this makes a lot of sense

my acquaintance and facebook contact mimi nolledo, daughter of the late great writer wilfrido nolledo, posted this link sa fezbuk at may-i-read ako sa article. at winner siya ha! it makes a lot of sense!

repost ko lang dahil sa wala akong column na ire-repost today dahil nagkaroon daw ng tech problems ang substitute editor kahapon kaya di na-layout ang aking column. epic fail!!!

oh well.

the article on huffington post is here. my comments in brackets.



13 TIPS FOR ACTUALLY GETTING SOME WRITING DONE
by gretchen rubin


One of the challenges of writing is...writing. Here are some tips that I've found most useful for myself, for actually getting words onto the page:

1. Write something every work-day, and preferably, every day; don't wait for inspiration to strike. Staying inside a project keeps you engaged, keeps your mind working, and keeps ideas flowing. Also, perhaps surprisingly, it's often easier to do something almost every day than to do it three times a week. (This may be related to the abstainer/moderator split.)

[i call this "the NVM rule" because i first heard of this from the late national artist for literature nvm gonzales during the 1997 UP writer's workshop in cebu, when we were trapped in bantayan island for 7 superfun days. sabi niya, lagi daw dapat ako magsulat ng kahit ano, lalo na pagkagising sa umaga, walang edit-edit, basta kung ano ang unang sumagi sa utak ko, isulat ko. i used to have a notebook filled with such thoughts which i labeled "the nvm project notebook." i miss nv. he was like a lolo to me.

i was also reminded of this in 1999 in dumaguete naman, when i learned of poet fellow and friend allan popa really forced himself to write one poem per day. one poem! grabe sa dedication ang kuyang yun.]

with co-fellows at the 1999 dumaguete national writers workshop.
here we are in front of silliman university chenelyn. spot me.

2. Remember that if you have even just fifteen minutes, you can get something done. Don't mislead yourself, as I did for several years, with thoughts like, "If I don't have three or four hours clear, there's no point in starting."

[hm oo nga naman. in short, shorten your procrastination period hehe.]

3. Don't binge on writing. Staying up all night, not leaving your house for days, abandoning all other priorities in your life -- these habits lead to burn-out.

[hay nakoooh. kaya di ako naniniwala dun sa lock-in brainstorming sessions popularized by the abscbn/star cinema peeps early 2000s e, when writing soaps. chaka. kaya abandon ship akey. kaloka, one whole weekend pipigain kayo at nasa hotel lang kayo lahat! kaloka.]

4. If you have trouble re-entering a project, stop working in mid-thought -- even mid-sentence -- so it's easy to dive back in later.

[hm eto di ko pa nagagawa pero try ko nga.]

5. Don't get distracted by how much you are or aren't getting done. I put myself in jail.

[hindi naman distracted. sa akin e barometer yun. self-check like "wow shyeet 54 pages na ko yehey!" works for me hehe. that's how i finished my MA thesis!]

6. Don't fall into the trap of thinking that creativity descends on you at random. Creative thinking comes most easily when you're writing regularly and frequently, when you're constantly thinking about your project.

[yes. see nvm rule. that's why when, during the early stages of blogging in the philippines, i helped test the calliope platform ng i.ph dudes sa first blogging summit and got myself a new blog called "anti-rust punditry" or arparp hehe. that project was a short one to just help me write something almost everyday para di kakalawangin ang writing skills baga. at that time kasi, i wasn't doing much writing for some strange reasons... and this is why blogging helps.]

7. Remember that lots of good ideas and great writing come during the revision stage. I've found, for myself, that I need to get a beginning, middle, and an end in place, and then the more creative and complex ideas begin to form. So I try not to be discouraged by first drafts.

[ay korek ka jan ati. eto ang approach ko sa scriptwriting ngayon e, lalo na't i have to churn a script every week for HAPPY LAND, yung show na pumalit sa LOVELY DAY na dati e dinidirek ko. ako ang narrative scriptwriter ng new show. the first draft is the sequence treatment. second draft with revisions is the fullblown script na. it works.]

saturday mornings pa rin

9.30-10am gma7 mga kapuso. abangan!

8. Develop a method of keeping track of thoughts, ideas, articles, or anything that catches your attention. That keeps you from forgetting ideas that might turn out to be important, and also, combing through these materials helps stimulate your creativity. My catch-all document, where I store everything related to happiness that I don't have another place for, is more than five hundred pages long. Some people use inspiration boards; others keep scrapbooks. Whatever works for you.

[ay naku ang dami kong ganyan, minsan sa gimik nga e, susulat lang sa piece of tisyu and i pocket it. no idea is a bad idea, even if it's stored in your files for a decade already. who knows. sabi nga ni jun lana, siya e may baul ng scripts at huhugot lang pag kelangan. bongga ang ati no?]

9. Pay attention to your physical comfort. Do you have a decent desk and chair? Are you cramped? Is the light too dim or too bright? Make a salute--if you feel relief when your hand is shading your eyes, your desk is too brightly lit. Check your body, too: lower your shoulders, make sure your tongue isn't pressed against the top of your mouth, don't sit in a contorted way. Being physically uncomfortable tires you out and makes work seem harder.

my rainbow room where my writing nook and reading nook is.

in short, library ko teh. that's me at the height (or weight hehe,

see fatness) of my MA thesis rewriting

[ay finally! someone articulated this! some people kasi think maarte lang ako pag sinabi kong di ako makasulat kasi di na comfy ang desktop ko, o yung old laptop ko, at mainit sa bahay di ako makasulat ng tama, na kelangan ko minsan tumambay sa coffeeshop para magsulat lang, o dapat yung chair ko sa bahay pag nagsulat e maayos at perfect chuva. haaaay!

pero bago yung tongue thing ha. masubukan nga.]

10. Try to eliminate interruptions -- by other people, email, your phone, or poking around the Internet -- but don't tell yourself that you can only work with complete peace and quiet.

[haha true ito. kaya nga when i'm in fezbuk, that means i'm writing. reliever yun e hahaha! truly!

and this is where i truly appreciate goldstar. she's the one who finally understood what the temperament of a writer is actually like. she makes sure i don't get distracted and when i do, she helps me stay in focus and on track. i heart this woman. :)]

11. Over his writing desk, Franz Kafka had one word: "Wait." My brilliantly creative friend Tad Low, however, keeps a different word on his desk: "Now." Both pieces of advice are good.

[for me, that laminated postcard-like thingie from lunduyan ng sining's WHAT THESE HANDS CAN DO anthology that says "WRITE" does the trick so far. ... and that ribbon with the small card that says "47th palanca memorial awards for literature" with the red ribbon attached saying "winner" hehehe. vain na at mayabang, pero it makes me strive to top it, e. i don't rest on past laurels. i want new ones lagi hehehe.]

12. If you're stuck, try going for a walk and reading a really good book. Virginia Woolf noted to herself: "The way to rock oneself back into writing is this. First gentle exercise in the air. Second the reading of good literature. It is a mistake to think that literature can be produced from the raw."

[and this is why i heart virginia. she make a lotta sense, too.]

13. At least in my experience, the most important tip for getting writing done? Have something to say! This sounds obvious, but it's a lot easier to write when you're trying to tell a story, explain an idea, convey an impression, give a review, or whatever. If you're having trouble writing, forget about the writing and focus on what you want to communicate. For example, I remember flailing desperately as I tried to write my college and law-school application essays. It was horrible -- until in both cases I realized I had something I really wanted to say. Then the writing came easily, and those two essays are among my favorites of things I've ever written.

[well, oo naman ati. i think that goes without saying.]

Manila Times column for 24 May 2009: "Just how factual should fiction be?"

forgot to post this here earlier this week.


original post here.

so parang mini-review ko na rin pala ito ng ANGELS AND DEMONS.

slight.



THE SCRIBE VIBE
By Libay Linsangan Cantor
Just how factual should fiction be?

