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I have an article about the camera shops of Hidalgo Street, Quiapo in the April issue of Travel + Leisure (Southeast Asia). In the May issue I have a piece on Ilocos Norte.

If you’re in Bacolod, I’m giving a talk at a La Salle symposium on Saturday morning. Followed by a Twisted 8 book-signing. (By the way if you happen to be carrying a copy of Twisted 8 and you run into me somewhere, just wave the book at me and I’ll sign it. What is this fear thing? I haven’t decapitated anyone for asking me to sign a book, at least nothing that can be proven. It’s a matter of timing and common courtesy, i.e. don’t interrupt me in the middle of a conversation, and especially not while I’m eating.)

From the BLB: The Silangan Foundation for the Arts, Culture and Ecology and Pinto Art Gallery in cooperation with The Provincial Tourism Office of Ilocos Norte, are highlighting hand-made Arts & Crafts products in a show that opens on May 4, 2008 (Sunday) at 3 PM. The exhibit at Pinto Gallery highlights hand-made items from organic raw materials: vintage and newly-woven inabel fabrics from Ilocos; the light sculptures of Perry Mamaril made of bamboo and hand-made paper, and other bamboo items; terracotta vases, containers and tiles. A planned Museum of Contemporary Philippine Art featuring Dr. Joven R. Cuanang’s collection of Post-EDSA art will be the beneficiary of the show.

Confused? Desperate? Just bored out of your skull? Consult Aling Chona the manghuhula at Palmistry on the second floor of Virra Mall, Greenhills. Take the escalator up, then turn right. The fee is P1,500 (Sorry, I missed a digit earlier).

In a previous post, Plan O from Inner Space, Blythe noted that Oishi does not identify itself as a Filipino brand. This response from Oishi in Shanghai:

“Hi, I am Emily Fenix of Liwayway (China), based in Shanghai. We have an ongoing promo in China, for 100 winners to get a trip to Boracay. See our China website: www.oishi.com.cn. We have featured Boracay and Bohol separately, in our TV commercials.

“China labeling laws prohibit mention of non-China addresses.

“Thanks, Blythe, for your interest. I would presume you were or are based in China.”

Takashi Miike, Far East Filmfest - Udine, 2006, originally uploaded by 160507.

The LUA tells me that Takashi Miike’s The Guys From Paradise is set in Manila. According to midnighteye.com: “Allegedly based on a number of true cases, The Guys From Paradise is a prison story set in the Phillipines against a background of corruption, drug trafficking and paedophilia. . .Though somewhat overlong, The Guys From Paradise paints a lurid portrait of The Phillipines as a country awash with all manner of vice, symbolising a side of Asia which the civilised Japanese have lost touch with. Even though they hold a position of privilege, their suits and ties won’t protect them from being swallowed up by this more savage society. . .” (Note spelling of Philippines. Could’ve been worse, they could’ve spelled it ‘Philistines’.)

In short, the yakuza in the movie find the Philippines scary and weird. Haven’t seen the movie, I don’t know if it was shot here.

To recap our list of foreign productions in which the Philippines plays the Philippines and not Vietnam (Apocalypse Now, Platoon, Born on the 4th of July, etc), Thailand (Brokedown Palace), or Indonesia (The Year of Living Dangerously):

1. Days Of Being Wild by Wong Kar-Wai, with scenes in Tutuban and Villa Escudero
2. Supercock, a B-movie about cockfighting, not a porno
3. The Guys From Paradise, maybe

Now I’m going to watch Takashi Miike’s The Happiness of the Katakuris with its enticing tagline: “The hills are alive with the sound of screaming!” Prefer bloodcurdling shrieks to Climb Every Mountain any day.

P.S. This one’s a real scream: Richard Quest Thought Process Flowchart on 23/6.

“Gold of Ancestors” exhibition at Ayala Museum, originally uploaded by 160507.

I have an article in the new issue of Newsweek (the print version is out on Monday) about the Gold of Ancestors exhibition at the Ayala Museum. The exhibition features 1,059 gold artifacts that are believed to be up to a thousand years old. They were found in the Philippines; the question is, Who made them? And if our ancestors made them, what can they tell us about who we are?

