Lost in Translation

It's always a pleasure to learn a foreign word, or two (or three). Especially when you encounter or recall unique ones like Wabi-sabi or Ubuntu that has become iconic and symbolic, the way that each of them are untranslatable (no equivalent word in English) prompts any "word warrior" to dig deeper into each of their histories, including their evolution. In the end, you will appreciate the word more. You might want to share it with your loved ones or perhaps the rest of the World.

Compiled and illustrated by Ella Frances Sanders, this is a beautiful and interesting collection of unique words of the World. Thanks for including the Tagalog word "Kilig" in the collection because it is indeed, unique.

Images above belonged to the author.


Genre: Art, Language, Word Collection
Rating: 4 luftmensch out of 5

Guillermo Del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities

"You have to believe the magic to see it."  --Guillermo Del Toro

There was an actor who referred to Steven Spielberg as the Thomas Edison of the movie industry. Whether you agree or not all I can say is that if Spielberg is the Edison, then perhaps Guillermo Del Toro is the Nikola Tesla.

His creations inside the Bleak House may wear the mask of horror and intricacy of a machine, but uniquely beautiful and humane at heart. In one complete package his creations are awesome in their imperfections and visually stunning in their details, as evident in his notebooks, sculptures, and varied artistic pieces highly comparable to the works of Da Vinci.

His "cabinet" of curiosities provides hindsight on his creative thought processes as the western world have already seen in his fantasy and science fiction oeuvre such as The Devil's Backbone, Mimic, Cronos, Blade II, Pan's Labyrinth, Hellboy I and II, and Pacific Rim. From these films his central characters usually triumph if they hold true to themselves when put to the test. In his stories there is always a child-like warrior finishing a silent victory.

From the introductory piece written by James Cameron, I am also looking forward for the birth of Mephisto's Bridge, The List of Seven, and At the Mountain of Madness on the silver screen. The sequence of my experience in reading this collection is opposite to the sequence of his idea above; I saw the magic first before believing it.

The magic remains the same.

Notebook 3, Page 4B

Images © 2013 Guillermo del Toro

Genre: Collections, Reference
Rating: 4.5 inches of bloody scalpel out of five

Ole' Ole' Ole'

Who's hungry for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil?

Image©Victor Moriyamo/Getty Images

Looking Back 6: Prehistoric Philippines

Last year as a commemoration of Philippine Independence I enjoyed the Looking Back 1 by Ambeth Ocampo. After finishing today I find this 6th book of the series equally enjoyable and insightful as a closer look into the Philippine history.

So what are the nuggets I learned from this book?

• "History" as an academic term refers to the "written" records and documents, as compared to the term "Prehistory" that refers mostly to the artifacts, and relics predating the advent of the printed words (and symbols/ numbers).

• The idea of a land-centered "territory" usually bounded by water is purely Hispanic and American. Our ancestor's idea of "territory" does not exclude bodies of water (i.e. rivers, lakes) but rather include them and even put them as an integral and central part of the territory because they serve as the main medium of travel. In contrast to "roads," our ancestors highly used "rivers" to transport from one "barangay" to another. Of course, they don't use carriages nor animals in those days yet, but boats.

• The Merlion symbol of Manila's official coat-of-arms predates the Lion symbol branding of Singapore by centuries.

• The Boxer Codex does not just showcase the detailed tattoo art of the Visayan Pintados but also the recurring local superstitions in the period of the Spanish Philippines.

• Our earliest written record discovered so far is not a song nor a poem, but a receipt for payment of debt. It's the Laguna Copperplate Inscription of 900 A.D.

• There are lots of Filipino artifacts scattered in museums around the world but we are thankful at least, they were able to protect them. The Philippine National Museum--the home of local artifacts and documents were destroyed from the Battle of Manila in 1945.

Manunggul Jar

source

Agusan Gold

source

Genre: Philippine History
Rating: 4 sturdy lantakas out of 5

GREEMS by Marcus Adoro

A BOOK REVIEW IN VERSES

©NUS

Is this poetry,

Or is this a prose?

Or perhaps

Just a plain

Lyrical rubbish

Of a song?

