The Carver's House

45 things about me Checking Tobie's blog, I was reminded of googlism . Search your name and have fun. Following are most of my results plus commentary. 1. carlo is off for a week I wish. 2. carlo is not all it's cracked up to be My self-deprecating self agrees. 3. carlo is an artist Reaaallyyyy? 4. carlo is great I suppose so. 5. carlo is value priced Read: I’m cheap. 6. carlo is the greatest I thought I was just “great.” 7. carlo is an artist and a network member Okay, okay! I confess! I joined Barclay and NuSkin! 8. carlo is situated in the very heart of the historical centre of rome My clone. 9. carlo is now on sale in australia Hmmm… calling David… 10. carlo is now used routinely in many diverse fields Yes, I’m a versatile prostitute. 11. carlo is a neural net based computer backgammon player which has learned to play backgammon by self play Uh… yesss… 12. carlo is value At least it’s better than “value-priced.

Saturday Morning: Almost Done I slept at around seven in the morning Saturday as I was finishing more art requirements for the Zsazsa Zaturnnah compilation. Two color pin-ups left and it's good to go. Thank God it almost done. After three hours of sleep, I flew to Makati to submit the new files to the publisher and have lunch at McDonald's -- two lackluster cheeseburger meals. Saturday Afternoon: Kidstuff Jumped into a taxi and got to UN Avenue at 1:30, early enough to grab some coffee at Le Couer de France and contemplate my spiels for the children's party. (See Weekenders entry below.) I was at the venue by 3:00 pm, but we didn't start till an hour or so later. Apart from Angelo and Xochi, I was able to see a bunch of other folks I haven't seen of late -- Mon, Joseph, Richard, Suki, Abi, Chari, Edsel, Roy, Francis, Zeki, etc. There were 15 kids in all, with ages ranging from 7 to 12, and they were pretty excitable and endearing, though I can't im

I'm convinced that I should get Britney Spear's new studio project In the Zone , if only for the debut cut Me Against The Music which features Madonna. I've been very biased against artists who allow to be relegated to "featuring" status because that says a lot about the status of their careers -- it's either making it's way in or on it's way out. Janet Jackson did it. Mariah Carey did it. So many rap artists do it. Now the great Maddie's doing it. And with Britney, no less, who doesn't have much currently going for her either. While Madonna's move to support Britney leaves a bad taste in my mouth, I really like Me Against the Music . It's the kind of song I wish Madonna would have a full album of. A going-back-to-roots sort of thing, only technologically-spruced up, the kind of music that made her the diva that she is. (Okay, so she's a best-selling author now... whoop-dee-do. Accoding to Nicholas Callaway, C.E.O. of Call

Too Much Too Soon? Technology developer Battelle had listed the Top Ten strategic technologies by 2005, in order of importance. The list came out in a 1996 press release, a time when the World Wide Web was still at its infancy. A lot of what's listed below are realities in the here and now, in varying degrees of commercial application. 1. Human genome mapping and genetic-based personal identification and diagnostics will lead to preventive treatment of diseases and cures for specific cancers. 2. Super materials. Computer-based design and manufacturing of new materials at the molecular level will mean new, high-performance materials for use in transportation, computers, energy, and communications. 3. Compact, long-lasting and highly portable energy sources, including fuel cells and batteries will power electronic devices of the future, such as portable personal computers. 4. Digital high definition television. This important breakthrough for American manufacture

Closed Doors Had a great conversation with Angelo last night at Country Waffles – Glorietta. Meeting up with him is always a delight because there’s always something to talk about, and last night’s exchange dwelt on what’s going to happen at tomorrow’s afternoon event at the YWCA. Somewhere in our gab fest, he asked about my love life, and I resisted all urges to roll my eyeballs and launch my brows to Jupiter. I told him that while it would be nice to have someone, I’m not predatorial by nature (in that I won’t blatantly pursue) and I’m just too busy as it is to be able to immerse myself in a new one. The latter aspect I had placed upon myself, partly because of my crusade to be the best I can be in my chosen profession and craft, and partly to quell the pain inflicted by my recent history. The anguish may have ceased to be life-threatening, but it is inherently indelible, in that it offers lessons instead of episodes. I cannot deny that I long on occasion, and I’ve been ra

