Author: elizavictoria

pizza monday

Monday night, we were on our way from Makati to QC. Jaykie wanted to eat somewhere, and I mentioned Domino’s.

He seemed pretty excited haha. He said he hadn’t had Domino’s pizza in a long while. The last time I had Domino’s was in grade school! There was a Domino’s branch near our home, but it folded I think only after a year.

Anyway I liked their ordering system. Your name appears on a screen, plus the number of minutes before your order can be served, and the status of the pizza (IN OVEN, etc.). Pretty cool.

The pasta (I had bolognese) was blah but the pizza’s pretty good. We had Domino’s Deluxe. The pizza remained soft even after it went cold.

* * *

Fantastique Unfettered has reviewed the third issue of Stone Telling 3. :)

‘reunion’ recorded – now live!

Remember this announcement? Well the podcast for “Reunion” is now available for download!

Many thanks to Elyss Punsalan and reader Solo Galura. I’m thrilled. :)

Running Time 36m 53s

For the merry month of May, Pakinggan Pilipinas presents the prize-winning short story “REUNION”, written by Eliza Victoria. It’s narrated for us by Solo Galura, an architect based in Quezon City. The story was published in 2009 in the Philippines Free Press, and won the Grand Prize for fiction in the magazine’s 2010 Literary Awards.

Eliza’s fiction and poetry have appeared in various publications, locally and abroad. She has also received the Palanca award for her poetry. And if you’d like to read more of Eliza’s recent works, you could look for them in Stone Telling, Kritika Kultura, and Story Quarterly. She will also have a story in the upcoming sixth volume of the Philippine Speculative Fiction anthology series.

And by the way, do drop by at the year’s most awaited launch:

PHILIPPINE SPECULATIVE FICTION VOL. 6
Edited by Nikki Alfar and Kate Aton-Osias
Book Launch on 28th May, 2011, Saturday
U-View Theatre, Basement of Fully Booked
Bonifacio High Street

sherlock (bbc)

Watson: You don’t have a girlfriend, then.
Sherlock: Girlfriend? No, not really my area.
Watson: Mm. Oh, right. Do you have a…boyfriend? Which is fine, by the way.
Sherlock: I know it’s fine.
Watson: So you’ve got a boyfriend then.
Sherlock: No.
Watson: Right. OK. You’re unattached. Like me. Fine. Good.
Sherlock: John, erm…I think you should know that I consider myself married to my work, and while I’m flattered, I’m really not looking for any –
Watson: No, I’m…not asking. No. I’m just saying, it’s all fine.
Sherlock: Good. Thank you.
Sherlock (BBC) 1×01 A Study in Pink
Love it. Love it love it love it. (I’ve seen just the first two episodes; I’ll see the last ep of Series 1 soon.) Now I’m trying to find a way to finally see Dr. Who.

some love for “monsters”

From reviewer and SF columnist, Rich Horton:

Anthologies from Elsewhere, 2010

I’ve already covered 5 anthologies each from the UK and Australia, but I saw two more from outside the US. These were: Philippine Speculative Fiction 5, edited by Nikki Alfar and Vincent Michael Simbulan (Philippines); and Tesseracts 14, edited by John Robert Colombo and Brett Alexander Savory (Canada).

The two books between them contained 43 new stories: 5 novelettes and 38 short stories (three short-short), for a total of just over 200,000 words of new short fiction. 19 of the stories were by women (44%), and 18 were SF (42%).

Highlights from Philippine Speculative Fiction 5 include Joseph Anthony Montecillo’s “New Toy”, Andrew Drilon’s “A Game of Quam”, Eliza Victoria’s “Monsters”, and Dean Francis Alfar’s “Strange Weather”. From Tesseracts 14, I liked L. L. Hannett’s “Soil from my Fingers”, Claude Lalumiere’s “Vermilion Dreams: The Complete Works of Bram Jameson”, and Daniel Sernine’s “Nights in White Linen”.

