We were engrossed in Other People’s Money by Justin Cartwright when we noticed Mat-Mat staring at us.
“Yes, Mat-Mat?”
“I would like to change my name, please.”
“You don’t like Mat-Mat?”
“No, it is fine.”
“You want to change ‘Matthias Eomer Octavian Federer-Urban’?”
“Yes.”
“To what?”
“I wish to be named. . .Matthias Mattathias Eomer Octavian Federer-Urban.”
“What shall we call you then?”
“Mat-Mat.”
Cats are very specific.
1. The Zombadings 1: Patayin Sa Shokot Si Remington! original DVD from Origin8 Media. With ten never-before-seen deleted scenes, trailers, a look behind the scenes, music video, and optional subtitles…in Baklese! (Bekimon/gayspeak).
Php500. Order here.
2. Large basket woven from waterlilies.
Big, sturdy, environmentally-friendly, for groceries, books, construction supplies, small dogs or large cats. About Php500. Text Roger at +63 926 909 9806.
Tarsier photo from Wikimedia Commons
Dear Friends,
My balikbayan daughter Erika, my youngest son Michael, and myself went on an exciting trip to Bohol recently. Of course, we were excited to see the Philippine Tarsier! The teeny animal, as big as one’s fist, is so delightful but so shy (or frightened). The guides said there were “over a thousand visitors a day” coming by.
During our trip, a foreign tourist was almost jamming his SLR camera into the poor creature’s face. His kid was shaking the tree where the Tarsier was perched even when the poor thing crouched in fear. We kept telling them to stop shaking the tree and not to shove the camera into the Tarsier’s face but they just kept giggling with delight and ignored us. (The forest guides just stood by.)
I guess the tourists didn’t understand English? And that the guy didn’t know how to use a long lens?
Why are tourists allowed to come so near the Tarsiers? In Sydney, there is a roped-off distance between the super cute Koalas and the visitors.
Please can anyone send a copy of this letter to the Secretary of Tourism?
The Philippine Tarsiers gives birth only once a year and they are so stressed, they are committing suicide! Read the article below and you too will be alarmed.
Thanks a lot!
Edi Koch Arroyo
When I arrived from the airport on my last visit, he saw sticking out of my luggage a small book. He held out his hand for it — Peter Ackroyd’s “London Under,” a subterranean history of the city. Then we began a 10-minute celebration of its author. We had never spoken of him before, and Christopher seemed to have read everything. Only then did we say hello. He wanted the Ackroyd, he said, because it was small and didn’t hurt his wrist to hold. But soon he was making penciled notes in its margins. By that evening he’d finished it. He could have written a review, but he was to turn in a long piece on Chesterton.
Christopher Hitchens, Consummate Writer and Brilliant Friend by Ian McEwan in the NYT.
It’s a replica of an 18th century bust with its face sawn off and replaced with bathroom tiles for that pixellated effect.
Banksy wades into Catholic church sex abuse scandal with new sculpture
Until Friday, 23 December 2011 to give you time to recover from your office party and the 5 hours of sitting in traffic going to and from the party.
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How different would The Lord of the Rings, Othello, The Once and Future King, Sherlock Holmes, Superman, Noli me tangere and Pride and Prejudice be if they were told from the point of view of Sauron, Iago, Mordred, Professor Moriarty, Lex Luthor, Padre Damaso or that bitch Caroline Bingley?
How would the villain view the situation?
Kirill Yeskov retold the epic of Middle Earth from the perspective of the Orcs of Mordor, and George R.R. Martin keeps his fantasy series interesting by having it narrated by both heroes and villains. John Gardner’s Grendel is a retelling of Beowulf from the POV of the monster.
Your assignment this week, should you choose to accept it, is to sum up a novel or play from the point of view of its villain. How would Dr. Valentina Vrandakapoor, Ph.D. in Reptilian Zoology from the University of New Delhi, characterize Darna? What would Karla have to say about the Circus in the Smiley novels?
1,000 words or less, due at 12 noon on Saturday, 17 December 2011. The prize is this huge reference book on Mythology, which is also useful as a coffee table.
The Weekly LitWit Challenge is brought to you by our friends at National Bookstore.
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