Never expected much

Never expected better,

'Coz Marcus' strength

Remains
Not in wordplays,

But in making
his guitar wail.

Those
Repetitious lines

Are annoying;

But books published

without ISBN

Would still look pretty

On my shelf

Like a novelty.

I do agree with Osho

That "seriousness

Is a sickness."

So show
A nasty smile

And crack
a stupid joke;

Collect the dreams

And compile them

As a book.

If it becomes

A collector's item

Or a useless

Bounded paper,

Only time

And termites

Can exactly tell.

Genre: Poetry
Rating: 3 servings of pineapple pancakes

Saving Sally

Written by Charlene Sawit, this is the third trailer of an indie-animation combining 2D art and live action sequence. If you're seeing familiar things and places, it's because some scenes were done in UP Diliman College of Fine Arts. It looks good, but the question is when are we gonna see it on the big screen? 

Click here for the creative process involving a lot of inputs from varied talents and personalities.

The Last Armor from Krypton

This photo from Licensing Expo 2012 in Las Vegas is so cool, it may look like an ancient armor but it's not, since it comes from the planet Krypton as an official suit by Jor El. This is just a preview for the upcoming Superman reboot Man of Steel to be featured next year.

view more

Graham Smith Art for Rolling Stone Magazine

I was rediscovering the music of Pearl Jam from their 2009 album Backspacer when I stumbled upon this very cool art by Graham Smith. Commissioned for Rolling Stone Magazine, the heavily inked art describes best the pop and new wave inspired album--experimental but structured, mature but full of energy.

image source

A Call for a Reprint of Andong Agimat

This weekend, I just got the news that Gerry will be selling the rare Arnold Arre + Budjette Tan collaboration work BATCH 72 and I can't wait to finally get a copy of the whole set. But what I've been looking for with no luck is a 2006 copy of Arnold Arre's ANG MUNDO NI ANDONG AGIMAT.

Printed or electronic copy will do.
By the way, this short animation below is also an impressive work to behold! Arnold, where art thou?

If You're Fed Up Dealing With the Office Crabs

then you can always escape and take a detour for the Summer Komikon - WAKASAN this Saturday!
Also, watch out for these Indie Artists and their Komiks Tiangge. Summer Komikon 2012 will begin at 10am and will end at 7pm. Venue is the same as last year --Bayanihan Center, Pasig City.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Before reading I thought that this question was totally metaphorical, especially after seeing the film adaptation by Ridley Scott. But it wasnt. Electric sheep does exist in this novel along with the rest of "animals" representing the real, breathing animals currently extinct in the face of the planet after a nuclear war. Replicant animals here are considered as objects of status symbol, the same as owning an endangered species and keeping it like a trophy and a household pet.

But the best part here is the author's  depiction of androids in contrast to animals. Humans in this age adore animals but despise the androids. Androids may appear highly intelligent, logical and skillful with varying degrees according to their model/type but they have no empathy nor sense of moral judgment. Philip K Dick while writing this in 1968 probably was thinking more about the android's lack or absence of soul than the absence of what we consider today as emotional intelligence. A scientist can never manufacture courage and spirit in a mechanical beast.

This book can really make the reader think beyond the current prejudice and beliefs about the sense of self and identity. PKD toys with your thoughts, and what made this a classic sci fi novel hinges on the idea that the main protagonist here, the bounty hunter---Rick Deckard, could possibly be an android---the very thing that he's been hunting for all his life. As a reader of thriller fictions, one can never forget the feeling of paranoia when you encounter that interrogation scene in a secret agency. Deckard may have proved that he's a genuine human based on his fluctuating empathy but his alienation with his job and the system itself is not that far from the situation of the replicants. Man and machine both seek survival and freedom. Maybe, this is what the loyal PKD readers refer to as his trademark "mindfu*k." But it's a cool "mindfu*k" none the less.

This novel is also not free from historical biases, but I forgive the author. The idea that Filipinos eat boiled dogmeat with rice is a recurring racist issue but I think it's understandable since the author puts it in the eyes of an obscure android. I just want to clarify that eating a dog meat is not exclusive to one race only. This book being written with good extrapolation, also never runs out of funny ideas and scenes. The emotions in reading this is different to the moody, dark, and melancholic atmosphere of its film version Blade Runner. If  the movie ended with a dramatic scene, the book ended with a funny scene of Deckard realizing that his newly discovered toad is actually a fake one, complete with an electronic control panel.

