Pilita Corrales and Manilyn Reynes

Mabuhay si Mamita!

Interviewed Pilita Corrales today for a magazine. She was such a fun interview! Friendly, sweet and articulate, she gave all the info that I needed and more, and was generally very accomodating. She slightly remembers being interviewed by me for two minutes at the last SOP Music Awards. She also introduced me to Kuya Germs, who later left the table to sing karaoke. The interview was conducted in Pilita's, Pilita's restaurant in Greenhills. It's only when I had to research about her that I realized how illustrous her career really is, and how she played a big part in brining Filipino talent abroad, and -- get this -- making Tagalog songs vogue in the Philippines. That, I thought, was mind-boggling. To find out more about this amazing woman, you'll have to read my interview when it comes out, hehehe (Yes, I'm lazy. I'm also plugging).

Congrats Manilyn!

Someone posted this comment anonymously:

"i heared na nominated ang ating idol na c manilyn this coming STAR AWARDS FOR TELEVISION in two categories one is best supporting actress and others is best talk show host in MOMS!!! dapat lang syang bigyan ng awards she so great. she deserve it!!! ako talagang bilib na bilib ako sa kanya very NATURAL in T.V and talented!!"

Congrats Ate Mane! You deserve it! Manilyn is another example of a star who has never let her feet leave the ground. She is an absolute darling to interview. I hear that she's also very professional, and always puts her family first. It's cute that her die-hard fans have stuck to her from her That's Entertainment teenybopper days until now, when she's morphed into a talk show host and has taken on mommy roles.

Now I'm going off to watch Shake, Rattle and Roll, if I can find it. Undin! Undin!

Trip to Quezon

My article on the food trip to Quezon I took last year has been reprinted in Tulay, Kaisa para sa Kaunlaran's bi-weekly Fil-Chi journal, this week. Whee! :)

2006 Stoker Nominees

The 2006 Stoker Awards are nearing, and I clan't attend! Wah! This year is extra special because it's going to be the first time ever that the awards will be held outside the US. I feel bad that I haven't read any of the nominees. Shows you the state of the choices we have in the country when it comes to genre books. I can't wait for the day when I look at the horror shelf in a bookstore and not see it filled with *just( Stepeh King and Anne Rice. *sigh*

Anyways, here are the nominees:

Superior Achievement in a NOVEL

Headstone City by Tom Piccirilli (Bantam)
Liseys Story by Stephen King (Scribner)
Ghost Road Blues by Jonathan Maberry (Pinnacle)
Pressure by Jeff Strand (Earthling)
Prodigal Blues by Gary A. Braunbeck (Cemetery Dance)

Superior Achievement in a FIRST NOVEL

Ghost Road Blues by Jonathan Maberry (Pinnacle)
The Keeper by Sarah Langan (William Morrow)
Bloodstone by Nate Kenyon (Five Star)
The Harrowing by Alexandra Sokoloff (St. Martins)

Superior Achievement in LONG FICTION

Dark Harvest by Norman Partridge (Cemetery Dance)
Hallucigenia by Laird Barron (The Magazine of Fantasy
and Science Fiction)
Mamas Boy by Fran Friel (Insidious Reflections)
Bloodstained Oz by Christopher Golden and James A.
Moore (Earthling Publications)
Clubland Heroes by Kim Newman (Retro Pub Tales)

Superior Achievement in SHORT FICTION

Tested by Lisa Morton (Cemetery Dance)
Balance by Gene ONeill (Cemetery Dance)
Feeding the Dead Inside by Yvonne Navarro(Mondo
Zombie)
FYI by Mort Castle (Masques V)
“31/10” by Stephen Volk Dark Corners)

Superior Achievement in an ANTHOLOGY

Aegri Somnia: The Apex Featured Writer Anthology
edited by Jason Sizemore (Apex)
Mondo Zombie edited by John Skipp (Cemetery Dance)
Retro Pulp Tales edited by Joe Lansdale (Subterranean)
Alone on the Darkside edited by John Pelan (Roc)

Superior Achievement in a COLLECTION

Destinations Unknown by Gary Braunbeck (Cemetery
Dance)
American Morons by Glen Hirshberg (Earthling
Publications)
The Commandments by Angeline Hawkes (Nocturne Press)
The Empire of Ice Cream by Jeffrey Ford (Golden
Gryphon)
Basic Black: Tales of Appropriate Fear by Terry
Dowling (Cemetery Dance)
Cinema Macabre edited by Frank Morris (PS Publishing)

Superior Achievement in NONFICTION

Final Exits: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of How We
Die by Michael Largo (Harper)
Gospel of the Living Dead: George Romero's vision of
Hell on Earth by Kim Paffenroth (Baylor Press)
Stephen King: Uncollected, Unpublished byRocky Wood
(Cemetery Dance)

Superior Achievement in POETRY

Shades Fantastic by Bruce Boston (Gromagon Press)
Valentine: Short Love Poems by Corrine de Winter
(Black Arrow Press)
The Troublesome Amputee by John Edward Lawson (Raw Dog
Screaming Press)
Songs of a Sorceress by Bobbi Sinha-Morey (Write
Words, Inc.)

Stamp You, Part Two!

As excited as I was about stamping (and I have a purple forehaed to prove it), the guy I work for, who shall henceforth be called Bruce (because, you know, he's The Boss) said that I HAVE NOT STAMPED ENOUGH. So now I have to make up for my lack of stamping by doing even more stamping! Hurrah!

Btw, I'm also in need of an assistant. Must make good coffee. Just kidding. Must be female, hardworking, dependable and is interested/ has background in commerce. Let me know if you know anyone who's interested.

Stamp You Very Much

I'm slowly being give more and more responsibility at work, the most recent o whichis the authority to Stap Things. This, of course, comes with other responsibilities more integral to the running of the business but unfortunatel, they're not as fun as Stamping.

I'm to get my own Stamp and Stamp Pad, and starting tomorrow, I'll have tha authority to Stamp Important Documents, like what they do in cstoms, except I'll have no important people to accidentally harass or extort from.

Already I have visions of Stamping everything I see in the office, starting with my forehead, because it's convenient. I could get used to this.