or Bikol Central). A proposal has been submitted to start a Rinconada Bikol Wikipedia, but it looks like a long shot for now. The Rinconada incubator is at http://incubator.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wp/bto .

There are now Wikipedias in EIGHT different Philippine languages. In addition to Bikol, they are Cebuano, Ilokano, Kapampangan, Pangasinan, Tagalog, Waray-Waray, and Zamboangueño (Chavacano).

I'm quite surprised that the Hiligaynon and the Kinaray-a Wikipedias are still on the back burner. They are "conditionally approved" - meaning, there are some criteria that still need to be met.

Anyway, spread the word.

TV Patrol Pampanga

Oyni metung a clip na ning TV Patrol Pampanga king amanung Kapampangan.
Here's a clip of TV Patrol Pampanga in Kampangan.



BTW, TV Patrol Central Luzon was added to ABS-CBNnow's line up. TVP Central Luzon is based in Dagupan City in Pangasinan. Unfortunately, it's not in the Pangasinan language but in Tagalog. This should be changed.

And I've added TV Patrol Zamboanga here for your perusal.

ABS-CBN Regional Programming

Three years ago, I wrote a blog entry about non-Tagalog TV and how I was all excited about it.

Since then, I've encountered clips on YouTube of news programs (TV Patrol) in other Philippine languages. I was going to post a link to the Kapampangan one posted by Sisigman, but ABS-CBNi forced YouTube to remove it. I've also been able to view TV Patrol Zamboanga in Chavacano.

In any case, ABS-CBN has released regional programming on its online service, ABS-CBNnow! And for a limited time, it's free.

Right now, the programming is limited to Cebuano (TV Patrol Cebu, Davao & Cagayan de Oro), Ilokano (TV Patrol Laoag), and Hiligaynon (TV Patrol Iloilo & Negros Oriental) programming - the next three most-spoken languages after Tagalog.

As for non-news programming, there's a handful of variety shows catering to Cebuano and Hiligaynon audiences.

You may access these regional programs at http://now.abs-cbn.com//index-tvpreg.aspx

Below is a graphic from the page. The people are saying things in Hiligaynon, Cebuano, and Bikol. So far, there's no Bikol, Waray-Waray, and Kapampangan programming on that page yet. I'm hoping they add them soon. And then maybe I'll consider paying a monthly fee for this service once the free trial runs out.