Gold of Ancestors is part of Crossroads of Civilizations, which opens at the Ayala Museum in May.

Note: The piece is in the May 5 issue, now on the stands. George W Bush is on the cover, title “Turning Green”.

Tennis makes sense again today as Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal won their semifinal matches at the Monte Carlo Open. Rafa defeated Nikolay Davydenko, who beat him in the Miami final, 6-3, 6-2. Roger was well on the way to defeating Novak Djokovic, who beat him at the Australian Open. Then at 6-3, 3-2, after complaining of “breathing issues” and calling for a medical timeout, Djokovic…retired. Yes, retired. The world number 3, who pounds his chest when he wins, pleads “breathing issues” when he loses. Djokovic said he had not been feeling well these last few days–odd, he looked very healthy when he was winning. We’d be more sympathetic if he weren’t in the habit of quitting matches when he’s losing (He’s done this twice while playing Nadal). “Dizziness”? “Sore throat”? Maybe panic attacks? Chokeovich.

Hmm, another walkover win for The Fed. Third or fourth this season. New coaching arrangement with Jose Higueras seems to be working. Here’s The Fed telling the Djokovices to “Be quiet. . .okay?” in the tone of a nursery school teacher telling the kids to behave.

Update, 27 April. Rafa Nadal has defended his Monte Carlo title against The Fed, 7-5, 7-5. I like this comparison: The objective of the hard court player is to close in and make the court smaller; the clay courter’s is to make it bigger.

Saffy inspection, originally uploaded by 160507.

. . .or Smug, Smugger, Smuggest. There’s a special sale for Powercard holders at all Powerbooks branches, 30 to 80 percent off on selected titles.

Happy: Ernie got a copy of Taschen’s Art Now book at P699, original price P2309.
Happier: I got Spy: The Funny Years, an anthology and history of the late lamented Spy magazine, for P499, original price P1445.
Happiest: Bert got Visionaire, the Van Cleef and Arpels issue, for P999, original price P11,099.

I told myself I would only spend what I had in my wallet, so there goes my Globe bill haha. I found Tim Willocks’ rollicking medieval epic The Religion–regular price P695/ sale price P249. Then I got The Sailing Fanatic (P635/299) because I’m editing a book about sailing. After much agonizing over the wide array of language courses on CD, I decided on Basic Russian (P1205/499) because I bought Advanced Russian by mistake years ago. Someday I’m going to run into Marat Safin and I can tell him in his own language: “Ano ka ba, sira-ulo ka talaga, ang galing-galing mo, ang tangkad-tangkad mo, ang ganda-ganda mo, hindi ka man lang maka-second round, kahit siguro ballboy magpapatalo ka!”

So much for our resolution to buy only one new book for every five books in our backlogs that we actually finished.

This last weekend Grungella and Ernie escaped the summer torment by hanging out at Gateway mall in Cubao. Grungella told Ernie about a Roz Chast cartoon she’d seen that morning. “It’s in three panels. Bad: Person over 40 with a MySpace page. Worse: Your dad with a MySpace page. Worst: Your dad’s band with a MySpace page.”

“Sad, sadder, saddest,” said Ernie. Little did they know that this would be the recurring theme of the day.

They wandered into a T-shirt store that was having a sale. Ernie bought two shirts. The salesperson informed him that his purchase entitled him to free tickets to a concert that same night at the Araneta Coliseum. “That’s terrific!” Ernie and Grungella chorused. “Who’s playing?”

According to the ticket the show was called “Lost 80s Live”, and it featured three New Wave acts from their distant youth: When In Rome, Real Life, and A Flock of Seagulls.

Sad: The show’s title made it clear that the performers were has-beens: “Lost” pretty much sums up their careers.
Sadder: There’s always an audience in Manila for bands two (more often, four) decades past their sell-by date.
Saddest: Ernie and Grungella knew A Flock Of Seagulls but weren’t exactly sure who When In Rome and Real Life were. Our apologies to hardcore fans of these bands; our characters were not hip in the 80s. Or today. In fact they disapprove of ‘hip’ as an adjective. (Continue reading.)
Sad, Sadder, Saddest in Emotional Weather Report, today in the Star.

