POETRY FESTIVAL EXHIBIT B OPENING ON AUGUST 3
Click on image to enlarge.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
POETRY FESTIVAL EXHIBIT C OPENING SOON
Click on photos to enlarge. Post-it notes will be posted soon.
TRIBU: TRIUMPH OF THE EVERYDAY MAN
The triumph of Jim Libiran’s TRIBU at the recently concluded 3rd Philippine Independent Film Festival signals the crossing of Philippine cinema from the elitist to one that is mass-based, with ideas influenced and inspired by ordinary lives and projected onto the screen; not for amusement, we hope, but for better understanding of our society which has been wracked for decades by bias, wars, and apathy.
Our only hope is that the interest of writers, directors and cinema in general about the plight of our people, especially that of the poor who compose the majority, is real or else it’d be an exercise in futility. It would a tragedy if the topics in Cinemalaya would just end in the blogosphere or in coffee shops as discourses for the intelligentsia. If cinema is able to make people and systems move in order to effect changes then it has fulfilled its purpose. Only through this can Cinemalaya really live up to its name.
The Writers Guild of SPi sends its warmest congratulations to Jim Libiran and to all our friends from UP LIRA who, we are pretty sure, are currently sharing his joy. We send our congratulations to the participating tribes, and to the entire production crew. Mabuhay po kayong lahat!
TUGISTA, the rapper group in the film (photo above taken at the UP CAL 201 last summer), are our guest performers to close our Poetry Festival 2007. This is sponsored by the Writers Guild, of course.
What: Tara Let’s! An evening of music, rap, & poetry
Where: SPi Night Café, City of Parañaque 6PM
Entrance is free. Coffee, butterscotch cookies and brownies will be served. For non-SPi employees, please register via SMS. Text TUG_(your name)_(email) to 0927.447.8781.
SIONIL! SIONIL! SIONIL!
Topic: History as Literature
Where: Ortigas Foundation Library
When: The Talk will be held on Thursday, August 16 at 6:00 p.m.
ADMISSION IS FREE. For more information please call 631.1231 local 222 or email ortigasfoundation@ortigas.com.ph
___________________________
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
F. (Francisco) Sionil José, founded the Philippine Center of PEN, an international organization of poets,playwrights, essayists, and novelists. His work includes eleven novels, five books of short stories, a book of verse, a collection of stories for children and four books of essays. His five-novel Rosales saga consisting of The Pretenders, Tree, My Brother My Executioner, Mass, and Po-on have been published in the United States and translated in various languages in Asia and Europe.
José has received numerous fellowships, honorary Ph.D’s and awards, which include: the Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Award (1980); the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) Centennial Honors for the Arts (1999); the National Artist Award for Literature (2001); and the Pablo Neruda Centennial Award (2004).
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
PERSONAL ESSAY: REFUGE
By Calleja, F. S.
December 6, 2004
My mother has always been tightly knit with her family. Even after I was born, Lola, my Lola’s sister, and my cousin continued to live with us.
Nonetheless, I was not that close with my real Lola (my mother’s mother) because she was always drunk and minded her own business. She would often go to the store, stay there the whole day, return by 5:00 pm, and then sleep.
But she was very proud of me, saying it was a miracle for her, a worn-out, dark-skinned, probinsyana-looking Waray to have such a good-looking apo (she said that, not me).
She was also extremely generous and easy to please. Sometimes, she took me to the store and bought me anything I wanted. However, I did not really have quality time to spend with her other than that.
On the other hand, I really bonded with Lala Margie (my mother’s aunt, my Lola’s sister, whom I called this way ever since) because we spent a lot of time together. Mama was working in Makati. Papa was always abroad. My cousin, Ate Rowena, was always in school. It also took a long time before I had a brother. So, it makes sense for me to say she influenced me the most.
Lala did not have a place to live before. None of her children made her permanently stay in their homes. That’s the primary reason why Mama wanted her to live with us.
