Month: September 2012

buffet by the bay

We went to Vikings on Sunday. Felt like pigging out for lunch. They have a good spread, caviar and the works. Just a bit pricey. Minsan lang naman.

The bay, sun behind a cloud.

I haven’t been sleeping well lately. Or: I’d sleep and still wake up tired. I missed work on Monday due to a raging headache. I haven’t been writing. I feel like I’ve lost my fire.

I need a new bay to look at. A beach. White sand. Good food. Warm bed. Ten to twelve hours of uninterrupted sleep.

Everyone can benefit from that.

Yikes, what is this post. How are you? I hope you are doing better than me.

the witnesses are gone

The Witnesses Are GoneThe Witnesses Are Gone by Joel Lane

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Read this novella in one sitting. Martin Swann finds an old videotape of an unsettling film by French director Jean Rien, and becomes obsessed in finding more about the auteur. Swann experiences an unnamed terror, a terrible unease, while overseas another kind of terror escalates as the US wages war against Iraq. Loved this. The language gave the story an ethereal quality, as though it were a dream.

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kikomachine komix #7

Sorrowful, Sorrowful Mysteries! (Kikomachine Komix, #7)Sorrowful, Sorrowful Mysteries! by Manix Abrera

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

One can say this about all of the komix in this series: Manix Abrera can talk about philosophy, abstract ideas, and social ills with wit and humor, and still manage to be accessible and not at all condescending.

I think I laughed more here than in the previous volume. Can’t wait for the next chapters in this saga.

Naks. Saga. ;)

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‘a bottle of storm clouds’ review on rappler

Rappler contributor Jerald Uy reviews A Bottle of Storm Clouds:

If there is one thing [Eliza Victoria’s] first collection of short stories, A Bottle of Storm Clouds, has shown, it’s that her sensibility as a news-oriented person can be a factor in weaving stories that feel so relevant and Filipino — characters and settings beyond the American lovestruck vampires and British lightning-scarred wizards Filipino bookworms know.

Don’t expect the usual tales starring your friendly neighborhood aswang and that snake-man who lives under women’s fitting rooms in this book.

Victoria’s characters — though plucked from the stories of our lolo and lola — are refreshing.

…

A news-savvy reader can spot the various references in the short stories that make the reading experience more enjoyable: the Guinsaugon landslide, the Oakwood mutiny, the Rizal Day bombing and even the time the President extended the operating hours of the MRT to appease call center agents.

…

If you haven’t been introduced to Filipino speculative fiction, I ask you to do yourself a favor and get yourself a copy of “A Bottle of Storm Clouds.”

Read the complete review here. Contains some mild spoilers, so be warned.

Hallelujah for pointing out the news item references,  Mr. Uy! The news very much informs some of my stories in this collection.

A Bottle of Storm Clouds, published by Visprint, is still available in all major bookstores, folks! Grab a copy. :)

dredd

I have very, very vague memories of Sylvester Stallone as the perpetually grimacing Judge Dredd (from the film adaptation that strayed from the source material and became a commercial and critical disappointment), and I haven’t read any of the 2000 AD titles where the character appears, but it doesn’t matter: Dredd is that rare kind of science fiction film that immerses the audience in a fleshed-out world without resorting to infodumps and endless exposition.

Judge Dredd (Karl Urban) is a member of a group of urban cops called “Judges”, who has the combined powers of a policeman,  judge, jury, and instant executioner. They maintain order in the American wasteland of Mega City One, which runs from Boston to Washington DC. During a routine day, Dredd rides out with a rookie named Anderson (Olivia Thirlby) to a 200-storey building now controlled by drug lord Ma-Ma (Lena Headey) after the Ma-Ma gang wins in a bloody turf war.

