The Carver's House

1) ABS-CBN issues statement about Willie Revillame's actions on Wowowee . We shouldn't be surprised. One of these days, someone should compile a Top 10 list of Wowowee controversies. 2) The family of Mars Ravelo reacts to the National Artist brouhaha . May major intriga na ang comics industry. If anything, at least napapansin nanaman ang industriya. - - - - - - - - - - - - A new plant has been found in the Philippines. This new plant, which is capable of trapping and eating rats, was discovered in 2007 by a British-led team. The team decided to name the plant Nepenthes attenboroughii , after the wildlife broadcaster Sir David Attenborough. See the picture through the Telegraph website , and wonder why they didn't call it Nepenthes filipinensi instead. (Or, they could've used the names of the Christian missionaries who reported the plant's existence. Give credit where credit is due.) Addedum 8/19/09: Apparently, there is already a Nepenthes philippinensis, also end...

The G.I. Joe movie sucked like anything. Pffft! Seemed like it didn't know what it wanted to be. On one end we got Storm Shadow stabbing and slicing at people, then on the other end we got cheeseball romantic interludes between Ripcord and Scarlett. The climactic CG-stuffed underwater scenewasn't as pulse-pounding as the CG-stuffed Paris chase scene. and their take on the Baroness...well...not the one I remember from the cartoon... One-third into the movie, I was entertaining urges to bolt from the theater. Good thing Channing Tatum was in it. He was the main reason I wanted to watch the movie, and eventually became the reason why I stayed in my seat. The online petition to sanction Wowowee host Willie Revillame has topped 32,000 signatures as of this writing, and the vitriol just keeps spewing. Question is: to where does this online petition go? Wowowee director Johnny Manahan recently spoke with the Philippine Entertainment Portal to air his side of the issue, saying ...

Long live the memory of Corazon Aquino. It's too bad that she did not stay with us long enough to see the Philippines reach the height of greatness. Over 20 years after EDSA, we are still a damaged society. Let her story, that of a simple housewife who decided to bear the weight of a nation, remind as all that true change starts with the individual. Carlo J. Caparas ought to say, "Thanks, but no thanks." Caparas can be credited with significant contributions to Philippine pop culture, but not the visual arts, and the artistic merits of his film work are highly debatable. If any comics personality should be given the title National Artist, it should be those who have established the trademark "Filipino komiks art style," a style which eventually gave these thespians recognition abroad. For film, we have a lot to choose from--Dolphy, Gloria Romero, Mike de Leon, etc. Another person who ought to say, "Thanks, but no thanks," would be Lani Mercado, who was...