Happy Mondays

Happy Mondays LIII

2009-05-15T06:35:00.000-07:00

featured readers for the 53rd installment of the bi-weekly Happy Mondays Poetry Nights @ mag:net cafe Katipunan this coming Monday, May 18, @mag:net cafe Katipunan are as follows:

1. Ramil Digal Gulle
2. Sasha Martinez
3. Keith Cortez
4. Jonathan Gonzales
5. Philip Kimpo
6. Mikael Co
7. Wincy Ong
8. Carlomar Daoana
9. Allan Popa
10. Angelo Suarez
11. Kash Avena
12. Yna Abuan
13. Yol Jamendang
14. Mia Tijam
15. Emman Nobleza

(hosted by Waps San Diego)

*plus other regular and surprise guest readers.

*readings start promptly at 7:30 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. :)

10pm onwards, Happy Mondays BayawZoundz featuring:

1. Ang Bandang Shirley
2. Ivan Theory

FREE ADMISSION the whole evening. Kitakits po tayo. :)

*Fringe-inspired photo taken from www.dunvant.com

2009-05-10T19:48:00.000-07:00

Craig Arnold, American poet and creative writing professor, disappeared during a volcano hike in Japan. He was doing a book of poems and essays about volcanoes.

*

"Bird-Understander"
Craig Arnold

Of many reasons I love you here is one

the way you write me from the gate at the airport
so I can tell you everything will be alright

so you can tell me there is a bird
trapped in the terminal all the people
ignoring it because they do not know
what do with it except to leave it alone
until it scares itself to death

it makes you terribly terribly sad

You wish you could take the bird outside
and set it free or (failing that)
call a bird-understander
to come help the bird

All you can do is notice the bird
and feel for the bird and write
to tell me how language feels
impossibly useless

but you are wrong

You are a bird-understander
better than I could ever be
who make so many noises
and call them song

These are your own words
your way of noticing
and saying plainly
of not turning away
from hurt

you have offered them
to me I am only
giving them back

if only I could show you
how very useless
they are not

Ooh, Poet Links

2009-05-09T04:03:00.000-07:00

Hello Tumbleweed, Cricket. Me sharing some interviews with poets. Some of them are old (one's from 2004) but fun to read. Fun. Poet. Huh. Wala lang. Share share, kasi it's so GONDO GONDO. Labo. Sige na.

An interview with Jesse Ball, poet and fictionist. I want his book, The Way Through Doors, if anyone's wondering what to get me for, uh, yeah.

An interview with John Ashbery. Hm. I always thought he had two Rs.

Guernica: Some of your early critics complained about your lack of political writing.
John Ashbery: My feeling is that most political poetry is preaching to the choir, and that the people who are going to make the political changes in our lives are not the people who read poetry, unfortunately. Poetry not specifically aimed at political revolution, though, is beneficial in moving people toward that kind of action, as well as other kinds of action. A good poem makes me want to be active on as many fronts as possible.

Guernica: Can you elaborate on what you mean by that?

John Ashbery: Political poetry seldom achieves its goal since the people who should read it (presidents, politicians) don’t read poetry, and most of those who do are already persuaded of the truth of its messages (war is bad, government and industry are often corrupt, racism and other kinds of discrimination should be abolished, global warming is destroying the world, etc.) and might be annoyed at being lectured for wanting ideals they in fact possess. Non-didactic poetry, which seeks merely to delight (Keats’s sonnet about the grasshopper is a good example) can inspire readers to act humanely on many different levels, including the political one.

An interview with Ted Kooser, former US Poet Laureate, who "advocates accessible poetry."

An interview with Stephen Dunn. Who is, uh, Stephen Dunn.

Guernica: As you write, do you think about specific people reading specific poems that might have something to do with them?

Stephen Dunn: I certainly think about it. But I think, again, it has to do with motive. If the motive of writing is for some people a kind of exercise in dirty laundry, that’s one thing. I’ve always thought of my poems as meant to be overheard, as I think all of these poems are. It seems to me if you get experience right, even your most painful or humiliating experiences—if you get those experiences right for yourself and make discoveries as you go along and find for them some formal glue—they will be poems for others.

