Aaaaahhh!!!

Lately I've been pining over the fact that I badly want to get my own limited edition copy of Anansi Boys at Fully Booked AND my funds are next to non-existent. I think about it everyday since it first became available, and I'm currently unable to concentrate because Nickee, my kabarkada from Fine Arts who is now based in L.A., sent me YM a few minutes ago.

Nickee: wawa ka naman [reacting to my status message: Tired and useless.]
starshuffler: yeah
Nickee: nabili ko na anansi boys mo, ang tanong na lang kung mapapasign ko :))
Nickee: hehehe
Nickee: anyway, kundiman, papadala ko pa rin sayo
Nickee: hardbound yun ha
starshuffler: OOHWOW!
starshuffler: anong hardbound?
Nickee: hardbound
starshuffler: ang alin?
Nickee: yung anansi boys?
Nickee: anuva
starshuffler: AHHHH
Nickee: nubayun
starshuffler: sorry. slow ako. hahaha... sabi ko sa iyo eh, useless ako ngayon
starshuffler: :))
Nickee: mukha nga eh
starshuffler: omaygas!!! tenkyu lowlah!!!
starshuffler: (tamo, delayed reaction pa)
starshuffler: hahaha
starshuffler: :-*
Nickee: isip ko pa nga kung bibilhin ko, kaso kakadyahe namang magpasign ng paperback lang hehe

AAAAAH!!! Ang saya-saya!!! I'm hoping she gets it signed on Sunday, but I'm already thankful that I now own a copy. (Thank you! Thank you, lowlah!) :-D

Nickee's sending it to me via her sister who will be visiting her at the end of October. The challenge now is how to wait patiently for November, when her sister comes back.

AAAAAH!!! Tama ba ito? Hindi na ako makatulog!!! ;-D

Looking back.

Shortly after I attended the Creative Industry Forum early this month, I e-mailed Dennis Marasigan of CCP to request for a transcription of Ambeth Ocampo's speech. I got Mr. Marasigan's e-mail today (uhm, actually yesterday) containing the requested manuscript which was published in two issues of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Read on my friends. :-)

LOOKING BACK:
Culture's impact on industry / Culture education
By Ambeth Ocampo
Inquirer News Service
Published on Page A15 of the September 14 and 16, 2005 issues of the Philippine Daily Inquirer


Culture’s impact on industry

WHEN the First Philippine Creative Industry Forum opened at the Cultural Center of the Philippines last week, I planned to attend as an observer. I wanted to hear and learn from the participants, but instead I found myself at the podium delivering remarks that I hoped were useful.

Culture (with a capital "C") is often misunderstood and there is a common misconception that it is something reserved for the rich or the elite, when it should be for everyone. This may explain why culture is often at the very bottom of the government's list of priorities (sometimes I think it's not on the list at all). Since the former Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS) was split up, we have yet to have a separate department for culture, sports, higher and technical education. Culture is now under the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, which is slowly learning from the experience of other countries (some smaller and not as developed as the Philippines) where culture does not have a very low priority because they speak the language everyone understands: money.

When artists create music, paintings, sculpture, literature, or film, these are considered under the realm of culture, but when they go into the market and translate their work into money, the culture component seems to disappear and the end product ends up in a different category. The same can be said of handicrafts, interior design, food and fashion, which are acknowledged as economic goods worthy of the Department of Trade and Industry's attention, and being trade goods, they are not considered products of culture or cultural industries anymore.

Why is culture dropped from cultural industries when it turns into money or economic indicators? Perhaps when the government sees and recognizes the economic benefits or impact of culture, it will sit up and pay attention. In the thick Philippine Medium-Term Development Plan, culture is mentioned in one sentence because we have not mapped out the terrain to see how it affects the GDP and GNP. One would wish the situation were different, but there it is.

To see how culture can effect changes in industry, we have to look into the issue of resources-natural, talent and manpower. We all know that the Philippines has a huge pool of talent, that as a people we have the capacity for greatness, but our resources are often underutilized because it is unrecognized or, worse, underdeveloped.

Let me give you some examples. On a visit to Romblon province last year, I was shocked to find a beautiful place by the sea and yet the best restaurant in town served me a welcome lunch of Norwegian salmon rather than the fresh catch of the day. I expected fresh fruit for dessert and got fruit fresh out of a can of imported fruit preserves. How can such a situation be possible? Now, that is an element of culture.

After lunch, I went to the market, as is my custom in any place I visit for the first time. One can learn many things from a market in terms of language, products, prices and the distinct ways that merchants display everything, from rubber slippers to dried fish. Walking through the tourist part of Romblon market, it was fairly obvious that everyone sold the same thing: Romblon marble. It may not be Carrara marble, but taken on its own merits, it was worth acquiring.

