Conan's back!

http://www.tonightshowwithconanobrien.com/video/clips/cold-open-of-the-first-show/1116061/

Glad to see Conan (and Max Weinberg and LaBamba) on TV again. And a not-so-good bye bye to Jay Leno. I thought he was deeply unfunny.

Aklat ng Himala

Launch of the special edition of Ricky Lee's "Si Tatang at Mga Himala ng Ating Panahon."

Click on any image to see more photos.






(Click on any image to see more photos)

Tagulaylay ng naaagnas na bangkay

Itapon mo na lamang ang aking bangkay sa bangin,
Doon sa may kumpol ng mga puno ng aroma,
Nang ang pagsabit ko roo'y lubos na pigain,
Ang dugo mula sa aking katawan,
At matigmak ang buhanginan ng aking katas,
Nang ako'y may matawag na akin, sa wakas.

Sa umaga'y matatanaw ang araw, gaya ng mga umagang napanaginipan,
Kaulayaw ang hanging amihan, at ang tilamsik ng maamong alon sa dalampasigan,
Tulad ng luha sa pisnging bunsod ng pangangarap.
Matutunton ng uwak sa tanghaling tapat, pati na nang mga hantik,
Ang bawat kirot ng kanilang kagat, ay pagdaop ng palad,
Kinasadlakan ko'y tanggap, mga kaibiga't kapatid.
Sa gabi'y mga tala, nakatungo, nakamasid,
Sila'y luluha, iluluha ang buhay na binawi ng araw,
Ibabalik sa aking tuyong balat, didiligin ng pait
ang naaagnas na laman.

Ano'ng halaga ng buhay kung hindi maialay,
Sa dahilan ng paggising, sa laman ng diwa,
Sa tinatangi't dinadakila.
Ano ba ang paghinga kung hindi, ang pagbunyi sa bawat araw,
Na ika'y makasama, na ika'y makaulayaw.
Tamis ng pangarap, pangako ng pag-asa,
Ang mundo ay atin, Diyos ay mapagpala.
Ngunit ang tadhana'y mapait,
Tanikalang malupit, kaligayahang ipinagkait.
'Pag ang pag-asa'y namatay, ano pa'ng halaga ng buhay,
Kaluluwa'y nakaratay, isang buhay na bangkay.

Aking ipinanalangin, sa Diyos na mapagpala,
Bago ko gilitin, ang ugat at ang dila,
Mapurol na itak, malamig sa paghawak,
Ako'y ilapit mo, sa tinatangi't dinadakila.

Maliwanag na tala,
Uwak sa iyong bintana,
Langgam sa iyong binti,
Dampi ng hangin sa iyong pisngi't labi.
Tinik ng aroma,
Buhangin sa iyong paa,
Araw na naghahari,
Alo'ng bumabati.
Wakas,
panimula,
ngiti,
pighati,
Kamatayan,
kaligayahan,
magkasama,
Magpakailanman.



paolo maligaya

R.I.P.

daddy.

Salamat sa musika, sa pagmamahal sa plaka at stereo, sa cha-cha at tango, kay Anastacio Mamaril at Perez Prado, sa vintage glasses at kamisetang retro, sa pinakamasarap na menudo, sa duyan sa ilalim ng puno ng chico. Sa pag-inspire for better or worse ng potential future creative output. Sa mga what were at what could have been. Sa mga sinabi at 'di sinabi. Sa mga iba't ibang emosyon. May you rest in peace.

(PBA09s114oro)

The carnival begins

Philippine election season is now officially on! Open your eyes, clean your ears, gear up, and start placing your bets.


NGOs fight vote-buying

MANILA, Philippines—With 12 months to go before the next elections, veteran community organizers and development workers across the country launched a nationwide movement on Sunday to get rid of vote-buying.

The ChangePolitics Movement, which includes former Social Welfare Secretary Corazon “Dinky” Soliman, will map out the “vote-buying vulnerable areas” so that NGOs could pour their resources there and eliminate the scourge of Philippine politics. (MORE)

Comelec: 2010 poll automation still on

MANILA, Philippines - Poll automation in 2010 would push through even with the disqualification of firms bidding to provide automated counting machines (ACMs), the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said yesterday.