Lala was quite different from my Lola. She did not indulge in drinking, but was obsessed with gambling. I learned how to play solitaire (animan and pituhan) and jueteng through her.
But I wouldn’t care less! I owe a lot more to her. In my preschool years, she always rode with me in the school bus and patiently waited in the playground of our school until dismissal. She always checked if I had neatly-ironed uniforms. At night, she made sure I was asleep before she slept herself. She was actually my refuge… the person I could always rely on.
She was also my “kakampi.” She always defended me. She never spanked me if I couldn’t bring myself to sleep in the afternoon (for some reason, they all wanted me to sleep after Eat Bulaga) and never forced me to eat ampalaya. I think she did spoil me a bit. That’s why I got super close with her.
I remember when she would take me to Binondo, Tondo, or Quiapo to visit her children. I enjoyed riding antique buses in Manila with Lala (we rode those vehicles because she had no money).
Those experiences I missed dearly when she did not come with us to Naga. She said she couldn’t be too far from her children, and she doesn’t know anyone there. So, she lived with her son in Binondo. I tried to convince her to come with us, but her mind was made up.
But it was okay. We always visited her. And, I always gave her money when we visit (as she had no money as usual, which she termed as “zero-zero balance”). There was even a time when she stayed in Naga for two months for a vacation. The important thing is that we never lost contact.
However, the sad news came in 2003 when I learned she died in a road accident. The jeepney she was riding bumped into a truck, which made her fall from her seat and hit her head causing internal hemorrhage. I was devastated. She was a really healthy lady, so I thought death was far away.
We got the chance to visit her grave when we took a vacation in Las Piñas in the summer of 2004.
I don’t know if she realized it, but she had a lasting impact on me. Who I am now is in a way due to her. Some of my life’s first lessons, joys, and experiences were shared with her. I would always treasure her memories. And I hope that through me, whom she treated like a son, Lala’s legacy lives on…
______________________
Biboy Calleja is from Journals. He also is a Storyteller of the Writers Guild.
December 6, 2004
My mother has always been tightly knit with her family. Even after I was born, Lola, my Lola’s sister, and my cousin continued to live with us.
Nonetheless, I was not that close with my real Lola (my mother’s mother) because she was always drunk and minded her own business. She would often go to the store, stay there the whole day, return by 5:00 pm, and then sleep.
But she was very proud of me, saying it was a miracle for her, a worn-out, dark-skinned, probinsyana-looking Waray to have such a good-looking apo (she said that, not me).
She was also extremely generous and easy to please. Sometimes, she took me to the store and bought me anything I wanted. However, I did not really have quality time to spend with her other than that.
On the other hand, I really bonded with Lala Margie (my mother’s aunt, my Lola’s sister, whom I called this way ever since) because we spent a lot of time together. Mama was working in Makati. Papa was always abroad. My cousin, Ate Rowena, was always in school. It also took a long time before I had a brother. So, it makes sense for me to say she influenced me the most.
Lala did not have a place to live before. None of her children made her permanently stay in their homes. That’s the primary reason why Mama wanted her to live with us.
Lala was quite different from my Lola. She did not indulge in drinking, but was obsessed with gambling. I learned how to play solitaire (animan and pituhan) and jueteng through her.
But I wouldn’t care less! I owe a lot more to her. In my preschool years, she always rode with me in the school bus and patiently waited in the playground of our school until dismissal. She always checked if I had neatly-ironed uniforms. At night, she made sure I was asleep before she slept herself. She was actually my refuge… the person I could always rely on.
She was also my “kakampi.” She always defended me. She never spanked me if I couldn’t bring myself to sleep in the afternoon (for some reason, they all wanted me to sleep after Eat Bulaga) and never forced me to eat ampalaya. I think she did spoil me a bit. That’s why I got super close with her.