What did the people in this sleepy town do with their marble? They made them into tombstones, mortar and pestle. As a tourist, I asked myself: How many "lapida" [tomb markers] and "dikdikan" [mortars] do I want? How many lapida and dikdikan do I need? Come to think of it, how many lapida and dikdikan do they sell in a year? Here is a region that has skilled manpower and an almost inexhaustible natural resource, but their products are unimaginative. If culture comes in to introduce new designs and new uses of Romblon marble, that would go a long way in developing the industry and the province.

The same can be said of Baguio City. On my way there recently, I noticed what people take back with them from a trip to the summer capital: brooms, fresh vegetables, jars of strawberry jam/jelly, peanut brittle and "jaleyang ube." Fortunately, the market for those asthma-causing dust gatherers known as "everlasting" dried flowers has dwindled.

In the Baguio public market or in a tourist trap like Mines View Park, the bestsellers are: filigree silver objects, Cordillera woven blankets (which ignorant lowlanders use as accent pieces, not knowing that the most popular designs happen to be death blankets; what was woven to wrap a mummy or a corpse are now used as bedspreads). The giant narra spoon and fork that decorate many Filipino homes are concrete proof that our ancestors in the Cordilleras were giants. Last but not least, there is the "man in the barrel" and those erect wooden penis with scrotums that double as an ashtray. Those interested in the fairer sex can buy a wooden naked lady made into a backscratcher or, better still, a model with moving legs that double as "nut crackers."

Here we have another example of skilled manpower and wood supply, but look at the end products. That again is an issue for culture and cultural industries. The impact of culture on trade and industry has not yet been measured.

Culture education

ONE REASON culture is covered with too many misconceptions is that it is not fully integrated into our basic education curriculum. For obvious reasons, our present curriculum is focused on mastery of English, Science and Math. When you speak of culture, it is lumped into a strange creature called Hekasi, which is Heograpiya [Geography], Kasaysayan [History] and Sibika [Civics] all rolled into one. Culture is often associated with the arts, which in practical terms means drawing, music or dancing, rather than teaching children that culture is that which defines who we are and who we want to be. Perhaps we should teach children that culture shows us the nation and people we fail to be.

The National Commission for Culture and the Arts has been working on a Philippine Cultural Education Plan (PCEP) for the past five years, and when I took this as an area of concern, I was shown a cultural index in three volumes, one of them as thick as a phone directory. While I browsed through the bibliography and marveled at its content and structure as an academic, I asked myself if this would be useful to a mat weaver in Tawi-Tawi province or a "bulul" [wooden statue of native deity] carver in the Cordilleras. With some popularization, perhaps the PCEP could be implemented by the Department of Education.

The task is simple. In the six years that children are in grade school, what 10 pieces of art should they know by sight? What 10 books should they read aside from Jose Rizal's "Noli Me Tangere" and "El Filibusterismo"? What 10 tunes should they be able to sing aside from the National Anthem and "Ama Namin"? What dance movements should they learn aside from "ocho-ocho"? These seem to be basic inputs that will impart something common to all students throughout the archipelago and form a body of knowledge that will make them know and appreciate what it is to be Filipino.

I wouldn't be surprised if pre-school children today can recognize Ronald McDonald, the Jollibee mascot and Wendy's freckled mascot on sight but not know Fernando Amorsolo or Atang de la Rama were. Perhaps they know more about Mother Goose and Harry Potter than Lam-ang or Mariang Makiling. Drawing up a list of cultural icons is potentially contentious, but we have to start somewhere.

When we first presented the PCEP to a receptive group at the education department's Teachers Education Council, we insisted that culture should not be isolated in Hekasi. Culture should be taught across disciplines. When we teach students grammar, why do we allow the teachers to make clumsy examples of elementary sentences when we have a gold mine from the prose and poetry of Nick Joaquin, Amado Hernandez, Virgilio Almario and our other National Artists for Literature? When we teach children color, we can get examples from the works of Amorsolo and Jose Joya. When we teach geometric shapes, we can ask students to seek these out in the abstract works of Hernando Ocampo and Arturo Luz. Only when culture is taught across disciplines will people see culture in their everyday lives.

Culture can provide Filipinos with a context in which to see themselves. Culture will give us roots, to balance an education that presently gives us wings to soar and enables us to work abroad. We recently heard that Ballet Philippines lost their senior dancers to a headhunting expedition from Hong Kong Disneyland. While we understand that we cannot match the salaries being offered in Hong Kong, one should ask what happens to the talent honed over years of hard work and training. Trained for classical ballet, our dancers will not even be recognized as Filipinos because they will be inside a Mickey Mouse or Daisy Duck costume, like a fast-food mascot.

A generation before ours, Filipinos who went abroad to seek greener pastures aimed to make their bundle and come home to enjoy the fruits of their labor and sacrifice. What I find distressing these days is that people who plan to work overseas have little or no intention of returning. Now that is real brain drain.

