Thursday, January 29, 2009

TABOAN: Philippine International Writers Festival 2009

11 to 13 FEBRUARY 2009
University of the Philippines Diliman (Feb 11)
Ateneo de Manila University (Feb 12)
Cubao Expo (Feb 13)



DAY 1, FEBRUARY 11, WEDNESDAY
University of the Philippines
Diliman, Quezon City


9:00AM | OPENING PROGRAM
Venue: Pulungang Claro M. Recto, Bulwagang Rizal

Welcome Remarks
• UP Diliman Chancellor Sergio S. Cao
• NCCA Chair Vilma L. Labrador
• Festival Director Ricardo M. de Ungria
• Festival Coordinator Jose Y. Dalisay, Jr.

PHILIPPINE LITERATURE TODAY. The keynote address, a synoptic overview of where we’ve been and where we are, taking into account our literature in Filipino, English, and the regional languages; Philippine literature in the 21st century; and Philippine literature in the Asian and global context. To be delivered by National Artist Francisco Sionil Jose.
Venue: Pulungang Claro M. Recto, Bulwagang Rizal, UPD

9:45AM | A TRIBUTE TO EDITH TIEMPO. The tribute to National Artist Edith L. Tiempo is a short poetry reading by Merlie Alunan, Dinah Roma, and Ronald Baytan, who all attended the Dumaguete National Workshop and have been influenced by Tiempo’s poetics. To date, Edith Tiempo is the sole woman National Artist for Literature.
Moderator: Marjorie Evasco
Venue: Pulungang Claro M. Recto, Bulwagang Rizal, UPD

10:30AM | GANITO KAMI NOON: WRITING THROUGH THE DECADES. A plenary panel discussion to set the tone for all other panel discussions. A representative each from the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s can talk about the conditions for writing and publishing in their eras and how things have changed, or maybe not. And where do we go from here? 
Panelists: Elmer Ordonez (1950s), National Artist Virgilio S. Almario (1960s), José Pete Lacaba (1970s), Marjorie Evasco (1980s), Angelo Lacuesta (1990s)
Moderator: José Y. Dalisay, Jr.
Pulungang Claro M. Recto, Bulwagang Rizal, UPD

1:30PM | ICONS OF THE NEW CENTURY: WRITERS WHOM WRITERS READ. Who are you reading and why? Who's your literary daddy (or mommy)? A discussion of literary influences and how they are shaping contemporary Philippine literature.
Panelists: Rebecca Añonuevo, Franklin Cimatu, Carlos Cortes, Francis Macansantos, Katrina Tuvera
Moderator: Gémino H. Abad
Venue: CAL New Building (CNB), Room 508

WRITING FOR A LIVING. What's writing like as a profession in the Philippines? What writing jobs pay, and how can writers get them? How should writers deal with writing commissions? What about copyrights and contracts? How do we break into the global market and find and deal with agents?
Panelists: Vietnamese writer Nguyen Bao Chan, Tony Enriquez, Kragi Garcia, Luis Katigbak, Charlson Ong, Alfred Yuson
Moderator: José Y. Dalisay, Jr.
Venue: CAL-AVR, 2/F Bulwagang Rizal, UPD

THE CREATIVE WRITING CLASSROOM. The teaching of creative writing, for the teachers among us: challenges, strategies, approaches, tips and tricks in the creative writing classroom.
Penelists: Merlie Alunan, Conchitina Cruz, Jun Cruz Reyes, Macario Tiu, Ricardo de Ungria
Moderator: Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo
Venue: CNB Inquirer Room 201

WORKSHOPPING THE WORKSHOP, ORGANIZING WRITERS. A review of the Dumaguete, Baguio, and Iligan workshops, plus maybe the biggest school-based ones, and how they grew. A sharing of best practices, as well as a discussion of common problems and situations. This panel can also deal with writers’ organizations, centers, institutes, and programs.
Panelists: Vicente Groyon III, Christine Godinez-Ortega, V.E. Carmelo D. Nadera Jr., Benilda Santos, Anthony Tan
Moderator: Lito Zulueta
Venue: CNB Rm 309

