Wanted: Library

I have a bunch of PDF books and read-by-email subscriptions, but I need to get my eyes off the screen. If I had access to a library, I'd start with these new acquisitions of the NTU (Singapore) library.

[via the Asian Communication Resource Center blog]

Setting up the studio

The last time I used a paintbrush was when I made a sign for my door so that nobody would have trouble finding my room. Now I have 52 of them, one for every week of the year.


The last time I worked with pigments, I had half-pans of watercolor. Now I have eight new tubes to open, in addition to some old ones.



My aprons of choice: Ateneo Chem!


Now the question is: where did I put my palette? I found a small one and plan to test if a discarded CD works just as well. The hole in the center is perfect.


But I have a relationship with my big pallette and I want it back. Then again, the canvas isn't massive, so I don't need to load a lot of color. It's kawaii.

cc them

I didn't mean copy-furnish in that definition left over from typewriter days (carbon copy). I mean in the Creative Commons way. I'm loving the music of these artists who make their songs available to everyone under cc licenses.

Josh Woodward wants you to download his music. And these are not 145 throwaway tunes, believe me.

The name sounds like a feminist punk rock outfit to me, but Hot Bitch Arsenal exceed expectations. "lusher than luscious jackson/more loco than moloko/even frou-ier than frou-frou/now with more cheeba than morcheeba" Winner. [image by kimyo]

Electric chaos

Power lines near Masinag Market

My brother thought that the title of Debbie Gibson's "Electric Youth" was "Electrocute". Cute.

Club Manila East part 2

The joy of color



I must say that without the smog, it wouldn't end up this dramatic

Club Manila East part 1

If you can't escape the summer heat, then stare it in the face. You can do that with the rest of the barangay at Club Manila East in Taytay, Rizal.

I think the best time to take photos is early in the morning before the park opens to the public. See?

I spent half an hour reviewing the basics of rowing with my dad on a plastic kayak. No wave pool or slide for me. But if there's a lesson I should have learned a long time ago, it's that I should stay away from karaoke except when I'm in a house.

Chocolate memories

I finally opened the Milka Joghurt-Waldbeer-Krokant I brought home from London. It's "milk chocolate with alpine milk filled with a forest fruit yoghurt cream filling and crocant", a curious sweet-and-sour chocolate I've come to love. I remember bringing it to Viv on my second visit the first time I tried it. Milka also makes me think of Hanna and after-lunch coffee, tea and chocolates at Ashwell. I've never seen this specific kind in Manila, though I'm pretty sure there's Milka here somewhere.

There is one brand I saw in Manila that made my heart leap: Ritter Sport. It reminds me of Irene and Elodie, who are Ritter Sport addicts. The price here is Manila isn't bad at all: between P62.50-68.50 for the 100g pack of (I counted 10 variants in stock) and P122.50 for the mix of nine bite-size pieces at SM Supermarket. The 100g pack lasts me a long time because I only take one or two squares at a time. My most unforgettable Ritter Sport moment has to be Encounter #1. Like music, food brings back memories, good and bad. Hahaha!

REX in their city

Architecture to transform the arts. What caught my attention is how REX (Ramus-Ella Architects) can revolutionize the arts through their building designs for arts spaces. Most of the REX architects, as well as their projects, were from OMA (Office of Metropolitan Architecture) New York, the North American office of the Rem Koolhas firm. Collaborative architecture over the starchitect? Now that's refreshing.

Take a look at two of their projects: the Museum Plaza in Louisville, Kentucky (expected completion 2011) and the Wyly Theater in Dallas, Texas (expected completion 2008).
Having a swimming pool in your gallery or easily changing your stage from proscenium to thrust to completely bare in a matter of minutes opens up an exciting range of possibilities.

Academics on the web

Extra! Extra!

Henry Jenkins on Why Academics Should Blog

UK Ofcom report on Social Networking

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I insist on the Filipinos' right to PAIL!

