I'm usually free on Wednesday evenings, around 7pm. I'm coming from Romulo so Mang Jimmy's would be very convenient. Ortigas or Ayala area sounds fine too. Porn star classmate sounds fun. I'll check if Jol has stories stored too, hehe.

Pastillas pampulutan?

Porn Star Classmate

Oooh...interesting. I mean, how many pornstars can claim to have attended the UP Integrated School? Hehehe.

Okay, fine if Mister Watermelon. Mali ang accent ko. You should blame Kris Aquino kasi she pronounced it as mother not mister.

Btw, nasa scooby's ako. I mean, I'm in Dumaguete. Same thing. Umuulan. Pero lakad everywhere kami. Hindi kasi ako marunong mag-scooter eh.

Jessel, sagot sa tanong mo sa sangkatutak kong aaargh nakapost na. Regarding the mama pakwan thing. I think hindi mother watermelon kundi mister, watermelon. The guy who is promoting the movie is none other than my old classmate in high school who I have been telling you about that turned into a porn star. well sort of. Saw that episode, too. What can i do? I need material for our next dinner with the block. :)

Mlle. Sylvia Plath and her kikay New York summer

They kept going back to that photograph, passing it hand to hand. Taken 50 years ago this month, it shows 20 young women from across the country who came to New York in 1953 to work as guest editors at Mademoiselle magazine. Chosen from 1,500 applicants, they were dressed identically in tartan kilts, and were shot from above in the formation of a star. The woman at the very top of the picture, at the very top of the star, was Sylvia Plath, who immortalized the guest editor program in her autobiographical novel, "The Bell Jar."

The Bell Jar was Plath's foray into kikayness. Mademoiselle's guest editorship was like winning the lottery for college girls. A whole month spent in New York, running around covering fashion shoots, interviews, living the life. But she stood out like the sore thumb whose top skin she cut off: "an Ivy League snob" as one of the other editors called her.

While others from the team of '53 went on to lives of their own--finishing school, marrying their sweethearts, running a baby factory--Plath lived the writing life and then put her head inside the oven by age 30. While all the other editors have withered life, Plath will eternally fixed as the brilliantly talented poet and writer, eyes ablaze before the ravages of mental illness finally took her life.

I have two copies of that novel. In college I devoured all the books I could find about her. I had two fixations then: Plath and Dylan Thomas, he who "rage[d] against the dying of the light." Sometimes you outgrow the angas, sometimes you don't. Putting your head inside an oven is something that beckons you, and must muster enough courage not to do.

There will be a film about Plath in August. "Sylvia" will be essayed by Gwyneth Paltrow. Pag naging biglang sweet at likeable si Sylvia dun, delubyo na.

So everyone was lounging around the television last Monday morning, partly in denial that we were supposed to start work. Flipping channels, we came across Morning Girls with Kris & Korina. We could never resist Kris Aquino. That morning, they had a bunch of new hubaderos and hubaderos to try out "cool and hip things." The girls were given free body piercings. One girl was volunteered for a navel piercing. From the look on her face, you could just see she didn't really want it, but because she was new and they were on national tv she couldn't exactly say no. Aray. Complete with tears in her eyes. The guys had it easy. Two of them had their hair shorn. No sweat kaya yun. The other guy had a tattoo drawn just below his nape. "Masakit ba?," Kris asked. Maiiyak na lang din yung guy. But he said, "Sige kaya pa."

The clincher was when Kris thanked everyone from coming and they were there to promote a new movie called, of all things, "Mama Pakwan."* Or as Ms. Aquino termed it for international release: Mother Watermelon. I guess this is a cause oriented movie in support of the watermelon industry. So what's next? Sister Papaya? Taken na kasi yung Patikim ng Pinya.

*For the edification of those who find this weird, most bold movies go for the double meaning. The latter mentioned Patikim ng Pinya had undertones of tasting the leads, er, pineapples. As for Mother Watermelon, it's like Hey dude, can I? Or do I really have to spell it all out for you? Nah.