3:30 PM | WRITING OFF-CENTER: THE REGIONAL EXPERIENCE. How goes creative writing and literary publishing outside of Metro Manila? Have new centers of literary activity emerged, and what are the keys to their success? What does it take to promote writing from the regions to broader audiences? 
Panelists: John Bengan, Jose Jason Chancoco, Rey Duque, David Genotiva, Alice Tan-Gonzales
Moderator: Ricardo de Ungria
Venue: CNB Inquirer Room 201

ATBP: WRITING OFF THE MAINSTREAM. Gay/lesbian literature, chick lit, "spec fic", Chinoy lit , and all that jazz. What alternatives exist to straight, realist, mainstream lit? Is this kind of "pigeonholing" good or bad—or, when is it good, and when is it bad? 
Panelists: Dean Francis Alfar, Jhoanna Cruz, J. Neil C. Garcia, Jaime An Lim, Tara FT. Sering
Moderator: Danton Remoto
Venue: CNB Room 309

FILIPINO-NESS IN THE GLOBAL AGE. A perennial hot topic in the blogosphere. How can "Filipino-ness" be defined? Is it an absolute necessity in this age of globalization? Is "nation" even a relevant concept? How can this be manifested in a literary work? Why don’t we seem to see enough of such central elements of Filipino life as crime, sex, and humor in our literature, or is that only in English?
Panelists: Efren Abueg, Leoncio Deriada, Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo, Resil Mojares, Timothy Montes
Moderator: Isagani R. Cruz
Venue: CAL-AVR



DAY 2, FEBRUARY 12, THURSDAY
Ateneo de Manila University
Katipunan Avenue, Loyola Heights, Quezon City


9:00AM | PLENARY
Venue: Leong Hall Auditorium

Program
• Opening Remarks, Prof. Ricardo de Ungria, Commissioner for the Arts, NCCA
• Welcome Address, Dr. Ma. Luz Vilches, Dean of the School of Humanities
• Message, Dr. Antonette Palma-Angeles, Academic Vice-President, AdMU
• A Concise History of 150 Years of Ateneo Writing
• Open Forum
• Tribute Proper
• Screen Presentation on Emmanuel S. Torres and Reading of Citation
• Screen Presentation on Gregorio C. Brillantes and Reading of Citation
• Response of the Honorees
• Closing Remarks, Dr. Ma. Luisa Torres Reyes, Chair, Dept. of English

1:00PM | ATENEO GALLERY AND LIBRARY TOUR

2:00PM | PARALLEL SESSIONS

THE POET-CRITIC. The issue of how art and criticism interface has been a central topic even in the creative writing curricula of top universities worldwide. Whether our writers have found the interface uneasy or comfortable, consciously or unconsciously, it has shaped the craft and aesthetics of generations of authors in the Philippines. 
Panelists: Gemino H. Abad, Exie Abola, J. Neil Garcia, Allan Popa, Jun Cruz Reyes, and Thai fictionist/screenwriter Prabda Yoon 
Moderator: D(anilo) Francisco (M) Reyes
Venue: Social Science Conference Rooms 1 & 2

TEXT AND CONTEXT. The encounter between art and politics, writing and ideology, or aesthetics and social engagement, has been a significant consideration in countries like the Philippines as it has been said to make for bad writing and good politics/bad politics and good writing. Thus, these binary categories have been considered mutually exclusive practices by some writers, but deemed mutually constitutive commitments by writers. 
Panelists: Isagani R. Cruz, National Artist Bienvenido Lumbera, Danton Remoto, Roland Tolentino
Moderator: Oscar Campomanes
Venue: Social Science Conference Rooms 3 & 4