It seems to me that no matter how perverse or private you might think your attitudes are about anything, if you speak them well there’ll always be a few others nodding. My best experiences with literature as a reader have been when something that I thought was freaky about myself, or something odd or private that I hadn’t told anybody, got articulated or enacted in a poem or story or a novel. It simply brings us into the human fold. Literature at its best is communal in that way. And as much as these poems were written out of a certain personal urgency, I’m always conscious of myself as a maker of poems, thus to some degree a fictionist.

Hello.

What Short Story Month?

2009-05-05T17:49:00.000-07:00

Cross-posted from my Wordpress blog. Hello mga bayaw, and the three or five lurkers of this blog. :)

Let’s make this clear: I did not make this up. For seriously, yo.

It’s at the heels of the Inter/National Poetry Month – and if the theory that the readers of this blog run in very small circles, then you know what I’m talking about, what with the daily renga over at Joel Toledo’s blog contributing to the whole Ooh Poetry Festivities. And that’s fantastic. That’s great. Anything to further literature, short of shoving manuscripts down the throats of unsuspecting passers-by.

But. When I/NPM was announced, well, I thought – like any bitter short story writer would, haha – “Don’t the fictionists get their own month?” (It’s not as temper-tantrum-y as it came out, I swear.) I didn’t know how such a month would work, given that the short story is goddamn long compared to the poem (with notable exceptions – go to hell, T.S. Eliot, and don’t you dare hide Walt Whitman) and lots of other things like blah and blah and blah. A round-robin can’t be accomplished in one day, unless writers really are the unsocial sort and churn out paragraphs and lie in wait for the next paragraph.

And then the people at Emerging Writers Network (Dan Wickett) thought of something kick-ass. And tada, the Very Unofficial Short Story Month. (If you don’t believe me, go here, and then here. And then Google it.)

Dan Wickett at EWN has proposed we go about it this way: “find three stories to read and blog about – one from a collection that maybe I’ve held onto a little too long, should have finished and reviewed by now, etc; one from a print journal; and one from an online journal. By month’s end, if all goals are met, just under 100 short stories will have been read and commented upon.”

Now. Knowing my tendency to get distracted by shiny objects, I’ll have a really hard time accomplishing that 100-Short Stories mark. But I will try.

And you are SO welcome to join me. Email me at sleepnotsheep@gmail.com so you can guest-blog at this little blog here. PLEASE I BEG YOU. Ahem. DON’T MAKE ME CALL YOU OUT YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE. Ahem. If you don’t want to yap on about short fiction, you can do other things, like, uh, read short stories, get a copy of a short story collection, subscribe to an online journal, read short stories, write short stories, give someone a love story with the names of the protagonists replaced by your and your hunny-bunny’s names, read short stories, write short stories, buy this fledgling and flailing fictionist here a drink.

And. And. And. You’re asking, “Why? What for?” I’ll try not to hit you too hard with a hairbrush as I say, “Because, damn it, it’s time people read short stories.” Is short fiction really the boo-hoo genre? According to one panelist/commenter(?)/tambay(!) (I conveniently don’t remember your name, but you were in Mogwai, and you were wearing a white blouse thing) from February’s Writers Festival, “Short fiction – fiction – is the most ignored genre in Philippine literature.” And I gasped at that, yes, I did, but I thought, True. Bitterness and sourgraping is not the issue here. It’s to further literature, even if I have to shove blog entries about short stories down the throats of unsuspecting traffic.

Can’t I just say, “Because, damn it” or “Why not?” or “La lang”?

Also, you may ask, isn’t this exercise a little too self-serving? Well, aren’t you just a little question machine? (Credits to Fringe! :p) My answer? I suppose. Haha. I’m not here to argue the merits of lit-sharing, because I’m a lover not a fighter, and because, well, I’m also banking on the fact that after a couple of days, this blog won’t just yammer on and on about the stories I love – you could have your entry as well, here (NUDGE NUDGE WINK WINK DAMN IT) or in your own blogs. And let’s be optimistic about it: maybe I make a few people read, maybe, well, we get to be all in this together.

And because stories are wonderful little rainbows/blades/grasshoppers/mudcakes in your palms.

