Wordled

Oh, yay: yet another way to fritter away my hours! See that image above? It's my short story "Tell the Sky" in word cloud form. (Click on it to behold its full niceness.)

"Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends." Go to Wordle now and make yer own!

And now, the first page of my blog, word-clouded:

Imagine the Future

Who's that gigolo on the street, with his hands in his pockets and his crocodile feet? That's right, it's Imagine magazine!

As some of you may know, I'm one of the contributing editors of this shiny beast, this thrice-yearly fashion-forward publication -- I wrote two short short stories and a feature on Arnold Arre for the first issue (which, btw, won the Gold for Best in Magazine Cover Design at the Asia Media Awards 2008 -- congratulations to EIC Joyce Fernandez, and Yonina Chan and the rest of the staff!). For the second issue, Imagine: The Future, I interviewed May Jurilla about the Philippine Book.

You (yes, you) are all invited to Capone's Bistro later tonight, June 26, Thursday, at 10 PM, as Imagine celebrates its second issue with "music, drinks, freebies and fun aplenty"! Artists and fashion designers will be exhibiting their visions of the future. Poptronic hiptastic retrofuturistic band Bagetsafonik will be playing. See you there!

'Chilla in Manila

Now that it's raining more than ever/ Know that we'll still have each other/ I can has a baby chinchilla?/ I can has a baby chinchilla!/ Illa illa, ay ay ay/ I can has a chinchilla/ Illa illa, ay ay ay

Cute little sucker, huh? No, I'm not getting one. I don't even know if you can get them here, except perhaps in coat form. Besides, they don't seem as low-maintenance as hamsters. And while they're very cute as babies, most of them grow up really fugly. You know, just like humans. Their big advantage as pets seems to be that they can live for twenty years or more with proper care (which is ten times the projected lifespan of my hamster Burroughs).

I only got curious about 'chillas when I saw this one on I Can Has Cheezburger. ;) The photo above, btw, is from the Chinchilla-Lexikon.

Chinchilla is also, apparently, the name of a power metal band. That band must kick so much ass to have the confidence to name themselves after a tiny fluffy animal.

Okay, just checked out the songs on Chinchilla's MySpace. Wow. Major nostalgia trip. Check out "Fight" and "Take No Prisoners," especially the solo. It was like I was in the 80s again, listening to Whitesnake and Lion and... Hey. They're all named after animals! That's it. I'm forming a metal band called Death Hamster.

Living With Music

My favorite regular feature on the New York Times Paper Cuts blog ("A blog about books") is Living With Music -- "A weekly playlist of songs from a writer or some other kind of book-world personage."

Recently they featured William Gibson. His selections were surprisingly... organic. (What, no tracks from the Johnny Mnemonic OST? Har!)

Thrown Down a Well

"This goes out to all you folks who seem to think that admitting you’re an asshole somehow makes you less of one. (Hint: it makes you more of one.)"

Read the all-too-short Thrown Down a Well Comics. (Link from Mike Sterling's Progressive Ruin.)

Rock Yer Frock

This is fun: PAPERMAG's 25 Most Stylish Songbirds. Yay especially for Jenny Lewis, Karen O, Zooey Deschanel and Chan Marshall a.k.a. Cat Power (pictured above)!

"From Stevie Nicks' billowy dresses, to Grace Jones's power-suits, to Madonna's Gaultier bra, to Björk's swan get-up, female musicians have a long history of making fashion statements. These days, the current crop of songstresses, both up-and-coming and fairly established, are carrying on the tradition..."

If I were still EIC of Pulse or an editor on BURN, I would have loved to do something like this, for the local scene. :) We'd have to have different categories though...

Landscape, Raw

Those of you who like art and stuff should go see Raw Landscape, the new show by Pep Manalang, opening this Friday, June 20, 6 PM at the Finale gallery on the corner of Makati Ave. and Pasay Road. Yes, she is my Tita, and yes, she is a genius.

Check out the works she showed at the Drawing Room last year here, and more sheer brilliance here!

Meet Alphabeat

Ladies and gentlemen, this is Alphabeat. I've probably used the word "poptastic" before, but I don't believe I've ever listened to a band that deserved that made-up adjective as much as this one does. They're like Katrina and the Waves, if every song Katrina and the Waves ever released was as fun as "Walking on Sunshine."

