BRAVO! BRAVO! BRAVO!

I am insanely proud of my friends Mark Gary and Denisa Reyes. Their movie, "Hubad" was chosen to be shown at the New York Asian International American Film Festival next week! Amazing.

Despite the lack of big name stars and absence of the gritty "squatter chic" element that foreign film festival programmers looove so much, I knew that this movie would make waves. And contrary to it's titillating title, the film has no hard core sex scenes, violence, or gritty stereotypes of Philippine society. It's just a wonderfully poignant and humorous story of middle aged actors working out their issues with their director and themselves.

Play the clip above and catch my cinematic debut as a foreign "judge" on a panel from Disneyland HongKong.

BRILLIANT. BRILLIANT.

I have never met this Seige Malvar but I dig his blog.  The observations he writes on his livejournal about the pressing problems of our country are a fantastic insight into what people are thinking nowadays. It seems that a new generation of Filipinos have a more nuanced idea of what is wrong in our society and are letting word out about what really needs to be done to fix it. And who can blame him for thinking such thoughts? The status quo ain't working and the failures of it are difficult to hide. And apparently Siege realized this all while looking at a plastic bag in the supermarket... Bravo for speaking out Siege, Bravo for pointing out that Congressman Abante is an idiot, and Bravo for making sense in your own little way:  

Bag It: Plastic or Rubber

If I were to speak in front of the United Nations right now, tonight, this very instant, I'd tell the Union, that my country's biggest, most serious, and most immediate problem is the Church.

I can change my mind next week, though. I can go back to my original stance--which seems to be everyone's favorite-- that the government and its Armed Forces is the Philippines' greatest oppressor. But for tonight, I'm very much sure of this: everything is the church's fault. Which has been for the past 500 years, if you think about it.

Read the rest HERE...

C'MON MARTY. YOU CAN DO IT...

Just doing my bit in hoping that Martin Scorsese will accept the invitation to this year's CineManila.  Read about it on this blog, Marty in Manila. For those of you who missed the movies of the just concluded Cinemalaya, shame on you. This years' selections rocked. Congratulations to all the candidates and to the Cultural Center of the Philippines for the quality curatorship. Furthermore, it was refreshing to see that not all of the movies were about being poor and how poverty can be noble. Not that I am diminishing the situation, mind you, but it is nice to see Filipino middle class values and aspirations represented for a change.  

BRAVO! BRAVO! BRAVO!

I HEART DR. CULIAT
Got a great email from my friend Cathy. It seems that her GM, Edna Belleza, went on my walking tour a few months ago with her sister, Dr. Cymbaline Tancongco Culiat. Well, Dr. Culiat made a breakthrough in molecular genetics, specifically in regerating damaged tissues after heart attacks. Way cool. It just tickles me pink to hear of Filipinos out there excelling in the field of science. Hopefully, her achievement will inspire the some members of the next generation to think of science as a viable and satisfying career. And how nice of her to mention me on the third page of the article as well. Read it here.

Cathy mentions, "I don't know why they quoted famous (like so: the "famous" Carlos Celdran). :-) Weird."

Yes. Weird.

Above (L-R) Ms. Edna, Dr. Culiat, me, Ms. Robin, Mr. Miguel.

BRAVO! BRAVO! BRAVO!

RENOVATION AND RESTORATION REDUX
Look at this bit of good news I found in The Inquirer. So glad to hear that one of my favorite buildings in Manila, The Beaux Arts Luneta Hotel is well on its way to being restored to its former glory. In an article online, Beaumont Properties, the new owners of this 87-year old structure who bought it from the Panlilio family, said that they aim to "restore it, not demolish it." Among their ambitious plans are to strengthen the structure by constructing an independent steel frame within the building itself so that the facade would not be harmed (steel framing pictured below) and restoring all the detailing. The project also seems to have the approval of both the National Historical Institute and the Heritage Conservation Society. Very cool. And I hear Beaumont is a very reliable, but low-key company who have done restoration and renovation in both Singapore and The United Kingdom so this definitely won't be a half-assed development. The steel columns you see below ain't cheap. And their three year timeline definitely shows this is going to be a labor of love.

And contrary to earlier whispers in the blogosphere, the building is NOT going to be a casino. It will be a boutique hotel. Apparently of the highest quality (real marble and stuff) and of levels of luxury deserving of such a structure. Can't wait to check in.

And Thanks Aidan for the review of my Imelda tour on your blog.

Hope to see you guys out there on tomorrow's Imelda tour, Dec. 14 at two pm. Meet at the CCP Little Theater Lobby.

BRAVO. BRAVO. BRAVO.

Wala lang (Nothing really). I just made this post because I just love it when I see Filipinos scratching the fringe of fame and pop culture superstardom. As a child, I remember how amazed I was when I saw Tetchie Agbayani acting side by side with Shelley Long and Tom Hanks in Steven Speilberg's "The Money Pit" and more recently, how vicariously thrilled I was to see Migs Ayesa ALMOST making it as the lead singer of INXS. So just last week, when a friend of mine, freelance writer/New Yorker, Bruce Northam of AmericanDetour.com, flew into the country to cover adventure tourism in Palawan, Manila's rock music scene and to interview some guy named Arnel Pineda - I was pretty tickled pink by the news he gave me. Now, "Arnel who?" you might ask (I know I did). Well, according to Bruce, Mr. Pineda, of a band called The Zoo, has been chosen to become the next lead singer of American 80's glam rock band, Journey starting in November. Tres Cool. Hey, now being a maaaaajor Journey fan in High School myself (I remember being a freshman and playing the song, "Faithfully" over and over until the cassette tape was eaten by my overheated Pioneer component system), it's amazing to learn that a Filipino will be a frontman for one of rock music's most iconic bands. But then again, according to some voices in the InterWeb, Arnel might have a hard time warming up to some die hard Journey fans in the midwest who consider him to be the equivalent of musical "outsourcing". But who cares, whether Arnel makes it as their lead singer for all time or only as a "temp" and they eventually go their "Separate Ways". I still say to Arnel, "Don't Stop Believeing". Remain as "Faithfully" as you can to your craft and perhaps the American audience will welcome you with "Open Arms" and all the blogosphere haters out there who made fun of your Pinoy accent will see "Who's Crying Now."

*I saw The Zoo at Bagaberde Roxas Boulevard last week with Bruce. I was impressed by Arnel's talent I have to say. And so was Bruce. Check him out doing what he does best on the Youtube post above. Hmmm. Cecile. Do you think we could give this guy some styling pointers.? He looks like he just came off his shift at a Netopia Internet Cafe or at the Copylandia or something. A better haircut would be in order too.

BRAVO! BRAVO! BRAVO!

UP DHARMA AND AWAY!

Yay. Our underground scene is fast going above ground. A million congratulations to Up Dharma Down for their feature in Time Magazine Asia. But yeah, I knew they were gonna be big. I loved their single, "Maybe" and the video of the crazed woman running around National Artist for Architecture Leandro Locsin's classy (and now shuttered) Hyatt Regency and their "Flicker" video from the movie, "Ang Pamana" was shot at my art space, "The Living Room" last year. It's great to see them finally being given notice in the region. Really, Up Dharma is just a drop in the bucket that is Manila's vibrant music scene. We really are more than just hotel lobby cover showbands.
Here are shots of Up Dharma Down with director Romeo Candido at the "Flicker" shoot (above). Read the full article here, watch the full video of "Maybe" here, and "Flicker" here.