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The artist: Igan D’Bayan
The work: Gothika Filipina 2
The exhibit: Asian International Art Exhibition (AIAE) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
The censor: The curators
The reason given: Officially, none. Igan never heard from the organizers. “I got a forwarded (actually a re-forwarded) e-mail from Ramon Orlina. The curator, using the unofficial-sounding e-mail address “smash_topek@yahoo.com,” told Mr. Orlina that they couldn’t put up my painting because “the secret part of a woman” is painted too clearly and that they hope the artist “could replace it with the other works that don’t bring any bad interpretation from or to the audiences.” The curator’s e-mail ends with one of those cute quotes on e-mail stationeries: “Never take anything Seriously, Never, Never, Never… That’s me.” I wonder if that’s a line from a Hannah Montana song.”
Where you can see this painting: The Crucible Gallery, 4/F SM Megamall Building A, Mandaluyong City.
When: February 16 – 28. There will be no opening reception but the artist will be present on the 16th.

The faster and easier technology makes our lives, the dumber people choose to be. Yes, they choose to be stupid. How hard is it to click the spellchecker in a word processing program?

The Oatmeal has a brilliant piece: 10 Words You Need To Stop Misspelling. (Especially ‘misspelling’ which has two s’s.)

Invictus, directed by Clint Eastwood, starring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon, reviewed by Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala.

Just saw Invictus yesterday. Flat in the middle and they were not able to pull much out of Matt Damon who is buff but 5 foot 10, whereas the real-life Francois Pienaar is 6 foot 5.

Photo: The real Nelson Mandela congratulates the real Francois Pienaar.

Nelson Mandela was played superbly by Morgan Freeman, and it’s an uplifting story but I’m still waiting for THE movie that will take rugby to its proper place on the podium. Not Clint Eastwood’s best, but a good story.

Factoid: Matt Damon also played rugby in a short scene in The Departed.

I thought the rugby scenes were clumsily staged: the most “cinematic” thing they could find in the game is that part where the opposing teams get in a huddle and push hard enough to give birth. I call this “painful”, but Jaime says it’s called a scrum when it’s a set play and a maul when it’s loose. In the World Cup final the movie builds up to, they do this every three minutes.

Nelson Mandela is portrayed as a saint when he is far more interesting as a person. And there are cornball reaction shots after every score, from the stadium and all over the country. Which the movie needs, because the way the game is staged, the movie audience doesn’t know who’s winning.

I’m just glad the Springboks did not have to recite “Invictus” (“black as a pit from pole to pole”). During homeroom periods at St. Theresa’s the teacher would call on random students to stand in front of the class and recite a poem; inevitably it was “Invictus” or “O Captain, My Captain”.

My teacher and thesis adviser Prof. Elmer Ordoñez wrote about J.D. Salinger recently in his Manila Times column. My thesis is an extra.

Look at the yellowing typescript. Ancient artifact. Yes, I’ve been reading J.D. Salinger since before you were born.

View from the Uffizi museum, Florence.

Two tickets are on us. Maoricia, absolutelysober, john dorian, jeg, and sleeping cat, you each get a pair of free tickets to the Ayala Museum. (Jeg, let us know how many kids so we can provide enough tickets.)

Please post your full names in Comments and I’ll alert you when you can claim your tickets at the museum reception desk. If the receptionists have no idea about the prizes, have them call Ms Rinnah Sevilla upstairs and she will explain it to them.

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Winners, thanks for posting your names. You can claim your tickets starting Tuesday, February 16. (Sorry I can’t deliver them earlier.)

On Saturday I learned an important lesson. If you are driving up to Baguio in a van, remember not to sit on the left side. Even if the windows are heavily tinted, you will be fried by sunlight, especially if you leave Manila after 11 am. Or you could put blackout curtains on the windows, if you don’t mind being mistaken for an undertaker.

Traffic was light up to Luisita, quite heavy all the way to La Union. Then the traffic eased up and it got a lot cooler.

I tagged along with the SM marketing team. Present at the Baguio launch were (from left to right) Tina from Naga, Karren from Baguio, Melody, Lilibeth from Lucena, Athena, and Ms Millie Dizon, VP for Marketing and creator of the myCity, mySM project (I think of her as the Minister of Tourism for the Republic of SM).

Photo by Wayne Lim.

My main objective was to visit the BenCab Museum, which celebrates its first anniversary on the 27th. The museum houses BenCab’s vast collection of granary gods (bulol), lime containers, native implements and crafts from the Cordillera (No S please, it’s the plural form), as well as his Filipino art collection and his own works (the ones collectors are dying to buy but he’s not selling). The building was designed by architect Raymund Sarmiento.

I also interviewed BenCab, who apart from being a National Artist is probably the best-known Filipino painter (besides Amorsolo). Everyone calls him by the famous contraction, so he is frequently mis-identified as “Benjamin Cabrera”. It’s “Benedicto Cabrera”, do hire an editor who can read. The artist with his 12-year-old askal, Fatso.

The duck pond outside the BenCab Museum. In this case I know where the ducks go: they’re gone. The ducks were transferred to another location because they kept eating the strawberries in the farm. By the way Ben knows about the egrets that hang around Buendia in Makati. He says there are plenty of guppies in the creek/canal and the egrets go fishing.

One of BenCab’s favorite pieces: a painting based on Carlos Bulosan’s America Is In The Heart. My interview with BenCab appears in the Star next week.

Despite our fairly hectic schedule we managed to get a bit of shopping done. Strawberry jam, raisin bread, strawberry, blueberry, and rice wine.

Plus blankets and walis from the market. I’m completely useless at ukay-ukay but I found some great stuff at the Commissary, knits and gloves at the souvenir shops beside the plant and flower sellers at SM, and a potted desert rose.