My final comparison is this: if the movie was dramatic and mythological, the book was cynic and philosophical. The end.


Favorite Quote from the Book:
The old man said, "You will be required to do wrong no matter where you go. It is the basic condition of life, to be required to violate your own identity. At some time, every creature which lives must do so. It is the ultimate shadow, the defeat of creation; this is the curse at work, the curse that feeds on all life. Everywhere in the universe."




Blade Runner (1982)
Rutger Hauer stole the show from Harrison Ford in this classic scene "tears in rain."


Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: 4 Penfield Mood Organs out of 5

Moebius 1938-2012

“When I am in the skin of Moebius, I draw in a state of trance, I try to escape from my ego."
---Jean Giraud

The world of art lost another pioneer two days ago. Already popular with his western comic series Blueberry, he is known to many as Moebius, the co-creator of Metal Hurlant magazine in France in the 70's. Jean Henri Gaston Giraud aka Moebius is known for his sci fi and fantasy themed comic book art and it was in Metal Hurlant where the series Airtight Garage of Jerry Cornelius and his most popular "wordless" work Arzach broke new grounds. For the younger readers not yet familiar, Metal Hurlant is the progenitor of the mature themed sci fi and fantasy comics magazine in the US, the Heavy Metal.

Moebius also worked with Stan Lee for the Silver Surfer and also involved in numerous comic book and fim collaborations like his storyboard and concept designs for the original Alien and Tron movies, as well as the animation Les Maitres du temps (Time Masters) based on the novel by Stefan Wul with director Rene' Laloux.

Metal Hurlant #1

ARZACH sample page

The Long Tomorrow sample page

The Long Tomorrow underground city

L 'Etoile

Blueberry

The United Humanoids (founders of Humanoids and Metal Hurlant)

Bernard Farkas, Jean-Pierre Dionnet, Philippe Druillet, and Jean Giraud.

sources:
http://www.moebius.fr/
http://theairtightgarage.tumblr.com/post/7664774204/les-humanoides-associes-the-united-humanoids
http://www.thewilloftheancients.com/parallels/moebius_arzach.php
http://entertainment.inquirer.net/33117/comic-books-giant-moebius-dies

The Sketching Backpacker

If you've never been to Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, China, Macau, Hong Kong, and provincial areas of the Philippines, this is a pretty book worthy as your de facto travel guide. According to the author Robert Alejandro, 90% of the sketches were done on site and the rest were post-processed texts and photograph prints. Inheriting the ownership of Papemelroti from his parents, Robert Alejandro's designs can easily be seen inside a Papemelroti shop from t-shirts to notebooks to calendars and coffee mugs.

I agree with him in saying that traveling is an education which you will never be able to get from school or books. I think traveling is an education of using all your senses, more than just starting from point A and ending to point B. It's about making a plan, meeting people, learning about the world and maybe next time, a chance of breaking and remaking that plan. It's about what you encounter between the point of origin and point of destination and loving that unique experience.

"I am not a tourist. I am a traveler."

Tuktuk - Thailand's version of our very own trike

Lau Prabang French Colonial Architecture

Gao Dai Temple - Vietnam

"bookleg" - paperbacks bootleg in Vietnam

Back Cover

 

Genre: Art Journal, Travelogue
Rating: 4 sketch pads

The Gospel of Art According to Mr Vonnegut

Source

The Hobbit Part 1 Official Trailer

Finally, here's something to cheer and warm you up in this bleak and rainy Yuletide Season.

Truth be told...Baggins of Bag End!