*sniff* *boo hoo hoo* *sniff* I'm sooooo tired... Just a few more days .... *sniff*

Stocking Up Got myself a few new trades lately. I finally got my copy of Neil Gaiman’s Endless Nights , still crisp in its shrink-wrapped packaging. Then there’s the New X-Men trade Assault on Weapon Plus , and David Brin and Scott Hampton’s The Life Eaters , based on Brin’s Hugo-listed science fiction short story. Haven’t been able to read the whole lot of them, even the ones I had purchased beforehand. They will be consumed come Christmas break. On the comics creation front, new ideas have been piling for the next solo project, which will most probably Project: Santacruzan , another action-adventure which I’m contemplating to be more on the edgy side. It’ll have comedy in there, though it won’t be as crazy as Zsazsa Zaturnnah . Project: Santacruzan was conceptualized before Zsazsa Zaturnnah , so I feel that this would be a logical follow-up. Now that I have a legit publisher helping me out, I can muster a thicker volume and not have to spend on the printing. Again, I say ‘m

Has Anybody Seen This??? Snippets from Monsters At Play , about an indie horror film with an all-too-familiar title. * * * " Aswang , an independently produced film circa 1994 was shot in and around parts of rural Wisconsin. With a cast that was primarily comprised of local theatre actors and a crew of friends and family, the end result is indeed quite interesting to say the least. There's a definite build up of tension in Aswang and even though some story elements may be predictable, there are still some pleasant surprises to be found within. Ultimately, in the end it's a very satisfying experience. With a very gritty and serious vibe throughout, the flick is not played off as camp, which could easily be seen as one of the films true strengths. This is a fun and gruesome indie flick that's just waiting to be rediscovered. The presentation and extras are all top notch just waiting for you to dig right in...so what are you waiting for? Definitely recomm

I’ve asked this question to many an artist: Would you rather be known to a great degree (riches and fame) for one work, or to a lesser degree for your body of work? I personally eschew the idea of one defining work, because to say that one work defines an artist’s career ignores that artist’s potential for growth. It also diminutizes everything else he has done, rendering them profligate or, at best, instrumental. But certainly, artists would scoff at the idea of being at the center of attention. It is, after all, about the art, isn’t it? Still, we are a personality-fixated lot, wherein a name is a brand with a quality-assurance stamp. For instance, anything involving Neil Gaiman, from The Sandman to Coraline to The Wolves In The Walls , even perhaps his tie-up with Alice Cooper in The Last Temptation , more often translates to money well-spent. And though Gaiman has an impressive body of work, The Sandman elevated him to god-status. From what I’ve gathered from Gaiman-philes, h

"To the Wizard of Oz. The old apartment you left remains hollow save for warped vinyl 45s and a rusty phonograph. There was a sin committed here. The sour note of all promised things now empty and unfulfilled. Tell me, sorcerer. . . do you even understand what you've done? Do you believe in death magic?" Vignette: Dead Air at Six The cup cried off the excess coffee, sending Lenny back to the real world. He had been thinking too much, he realized, noting the way his temple veins often twitched from too much brain activity. He picked up the remote and silenced the television; he was not in the mood for the blather of caffeine-drugged morning show hosts. Rather, he focused on the nature-fresh twittering of larks outside the kitchen window, and took a moment to sheild himself from the rest of reality. Two seconds later, there came the deafening clanging of church bells. It was the phone. Sipping extra coffee from his brimming cup, Lenny checked the clock as h

Birthday Bonanza Marc and Teret celebrated their birthday today at the office. Marc is, of course, Dean ’s partner at Kestrel IMC, and Teret is Marc’s wife, who’s one of the head honchos of the audiovisual production outfit Glue. Kestrel IMC is currently squatting at Glue’s office at the haunted Atlanta Centre in Greenhills. They share the same birthday, an expense-friendly coincidence, and the birthday lunch they had prepared for us was a veritable feast. A salad of greens and mango (garnished with a forest of tarragon) with a choice of garlic vinaigrette or raspberry vinegar dressing, lapu-lapu tureens, fussili with either pesto sauce or tomato sauce with mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes, garden pasta salad with crab sticks, and a chicken breast thingie served hot from its own chafing dish. For dessert, there were custard and cakes (Red Ribbon mango pie, YUM!). Glue partner Dave brought wine, too. Glue and Kestrel aren’t large business concerns, so you could imagine jaws dropp

Oh, Well... It Was Fun So I've got a little over ten years left to live, based on this crappy test I whacked off Vin 's blog. Bummer. What is Your Destiny? by Valcion Name Color Birthday Destiny Toast Date when you fufill your destiny December 6, 2013 Created with quill18 's MemeGen !