Popjustice.com asserts that “Alphabeat are quite certainly one of the greatest bands on planet earth.” I'm not sure if these guys have their own children's show, but I almost feel like they should. Or maybe even their own TV channel, spewing forth bright-colored smiliness 24 hours a day. "Fascination" is the song that should be playing full blast if you ever find yourself dancing down the street with a crowd of cheerful neighbors, jugglers, cartoon mascots, majorettes, and stilt-walkers behind you, and "What Is Happening?" might be even better. Play loud!

Not Happening

So, apparently, M. Night Shyamalan still sucks. On the plus side, that's one less movie ticket to blow money on, and the very existence of the movie means we get to read a hilarious-as-usual blog post from Jun Lana:

"Inabangan ko talaga ang pelikulang ito. Feeling ko dito babawi si Shyamalan pagkatapos siyang laitin ng buong universe sa Lady in the Water. 11 am pa lang nasa Shangri La na ako para manood. Eh 12:45 pa pala ang 1st screening. OA. Huling beses na inabangan kong magbukas ang sinehan, may career pa si Nora Aunor. Nahila ako ng mommy kong manood ng Ang Totoong Buhay ni Pacita M. Siyempre panay Noranians ang kasabay namin. Tuwing may dramatic moment si Ate Guy, nagpapalakpakan ang fans. At may mga taong pumupwesto sa harap ng screen pag may close up si Ate Guy at nagpapapiktyur. How bakya, sabi ko sa sarili ko. Siyempre feeling ko sosyal ako. Naloka ako nung biglang maglabas ng camera ang mommy ko at gustong magpapiktyur din.
. . .

"Kaya eto depressed ako. Dahil mahirap tanggapin pag pumapalpak ang idol mo. Katulad ito ng depression ng mommy ko nang manood kami ng ’Merika ni Ate Guy. Tatatlo lang kami sa loob ng sinehan. At yung pangatlo eh usher pa. Pero kahit papano may angking ganda naman ang ‘Merika. Eh etong The Happening? Hay. Di ko alam kung saan magsisimula."

Click here for the whole post.

Kidlat's Exhibit

Tomorrow (or today, or last week, depending on when you're reading this), Saturday, June 7, 2008, is the opening of Sleeping White Elephants, Kidlat de Guia's first solo exhibit here in Manila (he had a solo exhibit in Baguio, and a group exhibit with his brothers Kawayan and Kabunyan at Silverlens before). So you gotta go!

It's happening at 3 PM, at GALLERY DUEMILLA, 210 Loring Street, Pasay City. (It's "near the corner of Taft and Edsa. If on Edsa coming from Makati heading towards Roxas Blvd, after crossing Taft Ave, turn right on the second street, PARK AVENUE (after LPG filling station). Then turn right on the first street, Loring Street -- you can't miss it on your right, number 210.")

"Sleeping White Elephants is Kidlat De Guia's photography exhibit showcasing Manila's unfinished high-rise buildings. The images of these concrete monoliths have been reproduced on duratrans and transformed into lightboxes. The cement frames encase concrete images in more concrete, creating a living sarcophagus for the prematurely dead. Video projections on the walls in between the images create an ongoing conversation between the "sleeping" giants and the environment they inhabit."

Seeya there! :D

Fixing the Radio

Will be a guest on Mikey Abola's radio show tonight, Friday, May 23, 7 PM. Tune in to RJ 105.9 to hear us discuss... well, I'm not sure really. Music and stuff! I get to suggest songs so you'll hear some of my favorite stuff mixed in along with some of the station's standards. If I get my way, we'll be playing Drip, Ciudad, Up dharma Down, Taken By Cars, etcetera. And we'l probably be talking about the Pinoy rock scene and music journalism, though I'm not sure. Expect long awkward silences, baseless accusations, freestyle rapping, on-air games of tic tac toe, and Barbara Cartland quotations.

Rogue: The Music Issue

GET IT GET IT GET IT! It's Rogue Magazine's First Annual Music Portfolio, featuring: Johnny Alegre, Sammy Asuncion, A.M.P.O.N., Manolet Dario, Club Dredd, Elmer Dado, Chin-Chin Gutierrez, Binky Lampano, Dondi Ledesma, Manuel Legarda, Kakaoi Legaspi, Junji Lerma, Jun Lopito, Arnold Morales, Lougee Basabas, Mocha, Moon Fear Moon, Saguijo, Gerard Salonga, Sultans Of Snap, Louie Talan, Emilio Tuason, Rico Velez, and more!