That said, I am five days late. We are so off to a good start. So. But I tried to catch up. If you’ll follow these links over tharr, you’ll see my entries supposedly for May 1^st down to yesterday. Why make it seem like I did it everyday? Because I’m OC, and I don’t want my archives messed up because I stayed under my rock too long.

May 01 – “Missing Women” by June Spence; “The Children Stay” by Alice Munro; “Intimacy” by Raymond Carver.

May 02 – “The Metaphor is Dead—Pass It On” by Carol Shields; “The Girl Who Became a Fish” by Fidelis Angela C. Tan; “Family” by Bret Lott.

May 03 – “A Temporary Matter” by Jhumpa Lahiri; “Reconnaissance” by Tara FT Sering; “The Facts behind the Helsinki Roccamatios” by Yann Martel.

May 04 – “Toad’s Mouth” by Isabel Allende; “The Virgin” by Kerima Polotan; “The Cannon” by Kelly Link.

May 05 – “The Housemaid” by Timothy Montes; “The Painted One” by Lakambini Sitoy; “In Caress of Beloved Faces” by Wilfrido Nolledo.

As you can see, had a shitload of catching up to do. Guh. So I would really appreciate it if you help me out. :) Spread the word, and uh, more rallying stuff. Yeah.

PS - And Holy Baby Panda – we have a logo! It’s by Steven Seighman of Dzanc Books, and yes, it’s green. I’m still trying to figure out why there’s a ruler over there yonder, but whatever. I am easily distracted by shiny things, and that logo over there is the most shiniestest, uh-huh.

PS - And a note: the only resources I have are anthologies, the odd copy of Free Press, Graphic, and Story Philippines, and the interweb, as well as short story collections by authors I love. Biased, yes, and woefully limited. So I’d appreciate it if you send me stories: sleepnotsheep@gmail.com. Not stories you want to publish, haha, get them manuscript-wielding pitchforks out of the way, but stories you want me to talk about. Or you can be a dear and write about it too, and I’ll post it here, haha.

PARA MASAYA.

ang blog ng tunay na lalake

2009-04-22T00:19:00.000-07:00

Ang tunay na lalake, nagpupunta sa

blog ng tunay na lalake.

in case you haven't heard:

2009-04-20T04:35:00.000-07:00

Arkaye got in.

And Mo, of course, and Keith and Petra. Not to take anything away from the rest of the people who got in, but I'm telling you: Arkaye's genius should've been recognized ages ago.

National Artist for Literature and National Writers Workshop Director Emeritus Edith Lopez Tiempo, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, and Silliman University are pleased to announce that the following young writers have been accepted as fellows for the 48th National Writers Workshop scheduled on 4-15 May 2009:

For Poetry

• Mariane Amor Romina T. Abuan (University of Santo Tomas)
• Jonathan S. Gonzales (Ateneo de Manila University)
• Arkaye V. Keirulf (Ateneo de Manila University)
• Patricia Angela F. Magno (Ateneo de Manila University)
• Niño S. Manaog (Ateneo de Manila University)

For Fiction

• Keith Bryan T. Cortez (University of Santo Tomas)
• Ana Margarita Stuart del Rosario (De La Salle University)
• Monique S. Francisco (University of the Philippines - Diliman)
• Russell Stanley Geronimo (De La Salale University)
• Aleck E. Maramag (De La Salle University)
• Gabriel Millado (University of the Philippines – Mindanao)
• Gabrielle L. Nakpil (Ateneo de Manila University)
• Joy C. Rodriguez (University of the Philippines – Mindanao)

For Creative Non-Fiction

• Philip Y. Kimpo Jr. (University of the Philippines - Diliman)
• Marck Ronald Rimorin (University of the Philippines - Baguio)

This year’s panel of critics is composed of Dumaguete-based writers Ernesto Superal Yee, Myrna Peña Reyes, and Cesar Ruiz Aquino, as well as guest panelists Gemino H. Abad, Juaniyo Arcellana, J. Neil C. Garcia, Susan Lara, Rosario Cruz Lucero, DM Reyes, and Alfred Yuson.

The workshop, which is the longest running Writers Workshop in Asia, is coordinated by the Silliman University Department of English and Literature.