I never imagined I’d be using the word “factual” and “fiction” in the same sentence; blame Dan Brown and his latest book-to-film oeuvre, Angels and Demons. The Internet is buzzing with “fact checks” about just how factual are the details used in the novel-turned-film’s story. I wonder if the fact-checking is necessary at all, though.

This isn’t the first time Brown’s work was subjected to this type of flurry. Who could forget 2006’s The Da Vinci Code, led by no less than the Roman Catholic Church. And with the church at the helm of such an “investigation,” one could never forget it so easily—but that’s another story.

I saw the film when it opened, and Angels and Demons was entertaining, to say the least, as it was like a virtual tour of the Vatican City. (It was tourist eye candy to the highest level). Don’t ask me about the book version as I am not a fan of Brown’s literary skills. As a friend once said, Brown writes like he wants his books to be made into films (it screams for it, he said), so I just wait for the film version.

Many are questioning the authenticity of details in the film, from the biggest (the accuracy of events in the Catholic Church’s history) to the smallest (the exact locations of certain churches). The story revolved on finding key places in the Vatican where kidnapped bishops will be killed next, using centuries-old documents/writings as clues. Did Brown really need to be that accurate when he was using existing facts to fashion his narrative development? Well, yes, and no.

There is such as thing as “artistic/creative license” and, according to his critics, Brown uses his quite liberally, to the point of making it as an excuse for the seeming lack of research in his material. It’s one thing to fictionalize a story running parallel to actual events, say a star-crossed love story inside an ill-fated cruise liner that crashes in its maiden voyage (hello Titanic, is that you?). But hey, that one actually worked. What about Brown’s?

For purely entertainment purposes, the use of historical information was handled well in most parts of the story. But there is still that danger of audiences taking everything as true. The medium is the message, as Marshall McLuhan once said, and people still has that tendency of believing everything they read, hear and watch over the media. So yes, I know how Brown’s critics feel, but I am also entertained by these facts he presents, as I enjoyed his artistic licensing of most of them.

In the end, you can’t please everybody. But maybe everybody should think of just how they want to be pleased, and not impose their standards on the rest of us “commoners.” What do you think?

Comments? Suggestions? E-mail libay.scribevibe@gmail.com. She is also at libaycantor.multiply.com.

natapos din si vakler

me at the dumaguete writer's workshop
some ten years ago, as a fiction fellow.

the much-awaited ten--errr, eleven na nga pala--year ordeal was finally put to an end last wednesday afternoon, the sked of my MA thesis oral defense. yes, oral defense as they call it in CAL where i have been taking up my masters degree in english studies major in creative writing at the department of english and comparative literature for eleven years. eleven frakking years, man. kung nanganak ako noong 1998 ay may pinapaaral na akong grade 5 sa elementarya ngayon noh! may ganung factor! hahahahaa. pero tangeeenaaaa natapos din!!!! woot!

sadyang anti-climactic itong defense ko dahil nga sa tagal. nagkaroon pa ng panibagong external conflict at the last stretch of this decade-long dramaturgy of mine during my birthday. poootangeena birthday na birthday ko noong abril, naglalalakad ako para maghabol ng UP officials para sa shortcoming ng isang departamento na di naman ako ang may kagagawan. well, thank goddesses na-achieve naman ang objective, at na-resolve lahat at wala nang loose ends. hay.

happy lang yung defense. my thesis adviser, dr. jing hidalgo, is a longtime teacher and well, colleague na ring matatawag siguro, since 1997 UP national writers' workshop days pa namin in cebu and baguio where i became a fellow. in fact, in baguio, she was the one who encouraged me to take up an MA in CW. i'm glad i took her advice. masaya ang CW life for me heheh. kaya i'm still there now. well, at least part of me does that to this day. yey.

it was a hoot to hear ms. jing do the defending for me sometimes hehe. i so love her. may kinda CL slash CW dichotomy kasing nangyari with the presence of another colleague na naging friend na rin dati, si ruth pison who teaches CL at the english dept. she was my panelista kasi maalam sa gender theories chenelyn. i took my postcolonial literature undegrad back subject under her when i began my MA in 1998 at sobrang aliw ang learning experience doon. happy siya. it was cool to hear the pros and cons of the CL thinking and the CW thinking in one table. super happy learning experience for me. wala, tawanan lang kami ng tawanan in between comments hahaha!

no frills ang defense. no pakain chenes unlike eons ago, kasi nga alam ko, bawal na ito sa kayoopehan. ni magkape nga, ayaw nila, so tipid ako hahaha! ms jing didn't want long elaborate powerpoint presentations so a 2-pager thingie was fine for me, then the rest of the work, sila na gumawa hahaha!

aliw din ang observations ni celeste flores coscolluela, fellow CW major ko na kinontratang maging critique. siya ang nag-provide ng hetero side of comments. well, hetero din naman yung kay ruth pero iba ang atak ng lola mong yon, mas sa teorya-teorya chorva nga at reality of things (mga tanong na "may lalaki bang ganyan?" and stuff. hahaha so ruth! funny.) kaya si cel ang by default na hetero commenter chenes. tapos si vlad gonzales served as the dean's rep at aliw din ang comments niya ha. dami ko napulot kay koya hehe. haylavet. textmates na kami hahaha! chos. dati ko pa namang kakilala si koya vlad, mga panahon pa noong nabuo yung akdang bayan writer's org, short for artista para sa kultura at dalumat ng bayan kung saan kami kasapi. man, sayang talaga yung grupong yon. tsk. oi may bagong libro nga pala si koya vlad published by milflores, buy kayo. buy ako next next week, pahuhupain ko lang ang kaguluhang bookstore dahil magpapasukan na. google niyo na lang yung title, haba e.

aliw din si mam jing sa comments, of course, especially her panalong wrap-up on the "what's next" on my plate chorva. panalo! basta, if you know her, you know na she's a CW-CL goddess by default. kaya nga lagi kapag may nagtatanong sa akin kung sino ang okay kuning titser sa MA doon, lagi kong sinasabing kahit ano'ng ituro ni ms jing, enrollan mo! same comment ko actually yan kay mam betsy enriquez dito naman sa cmc hehehe. basta, alam mong may mga gurong sulit enrollan at kritikal ito lalo na at MA ka at hindi galing sa paryentes mo ang pang-tuition mo kundi sa sarili mong bulsa. poonyemas masakit ang 500 pesos per unit sa MA ha! may 1 or 2 courses nga ako dating nakuhang i wanted a refund, but that's another story na lang for next time.

haaaay... poonyemas puwede na ko mag-kikay ulet! hahaha. hamfanget ko na noh dahil sa thesis na toh!!! okay kaya papagupit na akey, ukay ng new clothes, at back to workout moda olympic level. as in!!! oo vain ako to a certain extent bakit ba! hahaha! and back to my house repairs na din, na inuunti-unti ko dahil mas may kelangang unahin sa buhay minsan, tulad nitong MA.

hm napaisip ako doon sa what's next a. actually, parang alam ko na pero so many colleagues are against it. i want to have a second MA kasi, this time malikhaing pagsulat naman. didibdibin ko ang pagiging bilingual writer literal hehe. wala, gusto ko lang, bakit ba. actually, muntik ko na ngang inabandona itong CW thesis at magshi-shift na sana ko dahil nababagot na nga ako noon sa "philippine literature in english," kung di lang ako tinalakan ng ilang upfi colleagues (even the dean breathing down my neck! dean nic, that was.) at pinandilatan ng mga film dyosas like mam gigi na tapusin mo na yaaaaan hahahaha! salamat sa talak! haylavyoooo all! oo, ganun kami magmahalan sa upfi, karinyo brutal hahaha! chos.

so yan ang life hehe. yes, okay na ko. sobrang okay, pare. SOP. hahaha. chos.

so sa pagtatapos ng post na ito, share ko lang dito yung aking naging super short and sweet na presentation of my thesis project chorvaloo. short and fast lang ito pramis, like hayden kho's "performance." charot!!!

oo bangenge pa ko.

salamat nga pala sa mga friendsheeps ko na bumati sa fezbuk at sa offline life, sa mga actual na dumalo at nanood for moral support or to jot down notes for their own pending MA CW fiction thesis defense hehehe. :)


---------


MA CW Thesis Oral Defense Presentation
27 May 2009

F L Y L E A F
libay linsangan cantor

This thesis, a collection of 17 short stories, is called Flyleaf. I used the flyleaf metaphor of the blank pages of books where sometimes, as readers, we use these blank pages at the front or back of the book to jot down our notes or thoughts or maybe reactions to what we have read in the book – provided of course we own the book and don’t vandalize others’ property. Sometimes, the notes we jot down surprise us, for they could be rather insightful, meaningful, but most of all, we jot down these notes to sometimes make sense of what we just read. This is what I am hoping my collection would do – make sense
of what it is to be a lesbian in contemporary Philippine society as narrated through the stories in this collection.

