Archive for June, 2009
Independents Day
6pm. Found a bag made out of vinyl tablecloth. I am in my Check Period. Still black, but checkered.
8pm. Saw Raya Martin’s Independencia at the French Film Festival at Shangri-La Mall. So many people turned up to see it, the organizers had to schedule a second screening immediately after the 8pm show or there’d be a moviegoer riot. For an experimental film! Will wonders never cease.
Raya and his stars.
Independencia is in beautiful black-and-white; I think they could remove the dialogue altogether. When it rains in the forest I keep thinking, “That’s why I never go camping.”
Tried in vain to convince Martin from the French Embassy to show the 35mm print of The 400 Blows instead of the DVD. He says the print doesn’t have subtitles. But everyone’s already seen The 400 Blows from the Quiapo Cinematheque, I said, we already know what happens.
The 400 Blows will be screened on Sunday at 5.30pm. Go if you’ve never seen it. And go early because there’s a long queue.
10pm. Went to Joel Torre the King of Manok’s dinner for the American filmmaker John Sayles (Lone Star, Eight Men Out, The Return of the Secaucus Seven). Sayles is in town to cast actors and scout locations for a movie on the Philippine-American War that he will shoot in Bohol in January. This is not his first time in the Philippines, he has lots of Pinoy friends and co-workers. He’s written a 900-page novel about the Philippine-American War that will be published next year. Yay, he agreed to show us an excerpt for Manila Envelope 4. Yay, material for next week’s column.
Krip Yuson wants everyone to know he hates the fucking Lakers. All I know about basketball is that their shorts are too long but LeBron is cute.
Dammit I forgot the getaway car.
The prints by Julian Schnabel were spread on the floor, waiting for the framers. I could’ve rolled them up and carted them away. In fact I called six people to assist in the foul deed, but they were all working. What’s this world coming to when you can’t persuade your friends to join in an old-fashioned art heist? If Noel were in Manila we could’ve put our Mang Tomas Crown Affair plan into action (but we’d still need a driver).
The exhibition of Schnabel’s prints will open 6pm tomorrow, 12 June 2009, at Manila Contemporary, Whitespace, 2314 Chino Roces Avenue (Pasong Tamo Extension), Makati (across the street from Mead Johnson). Exhibition runs till 5 July. Details at www.manilacontemporary.com.
Recent Work, the exhibition of Schnabel’s paintings, will open 6pm on Saturday the 13th at the National Museum, Agrifina Circle, Manila. Exhibition runs till 30 July.
FAQ: Is the artist going to show up? As far as we know Julian Schnabel is busy filming in Israel, but who knows.
The taming of the cat
Lazy brats.
The Evolution of House Cats by Carlos A. Driscoll, Juliet Clutton-Brock, Andrew C. Kitchener and Stephen J. O’Brien in Scientific American.
Key concepts:
Unlike other domesticated creatures, the house cat contributes little to human survival. Researchers have therefore wondered how and why cats came to live among people.
Experts traditionally thought that the Egyptians were the first to domesticate the cat, some 3,600 years ago. But recent genetic and archaeological discoveries indicate that cat domestication began in the Fertile Crescent, perhaps around 10,000 years ago, when agriculture was getting under way.
The findings suggest that cats started making themselves at home around people to take advantage of the mice and food scraps found in their settlements.
I know my cats came to live with me in order to boss a human around.
Saffy warming her butt on Marat the Macbook and Rahm the external drive.
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