Happy Mondays LI

2009-04-20T00:57:00.001-07:00

featured readers for the 51th installment of the bi-weekly Happy Mondays Poetry Nights @ mag:net cafe Katipunan TONIGHT, April 20, @mag:net cafe Katipunan are as follows:

1. Arnold Molina Azurin

2. Gemino Abad

3. Marne Kilates

4. Pocholo Goitia

5. Vincent Eviota

6. Angelo Suarez

7. Pancho Villanueva

8. Mia Tijam

9. Carlomar Daoana

10. Keith Cortez

11. Sasha Martinez

12. Andrea Teran

13. Yol Jamendang

14. Lawrence Bernabe

*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. :)

10pm onwards, Happy Mondays BayawZoundz featuring:

1. Roberto Nicolas

2. Popoy Diokno

3. Khavn

FREE ADMISSION the whole evening. Kitakits po tayo. :)

***

a little Haiku below for the midsummer night's rain. :)

A fork of lightning

staggers the proud sunflowers.

Summer's relenting.

Renga # 20

sci-po #1: a poem about 3:19am

2009-04-17T12:13:00.000-07:00

in a few seconds it will be meaningless to say
that time is embodied by all movement. my body
becomes fathomless. my toes are not the sun
but the cold black nothing that envelops it.

the line will comb the planet. the scientists will
record. the journalist will leave his cell and make
for emergency and wakefulness. the bats come out
and drink their breakfast. the honeybee will smell

of rain and futility. because there is no purpose. nothing
to play around with in the garden of a minute. not
even the harness of a child danced with by spirits.
and every hand is as bodiless as a dream. waking up

from pins and needles. from the surge of blood. from
the need to feel alive. this is what we call connection
in the planet Zorg. where all meaning dilates into a single
hole. from where all matter ceases to have certain space.

what you call a heart i call a timeline. and every moment
it throbs, i am getting closer to sleep. you are a clock.
and in a few seconds my world will dazzle itself with the
rich fragrance of new animals waiting to be awakened.

Happy Mondays L

2009-04-05T09:12:00.000-07:00

featured readers for the 50th installment of the bi-weekly Happy Mondays Poetry Nights @ mag:net cafe Katipunan TONIGHT, April 6, @mag:net cafe Katipunan are as follows:

1. Allan Pastrana

2. Al Leonidas

3. Panch Alvarez

4. JR Moll

5. Pocholo Goitia

6. Glenn Atanacio

7. Eric Melendez

8. Ken Ishikawa

9. Mikael Co

10. Angelo Suarez

11. Pancho Villanueva

12. Wincy Ong

*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. :)

10pm onwards, Happy Mondays BayawAkouztikZoundz featuring:

1. Easy Fagela

2. Roberto Nicolas

3. Johnoy Danao

FREE ADMISSION the whole evening. Kitakits po tayo. :)

Renga Que Rico, 2 April 2009

2009-04-03T03:13:00.001-07:00

Suppose we were never children

and there are no carousels, no santa clauses,

house lizards-- not dragons, nothing hidden

fireflies merely fireflies in the night. Then

all we could return to was confusion. Imagining

in stead of money and non-magical skies.

There is that pause.

This is that-- pause--

before we want

that thought of clouds

forming fists,

we wanted first rain,

and puddles to splash in,

and maybe a cup of cocoa to keep away the fever-

dreams. But sunlight touches you

now and your fingers search for

the sweet treasures of a flower.

It is night. Sunlight

happened earlier. This is only

me, imagining. As I did

when I was a child.

-- Sasha, Joel, Pancho V., Waps, Mia, Glenn, Pancho A., Javier, Den, Mikael

IntPoWriMo

2009-03-31T19:54:00.000-07:00

it's the beginning of the international poetry month (i'd like to think the US has no monopoly on this). can we do it again this year? a poem a day is the idea, but since that's really a herculean task to do individually, maybe we can instead begin an elaborate Renga and contribute a few lines which we can then collate and put together for posting in this blog at the end of each day? for those interested, just put your lines in the comment box and i'll post the full Renga at the end of the day.

so who's with me? :)

*many thanks to Ivy Alvarez and Maureen Thorson who are the original proponents of this project.