Bakit naman pagkahaba ng "aaaaaargh!" mo, ha, at?

As for dun sa nauna mong post, ilang beses na rin akong nagtry maghanap ng programs abroad. If I do film school, I think medyo mahaba-habang panahon ang mauubos ko kung mag-iipon ako. I was reading an interview with Carlitos Siguion-Reyna sa Twisted Flicks ni Zafra, and he said it's an expensive thing, film school. But you do learn a lot of things hands on. Walang ibang magpapa-aral sa akin kundi sarili ko, unless makakuha ako ng scholarship. If I want to learn talaga, kaya ko siguro on my own, trial and error. I'll make a short video on my own na lang. Matuto na rin siguro ako nun, or maybe join a workshop.

Minsan iniisip ko nga baka mas feasible kung writing program na lang ulit. I pointed out this article about this CW vs. film school article some weeks back. At medyo nako-convince ako na baka mas okay to go CW na lang ulit. Although tama ka, nakakasawa if it's in the same school, same faces. Parang feeling ko wala na akong matutunan. But at the same time, kakayanin ko bang mag-aral sa ibang skul. Sabi ng isang kakilala ko, 6 units nga sa Ateneo, 17k na agad. Naman. Tuition pa lang yun ha.

Maghanap na nga tayo ng financier. Pag-aralin n'yo ko, leche!

As for the dvd marathon, maawa ka naman sa akin if we're screening Abre Los Ojos na naman. I watched that last year at the UP Film Center na. Kasama ko yata sina Arlyn at Arlene. I can only take so much of Penelope Cruz. Magfield trip tayo sa Quiapo, sige. O kaya, maghahagilap ako ng mahihiraman ng maraming-maraming dvd. May kakilala ako. Hehehe.

Hindi ko pa nababasa yung article about Sig. Anong sabi? Tinatamad akong maghanap ng link or mag-google.

Nga pala, dahil birthday ni Ka Pepe nung isang araw, I celebrated that by watching Bayaning 3rd World on vcd. It's more filmic essay talaga than a proper film eh. Nakita ko yung script n'yan sa National sa old Greenbelt, double with another Doy Del Mundo-Mike de Leon co-production na nakalimutan ko kung ano. I think di ko binili kasi mahal. La Salle Press yata naglabas nun. Wala lang. May nakita kasi akong article sa peyups.com tungkol sa b3w.

Huy, pupunta ba kayo sa fete de la musique mamaya? Baka andun kami nina Arlyn. Kitakits na lang if ever.

Aaaaargh!

ang suggestion ko sa iyo hanap ka na lang ng program abroad na bagay talaga sa gusto mong pag-aaralan. mag-ipon ka tapos take a few years off. hanap ka rin ng scholarship. Dahil ang problema dito bagamat mura nga ang tuition ay hindi naman nila ma-cater ang gusto mo talaga. napakalimited ang pagpipilian at paulit-ulit lang ang mga teachers. unless of course sa ibang university ka mag-aaral tulad ng ateneo o la salle na mahal ang tuition pero i heard interesting things about yung mga programs nila.

btw, nabasa mo ba yung article tungkol kay sig sa manila times? sorry tamad ako mag-link. for lack of anything better to do, gusto nyo mag-dvd marathon. hiramin natin yung abre los ojos ni seymour na original. tapos mag-field trip tayo sa quiapo. wala lang. buhay bum uli ako. hindi pa lumalakad ang appointment ko as GA kasi.

Skinless mags for the masses

So I was browsing at a Booksale branch yesterday and noticed that the guy mags occupy a whole shelf now. Aside from the FHMs of the world, Gear, Details and what have you, nagkalat na rin pati non-hetero oriented mags. At a booksale, and at convenience stores ha. FHM is like all over the place, and people talk about it in FX cabs over rush hour traffic.