Pangea Day

In a month's time, it will be Pangea Day. I was skeptical about it when I first heard of it. Would a short film marathon change the world? Hmmm... But when I watched Jehane Nouraim's TED speech, I was convinced that this matters. Here are inspirational films to get you going.

For your mp3 collection, part 13

Annuals:"Sore"-sticks so much I can't hate it

The Black Hat Brigade:"Swords"-catchy barkada song

C-mon & Kypski:"Bumpy Road"-so E-heads to me

Forest City Lovers:"Don't Go"-magnetic instruments

Headlights:"TV"-made me forget AI

Heath Street:"Yellow Shoes"-catchy folk

Ida:"Late Blues"-slow dance

Immaculate Machine:"Dear Confessor"-cuter in Mandarin

Jim Noir:"Don't You Worry"-playable and contagious

John Vanderslice:"Me and My 424"-serious pop rock

Owen:"The Ghost of What Should've Been"-breakup aftermath

You gotta have a gimmick

This store in Cubao did. He certainly turns heads, but whether this rings in sales, I don't know.

aba @ Art Center, Megamall

Contemplative and relevant four-man show of social realists Baensantos, Delotavo, Habulan, and Ruiz. Images forceful visually and intellectually: graffiti, raining projectiles, Nazarenics, and gothic kariton. Presented by Finale Art File. Until April 15.

9 photographers: Shared Moods

Photographs worth talking about: Emil Davocol's B&W panoramas, Quincy Castillo's hazy fleeting moments, Peachy Concepcion's little girl portraits and Ernie Fajardo's monastic revelations.

Pardon if I wasn't paying attention, but I didn't quite get why they were put together.

Until April 8 at Greenbelt 3

Blessed are the Boyz

In-tro-duc-tion!

Are the most fervent believers the toughest of audiences? For a musical comedy like Altar Boyz, I thought so. Instead of screaming teenage girls, there were enough parishioners to fill a church and an entire congregation at Onstage Greenbelt, the most nuns I've seen since Holy Week at the Vatican. My first thought when I spotted the veils was: oh no. The countdown to the show set the mood and served as a warning, but they could still take the show at face value.

Oh me of little faith!

From the first musical number, JP Valerio (Matthew), Red Concepcion (Mark), Reuben Uy (Luke), Reb Atadero (Juan), and Chevy Mercado (Abraham) proved to skeptics that they "got the rhythm" in them and were worthy to be chosen. Mercado as the only Jew has a mad falsetto; Atadero as the Latino orphan had the Spanish speakers among the expat crowd giggling; Valerio as the boyband leader has refreshing matinee idol looks and a sweet voice to match; and Uy as the "exhausted one" is probably as close to Rain as it gets, and as makulit onstage as he is in real life. As for Concepcion, he has a soft, ehem, spot in my heart because he channels Jay Manuel and is as funny as hell, er, no, I meant Sister Act. (By mistake, I told him that he reminded me of Jai Rodriguez. At least I was close--Jai Rodriguez dyed his hair in Zanna, Don't!) I asked my mom who was her favorite. "Pare-pareho lang sila...Magagaling." Naks.

Speaking as a churchgoer, I wasn't offended by the show. I didn't feel that it made a mockery out of my beliefs or was blasphemous or sacrilegious. But you can't win everyone over. My mom wasn't offended, but surely my dad would have been. No matter how many people left the theater as non-believers of the show, I had no doubt that the number of non-believers in the Boyz's talent was zero. The Boyz gave their 100% for a full 80 minutes and never faltered or looked tired (though the sweat gave them away). Performing is their calling. "High energy," described one nun I overheard. If somebody out there is taking note of my prayers, they're simple: more polished, perfectly synchronized dance moves and a longer show. Sabi nila nothing is impossible with God, di ba? ;)

Care to mine this data?

[Discovered this year-old post that I somehow forgot to publish. Thanks, Blogger in draft!]


"Make sense of the world by having fun with statistics"

A bit dated, but very interesting. Gapminder World animates statistics of the different countries of the world, turning them into bubbles. Chart it, map it, cross two types of information together, watch a particular country or see the data move along a time line.