"Poems present their testimony as circumstantial evidences, not as closing argument." -- Denise Levertov

Happy Mondays XLIX

2009-03-29T04:38:00.001-07:00

featured readers for the 49th installment of the Happy Mondays Poetry Nights tomorrow, March 30 @ mag:net cafe Katipunan re as follows:

1. Angelo Suarez

2. Adam David

3. Leigh Reyes

4. Iñigo de Paula

5. Yol Jamendang

6. Pancho Alvarez

7. Lawrence Bernabe

8. JC Casimiro

9. Pocholo Goitia

10. Carl Clemente

11. Lourd De Veyra

*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. :)

10pm onwards, Happy Mondays BayaWazakZoundz courtesy of:

1. Johnoy Danao

2. Spastic Children (featuring Lourd De Veyra vs. Jay Gapasin)

3. Valet Parking

FREE ADMISSION the whole evening! Kitakits po tayo. :)

***

photos below from the second year anniversary of the readings last March 16

Apo Lakay

2009-03-27T13:16:00.000-07:00

"Who is your grandfather to you?" - Pancho Villanueva

He taught me about stillness. One afternoon when I was five, he embraced me all throughout my parents' worst fight. Years later at the onset of Parkinson's, he called out for me all afternoon. I sat by him and talked about my day. I wondered if his hardened body could still comprehend tenderness. As when reason fails us, that is all we can strive for. He accomplished much in his ninety-six years. Got four orphaned brothers through school, and the war. Winning over Grandma, which is no easy feat. Becoming a man of the Law. Some time ago I promised myself I'd live by his example, but so far I haven't done much. I can only hold on to those short hours when I was certain we came from the same place. Wonder if I will end the same way. Surrounded by love, and grief, and greatfulness. I watched his embalming and noticed how they had to force his knees to lie straight down. I remember his empty face and mine full of tears. I remember his faint gravel voice mumbling my name, as though it were something important he had forgotten. I remember his cold hands and my arms around him. I remember his quiet demeanor and from where I got mine.

Hunger Strike: A '90s Alternative Music Tribute

2009-03-25T23:42:00.001-07:00

reliving the glory daze of the '90s rock and alternative music scene. from the college anthems of the Gin Blossoms, The Lemonheads, and Ash to the Seattle grunge movement of Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, Nirvana, and Pearl Jam. we'll even include rare one-hit wonders and, well, a little bit of Bush.

tomorrow, march 27, Friday, 9pm onwards. an all-cover night of '90s pop ditties and rarities. featuring:

1. Patience, Dear Juggernaut

2. Virgin Hunters

3. Broken Sauce

4. Shotgun Lola

5. Fat Acid Drop

6. Dissent

Entrance P150 (P50 consumable).

kitakits!

Earth and Sky

2009-03-19T17:55:00.000-07:00

The Sunsets of Joel

We see a church from afar
and a bell, tolling the meek
into recollection, announcing

the hour. A plant grows
stedily by the sill with
a little care and some light.

And I wonder what it would
dream of, if it could dream.
Distance is paraphrased into

the strange formations of clouds,
none of them ever the same.
And while my friend begins playing

an old song, I forget why I am
heavy with loss. It must be the view
from that window. It must be

the weak red arcs of heat that
reach me and form soft-edged
tiles of sunlight in the room.

Wherever we are, we are home
at the end of the day. Each end
something good and old, announcing

that it is time you stare out into that great
dome, its billion feathers wiping blue away,
transcending body, lifting up the night.

-Waps

Harvest

Every day, come summer, I fear for
the limitations of our two-toned seasons

and for my garden. And I hate leaving
the house for vacations. Because

the equation is simple enough:
the tragedy of wailing afternoons

filled with fire trucks and heated
news about weather, or wilting

flowers. These tropical depressions,
they attend to the greenhouse

like a crowded congregation
waiting for glorious homilies,

that assuring voice of the pastor
who loves greenery and God

yet offering nothing more than
coming months of restless clouds

finally obeying, some holy water
for cleansing, or warm wine. Also,

another garden teeming with
just the right amount of rain-

fallen apples: fiery red, fresh,
and sinless come harvest time.

-Joel

The Maningning Miclat Awards 2009

2009-03-19T02:00:00.000-07:00

The Maningning Miclat Art Foundation is calling on young poets aged 28 and below to submit entries to the 2009 Maningning Miclat Trilingual Poetry Competition in three divisions: Filipino, English and Chinese.