Comelec Chairman Jose Melo junked calls to consider partial automation or use P1.2 billion worth of ACMs purchased from the controversial Mega Pacific Consortium (MPC) for the 2004 elections. (MORE)

Arroyo still hopeful of automated 2010 polls - Ermita

MANILA, Philippines – Despite the disqualification of all bidders for the automated polls in 2010, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo remains hopeful that the forthcoming elections would be fully automated, a senior Palace official said Monday.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is banking on Commission on Elections (Comelec) chair Jose Melo’s assurance that the poll body would resolve the disqualification of all seven bidders. (MORE)

Youth voters need to register again for 2010

MANILA, Philippines-- Youth voters who registered during the 2007 Sangguniang Kabataan (Youth Council, SK) elections should register again with the Commission on Elections (Comelec) if they want to vote in the 2010 elections, an election official said.

Filipinos aged 15 to17 years old may have registered for SK elections but this registration does not make them “qualified for regular elections,” Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said. (MORE)

Comelec OKs 4,751 absentee voters

MANILA, Philippines—The Commission on Elections on Monday announced that its Resident Election Registration Boards (RERB) of the Committee on Overseas Absentee Voting (COAV) has approved the applications for registration of only 4,751 such voters, way off its one million target for the 2010 elections.

In a statement released to the media, Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said the poll body is still confident about meeting its target with the help of the Department of Foreign Affairs’ (DFA) Overseas Absentee Voting Secretariat (OAVS) and overseas Filipino workers’ (OFW) groups worldwide. (MORE)

ABS-CBN launches Boto Mo, I-Patrol Mo: Ako ang Simula

Long before any slick ad campaign or Barack Obama, I set out to change my world. My inspiration was Mahatma Gandhi, who simply said: “Be the change you want to see.” My world was the Philippines, journalism and ABS-CBN in particular.

For a long time, I had a love-hate relationship with the Philippines. I love being Filipino but hated the inefficiency, the lack of standards, the acceptance of mediocrity, our situational ethics, our systems of patronage, and our often unjust justice system. Sometimes, when things don’t work, you hate that which you love. (MORE)

iBlog5 Postscript - of Mobile Blogging and the Elections

At iBlog5 yesterday, it was an “old friend” reunion of sorts getting re-acquainted face-to-face with JM Tuazon.

You see, JM and I first met as volunteers of NAMFREL in the 2004 elections. JM and I had maintained an online interaction through the years via email or through each other’s blogs.

Wow, it’s been 5 years since our NAMFREL days in 2004. And now we’re 365+1 days before the next election in 2010. (MORE)

More election updates: http://www.namfrel.com.ph/news/localnews.htm

62e Festival de Cannes

Here are some of the films competing for the Palme d'Or at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival (May 13-24, 2009). This year's jury is headed by French actress Isabelle Huppert.


Broken Embraces (Pedro Almodovar)




Bright Star (Jane Campion)




Taking Woodstock (Ang Lee)




Thirst (Park Chan-wook)




Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino)




Vengeance (Johnnie To)




Antichrist (Lars von Trier)

Complete list of films that will compete for the Palme d'Or.

• A l'origine by Xavier Giannoli
• Antichrist by Lars von Trier
• Bright Star by Jane Campion
• Fish Tank by Andrea Arnold
• Inglourious Basterds by Quentin Tarantino
• Kinatay by Brillante Mendoza
• Looking for Eric by Ken Loach
• Les herbes folles by Alain Resnais
• Los abrazos rotos by Pedro Almodóvar
• Map of the Sounds of Tokyo by Isabel Coixet
• Un prophète by Jacques Audiard
• Soudain le vide by Gaspar Noé
• Spring Fever by Lou Ye
• Taking Woodstock by Ang Lee
• Thirst by Park Chan-wook
• The Time That Remains by Elia Suleiman
• Vengeance by Johnnie To
• Vincere by Marco Bellocchio
• Visages by Tsai Ming-liang
• The White Ribbon by Michael Haneke

