Umberto Eco 1932-2016

“The real hero is always a hero by mistake; he dreams of being an honest coward like everybody else.”
 ― Umberto Eco

Gabo 1927-2014

"It is not true that people stop pursuing dreams because they grow old, they grow old because they stop pursuing dreams."

― Gabriel Garcí­a Márquez

Stephen Covey 1932-2012

Image ©Gregory Bull

Proactivity.

Paradigm Shift. 

Interdependence.

The Freedom to Choose.

These are just basic ideas the world learned from a great and humble mentor. His name is Stephen Covey. I pay tribute to this genuine educator who just passed the mortal plane due to complications from a bicycle accident. My trip through college (as an engineering undergrad) could have been a very bumpy and stormy road if not for this man's practical teachings and philosophy.

I want to share this quote by Ezra Taft Benzon, Dr Covey's final message in his book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. This one is his favorite (and mine too):

“The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. Christ would take the slums out of people, and then they would take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature.”

Ray Bradbury, 1920-2012

Bradbury art by Ryan Sheffield

A great loss in the world of Science Fiction, Ray Bradbury is one of the pioneering creators in fiction, film, television and theater that became and remains highly influential to artists, writers, educators, and scientists. Fahrenheit 451 is my only Ray Bradbury read so far, but now I'm compelled to read The Illustrated Man, The Martian Chronicles, Something Wicked This Way Comes, among others. We shall remain fighting for our books to become fireproof.

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 Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys

With that same pragmatic sentimentality and alienation of Holden Caulfield in JD Salinger's Catcher in The Rye, this book I think is much better than its film version. While working for the final revision of this novel, Chris Fuhrman may have lost the battle against cancer but won the war for making his story effective, serving as a testament of his legacy as a writer.

From the first pages you imagine that you are watching a teenage adventure film like Goonies (it may excite you or annoy you) but only to be surprised by its unwarned mischiefs, heartbreaks, lust and violence up to the unexpected anticlimax all weaved in a taut narrative from the eye of the novel's protagonist Francis Doyle.

Unlike most of the coming-of-age stories that we know, the author wrote with less drama and more with impressionism that reminded me of Hemingway. The setting is Savannah, Georgia 1974---the twilight years of the hippie generation. It's also the generation of the civil rights movement and the feminist movement when Afro-American citizens marched the streets and mothers look up to The Sensous Woman as their pillow book, but just like any kind of mainstream and cultural revolution of history, people are becoming more confused and alienated than before.

All in all, it's never too easy to forget the gang of Tim, Francis, Rusty, Wade and Joey (and Margie). God, forgive these children for they were only thirteen.


memorable quotes:


"Adulthood doesn't interest me. My only worry is drinking will stunt my growth."


"Trouble is our only defense against boredom, Francis.  You know that's the truth."


"Every adult is the creation of a child...My life is the result of that boy's dreams and limitations, and of the company that boy kept a long time ago, back when things could still happen for the first time."

movie poster

 

Genre: Coming-of-Age, Teenage Fiction, Postmodernist
Rating: 4 tranquilizer blowguns

Death of a Radio Station

THANK YOU FOR 23 YEARS 
OF ORIGINAL MUSIC!

Just woke up listening to NU 107 this morning and it seems like the word-of-mouth is true regarding the impending signing off of this ultra kewl radio station for good.

The Upswing tandem of DJs Trish and Jay couldn't hide the sadness as Macoy Fundales and his crew from Kenyo made a surprising visit and shared fond memories of their early years as budding artists and musicians with the help of this country's pioneering rock-n-roll station. Macoy topped the nostalgia trip with live, acoustic performance of a popular song Heaven Knows by his former band Orange and Lemons.

If the rumored final day of airing is true this coming Saturday, the loyal followers of this station will definitely raise a glass or two until midnight to pay tribute to what this station meant to their lives as artists or dilettantes, and as professionals or underground musicians.

Even for just a loyal listener, this station and its noteworthy segments will be missed for sure. I'll miss listening to Rock Ed Radio discussions with Gang and Lourd, the All Pinoy Countdown and Stairway to Seven, Francis Brew's In the Raw, and of course the best of them all---Remote Control Weekend. I've been listening to this station since college days and admittedly it has defined my adolescent life when it comes to musical preferences and idols. It gave me a great and therapeutic respite from Boy Bands, Spice Girls, and Britney Spears. It showed me who really are the true voices of music like Pearl Jam, Nirvana, RATM, Eheads, Teeth, Wolfgang, 311, Soundgarden, Stone Temple Pilots, Incubus, 3rd Eye Blind, Filter, Silverchair, The Offspring, Bush, Radiohead, Oasis, Deftones, Yano, Nine Inch Nails, Francis M, RHCP, et al -- and they became a major influence in a diverse way at the time when downloading an mp3 song was illegal. Of course, I'll never forget falling for the music of kick ass chicks like Shirley Manson, Courtney Love, Gwen Stefani, Tracy Chapman, Harriet Wheeler(The Sundays), Melody(Sugar Hiccups), Bic Runga, Cynthia Alexander, Aya De Leon(Imago), Beth Gibbons(Portishead), Acel Bisa, Sampaguita, and Lolita Carbon. I can still remember ages ago taking the path of Roces St from my dorm to AS Building for my Social Science II class. I couldn't stop humming a classic song from Yano as I picture the serene face of a female classmate.

This morning at the end of the show Macoy asked on what will happen to the new rock artists releasing their works next year if a pioneer rock station like NU will leave the industry for good. For this, there is no definite answer--yet. But remember, Pinoy Rock survived the Marcos years of silenced and pacified airwaves during Martial Law. And now that we have TV and Internet and other radio stations(no matter how lame and tame their music is), Pinoy Rock will surely live on as we bid farewell to this station that we always loved and loved us back.

Sometimes, there is also good news in letting go...


The agony of giving it up... Wasak ang Wakas brad!

Banned Books Week 2010

Celebrating the freedom to read banned books has already started at 25th of September and will end this Saturday, the 2nd of October. Though I know I'm off by at least half a week, I believe it's  never too late to give banned books a chance to finally realize their true value, being proof of history themselves. They were banned due to political, moral, and biased reasons but nevertheless, any form of expression by any author or individual who only wanted to tell their sides of the story is a very valid point for us to listen (or read, to be exact).

This year, my most memorable reading experience with a politically banned book is reading the Diary of Anne Frank. It was banned in Lebanon for portraying Jews, Israel, or Zionism "favorably." Crazy it may sound, the very old mantra about "one country's hero is just another country's heretic" is still, highly relevant in a politically-divided world of this Global Age. What an irony.

Here's my short review for Anne Frank's Diary over the Shelfari group.

ALA | Banned Books Week 2010
List of Banned Books @ Wikipedia

What are you reading now, AUTOMATON?

Frank Frazetta, 1928-2010

Yesterday May 10, 2010 (at the heat of the National Elections in my country---the Philippines) the world of Art lost a genuine talent of a very high caliber in the name of Frank Frazetta Sr. At the age of 82, Frank Sr. suffered a stroke while dining in a restaurant with his grandchildren in Florida, USA.

Frazetta's classic style of adult illustration in Fantasy + Sci Fi books and magazines are highly comparable with the style of the Renaissance artists (imagine Juan Luna) that easily made him a likable character in the world of art. I personally loved his rendition of Tarzan in the 70's, his work on Conan in the 80's and later the Death Dealer character. Of course nobody can forget his illustrations of nude women and scantily-clad vixens like Captive Princess, Cat Girl, Vampirella and the Egyptian Queen. The world shall never forget the loss of a great talent.

all images © Frank Frazetta Sr.