May 31, 2002
Hey, this site is now one year old! Thanks to all of you keeping this blog alive with comments and guestbook entries.
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1. You're almost never behind in global events and, care of my Filipino reads, chismis, because maintaining a weblog requires reading a lot of news sites for up-to-the-minute cool bits of info (or if you're lazy like me, Daypop alone does it pretty well) .
2. As impersonal as it may sound, a blog is a good way of letting family and offline friends know that you're still alive and just a mouse click away. Just don't let it take the place of e-mail.
3. Because they read how you think, people tend to find you more approachable. Arnold and I have met a lot of extraordinary, like-minded people online, and have I mentioned that we've gotten a lot of project proposals via this site? (:
4. You become part of a community. Somehow a week isn't complete without knowing what Neva is busy with, what books Indi & co. are reading, who Meggie is crushing on at the moment, and what all these nice folks whose words have reached out to my end of the www are currently up to.
5. And yes, blogging takes quite a big chunk of your time, so if you have an addiction starting, consider yourself warned.
On that note, I'm signing off for now.
And so, with 12 months under my belt, I'd like to share a few things I've learned about having a weblog:
10:03 AM
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May 29, 2002
Arn and I got to see the new Greenbelt 2 and 3 more thoroughly yesterday when we went to Makati to meet up with friends Ramon, Neva, and Chris. Only a handful of establishments are open but the place is truly a sight to behold: huge chandeliers in the theatres, marble flooring, cobblestone pathways, and gardens everywhere! The transformation from the old park to the mostly-open-air mall is so drastic that we've already forgotten how forlorn the old Greenbelt Park looked like.
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Probably the only thing I miss about working in Makati is having lunch with the girls. Now that almost everyone's happily attached (...Joany, soon.) and either away in Vancouver (Naomi that's you) or, as with Tippi and myself, busy with non-advertising-related work, getting together for lunch has now become a major event.
Recently, we regrouped "to celebrate Pia's engagement, Peachy's Clio, and (absentee) Sheila's award-winning streak", although we know that it was just an excuse to simply catch up. Seeing each other once in 2 months is a far cry from the daily girl-talk sessions we used to drag ourselves out of bed to the office for.
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On a different note: If you've noticed that CCHQ sells more indie titles now, you have Ramon to thank. He's been giving them advice on which titles/authors to stock their shelves more of (Alan Moore, Warren Ellis, Chris Ware, etc), and Nev says that his suggestions have all been prime movers so far.
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New find: The Red Dot Gallery Cafe, a mini-restaurant and art gallery along Perea St, named after the red dot that gallery managers paste on one corner of a painting to indicate that it's been sold. Great concept, very interesting food. (Ice cream-less banana splits, anyone?)
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Finally! Another offline friend has a blog. Say hello to my dear friend Dindi, I mean, Meg! Be nice to her now.
11:05 AM
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May 25, 2002
Cynthia Malaran Headquarters is by far, the most exciting designer's portfolio I've ever come across in a long time. Here, knock yourselves out.
(link via MaArte)
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How accessible are you, professionally speaking? If someone canít type your name into a search engine, any search engine, and come up with a current e-mail address or phone number within the first dozen or so clicks, you are effectively out of play.
- Motion Design guru Melanie talks about self-promotion online.
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Right, my Arn and I are off to see Death to Smoochy. Will write about it (or not) soon. Have a good weekend!
08:48 AM
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May 23, 2002
Did you know that there's a Playstation game that has a Filipina heroine?
Sampaguita is one of the games in the Yarudora RPG Series in which amnesia is the common theme. In this game, the amnesiac heroine is from the Philippines - a girl named Maria Santos who the player finds in the rain and brings home, only to discover a gun in her possesion.
Unfortunately, the game is in Japanese but it's worth a look-through, if only to admire Shirow Masamune's gorgeous art.
Sampaguita lei-selling kids and jeepneys are a familiar sight in Manila's streets.
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Astrid sure has a knack for finding gems at Booksale outlets: the complete set of Maus for only P190 (gee, what will Spiegelman think?), Moebius' Airtight Garage #3 for P115 (and Arnold and I had to mail-order for our copies for P700 each), and Shel Silverstein's A Light in the Attic for P70. Lucky girl.
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Speaking of rare finds, Arn and I were surprised and delighted to see a VCD of Krull at one of the video stalls in Cherry Foodarama.
 | Yep, smack in between discs of Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings, a copy of early 80s fantasy movie Krull. Power is fleeting; love is eternal. |
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The newly-redesigned MaArte.org has an interview with Arnold and yours truly. [Go]
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Philweaver-friend sites worth checking out:
ï Berger's portfolio
ï Zoorex' redesign
11:44 AM
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May 21, 2002
Over the weekend, Arnold & I watched AotC again. What can I say, we really did like it. Never mind that 90% of our friends didn't.
