Of Motions and Words : Of Movies and Poetry

Raya Martin's Buenas Noches España
Shown in the Cine Adarna UP Diliman December 21-22, 2011
Synopsis:
In another lifetime, a Spanish couple takes drugs and teleports through their television set. A troubled young man travels through the countryside and meets a lost woman. During the trip, they discover a museum housing the expatriated paintings of the most important Filipino artist of the revolution. Eventually, the Spanish couple disappears toward their colony. Inspired by one of the earliest teleportation accounts, which happened between the Philippines and Mexico during the colonial period.
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Romance's Demise by Veronica Laurel

Let me see you tonight,
For tonight this romance will face it's demise
This informal engagement will strike the last toll of the bell
And I'll never be able to touch you again
Nor be able to keep my vows
I knew the end before it all began
But I won't let midnight come to pass
I'll crawl back to the prologue of the day we met
To the previous definition of my loneliness

End of first part out of three parts.

The poem is included in my Sorrow is the Romanticist's Necessary Affliction of the Soul Poetry Collection for 2011.

I saw the movie Buenas Noches España the other day after posting my Selected Poetry (2011) at the Ishmael Bernal Gallery in UP Diliman.
The movie was reminiscent of surreal music videos back in the 90s with a little bit of nostalgic touch of romance. This isn't your typical movie that is shown by local cinemas so it probably won't capture the taste of the masses but it is a breath of fresh air for those who hasn't seen any movie similar to it. Though the taking of drugs here is rather tolerated, we all know that drugs are bad for the health and well being. But people will have their issues and will choose their own poison. We all know which road to take and hopefully, our individual judgments are sound enough on what and what not to avoid and abuse.

My poetry selection are available at the Bernal Gallery til classes resume after the holidays. I cordially invite you to take a look at the artworks made by young artists displayed and also to take a glimpse of my poetry selection this year. Copies of my poetry is available on exhibit and are for sale at a price friendly to the pockets. Giving the wonders of Letter Arts this season will definitely be a breath of fresh air and perhaps a step up to Philippine independent literature. Give poetry as gifts. View my Poetry at the Ishmael Bernal Gallery here.


After visiting the gallery you can easily go to Cine Adarna and watch the film since the theatre is just behind the gallery.

Starving Poet: Thorn Among Flowers?

Poetry on the wall.
The mounted pieces are made of groundwood (Untreated Paper)
and are hand-sewn to keep the leaves together.

Yesterday was the opening of Art at 50 at Ishmael Bernal Gallery where I joined in and added a few copies of my poetry selection this 2011. I also included the prints of the triptych visual poetry collaboration with Zeus Bascon back in 2006.
Most of the pieces are visual arts with little words in them but mine was mostly in literature and very little to do with the visuals.

I do believe F. Sionil Jose when he said that “Literature is the highest form of Art”

Though my pieces may be a bit considered remote in the exhibit, I stand firm in my decision to post poetry among dozens of visual art pieces. I wasn't prepared since I was notified quite late. Most of my art books were sold during the 10a Alabama event and also during Pride March. I didn't have time to replenish my books.

Art at 50 celebrates art pieces that can be bought at an affordable price. If you don’t have a gift for a friend then perhaps a visit to Bernal Gallery in UP Diliman will give you ideas and gifts for your friends and others.

The Exhibit will be open until classes resume next year, probably til the first week of January.

Go ahead and take a look. After that you can head to the UPFI Cine Adarna theatre and watch a film for free.

Go Vegetarian with Daily Veggie N Café

Sizzling Tao Pao Roll

For the determined, there’s nothing hard or impossible. Whether it’s taking vegetarianism for a permanent diet or just swearing off meat, all you need is encouragement and perhaps the right set of friends.

It’s not that hard to be a vegetarian especially if you have a friendly café around your neighborhood.

After my move out of Katipunan and in to Timog, the only restaurant I know I can eat without murdering animals would be a Chinese restaurant near a church. Of course I get tired of eating at the same place so I really need some varieties.

A friend of mine has been meaning to take us to this quaint vegetarian café in Banawe, Quezon City. It was a long day and my friends have decided to eat at a vegetarian café for dinner nearby after our event with Greenpeace.
The horrendous traffic along Quezon Ave was terrible and we were stuck for more than 30 minutes since the cars won’t even budge. One of the rarest times I take the car to the Metro and I was immediately faced with traffic jams. Eventually we arrived at this café in the corner of the street that sort of emanates the feel of a foreign mini-mart.

Daily Veggie n Café is located at 540 Banawe St cor Calamba St Quezon City.

 The place was a combination of café and mini-mart for all your vegetarian supply needs. There were vegetarian barbeque sauce, soy sauce and other health products that are of course vegetarian and vegan friendly displayed on the wall. Amazingly, they have vegetarian oyster sauce – a solution that I’ve been looking for in a very long time.

Yummy Vegetarian Dumplings

There are enough vegetarian supplies in Daily Veggie n Café that could keep you stocked until the end of the world or the near apocalyptic year of 2012. A stock you must have in your fridge is their vegetarian Siopao and vegetarian oyster sauce!

The extensive menu mostly offers Chinese vegetarian meals but there are also vegetarian tocino and tapa so you won't be missing out on your favorite filipino morning meals. Meal prices are very affordable.

We had coffee and dinner however, they do not serve desserts but thankfully there were cake shops nearby where we bought desserts and ate them at the café.

A friend of mine was a friend of the owner so when the owner went to the café by chance before closing time, we had a lovely and interesting conversation.

I asked the owner if she was Buddhist but she said she only follows the path. It doesn’t matter, Buddhist teaching is wonderful and it would be better to follow the teaching instead of saying you’re a Buddhist but stuff your mouth with meat.

According to scientific studies, eating vegetables and sparing animal meat helps the environment even more than not taking the car for work. This is because the green-house gas emitted by producing meat products is more earth threatening than what your gas-guzzling SUVs might produce.

Lessening your meat intake can definitely save the world. It can slow down the progression of Climate Change and perhaps even prevent another Sendong to visit the Philippines. Just a small change in your diet can save the earth.

If you don’t know where to start on your vegetarian diet, visiting cafes and restaurants like Daily Veggie n café is a good start. You can even buy vegetarian products there so you can have vegetarian meals in your own home. 

The restaurant has a cozy and quiet feel though it was weird to be listening  to 2ne1 in the background. The place was clean and the staff were nice and attentive to our needs. It's a good restaurant where I will definitely keep on coming back to for decent vegetarian meals and for my vegetarian supplies.

For more information you can contact the cafe through: (632)711-8209

Wooden Wednesday

All my life I've lived with wood and as a book artisan starting out, to not use wood is impossible.

Was unable to actually put the book on display since it was immediately bought by one of the people of 10a Alabama.
A book with wooden cover in mahogany finish. The wood is marine plywood 3/4 inch thick and has tanguile wood for its edging. The paper I used is raw unbleached ground wood.
The leather latch is from a pre-loved belt that doesn't fit me anymore.
Stitching style is traditional binding mixed with coptic binding for support.

Tanguile is a fine wood commonly used in furniture by skilled carpenters. It encompasses the quality of imported pine wood and since it is considered a hard wood, it can endure the test of time. Today, the use of this wood is rare since the abundance of imported pine or palo china wood is ubiquitous and the average Filipino can no longer afford this type of wood.