PUBLISHING FOR THE FUTURE. No literature can prosper without publishing, but publishing itself is taking on new forms and challenges in this new century, such as online publishing and print on demand. What directions will Philippine literary publishing and Philippine literature itself take in the foreseeable future? What can the Philippine academic and commercial publishers do to promote literature here and abroad? Are there alternatives to mainstream publishing that can be explored, and can they be commercially viable?
Panelists: Karina Bolasco, Adam David, Antonio Hidalgo, Esther Pacheco
Moderator: Maricor Baytion
Venue: NGF Conference Rm, G/F De La Costa Hall

4:00PM | PARALLEL SESSIONS

FEMINISM IN OUR MIDST. The question of how women writers write under conditions quite distinct from men writers has been a source of dynamism and controversy in both their works and the criticism on their work. This has been a point of contention in recent literary history as some women writers organize themselves as women writers, weaving literature and sharing life.
Panelists: Rica Bolipata-Santos, Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo, Priscilla Macansantos, Aida F. Santos, Dinah Roma-Sianturi, Hope Yu
Moderator: Benilda Santos
Venue: Social Science Conference Rooms 1 & 2

LITERATURE IN ACTION. Non-canonical texts abound in contexts like the Philippines in which literature’s energies come from places quite apart from "Literature." Foremost among this type of literary production is the whole range of performative practices which create cultural "events" as opposed to literary "art." Most prominent examples of this range from avant-garde forms to so-called "agit-prop" art in which visual and/or performance artists and educational and community theater groups like PETA have been making a splash in the international art and academic scene since the 80s and 90s. 
Panelists: Michael Coroza, Steven Patrick Fernandez, Servando Halili, Bonifacio Ilagan, Glenn Mas 
Moderator: Gary Devilles
Venue: Social Science Conference Rooms 3 & 4

CHILDREN’S LITERATURE. In the Philippines, it has been said that the reading fare of Filipino children continues to be dominated by children’s literature from the West, as evidenced by the children's books usually on display in major book shops. Nevertheless, it can be argued that for decades now, significant headway has been made in providing alternative reading materials for Filipino children by publishing houses like Aklat Adarna and noted Filipino authors and published locally in English, Filipino and other Philippine languages. What genres have been developed in children’s literature by Filipinos? Are these genres a mere imitation of the western models? Has the production been enough to begin to draw up a canon of children’s literature in the Philippines? What has been the impact of children's literature on the readers? What role must children's literature play in the Philippines? 
Panelists: Cyan Abad-Jugo, Christine Bellen, Jean Lee Patindol, Ramon V. Sunico
Moderator: Jerry Respeto
Venue: NGF Conference Room, G/F De La Costa Hall

5:00PM | DINNER
Venue: Leong Hall Roof Deck

• Closing Remarks, Dr. Assunta Cuyegkeng, Vice President, Ateneo de Manila Univeristy-Loyola Schools



DAY 3, FEBRUARY 13, FRIDAY
Cubao X, Araneta Center, Cubao, Quezon City


9:30AM | PLENARY
Venue: Cubao X
Hosts: Angelo R. Lacuesta, Festival Coordinator; Joel Toledo, Festival Assistant Coordinator

10:00PM | PARALLEL SESSIONS

HOME, ROAM, AND AWAY. Publishing locally versus publishing abroad. How does place of publication—or place of writing—affect or define your audience, or your career or your work? This should also function as a guide for those who seek international publication: what are the challenges and what are the chances? 
Panelists: Vicente G. Groyon III, Mookie Katigbak
Moderator: Lourd Ernest De Veyra
Venue: Mogwai 2

THE END OF PRINT. Web-based publishing, traditional print publishing, and print-on-demand: the meaning of publication has multiplied so much these days. Has the meaning of quality, or rigor, or intent changed as well? How has this affected today’s writer? Has he (or must he) achieve convergence, or should there be dividing lines?
Panelists: Roberto Añonuevo, Adam David, Jean Claire Dy, Luis Katigbak, Edgar Samar
Moderator: Dean Francis Alfar
Venue: Pablo