Physicists postulate the existence of an invisible form of matter which does not shine or reflect light, which accounts for 90 percent of the mass of the universe. Its huge gravitational pull is believed to hold galaxies together. They call it “dark matter”. Now scientists from the University of Rome announce that they’ve discovered dark matter underneath a mountain in Abruzzo.

“When I grow up, I want to be Shaun Cassidy.”, originally uploaded by 160507.

This is Bono’s middle school class picture. That’s him in the front row, second guy from the left. Seems like a self-possessed boy, note how he contemplates the camera. Ige got this photo from an Irish friend of his who’d gone to school with the former Paul David Hewson. A couple of years after this picture was taken, Paul and three other guys formed U2. Paul took to calling himself “Bono Vox”. I’m glad he dropped “Vox”.

I’ve been having a good movie week, starting with L’Avventura (I understood it!! You know how in some relationships it feels like you’re not there? She literally is not there), then Le Mepris (I had to watch it twice, but I think I got it!), then Jules and Jim (I love it!). Then the DVD of Bob Le Flambeur died on me, which was the sign that the anvil was about to drop on my lucky streak (It’s a movie about a gambler). Instead of waiting for the streak-ender, I decided to go looking for it, and Street Kings was the likeliest candidate.

It was an excellent choice! For starters it’s a Keanu Reeves movie, and while I adore Keanu, I don’t watch him for the acting. The first ten minutes of the movie were singularly unpromising, but as I gathered up my things to leave the theatre, Forest Whitaker appeared onscreen. Must give this movie a chance, I thought as I sat back down, and the movie just got worse. Just as I was about to leave, Hugh Laurie turned up, and I said, Blast, I have to stay in case it gets better. Maybe the awfulness IS the style. Maybe the idiotic dialogue is meant to, um, mirror the idiocy of the system? As for the acting, I must point out that Keanu is NOT the worst actor in this movie. By this time the movie was giving off the distinctive stench of a putrefying corpse, and I was really going to make my exit when Chris Evans showed up. What the hell, I thought, it’s hot outside and it’s cold inside this empty movie theatre.

The movie is about corrupt cops, which got me thinking about good movies involving corrupt cops. Like L.A. Confidential, which showed us an entirely different side to beloved Farmer Hoggett (I actually shrieked when Kevin Spacey was shot). And Chinatown with that ending! So Street Kings clunks to its conclusion, and I was not prepared for the big shocker in the credits: the story is by James Ellroy! Ellroy is brilliant (Don’t even pick up My Dark Places: ‘dark’ doesn’t quite describe it. And it’s a memoir.) , but L.A. Confidential is the only adaptation that gets him. The others can’t deal with the strange rhythms of Ellroy’s 50s argot (Have you a valediction, boyo?).

Eastern Carpets, originally uploaded by 160507.

I stood in the sun waiting for a taxi for three minutes yesterday and got a pounding headache for the rest of the day. Anyone needs more proof of global warming, go out at noon. Must’ve been a hundred degrees. Then it occurred to me to check the weather forecast for Islamabad in early June, when I plan to visit. Average temperature: 100 degrees Fahrenheit! Temperature range: 82 to 114 degrees! Maybe I should rethink my travel plans. Antarctica sounds good.

I dreamed that my friends and I were at Rustan’s, and Bert climbed into a suitcase. He was laughing.

I told him about the dream. “Suitcase implies a trip, so maybe you’re travelling soon,” I said.

He said, “Whoever is in your dream is supposed to represent yourself.”

I said, “Yay, maybe I’m travelling soon!”

Later that same day Raymond mentioned that he was invited to the Islamabad International Film Festival in Pakistan, and I knew what my dream meant. “I have to go to Pakistan!” I cried. “I want to visit all the countries that end in -stan! Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, all of them! You, of course, must go to Lahore.”  So Raymond said I could tag along.

Then I figured out Bert’s starring role in the dream: last Tuesday, at a benefit auction for In Touch, he bought a Kashmir Isfahan carpet. From Kashmir, the disputed area between India and. . .Pakistan!

Anyone got any dreams you need to decipher?