This is not an origin story. It is a routine day on the job of a policeman in a world so bleak and ruined that the Judges become a necessity. This is the world. This is the crime. These are the Judges. This is what they must do. It is a straightforward action film that only hints at the past lives and tragedies of Anderson and Ma-Ma. Of Judge Dredd’s past we will know nothing at all. We don’t know if his thirst for justice is propelled by a personal experience. In this film at least, he is more of a symbol than an actual character. Not once does he take off his helmet.

The script is by Alex Garland, one of my favorite screenwriters and novelists. I absolutely loved the look and atmosphere of the film.  I would watch Dredd again.

podcast love

Brisk-walking last night. Almost ruined my knees. Ugh.

Listened to:

  • this amazing story by Felicity Shoulders called “Conditional Love“. Go download the MP3 or read the text. Did not see that ending coming. Totally crushed me.
  • Jessica Rules The Universe Podcast ep. 3, where Jessica Zafra talks to Mike of Walk and Eat. Listening to two friends talk about food while walking – the best. “I bet I know your URL more than you,” says Jessica, and Mike murmurs. Jessica laughs. “You don’t know what a URL is???”

Listened to this podcast before: Gwenn Galvez (Anvil Publishing) and Honey de Peralta (Flipside) talk about the Philippine Publishing industry on Quadro Kantos.

Continued reading Cloud Atlas. Fun and amazing so far.

movie mini-reviews; the weekend

Snow White and the Huntsman. A beautiful film, production-wise; you can’t go wrong with Colleen Atwood (costume), Greig Fraser (cinematography), and James Newton Howard (musical score, plus Florence & The Machine’s spirit-stirring closing song). My personal favorite is the fairy garden – it’s a visual delight. Not to mention that Charlize Theron is sublime as the Evil Queen.

But two things stick out like the thorns on the rose plucked by Snow White’s mother. One, why would Snow White pray “Our Father” in this fantasy setting? You give us dwarves, fairies, phantom armies, and a beautiful song, but cannot give us a believable pantheon, or even one made-up prayer? That pulled me out of the world I am trying to immerse myself in.

Two, what is the white hart from Princess Mononoke doing here?

Yet another rip-off scene that ruined my viewing.

I liked the brief background shown about the Evil Queen’s family, but I wished the writers explored the meaning of blood in Snow White’s universe. There is use of blood magic; the Queen can be undone by “fairest blood”; and Snow White is the destined, the life(blood) itself of the entire kingdom. Why? Exploring this would have given us a more three-dimensional Snow White.

Men In Black 3. Loved the first film, disappointed by the sequel. The third film redeemed the franchise. It’s a fun ride again! Griffin just may be my favorite MIB alien yet, next to the coffee-loving worms.

The Five-Year Engagement. Sweet, hilarious, and never feels false. Another home-run for Judd Apatow (producer).

The Dictator. I am a fan of Borat. I think it’s genius. Bruno was too much for me. Tried twice but could never finish it. When I heard that The Dictator is no longer a mockumentary,  I was worried Sacha Baron Cohen might crash and fall since he now had to juggle the jokes with a plot. No worries now. I still hate the toilet humor but this is laugh-out-loud fun.

Chronicle. The film features one of the more organic uses of the found footage format. Three high school students discover an alien artifact and develop telekinetic powers. Could have gone old fast but this an engaging story.

The Adjustment Bureau. First thought: This is based on a Philip K. Dick story? I thought it’s a rom-com! The film presents an idea that is neither new nor groundbreaking. Probably groundbreaking in ’54 but not now. The insight and premise could have been stirring, but the filmmakers went the cutesy, hokey route, making the story lose steam in the end.

*

The team went out on Friday to celebrate the boss’s birthday in this bar near the office. People got ridiculously drunk, and the boss’s bar tab got ridiculously high (so I heard.) Left early because someone drunkenly poured beer on my foot. That’s my cue to leave haha.

I went home and as expected the rain fell, the flood rose, and there is once again water inside the house. Sigh.

Have a blue-eyed kitten.

J and I have been together 35 months! Never mind the sad-looking guy in the back.

How was your weekend?