More tools and infor at the Gapminder website.

Reluctant

Wait a minute, I'm on to something here... Jon called me a reluctant feminist media scholar. Cindy called me a reluctant Facebook addict. So what am I not reluctant about? Excellent question. I'm the reluctant researcher, artist, performer, writer, blogger, fan. But I think what I'm really reluctant about is being boxed in, labeled, lumped with people who do not represent me at all. Yes, I play safe, practice self-censorship and make obvious, rational decisions. Generally. I do not want to hurt, offend or alienate, but that doesn't mean I'm the most boring person on earth, either. Ok, let's back this up with other people's photos of me. They don't exactly show me putting toilet paper into muddy portalets, screaming because the spinning chair in the science museum won't stop or exploring an unfamiliar, non-English-speaking city alone, but you get the picture. Then again, I haven't done anything particularly embarrassing or risky since December 31st (my cousins will kill me if I post photos). How shall we break this monotony?

Still, Life by Edel Rojas

Black-and-white aficionados are invited to view Edel Rojas’ photographs of industrial objects taken inside a manufacturing plant where is he currently employed. Also included are candid shots of children that express innocence and joy.

I only saw eight photos of the industrial objects (the guard said, "ito lang", sabay bukas ng ilaw). The collection is compact but has the visual impact you'd expect from a larger set. It's cool to know that it is possible for someone to not lose his sense of wonder in such a workplace as his.

Still, Life
April 2-17, 2008
The Alcove, Filipinas Heritage Library
Makati Avenue, Makati City
Tuesday to Saturday, 9am to 6pm

Podcast dependency

Although I don't own an iPod, I've become an iTunes person because of my podcast subscriptions. It just occurred to me that I could do a tally of my subscriptions. Here's what came up:

• news 1
• beauty/lifestyle 2
• music 2
• academic/thinkers 3
• art/entertainment 5
• language 6
• food 11

Care to share your screenshot/tally as well?

Pasta + gelato @ Amici

I didn't write about Amici the first time I ate there because I didn't feel that the food was special then. The pesto pasta was good value for the serving size, yes. But there were not enough pine nuts and garlic to give it flavor, though it had a lot of basil. The stracciatella gelato did not have choco chips, only some shavings, a letdown after the gelati in Rome.

I gave Amici a second try because I figured I wasn't smart in ordering. This time, I asked for one of their bestsellers: spinach cannelloni. It was creamy and cheesy, with so much spinach to make Popeye puff his pipe. I followed it with pistaschio gelato: good and green, though a bit too sweet. My guess is that there is more gelato in a plastic cup than in the metal one. Maybe that their way of making up for the presentation. I heard one customer swear by the chocolate gelato. She couldn't say anything but "sarap". Now that's a good sign.

Formerly Amici di Don Bosco, Amici is no longer run by the Salesians (my cousin said it is now under Red Ribbon). I'll come back to try their other pasta dishes and their pizzas. I doubt I'll try the Filipino food soon, though you can have it cafeteria-style. Pasta under P200, gelato for P45, an endless supply of ice and water. Overall, a pleasant place for lunch out.

Amici
Arnaiz corner Chino Roces
Makati City

April fool

That's what I am. I finally surrendered to Facebook after more than a year of unflinching resistance. I waited so long because I could imagine this scene in my head: stayingup until 3am in a friend-hunting frenzy. Good thing I'm finished with the dissertation!

As if this would stop anyone

I, the SNS newbie, was overwhelmed. Within the first 24 hours, I had 94 friends from 25 countries in 5 continents, and 77 more friends in the next 24 hours. It's good but not so good. I'm sure the OMGs and blast-from-the-past moments were not solely from my end.

I'm holding out with the applications primarily because I can't stand the clutter, plus I'm spending enough time online already. Bumgarner (2007) concludes:"Essentially, Facebook appears to operate primarily as a tool for the facilitation of gossip." I totally agree.