September 27, 2001

Having a *really* hectic week but thought I'd drop by to let you all know, in case you don't yet, that Suzanne Vega has a new album out. (I'm a huge fan and I've been waiting five years for this.) It's called "Songs in Red and Gray" and samples can be heard here.

She's such a wonderful lyricist too...I'd love to tell you more about it but

"...these words are too solid, they don't move fast enough...to catch the blur in the brain that flies by and is gone."

("Language" - Solitude Standing)

Linkage:
• The Passionate Eye - a book of her writings since childhood
• MikeVisceglia.com - site of her longtime bassist
1:17 PM
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September 25, 2001

My brother Calvin introduced Arnold and me to modem gaming just this weekend. Tsk I've been so out of the loop and am still struggling to catch up on the new titles since the only games I played regularly in the past 3 years are Parappa, Jet Set Radio, and lately, Rush 2049.

Like any other child in the70's, I went through an Atari phase but the last time I was ever really addicted to any electronic game was back when Castlevania 3 on the FamiCom was considered hip... Meanwhile, Calvin proceeded to explore the video gaming world, moving from the Super NES to Sega Saturn to Playdia to PSX to Dreamcast to whatever he's planning to blow his allowance on next. (Well, he does have the added 'power' of being able to read and understand Japanese, having spent junior high in Japan).

Links I stole from his site:
• Game FAQs
• Game Software Code Creator Sites
• Game Combos
1:16 PM
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September 23, 2001

The fine print at the bottom reads Merry Christmas from John and Yoko.

This billboard loomed over Duffy Square in December of 1998. I took the photo while waiting for my turn in line at TKTS (which, sadly, also had an outlet at the WTC). The optimism was both inspiring and reassuring back then, and so it breaks my heart to see something like this right now (c/o Brooklyn Kid).

Still relevant:
My Lost City: New York Blogs and Journals on the WTC disaster

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Found some tastefully - designed new links for your surfing pleasure. Go check them out. Now.
9:48 PM
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September 21, 2001

Off the Philmusic mailing list:

Clear Channel, radio network that owns many of New York's most popular stations, has banned 150 songs from the airwaves. Included are songs about war, New York, songs with the word "Tuesday", and even "Walk Like an Egyptian"

(The full list)

Echoing my sentiments, some people on this 41+ page thread wondered why a certain song by the Cure isn't on the list. Strangely enough, Arnold & I were just talking about that song a few days ago.

Yes Candy, the song you and Curfew used to open U.P. gigs with!(:

Related article:
NY Post
10:03 AM
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September 20, 2001

So Globe is really cutting their free SMS allocation down to 1/3 by the end of the year. Arnold and I prefer calling to 'texting', so it shouldn't make that much of a difference, but I can see why subscribers are complaining. These cellphone companies can obviously afford to pay for extensive (and expensive) multimedia advertising every single day! There's already too much clutter in the media, and too many subscribers as it is, so why not cut down on those doublespread ads instead to avoid shortchanging consumers, yes?

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I'm currently prejudging for the Philippine Web Awards. Get those sites ready, people (:
10:40 AM
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September 18, 2001

Here is where you will find ongoing updates regarding the September 11 tragedy. Meanwhile, in the pop music biz:

Off Pitchfork Media:

(Uh-oh.)

"The Coup, the lauded rap duo recording for Dan "The Automator" Nakamura's hip-hop imprint, 75Ark, made a statement last week announcing that they would change the cover image of their forthcoming LP, Party Music, to something that doesn't involve New York's Twin Towers exploding."

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Kindercore electro - poppers I Am the World Trade Center will change their bandname in light of recent events.

Said Dan Gellar, one half of the duo: "...For the time being "I Am the World Trade Center" will be shortening our name to "I Am the..." out of respect to those who have lost so much in this tragedy. The name and symbol will live with us and in the future we hope that once again we can use our entire name which we are so proud of."