WRITE TO LIFE. Writing to live, or living to write? Many literary writers have commercial writing careers—but what about other lines of work? And what of the lines that divide work and writing? This discussion covers all sorts of jobs writers must take—and the amount of confrontation and compromise writers must endure. It will also cover tips and tricks to avoid burnout and “multitasking hell.”
Panelists: Josua Cabrera, Dominique Cimafranca, Mikael de Lara Co, Ramil Gulle, Victor Dennis T. Nierva
Moderator: Frank Cimatu
Venue: Kolektib 1

LINGO NG WIKA. Language and authenticity in Philippine literary practice—it’s an old argument. So should we be done with it, then? Or shouldn’t we? (This conversation covers all Filipino languages.)
Panelists: Genevieve Asenjo, John Barrios, Jaime Jesus Borlagdan, Jose Jason Changcoco, Jason Laxamana, Glen Mas, Voltaire Oyzon, John Iremil Teodoro
Moderator: Rica Bolipata-Santos
Venue: Kolektib 2

GLOBAL WARMING. A plenary discussion over lunch featuring Asian and Filipino writers who have gone “global.” Our international panelists will discuss the challenges and rewards of writing in their local language and still achieving international recognition and popularity. The panel will also discuss practical tips on international grants, fellowships and exchange programs. 
Panelists: Nguyan Bao Chan, Conchitina Cruz, Dinah Roma-Sianturi, Prabda Yoon
Moderator: Angelo R. Lacuesta

2:00PM | PARALLEL SESSIONS

PURO FORMA. The formal versus the experimental in poetry—is there a conflict? Young poets discuss the issues (and, inevitably, the non-issues) that abound. 
Panelists: Michael Coroza, Conchitina Cruz, J. Neil C. Garcia, Mookie Katigbak, Angelo Suarez
Moderator: Allan Popa
Venue: Mogwai 2

MOVING UP IN THE WORD. Building the literary career—does it still have the same requirements as ten years ago, or are there new ways to get that break? Is the PalancaTM Award still the quickest path to writerhood? Or is that old-school thinking? What’s a literary career anyway?
Panelists: Efmer Agustin, Janice Bagawi, Arifah Jamil, Junley Lazaga, Leonila Lopido, Monica Macansantos, Harold Mercurio
Moderator: Mikael Co
Venue: Pablo

FICTIONAL SHOWDOWN. This is a friendly showdown between the realms speculative fiction and “non-speculative” fiction—its advocates, practitioners and its subject matter. Also up for discussion: attempted definitions, blurred boundaries and common goals. 
Panelists: Dean Francis Alfar, Adam David, Jonathan J. Siason, Alvin B. Yapan, Prabda Yoon
Moderator: Ian Casocot
Venue: Kolektib 1

4:00PM | PARALLEL SESSIONS

ALL ABOUT MY OTHER. The I versus “otherness” in poetry: how do they figure in your work? Insights, questions, problems and answers on this mind-boggling topic. 
Panelists: Ronald Baytan, Kristian S. Cordero, Conchitina Cruz, Larry Ypil
Moderators: Carlomar Daoana, Dinah Roma-Sianturi
Venue: Mogwai 2

UNSCRIPTED. Playwrights, screenwriters and writers in general discuss the difficulties of writing for the stage and screen—from the issue (or non-issue) of language and the challenges of the craft, to the long road to production and the burden of having to win the audience. 
Panelists: Jhoanna Cruz, Glen Mas, John Iremil Teodoro
Moderator: Jun Lana
Venue: Pablo

THE YOUNG AND THE LITLESS. Is the Filipino youth worth writing for? In the age of the Internet and digital home entertainment, Filipino children and young adults have so much to see, hear and read—without having to open a book. How does this affect the youngest generation of the Filipino literary audience? How does this affect the Filipino writer?
Panelists: Christine Bellen, Jean Lee Patindol
Moderator: Tara FT Sering
Venue: Kolektib 1