I remember when she would take me to Binondo, Tondo, or Quiapo to visit her children. I enjoyed riding antique buses in Manila with Lala (we rode those vehicles because she had no money).
Those experiences I missed dearly when she did not come with us to Naga. She said she couldn’t be too far from her children, and she doesn’t know anyone there. So, she lived with her son in Binondo. I tried to convince her to come with us, but her mind was made up.
But it was okay. We always visited her. And, I always gave her money when we visit (as she had no money as usual, which she termed as “zero-zero balance”). There was even a time when she stayed in Naga for two months for a vacation. The important thing is that we never lost contact.
However, the sad news came in 2003 when I learned she died in a road accident. The jeepney she was riding bumped into a truck, which made her fall from her seat and hit her head causing internal hemorrhage. I was devastated. She was a really healthy lady, so I thought death was far away.
We got the chance to visit her grave when we took a vacation in Las Piñas in the summer of 2004.
I don’t know if she realized it, but she had a lasting impact on me. Who I am now is in a way due to her. Some of my life’s first lessons, joys, and experiences were shared with her. I would always treasure her memories. And I hope that through me, whom she treated like a son, Lala’s legacy lives on…
______________________
Biboy Calleja is from Journals. He also is a Storyteller of the Writers Guild.
Friday, July 20, 2007
CULTURE EXPRESS: TRIBU ON CINEMALAYA 2007
Every night, in the dark nooks and alleyways of this urban jungle, sporadic random violence erupts, waylaying and maiming young lives and youthful dreams. What feeds this brutality? How are lives affected by this vicious cycle? Through the eyes of a 10 year old boy, EBET, we are immersed into the lives of adolescent gangsta leaders. PONGKE, MAKOY and OGOY are head gangstas of three warring street gangs or “Tribes” in Tondo – Thugs Angels, Sacred Brown Tribe, and Diablos, respectively.
During an initiation ritual for neophytes, Thugs Angel members chance upon the blood-bathed body of a murdered SBT member. Though the kids suspect that this is a Diablos hit, Policemen who arrived at the scene arrests a key leader of Thugs Angel and pins the crime on him. MAKOY and his SBT tribe vow revenge. They go about their usual activities while secretly planning to avenge their fallen homeboy. SBT and Thugs Angels form an alliance against Diablos.
The stroke of midnight signals the start of the offensive. SBT stealthily enters DIablos' lair and unleashes their fury. A running battle erupts. Many are wounded, and two are killed – Makoy, and a bystander, Dennis, who happens to be the young brother of PONGKE. It’s Pongke and Thugs Angels’ turn to avenge the death of Dennis. They hunt down Diablos leader, Ogoy, and stabs him to death.
This is a personal story of Tondo (mirrored in many similar communities in the Metropolis) symptomatic of the slow decay of an impoverished society.
TRIBU is currently showing at the 2007 Edition of Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival. See more details here.
See the TUGISTA group LIVE in SPi! See them perform their rapoetry on August 10, 2007 at 6PM at the Night Cafe, across Top Dog, during the Closing Ceremonies of the Poetry Festival 2007.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
FROM OUR FRIENDS
Everyone is invited to attend Mga Suliranin ng Panitik Mulang Rehiyon ( The Challenges of Literature from the Regions), a forum brought to you by Linangan sa Imagen, Retorika, at Anyo (LIRA) in cooperation with UST Center for Creative Writing and Studies. The forum will be held at the UST Thomas Aquinas Research Center Seminar Room A on July 21, from 1pm-5pm.
The speakers who will be attending the forum are writers from outside of Manila, like Abdon Balde, Jr. who hails from Bicol, and Jose Bragado who is an Iloko. The forum is free and open to the public.
Certificates will be given to those who will confirm their attendance before the event.
Those interested may course their requests or inquiries through Nanoy at 0918-2442553 or liraworkshop@gmail.com.