An entry must have at least eight but not more than 15 poems. Authors may join all the divisions but can submit only one entry in each division. All entries should be original in any of the three languages and not a translation of another entry.

Four copies should be submitted, with the poems printed double-spaced on regular bond paper with one-inch margins on all sides, using Arial or Times New Roman size-12 font. Only a pen name must be printed on an entry, with the real name and pen name submitted in a separate sealed envelope together with the entrant’s biodata, birth certificate copy, and a notarized declaration of originality and authenticity of authorship.

Entries must be addressed to the Maningning Miclat Art Foundation, Inc. (MMAFI), 2nd Floor, Mile Long Building, Amorsolo St., Legaspi Village, Makati City (Tel No. 816-7490 to 91) not later than 5:00 p.m. of April 15, 2009. Entries sent by mail should be postmarked/invoiced not later than April 1, 2009.

The Maningning Award, handed out yearly since 2003, honors China-born Maningning Miclat, a poet in three languages, a published essayist, and a prizewinning visual artist who was also a teacher, translator and interpreter. Her collection Voice from the Underworld (Anvil Publishing, Inc., 2000) is the first book of poetry in the world in Filipino, English and Chinese written solely by one author. Some of her poems were included in a book of top international women poets in Chinese published in China. She passed away in September 2000.

The Maningning Miclat Art Foundation was formed in 2001 to carry on the artist/poet’s legacy, encourage creativity, and support outstanding young poets and artists. The trilingual poetry competition is held during odd-numbered years, while the painting competition is held during even-numbered years.

Grand winners in the divisions of the Poetry Competition will each receive P28,000 together with a Julie Lluch trophy and the special collector’s edition of the books Voice from the Underworld, Beauty for Ashes: Remembering Maningning and Beyond the Great Wall: A Family Journal, which won a 2006 National Book Award for biography.

Past winners of the Maningning Poetry Awards are Naya Valdellon and Joselito delos Reyes in 2003; Allan Pastrana, Joseph Saguid and Ye Cai-sheng in 2005; and Raymond John de Borja, Erica Clariz delos Reyes and Chen Si-yuan in 2007.

For more information on the 2009 Maningning Miclat Art Competition, e-mail maningningfoundation@gmail.com or amiclat2008@yahoo.com. You may also log in to www.maningning.com.

Happy Mondays XLVIII: The 2nd Year Anniversary Edition

2009-03-15T19:07:00.000-07:00

featured readers for TONIGHT's 48th, SECOND YEAR ANNIVERSARY installment of the long-running, bi-weekly Happy Mondays Poetry Nights @ mag:net cafe Katipunan Katipunan are as follows:

1. J. Neil Garcia
2. Aldus Santos
3. Marne Kilates
4. Arnold Molina Azurin
5. Larry Ypil
6. Adam David
7. Jonar Sabilano
8. Jimmy Abad
9. Gabe Mercado
10. Ramil Gulle
11. Vim Nadera
12. Krip Yuson
13. Kash Avena
14. Lourd De Veyra
15. Jun Cruz Reyes
16. Keith Cortez
17. Pancho Villanueva
18. Angelo Suarez
19. Inigo De Paula
20. Leigh Reyes
21. Mikael Co
22. Joseph Saguid
23. Sasha Martinez
24. Rafael San Diego

*plus other surprise guest readers.

*as there would be a lot of readers celebrating with us tonight, kindly be in magnet cafe by 7 so we can start promptly at 730 pm.

Happy Mondays Bayawazakzoundz for the evening courtesy of:

1. Los Chupacabras!
2. The Purple Chickens!

FREE ADMISSION this whole, celebratory evening! Kitakits po tayo. :)

Kablag

2009-03-12T19:36:00.000-07:00

Finally received word from University of Wisconsin-Madison and University of New Hampshire: Rejected.

:(

Still waiting for word from Guelph and Syracuse, but at this point, it feels like a long shot. Guess I'll just have to reapply next year. Damn, sumakit ang dibdib ko ah. If anyone wants to have beer, lemme know.

YEARS LATER VII

2009-03-12T17:49:00.000-07:00

Jakenpoy? Sapakin kaya kita diyan!