Honestly, I only caught the Star Wars fever when the characters guested on the Muppet Show in 1980. I clearly remember a Princess Leia-ified Miss Piggy and a hook-nosed Darth Gonzo.
Here are the movies in my order of preference:
1. The Empire Strikes Back.
2. Return of the Jedi.
3. A New Hope tied with Attack of the Clones.
.
.
.
4. The Phantom Menace
So how goes your list?
Links for fanboys (and girls) seriously considering going to the theatres in costume:
ï Attack of the Clothes
ï How to Get the Star Wars Look
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On a different note, we tried Afrodisia Grill along Annapolis for the first time last Saturday and had a good laugh at the witty on-topic menu items: Pokpok Chop (porkchop), Sisid (sisig, deconstructed), Susong Hubad (undressed kuhol), etc. The food was quite good -- generally spicy and served, aptly, hot.
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The talented Halina celebrated her birthday last week so do greet her when you can. I got to meet her sister Haya who happens to be the vocalist of Nancy Drool, how about that? Trivia for local music fans: Haya and Halina's names are immortalized in the Eraserheads' song "Alapaap".
10:30 AM
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May 17, 2002
So... liked the movie, did you?
We sure did. If you hated The Phantom Menace, AOTC should bring back the Star Wars believer in you.
*By the way, my Arn is part of the roving Star Wars exhibit, currently up at the Robinson's Galleria cinema lobby.
11:56 AM
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May 14, 2002
Battle Royale is the most shocking, mind-numbing movie I've seen in my life, bar none. In Arnold's words, "it's the Clockwork Orange of this generation".
Thundering out of Japan with the momentum of a runaway bullet train, Battle Royale is a unique action flick that roars onto the screen with the subtlety of a shotgun blast to the head. In a near-future Japan ravaged by economic collapse, the powers-that-be control rebellious youth through a violent competition. Every so often, a class of ninth-graders is selected at random to be dropped on a remote island. All of the kids are armed to the teeth, with the expectation that after three days, only one of them will be alive.
Think "Lord of the Flies" meets "Survivor", but darkly funny (yes, strangely enough) in a unique Japanese way. Download the trailer and movie clips for a sneak peek.
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Incidentally, the lead guy in Battle Royale is Takeshi Kitano -- more popularly known in the Philippines as Beat Takeshi in the campy Takeshi's Castle. Remember that show?
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 | Fantastic Plastic Machine is performing in Manila! Tickets are available for P350 at Tower Records. Is every-body hap-py? |
(Thanks for the info, Ramon & Neva).
A couple of years ago in Etherea (nyc), skinny bespectacled shop clerk guy ala "Dick" in High Fidelity eyes Sushi CDs in my hand and drawls "So you like Shibuya-kei yeah? Tanaka was here shopping for 7" records an hour ago". Star-struck me almost dropped my (still unpaid for) discs. At least now Arn and I will get a chance to see him in person, performing at that. Is every-body hap-py? (reverb)
11:56 PM
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May 10, 2002
Oh mighty Isis...
Remember Electra Woman and Dyna Girl? How about Gary Gnu? MT Promises (c/o Arnold)? Sigh, they just don't make TV kid shows now like they used to. Click here to remember the good old days (or see what the fuss is about, young gen-Y-er.)
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Speaking of retro, one thing I learned about fashion is that no style ever stays put, but they will always come back, so hang on to anything kitschy that you might have. For instance, have you noticed that puff-sleeved blouses are all the rage nowadays? My mom bought me lots of those when I was younger, but I didn't think they'd make a comeback this soon. (Aha, they still fit. Nu-ni-noo...*rummages thru closet*)
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I also found this cool retro Roy Lichtenstein-inspired blog layout via my referrers, of all places. Say hello to The Girl with Infrared Eyes.
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 | What if The Swedish Chef played Yoda... |
A Jedee's strengt floos frum zee Furce-a. Boot booere-a ooff zee derk seede-a. Unger, feer, eggresseeun; zee derk seede-a ooff zee Furce-a ere-a zeey. Bork bork bork! Ieseely zeey floo, qooeeck tu jueen yuoo in a feeght. Um de hur de hur de hur. Iff oonce-a yuoo stert doon zee derk pet, furefer veell it dumeenete-a yuoor desteeny, cunsoome-a yuoo it veell.
Dialectized with the, um, Dialectizer. There are currently eight dialects to choose from and meesa theenk Jarjar-speak should be in there too.
(link via our friend Luis K)
12:43 PM
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May 8, 2002
Our good buddy Quark along with rocket boy Avid are among the MTV Pilipinas 2002 nominees for directing the music videos of Monsterbot and Cheese, respectively:
Quark Henares puts a surreal comedic slant into Monsterbot's "Explosive" by casting the band's vocalist Diego Mapa as the host of a cheesy infomercial, an off-kilter style that recalls Spike Jonze' work with Weezer and Fat Boy Slim.
