April 26, 2002
(link courtesy of Ramon)
In our line-up wishlist: The Neverending Story and Ladyhawke. Anyone know where we could get them locally?
Go get yourself some Sunblock: a free online comic by Andi Watson.
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Arnold and I recently had a self-imposed 80's fantasy movie-fest which included Legend, Krull, Labyrinth, Willow, and (my favorite) The Princess Bride. Of course they're not as dynamic and visually rich as their millenium counterparts but these movies were part of our childhood as much as Sesame Street (see Ms. Mona's post) and The Electric Co. were, so watching them again (yes, even at 30) still strikes that now-choosy emotional chord.
Note: Watching them again also sent us rummaging for our 90s fantasy card games.
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Still on a sentimental note, ever wonder what happened to the Sound of Music kids? Thanks to the internet, I found these reunion photos plus links to the personal websites of "Liesl", "Brigitta" and "Louisa".
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Wow. Thank you. Girl power, don't you stop.
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By the way, posts have been few and far between lately because some fine folks are keeping me busy, heh. Please visit these nice sites in the meantime.
10:58 AM
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April 23, 2002
Flying spittle says they don't care.
Right this minute, the Chain Gang's groovy 2nd album *&@#! (read as shift-87231) is on loop in my player because I honestly can't get enough of it. I know the girls personally, especially Dorky & Mae, and have seen their rise to underground cult status since the old Dredd days so having this kind of exposure right now is a sign that they've made it, not to the mainstream thank goodness but to public awareness. And rightfully so because these girls are gifted, as you'll be able to hear from their music samples.
You can order the album online.
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Being out of the (advertising) loop for quite a while now, Arn and I only recently learned about Ogilvy Singapore's controversial Cannes Lion-winning "God Speaks" campaign*. As with anything, not everyone liked it.
Looking at the campaign as a spectator (as opposed to being an adperson) though, I think the idea behind the one that reads
"How can you possibly be a self-made man? I specifically recall creating you." - God
is something we all need to be hammered down with every once in a while.
*that I'm sure this ol' man had something to do with somehow.
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Say hello to the new Eraserheads vocalist.
11:59 AM
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April 19, 2002
If you have lunch money to spare, try to get your hands on a copy of Chris Ware's Acme Novelty Library #15.
(or any book from the yummy Acme Novelty series for that matter.)
I've been gearing myself up for months to buy #15 but our wonderful friends Ramon and Neva beat me to the book shop and gave it to me for my birthday! (Aww, thanks guys.) It boasts of a dense array of fabulous full-color graphic narratives drawn in Ware's trademark retro-futuristic* style. It also comes with special pull-out bonuses including an amazing cut-out three-dimensional motion picture viewer and two flip books.
Arnold and I have admired Chris Ware's graphic design style ever since we laid our eyes on his most awarded book to date, Jimmy Corrigan (courtesy of Ramon too).
* Is there such a term? Arn and I just coined that up, heh.
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The StarTV network is back on Sky, thank goodness. (Um, so what's the catch?)
12:24 PM
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April 17, 2002
Whaddya know, Mr. Christopher Walken has an online journal. And his entries are mighty funny, too:
Walken stars as a used-car salesman at Farkman.
Go and see what he thinks about co-actors Ben Affleck and Jay Mohr. Read what he has to say about "his death" in the latest Farkman cartoon. Find out why the journal's color scheme is pink and mint green.
(link via OnClick)
12:46 PM
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April 16, 2002
Fantastic link from Indi's blog: Omniglot's Guide to Writing Systems. Includes info and links to alphabets from Abkhaz to Zhuyin Fuhao.
How (I think) my name would be spelled with Alibata, the oldest known example of writing in the Philippines.
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Remember these guys from the Breakfast Club? Lotsa more pixel people are at Digiboy's Pixel Log.
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"Girls Full of Dreams", Shinsui Ito
Yet another Japanese art link: the Adachi Museum website.
10:55 AM
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April 14, 2002
I don't know about you but I find the Spider-man Adventure Hero series action figures a tad freaky. (Movie-merchandising a la Disney, eh? Tsk.)