Cover story is on Sanya Smith, "Pinoy Rock's First Daughter," with excellent photography by Juan Caguicla and words by some idiot named Luis Katigbak.

Hitting the SweetSpot

Got home at 3 AM this morning from one of the best gigs I've attended all year, a SweetSpot production night at SaGuijo. SweetSpot gigs are known for having excellent, no-filler lineups, and last night's was no exception. Us 2 Evil 0 were a lot of fun as always; they have some of the catchiest songs around, and I have high hopes for their recording efforts (also, co-lead singer Quark dedicated one of the songs to Yvette and myself, making us fans for life). Julianne and her excellent band did a great set as well, and previewed one of her new songs, a "work in progress." Drip was the band we came that night to see, and they did not disappoint ("They're awesome," Mookie whispered halfway through their set); the songs from the second album really highlight their strengths, and Beng, bolstered of course by Ian and Malek, was electrifying.

The big surprise of the night -- at least for me -- was Yosha. The funny thing is, I've seen Yosha perform live before (at Mag:net High Street, I believe), and I filed them and their jazz-fusiony stylings under "Good, but not really my thing." Last night, their performance was such that I can't imagine anyone who likes music at all not getting into them. They started off strong enough, but seemed to get better and better with each song as they warmed up. They really demonstrated the sheer showoff joy that comes with a mastery of your chosen instrument (whether drums, bass, keyboards or human voice) AND that giddy give-and-take you can achieve with a band of equally skilled musicians. It helped that a lot of the people who stayed for Yosha's set -- including my companions at the table in the corner -- were musicians themselves, who could really appreciate what the quartet were doing. ("'Tangina, ang galing mo, pare!" Sarge shouted at Yosha's bassist as we were pulling out of the parking lot afterwards). I remember that their second-to-the-last number was so astonishing -- just when you thought they couldn't get any more amazing, they ramped it up even more -- that the audience just sat there in stunned silence afterwards. There was a five-second delay before our table erupted in howls and applause.

We talked to their deceptively mild-mannered singer (Yosha herself) afterwards, to show our appreciation and to ask her about upcoming gigs. They're playing at 19 East next, but afterwards, she's going overseas for a vacation, apparently. Will be sure to catch them again when she comes back.

(Thanks to Yvette, Mookie and Sarge for a great night out. 'Til next gig!)

Saturday at Pablo

Aside from Mogwai food and Sputnik comics, there's another good reason to be at Cubao X tomorrow night, May 3. Here's the text I got from Bru Electrolychee: "HEAVY HITTERZ MANILA! -- a street + contemporary art exhibit w/ 45+ emerging international artists opens at Pablo, starting at 6. Live art by phoneticontrol, tenfold, ganyan, filipinas street plan, weewilldoodle, 27+20 and electrolychee. Music by caliph8, arbiewon, pamilya dimagiba, AMPON and DJ mike boo." :) More info here and here.

Get Drip

I know there are about eight months more to go, but am already declaring Drip's Identity Theft as one of the Best Albums of the Year. The more I listen to it the more I like it, and considering that I liked it a lot from the start, that's really saying something. Current favorite tracks: "Identity Theft" and "Morning After" (though "Is Anybody Listening?" was the first one I latched onto). If you haven't gotten a copy yet, go. Go.

And click here right now to check out the video for "Morning After," directed by the talented Jason Tan and starring a bunch of martial artists styled by Mads Adrias, as well as the band themselves, of course. (I still remember during the album launch, the crowd would holler in glee whenever one of the boys -- Malek, Ian or Caliph8 -- was highlighted). Great song, great video.

Some Kind of Wonder

This is where I plan to be this Saturday, April 26: Stevie Wonder Woman night at Route 196! It's the "songs of Stevie Wonder, interpreted by female-fronted bands and solo acts," and what a lineup it is: Chillitees, Swissy, Duster, The Ronnies, and -- yes! -- Waya Gallardo, accompanied by guitar wizard Noli Aurillo. Those of you who have never seen Waya perform before owe it to yourselves to go. And, you know, the other acts are no slouches, either. Am especially looking forward to watching Duster again, it's been a while.