THE STORY OF OUR LIVES. Short story writers and novelists discuss the concerns of today’s fictionist—from language and style to themes and subject matter. Also to be discussed: getting published internationally, and the problem and the burden of writing long-form work.
Panelists: Vincente Groyon III, Arifah Jamil, Luis Katigbak, Januar Yap, Alvin B. Yapan
Moderators: Genevieve Asenjo, John Bengan
Venue: Kolektib 2

6:30PM | PLENARY: DEAR NCCA. What can the NCCA do for the younger or emerging writer? This discussion hopes to come up with a wishlist for the NCCA, covering specific measures of support for the Filipino writer. 
Moderators: Angelo R. Lacuesta, Joel Toledo
Venue: Mogwai

8:00PM | CLOSING CEREMONIES
• Address, National Artist Virgilio S. Almario
• NCCA Resolutions
• Response and Closing Address, Ricardo de Ungria

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Hello! And Welcome!

welcome to another edition of BYWHM. i'm your host wild wappy and this is my co-host leonardong libag. *fake mikael voice* - magandang madaling araw mga kaibigan.

since this is a blog, we'll be posting videos in stead of making mp3 playlists. so sit back, relax and enjoy as you listen to and watch our top picks. without further ado, this is Richard Thomas with his beautiful opus, "1952 Vincent Black Lightning"



awright! now back to your regular programming.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Pambansang Bayani

Mula sa Wikipedia -

José P. Rizal (full name: José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda) (June 19, 1861 – December 30, 1896) known as Manny Pacquiao is a professional Filipino boxer. He is currently the WBC Lightweight Champion. He is the former WBC super featherweight world champion, IBF super bantamweight world champion, and WBC flyweight world champion. He has also held the Ring Magazine titles for featherweight and super featherweight. For his achievements, he became the first Filipino boxer to win four world titles in four different weight divisions. He is currently rated by the Ring Magazine as the #1 pound-for-pound boxer in the world.


Wala lang, baka nalimutan mo na

Monday, January 19, 2009

Soundtrip muna



"First Day of my Life" - Bright Eyes

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Happy Mondays XLIV


featured readers for the 44th installment of the bi-weekly Happy Mondays Poetry Nights @ mag:net cafe Katipunan TONIGHT, Jan 19, @mag:net cafe Katipunan are as follows:

Gatula Reunion!
1. Ed Geronia, Jr.
2. Lilledeshan Bose
3. Israfel Fagela
4. Joseph Saguid
5. Doodz Generoso
6. Drey Teran
7. Pancho Villanueva
8. Khavn Dela Cruz
9. Waps San Diego
10. Sasha Martinez
11. Jaton Zulueta
12. Pancho Alvarez
*plus other regular and surprise guest readers.

*readings start promptly at 730 pm followed by the Open Mic sessions @ 930pm-10pm.

*for those interested in reading during the open mic, we will leave a sign-up sheet with Rogel, the bar tender of mag:net cafe. please feel free to sign up and read your work. :)

FREE ADMISSION. Kitakits po tayo. :)

iyas national writers workshop

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Wade Davis on Endangered Cultures

utang ng loob, basta panoorin n'yo na lang.


Friday, January 16, 2009

YEARS LATER: Holding Back The Years

the fifth installment of the monthly Years Later New Wave music all-cover night happens TONIGHT @ mag:net cafe Katipunan.
8pm onwards, with spinning of New Wave anthems and oddities in-between sets. featuring the following bands:
1. The Superchongs
2. Angel Radio
3. Atomflot
4. Skies of Ember
FREE ADMISSION. kitakits, mga chong. :)

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Puppet Show

First of all i'd like to congratulate these kids for making something as creepy and hysterical as this:



-

Second of all, i think Mikael's affection for flesh-eating giant felines is contagious:



-

Third, ummm, why did i have to start all this animal love shit anyway? Take your lead from the man himself! Gotta take care of 'em puppies, dude:



(Notice the cheap pornographic soundtrack)

-

And now for some animal cruelty:



nyahahaha!

