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Oh yes, it’s as macho as it sounds. And that’s also what informs the anti-Claudine rhetoric that’s on the interwebs, i.e., Twitter and Facebook. So in a fistfight that began between two men, the backlash has been on the one woman in the story; and while it’s been fascinating watching Raymart and Mon Tulfo going at it on television, the backlash has been more strongly against the woman.
tara sa Baguio! – Compass, a community-supported program for the promotion and appreciation of poetry, partners with Mt Cloud, an independent bookstore in Baguio, on May 19 and 20 2012. A poetry reading with Baguio-based poets will be held at Mt Cloud Bookshop on the evening of May 19, Saturday, followed by a free poetry and publication workshop on Sunday, May 20.
when my friend TJ Dimacali asked if i had seen this rappler piece, my response was a resounding “no” just because i keep from going to rappler when i can. in the past month or so though, people have been alerting me about certain articles and kinds of writing that point precisely to its, uh, identity crisis? or just its biases (kayo na ang nagtitinda ng magnum at coke at naglalagay ng obvious PR pieces under “lifestyle” and “business” instead of… Continue reading »
March is International Women’s Month and March 8 is Women’s Day. It’s the perfect time to kick-off The Be Cause. This is a tiny project that I’ve been wanting to launch as a way of dealing with contemporary women’s issues, central to which can only be the images of womanhood that we’re bombarded with everyday. It isn’t just that these images are false – if not impossible – for a majority of us; it’s also that this has normalized superficiality in… Continue reading »
helped out with Better Living Through Xeroxography (BLTX) 2 which happens tomorrow, March 2, at Ilyong’s in Cubao. it’s the one independent book fair that happens in these shores as far as i know, and the one that gathers together the writers / illustrators / artists you wouldn’t see in bookstores. am launching a teeny tiny book to end the life cycle of an essay that should’ve been printed / published a long time ago. do come!
will be joining bloggers_united and other bloggers for this tomorrow: old books from my and stuartsantiago‘s shelves, and some CDs from past lives / tastes / interests. do come! you might find something you like, and we can chika. :) cheers!
“An old student once quoted to me Allan Gurganus’ remark that it was the writer’s job to take the world personally. I think that that’s true. When I read about The Who or John Ashcroft, or the disaster at Chernobyl, I’m reading about it because I’m interested in the subject, and by interested I mean to suggest that not only my intellect but my emotions have been engaged. And when I’m reading, I’m trying to read receptively; that is, I’m… Continue reading »
and this isn’t even about the fact of those tweets from the celebrity guests at what apparently was a christmas party in Malacanang on Sunday, December 18 — which cannot be denied, such is the curse of tweeting, such is the power of screen grabs / captures, and no those women weren’t irresponsible, they were being themselves. what is irresponsible is the fact that there’s talk at all of a party happening at this point in the most powerful halls of… Continue reading »
when Malacanang (via Lacierda) invokes the fact that PNoy’s family only has 1% of Hacienda Luisita, what does that mean? 1% of 6443 hectares = 64.43 hectares of land. what is 64.43 hectares of land? Intramuros is 64 hectares. SM Mall of Asia is only 42 hectares The La Mesa Eco Park is 33 hectares (extraneous to the watershed and forest) The Heritage Park in Taguig (we’re talking the cemetery) is 76 hectares Ateneo de Manila University is 83 hectares 1%? STOP… Continue reading »
this comes a wee bit late in the day — as i write this the early morning shows are talking about what can happen today to Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. and i’m with you when you think: karma’s a bitch ain’t it. stuartsantiago‘s got us all covered on the whys and wherefores and gone wrongs in the unfolding of GMA’s arrest. but lest no one else points it out, there is something tragic in the undercurrent of kamachohan, of good ol’ Pinoy… Continue reading »
Grand Prize, Signature Art Prize 2011! that’s out of 130 nominated works and 15 finalists from the Asia Pacific. and no, this prize isn’t the one based on people’s votes ha. wherefore art thou Pinoy pride? Baston ni Kabunian, Bilang Pero di Mabilang (Cane of Kabunian, numbered but cannot be counted) image from here. more info up at the Singapore Art Museum FB page.
TEDx Talks are independently organized TED talks across the world, which is about “riveting talks by remarkable people.” TEDx Diliman was my first. This is a review of each of the TED talks that were part of it, done in 18 minutes or less, because that’s the time limit of a TED Talk. Read more about TED here, and check out this really good video on TEDx here. Fernando Sena: How to draw an eye with all due respect to someone who “needs… Continue reading »
we don’t. but let me give you some proof. Enjoy Division is a group exhibit not just with a wonderful title, but which had a curatorial note by Antares Gomez Bartolome that the Light&Space Contemporary gallery decided to put down. the said note was critical of Malaysian curator Adeline Ooi’s assessment of Philippine contemporary art which looked down on us, i.e., “We already know you were conquered by the Spanish, sold to the Americans, raped by the Japanese and totally fucked… Continue reading »
On August 7, 2011, the History Channel premiered its 48-minute documentary on the bus hostage drama that happened in Manila a year ago on August 23, 2010. For a full week after the premier, this same documentary would be replayed every day, sometimes three times a day, on cable TV. There was no noise about it, barely any media mileage other than what looked like press releases from the History Channel itself, where the documentary is sold along with the rest of… Continue reading »
Going to art exhibits and events since 2009, I find that what I enjoy most about it is the solitude and silence. I’m not known in art circles (or any circle for that matter) and can go around unobtrusively; on “gallery days” it’s rare that there are other spectators, least of all someone I know, in these art spaces. It’s a gift, a break I take even as it requires trips to places from UN Avenue in Manila to West… Continue reading »
am i the only one who thinks this has gone too far? and just way low, the discourse on the Reproductive Health Bill. it’s bad enough that we have to deal with congressmen like Amado Bagatsing who thinks prOscribe can easily be changed into prEscribe (medyo praning), like Roilo Golez who will twist previous DOH Secretary Esperanza Cabral’s words to her face about the risk factors of the pill (medyo sinungaling), like Pablo Garcia who thinks the correct response to the… Continue reading »
The first thing that strikes you when you enter the Looking For Juan (L4J) art space (Serendra, Taguig City) for the Mga Kuwentong EDSA exhibit is how familiar the images on both the small and large canvasses are, with faces and figures both real and abstract that speak of a time we might be too young to remember. But the icons / slogans / colors continue to have currency. Two artists are part of this exhibit, from different generations, both working with… Continue reading »