It is also distressing that Nick Joaquin 50 years ago was quoted as saying, "There is so much stupidity in this country we should export it." When you look at the country today, you realize that we are exporting our best and brightest. Now that is something to worry about. When our best ballet dancers leave a vocation and the chance to perform "Swan Lake" in the Cultural Center of the Philippines to become a dancing teacup in Hong Kong Disneyland, that is terrible indeed.

The good news is that a younger generation of dancers has moved up in Ballet Philippines to wear the shoes of the senior dancers who we hope will be in Disneyland only temporarily. When the headhunters from Hong Kong made another raiding expedition, the younger ones did not bite. Their reason: "We want to dance." This is the difference when people have roots rather than wings. Maybe these young people have both wings and roots.

Furthermore, culture provides an appreciation for heritage and the environment. We leave heritage to Bambi Harper and Toti Villalon and take an example of culture and environment. Weep when you visit those imposing solid narra statues outside Barrio Fiesta Baguio. A sign proudly says, "This statue was made from a 200-year-old tree." Culture should teach us to care for the environment and see the irony of the concrete pine tree atop Session Road in Baguio City. The day that we have a live tree there in place of the concrete symbol of the City of Pines is the day when culture has taught us to see the difference between what is real and what is not.

Mobile conversations.

1.

On the way home, stuck in EDSA traffic:

Nico: Bebe! May bago na akong animal sounds, pinraktis ko kaninang umaga.
me: Talaga? Ano?
(Nico demonstrates.)
me: Waw!!! Elephant!!! Saan mo pinraktis, dito sa car?
Nico: Kuha ba?
me: Pwede!
(more elephant sounds + giggling)

2.

Still stuck in traffic:

me: Teka, ba't mo naman naisipan gumawa ng elephant sounds?
Nico: Wala, naisip ko lang.
me: Anong naisip mo lang?
Nico: Bakit ba? Walang pakelamanan.

3.

Sitting in the car while sipping our Starbucks beverages outside Gerry's Grill Marquinton where a showband is heard performing one cover of a cover after another:

me: If you were asked to play and sing three songs right now, which songs would you cover?
[I'm making this shorter, this is a staggered conversation infused with bits of off-tangent stuff.]
Nico: Drowning in your eyes.
Nico: Ever-changing mood by Style Council...
[There's a part where I asked who sang Drowning in your eyes and Nico replied, but I forgot that part already heh heh... and then there's more off-tangent conversation here.]
me: Kulang pa ng isa.
Nico: Ah mag-Jeff Buckley na lang ako! Last Goodbye.

*****

Today I had a Twilight's Calling issue 5 moment minus the fainting older sister, the scheming younger brother, and the classical musician making it to the contest (uhm, sorry, it's sort of a private reference-- but you'll know what I'm saying if you buy Mango JAM issue 5, out in two weeks! HEHE).

My waking hours were mostly spent in enclosed motorized vehicles. Therefore I wasn't able to get any work done today. Argh.

Or maybe--

--I just need a kick in the backside. :-P

I need a kickstart.

The downside of finishing a project is the difficulty to start/resume on another.

Gaaah. (o_O)

Alter-ego.

Ripped this quiz off one of our newest Mango JAM artists, Caroline.

You scored as Albus Dumbledore. Strong and powerful you admirably defend your world and your charges against those who would seek to harm them. However sometimes you can fail to do what you must because you care too much to cause suffering. Albus Dumbledore 85% Hermione Granger 80% Severus Snape 70% Harry Potter 60% Ron Weasley 60% Remus Lupin 60% Sirius Black 60% Draco Malfoy 50% Ginny Weasley 45% Lord Voldemort 45% Your Harry Potter Alter Ego Is...? created with QuizFarm.com

*****

Nico came over and we gave Kiwi her birthday gift. She looks happy naman, no? :-)

(Pardon the crappy webcam screenshot.)

Lookee!!!

Career! I did this a few minutes ago on Kiwi's birthday cake. (Mother baked it.) Whachutink? (n_n)v

[Edit: Hahaha pasmado kamay ko!!!]

For sale.

Nico's selling his barely-used, three-week old Audio-Technica ATH-EM7 GM Clip-On Headphones for Php2,500 (he bought it for PhP3,100). With it comes an extension cord, a neoprene carrying case, and its original packaging.

The ATH-EM7 sound is crisp and clear, with a relatively wide soundstage. It's a bit "bass shy" though... Nonetheless, for those of you wanting to upgrade the phones that come with your ipod / digital audio player, this would be a very nice option. It sounds great (that is, if you don't care too much for heavy bass), it's comfortable and it's stylish.

Interested? Please leave a message in the comments area, or email me.

Weekends are good.

This week is haggard week. I haven't updated for a while. [Edit: and this particular post has been sitting in draft mode for the longest time-- I'm too busy to even click on the publish button.] A few days left of September and I still have several deadlines to beat.