I still remember Waya, a couple of years ago, doing a surprisingly sexy impromptu cover of Stevie Wonder's "Overjoyed" -- surprising because the original, while uplifting, isn't really sexy at all, but not so surprising when you consider that it was Waya doing the singing -- in front of an audience of devout Christians, immediately causing the whole lot of them to sin in their minds.

Poster by Miguel Gallardo, stolen from The Ronnies' Multiply.

Last Saturday

Marcus and Ace of Bagetsafonik: automatik for the people.

"So," I texted a friend last Saturday night -- or, more accurately, last Sunday morning, "I did not plan to end my evening by dancing around to a live rendition of Maria Vidal's "Body Rock," but then these things happen."

Last Saturday was a lot of fun -- first, I dropped by the launch of Private Iris, a new comic book by Arnold Arre and Jamie Bautista, which was held at Fully Booked at The Fort in the afternoon. They had a great setup, with activities galore for the kiddies and posters and backdrops and everything. Great to see Arnold and Cynthia again. :) Private Iris the comic is very well done, entertaining and smart and of course gorgeously illustrated, and I was happy to get a copy for my 7 year-old inaanak Kaya, who is as intrepid as Iris herself.

Afterwards, went to the Milagros Dancehall Collective album launch (congrats to the band, especially "boy toy Caloy," ha ha ha), and the Scandalosa exhibit opening, both of which were held at SaGuijo. MDC performed well, as usual, but I wasn't used to watching them so early (around 7 PM) -- they're usually at their best as the penultimate act or finale of a multi-band production night, getting people on their feet and dancing and slightly delirious at around 2 or 3 AM. Scandalosa was interesting, it featured three very different types of art by three female artists (including Francesca Ayala, one of the Star's better columnists). As the Inquirer article says, "in the works, there are no identities, but only incriminating acts being carried out. This, the three girls say, is what you get remembered for."


Waya asks a very important question: "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?"

Finally Fran and I trooped over to Warehouse 135 for a Lomomanila party with performances by Drip, Bagetsafonik, Juan Pablo Dream and The Ronnies (with special guest star Waya Gallardo). "There will be sequins!" Waya had informed us beforehand, and she wasn't kidding. Her mirrorball outfit was something to behold (and went quite well with the Warehouse decor, actually). Much to my dismay, I just missed the Drip set -- I ran into Arvin/Caliph8 on his way out -- but we managed to catch Bagetsafonik from the beginning, and it was one of their better performances; the venue seemed to suit them.

Juan Pablo Dream was a blast, they did a bunch of retro covers (I suppose all covers are arguably retro, but you know what I mean) and bouncy originals like the adjective-deficient "Nice Place" ("Let's lend him a thesaurus," Margie quipped). And of course, The Ronnies made us all happy. In fact, they made one guy so happy he took off his shirt while Waya was on guest vocals doing "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?" It was an isolated moment of awakwardness and horror in an otherwise totally fun set.

So, see you all on Stevie Wonder Night? :) This Saturday, April 26, at Route 196. Featuring Chillitees, Swissy, The Ronnies, and -- yay! -- Waya Gallardo and guitar demigod Noli Aurillo!

Gig pix stolen from Lala the Cat. Hi Lala!.

Gigs Tonight

No less than three gigs tonight that Yvette and I are planning to go to: first, there's the Milagros Dancehall Collective album launch at SaGuijo, followed by the opening of the Scandalosa exhibit at the same venue a bit later, featuring artwork by Tara Almario, Francesca Ayala and Kate Santos (and performances by Kate Torralba, Black Tooth Grin, Duster, The Vince Noir Project, Drip and Us-2 Evil-0). Finally, there's 4 on the Floor: A Lomomanila Istugan Party, which will have performances by Bagetsafonik, Juan Pablo Dream, and The Ronnies (featuring Waya!), among others. Whew!

Doktor Satan and Pinoy Sci-Fi

Local science fiction fans, Bobby Añonuevo's here to school y'all: read Science fiction at Panitikang Tagalog.

"Makabubuting magbalik sa nakalipas na panitikan bago maghayag ng kung ano-anong kabaguhan kuno sa panitikang Ingles o Filipino dito sa Filipinas. Ang paglingon sa nakaraan ay pagharap din sa maaliwalas na bukas ng ating pambansang panitikan."

The Workshop According to Ian

So my workshop roommate Ian posted a long, long, photo-heavy entry about the UP ICW Workshop in Baguio. I love it. Behold his post in all its glory here. I stole a couple of photos from his blog (as with the previous post's group shot, you can click on them for bigger versions):


Yvette, myself, and Harrison Ford -- I mean, Butch Dalisay -- at Bencab's house.


