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This is the blog of Ian Rosales Casocot. Filipino writer. Sometime academic. Former backpacker. Twink bait. Hamster lover.

Email: icasocot(at)gmail.com

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Thursday, July 01, 2021

entry arrow12:30 PM | Pinoy Video Essayists on YouTube



A few months ago, I posted this on Facebook: a search for video essayists on YouTube that tackled Filipino culture, history, and the arts. The resounding response in the comments was that there was none. It gnawed on me for a long time, which is why I decided to test the waters late last month. [I have two video essays up over at my channel!]

I’ve also since discovered a few like-minded souls, and here are some Pinoy creatives trying to fill the gap:

The Chismis on the worldwide Pinoy creatives.
Karl Castro on design.
The Unplanned Life by Maryanne Moll on DIY and notebooks, etc.
Kirby Araullo on history and culture.
Brief History on history.
Brand Origins on business.
New Republic Mapper on culture, history, technology, and politics.
Talking History by Ambeth R. Ocampo on history and culture.
Cinetactic on Filipino film.

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Tuesday, June 29, 2021

entry arrow1:51 PM | Video Essays on Philippine Art and Culture



My YouTube channel is just something I’m trying out for several reasons:

[1] I was surprised to know I already have more than 2K subscribers with hardly any content, which made me feel like this was an untapped platform for me;

[2] I’ve been looking for a YouTube video essayist [parang Vox] on Philippine arts and culture, and there’s none, so I felt there is an unfilled niche;

[3] I need to somehow have an outlet for my teaching persona since I’m not teaching anymore;

[4] I had to find a way to learn to love my video voice [I hate it!]; and

[5] my recording and editing skills are very elementary [I’m only using my Photo Booth camera and my iMovie editing app], but I know all good things start small and that's how you learn anyway: jump off into the deep end.

I have two video essays up on my channel so far—and a bunch of older videos and Eddie Romero movies. Comments welcome, but please be gentle. Subscribe and hit the notification bell if you're so inclined.

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Saturday, June 27, 2015

entry arrow7:42 AM | Thank You, YouTube



Okay, this video that YouTube made just made me cry.

This reminds me so much of my own coming out when I was in my 20s. The thing is, straight people don't have to come out and declare they are straight: it's a privilege they have for living in a heteronormative society. They don't know the anxiety, the fear, and ultimately the courage that come bundled with the act of "coming out," which is centred around one question: "When I tell the people I love that I am gay, will they still love me?" Because in the end, it's really all about love.

When I came out to my mother, it was a mini-disaster of sorts -- she was quoting Bible verses again and again over the dinner we were having in Don Atilano. She was hoping I'd "change my mind."

I would know of her acceptance of me only very surreptitiously and only much later, when a visiting relative commented in a disparaging manner on very gay artwork she found hanging in my old bedroom in the family house. I was just outside the door, listening in to their conversation without them knowing I was eavesdropping -- and then I heard my mother, virtually a deaconess of her church, start to defend the art work, and then defend my life, and then defend the way I love. I teared up.

My mother still has no idea I know what she did.

People have no idea how wonderful that feels, to be affirmed by people you love for being who you are.

#AllLoveIsEqual

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