Hear a sample of their music.
Download an mp3 of Metro.
12:35 PM
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September 17, 2001

My Arnold recently bought me books 1 & 2 of "The Courageous Princess". It's a sweet little fantasy story about Mabelrose, a friendly, curious princess who gets captured by a dragon, in hope of getting a good ransom from her kingdom. Knowing that she is from a poor land, Mabelrose decides that she's going to rescue herself, and thus begins her adventures throughout the Land of the Hundred Kingdoms.

The Courageous Princess is written and beautifully illustrated by Rod Espinosa, a Filipino comic book writer based in San Antonio, Texas.

Related links:
Home of Mabelrose
Mile High Comics

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Here's happy news, for a change. Congratulations, Claire!
2:28 PM
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September 15, 2001

Elena is a prize-winning illustrator who believes that "life (like french toast) is made up of simple ingredients that combine to make up a marvelous concoction we often take for granted. It's time to take the time to relish all the wonderful flavors in your life."

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"We look forward to the time when the power of love will replace the love of power. Then will our world know the blessing of peace."
- William Ewart Gladstone

(off Chalking for Peace)
12:42 PM
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September 14, 2001

This is a bit late, but I just noticed the Youngblood article being terribly out of place in the Opinion section of yesterday's Inquirer. Everything was about the Tuesday morning U.S. tragedy. The said article begins with the words "Today, I will attend an execution: my own. I will watch it with both eyes open and I will not cry."

Okay, I thought it was a firsthand account by a survivor.

Reading on... "I will not break down just because the man I have loved since forever will marry someone else." Eep, so it was the writer's own sad story. The love of her life is marrying her sister, whom he got pregnant.

Sad indeed, but not while bigger events and indescribably sadder stories are happening elsewhere. Her so-called 'execution' just does not compare to the fate thousands of people faced three days ago.

(In fairness, I'm sure the author cringed upon finding out that her article was published in this light).

REAL firsthand accounts are here:
• World New York
• Eyewitness
10:36 AM
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September 13, 2001

Arnold got this text message at least 5x on his cell today:

"In the City of God there will be a great thunder, two brothers torn apart by Chaos, while the fortress endures, the great leader will succumb. The third big war will begin when the big city is burning" - Nostradamus 1654

Funny how everytime there's a disaster, people would begin sifting thru Nostradamus quatrains and popping in 'The Man who Saw Tomorrow' on their vcrs.

***
So life should go on hereabouts...it was no surprise though that Megamall was uncannily crowd-less yesterday. I suppose everyone chose to stay glued to their TV sets, still in disbelief that something like this could happen to America, home of the brave and land of the free.

Since we've been watching the news non-stop ourselves, we felt like 'escaping' for awhile and proceeded to enjoy being in the relatively empty mall, a rare treat.

Then Arnold suddenly pulls and faces me towards the Sabrett hotdog cart in which hangs a huge picture of the World Trade Center... We hugged and I felt like crying -- for the thousands of people who lost their lives and for the big, gaping wound left in the heart of Manhattan.
11:41 AM
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September 12, 2001

Was glued to CNN all night since 9pm (9am, EST). The World Trade Center is nothing but a cloud of dust now, and half the Pentagon has burned down. My gosh, how many lives exactly were lost in that catastrophe? Reporters say that there were about 50,000 people who worked at the WTC, and that doesn't include the passersby downstairs, and the hundreds of innocent victims on the hi-jacked planes. They've already crippled the U.S., and they're apparently not done yet.

Meg, my friend in New York, said that Manhattan has been evacuated and people have walked out of the city covered in debris all calm and quiet but that anger is starting to seep in. Of course. It was an attack on humankind.

The sight of the implosion being replayed over and over gives me the creeps. It wasn't CGI, it was real. Those were real people jumping out the windows. How many disaster movies have we seen were set in New York? This time life imitated fiction, and it's a whole lot scarier this way around.

