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Showing posts from February, 2004
Launch of the Century That “century” refers, of course, to Siglo: Freedom , the grafiction anthology to which I contributed two art pieces and did design and pre-production chores. The formal book launch was held just near the Park Square 2 side entrance of the Glorietta Mall, and was organized by Jaime Bautista and the kind folks of Nautilus Comics. Apart from the Siglo team, the event was graced by Joel Chua, Ariel Atienza, Jonas Diego, Jac Lim, some Blitzworx folks, press people, and even Raul Roco, Jr., who gave a short but telling speech to everyone present. To add spice to the ceremonies, some alternative cultural acts were showcased. As these events go, there was a lot of book signing and photo ops. I really felt proud for my sister, seeing her being approached by book buyers to get their copies signed. She really did a great job with her botanical art, and I really hope that the exhibit gets some people interested in her pieces. She went home ahead of us with mom and
Suffrin' Sock-cotash! The Bureau of Missing Socks is one of those humorous sites that leads you to wonder how bored some people can get, judging by the website's comprehensive content. It's a sockful of chuckles and worth visiting if you're scant on amusement.
And Give It Did Nancy Myers’ Something’s Gotta Give is a delightful film about love in the latter years, starring Diane Keaton as a successful but romantically stuck-up playwright, and Jack Nicholson as a rich bachelor who’s into younger female thangs. I’m not one who’s normally first-in-line when it comes to romantic comedies. These films just ain’t my cup of tea unless there’s someone in the cast worth watching. (I saw Notting Hill because of the Brit slant, not because of Julia.) And in this film, it was Diane Keaton, a very capable actress who gives her role in this Hollywood lovey flick the proper depth despite the film’s genre. Despite my not having seen most of this year’s Oscar Best Actress noms, I’d say that Keaton deserved the recognition. Jack Nicholson appeared the total jerk here, but you can’t help but feel for his character as the film progresses. An A+ devilishly charming guy with a human heart. The chemistry between him and Keaton is wonderful to behold, and
Hmmmm....
So far, so few... By special request of dear brudda Tobie, here's a rundown of the stuff I've done so far, comics-wise, in terms of writing and/or sequential art (pin-ups not included) ... FLASHPOINT (Straight Lines International) #1 to 4 - Art and Edits PANTHEON: Horus (Alamat) #1 to #2 - Art PANTHEON: Avatar (Alamat) #1 - Art ONE NIGHT IN PURGATORY (Alamat, Quest Ventures) Writing and Art ISAW Atbp. (Quest Ventures) Art "He Said, She Said" ANGEL ACE AGAIN (Alamat) #4 - Guest Art AB OVO (Kestrel Studios) #1 - Art "Fabula Rasa" #2 - Writing and Art "Track X" ANG KAGILA-GILALAS NA PAKIKIPAGSAPALARAN NI ZSAZSA ZATURNNAH (Alamat, Quest Ventures, Visula Print Enterprises) Writing and Art *sigh* Not a whole lot... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Saturday, and I'm blogging from the office. Had to finish something to prevent a pile-up on Mo
Reading Speed A few days ago, I bought the book Triple Your Reading Speed by Wade Cutler, which is supposed to help readers… um… triple their reading speed. This is something I’d really like to learn and practice, if only to help me get through reading voluminous texts. There’s quite a few books I want to dig into, but I don’t have the time, much less the patience, to go through them. Reading non-fiction is fine. Give me a textbook or a manual on a subject that interests me and I’ll eagerly go through it from beginning to end. But fiction is one that I’ll toil over. It’s kinda weird, but I’ve theorized that I’m able to tolerate non-fiction more because information is served in packets. I’d learn something at the end of each section of non-fiction, and I’ll be satiated till the next time I open the book, content at the thought that I learned something concrete from the last reading session. But in my limited view, the point of traditional fiction happens in the end. When I stop a
Comics Update On the art side, I'm set on starting Twilight Empires next month, after I purchase a drawing table that suits me. The idea is to finish two to three issues before June and see how things turn out then pace the rest to keep the work fresh. I have a story for the next Siglo anthology and the upcoming Alamat anthology, though I've yet to get the writing cap fully functioning. (Story deadline is next month! AAACKK!!) Twelve pages for the former and ten for the latter. The stories are unlike my previous works, in that the Siglo story will have a supernatural bent in its dramatic base, while the one for Alamat is a retelling of a classic Filipino legend. I'll be experimenting a bit on the art style, too. (Speaking of Siglo , the formal launch is late next week at the Glorietta.) With the Zsazsa Zaturnnah Collected Edition slowly finding its way to bookstores across the archipelago, I've been doing prep work on the sequel, tentatively entitled Ang