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

marie's despedida + christian the lion + poem(s) for the day

So. Because the only one with a camera last night was pancho, and because he doesn't have an internet connection in his studio, this is all we have from last night:




(you have to turn the volume up, though, the stupid cam-phone's, well, stupid.)

Marie's Despedida Renga, 01/12/09

The sound of footsteps started last night
and I covered my ears, afraid of the possible.
The footsteps are loud, like echoes of bombs.
The blanket I hold is my only shelter.
Above, the moon hangs pendulous, a glowing question,
but this poem isn't about the moon--
it is about your long journey to it,
and your flight, the bright wings of the possible,
the few feathers that
will always hear songs, always soft
as the pillow of privilege, or a cartilage
tried beyond toleration
by a heavy earring someone you once loved
gave you. Tender flesh between two
fingers, the first bars of a lullaby
when night first bursts. These things come
to comfort you, to stay with you,
to soften the bed, and cool the pillow.
Rest and dreams shuffle toward you.
Nothing more needs to be said. Sit with me just now
with the flickering leavings which are always
natural: flashes of fingers and candle-glint
on beer bottles. Those tremendous distances
we don't even need to negotiate, of course,
loud dings on the internet, dull postcards.
It seems like another ordinary Monday.
But this is not only about footsteps, fading,
and of course, parting; this is about resonance.
If only tomorrow could be as good.

- Pancho Alvarez, Martin Villanueva, Rafael San Diego, Sasha Martinez, Mikael de Lara Co, Javier Bengzon, Den Alibudbud, Joel Toledo, Alfred A. Yuson, Lawrence Bernabe, Pancho Villanueva, Marie La Viña, Margie de Leon, Dustin Celestino, Peachy Paderna, Keith Cortez

*

In other news, this brought tears to my eyes, especially the terrific musical score. Really, it's Whitney-fucking-Houston, and if you're not affected, you're not human, you're not humaaaan! Not humaaaaaaaan!




*

Oh, and this is probably illegal-- posting other people's works without permission-- but we're a poor, monsoon-ravaged, third-world archipelago, so really, we look at piracy as (as Dodong Nemenzo would say) the revenge of the third world, and we're posting this poem of the day anyway. Or, two poems, since it's past seven pm, and I haven't had ice cream today.

[untitled]
Karen Volkman

I believe there is a song that is stranger than wind, that sips the scald from the telling, toss, toss. In the room I move in, a wrecked boy listened to each sky's erasing, for it was shrill winter, for it was blast and blur. For it was farther from the native birds and the gray heath heather and the uncaressable thighs of the one who shook in violet. Those who fly farthest must always burn the nest. But the mind in its implaceable spectrum dims to brown. Must you die on your back like a cheap engine, rust and wrack? In the crevicing days, there are no words for prizing, between the lidless moon and the silver hands of the fountain. But if it is space you must fail in, teach it din.

[untitled]
Karen Volkman

Dear noon, what goes up and up and never others? What says it's a wind-strung fractal, never whole? This must be some specious season, quick and numbered, pulling the this-world to quivered, hectic ends. Sepals could count it. Pistils, pearly queens. Little god-head stamens, tense, erected. All this intends. But sky's blue blushes never meant o swoon, o love-- o hopeless dizzy heart-song west of mending.

It was wiser, it kept the mute number-- void or grieve. Or where we go, arc-ache of ending, we stay to leave.

*

Where the fuck is everyone?

*

UPDATE: What the fuck. Just noticed-- nakahiga 'yung renga video! Don't know how to fix it. You'll just have to tilt your heads, people.