Even so, I always feel the need to put a limit to the number of hours I spend working. I think the recent emotional episodes are a result of losing count. (Yeah, that's the downside of freelancing.)

Months ago I made up a few of guidelines for myself: [1] going out on weekdays are incentive-driven which means I have to finish something before I allow myself to go out, [2] I can't go out on non-work-related things for more than 3 days in a week (excluding weekends, unless there's not much work left to do), and [3] weekends are cheat days (I love this one hehe)- I can stop working after lunch and spend the rest of my time doing whatever I want. Which means I can spend time with Nico and my friends, or watch dvds, or just stay in bed. There are exceptions to cheat days of course, depending on how much work is actually done during the week, and the demands of the people I work for/with. So far, this kind of self-motivation is working on me.

(Non-working weekends are still best.)

*****

Thursday I met up with Nico at Glorietta after work. We dropped by Pipers, hoping to check out Stan's stand up comedy thing, but left immediately when we found a private party there instead. We headed to SaGuijo for the Last Full Show gig, and stayed on until the Itchyworms set which we immensely enjoyed. We left right after, with happy feelings. (Happy feelings. Hahaha... Di ko ma-explain eh, hehe...)

*****

Yesterday Nico and I went to Sta. Mesa to look for a small guitar. We bought a kiddie-size 6-string (nylon) guitar with a cutaway for P650 (it came with a soft case and a pick). It's not the best of its kind (I don't like the color much either), but Nico and I think that it's a good thing for Kiwi to start on. (Kiwi is clueless about the guitar at the moment, we're giving it on her birthday next Tuesday.)

We dropped by Audio Den at G. Araneta afterwards. Oh, did I mention before that Nico is now obsessed with earphones/headphones? Well, he is. Anyway, we went there to check out if there's new gear stock and he signed up for a reservation.

From G. Araneta we headed to Gilmore where I bought a spindle of blank cds so I can back up finished projects (20GB worth! YAY!).

We had dinner at Shakeys in the area then moved to Cravings afterwards, for dessert. Feeling date kami hehe, but actually we were killing time for Nico's gig at Franches bar somewhere near the NGO country.

Forgetting Luna played four songs which I enjoyed. They were followed by the crazy boys from Kiko Machine. May black armpit wings na si Spiderdan! Hehe...

I was tired and sleepy when I got home, but I stayed up to work on Mango JAM issue 5.

*****

Puyat na puyat ako today. I slept sometime after 9 a.m., and woke up at 11 to finish something for work.

Nico dropped by while I was still in the shower and in the middle of a download (talk about multi-tasking huh). He patiently waited for me to finish, then we went to his house so he can jog on the treadmill while we watched Help. (I wanted to do the treadmill, too, but I figured the lack of sleep coupled with exercise will just kill me instantly.) I fell asleep on the den couch and woke up at the tail end of the movie.

After dinner we played around with Kiwi's guitar (hehe), then went to Metroeast to watch The Constant Gardener (upon Nico's mom's recommendation). It was depressingly good. Ralph Fiennes played the tormented soul part really well. And Nico got to see a lot of Rachel Weiss (and I mean a lot hehe). The movie's well written and beautifully shot. Go see it! (And take some Prozac with you, too, heh heh...) :-)

Seven (again).

I was tagged. I thought this would be an easy thing to answer, but no. I just browsed through my WMP library and picked my current seven best.

(Bakit kasi pito lang??? Hehe...)

*****

List seven of your favorite songs of the moment in your journal and force seven other people to repeat this process or a puppy somewhere in the world will be sad:

* Stars - Dubstar (Disgraceful)
I'll take our hearts outside, leave our lives behind. I'll watch the stars go out.

* Honestly - Zwan (Mary Star of the Sea)
There's no place that I could be without you.

* Watershed - Indigo Girls (Nomads Indians Saints)
I thought I knew my mind like the back of my hand.

* That's All I Wanna Do - Graham Coxon (The Sky is Too High)
I just want to be with you, that's all I wanna do.

* To the End - Blur (Parklife)
You and I collapsed in love. And it looks like we might have made it.

* When I'm Thinking About You - The Sundays (Static and Silence)
You can turn around and like where you are.

* Rudderless - The Lemonheads (It's a Shame About Ray)
Waiting for something to break, left my heart out to bake

TAG YOU! (Oh, you know I can't really force you, now can I? So I won't. Hehehe...) * Mr. K and/or KF * the god of thunder * No. 1 Fan * Marnie * Herb * Mida *

Totoo ba ang chismis---

--na pumapayat kami??? Hehehe ;-D

Nokia pic from last Saturday's dinner at Tia Maria's Cantina. :-)

*****

Sabi ni Nico batiin ko si Nuno ngayon kasi birthday niya, kaya sige na nga:

Happy birthday, Nuno!

Tell me why I don't like Mondays.

I wanna shoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoot the whole day down.

