Planned obsolescence

Did you ever have a lightbulb that gave out at the worst time possible? Like while eating dinner or doing your homework? If it gave out a few months, it probably means that your lightbulb has planned obsolescence. Planned obsolescence is when a company makes a product that is designed to fail in order to make the buyers go to the store and buy more. 

There was a popular conspiracy in 1924, lightbulb companies held a secret meeting in Geneva, they agreed to make lightbulbs that would last for only 1000+ hours so that they would give out faster and the buyers would have to go back and get more.

Most people think that planned obsolescence is bad, tedious, cruel, and mischievous, but it is good for the manufacturer because they get more buyers and their products don’t have to last long.  Another benifit for the manufacturers is that some people would buy everything thats new and popular so if they have alot of people waiting to get a new , say phone, those type of people are likely to buy it too. Although it can also backfire because if that company releases to many faulty products people will start to notice it and stop buying from that company.

For the buyers, planned obsolescence is not as great. The buyer would have t keep on buying products that they need , like lightbulbs, and microwaves, whenever the last one is broken. But it also benifits them because our objects will quickly advance due to the constant releasing of products.

This also affects the environment because some people are not taught about recycling so when they throw away their old possesions it is not used again and is therfore wasted.

All-in-all planned obsolescence is a business trick in order to get more buyers while at the same time benifiting and being detrimental.

Skeletal System

I created a clay model of the skeletal system and labeled it using Microsoft Word.

Movie Review - Loving Vincent

I’ve seen in the news that there are many people committing suicide. Most of them were reported to be depressed or suffering from mental issues. These people seemed to be okay but deep down they were sad and maybe thought death was better than their current life.

This is the issue tackled by the movie, “Loving Vincent” which I was lucky to watch at the Molito Lifestyle Center for free. We were not able to watch this in the movie theater and we made sure that we could attend this outdoor movie night. We got there super early and had to wait for one hour and thirty minutes before the event started.

            I thought it was a great because it was an almost perfect balance between comedy, sadness, and seriousness.

What makes Loving Vincent different from others is the fact that it was made entirely out of paintings. It took 65,000 frames on canvass of oil paintings using the same technique as Van Gogh. It also took 125 artists 6 years to make all those paintings.

The color used in every scene in Loving Vincent fits the mood perfectly from the sad deaths to the happy flashbacks because they used colors that show the current feeling.

Here, Armand is feeling curious about the death of Vincent.

Here, he was reflecting on a nightmare.

 Just like the colors, the music fits every situation perfectly.

My favorite character in the movie was Armand because his curiosity fueled the story. I also liked him because he was funny in a quiet way.

While we were watching, we noticed that they were slightly hinting towards the fact that Van Gogh did not shoot himself but that he was shot by someone else, and he was just lying. The ending was not so good for me because it was unexpected and they did not fully prove that he was shot by someone else so it felt like a cliffhanger. It showed that Vincent just accepted his death because he felt as if he was a burden to others, particularly to his brother, Theo. He was already feeling happy but one reminder of his “shortcoming,” that he was a burden to his family quickly sent him back into depression.

This movie taught me that you should treat others kindly. You don’t know how your words can affect another person’s life.

Art - The Blue Vase by Paul Cézanne

For Art this week, I learned about Paul Cezanne. First, I read about his life and works. Next, I focused on his painting, The Blue Vase.

I tried to copy it. Not so bad for my first try, I think.

I also wrote a short story inspired by the painting. Here it is:

Once upon a time, there was a woman  named Elizabeth who was a potter. She loved the color blue, mostly because it was the color of the Blue Musketeer. is the most accurate, and the most handsome musketeer of all. He has a lot of enemies and his real identity was a secret. Elizabeth loves him, but she is not sure if he loves her back.

One morning Elizabeth woke up because a man was shouting “Letter for Elizabeth!” She opened the door, got the mail, said” Thanks you,” and immediately closed it. “I wonder who it’s from?” she told herself. She opened the letter and gasped in surprise.