2009-03-04T20:21:00.000-08:00

Good or A Bad Mail?

2009-03-03T07:21:00.000-08:00

hahaha! laughing my ass off. what a friggin' nice invite!

the sky

2009-03-03T01:45:00.000-08:00

i think of peace as the most expansive
wound cleft by schools of fish, and the memory
of tropical rain, and kissing under a tree.
a wound that can only be thought about.
because you do not feel the sting of silence
or the grazing of stillness against your
body. you only recall the mother of all
shits after eight hours on the road. and
the satisfying smell of your own excrement,
something as personal as the design around
your irises or how each day's sky is shaped.
nobody can love it as much as you. no one
will handle it the way you will. flushing
all the clouds away, standing up again,
ready to go back outside and smash your face
against the tireless all-encompassing blue air.

Bird Watching

2009-03-01T02:48:00.000-08:00

Because the eagle, by itself,
is beautiful and allows
the whole expanse of its body
to span across the high air as it

gazes down on our awkward gestures
and flailing and failures. But
I for one, value instinct over
intelligence. Or the devotion

of penguins, the delirious flutter
of a mockingbird. There is no
loneliness in them, no noticing
of the splendor of sunsets. Also,

those little sonnets doves make,
their endless preening, these are not
done out of love. Their fleeting presence
on the thin wires of trees or behind

windowsills--these do not concern us
as much as we’d hope. They are
the given observers, and they never
look too close nor care enough.

And while we continue primping
in front of our mirrors, they simply
watch as new leaves sprout above
and heighten the canopies, notice

the new antenna installed above
some rooftop. And if you manage
to get some bird to eat from your hands,
it does so out of necessity. So we go on

taking pictures of such encounters.
We study their feathers and try to measure
the true importance of color. We feel,
we fall, we stumble. And they continue

flying in perfect formations, rising
and soaring and seeing everything, oblivious
to our daily want for grandeur, these dull,
imperfect limbs bristling with all-too-human

commotion. Every day I lose a potential
feather. Then I find another by the roadside.
And holding it up, wonder how the wind
animates it, this bodiless thing. I guess

there are just too many mistakes to atone for.
And so wide and high a sky to elevate to.

Happy Mondays XLVI

2009-02-15T20:13:00.000-08:00

featured readers for the 46th installment of the bi-weekly Happy Mondays Poetry Nights @ mag:net cafe Katipunan TONIGHT, February 16, @mag:net cafe Katipunan are as follows:

1. Conchitina Cruz

2. Mabi David

3. Larry Ypil

4. Adam David

5. Twiggy Bastareche

6. Douglas Candano

7. Egay Samar

8. Andrea Teran
9. JL Poquiz

10. Waps San Diego

11. Wincy Ong

12. Marne Kilates

13. Krip Yuson

14.Angelo Suarez

*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.

10pm onwards, Happy Mondays Bayaw zoundz featuring:

1. Roberto Nicolas Vs. Khavn

2. Patience, Dear Juggernaut

3. The Purple Chickens

FREE ADMISSION the whole evening. Kitakits po tayo. :)

Call for Submissions: The 48th Dumaguete National Writers Workshop

2009-02-13T19:30:00.000-08:00

The Dumaguete National Writers Workshop is now accepting applications for the 48th National Writers’ Workshop to be held May 4-15, 2009 in Dumaguete City.

This Writers Workshop is offering fifteen fellowships to promising young writers who would like a chance to hone their craft and refine their style. Fellows will be provided housing, a modest stipend, and a subsidy to partially defray costs of their transportation.

To be considered, applicants should submit manuscripts in English on or before March 27, 2009 (seven to ten poems; or three to five short stories; or three to five creative non-fiction essays). Manuscripts should be submitted in hard copy and on CD, preferably in MS Word, together with a resume, a recommendation letter from a literature professor or a writer of national standing, a certification that the works are original, and two 2X2 ID pictures.

Send all applications or requests for information to Department of English and Literature, attention Prof. A.G. Soluta, Chair, Silliman University, 6200 Dumaguete City.

Uy, renga!

2009-02-08T05:28:00.000-08:00

Que Rico Renga 07Feb2009

Choose. I believe in one thing.

