Received e-mail from editor Sarge Lacuesta that my short story "Outlaws" came out in the Philippines Free Press this week. Grab a copy of the 23 February 2008 issue, the one with Jun Lozada on the cover.
Sunday, March 2
Outlaws
Received e-mail from editor Sarge Lacuesta that my short story "Outlaws" came out in the Philippines Free Press this week. Grab a copy of the 23 February 2008 issue, the one with Jun Lozada on the cover.
Overrated?
Bookride.com notes that a copy of the first US edition of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude goes for a minimum of $500. Solitude also consistently appears in every must-read list of books. When I get visitors in my office, they instantly check my shelves and get disappointed not to find a copy there. Solitude is also almost single-handedly credited for turning on the spotlight on Latin American literature, or particularly creating the brand of Latin Am. lit known as "Magic Realism."
However, Jonathan Bate of the Sunday Telegraph notes that Solitude may as well be one of the most overrated books ever:
So is Solitude really overrated?
However, Jonathan Bate of the Sunday Telegraph notes that Solitude may as well be one of the most overrated books ever:
The book is so in love with its own cleverness that it is profoundly unreadable. It is generally credited with inaugurating the genre of "magic realism" novels which combine the matter-of-fact narrative style of conventional realistic fiction with fantastic nonsense such as levitation and alchemy. García Márquez is at his most characteristic when a woman ascends to heaven whilst hanging her washing out on the line. Other ingredients of magic realism include gypsies, tarts with hearts, dwarves, tricksters and a cast so large and confusing that you need a family tree to keep track of the plot. Márquez and his followers are sophisticated urban intellectuals who feign reverence for the simple wisdom of peasants. Myth, fairytale and folklore are wonderful things in themselves, but it is preposterous to imagine that mingling them with domestic mundanity will somehow puncture the bourgeois complacency of our time.He goes on to tell the readers that Solitude opened the territory for Salman Rushdie and Angela Carter and the intentionally epic-scale storytelling that they are noted for.
So is Solitude really overrated?
Wednesday, February 20
Herbal Hodgepodge
Apartment Therapy's Re-Nest section shows us how to set up an indoor herb garden.
I've been hunting for a good pot of sweet basil, but all I've found are wilted ones in the corners of supermarkets. Once found a healthy pot in Market Market's garden section, but the stall owner wasn't there so had to let it go. Basil with tomatoes and some olive oil and pasta is sweet sweet heaven. And I'd put in a bunch of rosemary too. Rosemary is good with chicken. Still hoping to find some one of these days.
Found via Lifehacker. Their version seems more affordable and simpler.
Sunday, February 17
Basil seeds
We seriously had no idea what this drink was when we picked it off the menu of a Thai restaurant. We went to Ikea on a Sunday afternoon, and of course the cafe was full of screaming children and their parents. Our solution was to hike off to the nearest mall--plenty of those to choose from. We were hungry and just wanted to eat.
When this drink arrived, A and I were curious what the floating dark bits were. They were gelatinous but had a crunch to it. I thought at first they were dragonfruit seeds. We just drank all of it without a thought and went back to the monster's lair.
Today, just found out that those tiny bits were actually Thai basil seeds, and were frequently used in drinks especially in South Asia. In some places it's called falooda.
Other websites refer to it as nam manglak.
Although I have to say that the one we had is closer to falooda instead of nam manglak. Pretty interesting drink though. Makes me think of tadpoles.
When this drink arrived, A and I were curious what the floating dark bits were. They were gelatinous but had a crunch to it. I thought at first they were dragonfruit seeds. We just drank all of it without a thought and went back to the monster's lair.
Today, just found out that those tiny bits were actually Thai basil seeds, and were frequently used in drinks especially in South Asia. In some places it's called falooda.
Other websites refer to it as nam manglak.
Although I have to say that the one we had is closer to falooda instead of nam manglak. Pretty interesting drink though. Makes me think of tadpoles.
Thursday, February 14
Nom nom nom
Valentines? What's that?
My salt and pepper shaker set
gets all the action these days. Hahaha.