Rich Horton writes regular columns for Locus (on short science fiction) and Black Gate (on the history of SF), and further reviews for Fantasy Magazine, SF Site, and other publications.

PSF V is still available in bookstores. ;)

psf 6 book launch has a date!

Philippine Speculative Fiction Vol. 6 will be launched on May 28th, a Saturday, 5 pm, at the U-View Theater, Fully Booked, at the Fort. I have a story here. See you at the launch! :)

stilts

Maundy Thursday’s the only day the entire department is available to go anywhere as a group (no newspaper for Good Friday so the office is closed), and this year we grabbed the opportunity.

We went on a daytrip (8 am to 6 pm) to Stilts in Calatagan, Batangas. Left Makati at 4:30 a.m. We were able to arrive and leave on time, it was ridiculous. On the itinerary: lunch on the beach, swim, camwhore, dinner on the way home. Special thanks to Boss Kate for making it all happen.

Her notes: “Technical notes re this trip: Entrance to Stilts was at P350/head (daytour). Since we brought in our own food and drinks, we also had to pay corkage of P100/head. (Food at the resort was around P300/meal). We also rented an open hut good for max of 15pax for P850. How to get there:View map here. Rented a van for P3,500, excluding gas and toll fees.”

Photos from Ate Julie, Andrea and Kate, Almi, and my camera.

I was happy to see that the beach wasn’t crowded at all. (Even though we ran out of parking space.)

We were given green mango juice as a welcome drink. Sour and yummy.

The Research Team: Marielle, Almi, Schatzi, Lawrence, me, Kate (plus Andrea and Jaykie!)
My beachmates.

Lunch was Andok’s chicken!

Stilts also has a pool –

Those were Jaykie's legs. Definitely Lawrence's idea.

and a raft, to fulfill your camwhoring needs.

I have never been in a successful jump shot before. UNTIL NOW BWAHAHA.

See Jaykie jump! Howeeee!

Final pose before packing up:

Wheeee wiiiiind.

The water was cold and the beach was stony but the weather was fine and the company was great and the place was beautiful. I had fun! Next year uli!

reviews galore

Vacation = DVD marathon.

1. The Rite


I’ve seen The Exorcist and The Exorcism of Emily Rose, but when the trailer for The Rite appeared in cinemas I decided to skip watching it during its run because I have had enough of exorcism films. What else can they possibly say that haven’t been said?

But I enjoyed The Rite because it is filled with believable people, and it argues with exorcism while also taking it seriously. The exorcism professor in Rome mentions psychosis and psychiatric measures, and I am pleased with the show of logic. The protagonist himself is a skeptic. “You should fear me, mortal,” says the demon inside the possessed girl, and exorcism student Michael Kovak replies, “How can I fear you when you don’t even exist?”, which understandably shuts the demon up.

Father Lucas (Anthony Hopkins) is the funniest exorcist I have ever seen in a film. He’s quite a character. During an exorcism his phone rings and he says into the receiver, “I’m in the middle of something right now.” Exactly what I’d imagine a long-time exorcist would say, if his cell phone’s ringtone suddenly cut through the Latin prayers. If I ever met Father Lucas, I’d have a chat with him.

2. The Roommate


A straightforward, no-frills, psychological suspense film. What makes it disturbing for me is that I actually like the roommate character. Not a bar person, silent, good listener, understands and appreciates art, and has heaps of clothes you can borrow. Too bad she’s insane.

3. 21


A group of MIT students are recruited by their professor to count cards at Blackjack. I still don’t understand the Math (“the simple Math”) but this film is enjoyable.

4. House

Finished Season 6. The plot’s going everywhere now but I still love you, Dr. House.

5. Burn Notice

Finished the latest season. A covert-ops spy receives a burn notice and finds himself with no job, no money, and no clue as to what happened to his records. If you want something fun and light, watch this.