At Vocas with Rica and Tara. Our smiles are either due to the warm glow of friendship, or the warm glow of having eaten excellent putanesca. Possibly both.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then Ian's post is worth more than 136,000 words, which makes it the equivalent of about four novels, more or less.

After the Workshop

"So, the Baguio workshop went well," I texted a writer-friend of mine. "In fact, it went too well. Now we're all suffering from a post-workshop 'hangover'." She replied, with mock-wisdom and a smiley: "Ganyan talaga ang buhay, anak."

My camera died on our third day in Camp John Hay for the UP ICW 'mid-career' writers' workshop, hence the discontinuation of my daily photo-posts. (I have a ton of pix now though, from the official workshop CD and from my roommate Vince, so if I feel like it, I may eventually put up a bunch of workshop pix plus captions.)

I hope I don't sound too pretentious when I say that the workshop reminded us of the real standards and difficulties and rewards involved when it comes to the creative writing that we do. It's easy to forget, amid all the awards-chasing and racking up of publication credits and jockeying for influence. The panelists -- two National Artists among them -- pulled no punches, in general, and I couldn't have been happier with the lineup of fellows (we had three Palanca Hall-of-Famers in our batch, no less!). I was both proud and humbled to stand among them, if that makes any sense. Thanks to the panel -- and each other -- I think we all have a clearer idea now of what it is we're doing.

More than any single discussion regarding craft, it was our activity schedule plus the mix of people we had that got to me. As I told friends when I returned, the workshop was like the awkwardness, angst, adventures and affection of high school, compressed into one week. Coffee with new friends, overnight cram sessions, talks and walks, presentations that ranged from enlightening to humiliating (I played Charlson Ong in a skit: that's all you need to know), and a certain bittersweetness when it was all done. Thanks to two dear friends and the ICW people, Yvette was even able to join me in Baguio midway through the workshop, so it was really an all-around amazing experience for me.

To quote fellow fellow Jun Lana: "Pero eto ang totoo: sobra akong nagpapasalamat na napasama ako sa workshop. Lahat ng hinahangaan kong writers, andun. Lahat sila, nag-abalang basahin ang sinulat ko. At nagbigay ng opinyon. Ang dami kong natutunan. At ang lalong nakakatuwa, ang dami kong naging bagong kaibigan."

And to quote fellow fellow Bobby Añonuevo: "Pambihira ang talakayan sa Baguio dahil sumapit na sa pagkatigulang ang mga kalahok. Matatalim ang pukol ng mga diwain, ngunit kataka-takang ni wala man lamang nagsaksakan, nagmurahan, o nagbatuhan ng silya. Mapapansin ang paggalang sa isa’t isa, at walang may hangin sa ulo. At gaya ng winika ni Tara, kalmante man ang pangkat ng mga kumag sa palihan, maaasahan naman na lilikha sila ng nakayayanig na bagyo pagsapit sa larangan ng panitikan ngayon at sa mga darating na araw."

Finally, my roomie Ian Casocot: "I loooovvvveee these people!"

Writers in the Mountains: Day Three (Writaz 4 Life)

Today was a good day, especially for the inhabitants of Room 2, or, as we like to call it out of sheer lack of imagination, the Girls' Room. The panelists and fellows seem to be in general agreement that Rica Santos is a genius at writing personal essays, Tara Sering is a fiction-writing genius, and Mookie Katigbak is a poetic genius. (During the photo-taking session today in between discussions, the three geniuses struck Charlie's Angels poses together.) Am very happy at the way their discussions turned out, and am now looking forward to Mookie's first book, Tara's upcoming novel, and buying Rica's Love, Desire, Children, Etc., when I get back to Quezon City.

After dinner the workshop participants bonded in the way writers always do: by sitting in a circle and taking turns reading classic epic poetry in stentorian voices. Just kidding. Writers bond via alcoholic drinks and filthy jokes, like everyone else.


What does Jimmy Abad think of Mookie's poetry?


HE FREAKING LOVES IT.


Jun Lana can't believe a word he's hearing.


FYI: Jing Hidalgo and Rica Bolipata-Santos aren't laughing with you -- they're laughing at you.