My salt and pepper shaker set
gets all the action these days. Hahaha.
Monday, February 11
tina winnie
tina winnie
Originally uploaded by xkg
Speaking of lolas, I just realized that Tina Turner reminds me so much of Mareng Winnie Monsod of "Debate" fame. It must be the fierceness common to both women. Saka yung neck motions. They could have been sisters.
Bee and Tee
Most of the pre-Grammys press centered on whether Amy Winehouse would get a visa in time for the big night. She didn't. But she did win five of the six Grammys she was nominated for and everyone went 'huh?' and scratched their heads when Album of the Year went to Herb Hancock's tribute to Joni Mitchell.
But for me, the real highlight of the event was the Beyonce and Tina Turner number. I liked the intro, where Beyonce with her chair and two backup dancers rattled off all the female singers who influenced her from Donna Summer to Whitney Houston. You can watch the awesome intro routine here. (Note: This clip does not include Cher's intro to Beyonce, which you can see in the full vid.)
But as she said, the biggest momma of them all was Tina Turner.
Of course she had to sing "What's Love Got to Do with It." Then she called "Miss Beyonce" to join her onstage and they did a "nice and rough" version of "Proud Mary." (Roughly at 05:17 of the vid.)
I don't know that many women who are nearly 70 who can still rock it as hard as Tina Turner. She had to get out of a comfortable retirement in Europe for this. She wore a tight silver outfit, too. But if you would look closely at the video, at around 08:28, you can see Lola Tina's face change. It looks like Beyonce stepped on her feet. Ouch! You can see her wincing, and even in the last part of the performance, when they were bowing, Tina Turner was kicking her right foot. It must have hurt. Si Beyonce talaga, di na naawa sa Lola. Ang meaty pa naman niya. Look at those thighs. Hahaha. Buti na lang matibay ang lola.
But for me, the real highlight of the event was the Beyonce and Tina Turner number. I liked the intro, where Beyonce with her chair and two backup dancers rattled off all the female singers who influenced her from Donna Summer to Whitney Houston. You can watch the awesome intro routine here. (Note: This clip does not include Cher's intro to Beyonce, which you can see in the full vid.)
But as she said, the biggest momma of them all was Tina Turner.
Of course she had to sing "What's Love Got to Do with It." Then she called "Miss Beyonce" to join her onstage and they did a "nice and rough" version of "Proud Mary." (Roughly at 05:17 of the vid.)
I don't know that many women who are nearly 70 who can still rock it as hard as Tina Turner. She had to get out of a comfortable retirement in Europe for this. She wore a tight silver outfit, too. But if you would look closely at the video, at around 08:28, you can see Lola Tina's face change. It looks like Beyonce stepped on her feet. Ouch! You can see her wincing, and even in the last part of the performance, when they were bowing, Tina Turner was kicking her right foot. It must have hurt. Si Beyonce talaga, di na naawa sa Lola. Ang meaty pa naman niya. Look at those thighs. Hahaha. Buti na lang matibay ang lola.
Invasion of the Killer Jellyfish
Paul Eccleston in the Telegraph UK tells us that jellyfish are born predators. They are [a] "perfect toxin-loaded killing machine, there is no creature on earth that can dispatch a human being so easily or so quickly." If they wrap part of their tentacles around you, you have 180 seconds to live. Jellyfish have four brains, are very competitive, have 24 eyes which ensures 360 degree visibility, and carry more poison than necessary. Plus the damn things are resillient: some farmers in Japan thought of killing the jellyfish by chopping them up. Turned out to be the wrong move to make--the males produced more sperm and females carried more babies. In times of stress, jellyfish make sure that they would survive and procreate more.
We know jellyfish are dangerous, and they've caused bizaare things in the past, like swarming in geothermal plants that caused power supplies to trip all over Luzon. If we manage to stay away from them, then no problem. But overfishing the seas means no food for them, forcing their population to explode (remember, in times of stress, procreate!) and to move inwards. The jellyfish decided that since we've taken their fish, they must follow it ashore. It's all weird but the scientists studied the behavioral patterns of jellyfish, even put tracking devices on them, and there you go. Unless we do something about this, it's bound to cause trouble.