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We saw E.T. this weekend! I only saw it on tape before (hey, Betamax-renting was "in" back in those days) so watching the 20th Anniversary edition on the big screen made me experience double the magic that, even so, shone through our tiny old Panasonic TV in 1982.
Honestly, I couldn't tell which scenes were added and/or enhanced* because it's been so long, and I wanted to watch the movie as if I was a child again. There were snippets in the conversations though that slipped by 10-year-old-me which I could appreciate only now -- like the allusions to Star Wars, Star Trek and RPGs. Cool.
* True to form, Arnold pointed them out one by one.
Entertainment Weekly has behind the scenes info and a brief interview with Spielberg and the then-young stars.
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For a change of weekend scenery, Arn and I went to Robinsons Metro East (it's near where he lives) which, we discovered, offers free parking, clean and cool THX theatres, free parking, medium-to-slightly-high-end boutiques, free parking, Popeye's, and best of all, free parking. Bye-bye, Megamall!
05:29 PM
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April 11, 2002
Feeling Listless recently described yours truly's site as a "Japanese pop culture linkblog which thankfully doesn't get bogged (blogged?) down in anime". Cool beans. Er... since I haven't written anything Jap-related in a while, I thought I'd live up to the description and list down some recent (and not-so-recent) discoveries:
1. Osamu Tezuka's Metropolis. I got this for Arn (for our anniversary 3 days ago) and haven't actually seen it myself but am taking his word that it's one stunningly beautiful animated movie.
2. Utada Hikaru, Distance. Got the album for my brother but am totally loving the title track I might decide to keep it just for that song alone.
3. If you're into indiepop, Pop Jingu 1 and 2 will be good for you.
4. If Shibuya-kei is more up your alley, Sushi 3003 and Sushi 4004 should do the trick.
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Like I mentioned, Arnold and I turned two last Monday*. We wanted to relive the night he proposed but (a) Garlic Rose had closed down and (b) Jesus Christ Superstar (or any other play for that matter) was not playing at the GSIS Theatre, so we instead spent the afternoon strolling around the mall and, afterwards, had a lovely dinner at Twist.
And like birds we'll fly
Up into the sky
Our love will survive.
-"Into the Sun", Sean Lennon
I love my Arnold.
*Neva, Ramon, Quark, Chiko: thanks for remembering. (:
11:38 AM
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April 7, 2002
Graphic Classics is a new series of books for the contemporary adult reader. Each issue features the works of one classic author presented in comics and heavily-illustrated-stories form by some of the best artists working today in the fields of comics, book illustration and fine arts.
My Arnold's work will be featured in the H.P. Lovecraft issue, to be released in October of this year.
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Wow, miss Indi whipped up this really cool site for the Adam-zine project I mentioned a few days back.
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Over the weekend, we:
1. saw Ice Age! (with Emil, Aimee, and Robert)
2. discovered yet another fun Cheapass™ game -- Captain Park's Imaginary Polar Expedition (with the CQ gang)
3. found out that two of our favorite date places have closed down: Struan & Tangs El Pueblo, and Garlic Rose along Nakpil. (*sigh* Eastwood is evil.)
07:16 PM
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April 4, 2002
Arnold and I got to watch the side-splittingly funny Hong Kong movie Shaolin Soccer with our friends Robert and Emil at the latter's home yesterday. Don't let the title turn you off*, the movie is actually a brilliant piece of work -- well-directed (by Stephen Chow who also plays the lead guy) and full of unexpected twists and hilarious Chinese in-jokes (which everyone will 'get' anyway). There are moments that border on slapstick comedy but the succeeding scenes will make up for it in either originality or funny-ness, I assure you. For the record, Mr. Knowles wasn't kidding when he said it was cool.
Curious now? Here's the trailer.
*It will be shown in the US as 'KungFu Football'.
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Ooh, a collection of Science Fiction Cool Stuff. (Includes Tron's Light Cycles, Luke Skywalker's Speeder Bike, and Doc Emmet Brown's DeLorean.