Anyhow, I saw this Latino FHM-esque magazine. What caught me was the name: Open your eyes, Or Oye, for short. And those who know me, all three or four of you, would know that Open your eyes is for me synonymous with that horrible film Vanilla Sky and Abre los Ojos, and the even more horrible partnership of Cruise and Cruz. Aside: I wonder why the people behind Oye just didn't call their mag "Alo" for abre los ojos? So Oye is for the Latino guys, and I don't really know all the women featured in it aside from Alicia Machado, who won the Miss Universe title several years ago and nearly lost the crown because she was allegedly overweight. And beauty titlists, and Misses of the Universes should never have more than 3% body fat. Yeah right.

I realized how much out of touch I was with my beauty contest knowledge. I haven't watched any of the Miss U pageants recently. I cannot name them now. But it was like I was being haunted by them. Last week, I was in a cafe in Malate, in the area where Pride Exchange is. PEx also carries videos with them. A whole wall dedicated to the Miss Universe contest, with each year's Miss Venezuela highlighted. What is it with Venezuela? Why do they keep coming out with all those Barbie doll contestants? My friend and I were amazed at the sheer effort that went into that collection. I mean, who among us mortals knew the name of Miss Universe 1963, and what the final question was right? Who cares if you knew the right witty answer to "If you had the choice, will you be fire or water?"

Wow. Bago na ang interface ng blogger ha. Nakakapanibago after 2 years iba na naman ang itsura niya.

Hello, Dennis. Hey, AT. Musta ang French Film Fest para sa inyo? Lagi kong ka-text sina Arlyn at Bernice para sana manood pero laging di natutuloy magkita eh. Medyo disappointed ako this year kasi magulo ang sked. Ilang pelikula rin ang hindi naipalabas dahil wala raw subtitle na Ingles ang print na napunta sa kanila. So hindi naipalabas ang "Au plus pres du paradis" na inaabangan ko pa naman kahit na sinabi nilang mala-Sleepless in Seattle ang dating nun. Hindi ko alam kung bakit di ipinalabas yun. Wala rin yung Bord de Mer kasi French din daw yung subtitles nun. Ang only good thing with this festival edition is the "buy 3 tickets get 2 free." Ang better thing is the movies I actually saw: I liked La Repetition, Aime ton pere, How I killed my father, Hell of a Day (na narito ang scriptwriter at naglecture pero di naman ako nakapunta.) Ang best thing? Hm, sana yung Fete de la Musique. Sana di umulan. Sana makapunta tayo dun. What you think?

Musta mga pips? Nag-enrol ka ba AT? XKG, any new projects? Ala lang. Hindi lumusot yung una kong post e. Tinatamad na akong i-post pang uli. A basta. Ang mahalagang bahagi lang naman duon e "kumusta?"

Ako mababaw lang ang ambisyon ko ngayon eh. Bago muna ako magpa-multo sa Hawthornden, gusto ko munang magkaroon ng pelikula. Er, or at least script na puwedeng gawing pelikula. O di ba at least well defined ang short term goal ko? Uy Jol, maliligaw talaga ako papuntang Tektite. Pahingi naman ng forms. I'll get there whether I get lost or what. Magbibitbit ako ng iba pang puwedeng kasama.

Eto ang isa pang kailangan natin pag-ambisyunan. Ang makatungtong sa haunted caste ng Hawthornden. Sana bago tayo maging trenta. Maraming salamat kay Sir Butch na idol ni Jol.

You need to have had at least one book of fiction or poetry published or completed and a work plan to apply. Write The Administrator, Hawthornden Castle International Retreat for Writers, Lasswade, Midlothian, EH18 1EG, United Kingdom, for details and an application form. Applications close in September for one-month residencies the following year. And, oh – everything’s free in the Castle, but you’ll need to pay your way or find a sponsor for your fare. Also check out http://www.writersunion.ca/list.pdf for other writing fellowships and residencies around the world.