The Carver's House

Yes, I'm moving slowly, but I'm moving nonetheless. Below are three pages from the Prologue, though I opted not to include the word balloons. Let them hold some surprises.

Siguro huli na ako sa balita, but howell... Beautiful Liar by Sim Beyonce and Sim Shakir a . Watch out for the one-armed pushups. Umbrella by Sim Rihanna . Better-made than the first. Watch out for the killer backbends.

Gilbert Monsanto is set to release through his Sacred Mountain Publications the premiere issue of Bayan Knights , which brings together Pinoy superheroes of various creators. In an Philippine Daily Inquirer article , Monsanto intends to have Bayan Knights serve as a springboard for new creator-owned characters. "“The idea behind Bayan Knights is to introduce the characters and their creators and hopefully lead the readers to look for their own published comics books.” The first issue of Bayan Knights is set to rock the upcoming November 22 Komikon at the UP Bahay ng Alumni . Read the full PDI article , or visit the Bayan Knights blog . Image from the Philippine Daily Inquirer website.

I haven't read the Neil Gaiman novella, but I did read the somehow unsatisfying graphic novel adaptation by P. Craig Russell . The film adaptation, directed by Nightmare Before Christmas ' Henry Selick, will be a stop-motion / 3D combo, featuring the voices of Dakota Fanning and Teri Hatcher. The visual atmosphere of the film obviously targets a younger set, with a cartoony design looking nothing like Russell's adaptation. A major change from book to film is the inclusion of a sidekick character, a decision that Selick explains in the following video. Coraline is set for release in 2009.

The Wall Street Journal's Robyn Eckhardt writes about Philippine culinary delights . I was browsing The Pocket Daring Book for Girls at the bookstore and found two pages that instruct readers how to dance the tinikling (bamboo dance). It's on page 104. Carrie Tait of The Financial Post of Canada talks about Helen Arong, originally from the Philippines, who set up a successful clothing store in a place "characterized as a drug-infested oil town full of rig pigs." Singapore's The Straits Times reveals the growing popularity of Filipino musical artists in the city state.

Shizuku Kanzaki races against time to become a wine connoisseur in the four year-old manga series "The Drops of the Gods." What creators Yuko and Shin Kibayashi (under the pseudonym Tadashi Agi) didn't expect was the impact their work would have on the local wine market. From a New York Times article: "In Japan, wine sellers grab copies of the magazine as soon as it comes out on Thursdays, quickly showcasing a featured wine in their stores or on their Web sites. According to Enoteca, a large chain, men in their 30s to 50s tend to ask for wines from the magazine, especially those priced around $30." The wave of interest in wine because of the manga series has swept over South Korea as well, where the Kibayashis were treated like stars. From the same article, "...there was so little demand for Burgundy that even top hotels did not bother stocking it. But after the comic extolled Burgundy’s virtues, stores and hotels scrambled to secure stocks, which immediate...

Now this is interesting.