Monday, January 12, 2009

mondays are for inuman, marie la vina edition

1.

it's good to know that all of us are still around. one way or another. last night was the happiest i've been in quite a while. we sprang a not-so-surprise despedida for Marie as she's off to Belgium on sunday to study, and for a while we were laughing about all the fights we used to have. it's good to know those times haven't much dulled our fondness for each other.

we watched the breakfast club on the mOHP (if no one recalls, the old mondays blog had a similar header to the note they wrote the principal, and ally sheedy is always hot, and i wish i had brought my bender weed). made another BYWHM playlist. made our rounds and got alcoholed enough to take really funny pictures. there were, of course, lots of booze, but not as much drinking as there used to be. sasha cut pancho the longhair's hair real short and so now i need a new adjective to delineate him from pancho express (because he's a bicolano, bicol express, get it). or maybe i'll just still call him that, since his long hair is as much a part of his spirit as the animal that lives in him. i don't understand that last statement either but i think it sounds cool in an unorthodox semi-mystical way.

can somebody post that renga we made for marie? and a few pictures? we need to log those in our little box of digital memoirs (or is it spelled memoires, fie to the lit major).

see you in a few months, our beloved Marie. May you learn a lot, and see a lot of beautiful things during your stay there.

2.

In Childhood

by Kimiko Hahn

things don't die or remain damaged
but return: stumps grow back hands,
a head reconnects to a neck,
a whole corpse rises blushing and newly elastic.
Later this vision is not True:
the grandmother remains dead
not hibernating in a wolf's belly.
Or the blue parakeet does not return
from the little grave in the fern garden
though one may wake in the morning
thinking mother's call is the bird.
Or maybe the bird is with grandmother
inside light. Or grandmother was the bird
and is now the dog
gnawing on the chair leg.
Where do the gone things go
when the child is old enough
to walk herself to school,
her playmates already
pumping so high the swing hiccups?

Sunday, January 11, 2009

poem for the day

The River Now
Richard Hugo

Hardly a ghost left to talk with. The slavs moved on
or changed their names to something green. Greeks gave up
old dishes and slid into repose. Runs of salmon thin
and thin until a ripple in October might mean carp.
Huge mills bang and smoke. Day hangs thick with commerce
and my favorite home, always overgrown with roses,
collapsed like moral advice. Tugs still pound against
the outtide pour but real, running on some definite fuel.
I can’t dream anything, not some lovely woman
murdered in a shack, not saw mills going broke,
not even wild wine and a landslide though I knew both well.
The blood still begs direction home. This river points
the way north to the blood, the blue stars certain
in their swing, their fix. I pass the backwash where
the cattails still lean north, familiar grebes pop up,
the windchill is the same. And it comes back with the odor
of the river, some way I know the lonely sources
of despair break down from too much love. No matter
how this water fragments in the reeds, it rejoins
the river and the bright bay north receives it all,
new salmon on their way to open ocean,
the easy tub returned.

Friday, January 9, 2009

A Call for Resurrection?

Since Kael and Waps decided to kick this blog into renewed activity, I got around to thinking about where all of us had gone since those Mondays in Xavier Grill and Cafe Ysabela. I agree with Kael -- those times were some of the best I've ever had, and I do get all nostalgic when I think of how things were. Happy Mondays was something to look forward to after a narcotic day at work, and I miss the careless reprieve and the awesome company it offered at the start of every week.

But you know, I don't even remember when we eventually stopped going, and I can't seem to locate that point where we dropped out of sight one by one. I realize that a good number of you still managed to meet up since, but as much as I wanted to join in on the fun, work and new hobbies (e.g. mountaineering) eventually got in the way. A lot of us had gone through major changes without the presence of the rest, without their witnessing. I think it's a little tragic, given the fact that we used to hang out together so much!

Damn, I recall how we all were back then, not just as a group, but individually as well. Not to mention the ridiculous conflicts that sprang up between us, the romantic disasters, or the gossip we had to deal with, et cetera. I was mean and childish at various points, histrionic, hardly on an even keel. I'm glad you guys bore with me nonetheless, and am truly sorry for all the shit I might have subjected you to. I suppose we were all very different then from the way we are now, and I find each progressive transformation really amusing and impressive.