Bill Makes a Killing Quentin Tarantino’s fourth feature film Kill Bill (a good six years after Jackie Brown ), raked in US$22 million at the American box office last week. Roger and Ebert gave the bloody martial arts flick “two thumbs way up,” yet has created a great divide among moviegoers, judging from online feedback. I’ve never seen this kind of audience polarization before, with grades jumping between the high A’s and the low D’s, E’s, and dismal F’s. A real love-it-or-hate-it film. When I saw the first trailer earlier this year, I knew that this was the movie I wanted… correction, needed to watch, since I’m a real sucker for high-octane kung fu. (I wet my pants just watching Uma Thurman parry blows with a frying pan.) Reviews revealed flying limbs and lots of squirting blood, which doubles my excitement, only because I’m imagining a live-action Ninja Scroll. Miramax cut up the film into two, and “Volume One” is currently running. The concluding volume hits screens in Fe

New X-Men Musings Andrew and I were having a hearty conversation over coffee at Whistle Stop about the new turn of events in Grant Morrison’s New X-Men , theorizing where the arc might go. So Xorn is revealed to be Magneto, which threw me for a loop the moment his visage appeared on the last page of issue #146. Looking back at the characterization of Xorn and comparing that with Magneto’s campiness displayed in the latest issue, I’m led to believe that Morrisson’s building up the momentum for another punchline, the same way he did with his Murder at the Mansion arc. Just when you think you’ve figured things out, there goes the rug from underfoot, and you’re left gasping at a fesh turn of brilliance. But brilliance is relative, so I’m eagerly awaiting the denouement. This is Morrisson’s last New X-Men arc, yes? This means that another scribe will take over the writing cudgels and bear the pressure of matching the chutzpah of his predecessor’s work. New X-Men is the ultimate ab

Bungee Jumping This last weekend had succeeded in whirling my emotional dervish, but not in the same manner that characterized my state for the past year and a half. I had been working, yes, and at close to feverish pace, though hampered by physical fatigue and one-two punches to the brain and heart. It had been stirring, this heart, though not in ways many might think. I’m convinced that it’s just “a silly stage I’m going through.” Still, something horrifying is happening: Personal Life is building up steam, ready to traipse the wild blooming polychromatic gardens and burst into ebullient song, complete with contortionist choreography, and bid goodbye to the shelter and security of social quarantine. Personal Life was sauntering towards the exit of his containment facility when I bludgeoned its cranium repeatedly with my mallet. Now it’s semi-conscious, saliva trickling from its quivering lips, yet still managing to murmur the lyrics of some insipid love hymn. We’re not don

Sixteen-Oh-Pooh I read the latest installment of Neil Gaiman's take on the Marvel Universe, 1602 . I can't help but feel that this issue is worse than the last one. And to think that I didn't really feel too hot about the last one either. Oh, let there be a wonderful and pleasant surprise, Mr. Gaiman. Pleeease!

How To Trim The Thighs Alone Unless you use a scalpel, you can't. At least in natural ways. I've read over and over that there's no such thing as spot-reduction and there's a lot of truth in it. In my case, the only way I was able to get my waist down to less than 31 was through diet and exercise. No amount of sit-ups or crunches would do the trick. My diet went down to virtually no-fat. That meant that I had to purposefully buy personal food items from the grocery store and cook them independently of the family meal. Mostly fish and chicken that I'd marinate, then wrap in foil before popping into the oven toaster. Rice was strictly one cup per meal. Then I'd down a fruit cup for desert and drink lotsa water. Complementing the diet was a three-days-per-week aero-weight thingie at home. Because I worked out alone, I dididn't have access to a spotter, and so my gains over the six-plus month program couldn't be significant. (But heck, I look