Those of us who live across the ocean can only do so much as pray, stay close to our loved ones and keep safe.

• Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. %1, $50, any donation is fine and everything will go to the Red Cross to help victims of this and other tragedies.
10:47 AM
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September 10, 2001

My! Honey! Won! Again!!!

Ortigas in the year 2065? (lifted from Arnold's graphic novel Trip to Tagaytay)

Last year, Arnold became the first Filipino comic book writer to receive the National Book Award for the landmark series 'The Mythology Class'. Last Saturday, the Manila Critics Circle again gave him recognition for his depiction of "a not - so - distant and not - too - unfamiliar Philippines" in the one-shot 'Trip to Tagaytay'.

"By imbuing the visuals with his trademark humor, obsessive detail, atmosphere, and resonant profundity, Arre gives us yet another thoughtful, tantalizing tale, both progressive and distinctly Pinoy..."

"Like the mythical images encountered by the narrator, Trip to Tagaytay is a dream image that Filipino comic books are truly coming into their own."

*sigh* I'm so so so proud of my baby!!!

(Trip to Tagaytay is available at all Comic Quest branches. If you don't live in the Philippines and you're interested in getting a copy, please click on the light blue dot on the white bar below, or you can simply drop me a note.)

Related links:
Arnold-Arre.com
Trip to Tagaytay
***
Arnold-baby and I were also rooting for 'Happy Endings', Luis Katigbak's collection of "stories about reinvented identities, lost loves and Wednesday afternoons" which we enjoyed immensely, to win in the Fiction category. Do check it out too, if you still haven't.
2:07 PM
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September 7, 2001

I just started reading the Eisner - nominated series Breakfast After Noon and am loving it so far! Wonderfully - illustrated by Andi Watson, BAN works like a romantic comedy - drama of sorts in graphic novel form.

The story is set in contemporary England and is about Rob and Louise, an engaged couple who unexpectedly find themselves unemployed and before they knew it, eating breakfast after noon.

"Breakfast After Noon has a universal appeal for anyone who has ever been in love or found themselves in a position where they no longer have any idea where they are headed."

Related links:
* Andi Watson
* Onipress
12:28 PM
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Yesterday was spent re-stocking Comic Quest with Trip to Tagaytay , watching A.I. (Arnold and I loved it), celebrating Ely's kid Eon's first birthday, catching a play called "Rated Ex" (in which one segment, "Aksidente", is directed by our babysis Marie Jamora and features members of these bands) at the Ateneo's Rizal Mini Theatre, and finally, finally treating ourselves to a late, much - needed dinner. Whew!
11:45 AM
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September 6, 2001

Crumbs and all its pop-up goodness just keeps getting better and better.
Obviously, Indi & Adam's "brush with capitalist dotCOM ventures left them rather unscathed. Whatever dreams they had were still packed inside cardboard boxes lined with bubblewrap and four-fold-sealed with masking tape. As freelancers, they eventually used their free time to fulfill their dreams of postcard prose with pop-artstravaganzic garments..."

11:00 AM
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My longtime galpal, fashion designer Tippi Ocampo along with Old Asia's Carmina del Rosario has come up with a really cool line of loungewear called Lounge Lizard. I wish I had funky photos to post...for now, picture ultra-chic drawstring pants and shorts peppered with non-conventional prints, e.g. Japanese characters.

Lounge Lizard is in the 'Third Floor' (that's the name of the store) at the old Steaktown building beside Seven Eight Orange, along Makati Avenue. It's open til around 8 pm on weekdays, and 10 pm on Fridays and Saturdays.
***
By the way, I'm also making Tippi a site to feature her unique style in designing clothing. She won at the Young Fashon Designers tilt held in Paris in '99 and is quickly making a name for herself in the fashion world because of her fun, quirky but very classy designs. She draws inspiration from the unexpected -- crumpled tissue, sako (straw bags used to package rice), pleated lamp shades -- you get the picture. Well what can you expect from someone who used to wear flouncy skirts, an assortment of hats and scarves, button - rosettes, and pink-dyed
chuck taylors back in school? (Haha, luv ya Tips!) Stay tuned (:
10:12 AM
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September 5, 2001

Been holding back from announcing this but yep, the word is out: my Arnold's graphic novel Trip to Tagaytay IS a finalist at the 2001 Manila Critics Circle National Book Awards! Good luck, baby!!!