08:16 PM
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What will the bookstore of the future be like? It may well do away with rows upon rows of shelved titles and look more like an Internet cafe with digital printing and binding facilities out the back. It may allow customers to select any title in the history of publishing and automatically print and bind that book in the time it takes to drink a cafe latte.
Print on Demand (POD) is rapidly changing the way books are printed, published and consumed worldwide. The first POD facilities are already up and running in Australia, both at point-of-sale and publisher level.
(via the EArtPh mailing list)
12:12 PM
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This week saw the passing of two Filipino National Artists: composer Lucio San Pedro, 89, and lyricist Levi Celerio, 91. Both have enriched the Philippines with their gifts of music and musical poetry respectively, and combined, they are the geniuses behind the classic Tagalog lullaby Sa Ugoy ng Duyan (As the Hammock Sways). Sadly, the media fails to give them the attention they deserve*. Rest in peace, maestros.
*Yet they see it fit to broadcast a matinee idol's wake (with updates by the hour, everyday) and funeral rites. Whatever happened to solemnity?
08:11 AM
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April 3, 2002
We gotta hand it to the Japanese, their culture really shines through in every art form: film, literature, design -- be it classic or contemporary. Yesterday, Arnold and I saw (and drooled over) the Discover Japan Through Contemporary Posters exhibition at ShangriLa Plaza Mall. (It's running 'til April 9, Manila folks).
It's a shame I couldn't find a link to the actual exhibit so am instead directing you to the Tokyo Type Directors Annual Awards where you can see some of the kind of beautiful art I'm talking about.
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Speaking of Japan, my dad is a "Visiting Professor" at the University of Tsukuba (again) where the schoolyear officially started last Monday.
09:01 AM
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April 2, 2002
The Oblique Strategies evolved from me being in a number of working situations when the panic of the situation tended to make me quickly forget that there were others ways of working and that there were tangential ways of attacking problems that were in many senses more interesting than the direct head-on approach. - Brian Eno
Find a strategy to incorporate into your daily routine.
08:29 AM
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A robot named Cynthia?
My cyborg-namesake is the brainchild of industrial robot designers Dick Becker and Roger Gay. Getting a bit fed up of being asked "Does it make tea?", they decided to design a robot that could do better - one that could fix cocktails.You can watch her in action at (what is said to be) the world's first Robotic Bar and Restaurant in Tooley Street, London. More cool robots are here
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Over the weekend, Arnold took me to see The Time Machine. Critics have ripped the film to shreds, and perhapss they had good reason to do so, but the movie had an effect on me that's entirely personal*, no bad review can spoil it. (By the way, the acting was really just so-so but the production design and special effects are something to behold.)
*I guess it just reminded me that life is fleeting and so we have to savor it one day at a time.
07:53 AM
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April 1, 2002
Actor Rico Yan's death was due to bangungot, the scientific explanation being hemorrhagic pancreatitis resulting to cardiac arrest. Also known as "nightmare death", Filipinos attribute the syndrome to going to bed right after a heavy meal but according to research, nutritional problems, congenital defects in the heart, and stress may all be co-factors that contribute to the sudden deaths. Incidentally, Arnold has it that bangungot is exclusive to Southeast Asian males.
A former schoolmate met the same fate years ago, as many others who were not as famous as Yan have, but even then bangungot has always been regarded as a folk myth all these years because there really hasn't been any good information campaign on it*.
*Ahh, my crystal ball tells me that any one of the award-crazy local ad agencies will capitalize on the situation and at least one full blown 'bangungot campaign' will come out within the year. (I was in the biz long enough to know how their brains work.) Well it's a win-win situation anyway: both audience and advertiser will benefit.
10:55 AM
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A nugget of wisdom from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe:
"... when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor's stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backward."
Hoping you all had (or are having) a meaningful Easter holiday.
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I found some interesting easter eggs today:
ï Bart's voice egg
ï George Washington University and Seinfeld
ï The underlying message in Smashing Pumpkins' Galapagos
ï The Pinkerton Map
ï October is in The Best of U2?
01:37 AM
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