It said,

Dear, Elizabeth

Ever since I saw you one night, I could not stop thinking about you! After a while, I finally got someone to find your address so I can give you this letter. Can we meet tomorrow at the park, around 7:00 pm?

P.S No one knows this, but my real name is John.

She jumped for joy and noticed that the mail was open before she opened it. “Whatever, I’m going to meet up with the Blue Musketeer!” she thought.

The next day she prepared for the BIG night, she spent almost every penny in her wallet just to prepare for it. At 6:50, she left in a hurry to the park and arrived at 7:00. She saw a man in a white T-shirt and light blue pants on the bench of the park. It was John.

She ran there and started talking, then flirting and just when they were about to kiss she heard a slice and then a thump. Elizabeth opened her eyes and saw a dead body on the floor with a marking of a knife on the neck! She ran to her house as fast as she could and when she finally got inside, she started to cry.

The next day she and her numb eyes thought that she should make a vase to remember John by, and so she did. After a few failed tries, out came from the pottery room…. A light blue vase.

THE END

The next part of this study involves dissecting a flower and drawing its reproductive parts. Then time to make dried flowers! I will post pics of those once I am done. 

Review - Tumba Tumba Children’s Museum of Philippine Art

My mom and I recently went to UP Vargas Museum to go see “ Tumba Tumba Children’s Museum of Philippine Art”. This exhibit was presented by CANVAS, or The Center for Art, New Ventures, and Sustainable Development, as a study of an actual operating museum.  

Be prepared for a bunch of blurry pictures. I'm still learning how to take good, focused ones.

That's me standing beside the sign. So small!

When we were outside I noticed that there were colorful strings that act like walls but they are so thin that I barely noticed them, so be careful about that feature. After we went in and avoided the rainbow strings of annoyance, we had to register and leave our bags at the concierge.

After we gave our bags to him we noticed a shelf containing many weird things like a city made out of staples and a dragon/mini flamethrower. These were part of Abubot. These were pieces of art created by found objects like old books, used stapels, etc.

After Abubot, we took a right turn and was presented a room dedicated the works of  Renato “Jojo” Barjo, Jr. The people he painted and made into 3-D sculptures were real people that he came across while commuting.

 Each picture has a sad story like “The evacuee” beside a lovely picture the description says “ I get very scared when I hear loud noises, If my dad were here I wouldn’t be scared but I haven’t seen him ever since the day men shot at our house and he pushed me outside and told me to run.”

We walked through the amazingly creepy exhibit and we saw a book labeled “Children’s stories” It contained every story of all the pictures in the room. Each story made me sad and my stomach felt weird until I went home.

After that, we went into a room about cats! The exhibit is called, "Ang Aklatang Pusa," I love cats, specially the loyal ones. The happiness about cats made me forget about the sad stories for a while! This tiny room was filled with the works of Jared Yokte.

See the cat at the side?

Wall of cats

Trying  out Cats & Ladders

Jared Yokte is a great painter and an even greater sculptor. He even received a reward from Juniors choice awards in the Philippine art awards. 


While going upstairs, we noticed a painting. It was a picture of a man holding a lamp, and beside it was an actual old lamp, paper, pencils, and a sign that said “ Draw this lamp!”. After examining the cool lamp beside it, we saw another thing on the stairs, it was a clock with a man on a bike on it with a crank. When I turned the crank the man on top of the box of gears started to bike! I was amazed! Inside there were a lot of gears that was put together in order to make the clock move and the man too.

When we finally reached the top there was not much of interest for me. First thing we visited was a memory game with pictures of flowers. I played this with my mom and I won!

There was a room called “ Ipapasyal Namin si Lolo” where there were old pictures of houses people, paper foldings and how to make them. After that, there was a corridor showcasing 3 books that are going to be released and a picture of a giant carrying the moon. 

The exhibit will be until July 27. 

Tips: You will have to leave your big bags at the counter. Bring a jacket because it gets cold when it rains. UP students will need to pay 20 pesos as entrance fee. Outsiders pay 30 pesos. Parking is at the back of the building.

That’s all! I hope you enjoy!