In my introductory essay, I tried to locate myself as a lesbian writer in Philippine literature in English. This is because, as I have studied in the past, there is an obvious absence of lesbian voices in this field. I found a handful of stories with lesbian content and also know of only a handful of lesbian-identified writers like myself who create lesbian-themed fiction or creative nonfiction in English. But compared to gay-themed writings or gay-identified writers, we lesbians lag so far behind in numbers.

I also tried to deconstruct what that identity means, to be a “lesbian writer,” to understand where my poetics are rooted or grounded, which I believe is primarily influenced and enhanced by tenets of lesbian feminism. And as a writer, I also wanted to locate where my audience is. I know for a fact that there is an audience out there for this kind of material, an audience primarily composed of women like me – women who identify as women and as lesbians, who look for and yearn to read about themselves and their experiences—or our experiences—in Philippine literature.

I tried to analyze why I write the way I write, as my stories sometimes unfold differently from one another. There are stories that are metafictional and there are stories that are traditional. I concluded that this is because perhaps I also need to relate my stories to a “more traditional” type of audience, the audience I also hope to reach with my stories, which are non-lesbians. But as a storyteller exposed to various media such as cinema, I also like to discover and experiment with new ways of telling or retelling a story, much like how I also like to discover and experiment with new ways of showing a story via the audiovisual medium when I shoot as a filmmaker.

So what kind of experiences and stories are here? In the beginning, I tried to map out the life of several contemporary middle-class educated lesbians living in Metro Manila who work in the fields of media and the arts. But upon my consultations with my adviser, it was best to flesh out just one persona from these different stories, for it was noticed that there was a dominant voice emanating from most of the stories. Thus, the order of the stories were rearranged and presented as how you all read them in the manuscript.

The individual stories narrate one persona’s experiences that span almost ten years, set during this decade. The development is in accordance with the main persona’s discovery of her lesbianism. In the beginning, she is presented as a twentysomething heterosexual woman who discovers that her more authentic sexuality is that of a lesbian. We see this persona undergo happy and horrible relationships; we see her being single alone and being single with friends both straight friends and friends belonging to the LGBT community; and towards the end, we see her as a thirtysomething lesbian at the beginning of a more domesticated life with a partner as they try to begin a family, which includes having a child.

In between these experiences, there are, of course, the staple stories of discrimination directed towards lesbian women (particularly feminine-looking lesbians), and we see how this persona struggled with these discriminatory experiences, particularly being verbally taunted or sexually harassed because she is a feminine-looking lesbian, and even being raped because she is a lesbian, period. As I wanted to reflect real-life lesbian narratives in my fiction, I included a balance of happy stories and not-so-happy ones in order to fully characterize how this certain Filipina lesbian lives in this day and age. //


okay lang mag-comment, kahit nega. ako si miss workshop, kaya you can comment away :)

Manila Times column for 17 May 2009: "Getting ‘them’ to read ‘us’"

original post here.

THE SCRIBE VIBE
By Libay Linsangan Cantor
Getting ‘them’ to read ‘us’

If we don’t have access to foreign books, will Filipinos reacquaint themselves with local books and rediscover our own classic and contemporary writers? Well, that remains to be seen.

So much has been written about that “Great Book Blockade” thing about the Bureau of Customs placing tax on imported books (which violates a certain treaty, so it seems, that stipulates books should remain tax-free), presumably the reason why local bookstores haven’t had new titles for months now. Book lovers decried this move, with some citing it as “just another corrupt move of the government.”

If we debate about the corruption practices in this country, it would take months. But let’s stop and see its connection to how we could persuade readers to read local authors instead. If our country imported less foreign titles, will local readers read local titles more? Instead of howling that they want their latest Twilight series book or the latest Dan Brown-penned mystery, could the government perhaps persuade them to take home the latest Anvil, Milfores or UP Press-published anthology of new writings from local authors instead? I don’t know. As Jose Dalisay Jr. once said in a public lecture, “Filipinos love to read; they’re just not reading us.”

In film, we have the Metro Manila Film Festival, which stipulates that at least in ten or so days in December, all films to be shown within Metro Manila should be local films only, banning foreign titles. In a country where ticket sales of Hollywood movies fare better than locally produced ones, that’s a very nice incentive, even if it seems like such a token kind of incentive. Now do we have something similar for authors?

It often saddens me when I visit mainstream bookstores in the metro, as they all have very impressive shelves of a lot of books from most regions of the world. But when I want to look for my own country’s latest titles, it’s sad that the salesperson directs me to a small little nook, corner or wall entitled “Filipiniana” as if I am entering a section of a library where one enters to research for academic purposes only. I wonder when Dalisay, Kerima Polotan, Lakambini Sitoy or Luis Katigbak would share the same sectioning with Salman Rushdie, Chuck Palahniuk or Jeanette Winterson. Am I dreaming? I certainly hope not.

Call me crazy but one day, when I want to buy local titles, I don’t want to go to specialty shops in Manila or specialty bookstores of local presses just to avail of them anymore. I want to buy them in local bookstores where at least half of its titles are local. There are so many Filipinos out there writing in their own languages; where are their books?

Comments? Suggestions? E-mail libay.scribevibe@gmail.com. She is also at libaycantor.multiply.com.

mediocre people talk about other people

psycholo begets psycholo.

buti na lang hindi ako psycholo. ibang tao lang hahahahahaha! and yet again, they have been banding/bonding together.

but wait! there's more!

they've been spreading chismis pala about me, and about some friends of mine, and about me and some friends of mine! yes, threefold. ang pathetic, i know. ano na nga ba yung kasabihang "great people talk about ideas. mediocre people talk about other people." you know where you are. i know where i am.


one year hence, and people cannot move on -- or maybe don't want to. sad.

if you want the real score, talk to me. if not, then remain in your illusions. okay lang. hindi naman ako ang pinagtatawanan ng mga taong pinagkukuwentuhan niyo ng mga illusions niyo e. kayo. sobrang kayo. oh em gee, you have no freaking idea!!!

and after they laugh at you, they tell it to me. ni wala na nga akong kabalak-balak malaman na ang mga bagay-bagay tungkol sa inyo! you and your mediocrity. pero sige lang, if you want to spread your mediocrity, go ahead.

in the end, think about this: sino ang mas credible ang reputation kaya sa atin?

people already know the answer to that. and, surprisingly, they tell me.

or better yet, let's just ask this to our own selves:

1. ano na ba ang nagawa na natin sa buhay natin?

2. may maiiiwan na ba tayo sa kultura natin na ikaka-proud nating tayo ang gumawa?

3. may gusto bang pumatol sa atin bilang jowa/lover?


in short, how winona are you? we know we are. sobrang winona that you should call our last names ryder and look us shoplift at saks fifth avenue while being the mother of spock!!!

anesh?