I just woke up with kaka feelings. :-P

*****

Yesterday Nico and his parents (jahe!) picked me up. After a short trip to the grocery (Ruffles Sour Cream and Cheddar, I *heart* you!) I went home with the Africas.

I brought several DVDs with me. Nico's Bowie-tripping lately (he declared himself a fan last night, too), so we watched behind-the-scenes footage from Labyrinth (and the movie as well) while Nico and I did some time on the treadmill.

*****

I hope the remaining 10 hours make up for this morning's kaka-ness. :-P There's so much work to do! Waaahhh! (T_T)

*sob*

Do you ever get the feeling of bursting into tears uncontrollably, and without fully knowing why?

I do.

It almost happened at the CCP last week. I told my seatmate about my being on the verge of crying, and she thought I was being emotional about the state of the Creative Industry in the Philippines 'Nakakalungkot naman kasi talaga eh,' she told me. I told her it wasn't that, but I did not explain further.

It almost happened yesterday afternoon while watching the t.v. station break during the cheerdance competition. It almost happened several times in front of the computer while working.

It almost happened in the Rizal Theater while Nico and I watched Bianca play a funny role at a Tanghalang Ateneo production.

It finally happened last night, in the car at the AdMU parking lot. Nico gave me a worried look (he noticed I was unusually down at the time) and kept asking me what's wrong.

*****

(Never ask me what's wrong when I'm on the verge. "What's wrong" and "Are you okay?" will simply open the tearducts and prompt more questions to which I have no answers.)

*****

I was fine by the time we arrived at Tia Maria's for late dinner. We talked, ate, we drank and we ate some more. Then I took home the leftover nachos and zombie.

I guess I just needed a good cry.

*sigh*

Cheer! Cheer!

The UP Pep Squad won second place at the UAAP cheerdancing competition. (UST beat them by a fraction of a point.) YAY! YAY!

(Kebs na 'yung basketball. Hehehe...)

*****

I'm waiting for Nico to pick me up. (We're going to watch his sister perform with TA.) I wonder what time he'll be coming...

All the lonely people, where do they all come from?

Ah, one of my favorite videoke songs-- Eleanor Rigby. :-)

Tara lets!

*****

Last night we had our third food fest this month. Lots of fresh-from-delivery Yellow Cab pizza and KFC chicken and chocomallow cake and ice cream. Nico came over and stuffed himself silly. (And I'm still on my sugar high. *burp*) Hindi na tama ito. :-þ

We watched Il Mare after dinner. Depressing but beautiful. (The subtitles were a bummer, though. Just like those things you find on Korean stationery. Heh heh...) Oh, and I want a house by the beach, too.

*sigh*

Typecast.

A link from Karen's blog just told me I scored 80 NWPM (net words per minute).

How cool is that? Hehe...

[edit]

I took a more comprehensive typing test and got the following results:

- Date: 2005-09-16 18:04
- Test Time: 02:00
- Gross Speed: 65 WPM
- Errors: 5
- Accuracy: 96%
- NET SPEED: 63 WPM

[/edit]

Oh wait... I'm supposed to be working... :-P

Pain in the ass.

Literally. Sakit ng pwet ko. My thighs, too. :-(

Yesterday, Honee and I made rubber foam props for her pre-school students' presentation on Saturday. I made three hats: an octopus (complete with 8 tentacles and pink freckles!), a fish, a crocodile. Honee made an apple with a worm, a bird headdress and kangaroo parts. Kaaliw. I told Honee to send me pics afterwards. Mukhang sulit naman 'yung pagod at puyat namin. :-)

Also yesterday, I signed a two-year (per-project basis) graphic design contract with British Council. Yihee... :-)

Seven.

Swiped this off the cross-eyed bear's bloggie---

Seven things that scare me
• heights (there are audio tapes to prove this and the accompanying hysteria)
• airplanes
• suspension bridges
• falling, and falling hard
• cockroaches (actually, kadiri lang talaga sila; the thought of making contact with one is the scary part)
• creepy commuters
• the ICU

Seven things I like the most
• movie marathons
• ukay olympics (I'm a self-proclaimed winner hehe)
• Snoopy
• tumanga ng tatlong araw na magkakasunod
• telebabad with Nico and close friends
• travelling (but I can't afford it huhuhu)
• dates with Nico

Seven random facts about me
• I'm ambidextrous most of the time. (There are uncooperative moments, you know.)
• I used to be part of a band in college. (We broke up before we got a gig. Heh heh...)
• I can be quick-witted and dense at the same time.
• I used to know and speak radio codes. (10-4! Di ba Marnie?)
• I own at least six pairs of maryjanes.
• I had my first paying illustrating gig 13 years ago-- an editorial cartoon on children's rights.
• I have opinions on almost everything. (My refusal to make one is a harsh opinion in itself. Heh heh...)