Nick Pichay looks on while Tara Sering demonstrates her carnival-worthy ability to read manuscripts via osmosis. Meanwhile, something is stuck in Frank's nose.


"Wassup my writaz?! Big Daddy Bien is in the hizzouse. What!" National Artist Bien Lumbera gives it up for his literary homeboyz. Writaz 4 life, y'all. Word.

Fox You

We interrupt our daily UP Writers Workshop broadcast for an important announcement: there's a new book company on the block! They're launching the line next Monday, April 14. (Click on the image above for a bigger version of the poster.) Fox Books: "quality literature for quality readers," they declare. These don't look like your typical 'literary' titles, however -- so they're screwing with your expectations, as any enterprise involving Adam David is bound to do. (Hi, Adam!) Anyway, looks interesting.

Funny fact: the latest entry on the Fox Books blog is a letter from Jun Balde, on Fox Books: "malaking improvement ito, hindi lamang sa kaayusan ng pagsulat ng mga kuwento, [kundi] sa anyo at sa pagiging attractive sa mambabasa [rin], kung ikumpara sa mga libro ng precious pages at psicom. " And Jun Balde, unless this is a different Jun Balde, happens to be one of my fellow fellows this week at the UP workshop. Whatta coinkydink.

Writers in the Mountains: Day Two

Where... Where am I? Oh yeah, that's right.


Me just outside the Igorot Lodge entrance. Literally, chillin'.


Workshop sessions: Won't anyone sit with Tara?


Mookie will! Yay!


Sir Butch and Ian: "That's right folks, the first-generation iPods were this big."


Rica listens intently to the discussion, unaware that a giant camera strap is creeping up on her and Frank Cimatu.



The Notorious V.I.M. and Bobby A., famed hip-hop duo, launch into their rendition of "Ain't Nuthin' But a 'G' Thang."


Vince Serrano can kill you with the power of his mind.

Writers in the Mountains

Hello Baguio City! Woo hoo! It's cold and oh so quiet here in the lobby of the Igorot Lodge of Camp John Hay. Am here for the 47th UP National Writers Workshop. Was sort of zonked out on the way up; hadn't slept properly in two days due to deadlines and other matters (maybe I shouldn't have watched that mixed martial arts tournament at Metrowalk the night before. But hey, guest appearance by Manny Pacquiao!). So I fell asleep right after the orientation. Which explains why I'm up at a little before 5 AM.

The whole experience -- bus ride, meals, orientation, hanging out with the other fellows -- has been very pleasant so far, but the real work begins today, with the workshops proper. We'll be discussing stuff by Jun Balde, Vince Serrano, Ian Casocot, Allan Derain, Bobby Anonuevo, and, well, me.


All aboard the not-so-short bus.


On the way to Baguio. I have no idea where this is.


First meal at Camp John Hay. Rica is amused and Mookie is a-textin'.


It's Ian's first visit to Baguio, ever.


Vince wonders what the hell Allan Popa is doing here.


Laid-back literary legends. *singing* Please be careful with our art!

Okay, time to get back to my readings now. Am unsure of my ability to criticize poetry and anything not written in English, but we'll see what happens. In any case, am looking forward to breakfast.

Sci-Fi High

My fellow science fiction fans: our favorite concepts may not be fictional for long! Of course this is not news -- we've been living in a sci-fi world for at least a couple of decades now, which is partially why it's so hard to write in the damn genre. But anyway! Had a blast reading a couple of brief interviews on the NYT book blog with Michio Kaku, Professor of Theoretical Physics and author of Physics of the Impossible (hideous cover design, but still), on what may or may not be possible in the near future. I love it whenever he says that "There’s nothing in the laws of physics preventing it," whether he's talking about force fields or light sabers. "Einstein’s equations, believe it or not, do allow for time travel." Goosebumps, I swear. Read here and here.

Baguio Bound (Show Me the Music)

I love I Can Has Cheezburger. And no, the boxing hamster has nothing to do with this blog entry. It just made me LOL. :)

Anyway! Will be in Baguio City from April 6 to 13, for the UP Writers' Workshop. I never thought I would attend another national writing workshop -- not because I've ever had a horrible experience with one, quite the contrary -- but because I always saw them as most beneficial for writers just starting out. That was certainly the case for me, with my first one: I was the youngest writing fellow there, at 18 (a fact that I'm glad went unknown until the directories were issued on the last day). However, apparently since 2005, the thrust of the UP workshop has changed, as "there is now a proliferation of creative writing workshops on both the national and local levels" and "beginning writers now have many other options," so "the UP ICW has decided to re-conceptualize its annual workshop to address the changing needs of writers.”

