I live in the city where people are conscious of the company, or the lack of it, that one keeps. I say that because whenever people find out that I sometimes watch movies or take lunches by myself, I get funny looks, or comments about having to have friends, or what not. I have friends, great friends, even. But I've also figured out how to do a lot of things alone, and there's some sort of fun and/or comfortable solitude to be derived from it. You get to do things on your own time, you get to get some reading done.

One of the things people should do alone is to watch gigs. I tried this out last night when I arrived at a gig around an hour before any of my friends showed up. I sat in the back, at the bar, among fellow stragglers. These people seemed to be there for the music,which is how it should be in this city of scenesters. I know for sure one guy was in it for the music. He was the band's manager. Haha.

Anyway, last night, for some time, I took comfort in being an anonymous appreciator of the experience of music played live. And it's cool that, among us sitting in the back, there is a camaraderie from this shared experience that manifests itself in the exchange of knowing looks and heads starting to nod to the beat as one.

Ryan McGinley's Moonmilk

Ryan McGinley gets a lot of flak for plagiarizing himself when it comes to his commercial work, but I really don't care. His personal work is strong, original and pretty damn good.

More of his Moonmilk series at Tiny Vices.

Just got back from Palawan. Puerto Princesa this time and just for a vacation. No work whatsoever involved. On this trip, I got to visit the Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm, which turned out to be slightly unnerving but very cool. I think it's the only place where the prisoners are in charge of the prison gates. I took a photo of the guy whose job it is to sound the bugle call for head count. I want to go back, and shoot a bit more in this interesting place.

I also got to go through an underground river which you enter via a cave on sea-level. That was really great too, but at some time during the 45-minute boat ride in the dark, I started wondering if animatronics and light and sound effects could enhance the experience a bit.

Just this morning, I went dolphin-watching. I saw the dolphins first and called everyone's attention to it. Until the boatman said I was pointing at a bobbing buoy. We then dropped anchor in this place called Turtle Cove. It was like a giant pool with fine sand at the bottom. Around noon, we got back on the boat and had a really good meal of grilled fresh fish, grilled eggplant, boiled shrimp, and adobo.

I almost skipped on today's itinerary. I was seriously considering staying at the hotel, watching cable TV and finishing my Civil War book.

If it weren't for work, or more adventurous friends, I'd never be able to see these places. And even when I'm already at these sort of places, there's still that natural inclination to just sit and do nothing. I can be boring that way, and I think I take after you, Pa.

I remember when Gino and I were kids, and you'ld take us to the beach during the summer or on weekends. We'd play war games with the BB guns, or play cards, and grill hotdogs (which you'ld forget to take out of it's vacuum wrap). But we never strayed far from our cottage, except for that time you got us bikes and wanted us to try them out.

I also remember you stories of whenever you'ld go on out-of-the-country trips. They'd always be for work, and you liked staying in your hotel. I remember the time you went to Tokyo and had the chance to explore the red light district. You almost skipped that part but you didn't want to embarrass your hosts. You ended up making small talk with the Filipino bar girls, which you enjoyed because you got to speak Tagalog.

I do a bit more of traveling-for-fun than you, and ironically, it's because you encouraged it. You liked sending us away and talked about not minding having to spend for your kids' travels. It was worth it you'ld say, and it is. A big part of who I am is because of the places I've been to, thanks to you. But there are times when I just want to revel in doing nothing. To have the luxury of free time, to just sit around and read, or talk with the people I have in my life. I really can be boring that way and I really take after you. I really don't mind at all.

In a perfect world, everything is WYSIWYG.

Alec Soth in the NY Times

I almost missed this profile in the NY Times of Alec Soth, one of my favorite photographers. In talking about many things, such as how he broke out with his Sleeping By The Mississippi body of work, his working methods, and his new exhibition, Black Line Of Woods, wherein he surveys the people and places at the fringe of society, Alec Soth is, as usual, candid.

He takes his exhibition title from Flannery O'Connor. He says, "She’s talking about where culture ends, I wanted this work to be about the longing to escape."

Regarding his photo of a parking lot where Olympic Park bomber, Eric Rudolph, was apprehended after five years of hiding, "Even though he was a bad guy, it was this boy fantasy about hiding, and there’s something really romantic about that."

On his knack for photographing people, "My own awkwardness comforts people, I think. It’s part of the exchange."

Anyway, so that's inspiring. I'm in sort of a creative rut. I miss photography. I shoot pictures almost every day for work but I miss taking my own. And when I do take my own pictures, I seem to be horrible at it. So the idea of escape and working on my own is quite appealing to me right now.

Get an NY Times free acount and read the article, Alec Soth, Trolling For Strangers To Befriend.

Waking The Dead

I met Yvette during the fun days of hanging out on the set a TV series of which she was a writer. Except that Yvette reminded me that I met her more than 10 years ago because we had the same Math/Chinese tutor.