We know that jellyfish hang out in the shallow waters, because it's easier to hunt their prey that way. So to avoid jellyfish attacks, wear red. It's not an absolute deterrent, but the scientists have observed that jellyfish ploughed through black and white colored poles in the water, but completely stayed away from the red ones.
Sunday, February 10
Project Runway
If you watch Project Runway and want to preserve the drama, don't read. Don't say I didn't warn you.
The local cable channels have yet to show Project Runway Season 4 later this month and honestly, I can't wait that long. So started trolling the net for episodes since last week and was lucky enough to watch all the episodes from parselforce in YouTube.
Just finished watching episode 10, where Ricky finally gets the boot. He really should have been kicked out way before. And the surprise is that he doesn't even tear up now that it's needed. Oh well.
New York Fashion Week is all but over, and the spoilers are starting to trickle in on the net.Traditionally, three designers show at Bryant Park. Last season, they had four. I think there's more than that this season. I'm really curious what PR has in store. But with the sneak peeks floating around, there is no cohesion in those collections. Seriously. And to think that early in the season, the judges and Tim Gunn were confident that this batch is the most talented yet. I'm starting to think that maybe they should not have kicked out Victorya Hong who, by the way, had her own show at Bryant Park. Gah.
The local cable channels have yet to show Project Runway Season 4 later this month and honestly, I can't wait that long. So started trolling the net for episodes since last week and was lucky enough to watch all the episodes from parselforce in YouTube.
Just finished watching episode 10, where Ricky finally gets the boot. He really should have been kicked out way before. And the surprise is that he doesn't even tear up now that it's needed. Oh well.
New York Fashion Week is all but over, and the spoilers are starting to trickle in on the net.Traditionally, three designers show at Bryant Park. Last season, they had four. I think there's more than that this season. I'm really curious what PR has in store. But with the sneak peeks floating around, there is no cohesion in those collections. Seriously. And to think that early in the season, the judges and Tim Gunn were confident that this batch is the most talented yet. I'm starting to think that maybe they should not have kicked out Victorya Hong who, by the way, had her own show at Bryant Park. Gah.
Sunday, January 13
Anthony Bourdain
The Onion's A.V. Club interviews Anthony Bourdain, 'bad boy' chef and host of No Reservations, which I follow on Discovery's Travel and Living channel.
Bourdain recently became a father for the first time, and he's trying to squeeze in family time by bringing his daughter to "low impact" shoots. He shot to fame after the publication of his autobiography Kitchen Confidential, which in a way contributed to the rise of the rockstar status of celebrity chefs.
He also says that he's wary of chefs (or writers) who have a band on the side. I instantly thought of Jamie Oliver, who has a band who can never escape his popularity and would forever be reduced to providing the theme music for his shows. Oh well.
Was also pleasantly surprised that he writes fiction, mostly detective novels. When asked which he prefers writing, he admits that writing nonfiction is way easier for him:
Bourdain recently became a father for the first time, and he's trying to squeeze in family time by bringing his daughter to "low impact" shoots. He shot to fame after the publication of his autobiography Kitchen Confidential, which in a way contributed to the rise of the rockstar status of celebrity chefs.
He also says that he's wary of chefs (or writers) who have a band on the side. I instantly thought of Jamie Oliver, who has a band who can never escape his popularity and would forever be reduced to providing the theme music for his shows. Oh well.
Was also pleasantly surprised that he writes fiction, mostly detective novels. When asked which he prefers writing, he admits that writing nonfiction is way easier for him:
Fiction's hard. I do it because it's therapy. I spend a lot of time writing about myself, talking about myself and what happens to me. Me, me, me. Fiction is a nice escape from that. You can also be a lot more truthful about a lot of things. Things I can't say in non-fiction, I can say in fiction. But there's that damn plot thing. I really resent plot. I like creating characters and environments.His next writing project is about "It's about a former '80s "it" boy writer, who wrote a Bright Lights, Big City type of book, and ends up washed up in the Caribbean. Murder and mayhem ensue." Hmm..must look for that.
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