Avid Liongoren on the other hand, makes full use of his experience as an award winning webmaster and illustrator to Cheese's "Mottaka", employing individually painted frames and stop-motion animation.
Two words: Young blood! (Definitely what the local film/video industry needs more of.)
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 | "Ooo-wee-oo, and you're Mary Tyler Moore..." |
Speaking of Spike Jonze, I do love all his pre-Weapon of Choice/Praise You quirky videos, most notably Weezer's "Buddy Holly" and Sean Lennon's "Home". I remember telling my Arnold two years ago that if Rent was to be turned into a movie, Jonze should be the perfect director for it*.
Note: Spike Lee will direct the movie, if and when production pushes through. (His name is, after all, mentioned in the "Light My Candle" sequence.)
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"I see a lot of designers with good software skills, they know the latest effect, the latest style and the latest eye candy... there is a difference between design and style... I see a lot of stylists. There's only a handful of true designers. Conceptualization is sorely missing...", says fellow Weaver AJ Dimarucot re the common mistakes designers make. Read his entire interview.
Good point. As a designer, I've often felt the need to acquaint myself with whatever the kewl new DHTML or Flash trick is -- you know, just to keep up with the young ones -- but then again, at the end of the day, it's the content (and loading time!) that matters, not the fancy effects.
Update: To further stress this point, Luis P suggests a visit to Miniml, proof that functional and elegant design under 10k is possible.
01:39 PM
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May 6, 2002
Scene: My brother Calvin and me walking around Virra Mall's 1st floor lobby*.
Calvin: "Ate, look! Spider-man DVDs."
True enough, there were plastic DVD cases with the Spidey image plus Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst's names plastered on the cover.
Note: Spidey opened here simultaneously with, and even a few hours ahead of, US theatres and Arn and I even discussed that it's great that the "pirates" won't have enough time to make their illegal copies, for a change.
Me: (surprised) "You're right! Howdtheydothat so quickly?"
Calvin: (to the vendor) "Can we test your Spider-man DVD?"
Vendor pops disc in. A giant spider appears on the TV screen. And then, Dan Aykroyd.
Me: "Waitaminit, that's not Spider-man."
Vendor: "Ma'am this is Part One of Spider-man. What's showing in theatres is Part Two."
Cal and I just shook our heads and walked away, pitying the poor, trusting people who will unknowingly buy "Earth vs. The Spiders" instead of what they were initially after.
Lesson: Never trust the pirates. On a larger scale, never trust marketing in general.
*Virra Mall as you may have figured by now, is notorious for selling pirated DVDs, VCDs, and software. Yup, right in plain sight.
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I got a really nice note from Nikki who, as it turns out, is the girl behind Skylight, the winning personal site at the last Philippine Web Awards. I was actually one of those assigned to judge that particular category and her site just simply stood out among the 300+ entries. Go and see why.
11:27 AM
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May 4, 2002
Amazing! Sounds cheesy but that's a word that can aptly describe the combined action stunts/cgi special effects in one of our most-awaited movies of the year. Arn and I watched the first screening yesterday, liked it, and looped it for a second round. No links to reviews here, folks (of course it's not without flaw) -- I urge you to just run to the theatres and have fun.
On the left is a scene from the 1970s Amazing Spiderman. Compare it to today's version of the wall-crawling hero.
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For the Of Sentimental Value files : true-blue Sound of Music fans know that Nicholas Hammond of "Friedrich" fame played Spiderman in the late 70's TV movies.
 | Check out the costume. |
And who can forget the lovable non-speaking Spidey in CTW's The Electric Company in the mid-70's? That, by the way, was my very first exposure to the superhero world. (Ack, my age is showing.)
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More on comic book superhero series-turned-movies: Brendan Fraser tipped as new Superman.
(news via Emil)
11:28 AM
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May 1, 2002
Inspirational links for the day:
The Paper Moon: pretty cut-and-glue art by NYC-based designer Ida Pearle.
Creative Day: inspiration collective by Marie-Chantale.
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Non-work-related accomplishments this week:
1. Saw Rollerball. Wow. Never mind that it only got a 3% fresh Tomatometer rating, I never saw the original (Arnold did, naturally) so the concept knocked me out, in a 1984/A Clockwork Orange-ish kind of way.
2. Bought and watched Breakfast at Tiffany's VCD and learned that the repeated "I am a very stylish girl" voice over in Dmitri from Paris' "Une Very Stylish Fille"* was actually sampled from the movie.
*see my entry on Sacre Bleu.
3. Started reading Castle Waiting (again, thanks to Ramon for lending his copy. Incidentally, it was Neva's birthday yesterday, do greet her!).
4. Helped my brother design his new blog layout.
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Should I be flattered (or worried) that my portfolio site is being used in an online Portfolio-building Workshop? Here, look.
09:58 AM
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