Anyway, enough of the melodrama. Hyuk hyuk. I've been working at home since December, and am taking the opportunity to make more appearances at the Happy Mondays poetry readings. I actually miss being with you guys, and miss those times when Happy Monday-drinking was reflexive for all of us.

Maybe we should still meet up on those Mondays that don't feature the poetry readings? I'm all for this.

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Umm...So...

(who doesn't like a picture of cute little pandas rolling around in the snow?)

so now that we have officially "revived" the blog, i think it's time to do something productive with it.

Wikipedia has this to say about cuteness:

"Cuteness is usually characterized by (though not limited to) some combination of infant-like physical traits, especially small body size with a disproportionately large head, large eyes, a pleasantly fair, though not necessarily small nose, dimples, and round and softer body features. Infantile personality traits, such as playfulness, fragility, helplessness, curiosity, innocence, affectionate behavior and a need to be nurtured are also generally considered cute."

i recently watched the last unicorn with my friends and i just realized how much of a hardon the lady amalthea gave me, even in unicorn form, because she's not only cute, but also sexeh.

(right: shiver me timbers, it's a sexy sexy naked she-unicorn transformed into a pasty sexy cute she-princess)

lord almighty, me and my friends are cuteness geeks! it would be interesting to go on at length about cuteness and its evolutionary aesthetic, but i have so much work to do, so let me just digress and totally turn this entry around.

i was talking with a friend of mine yesterday morning and we were kind of sad for the waning of a friend who had gone into a comatose that she may never return from. and we came to a conclusion after two hours of talking, that it's important never to waste a minute of your life. so let's all stop wasting our consciousnesses.

so without further ado, i shall make a proposal. tell me how well you used your consciousness today, and i might just buy you a drink of your choice, depending on how interesting your answer is. tell me how your consciousness spurred you to do something personally brilliant, like secretly help a colleague compute an equation, or stopped masturbating to elves and anime characters and did it with a real person with stretch marks and varicose veins and all. tell me how real you were today. how you ate spaghetti while choking back your tears, or how a cigarette on the way to work felt like freedom.

make me kwento, pare. make me kwento.

Monday, January 5, 2009

resurrection, part two

hello. my name is mikael. i woke up early today.

for some reason i thought of revisiting the old blog-- this old blog-- and found waps' entry. found only waps' entry. all our old posts were gone. there was only this resurrection, and a big wave of memory.

(found out that waps just moved them to another address. i won't tell. people are entitled to their secrets. it's not about the exclusivity, not about the other-ing; it's about us and what we used to have, and maybe still have, occasionally, when we find the time.)

those were heady days, man-- '05 to '06. i keep those years in an old shoebox. from time to time a pull a memory out, just to see how much i've changed. sometimes i open the shoebox to toss in another memory, a new one, like last month when we cleaned up pancho's garage and put up christmas lights and ate balut while watching before sunrise, then before sunset, on an overhead projector. or last night when as someone i didn't know at all read her poetry and as i smoked by the bar i leaned back and thought, hey, that was a nice line. that was a nice poem.

what i mean to say is, yes, waps was right: it was a lost year. abandoned? not really. people make new friends, get day jobs, move to canada, find love, become superheroes, but i guess everyone has a shoebox tucked away in a shelf somewhere.

what i mean to say is, yes, there can be resurrections. have a beer. pass the renga. write a line. this is about the poetry and tangina mo, world, tangina mo, memory, you can't steal that from us. we'll clench our fists around it and make new friends and stand on monobloc chairs while reciting five-minute-old poems. our monday nights, even when we spend it at home or asleep or cradling a bottle of beer by ourselves-- our mondays will always be for abandon.

abandon. what a word. mondays are for abandon. you should drop by sometime and buy me a beer so i can tell you all about it. i can even bring my shoebox.