*

sabi kahapon ng stars:

Taurus Horoscopes

(Apr 20 - May 20)

Thursday, May 14th, 2009 -- It's easier to express what you want today now that communicator Mercury is back in your 1st House of Personality. Additionally, you receive a strong dose of assistance from confident Jupiter, encouraging you to share everything. A little caution is advised, for there may be some things better kept to yourself. Remember, overconfidence can lead to unnecessary headaches.



tapos sabi ngayon:

Taurus Horoscopes

(Apr 20 - May 20)

Friday, May 15th, 2009 -- You might feel a bit spacey today, increasing the difficulty you have in making decisions. Paradoxically, you probably know what you want; you just cannot choose the best course of action. It's confusing when you cannot read the signals, but if you remain clear about your destination then your path will eventually become obvious.


winner.

so you see, life goes on without you guys. our lives. since you decided not to be part of our lives, then just suffer and soak in your bile whil our lives continue to beautifully unfold like butterflies in full color bloom. manatili na lang kayong sahog sa papaitan ever na binudburan ng sandamakmak na katas ng lemonada.

and this is the time i -- as lucy liu said in CHARLIE'S ANGELS -- flip.my.god.damn.hair.

*flip*
*flip*
*flip*
*flip*
*flip*
*flip*

haba ng hair ko, hanggang SLEX! chosssssssssssssssssssssss.


[advert: this post is brought to you by heaven and eggs fresh kiwi juice cooler and starbucks dark mocha frappuccino.] - hayaan na ang kakonyohan. galing makati lola niyo e.

Manila Times column for 10 May 2009: "Writing what you know of the world"

original post here.

THE SCRIBE VIBE By Libay Linsangan Cantor Writing what you know of the world

In writing workshops, beginning writers are often encouraged to start writing about what they know first, before venturing out into writing about more complex and unfamiliar material. I agree, and I also don’t. I think all writers—newbies or not—should heed this encouragement. In literary workshops, I have often heard the advice that a writer should focus on the world that s/he knows, first and foremost, before writing about things outside their worlds. We writers are often trained to look for that precious insight, that one thing (or two) that would differentiate our story from others’ stories, the thought that would hopefully inspire or rouse readers to think about things around us, about a particular aspect of human existence. I agree with this. Far too often, writers tend to turn their back on their own backyards, so to speak, and write about things that are “more exciting” or “more challenging” that they see in “other worlds.” I just wish they could look around them sometime, so they could discover that something or someone within their vicinity could actually serve as an inspiration for a story waiting to be told. For instance, I remember meeting this woman whose maiden name sounded like the name of a very old school in Manila. When I inquired about this, it turned out that the school was indeed owned by their family and it was about to be sold. That alone puts their family in a certain historical position that only she has the privilege to tell and unfold in a story. Since we were in a documentary workshop when we met, I suggested that she write and make a documentary about that aspect of their family, and she mentioned that it was indeed one of her future plans. I hope she went through with it. This is not to say that we writers should just stick to writing what we know. If we want to write about things outside of our own spheres of existence, that’s also great, but only if the proper homework is done. What I mean is that writers should do their research when they’re writing about something unfamiliar to them. It also happens that sometimes, writers tend to take short cuts and write what they know of a certain thing without the benefit of research. Thus, material such as these appears shallow, impressionistic and often unrealistic. Authenticity is still the key; if your plot seems unbelievable because of faulty information or details, then the story won’t fly. Just imagine the tons of stories we’ll hear from different walks of life, if only one out of a hundred Filipinos shared them with the world. That’s a lifetime’s worth of anthologies, not to mention a good contribution to our recorded culture and history. Comments? Suggestions? E-mail libay.scribevibe@gmail.com. She is also at libaycantor.multiply.com.

marathon chichiryahan ng mayo

sarap lang minsan magpahinga at manood ng sine. oo, sa akin, ang panonood ng sine ay pagpapahinga, pero creative pa rin at may brain stimulus pa rin. plus of course lafesh chichiryang literal hehe.

the past days, marami kaming tinirang panoorin dito sa bahay, mostly mga na-miss ko sa sinehan o kaya di talaga napalabas dito ever. so heto sila. er, salamat nga pala sa dalawang kaibigang nag-download este nagbigay ng kopya sa akin :)



RACHEL GETTING MARRIED (2008)

d. jonathan demme
s. jenny lumet
dop. declan quinn
c. anne hathaway, debra winger

pitch: youngest sister comes out of rehab and re-enters her family's life just when her older sister was about to be married chuva

catch: the zooms, but i could overlook that

since the film was shot entirely on digital, not film, i understand the temptation to use zooms, however unnatural this lens movement is, as it is a movement that is not done by the human eye, which, supposedly, is what a film lens should "approximate" most of the time to achieve that "viewing pleasure" we see in most classical narrative-structured films.

but there's another feel to the zooms - the documentary feel. i felt that this was what the director was trying to achieve, na parang home movie ang dating, and reading up on the film later verified this hunch.

the docu feel worked well for the kind of story it's trying to tell. ang daming ambivalence ng feelings ng mga characters because of their individual and combined histories, na lumalabas in bits and pieces, sometimes spurts, sometimes, deluge overload. at ang sentro nitong lahat ay si kym, ang on-and-off rehab kid ng otherwise picketfence-perfect pamilya sa isang suburban middle class middle american town. now i see why anne was nominated for an oscar here. ganda ng performance niya. although wala nga siya sa shining moment ni kate winslet sa THE READER esp that part na she slammed her hand sa table while defending their work as concentration camp guards. that moment alone captured the award for her. sadly, hathaway had no such moments here, walang big cultivation. all of what she was doing was leading up to that, but there was no "that" reached. baka kakulangan ng script o directing din ito, in a way.

but man, overall, i was blown away by how organic this film was. that's the term for it -- organic! all natural, 100% homegrown ingredients kumbaga. no manipulative hollywoodized artificial flavoring techniques. from everything -- the story (anak pala ni sidney lumet ang nagsulat! wagi!), the editing (jump cuts worked - like how you would remember certain scenes in your life as patalon-talong eksena), camerawork (handheld and swish pans worked - like how your head will be so distracted in looking back and forth several people or happenings), even the musical score -- na actually, walang "real score" to begin with kasi lahat ng kinda-score na music na naririnig dito ay hindi outside the story realm (called non-diegetic sound) kundi galing sa story realm ng film (called diegetic sound) mula sa wedding band musicians na laging naririnig na nagre-rehearse sa pali-paligid (love love love the sound of the violin and the skin drums just jamming away).

simple lang ang story at hindi na rin bago. siguro ang bago lang e yung elements na nakapaloob dito - interracial marriage siya, where rachel is white while her groom is black, at hindi isyu ito. the wedding theme is indian in nature, complete with the lively hindu-inspired designs, decor and dresses. the dad's second wife looked like of native american indian descent, and some of their friends were asian-looking. wagi ang multicultural eklavu nitey.

yun na. feeling ko, after watching this, i became a sort of "cinematic vegetarian" na hahanap-hanapin ang organic filmmaking sa ibang pelikula pa.

alas, like meat, i cannot live without my sfx. which brings me to...



BE KIND, REWIND (2008)

d. michel gondry
c. jack black, danny glover, mos def

pitch: small-town video store clerks try to save the store building by using the community's love for films, prompting them to make their own later

catch: yung length siguro, could be trimmed some more for tightness

nakakatawa ng tunay ang mga karakter dito, yung imbes na mainis ka dapat sa kanila dahil sa napakatanga nilang tunay. gaano katanga? nabura ng isa sa kanila ang mga vhs tapes sa video rental store, at naisip nung isa na i-recreate ang mga naburang pelikula by shooting them themselves!!! tutal hindi raw naman alam ng ibang nagrerenta yung tunay na pelikula kasi nga di pa daw nila napapanood. thus, the two misfits end up recreating films like GHOSTBUSTERS, RUSH HOUR 2, ROBOCOP, DRIVING MISS DAISY and even the freaking LION KING!

pero mas panalo yung ideya na naisip nilang gumawa ng "old film" docu-style about a legendary jazz singer na supposedly e tumira sa neighborhood nila. i loved the way they shot it guerilla style, good old-fashioned guerilla filmmaking at its finest. grabe nakakaaliw sila sobra!

but of course, this kind of film only works for cineastes who looooove films. if you're not like that, this film might not work for you.