The speakers who will be attending the forum are writers from outside of Manila, like Abdon Balde, Jr. who hails from Bicol, and Jose Bragado who is an Iloko. The forum is free and open to the public.
Certificates will be given to those who will confirm their attendance before the event.
Those interested may course their requests or inquiries through Nanoy at 0918-2442553 or liraworkshop@gmail.com.
Friday, July 13, 2007
PERSONAL ESSAY: EYE SPY WITH MY THIRD EYE
by Mahros Abaño
When I was in elementary, I used to spend my afternoons at the local public library near the town hall. In it there was this collection of occult books entitled, Encyclopedia of the Occult, the Esoteric and the Supernatural (Stein & Day, New York, 1980). It is a fantastic set of books, 10 in all, filled with stories of all things about ghosts, witchcraft, and all things extraordinary that for a 9-year-old kid will find truly magnificent. I guess my love for the weird was fueled with those trips to the library to finish the entire volume.
One of my favorites among the collection is the volume on psychics and fortunetellers. Of course, this was the first time I’ve heard of Nostradamus or Jeanne Dixon (She claimed to predict the assassination of John F. Kennedy), among others. I find it odd that people can predict the future based on looking at tea leaves, crystal balls, tarot cards or even blank space. As with the ghosts and other supernatural phenomena, it was an exciting read because of the way these psychics presented their predictions. And from my catbird seat, it is all that, a lovely read. Then again, some people are more fanatical about it than I am.
To those living under a rock for years, a psychic is defined by Merriam-Webster.com as, “a person apparently sensitive to nonphysical forces,” while psychic phenomena is defined as, “phenomena that appear to contradict physical laws and suggest the possibility of causation by mental processes (Dictionary.com).” A fortune teller is “one that professes to foretell future events (Merriam-Webster.com).”
Outside the realm of the dusty pages, the psychic phenomena, in my opinion, is all just a set of generalized idea about the complex nature of man weaved into a spectacular yarn of equally-generalized ideas supplanted by the fertile imaginations of the fortuneteller and the person being “read” his or her “future”.
I love talking about myself and hearing about myself as much as the next person and from what I realized, that is the basic premise of this practice, i.e., psychic readings. Case in point, let’s begin with the popular daily horoscopes. The idea of this is that each person according to his date of birth is under a specific sign of the zodiac, which is basically a group of stars. It is one of the oldest practices of looking into someone’s future or even a person’s attitude according to the position of the stars.
In a world filled with billions of people (not counting China because they use the Chinese horoscope, ha ha), how many are under the sign of Libra such as myself? Millions, I suppose. So, I googled my horoscope at Horoscope.com and this was my horoscope for May 25, 2007:
“The truth shall set you free. The problem is, you're not sure you can handle it. Take heart: You're stronger than you know. After you see the reality of the situation, you'll realize your fear was larger than necessary.”
This is somewhat general. I mean, how does that person know that a particular Libran, let’s say myself, is suffering from a particular setback since from the last time I heard, these astute people from horoscope.com are not my friends? So the answer will be, no. Hence, the use of the painfully overwrought, “The truth shall set you free,” maxim to emphasize whatever it is that I might be having issues with whether it would be I am not coming to terms of what to have for dinner or if will I eventually break off my relationship with Brad Pitt since that hag Angelina Jolie is coming between us.
Now, some really firm believer would say that my horoscope means that this is a “sign,” a favorite term among believers of this practice, that I should bring myself to the warm and enlightening embrace of the believers of psychics. Given the fact that it was pointed out that, “fear was larger than necessary,” it may be surmised that I fear what I don’t understand that is why I am criticizing it, which is a moot point by the way. Or the truth that all of these “predictions” are mere play of words and that I should not fear being kicked in the ass by the people who believe in all of this.
Since reading about it is fun, experiencing the phenomena for me is the next step. So one weekend, my friends told me their “suking” psychic is having a “reading” and I agreed to have a “reading” as well. I have been infinitely curious about the whole thing. Not to be converted but to see what really makes psychics tick or what my reading would be like. Would I be pretty or would I be rich? Que sera sera.