I believe in reasons. Especially

reasons to choose. Love. Or don’t.

What matters is the why of things.

How birds fly, for example.

I know to describe this in terms

a five-year-old would understand.

The decision to fly, though.

that remains silent. And it occurs

only in stillness while mouths go on

talking dry of plans, wants, and lies

that remain in the background.

That when we do things, to stop meant

we never did them at all.

Not unless flowers talked.

Not unless they say,

I am always here and so will you.

But to fly is not just about having wings,

it’s about escaping, dreaming, distance.

Choose. Distance, stillness or one reason.

The first petal to pluck from a flower.

The words a five-year-old will understand.

One thing.

Isn't it good, Norwegian Wonderboy?

2009-02-02T00:22:00.000-08:00

B A Part - Thomas Dybdahl

In other news, last Saturday I got to watch the Juan de la Cruz Band. Wasak! Na-inspire ako. So magtatayo ako ng banda. I will be auditioning for members of my new wasak rock and roll band. those who are interested please apply to me for further rakrakan. Wahoo! serious ha! contact me pare, buo na tayo ng banda.

Happy Mondays XLV

2009-02-01T22:27:00.001-08:00

featured readers for the 45th installment of the bi-weekly Happy Mondays Poetry Nights @ mag:net cafe Katipunan TONIGHT, February 2, @mag:net cafe Katipunan are as follows:

1. Gemino Abad
2. Lawrence Bernabe
3. JC Casimiro
4. Adam David
5. Israfel Fagela
6. Allan Hernandez
7. Egay Samar
8. Andrea Teran

9. Larry Ypil
10. Krip Yuson

*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. :)

10pm onwards, Happy Mondays music from:

1. Johnoy Danao
2. Patience, Dear Juggernaut
3. Taggu nDios

FREE ADMISSION the whole evening. Kitakits po tayo. :)

TABOAN: Philippine International Writers Festival 2009

2009-01-29T07:23:00.000-08:00

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

Hello! And Welcome!

2009-01-24T11:34:00.000-08:00

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.

Pambansang Bayani

2009-01-22T01:38:00.000-08:00

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

Soundtrip muna

2009-01-19T00:15:00.000-08:00

"First Day of my Life" - Bright Eyes

Happy Mondays XLIV

2009-01-18T22:07:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-18T20:15:00.000-08:00

Wade Davis on Endangered Cultures

2009-01-17T04:23:00.000-08:00

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

YEARS LATER: Holding Back The Years

2009-01-16T22:36:00.000-08:00

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. :)

Puppet Show

2009-01-14T07:08:00.000-08:00

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!

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

2009-01-13T02:28:00.000-08:00

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.

mondays are for inuman, marie la vina edition

2009-01-12T19:08:00.000-08:00

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?

poem for the day

2009-01-11T20:02:00.000-08:00

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.

A Call for Resurrection?

2009-01-09T21:20:00.000-08:00

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.

Umm...So...

2009-01-08T19:17:00.000-08:00

(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.

resurrection, part two

2009-01-05T19:46:00.000-08:00

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.

resurrection

2008-11-27T01:16:00.000-08:00

hello. my name is waps. i am the survivor of a lost year where somehow, people from different walks of life came together as friends every monday and formed a strange and interesting gathering now known as happy mondays. one night while i was drunk, i told my friend that mondays are for abandon. ever since then, that has sort of been our unofficial motto. most people now think that happy mondays is about a group of artists and poets who contrive their evenings with artistic and poetic things. in truth, it was, and still is, about hanging out and having fun. most of the people who hang out at mondays just happen to be really great artists and poets who've gone to achieve great things. but some of us really are just average joes. actually, all of us are just average joes. we just happen to have a lot of fun together and thus get mystified into this collective group of art snobs by people who don't know any better. so untrue! so come hang out with us some time! forget the rest of the week! we'll show you what mondays are all about.

with this, i would like to officially revive this blog for the sake of posterity. we got to talking about it recently and think it's time to do so. i hope my friends start taking an interest in this blog again. come on, guys! come back! stop being so adult and worldly! come back to abandon!

so for my first second-time-around post, i'd like to post this video of Total Recall by The Sound which i think is totally apt because i want all those great moments to come back. listen to the lyrics, dudes.