Basagan ng mukha

Gusto kong marinig ang lagitik ng iyong panga sa
pagtama ng aking kamao,
At pag sinapo ko ito't ika'y iniuntog ng matunog sa
semento'y gusto kong makita,
Kung ang pagsirit ng dugo mula sa iyong sentido ay
pakaliwa o pakanan.
Magmakaawa ka man sa garalgal mong boses na parang
asong ulol na bagong kapon,
Ang sagot ay tadyak, hanggang ang aking talampaka'y
maramdaman ang pagbakli ng iyong mga tadyang.
Ano't nakukuha mo pang ngumisi,
Katulad ng pagngisi ng nakabuka mong balat.
Gusto kong naisin mo pa ang hapdi ng tundos ng
mahabang karayom sa pagtahi nito,
Sa halip na ang hagupit ng aking poot sa
pasa-pasa mong dibdib at sikmura.
Hindi ko alam na kaya palang umabot,
ng iyong dila sa lupa nang patalikod,
Pilipit tulad ng iyong ngayo'y mga walang buhay na kamay
at ang nasira mong tapang.
At habang sakmal ko ang iyong leeg, pilitin mong isama
sa iyong hirap na hininga,
Magmakaawa ka, magmakaawa ka.
Ngunit walang makaririnig kundi ako,
at ang nagdurugo mong mga tenga.

paolo maligaya

(PBA095pp29r4)

The better to see you with my dear

I'm not really sure what came over me that I became obsessed with owning one of those oversized, authentic vintage eyeglasses from the late '70s and early '80s, a la Dindo Fernando in those Viva movies, or Ninoy Aquino, or well, anybody with glasses at that time. I trawled the internet for info on where in Manila I could get one, and even went to all the optical shops in Robinsons Galleria and SM Megamall, to no avail. My best bet was looking in those neighborhood optical shops that have been there forever, but I figured I might lose my interest in the thing before I could ever find one.

Finally, after a longish search, I found a mine of shockingly inexpensive, unused authentic vintage frames in one shop at a flea market somewhere in the metro, exactly the ones I wanted! I immediately bought two, and went straight to my optometrist to put prescription lenses on one of them. (Note: if you're wearing prescription, don't throw away your old pair just yet. The optometrist would tell you that prescription lenses fit for old, oversized frames just aren't available anymore. They can put the lenses in your oversized vintage frames, but the grade or something won't be "centered" or something. So I suggest, if you're currently laboring through Victor Hugo or Dostoevsky or Infinite Jest, stick with the old pair; if you're going out, put on the welder's mask.

Fancy a frame? Send me your e-mail address and I'll tell you where to get the booty. Now, time to re-enact those cop shows!

50 Years: The 400 Blows

Francois Truffaut's classic is one of my most favorite movies ever, and certainly my favorite French film. Like The Catcher In the Rye's Holden Caulfield, Antoine Doinel is one character I am very fond of and sort of identified with.

Senses of Cinema
The New York Times

Roger Ebert
TIME

Three from Brocka

To commemorate the 70th birth anniversary of Philippine National Artist for Film Lino Brocka, the CCP screened his first three movies last Saturday, April 25, at the CCP Dream Theater. Billed as "Remembering Brocka: Realities/Rarities," the event offered a truly rare glimpse into the then-budding artistry of Brocka, who would eventually create more significant works that are still influencing Filipino filmmakers to this day.

Brocka's first film, "Wanted: Perfect Mother" (1969), is said to be a commercially-motivated move for the director, who at that time was already active in theater. Adapted by Brocka from a Mars Ravelo comic, Perfect Mother served as Brocka's calling card. And who wouldn't have called back after watching the movie? Though admittedly a partial rip-off of The Sound of Music, "Wanted: Perfect Mother" is a well-written and well-acted entertaining yarn about a father and his four kids' search for the perfect woman after the mother was killed in an accident. The top-notch cast includes Dante Rivero, Boots Anson-Roa, Liza Lorena, Caridad Sanchez, a very cute Snooky in her first movie, Gina Alajar, and über kontrabida Etang Discher. But the star of this movie is the first-time director, who tried to elevate this otherwise generic romp into a movie where every laugh is well-earned. In any other Filipino movie from the same era, the husband trying to reconnect with a former governess after not seeing each other for a long time would be a cheap excuse for a resolution. In "Wanted: Perfect Mother," when Dante Rivero calls Boots Anson-Roa in Canada and tries to woo her back to the country, we feel their happiness and wish the best for them. Why? Because Brocka made us feel that way, by taking us on an emotional journey with the characters. After the movie's over, you'd probably want to go on the journey again.