EPIC MOVIE (2007)

d., s. jason friendberg and aaron seltzer

pitch: spoof of epic/adventure films da vinci code, harry potter, charlie and the chocolate factory, nacho grande, chronicles of narnia, xmen, pirates of the caribbean

catch: if you missed some or most of the films, luz ka!

wala, may masasabi ka pa ba sa satire films na ganito? siyempre may lull moments, may over moments, may corny moments, may funny-ha-ha moments, may chaka moments, at may punyeta-hindi-siya-nakakatawa-laslaaas moments. hindi naman mawawala yun e.

pero yun nga, if you missed any of the films it's spoofing, luz. luckily, napanood ko naman sila lahat, except for NACHO LIBRE (na wala akong balak panoorin). anyway, character peg lang naman yung nacho libre sa isa samga bida, so puwede na.



THE FOUNTAIN (2006)

d., s. darren aronofsky
c. hugh jackman, rachel weiss

pitch: a love story spanning three timeframes in the past, present and future

catch: better to watch on the big screen

if you're familiar with aronofsky, you'd know that his films are visual feasts, experimentations and pushing the edge sometimes, if he ever found edges to begin with. parang di uso sa kanya yun e. he knows the basics and he wants to merge that with what's not yet been done. i like that kind of thinking, instead of just junking the basics and experimenting to high heaven (or hell) and calling your film "indie." but that's another discourse.

gusto ko yung un-hollywood-ized effect ng film na ito, like a new way of telling a story, a love story to be exact, kung paano ang isang devoted man ay naghahanap ng ways and (scientific) breakthroughs to reach/save the love of his life ek. aliw yung spanish conquistador effect ng past love story na tumatagos sa present bilang novel na sinusulat ng girl, na sa future part ay magiging parang esoteric discussion na siya about preserving love and challenging commitment eklavu.ewan, yun ang nakuha ko sa pelikula sa future part, e. medyo open-ended yung future thread ng narrative, and it's not about just a man-woman relationship but it actualy became a personal relationship with oneself eklavu ang dating ba, on how you'll accept things that happen and how you will transgress sadness and all that. kakaiba.

this film will make you think while making you visually awed. i like that.




RATATOUILLE (2007)

d., s. brad bird
p. pixar-disney

pitch: a parisian rat teams up with a garbage boy as culinary partners and revives one of the legendary paris restaurants in the process

catch: wala! happy sha

masaya ito! once again, pixar does its best. ganda ng animation potah, parang totoo ang 3D-ness ng texture ng mga bagay-bagay, lalo na yung mga backgrounds and stuff. cute din yung kuwento kaya aliw. wala lang, yun na. masaya siya. hindi siya aalog-alog na naratibo like MONSTERS VS. ALIENS although di rin naman siya edge-of-your-seat engaging like THE INCREDIBLES. tama lang ang timpla kumbaga. siguro di lang ma-suspend ang disbelief ng small small part sa akin ng fact na ang nagluluto sa kitchen e...isang daga. hahaha! oo andun pa lang ang lola sa level na yun. well, part of me, at least. but i loved this paris-set thingie and stuff. win!

who said thieves are stupid?

carjacking just reached another level. only in the philippines?


Police yesterday said car robbers, after forcibly taking the vehicles from their victims, would ask the victims to sign a blank paper which were then made into a “deed of sale,” which they could use to sell legally the stolen vehicles.


read the rest here.

things like these discourage me to get another car and revert back to being a motorist once again, not to mention other roadie headaches. well, i'm loving my being a commuter lately anyway. but not when it rains! :P

cinechichirya: GHOSTS OF GFS PAST

the first thought that came to my mind as i was about to write this was shyeeeet pinatulan ko toh! but anyway...


GHOSTS OF GIRLFRIENDS PAST

d. mark waters
c. matthew mcconaughey , jennifer garner, michael douglas

pitch: playboy photographer gets life lessons a la scrooge style

catch: gusto ko bunutan ng ngipin si matthew

kasi he smiles. a lot. and it's freaking irritating. oo biased ang movie critic na ito. i hate him.

he ruined a lot of great movies for me, top of which was CONTACT with jodie foster my love. i mean, bagu-bago pa lang siya noon when that movie appeared, at nakakainis na ka-acting sparring niya si jodie agad, dahil wala siyang K! the boy just looks good, pero huwag mo na siyang pagsalitain at certainly wag mo na pa-akting-in ba. kulang sa emote si boylet.

heniwey, that notwithstanding, hindi rin kasi siya bumabagay sa role na ito. okay he's cute, can pull off the dapper dude bit, but he lacks a certain oomph na wala sa ibang hollywood actors who could portray this role better than him. i am so reminded of ewan mcgregor's turn as the bilib-sa-sarili playboy sa DOWN WITH LOVE, and that's a helluva lot better characterization than this one, at dahil nadala ito ng magaling na acting ni ewan. i so love him there man.

hay, o sige, etong si matthew. yes, hindi siya believable. yes, over the top dapat ang karakter niya pero he just doesn't have that x-factor to pull it off, e. nakakairita lang siya. maganda sana dahil ka-acting sparring niya si jennifer garner, na bagay sa role, pero sana magaling din ang tinapat sa kanyang aktor no.

the story is of course predictable. if you're familiar with the scrooge plot pattern na unang nakita sa A Christmas Carol novel ni Charles Dickens, alam mo na ang mangyayari. maganda kasi itong moral tale/fable kaya cinema has been reinventing to death this plot pattern, and to think like 1840s pa ito, decades before the birth of cinema. wagi si charles.

pero di wagi itong pelikulang ito. di ko alam kung paano nila dapat nagawan ng kakaibang twist ito para di naman masyadong predictable at para naging palatable ang characterizations, esp ng protagonist. ang nagdala actually ng pelikula ay ang support characters e, like si jennifer nga, and the dead tito playboy na si michael douglas (who's seriously looking like daddy kirk na, with those wrinkles!), and that cute indian girl who plays matthew's quirky indian assistant. hahaha i love her! dapat marami pang ganitong character sa hollywood films. more asians! it's high time they reflected the realities of their countries noh.

hay. i guess this film is a lull film before all the better ones make buhos in a deluge of summer blockbusters. dami kong gustong panoorin pero nasa next attraction pa. kaya siya, eto, tiyagaan na lang toh. argh. ni sa hbo di ko ata to panonoorin e. ewan. i just wanted to eat popcorn kasi...

published in Phil Graphic: "The Sound of Blue"

according to the print version of The Philippine Graphic, my short story entitled "The Sound of Blue" was published there. oo naman, nakita ko naman at may hard copy na ako nito.

pero sa online version, tila di yata sinuwerte at nakaligtaan ang kuwentong ilagay doon sa archive ng specific issue na ito.

duh.

nonetheless, ilalagay ko na rin dito yung version na sinumite ko sa kanila.

haha nakakatawa lang when i remember the ed in chief telling me that my story is out na, and she then apologized kasi si tessie aquino oreta ang cover of the issue where it came out. hahaha! naaliw lang ako sa komento. i heart journalists hehe.

this story was originally a product of our 2001 (or 2002-03?) informal online writing workshop of fil writers based everywhere, spearheaded by fil-am author cecilia manguerra brainard. other members of the workshop at the time i joined were fil-ams marianne villanueva and veronica montes, fil in singapore nadine sarreal and noelle de jesus, and phil south-based susan evangelista. the goal of this workshop was to stimulate writers into writing new works, kahit raw, as inspired by introducing weekly prompts na kelangan naming gamitin every week to write something new. the prompt used for this story was given by cecilia herself, which went: "on his/her 40th birthday, juan/juana found out that he/she had turned stone deaf." you were then free to manipulate the prompt accordingly. tapos after a week, isasalang mo whatever you wrote and they will all comment.

that was a fun time. i miss writing like that, actually. marami rin akong nagawa because of that workshop. isipin mo, kung wala iyon nung time na iyon... wala, wala akong naisulat. that was the time when i experienced artistic drought in all manner kasi. but that's another story...

of course the story evolved since then, after several revisions, and has become part of my MA thesis (a 17-piece collection of lesbian shorts stories) now.

o sya, eto sya. keri ang komento. sige lang. share-share.

