Year: 2011

zsa zsa zaturnnah: vack with a vengeance

Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino, Cultural Center of the Philippines. Starring Eula Valdez, Pinky Amador, Gabe Mercado, and Tuxqs Rutaquio.

I planned but was never able to catch this musical during its previous runs, so I was certainly happy to hear the news that it was going to be staged till March.

Front-row seats, bitches.

Look how close we were to the stage:

[taken during intermission; no copyright infringement intended]

Some comments:

– The sound system was wonky. It was hard to hear the lyrics of the solos,  and we were already on the front row. The chorus was fine, as well as the music, so I was wondering: was the music too loud, or were the soloists just not singing loudly enough? Sound during the spoken bits were okay too, though. Hm. It’s a shame, really. Perhaps they should just stage the musical in RCBC Plaza. I saw Avenue Q there last year, and I was able to hear every spoken/sung word onstage.

– The church scene is one of my favorite scenes from the comic book. I felt the crowd onstage wasn’t big enough in order to successfuly translate that scene.

– There were punch lines that got drowned by laughter incited by previous punch lines (usually ad-libbed by Gabe).

– The line,” Te, nagdamit ka pa“, didn’t make sense to me because Pinky Amador’s costume wasn’t sexy enough! There should be LESS! WAY LESS! (Lol, I think that’s just my personal taste showing.)

– Wilma Doesnt (who played Dina B.) looked lost, like she didn’t rehearse her movements. I caught her looking at her companions for leads several times.

Ang daming reklamo! :D But whatever, you should see this play. It will brighten your mood. There were moments when I couldn’t stop laughing.

– I enjoyed the performances. Gabe Mercado was high-larious, Pinky Amador and Tuxqs Rutaquio and “Aling Britney” were spot-on, and Eula Valdez – ganda mo teh! Ikaw na.

– I didn’t know Eula Valdez could sing. That was wonderful.

– I thought the Dodong-Ada confrontation scene was going to be cheesy, but it turned out cute.

– I love the audience. Someone said, “Girl, wag nang choosy!” during that scene hahaha!

The actors sat at a table to sign autographs after, but there was a crowd, so I just took pictures (with my cell phone).

“Flagganahng lumilipad na parang Frisbee!“

weigh-in blech

I am sad, kind reader. The weighing scale, it doesn’t move, it refuses to budge. It has stayed at 149.6 pounds since Feb. 2. Ack! But I know why, kind reader. Because I haven’t been exercising as much (last week I ran on Monday, no exercise Tuesday, I ran on Wednesday, no exercise Thursday, badminton Friday, no exercise Sat-Sun) AND I still eat a lot. I’ve consumed less fruits and veggies than previous weeks. Too much fries, too much carbs!

I resolve to:

  • eat less (or at least try, damn it)
  • eat healthy (bring back fruits and veggies!)
  • aim for a three-hour badminton session on Friday
  • run faster on Saturday, and run longer
  • try to run five times per week

But damn, kind reader, lists are easy but this weight loss thing is so damn haaaard.

free press + further story pimpage

I love that Philippines Free Press has already updated its website. New stories/poems every week!

Some recommendations:

“The Battle of Ayala” by Glenn Diaz

“Two Poems” by Allan Justo Pastrana

the divining that doesn’t reach the ear, as all hear,
from the gut, pure animal pain instead when the car

they’re in passes by—so what of the poor pig lying
near the gutter, writhing for being alive still, the throat

slit, from where too much blood gushed,
from what seems to be the only opening, like a window

alone that you lean to, pocket of air, the middle
you once dreamed about, that is as hollow as what a body

can be made of. That no one recalls the last word. That no-
body makes a sound—

* * *

Another thing I love: that friends and fellow writers are telling me that they enjoyed “Summer Evening“, with Tin Lao saying it’s “sick, a la Inglorious Basterds/Pulp Fiction”.

Go read! /whore

one for vanilla

My story, “Summer Evening“, is in the Winter Issue of Vanilla. Click and read!

On the fiery front porch, her back to the screen door, Amarilis stretched her bare legs and stared at the parked car. It was parked right across their house, almost in front of their gate. Amarilis was holding a yellow bell she had plucked from the garden in one hand. She played with the flower, twiddled the stem with her fingers. A few minutes later two men approached the car. She didn’t see where they came from. One had stubble on his face. This one took his time opening the door of the car. He was looking over his shoulder. Amarilis knew he was looking at her, at her bare legs. She was wearing a short denim skirt. Amarilis placed the yellow bell lightly against her knee, twiddled the stem with her fingers. She didn’t like the look he was giving her. Read more.

the week

Monday to Wednesday, work, had yummy vegetarian siopao for the first time, planned to buy more siopao and weigh myself in the company clinic on Thursday.