Seven important things in my bedroom
• Lampshade (Duh, madilim kaya kapag walang ilaw!?)
• T.V. (alarm clock ko 'yan)
• Stacks of books (I will put this under one entry. Marami talaga eh.)
• The overflowing clothes closet
• Blanket
• My stuffed bedside friends (also under one entry. May magtatampo kapag di kasali lahat.)
• Telephones (landline and mobile)

Seven things I plan to do before I die
• Travel. A lot.
• Publish a book.
• Move out of the house.
• Win the Noma. (HA! Libre lang naman mangarap eh. Heheh...)
• Adopt a child (if I can afford it).
• Figure out my long term goals (if I have any).
• Grow old with my one true love.

Seven things I can do
• Write longhand backwards and upside-down.
• Swim in the open sea.
• Dance like a muppet.
• Use a manual sewing machine.
• Recite Wanda the Witch verbatim, with feelings.
• Watch 13 movies in a row (with banyo breaks and meals in front of the t.v.).
• Stay in bed all day. Literally.

Seven things I can't do
• Burp at will.
• Write. As in really write.
• Cook from scratch (frying doesn't count).
• Work for and with pseudo-menopausal megalomaniacal writers (but I'm really trying)
• Cheat on my boyfriend. (It's a can't-and-won't thing.)
• Jump. (Olats ako sa chinese garter.)
• Drive stick shift.

Seven things that attract me to the opposite sex
• Intellect (We should be able to carry on a conversation beyond small talk.)
• Talent and creative sensibilities (Aba shempre gusto ko talentado, para na rin may mapag-usapan kami.)
• Sense of humor ('Yung nakakatawa ha, hindi 'yung katawa-tawa.)
• Innate goodness (Hard to come by, but one does get lucky sometimes.) :-)
• Sensitivity (Para may drama! Hehe...)
• Good looks (Ang plastic ko naman kung hindi kasali ito, di ba? Hehe... But don't judge me for a previous mistake ha. Hihihi...)
• Cute pwet (hehe)

Seven things I say the most
• What the...?
• Kainis.
• Anubayan!
• No.
• I don't think so.
• It's a blessing in the skies!
• Chenalyn.

Seven people you want to see take this quiz
• any seven persons on my friends list will do. :-)

*****

I've been running I.n.K. errands and juggling appointments for two days now.

After official business I met up with Honee at UP yesterday and we went to Calumpang to buy rubber foam materials to make props for her pre-school students. We made the huge mistake of hastily boarding the first cab that came along. It was driven by an evil-smelling cabbie. Walang exag. Ambaho talaga niya. All our conversations were either cut short or left hanging in the (very thick) air, it was too hard for any of us to concentrate. We went down at Katipunan and took a jeep to Calumpang instead. It was that bad.

Then I met up with Nico at Glorietta, to buy a(nother) birthday present for my mom. After shopping we joined Nico's parents at Eastwood for late dinner.

Today's agenda was mostly bank errands. Meetings and transactions were all done by 4. I went home right away for my mom's small gathering with her tandercat friends. Nico dropped by a few hours ago, with a cake in tow. :-) Food fest na naman. :-P

*burp*

Yeah. \m/o

I have a long day today but I'm making time for this quick online quiz. Heh heh...

You Are an Indie Rocker!

You are in it for the love of the music... And you couldn't care less about being signed by a big label. You're all about loving and supporting music - not commercial success. You may not have the fame and glory, but you have complete control of your career.

What Kind of Rocker Are You?

Wasted weekend.

After what seems to be a long week of waking up very early and going home late, I finally have the time to indulge myself to longer hours in bed. But no.

Tama ba naman na itaon ng Manila Water ang pagbubutas ng kalye sa tapat ng bintana ko sa Sabado ng pahinga ko??? Hanggang sa pag-uwi ko sa gabi umaandar 'yung mga malalaki nilang makina na maingay at hirap pa rin akong makatulog. Bwiset.

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So I've been to the recently concluded Creative Industry Forum. Nico's urging me to write all my ranting over the phone here in this blog, but I still don't know where to begin. I'll probably tell you guys about the event in a later post.

It seems have left out a lot of details from what happened to me this week, too, because I was too preoccupied to write about anything.

Maybe I should backtrack a bit. Okay. Here goes:

Monday (Sep 05): Food fest at the house-- Chuy's classmates came over, and so did Nico. He brought us cake.

Tuesday (Sep 06): NGO rounds-- On top of phone call follow-ups with different agencies, I had three meetings with different NGOs on InK and personal business (raket, actually hehe). Haggard.

Wednesday (Sep 07): Day 1 of the Creative Industry Forum (CIF), an initiative of the NCCA, CCP, Department of Trade and Industry and the British Council. The event opened with a performance by Ballet Philippines. I slept through some of the speeches. Ang aga kasi eh! Aside from local speakers from various groups, there were British, Hongkong, and Singapore Nationals who presented their own local case studies/models on the Creative Industries and how they have helped in the improvement of the Gross Development Product (GDP) and the local economy. The forum basically was a wake up call for the Philippines to recognize the Creative Industry as a major contributor to our own GDP. Mejo bigatin ang issue na ito.