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THE SOUND OF BLUE
By Libay Linsangan Cantor


She knows how blue looks like. She knows how blue feels like. But did she ever discover how blue sounds like?

Maybe she knows now. But that’s so insensitive of me.

IT WAS YOUR FAVORITE COLOR, I KNOW. BUT YOU HAVE TO GET USED TO THIS.

The handwritten note was from Carla, Juana’s best friend. Juana thought why Carla had to write in boldface. Her writing slants to the right, so she thinks Carla’s really a very emotional person who sways with her emotions. She said so herself, several times.

“Carla’s really a very emotional person who sways with her emotions. Look at the way her writing slants to the right, and the way she dots her I. Full circle, not just a dot. Certainly a dreamer. And the way she crosses her T is also evident of that. The cross hardly touches the main part of the letter. That’s why sometimes it’s not good for her to handle the depression counseling. The girls always thought she might give detached advice or something. Hm.”

I smirked. “I see you didn’t give up on your graphology lessons there. I thought that was just a passing fancy after that cover story with the graphology expert. It was, for me, but then…well, you’re a different person. You always have been, I guess…”

Silence. Juana didn’t answer back. Hey, maybe she got offended by what I said. Could be. Just then, her alarm clock rang off, and it startled me. But it didn’t startle her. And that was when I remembered – how truly insensitive of me, talking to her this way, now that she is this way.

I reached for the clock to turn it off. I whispered to myself. “Five o’clock. Time to hit it…”

Then Juana startled me. “Five o’clock. Time to hit it!” I didn’t notice that she was already facing towards my direction, and looking at me intently. “You don’t have to whisper, you know, just because I couldn’t hear you much. I can already read lips now.”

Embarrassed, I averted my eyes, avoiding her gaze. I looked down for a while, but I immediately looked up, looked back at her, stared into her eyes, and saw how hopeful they were. Mine were ashamed.

“I’m…sorry…”

She laughed at me, crumpled Carla’s letter and tossed it to the trash bin. “Don’t be. I’m not.” She stood up and gave me a hug and I gave her one, too. “Such sweet lips. That’s my girl.” She kissed me, one time, just a peck, and then sat down in front of her TV. “Let’s get ready in a while.”

On her 41st birthday, Juana woke up and discovered she was nearly stone deaf. But she didn’t look it. It was a gradual development, anyway. Nobody knew she had a condition, especially me. We would hold conversations normally about the magazine she ran, where I freelanced, discussing what to cover in the Filipino community. She would then drive me to Columbia where I enrolled for my masters, and we would have coffee and conversation in between trips. She enjoyed touring me everywhere in the East Coast, everywhere there were Filipinos, everywhere there were lesbians like us, especially lesbians working in advocacy groups. It was easy to fall for her, even if it wasn’t my plan to do so; everyone loved her – the community, the lesbian feminists, the people. Everyone. I didn’t mind the age gap, too; it’s just ten years, anyway. Even if she was older, she didn’t look it.

But that was there, New York. And we are here, now, where more Filipinos are located. Perhaps that’s the reason why she wanted to move back here – the familiarity of the people. Wish I could stay with her, but I have to finish this semester. I hate to be away from her.

She was originally from here, California, and her family welcomed her back here, hence the party downstairs. I could already smell the aroma of Filipino food, and can’t wait to taste authentic adobo and sinigang again. Her relatives are both elated and worried, due to her worsening condition. Everyone thought, after the incident, that she was going to be okay, that she would recover. We all thought wrong.

It has been six years since that day, six years ago today, to be exact. She says she doesn’t mind what happened, but we all do. We still do. Who could forget? CNN had documented it so well. And every year’s tribute gets flakier and flakier. It even became a new tourist feature in Manhattan. Sick, but that’s how Americans fashioned it now. Tragedy is always in fashion in this country, it seems.

Juana turned on the TV. CNN. TV specials were on. As if on cue. “Nine one one. Strange how these harmless little numbers could signify so much.”

I fell silent. I just saw that on TV, originally, back home in the Philippines. She saw that live, as it happened. How it must have felt. But she doesn’t look sad. Never did. How it must have hurt. Where does she keep the pain? She reminds me of conversations I had with my Lola about her living during the Japanese occupation. Even if it seemed magnanimous an event in her life, I could never relate to how she felt about it. I could only imagine, and re-imagine, with her. It was harder. Of course, I wasn’t there. And there was no CNN or BBC to cover it, blow by blow. But even now, with this, it’s still hard to relate, simply because I wasn’t there.

She lost her original office, a part of her life. But she was able to rebuild it. After six years, she decided to close shop, and reopen it here, at the opposite coast of this country we borrowed and called home, her more than me, now facing a different tune, marching to the beat of a different drum, perhaps. But it doesn’t matter. What’s important here is, she’s still here. That’s what we always tell her. But sometimes, I’m not sure if she hears me. Or us.

Juana laughed out loud and faced me. She was holding a framed photo of her younger brother. I walked near her. “Good thing Jonas was still Filipino in mind and spirit. Filipino time! His tardiness saved him!” She playfully punched my arm. “Ikaw! You’re not Pinoy. You’re always on time. Appeared in my life on time, when I wanted somebody… Di ba, non-Pinoy? Mwah!” She grabbed my hand and kissed it.

I smiled at her, didn’t know how to react to that.

She laughed again, this time louder, as she played with the TV’s remote control. “Ha-ha! At least I wouldn’t hear that awful socks joke anymore, remember? Or maybe you’re still young to remember what I remember of our country. When I was in school back in Manila, my barkada and I just loved listening to ‘80s music. Cyndi Lauper was one of our favorites back then, and ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun’ was our favorite song. And they would say ‘Knock Knock.’ And I would say ‘Who’s there?’ and they would say ‘Juana’s socks.’ And I would say ‘Juana’s socks who?’ and they would sing ‘They just wanna, they just wanna-ha-have fun. Medyas ni Juana, medyas ni Juana-ha-have fun. Crazy! Ha-ha-ha! I never got over how funny that joke is!”

Well, I can see she herself never lost her Filipino-ness. In spite of serious circumstances, she manages to laugh.

Medyas ni Juana. Yes, that is funny.

“At least I won’t hear that anymore. And, everything else, anymore… for that matter…”

Silence. Just how do you answer that?

Maybe one just doesn’t.

I sat beside her and put my arms around her. If she saw me as a lifesaver, someone who appeared on time, that was her for me, too. At a time when I needed to forget where I came from and who I were—or what happened to me back home—she was there, ready to listen, to counsel as a feminist, to support as a friend, and to love as a partner. Funny how I never got counseling back in Manila after I was raped. Perhaps I needed some kind of foreign detachment as I narrated my ordeal to a stranger. I wanted the stranger to be far removed from who I am, but not too far, just enough closeness to understand me as well. Juana’s feminist counseling groupmates were such a big help. They were Filipinas, females, and lesbians, so they understood, but they were from here, not there, Americanized, hence a bit distanced. Fil-Am. It was the foreign detachment I was looking for. It worked. Worked well. Eighteen months since it happened. I’m okay. Really, I’m okay.

I just wish I could offer the same level of comfort to her, now. After eighteen months, I feel hopeless, again. I hate that feeling.

She looked at me, and I noticed her eyes welled up, but she was struggling very hard, struggling not to let her tears fall. “It’s too early to party. Can we just snuggle up here for a while?”

I smiled at her. “Sure. Whatever you want.”

For a while, we sat there in front of the TV -- she looked at the images, I tuned them out. But I can’t tune out the sounds. Another tribute, a series of updates, recollections, retellings. I looked at her and saw how intent she was in absorbing the images. I sighed.

And now, I know how blue sounds like, too.