So I was pretty happy to be invited to this year's session, especially when I found out who else was going: Tara, Mookie, Ian, and even my old grade school classmate, Vince! Am looking forwward to meeting and hanging out with the others, as well. I still have fond memories of that first workshop -- it was held in Baguio, too -- and while we won't have George R. around this time to run naked and drunk through Burnham Park, stricken by love at first sight, am sure this one will be memorable as well.

And now we come to the sing-along portion of our presentation. Is anyone who's reading this familiar with the Baguio music scene? Would love to check out some bars and bands while we're up there, and possibly write about them for my weekly music column for the Bulletin. Please post suggestions here, or email me at thekingofnothingtodo at yahoo dot com. Thanks!

Drip's Second

Anyone who reads my blog more or less regularly probably knows how big a fan I am of the fantastic electronic band Drip. So as you can imagine, I'm really psyched about this Saturday, when they're set to launch their second album, Identity Theft. Have been listening to an advanced reviewer's copy for a few days now -- at home, on the MRT, even on a pedicab trundling down Agham Road -- and it's great. Those who liked the first one will LOVE this one, and it's entirely possible that even if the first one didn't grab you, this one will. It's better. As Erwin Romulo put it in a well-written (as always) review for the Star, it builds on the first album's achievements to "reach vertiginous heights."

Cool Drip trailer here and Erwin's review here!

Last week's gigs were pretty excellent. Enjoyed the Stripped gig at Route 196 -- especially since Kidlat, Fran, JB and Steph were able to make it. Interesting and entertaining to watch all-covers acoustic sets by the Dancel brothers Ebe and Vin, and Ace of Bagetsafonik (we joked that Ace and JB should have had a face-off with the Dancels: musically-inclined brother tag teams!). And Ene's set was all hair-metal songs, which of course was a lot of fun. I scared myself when I realized that I still know all the words to "I Remember You" by Skid Row.

The Narda reunion gig was no less fun, of course. Yvette and I finally got to watch Quark's new band, Us-2 Evil-0, and we are instant fans. :) We just missed Ang Bandang Shirley, but enjoyed the sets by Pedicab and Taken By Cars a great deal. And of course, it was wonderful to watch Katwo and Co. take the stage again.

Rogue in March

So, you really should get a copy of this month's Rogue magazine -- it's their First Annual Philippine Cinema Portfolio, which means fantastic photographs and short, sweet write-ups featuring local cinema's luminaries (Lav Diaz, Raymond Red, Ping Medina, Katrina Halili, etc., and of course Cherie Gil -- check out that cover!).

Yvette and I both have work in this one -- she wrote great profiles for Teddy Co, Eddie Romero and some others (Teddy Co's room makes mine look spartan and minimalist), and I wrote a new story, called "Little Fears," to accompany a series of evocative photographs by Frank Callaghan. BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE! There's also a lengthy excerpt from Butch Dalisay's new novel, Soledad's Sister. Plus, did I mention the Katrina Halili pictures? They're really nice. Butch Dalisay AND Katrina Halili! What more could you ask for?

Gigs This Week - The Return of Narda, etc

Lotta good gigs this week -- hope my money holds out. This Wednesday, you've got the latest installment of Stripped, my favorite new production. (I wrote about the first Stripped night here.) Lineup looks great -- Francis Reyes of The Dawn, Ebe Dancel of Sugarfree, Vin Dancel of Peryodiko, Ene Lagunzad of The Ronnies, Justine Javier (I don't know who she is), and everyone's favorite Cada brother, Ace of Bagetsafonik! (Just kidding, JB. He he he.)

And of course I'm excited about the Narda reunion gig this Thursday at SaGuijo. They were one of my favorite bands until they decided to break up (read Joelle's account of the split here). To be honest though, I'm still not sure if I'm going. Might be a bittersweet experience to watch a band I was so crazy about perform again for one night only. But I want to see Pedicab and Taken By Cars and the other acts too. We'll see.

Finally, according to a text from Cris Ramos Jr., the Revolver production night celebrates its big Five-O this week too, at Route 196 on March 7, Friday, featuring Hansom, Hilera, Juan Pablo Dream, The Lowtechs and Roots of Nature. See y'all there.