Thursday (Sep 08): Day 2 of the CIF. I posted something about this in a previous entry. Speakers for the day were Emily Abrera, Victorino Manalo from the Met Museum, Arnedo Lucas of Roadrunner, someone from the Intellectual Property Office and the Undersecretary of the DTI. The topics were more interesting, kept me pretty much awake this time. In the afternoon we were divided into different areas (Architecture, Crafts, Design and Visual Arts; Literature and Publishing; Film, Broadcast Arts and New Media; Performing Arts; and, Cultural Heritage and Cultural Activities). My group (Architecture, Crafts, Design and Visual Arts) was further divided into three subgroups. We did a SWOT analysis of the state of Visual Arts in the Philippines. It was a depressing and infuriating discussion, but I kept my optimism level above zero. After the prolonged discussion, we went to the British Ambassador's house which I already talked about in the previous entry.

Friday (Sep 09): Day 3 of the CIF. There were more talks. I absolutely liked new NCCA Chair Ambeth Ocampo's speech! I requested a transcription from the CCP Marketing AVP but I was informed that they weren't given a copy. (I'll post it here as soon as I have it.) After lunch the moderators for the different areas of concentration presented the subgroup discussions to the Plenary. I think this three-day forum will bear more results than the NCCA Cultural Summit I attended earlier this year which was just full of blah.

I met up with Nico after the Forum. We had dinner at Chef D'Angelo at Galleria (we wanted to eat at Mario's Kitchen but it had closed down recently I think), then struggled to keep awake in the cinema.

Brothers Grimm was good, I think. Apologies, though-- I was too sleepy to take it all in that night so I couldn't really form a more sensible opinion of it. Nico slept through probably more than 80% of the movie. The hectic week simply caught up with us.

Saturday (Sep 10): I woke up late. So late, in fact, that I was an hour and a half late for the I.n.K. meeting. There was a pretty long discussion on internal issues, so the meeting went longer than usual. Hung out at Nico's house afterwards, and spent a good half hour on the treadmill. Had <3 to <3 talk with Nico in the car. Ü I went home with my wild horses artwork which came from its short run at the CCP last month.

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I think that pretty much brings us up to date. I'm feeling useless at the moment, silently panicking amid threatening deadlines. Good luck to me. :-P

Nakakain ba yan???

That's what some ombudsman said about arts and culture. Hmf.

I've just been to Day 2 of the 1st Creative Industry Forum at the CCP and there are too many thoughts running in my head. And as much as I'd like to put them down here, I don't know where to start.

Maybe I need to sleep it off first. I haven't been getting much of that lately anyway.

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After the very long forum session today, we (InKies) received an invitation to the British Ambassador's house in Forbes Park. SOSYAL! So we went, kahit mukha kaming dugyot among the sossy guests present like Laurice Guillen and Irene Marcos. (After all, how often will I be invited to the Ambassador's house? I doubt that there's a next time. Heh heh...) The Ambassador was really nice and pleasant. The assistant to the Ambassador was accommodating as well. We all shook hands, made small talk. The pinoy staff kept feeding us with cocktails. Mmmmm...

I guess that made up for my irritation from seeing my name prefixed with a Mr. on the invitation. (They left out the de from my surname, too, but I'm really more annoyed with the misappropriation of gender.) Oh well.

Book-crazy.

Today I accompanied Nico to his 3-hour band practice somewhere near Taft. They did three new songs which I recorded on Nico's new Gmini. Astig :-)

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We went to the Manila International Book Fair again, to check out the stalls of books this time.

NAKAKALOKA! Getting parking space alone was already a hassle. I figured everyone must be thinking the same thing: Sunday, last day of the book fair, all must go.

We braved the crowd and the long cashier lines. So here's my loot for the day:

• Images from Sheer Realities: Clothing and Power in 19th century Philippines - A compilation of private collections photographed by Neal Oshima. This is something I could not afford before. This time though, I was able to buy two copies, one for myself and one for Nico's mom.

• Alphabet Bears by Rita Badilla - Something for the spawn to share/fight over.

• The Philippine Cookbook By Virginia Roces de Guzman and Nina Daza Puyat - A very nicely art-directed ring-bound recipe book. Got this one for my mom. I couldn't wait for her birthday so I handed it to her a few minutes after I got home. She liked it. :-)

• Antukin - It's a compilation of Filipino songs and lullabies very beautifully illustrated by InKie Joanne de Leon. Nico bought this for me. :-)

• Wolves in the Walls by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean (paperback) - I've been meaning to get this for myself for the longest time but I couldn't afford the hardbound version. There was a 20% discount on it, too, plus really attractive freebies for a minimum purchase at the children's books section heheheh... (Runny Babbit stickers!!! Actually this was the real motivation for buying this book hehehe...) This cost me less than P250.