A Bit Off Balanced According to test results at Brain Works , here's how I put my brain to use. Thanks to greenjack for the link! Your Brain Usage Profile Auditory : 47% Visual : 52% Left : 57% Right : 42% Carlo, you are somewhat left-hemisphere dominant with a balanced preference for auditory and visual inputs. Because of your "centrist" tendencies, the distinctions between various types of brain usage are somewhat blurred. Your tendency to be organized and logical and attend to details is reasonably well-established which should afford you success regardless of your chosen field of endeavor, unless it requires total spontaneity and ability to improvise, your weaker traits. However, you are far from rigid or overcontrolled. You possess a degree of individuality, perceptiveness, and trust in your intuition to function at much more sophisticated levels than most. Having given sufficient attention to detail, you can readily perceive the larger aspe

Tightening Hoooo boy. I’m feeling the tightest pinch right now. Breathe, Carlo. Breathe. I have to finish all the halftone art plates for the Zsazsa Zaturnnah compilation by Friday. Then I have to get my residence certificate for the contract with the publisher. Then there’s the three sideline job installments that need to be sent out within the week. Saturday next week, all three sideline jobs need to get done, then the full color plates for the compilation have to be finished. Project: One Hundred follows directly after that, along with the invites for my brother’s wedding. Twilight Empires goes after until January, ditto for the script for my next book, which requires a first draft by end-January. My new computer comes in within the week, which should make light my current burden. Please, God, help me get it all done in one piece. I haven’t experienced this amount of activity since… well … I can’t remember. I’ve always said that a headache is better than a heartac

Kids and Sex Just thinking out loud. The impact of the Sexbomb Girls’ Ispageti Song is nothing short of phenomenal. The song’s simple lyrics and subjectively endearing dance moves may be blamed for the emergence of Otcho-Otcho by Bayani Agbayani, et al. and, on a smaller scale, Love Radio’s Kelangan Pa Bang I-Memorize ‘Yan . The catchy nature of these songs replicate the mind-numbing effects of The Ketchup Song and Macarena , and have a particularly amusing resonance with children. The bewitching moves have become a stable in childrens’ parties, and parents don’t seem to mind that the Ispageti Song has the words “sexbomb, sexbomb, sexbomb” which the tykes love to sing-along with. Such a song would have been labeled scandalous decades ago, moreso if uttered by a kid. I remember watching the 80s flick Masters of The Universe (starring Dolph Lundgren) and hearing one of the characters say “shit” after an explosion. My then feeble mind knew that the action-adventure film was

Eye Strain Haven’t been able to get much reading done. I could barely make it through three pages of Durwin Talon’s Panel Discussions (TwoMorrows Publishing) without having to squint. I spend most of the day bathing my eyes in the glare of my monitor. When work is done, I go to Country Waffles for a quick caffeine fix and do a bit of reading or, concurrently, plan the plates for the Zsazsa Zaturnnah compilation. I haven’t been able to tackle my sideline projects – I can do them tomorrow. Whatever. I’d completely forgotten the grade level of my eyes. I got plagued by astigmatism since early on, and I do know that my eyesight has gotten worse recently, which was wholly my fault. See, because my ancient frame was too retro for retro’s sake, I stopped wearing them without bothering to get a new one. My vision was unenhanced for four whole years, I believe, and I wasn’t keen on dealing with the inconveniences of contacts. So my current frames are getting old and tarnished, and

Pure Evil NOKIA 7600 FEATURES Digital camera & video recorder 65,536 color display WCDMA/GSM 900/1800 Dual Mode Multimedia messaging Music player for MP3 and AAC files XHTML browser Multimedia Player Gallery - multimedia file storage Bluetooth wireless technology, IR and USB connectivity JAVA MIDP Music files as ring tones Nokia of Finland just wants to up the ante every single time. They specialize in inspiring envy in every technophile soul, innovating as often as one takes a dump during a diarrhea spell. And above is one more shameless display of their atrocity. I want one. (Check out nokia.com to see their upcoming phone models. The 6600 looks good, too.)