Alternative Alamat

If you love stories about Philippine Mythology this one looks delicious. Published today by Rocket Kapre Books in digital format, this is an anthology of new and old, known and unknown, fiction and non-fiction work of writers, artists, and historians involved in the fascination and study of our country's diverse mythology.

cover art by Mervin Malonzo for Rocket Kapre Books

CONTENTS:

“Ana’s Little Pawnshop on Makiling St.” by Eliza Victoria 

“Harinuo’s Love Song” by Rochita Loenen-Ruiz 

“The Last Full Show” by Budjette Tan 

“The Alipin’s Tale” by Raymond G. Falgui 

“Keeper of My Sky” by Timothy James Dimacali 

“Conquering Makiling” by Mo Francisco 

“The Sorceress Queen” by Raissa Rivera Falgui 

“Beneath The Acacia” by Celestine Trinidad 

“Offerings to Aman Sinaya” by Andrei Tupaz 

“Balat, Buwan, Ngalan” by David Hontiveros 

“A Door Opens: The Beginning of the Fall of the Ispancialo-in-Hinirang” by Dean Alfar 

Appendix A: A Few Notable Philippine Deities 

Appendix B: Interview with Professor Herminia Meñez Coben 

Appendix C: Interview with Professor Fernando N. Zialcita 

Appendix D: On Researching Philippine Mythology 

Cover and interior artwork by Mervin Malonzo

Pag-iilaw: Xmas 2011 at UPD

This place has been my home for 7 years and whenever the month of December looms in the horizon, that unique atmosphere of excitement leading to inevitable basking in festivity of the Lantern Parade is one unforgettable event for any alumni. Pinoy Theme is an undying trademark and this constellation of "parol"---lanterns glimmering in darkness is simply nostalgic.

source:
pag-iilaw
image ©upd.edu.ph

The 3rd San Pablo Comics Festival

For the young at heart who's proud of being Pinoy and loves Comics.

"Repent, Harlequin!" Said The Ticktockman

Story Art © Don Ivan Punchatz 1978

Everett C. Marm lives in a futuristic working-class city of Indiana where nobody can afford to waste a second. Time is the main capitalistic currency here, not money nor property. If you're ten  minutes late, you have to pay for it ten minutes worth of your life. Those are called revocations--small penalties for minute violations. But if your offence cumulate to a considerable amount of wasted time, the System will have to terminate you via the Master Timekeeper, dreadfully known as the Ticktockman. Such is the punishment for somebody who lives a square peg life forced to fit into a circular socket kind of world.

Harlan Ellison's short story "Repent, Harlequin!" Said The Ticktockman originally appeared in Galaxy Magazine, 1965 belonged to dystopic stories we lovers of fantasy and science fiction know by heart. Those kind of disturbing stories that teach us the necessity of opposing tyrannies and rules of the conformist. The kind of stories that hit us at our very own core because we love freedom and diversity in their basic form as much as the authors want to try reminding us against real oppressions of the past not far from reality, and may also serve as warning for coming tyranny of the land with or without fantasy and magic of science. I give the author extra credit for his direct reference to George Orwell's 1984 novel, especially when the Harlequin met his transformation in the hands of his captors. There is really no need to relive the horrors of brainwashing word by word, and blood by blood...

Ellison's short opus reminds me of Yevgeny Zamyatin's seminal dystopic work WE that actually predated George Orwell's 1984 and Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. All quality work that stood as cautionary tales about the past and the future. "Repent, Harlequin! Said The Ticktockman deserved to win both the Nebula (1965) and the Hugo (1966) for short fiction.


most memorable scene:
"Scare someone else. I'd rather be dead than live in a dumb world with a bogeyman like you."
"It's my job."
"You're full of it. You're a tyrant. You have no right to order people around and kill them if they show up late."
"You can't adjust. You can't fit in."
"Unstrap me, and I'll fit my fist into your mouth."
 

Genre: Short Fiction, Sci Fi, Dystopia
Rating: 4 jelly beans out of 5

Guess Who's Back on MTV?

MTV just realize that their current shows suck, so they are launching the new season this October 27.  This book-blog owed a lot to the "duo" and of course, to the creator Mike Judge. This generation of JUSTIN, EMO, and GAGA probably needed more endorsers or maybe critics from a realist point of view like that brave honest boy in the story of Emperor's New Clothes but what can I say, good luck to y'all.

Still, nothing beats the Grunge Generation of the 90's man! 

JUST SCREW IT, BUTT-HEAD!!!

all images ©MTV and Mike Judge.