This is not my first time to have my fortune told but this is the first time I would be paying to get my fortune told. I am the biggest cheapskate around so doing this is clearly a big thing for me. I psyched (pun intended!) myself that this is for empirical purposes and to see what the fuss was all about.
It was a big disappointment. The “suking” psychic gave what were to be the most general predictions in my life. An example was the very first thing he told me was I should not take a bath at evenings because an illness would befall my person. How, very motherly of him! My mother always tells me that and it’s free.
Then one of the funny moments during the entire reading was when he told me that I am bound to go to a foreign land through the auspices of a relative or friend from that particular country that I am supposed to be headed. Then he asked me if I have a relative or a friend abroad; when I said no, he made a 180-degree turn by saying that a friend whom I have not been in touch for a while will be the one helping me to get a job abroad. Before the reading was over, another turn happened as he said that the company that I am with right now will send me abroad for a seminar or a training. I’ll say, how convenient!
To level off the tarot reading that I have had, I googled “free tarot reading” and I was directed to http://www.usefultrivia.com/astrology/ and I got the following reading:
“This card indicates physical movement in your short-term outlook--departure, absence, flight, emigration, or a change of residence. A dark young man is involved.”
So what does that tell me? Nothing, it turned out. I am particularly disgusted that I could get the same prediction at the click of the mouse. It doesn’t tell me anything extraordinary as well. At least the one I got online has the impending involvement with a “dark young man.”
Suffice to say that my little experiment proves that we all love a good story and it is more enticing when we are the ones starring in it. In the course of our humdrum existence, the idea of a better, far more exciting life in the future is a guiltless pleasure we all indulge in and we grasp it wherever we may find it, even it was just told to us by a pack of cards and an old man with a bag of tales.
_________________________
About the author
Mahros Abaño writes because she was absolutely useless in her Home Economics’ classes; she wishes to learn how to knit a tablecloth in the future, preferably before hell freezes over because of global warming. She used to be from Healthcare, and now had returned to her first love - teaching.
When I was in elementary, I used to spend my afternoons at the local public library near the town hall. In it there was this collection of occult books entitled, Encyclopedia of the Occult, the Esoteric and the Supernatural (Stein & Day, New York, 1980). It is a fantastic set of books, 10 in all, filled with stories of all things about ghosts, witchcraft, and all things extraordinary that for a 9-year-old kid will find truly magnificent. I guess my love for the weird was fueled with those trips to the library to finish the entire volume.
One of my favorites among the collection is the volume on psychics and fortunetellers. Of course, this was the first time I’ve heard of Nostradamus or Jeanne Dixon (She claimed to predict the assassination of John F. Kennedy), among others. I find it odd that people can predict the future based on looking at tea leaves, crystal balls, tarot cards or even blank space. As with the ghosts and other supernatural phenomena, it was an exciting read because of the way these psychics presented their predictions. And from my catbird seat, it is all that, a lovely read. Then again, some people are more fanatical about it than I am.
To those living under a rock for years, a psychic is defined by Merriam-Webster.com as, “a person apparently sensitive to nonphysical forces,” while psychic phenomena is defined as, “phenomena that appear to contradict physical laws and suggest the possibility of causation by mental processes (Dictionary.com).” A fortune teller is “one that professes to foretell future events (Merriam-Webster.com).”
Outside the realm of the dusty pages, the psychic phenomena, in my opinion, is all just a set of generalized idea about the complex nature of man weaved into a spectacular yarn of equally-generalized ideas supplanted by the fertile imaginations of the fortuneteller and the person being “read” his or her “future”.