I didn't know that "Santiago" (1970) stars Fernando Poe, Jr. I'm always wary of watching FPJ's films because they're usually more like vehicles for Poe's persona than honest-to-goodness movies. I shouldn't have worried. Let's just say that in his second movie, Lino Brocka won over the king of Philippine movies. "Santiago" may even be regarded as a minor classic waiting to be rediscovered. In it, Poe plays a guerrilla fighter during World War II, who finds out too late that there were innocent people (women, children, elderly) inside an abandoned Japanese camp that he helped blow up. Racked with guilt and disillusionment with the resistance movement, he abandons the fight and flees to a small town, where he is ostracized by the townsfolk because he reminds them of their sons who had to leave their families behind to fight the Japanese. FPJ was FPJ, but after watching the movie, people would remember not how many Japanese soldiers he killed and how he did it or how he looked, but how truly good an actor he was when given great material to work with. Granted, the story doesn't really stray too far from typical FPJ fare, but the little-something-extra here is Brocka, who weaves the story with great skill (which can't be said of most of FPJ's bakbakan films), and shows confidence in staging huge scenes with dozens of extras and other technical considerations (if still a bit crude). If "Wanted: Perfect Mother" was the calling card, "Santiago" brought Brocka through the door, and serves as the earliest manifestation of Brocka as filmmaker-activist, capable of shaping people's ideas through his art.

The best among the three films shown at the retrospective was "Tubog Sa Ginto" (1971). In the movie, Eddie Garcia plays a closeted homosexual who tries to hide his true identity from his wife and son. Another adaptation of a Mars Ravelo comic, it is a story of struggle, deception, and ultimately tragedy, that for the first time showcased Brocka as a masterful director. While in his two earlier movies, some scenes were--to be honest--handled clumsily, in this movie, everything comes together perfectly. The cast, which also includes Lolita Rodriguez, Jay Ilagan, and Mario O'Hara, are just perfection. And whoever says that Brocka was not as humorous as Bernal should watch this movie; it has scenes that rival the best of Bernal and Gosiengfiao in the camp department. I'm not sure whether it's just Brocka or if it's quite the norm in early '70s Philippine cinema, but the bold colors, the tight shots, even the theme of the movie suggest the works of American '50s director Douglas Sirk, not unlike Todd Haynes' 2002 similarly-themed Sirk tribute, "Far From Heaven." In that film, a woman discovers that her husband is having an affair with another man, and is herself ostracized by the community for having a relationship with a black man. In "Tubog Sa Ginto," the characters are similarly so trapped in society's expectations and in their web of lies, that not even death can liberate them from their mise-en-scène, down to the last frame of the movie.

These three films should not be used in any way to judge the totality of Lino Brocka's contributions to Philippine cinema. Brocka went on to revisit the themes in these movies to create stronger pieces of work--like Insiang, Tinimbang Ka Ngunit Kulang, Maynila Sa Mga Kuko ng Liwanag, and Macho Dancer--certified classics that continue to inspire and influence Filipino filmmakers to this day.

However, the flip side to this is that Brocka's body of work has so dominated the consciousness of young Filipino filmmakers that everyone seems to be wanting to be the next Brocka, in their choice of themes, in their choice of milieu. They will all probably fail if they hinge their work solely on aping aspects of Brocka's because what made Brocka's films the way they are were Brocka's intellect and the richness of his personal experiences, and his way of translating them into art, and not really his decision to locate his classics in slums. I agree with what Boots Anson-Roa said in the forum held before the last screening, that our young filmmakers should find their own voice. Like, why be the next Brocka when you can be the first you? Granted, as shown by the retrospective, that it takes at least three movies for a filmmaker to be able to do that. Philippine independent cinema is enabling young filmmakers to find their voice. That is why despite the travelogues in disguise, the film school art projects, the "gritty" hand-held cinematography, the head-scratching pa-profound effects, and the criss-crossing tongues of current Philippine independent cinema, we keep watching, in the hope that we will find not the next Brocka, but the next filmmaker that will hopefully inspire a thousand others to pick up a camera and shoot.