No Such Thing as a Guilty Pleasure

Got email from Sam M. RE: the many many recent versions of "Umbrella" floating around. Got me thinking about covers of popular songs, and how they sometimes turn out even better than the originals. (Am reminded of the way some of my favorite local artists remake songs at the Route 196 Stripped gigs. Somehow, cool artist + cheesy-yet-catchy song = good times.

Been enjoying three such covers lately, and you would do well to download all of them before they're taken down: go to these blogs to get The Gossip's excellent reworking of Wham!'s Careless Whisper, The Wedding Present's version of Take That's Back for Good, and, quite possibly my favorite, The Bird and The Bee's version of the Bee Gees' How Deep is Your Love. You'll thank me.

PS. The Poofy panel has nothing to do with this entry. But I like Poofy. So there.

MCR in Manila

Talk about the Black Parade. Just got home from the big My Chemical Romance concert at The Fort -- the last time I saw that many people in black shirts wandering around was probably at the Summer Slam, or the last Fete de la Musique I attended, the one in Ortigas. There seemed to be even more people tonight though: the Fort Bonifacio Open Field was host to a massive army of chair-climbing, arm-waving, top-of-their-lungs shouting MCR enthusiasts. Yvette and I got a pretty good spot -- thanks, Yonina! -- and we enjoyed ourselves a lot. Woo hoo! I love you, Gerard Way! (Well, not really. But since he is both a bona fide rock star AND a genuine RPG and comics geek -- can't wait to read The Umbrella Academy -- I do love the idea of him.)

And you know, the band's music is pretty good. I haven't been able to listen to their first two albums in their entirety, but I really liked The Black Parade, apparently their most ambitious work yet. Before they took the stage, the sound system was playing songs by different acts, and it was like a roster of their influences: Queen, Green Day, Pink Floyd, et cetera. When we attended the presscon the day before, every single journalist I spoke to seemed less than enthusiastic -- they all identified themselves as not-fans -- so on the way to The Fort, I was wondering if MCR would draw enough people to fill the venue. I should have realized that their dramatic, romantic, death-obsessed and anger-fueled songs would inspire as much -- if not more -- devotion as derision.

High points included "Welcome to the Black Parade" ("Sing along -- I think you know the words," Gerard Way said, playing off the audience near the stage with the bigger crowd at the back), "I'm Not Okay," "I Don't Love You," and, for me, that part when G. sang a snatch of a Queen song, the "Just a man..." bit from "Flash" (a-ah!). And of course, when they did "Helena," everyone howled along to the "So long and good night" refrain. The band seemed surprised and touched by the size and enthusiasm of the audience -- "It looks like the whole city is here tonight!" Gerard marveled, later adding that "This is something we'll remember when we're all old men... you know, four years from now."

Lotsa pictures (and amusing-as-usual commentary) from the MCR presscon over at Niña's LJ! (My favorite part of the presscon? When Curtis of Summit's morbid questions caused guitarist Frank Iero to say, "...I think she wants us to die.")

So this is the New Year

So this is the New Year! Yes, I know; we're almost a month into 2008. But since I've pretty much spent the past four weeks holed up at home, sick and bedridden for the most part, I'm still getting used to the idea. Life is slowly starting up again for me, though; this week I was able to go out with my family a couple of times, meet Yvette a couple of times, and drop by the apartment in QC. Just heard Mass a while ago, as well. Aside from some lingering side effects and occasional tiredness, am doing okay. Will be fully up and about soon, going to gigs and bothering people and such, I hope.

Great big thanks to Yvette, Kidlat, Lissa, Erwin, Yonina, Fran, Jovan, Denise, Cassie, Percy, Noelle, and of course my family, not to mention everyone my illness-decayed brain has probably forgotten, for the company, concern, chismis, advice, messages, reading material, listening material, and etcetera.

Speaking of reading material, here's some good stuff. From The AV Club -- My Favorite Movie Year: 1986 (go Ferris Bueller!), and from Cracked, 9 Words That Don't Mean What You Think (you may be surprised at the actual meanings of "peruse" and "pristine" -- I know I was), and 8 Celebrities You Didn't Know Were Geeks (Natalie Portman's an obvious one, but I didn't know Kate Beckinsale was so accomplished a writer. Nor was I aware of Vin Diesel's extreme D&D geekiness).

And now, dinner. Yay!