Yesterday, Yvette, one half of the literary powerhouse that is Luis and Yvette, launched her book, Waking The Dead. It's an anthology of weird, heartfelt and powerful stories. I went to Powerbooks to attend the launch, got in early, got a copy, and had her sign it. I sat down and was four paragraphs into the first story about Quiapo, elementals and the Black Nazarene before the program started. I was hooked. I wanted to stand up, get out, go home, find a nice spot to finish the book. I also wanted to write my own stories, be a conjurer of all the arcana my mind could muster.

In her acknowledgments, Yvette thanked Neil Gaiman for the inspiration. Yvette is my Gaiman.

Read Inquirer review here.

Have had a bad run at the movies lately. Last one I really liked was Adventureland. Though I was banking on Ryan Reynolds, The Proposal truly sucked. I'm really surprised that a lot of people liked it though. Which is why I guess there is an us and there is a them.

GI Joe also sucked. I mean it wasn't boring, but it could have been better in many ways. As a kid, I used to collect GI Joes. I used to buy them from Nova Fontana in Shoppesville for, I think, 70 bucks a figurine. I collected the vehicles and bases too. I thank my parents for indulging me and rue the day I decided to open my Joes and Cobras up and mix body parts. Youth is wasted on the young.

Also, after going through a bunch of interesting books, I am stuck at a very mediocre one.

That's all!

I realized that I can blog in spurts.

Finished two easy books since the mind-numbing Cryptonomicon. First, I finished Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. It was all right. I mean it was well-crafted and smart, and I liked the whole Oriental fighting techniques bit. But you know, how far can a pastiche go?

Then I finished reading Black Hawk Down. I didn't realize that reading historical accounts of war, campaigns, and soldiering was an age thing (think dads and their shelves full of WWII books), but I'm willing to accept it. It's a genre that I enjoy. I liked Band of Brothers and Generation Kill. So so far, I'm in the 20th and latter era, modern warfare. But I have a Civil War book and a Battle of Thermopylae book pending. We'll see how that turns out.

When you think about it, Lord Of The Rings was a war book too, except that it was, well, fantastic.

do you hear what I hear

My brother and I, despite a five-year age gap, get along on many things. We both like the same Star Wars trilogy (sequels, damn the prequels), and we both enjoyed reading Timothy Zahn's Thrawn trilogy plus the succeeding duology. In fact we like Star Wars so much that, one time, while having the car tuned up, we got into a full blown argument over the Force, whether it functions as a religion in the SW Universe, and if that's a good or bad thing.

We like other stuff the same way too. Like this 90's Civil War movie, Glory. We both enjoy quoting from The West Wing, and we have annual viewings of the whole series, usually over greasy pan pizzas. We both grew up reading The Chronicles of Narnia, and took turns sharing our one copy of The Lord Of The Rings.

Even if he is younger, I try to get his opinion on a lot of stuff ranging from hair product and politics. We see church in the same way (a waste of precious weekend downtime), and I can ask him if my tie matches my suit. We both like eating except he works it all off while I... play poker and run NBA fantasy leagues.

Anyway, we both think of each other as fairly rational, level-headed people. We have mutual respect for how the other thinks, arrives at his conclusion, and expresses his opinion.

But, I cannot, for the life of me, understand his choice in music. And the confusion is mutual. He likes Justin Timberlake, Jason Mraz and Maroon 5. I like Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene and The Magnetic Fields. He says he loves pop and is proud of it. I say he loves pop and I hold his choice in contempt. I say I like my independently-produced alt/folk/electronic/shoegazer/displaced era music, and he calls it obscure and hipster. He likes the craftsmanship and production value of his music, I like the raw authenticity of mine. Hell is other music.

The only possible common ground is some OPM. Most of the time, it's relatively peaceful. Until we're in one car with one iPod hook-up. Then there can only be one.

look at the stars

I'm glad to have met you. Bye Cory! I'll never forget.

the Records

Max Records, the kid who plays the kid in Where The Wild Things Are, is interviewed on We Love You So.

Max is also the son of Shawn Records, the photographer.

If my last name was Records, I'd name my kids Hit and Broken. Hehe.

Sleepyhead

Passion Pit "Sleepyhead" from MySpace Transmissions


You can download the songs from this session from the Myspace Transmissions site.

Bye Tita Cory!

Bullit Marquez, AP.

RIP Cory Aquino, figurehead of a revolution that toppled a dictatorship and made her our first woman president. While she missed out on carrying out a social revolution by enacting a land reform bill that helped keep her family's estate intact, and while she tried to block a Senate vote to kick out the US bases, I can't help but feel strongly about the passing of the woman who had the courage to modestly step into her dead husband's expansive shoes, face down numerous coup attempts, and restore our country's freedoms. While Ninoy said, "The Filipino is worthy dying for," Cory, always the simple and religious one, said, "Nagpapasalamat ako sa Diyos na ginawa niya akong Pilipino. Karangalan ko iyon (I thank God for making me a Filipino. It is my honor)."

Cory! Cory! Cory!