Passionate Mel Gibson's new and ambitious project as director is The Passion of the Christ , which focuses on the last 12 hours of the life of Jesus Christ. The R-rated movie is scheduled for release in a couple of weeks in North America. It can be predicted that it will hit Philippine shores on Holy Week. In a Newsweek cover article, the film has received praises from the likes of Billy Graham and The Pope despite a few raised eyebrows from scholars, particularly how Gibson interpreted the personalities of key figures and the Jews in general. The film has got "gimme an Oscar" written all over it, not to mention box office success. The trailer has got that Hollywood flair in it, making it look like an LOTR trailer sans the special effects, but admittedly giving me gooseybumps. It is highly possible that this film can break the all-time record high of James Cameron's Titanic . I find extra appeal in it being played out in Aramaic with English subtitles. Oh
Our Music, Ourselves Vinnie and I looked through the thick songlist last night while having coffee at Salsa Rossa, and wrote our selections for burning. One of the booths at the Pearl Plaza bazaar had this service for a cheap price. I didn't feel like it at first, but Vinnie was so infectiously gung-ho about it. Eventually, he had close to 60 burned, while I had 36. Now there's a psychological thingie here somewhere. What would a person's selection of songs say about him or her? Wouldn't it be a treat if a subject's psych profile could be derived from a chosen set of songs? Following are some of the songs I've selected, and feel free to give me your diagnosis through the comment link. 1) The Closer I Get To You - Beyonce with Luther Vandross 2) Kyla - Because of You 3) Slow - Kylie Minogue 4) Alapaap - Eraserheads 5) Can I Get A - Jay-Z 6) I Think I'm In Love - Jessica Simpson 7) Towerblock - Julia Fordham 8) Rock Your Body - Justin Timberla
Filling Up Spaces So what has been happening lately? Nothing exciting. I’m not like one of those folks who can add verbal embellishments to make the simplest story sound very engaging. I made my first trip to a laundry shop last weekend, to this place just outside the village called Let’s Talk Dirty, and payed Php150 for washing and another Php150 for pressing. It doesn’t sound too bad for a week’s worth of laundry, though it’s still much more practical to have someone drop by the house twice a week for the same job. With four people living under one roof, getting a laundryperson at Php 400 per visit is comparably a better deal. I’m beginning to greatly appreciate where I live right now, location-wise. Most everything is a stone’s throw away from San Antonio, and walking home hasn’t been a problem during the work week. I’d take a bus to Galleria, then let my feet take me all the way home. Apart from the exercise, I save tremendously on taxi fares, slashing my usual Php4000+ m
Friendblogging Congratulations to Jason Banico and and his co-collaborators for getting Funchain.com online! Funchain presents itself as a cross between Friendster and blogging, so it should be interesting how this site grows and develops. Launch your own friendblog now!
Zsazsa Zaturnnah Collected Edition Updated Distribution List 1) Book Tribe (pacific star bldg.) 2) Comic Quest - megamall - sm north edsa - festival mall 3) Comic Central Headquarters (katipunan) 4) Divisoria.com [http://www.divisoria.net/angkanapaniz.html] 5) Fully Booked (power plant mall) 6) Merriam & Webster (don bosco, makati) 7) National Bookstore - rizal avenue - glorietta - harrison plaza - greenbelt 1 - robinsons imus - NE pacific shopping mall cabanatuan - q plaza cainta - ever gtesco rosario mall - robinsons galleria - tutuban - ayala center cebu - metropoint - city mall dagupan - sta. lucia - bestseller (podium) - plaza maestro complex vigan - robinsons place lipa - robinsons novaliches - sm fairview 8) Powerbooks - greenbelt 4 - megamall - glorietta 3
Videokevaluation Two new videoke joints recently opened and I, being a frequent visitor of such joints, found the opportunity to give them a test run. A few months ago, to celebrate Erica’s birthday, I and a few folks from the Powerpoets flexed our vocal chords at Red Box , which was a few steps away from Au Bar in Greenbelt. The spacious lobby had taken to a minimalist design, and its off-white/cream walls needed some getting used to, since a lot of similar establishments had opted to sport more varied palettes. The corridors were a bit tight for comfort, its claustrophobic effect tapered only by the bright lamps lining the walls. The room we had, however, was spacious enough, though I still couldn’t escape the feeling of it being a tad too formal and antiseptic, which led me to wonder what market Red Box had intended to serve. Their pricing scheme was a bit unorthodox as well, a time slot-based system wherein you pay a lump sum for a fixed number of hours. If I recall corre