*** end ***

of cakewalks and weather disturbances

what the hell is a "cakewalk?" nag-evolve na ba ang idiom na "piece of cake" nang di ko nalalaman? hm...

General Daily Horoscope Influences

The Moon enters Libra, the sign of the Scales, at 5:51 am EDT, encouraging us to reestablish balance in our lives. Recently, we have been on a roller coaster ride yet now we can slow down and get serious about placing our feet firmly back on the ground. Fortunately, assistance arrives from the Sun's stabilizing trine to realistic Saturn, enabling us to concentrate on work and to meet our obligations instead of running off in search of a good time.

Taurus Horoscopes

(Apr 20 - May 20)

Tuesday, May 5th, 2009 -- Managing your day is a cakewalk for you because your greatest strength now is the easy availability of all the determination you need. Nothing is going to pull you off track now, enabling you to finish whatever you start. Don't worry about working too fast; take your time and plod along like an ambling bull. You'll arrive at your destination on your own schedule.


hm. o sya. sulat-sulat na lang muna ulit dito sa aking writing nook sa bahay. ayokong lumabas ng bahay. weird ang manila weather. it's freaking raining in the middle of summer, and there's a storm! labo men. hm, does this mean we'lll have sunny june days? ewan lang din.

i don't really like the rains, but if it's beckoning me to stay at home, and it relaxes my mind, then i'm all for it now. basta ba wag lang bumuhos kapag naka-japorms ako at kelangan lumabas ng bahay. purita kalaw ledesma tayo, wit tay karu, kaya may-i-joksi ever ang byuti, kaya wag sanang mag-rain on my parade kapag ganun ang moda. hane? hello skies, are you listening? basta.

cine chichirya: 17 AGAIN

wala kaming mapanood ng nanay ko kanina. dapat iba ang panonoorin namin pero walang kinahinatnan, kaya eto na lang...


17 AGAIN
d. burr steers
c. zac efron, matthew perry

pitch: regretful adult who used to be a high school basketball star discovers what's it like to re-live your youth

catch: um, BIG in reverse? FREAKY FRIDAY (the one with jodie foster my love and/or lindsay lohan the lesbian wannabe). 13 GOING ON 30 maybe.

whatever film it shares this shaky plot pattern with, shaky pa rin siya. at least the others had clear narrative structures and dramatic goals. this one? it's obviously just a vehicle to star the latest hollywood cutie. okay fine he has nice eyes. but after that, wit na. sorry sa HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL fans, pero walang USP sa akin ang boylet na ito ever e. oh well.

back to the story. manipis siya ati. at natatawa ako kasi ang lapit! sobrang lapit lang ng agwat! walang differentiation ng gaano. i mean, from matthew perry to zac efron? how big of a stretch is that??? chandler still looks like an overgrown high school kid, so it wasn't much of a stretch to have him play his 17 year old self ek. hanlabo. e kahit dun sa adult siya e, parang haiskul ang moda pa rin niya e. ewan. miscast 'ata 'to e, more than narrative loopholes. i mean, it worked fairly well with jaime lee curtis switching with lindsay lohan, and they both did a good job of portraying the other in the FREAKY FRIDAY remake. sa hitsura, sa postura, sa pagdala sa sarili, sa acting! winner si lindsay dito, and decades earlier, si 13 year old jodie foster sa original film.

ganun din si tom hanks sa isa sa pinaka-favorite film ko of all time, yung BIG. winner din siya sa acting like a kid in a grown man's body. bagay. akting! may isa pang kasabayang film ito noon e, na magtatay naman ang nagkapalit, starring a very young fred savage, he of WONDER YEARS tv fame. that one i also like. magaling kasi ang akting! hey, even jennifer garner pulled it off in that 13 GOING ON 30 bit. akting!

can't say the same for this one. marami pang bigas na kakainin si zac to be more convincing as a 30+ man in a young person's bod. man, he just looked like he was "acting like an adult" unconvincingly. hay ewan, basta malabo ito, acting-wise.

na-save ang pelikula ng ibang aspects na nakapaligid sa main actor, mga funny moments ng geek turned millionaire best friend niyang adult, mga subplots na friends niya ang anak niya etc. pero potah, nasisira lagi ng sablay na akting e. sablay sobra. hay.

saka yun nga, natatawa ako sa soooobrang laaaayo ng 1989 sa... 2006! like haller, ano hitsura ng cheerleaders noon? pareho rin ngayon. were they already dancing the pep squad-meets-janet jackson way that time? actually, di pa masyado, kasi si paula abdul actually ang kinda nagpauso nun, at 1989 pa lang siya sumambulat sa eksena, at sa 1990s pa actually mapi-pick up yung ganung cheerleading styles, after janet jackson popularizes them before paula does, kasi si paula ang choreographer ni janet sa earlier music videos niya. and the music? geez. from mc young's "bust a move" then to today's, what, mga hiphop? magkakatunog pa rin! at least yung 13 GOING ON 30, nag-effort na i-differentiate ito, yung nagsayaw sila ng "Thriller" ni michael jackson sa very 2000s na scenario. yun ang difference! malinaw! malayo!

at syempre maikukumpara ko ng matino ito dahil noong 1989, 16 years old pa lang ako! fast forward to today and i am roughly the age of chandler's character at the present. na nakakatawa dahil sa most of my generation ay wala naman nung angst niya, probably because we're asians! his dilemma and problem is so typical of americans that age. not to say na walang ganun dito, pero hindi gaano. wala pang looking back moda at may paghihinayang eklavu na di na-fulfil ang dream nila sa life ek. potah, he's just in his freaking 30s! it's not too late to reinvent himself, just like what others like him have done, and have been doing as we speak! kaloka! ang nipis lang ng angst and character motivation na ito, na napaka-unrealistic ang dating talaga. kaya natatawa ako habang pinanonood ko ito. sobrang unrealistic. sobrang fantasy film lang ito ng mga high school losers siguro, yung mga writers o producers hahaha! chakaaaaa!

and please, the title! noong mga panahong naglalagi pa ako sa star cinema, sinusurot puwet namin kakaupo for hours sa conference room to brainstorm a good title for an upcoming movie. ito naman potah, sana naman nag-effort pa ng kaunti ang brain cells 'no, para mapaganda ang title. hay mega ligwak to the max itey!

pinanood ko lang siya because i want to see how their variation of the plot pattern will turn out. buti na lang masarap ang popcorn sa sinehan kanina. kundi, laslas!!!

cine chichirya: XMEN ORGINS:WOLVERINE

since di pa ko makatulog, eto muna.


XMEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE
d. gavin hood
c. hugh jackman

pitch: the story traces the origins of wolverine from being a "noble fighting" mutant into being the vengeful menace that he became. chuva.

catch: masyadong pa-cool, pacing and visuals suffered

wala, bitin ito. it's not visually spectacular, the ending leaves much to be desired (pero expected anyway), and the pacing is... weird.

ewan. that sums it all up, actually. nothing more to say hehe. pero it worked for me and at the same time, it didn't. schizo, yes.

i've been a fan of the xmen series but only when it began having an animated tv series back in the '90s. hindi ko bet masyado ang magbasa ng "men in tights" comicbook sagas, kahit pinoy pa ang lead animator nito. pero just the same, aliw ako sa konseptong piniprisinta ng series: a population of mutated humans with extraordinary powers/abilities have been growing, some doing good while some doing evil stuff. er, flashforward to 2000s - does this sound familiar? but i digress.

when it made a leap into film, naturally, mas naging bet ko siya. mas nabuo ang 3D-ness ng materyal sa akin, never mind the chaka chaka script ng first XMEN movie (esp. the haller dialogues). with halle berry as storm and sir ian mckellen as magneto, benta na siya agad sa akin! tapos ang usapan! put a sexy dark-skinned pretty girl and a gay rights icon in a film and you had me at "what would you prefer, yellow spandex?" chos. and we saw wolverine patching up bits and pieces of his past in that one. this movie is actually serving as his prequel, of course.