Thursday, wasn’t able to go to work, so no siopao, and I still don’t know my weight! But it was the 16th month with Jaykie, the bright spot in my week after Valentine’s Day, so later that night we went out and had dinner at Friday’s in Morato. Photo!


I had fish (Tortilla Fish meal, with fries instead of savory rice)! Because I still couldn’t trust my wonky, gas-filled stomach.

(Addendum to Thursday: Jaykie’s mother brought us sandwiches and red iced tea from the local deli, which was awfully sweet of her. Later in the day, I was also able to buy tickets to the Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah musical! Can’t wait!)

Friday is badminton day! I insisted on two hours of badminton, but after an hour and a half I was ready to quit. But badminton’s fun! Jaykie said I’m improving. (My new score record: 16-21. Jaykie always wins of course.) Lunch at that Persian place in UP Diliman, where I had their yogurt shake.

Saturday I needed to get up early, not to jog, as per usual, but to attend a meeting. Sigh. But, you know, free lunch. I tried having half-rice for lunch, but I felt really full after. Shouldn’t have done that. Dinner at Brothers Burger with Jaykie, then white wine, for no reason at all.

I wonder what my weight is now.

food and fiction

Vegetarian siopao! Two office mates brought these to the office. I bought two for P50. They are awesome.

Speaking of awesome, check out these two short stories I recently discovered online:

Things You Don’t Know by Ian Rosales Casocot

The Depressed Person by David Foster Wallace

the kobayashi maru of love; showbiz lengua

Howee Pinoy non-fic. :)

The Kobayashi Maru of Love by Carljoe Javier

Oh to be the writer’s (former) other. I suppose the ex (“Cha”) mentioned in this collection of essays understood what she was getting into when she first started dating author Carljoe: she would be written about, turned into a muse and exalted during moments of glory, and destroyed after that final act of departure.

But fear not, “Cha” and friends of “Cha” – she isn’t murdered here. She is alluded to, cried over, pined for (sometimes), but this book, ultimately, isn’t about her. It’s about Carljoe. The object of the (Kobayashi Maru) game is not to malign the girl, but to let her go.

The book is divided into three parts. Part I, two essays written while C and C were still together, was the book that never came to be. Carljoe said in his preface that he originally wanted to write a book about his relationship, but alas, the relationship ended in a break-up. We will not be told what happened exactly, but there are references to “infidelity”.

Part II are seven short essays written (presumably) a week after the break-up. The pain is here. Heavy stuff. But Part III shows Carljoe escaping the shackles and the hurt of that week, trying to pick up girls in bookstores, dancing with metrosexuals, etc.

(Venson Evangelista, a trader burned to death in January, was a high school friend of Carljoe’s and is mentioned in one of the essays. It was rattling, saddening, to see his name.)

It’s a fun read, bright and breezy. This is a self-published book, so it might be hard to find. I bought my copy in Sputnik in Cubao X, but you can go message Carljoe on his FB here to ask how you can buy his book.

And you know what? He’s now “in a relationship”.

Showbiz Lengua by Jose F. Lacaba

I write, I love language, I love its sounds and how it flows, but I am no grammarian, I am no lexicographer, I am no Lenguador, so this book is an absolute treat for me. Lacaba (or Sir Pete – he was my professor in Feature Writing) in this book primarily dissects the origin and meaning of words used in showbiz, but he loves giving random word trivia as well. For example, I didn’t know that siyam-siyam (Inabot na ng siyam-siyam ang hearing.) refers to typhoons that take days – almost as long as a novena (novem – nine) – before leaving. And did you know that the word “awit” went through a semantic change via “generalization”? Originally, in literature, an “awit” is a form with four lines per stanza and 12 syllables per line and with one rhyme scheme, like Leron leron sinta puno ng papaya/Dala-dala’y buslo sisidlan ng bunga etc. But awit later on became synonymous to song, any song at all, regardless of metric count.

I learned a lot from this book.

 

The Mighty Reading List!

Saturday

Feast for Crows

The Kobayashi Maru of Love

Showbiz Lengua

PGS Horror issue

Floating Dragon

El Bimbo Variations

The Tesseract

The Dispossessed

100 Bullets

Our Story Begins