• The Day I Swapped My Dad for 2 Goldfish by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean (hardbound with audio cd) - Another one off my mental wishlist. It sold for less than P700 (it also came with a 20% discount) and it was too good to pass up. Nico offered to buy it for me. The sweetie. ;-D

• And finally-- three issues of Slamdunk comics and a couple of K-Zone mags which Nico and I gave my nephew for his birthday today.

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Nico and I were both tired after the bookfair episode, so we decided to forego the cinemas and dropped by Metrowalk to buy a couple of PS2 games. We heard a fragment of the Sunday service at Greenmeadows afterwards, then we went straight home.

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Wala na akong pera. Huhuhu... (T_T)

Tipid na tayo, ha?

Baywatch.

I'm maintaining a haywire schedule with all the meetings and phone calls and projects and it's slowly burning me out.

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I'm still not done with my bat-piece (although a vector version is currently being printed on mugs). I hope it looks decent on ceramic.

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My really old, needs-retiremet Palm V hard-reset itself this morning. (Well, I only noticed this morning. I haven't been using it for a while, except for Text Twist and backing up addresses and phone numbers.) I was planning to leave early for our exhibit at the book fair, but I had to HotSync everything all over again so I didn't arrive at the World Trade Center until after lunch.

(Boohoo. I lost my ongoing Text Twist game which boasts of a 47++ million score.)

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The trade hall was bustling with people-- visitors, exhibitors, publishers. I didn't get the chance to check out the stuff for fear of the contents of my wallet, and some I.n.K.-related inquiries that we've been getting at the booth.

Come 3 p.m. and some of the other InKies show up, almost ready for the portfolio show at 5. Kuya Robert shows up with a trolley full of purchases (said trolley originally carried his huge portfolio bag). That gave me more than enough reason to stay at the I.n.K.-Haribon booth.

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We started the portfolio show set-up at 4. There was this guy at the activity area popping the balloons on the floor-- he was clearing up the previous set-up, which, I assume was a balloon twisting workshop of some sort. We found-- to use Kiwi's term-- a balloon house, and a crazy photo opportunity. Jill, Guia, Bernie and I went balloon-crazy. I caught the balloon-popping guy taking a photo of me jumping around in the contraption. Embarassing. But he let me take the thing home. :-) Jill begged for me to give the balloons to her and tried to convince me that it wouldn't fit in a car (she drove a pick-up). I teasingly said no. Heh heh... I will post pics when I get them from Guia.

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Portfolio show went well. I talked to two potential clients. There were bottomless Oishi potato chips and endless bickering with table-mate Jomike. Nico messaged to tell me he's on his way. Jomike wanted to kick me for being shiny-happy. Heh heh...

Nico picked me up at the tail end of the portfolio show. I didn't stay to talk to this Japanese publisher (but I left my card with Liza) because we had to leave for Nico's gig at the Baywalk area.

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At the parking lot, there was a slight struggle with trying to fit the balloon thing at the back seat of the car. Nico put on his annoyed face. I can almost hear Jill and her sinister laugh.

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We were lucky to get a good parking slot right in front of the Indo Strip entrance, but unfortunate enough to have parked beside an evil-smelling kanal. Nakakasuka. :-P

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The place turns out to be showband country. There was this vox and guitar duo performing a cover of a cover ('Tell me where it hurts, now, baby.' Ugh.) Wassup with that, huh?!?

Then there was this other house band. And there were covers. The vox even jumped off stage, stood up on top of one of the empty tables in the middle and did his pre-evolution impression of Gary V. The bassist told us afterwards that they'll be playing three sets. Errr...

Soapdish was the main act of the event, but the resto management kept pushing Forgetting Luna at the end of the gig-- after Soapdish, after Gish, after all the showbands. And he asked for an 8:30 p.m call time. What. The. Fuck.

(Jon, FL bassist and Chillitees guitarist, jokingly said they shoud start calling themselves Soapgish.)

After forty-eight years of waiting and several jokes about jumping into the Manila Bay, Forgetting Luna takes the stage some time after 12 midnight. I didn't mind the wait. What was more unbearable for me was that beer was f'in expensive (PhP60!!! Tas amoy kanal pa 'yung sidewalk!). Buti na lang they got to play before that annoying house band. Magaling sila, in fairness, but I didn't think I could stand one more song from them.

(I know being in a showband is a perfectly decent way to earn a living, but somehow my creative sensibilities don't agree with it, the same way I don't agree with marketing skin whitening products to a beautiful kayumanggi race such as ours.)

The set was ok. I enjoyed the previous gig more though. Some of the boys weren't as annoyed then. But still, it was all good. :-)