I love talking about myself and hearing about myself as much as the next person and from what I realized, that is the basic premise of this practice, i.e., psychic readings. Case in point, let’s begin with the popular daily horoscopes. The idea of this is that each person according to his date of birth is under a specific sign of the zodiac, which is basically a group of stars. It is one of the oldest practices of looking into someone’s future or even a person’s attitude according to the position of the stars.
In a world filled with billions of people (not counting China because they use the Chinese horoscope, ha ha), how many are under the sign of Libra such as myself? Millions, I suppose. So, I googled my horoscope at Horoscope.com and this was my horoscope for May 25, 2007:
“The truth shall set you free. The problem is, you're not sure you can handle it. Take heart: You're stronger than you know. After you see the reality of the situation, you'll realize your fear was larger than necessary.”
This is somewhat general. I mean, how does that person know that a particular Libran, let’s say myself, is suffering from a particular setback since from the last time I heard, these astute people from horoscope.com are not my friends? So the answer will be, no. Hence, the use of the painfully overwrought, “The truth shall set you free,” maxim to emphasize whatever it is that I might be having issues with whether it would be I am not coming to terms of what to have for dinner or if will I eventually break off my relationship with Brad Pitt since that hag Angelina Jolie is coming between us.
Now, some really firm believer would say that my horoscope means that this is a “sign,” a favorite term among believers of this practice, that I should bring myself to the warm and enlightening embrace of the believers of psychics. Given the fact that it was pointed out that, “fear was larger than necessary,” it may be surmised that I fear what I don’t understand that is why I am criticizing it, which is a moot point by the way. Or the truth that all of these “predictions” are mere play of words and that I should not fear being kicked in the ass by the people who believe in all of this.
Since reading about it is fun, experiencing the phenomena for me is the next step. So one weekend, my friends told me their “suking” psychic is having a “reading” and I agreed to have a “reading” as well. I have been infinitely curious about the whole thing. Not to be converted but to see what really makes psychics tick or what my reading would be like. Would I be pretty or would I be rich? Que sera sera.
This is not my first time to have my fortune told but this is the first time I would be paying to get my fortune told. I am the biggest cheapskate around so doing this is clearly a big thing for me. I psyched (pun intended!) myself that this is for empirical purposes and to see what the fuss was all about.
It was a big disappointment. The “suking” psychic gave what were to be the most general predictions in my life. An example was the very first thing he told me was I should not take a bath at evenings because an illness would befall my person. How, very motherly of him! My mother always tells me that and it’s free.
Then one of the funny moments during the entire reading was when he told me that I am bound to go to a foreign land through the auspices of a relative or friend from that particular country that I am supposed to be headed. Then he asked me if I have a relative or a friend abroad; when I said no, he made a 180-degree turn by saying that a friend whom I have not been in touch for a while will be the one helping me to get a job abroad. Before the reading was over, another turn happened as he said that the company that I am with right now will send me abroad for a seminar or a training. I’ll say, how convenient!
To level off the tarot reading that I have had, I googled “free tarot reading” and I was directed to http://www.usefultrivia.com/astrology/ and I got the following reading:
“This card indicates physical movement in your short-term outlook--departure, absence, flight, emigration, or a change of residence. A dark young man is involved.”
So what does that tell me? Nothing, it turned out. I am particularly disgusted that I could get the same prediction at the click of the mouse. It doesn’t tell me anything extraordinary as well. At least the one I got online has the impending involvement with a “dark young man.”
Suffice to say that my little experiment proves that we all love a good story and it is more enticing when we are the ones starring in it. In the course of our humdrum existence, the idea of a better, far more exciting life in the future is a guiltless pleasure we all indulge in and we grasp it wherever we may find it, even it was just told to us by a pack of cards and an old man with a bag of tales.
_________________________
About the author
Mahros Abaño writes because she was absolutely useless in her Home Economics’ classes; she wishes to learn how to knit a tablecloth in the future, preferably before hell freezes over because of global warming. She used to be from Healthcare, and now had returned to her first love - teaching.
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