The MCC is an organization of professional literary critics who recognize the country's best books yearly with the National Book Award. It is also one of the toughest competitions because a unanimous vote has to be cast in order for a piece to win, so you can imagine how Arnold felt when he won last year for his four-part opus The Mythology Class (:
***
Oh, and here's something we've both been looking forward to -- Broadway musical
"Rent" will be restaged by Atlantis Productions starting Oct. 5 at the GSIS Theater. For tickets, call 892-7078. Viva la vie boheme!
***
You may not be able to tell the difference but I just transferred all my weblog files to Blogger, since they were getting difficult to manage with Pitas.
7:55 PM
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Arnold's *gasp* 30 years old + 2 days now! (I should stop ribbing him about it since I'll be turning that age in about a year, give or take six months, haha.) He says thanks to everyone who greeted him thru this site. (:

We always spend at least 2 days celebrating each others' birthdays, one day with both of us making time with the family (his, in this case, of course), and the next day having a special just- the- two - of - us date.
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My dear tita Glo, who passed away last December, 'helped' me at my Quezon City bank this morning. Nooo, this is not a ghost story. Read on.

A certain record company misspelled my name on the post-dated cheque they issued a month ago so I thought I had to go all the way to their office on traffic-ridden E. Rodriguez Ave. just to get it corrected (and I had just driven to and from Makati for a couple of early errands). I crumpled on the chair in frustration. The bank manager then took a good look at me, 'Feliciano - Bauzon...are you related to Dr. Gloria Feliciano?' 'Yes, ma'am, she was my tita.' 'Oh, you're Cynthia... your aunt talked fondly about you... Here you go,' and endorsed the cheque right then and there.

The sad fact is that this is a country where it pays to have the right surname at times. In this case though, I'd like to think it was a serving of good karma. Thanks, tita. (:

On a related note, tita Glo was actually the founder and first ever Dean of the University of the Philippines (then Institute) College of Mass Communications in 1965.
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Okay, who else among you has received Snowhite and the Seven Dwarfs - The REAL story! e-mails, usually with .exe and .scr attachments, from a certain hahaha@sexyfun.net? Is this another virus? This is the nth time I've seen one of these in my inbox this month and it's neither funny, sexy nor fun downloading those space-wasting kilobytes.
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This Zippylog post made me crave for my favorite Krispy Kreme original glazed donuts. *sigh* We have to contend with just this hereabouts.

A great thing about having a weblog is that I get to keep in touch with friends and relatives even without writing every single one of them everyday (If you're thinking of making one for yourself, don't forget to e-mail me the URL so I can link up!).

I recently got in touch with one of my childhood friends and former neighbor, Malyn, an opthalmologist now based in New York, and found what she does so inspiring I just had to share it with you folks. She belongs to the global humanitarian organization ORBIS wherein medical teams visit developing countries to save sight through hands-on training, public health education, and improved access to eye care. Here's where you can read A Real Story from the Field
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Everyone, at least on my side of the world, seems to be talking about hip, new channel UNTV, a.k.a. NU107's TV station, and it's unconventional programming. (By the way, the ad agency I used to work for is responsible for the equally edgy TV ads.) I'm on SKY so I haven't seen it myself but Arnold tells me that as far as he's seen, they've been airing experimental/short films and a good selection of music videos.

If you're on SKY too, you can call 6367591 and ask them to put UNTV on UHF Ch 37.
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Today is my Arnold's last day as a 20-something. Please greet him when you can. (:

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