as a prequel, it served its purpose. we saw how his bony extra "fingers" became the lovably sharp metal claw thingies we know now, and how he lost his memory, linking this film to the first xmen film. tapos ang kuwento. we also discover the origin of his xmen name, at ang iba pang chenelyn chuva chuchu back story, with the pasulpot-sulpot na familiar uncanny xmen here and there. keri ko yun.

pero di ko sure kung bakit it leaves me so bitin. maybe this won't happen if the visuals were somewhat spectacular. walang masyadong pizzazz yung texture in general. or maybe it's the action sequences, na hindi gaanong bombastic for me, na too staged and too choreographed by people-who-rip-off-hongkong-martial-arts-stunt-choreographers. something like that. or baka dahil alam ko na kasing it will do its job of impressing us with the usual formulaic elements of the "hollywood summer blockbuster" genre. hm pero hindi rin e. dapat may kuwento. bakit yung TOMB RAIDER?

pero meron naman. hitik pa nga sa kuwento, e, pero di ko pa rin masigurado kung bakit di benta sa akin ang kuwento. parang sa ibang parts may lull (like that whole sequence ng lovely chummy moments eklavulet ni logan at ni kayla chuva - sooo predictable, lalo na nung umapir na si victor mini-wolverine-like sa daanan niya laterzzz), sa ibang parts bigla na lang super-dump ng plot dumps (like that part na kinukuwestiyon ng isang heneral si col. stryker about the col's biased study as deeply rooted to his son being a mutant chuva -- hello, bad example of expository dialogue itey!!! laslas!).

i guess this is one of those films that you'll super-love or super-hate. i'm caught in the middle. maybe this is why i react this way. hm.

lost.

ewan. feeling ko... baka hindi na dapat naging pelikula ito. maybe they have to do a mini-series na lang or a series of one-hour specials chronicling the origins of each xmen. baka mas benta pa yun. pero as a film? parang kapos kasi e. yun. yun siguro yun. some parts feel stretched para maging feature-length siya when in fact this could run in just about an hour. yes, maluwag ang naratibo, hence weird nga ang pacing, and therefore the lulls.

yun. so yes... di siya worth it panoorin sa big screen. not even the "cool" tricks could save it: mga pa-art-e tira ni gambit (na hello, china-channel ba niya si brandon lee sa THE CROW???), mga pa-cool sword tricks talo bala ng baril ni ryan reynolds (hindi na siya nag-grow mula sa antics niya sa BLADE: TRINITY) and of course ang pa-wolf attack ni liev schrieber (na sumisigaw lang ang aura niya ng "i want to be *the* wolverine hehe) na hindi rin naman...happy tignan. ewan ko ba. yun yun e. hindi happy tignan ang images. kaya siguro di nagwo-work for me ito, subconsciously. hay...

basta. sayang. na hindi rin. bitin. sayang.

oh well. let's just wait 'til they make an origins film of storm, or jean grey. winner pa siguro yun. tapos kay diane keaton nila ipa-direk hehe. kung kaya ng powers niya.

Manila Times column for 03 May 2009: "Just how many books have you read, so far?"

original post here.

hehe, this post might "hurt" page poseurs out there, but what the hey. yes, they do exist! i based these on real people! of course i won't name names lang, though... inuman tayo, dun ko isisiwalat hahaha! chos.

THE SCRIBE VIBE
By Libay Linsangan Cantor
Just how many books have you read, so far?

Since I saw Dia Del Libro’s poster with the tagline “Cuantos libros has leído?” last month, I couldn’t stop and think about just how many books have I really read, so far, in my life, as this Spanish tagline so asked.

The event, after all—by Instituto Cervantes and supported by the Spain Tourism Board—is a celebration of people’s love for books. Thus, there was a book sale, literary discussions and even a talk from a visiting literary luminary—Argentinean poet Juan Gelman. The book sale part is always a hit ever since the Spanish cultural institute began conducting this Day of Books event. And we Filipinos love sales of all sorts, even when it came to books. I mean, this is the country where the concept of the Book Sale nook thrived, right? So yes, we love bargains, buying books, and collecting books.

OK, how about the reading part? Now that’s another story.

I found it funny once that some people bought books for the sake of owning them. Seriously. One such person I met said she just kept buying because they were on sale, and they were rare/good/popular titles worth having. When I saw her collection, it was indeed impressive, until I discovered that she has never read most of them, because she was too busy with her work to actually read. Yes, I meet really weird people in Metro Manila.

I’ve also met some people who treat books as “proof” of their intellectual capacity. Seriously. It’s like when others discover them owning certain titles, they automatically get credit for being “so well-read” (read: intellectual). Or at least that’s what others assume of them. A friend even discovered that some of these “page poseurs” only went as far as reading the book’s blurbs so that they’ll know the story’s gist, and fake their way into conversations about the whole thing. Talk about literary loopholes. Yes, there are many weird people in Metro Manila.

As for me, there are titles I don’t mind buying in regular bookstores when they first come out. I also like scouring the shelves of bargain bookshops. And yes, I do read these books I buy. Some I read immediately if I am excited about them—like the newest works of my favorite authors. Some I set aside and find a better time to read them—some books/stories call for that. Or maybe I’m just a moody reader. Nonetheless, the books get read, eventually.

As for the number, I find that it’s so hard to quantify. What I remember are good stories, and not all books have them. So maybe I’ll just leave it at that, for now.

Comments? Suggestions? E-mail libay. scribevibe@gmail.com. She is also at libay cantor.multiply.com.

tracking leaflens online

it appears as if this blog is quiet. it feels as if i'm not blogging lately, from the looks of this blog.

not quite.

i've actually been blogging endlessly, but in other venues, particularly in my multiply accounts. i set up both accounts to funnel posts here. i don't understand why it's not funneling lately. i'm not much of a techie as you can see, so that glitch is beyond me.

so what i'll do is just to do it the old-fashioned way -- to blog it here first, if possible. well, it depends on the posts.

since i've become a public school teacher, i became a bit careful about my blogging. at first, i debated about this with myself, weighing what online publishing is for, and stuff like that. but in the end, privacy still matters. i don't want to share too much out there anymore, especially to kids i will just encounter maybe once or twice in this lifetime in a class or two. thus, i filtered my secondary leaflens account in multiply, leaflens perspective, beginning 2009. that blog is the one for my friends, some close contacts, relatives and other peeps from my lgbt networks, primarily because i blog most of my lgbt musings and personal musings there. the ones i can share to the world, i funnel out here. alas, i may have to do that manually, but i don't mind. i actually missed blogging here first, because of all that cross-posting technology. from now on, we do it the old-fashioned way. if you're in these networks of mine, feel free to add that account if you have multiply.

the ones i filtered out from leaflens perspective, i transferred to my more public blog, the divine miss L - char!, also in multiply. that one i retain for my work colleagues, professional/business contacts, and students. it's convenient to segregate things in the digital age. i track stuff faster this way. if you belong in these networks of mine, feel free to add me up. yes, you can add both accounts, why not? like the other multiply account, i've also been funneling the contents of that site here, all content actually. alas, the crossposting also went haywire with that one, so i'm just reposting from scratch just like the other one.

i would also like to jazz this site up again because this is the one i hooked up to rainbow bloggers, the network run by yffar and other like-minded lgbt peeps in the country. if you want to hook up with us online, please contact one of the administrators. even though i'm technically one of them, well, i don't really run the site. i was invited by yffar to be one of the authors, and i haven't really sat down and looked into that lately, these past 3-4 months. but i will do that, soon.

i've also been remiss in blogging about a lot of things, because of personal things happening with me, especially related to my acads, teaching and work posts. they're just eating up my time lately. but now that april is gone, and i am now officially divisible by three (i turned 36 last barbra streisand's bday), time is on my side lately. that's why i can also watch movies again now, on a more regular basis than the past two months.

so sige, iisa-isahin natin ang buhay. maraming oras, maraming kuwento, maraming gawain. who says nakakabagot ang life? ikaw lang. chos!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!