Where genius resides -- my friend Gerry Alanguilan

Writer-Artist Gerry Alanguilan is one of my oldest friends. When we were just all out of school, we were planning on doing some comics together with some other creative guys but many things happened along the way. I still have all the artwork and stories from those days and should find a way to get them out in an anthology soon.

WASTED was something he cooked up around that time and I distinctly remember the moment he told me about the concept and it was at the veranda of my apartment. I was a little shocked at it. Wasn't sure honestly if I liked it because it was a departure from the superhero comics we were doing. But after its release, I changed my mind and couldn't wait for the succeeding issues. Eventually I wrote about it for the Philippine Daily Inquirer; the first piece written about WASTED. Gerry included that in the first collected edition.  

He has since gone on to work on a lot of other stuff fulfilling a boyhood dream of his. Like his creator-owned stuff from the Dead Heart, Elmer, and Where Boldstars Go to Die, I've never pigeon-holed Gerry to a certain genre or theme. I just let him surprise me and as always, I am never disappointed. These are stories that hit you where it hurts the most -- in the heart and in the mind. Do yourself a favor and check out these three books if you can find them.

Halloween Special -- Underpass

Interview taken from FHM's Gelo Gonzales with comic book creator Budjette Tan:

Underpass is an anthology of four stories of dark fantasy set in an urban Filipino setting. Pinoys have always had a great love for horror, as you can see with the number of Shake, Rattle and Roll films we’ve had.

There always seems to be a Tagalog horror anthology show on TV, whether it be the Regal Shockers, the Magandang Gabi Bayan Halloween specials, or Kakabakaba. Pinoys can’t seem to get enough of getting scared. If you go to the bookstore, there’s already a whole section for ghost stories. It is the great unknown that Pinoys love to probe, and poke and see what it is in the dark.

In Underpass, we wanted to do a modern spin to Pinoy horror. It’s not anymore your typical White Lady standing in the corner; it’s really something else. We show horror found in a cellphone sim. We show horror in a pedestrian underpass. It’s not anymore the haunted house at the end of the street, which people really aren’t afraid of anymore because they’ve seen it a thousand times.

Underpass features the work of a great bunch of comic book creators. Gerry Alanguilan is the one telling the sim story. We’ve got David Hontiveros, and Oliver Pulumbarit. David is an award-winning prose writer. He won a Palanca for one of his sci-fi stories, and is also one of the founding members of Alamat. The last time David and Oliver collaborated, it was for a vampire story, and it’s very nice to put them together again, and this time they put up a very different type of ghost story.

Katumbas stars a character created by Ian Sta. Maria. Again, Ian was one of those guys that had been with Alamat for the longest time. Katumbas stars a character called Kadasig who became an immortal warrior because during Pre-Hispanic times, his village was going to be attacked by Aswang, so he made a deal with Ibu, the goddess of death to spare the village and in return, he becomes Ibu’s eternal servant. Lastly, there’s The Clinic, which is written by me and Kajo Baldisimo. In it, we show a starlet who gets pregnant, and is prodded by her manager to get an abortion to save her career. She is brought to a place called Venus Clinic, where she discovers again the darker flip side of the city.

We hope Underpass will excite people again. If you love horror and mysteries, you should come down with us to the underpass.

 

 

Menu or Bwahahaha!

Have a laugh. Please.

Arch Enemy in Manila

In the last few months, I've sort of gone back to listening to a lot of harder music. I thought that was something I left behind in the US. I bought some Arch Enemy CDs in New York. Almost caught them there but instead saw some other bands. I never thought I'd see them in Manila but it's fine.
Posing at the life size standees of the band with some former officemates at Solar Sports who also went to the concert. If you notice the plugs at Solar Sports and BTV -- these guys got excellent taste when it comes to music.

Wish I had a better camera to capture the band. The show, I can describe in two words -- "fucking brutal." Worth every cent. I think my brain is still rumbling. 
What can I say about Angela Gossow? Love hot chicks in leather. Yeah. And what a frontwoman for a band. She totally defined and changed the course of this Swedish outfit. 

I think my neighbor's car is an Autobot in disguise

The Vince Noir Project - Wha' A Git

My fave Rogue magazine covers

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Monkey Parliament

If this is how British graffiti artist Banksy interpreted the British Parliament, I wonder how he would depict the Philippine government. I should drop Banksy a line.

Ateneo Art Auction 2009

The committee that put2gether the 2009 Ateneo Art Auction. This was organized to help with the scholarship fund but it was also decided to provide some funds also for the victims of Typhoon Ondoy. 
With painter/advertising man/mediaman Ramoncito Cruz. His two paintings, done in acrylic and canvass, are in the background.
The Dancer in Yellow by Ferdinand Cacnio. I like this painting and wanted to get it. Just didn't have extra cash for it.
Swela Mela Chela. An oil, wood, and graphite construct by Australian painter Tony Twigg. This is one of my faves for this auction. Sure was fun chatting with him.
Blue Waters an acrylic painting on wood by young painter Virgilio "Pandy" Aviado. If it's obvious, I took pix of the stuff I like. And there's the Pauline by Lynyrd Paras that fetched what -- almost half a million -- that was the subject of intense bidding between Dr. Leo Garcia and this hot chick in tight clothing. Wow.
Doc Leo Garcia and Leo Rialp, stage actor and auctioneer, discuss some matters before the start of the auction.
The auction was held at Finale Art File, La Fuerza Compound along Chino Roces Avenue in Makati City. I love the venue which was like one of those warehouse lofts that became famous in New York in the 90's. Loved the set-up/layout of the place too. 
Shots of the crowd. There were more than a hundred people in attendance with many in the back because of the cocktail tables. Had a few glasses of wine. Now I can't work. Dammit.

Marikina River 9:45am Saturday October 3, 2009

Take a look at this shot. You will notice the cogon grass and other garbage underneath the Marcos Bridge that connects Barangka and Pasig City. That means the flood water reached that high. Jeez.

The view from underneath the LRT Line 2. You have to wonder if all that water has loosed up the ground in this area and has affected the LRT. I hope not. But they have to check this out once the rains stop and the water recedes.

The water has already spilled over to the road. But this is a low area of the road from Riverbanks to Libis.

Picture of the Day: Lougee my damn dog!

Ateneo Task Force Ondoy Wednesday Sept. 30

With beginnings in 2001, the Ateneo de Manila University Disaster Response and Management Team or University DReaM Team, was established in Sept 2006 to coordinate the efforts of various units in the Ateneo toward the relief and rehabilitation of disaster victims. The University DReaM Team core group is composed of representatives from the Ateneo de Manila University units: Grade School, High School, Loyola Schools, School of Government, Law School, Graduate School of Business, School of Medicine and Public Health, and Central Administration. The University DReaM Team in partnershp with the Simbahang Lingkod ng Bayan (SLB) runs Ateneo Task Force Ondoy.