The way home

I pass this road on the way home from the gym. It's nice in the twilight. Weird how I want to draw and paint more than I want to write nowadays. And I haven't drawn or painted since high school! Going to post some calligraphy too, as soon as I figure out what to write.

Have phone, will travel

I've been bonding with my phone a lot recently. Aside from using it to record interviews (which I've been doing since day 1), I've recently started using it to take photos more. The quality isn't as good as a real camera of course, but when the light is right, it's good enough.

A recurring interest of mine is corners. The rims of round containers and the edges of buildings against the sky. I don't know why.

A Time for Dragons Launch

One of my favorite blogs is Elisabeth Perry's Woolgathering, where she posts one watercolor painting a day then writes a short entry about it.

Here's my homage to that, in connection with yesterday's A Time for Dragons book launch.

I also drew something like this for one of the authors in the anthology, so this is one of only two dragons disguised as sheep in the whole world!

Once again, congratulations to Vinnie and to everyone in the book. Dean plugged my upcoming book during the program so I'm now more pressured than ever. We hope to have Waking the Dead out by May.

The 5 Most Unintentionally Gay Horror Movies

Luis sent this to me. I've only seen "The Lost Boys" and "The Covenant," and yes, the thought of how homoerotic everything was did cross my mind. Glad to know I'm not the only one who thought so. Needless to say, I shall be searching for the other films soon.

Read the list here.

Final Stoker Ballot 2009

Congratulations and good luck to everyone!

Here are the nominees for this year's Stoker:

Superior Achievement in a Novel

COFFIN COUNTY by Gary Braunbeck (Leisure Books)
THE REACH by Nate Kenyon (Leisure Books)
DUMA KEY by Stephen King (Scribner)
JOHNNY GRUESOME by Gregory Lamberson (Bad Moon Books/Medallion Press)

Superior Achievement in a First Novel

MIDNIGHT ON MOURN STREET by Christopher Conlon (Earthling Publications)
THE GENTLING BOX by Lisa Mannetti (Dark Hart Press)
MONSTER BEHIND THE WHEEL by Michael McCarty and Mark McLaughlin (Delirium Books)
THE SUICIDE COLLECTORS by David Oppegaard (St. Martin's Press)
FROZEN BLOOD by Joel A. Sutherland (Lachesis Publishing)

Superior Achievement in Long Fiction

THE SHALLOW END OF THE POOL by Adam-Troy Castro (Creeping Hemlock Press)
MIRANDA by John R. Little (Bad Moon Books)
REDEMPTION ROADSHOW by Weston Ochse (Burning Effigy Press)
THE CONFESSIONS OF ST. ZACH by Gene O'Neill (Bad Moon Books)

Superior Achievement in Short Fiction

PETRIFIED by Scott Edelman (Desolate Souls)
THE LOST by Sarah Langan (Cemetery Dance Publications)
THE DUDE WHO COLLECTED LOVECRAFT by Nick Mamatas, and Tim Pratt (Chizine)
EVIDENCE OF LOVE IN A CASE OF ABANDONMENT by M. Rickert (Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction)
TURTLE by Lee Thomas (Doorways)

Superior Achievement in an Anthology

LIKE A CHINESE TATTOO edited by Bill Breedlove (Dark Arts Books)
HORROR LIBRARY, VOL. 3 edited by R. J. Cavender (Cutting Block Press)
BENEATH THE SURFACE edited by Tim Deal (Shroud Publishing)
UNSPEAKABLE HORROR edited by Vince A. Liaguno and Chad Helder (Dark Scribe Press)

Superior Achievement in a Collection

THE NUMBER 121 TO PENNSYLVANIA by Kealan Patrick Burke (Cemetery Dance Publications)
MAMA’S BOY and Other Dark Tales by Fran Friel (Apex Publications)
JUST AFTER SUNSET by Stephen King (Scribner)
MR. GAUNT AND OTHER UNEASY ENCOUNTERS by John Langan (Prime Books)
GLEEFULLY MACABRE TALES by Jeff Strand (Delirium Books)

Superior Achievement in Nonfiction

CHEAP SCARES by Gregory Lamberson (McFarland)
ZOMBIE CSU by Jonathan Maberry (Citadel Press)
A HALLOWE'EN ANTHOLOGY by Lisa Morton (McFarland)
THE BOOK OF LISTS: HORROR by Amy Wallace, Del Howison, and Scott Bradley (HarperCollins)

Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection

THE NIGHTMARE COLLECTION by Bruce Boston (Dark Regions Press)
THE PHANTOM WORLD by Gary William Crawford (Sam's Dot Publishing)
VIRGIN OF THE APOCALYPSE by Corrine De Winter (Sam's Dot Publishing)
ATTACK OF THE TWO-HEADED POETRY MONSTER by Mark McLaughlin and Michael McCarty (Skullvines Press)

Maricel Soriano + Chito Rono = T2

No, it's not a Filipinization of the 2nd Terminator movie.T2 stands for Tenement 2, the block where this horror movie is set.

The film is direced by Chito Rono under Star Cinema. It stars Maricel Soriano and Mika dela Cruz(Anjelika dela Cruz's younger sister). The movie is inspired by the director's vision of Biringan, a fabled Enkanto city in Samar that he saw from the plane as a young boy.

It's about time Maricel did another horror movie. Her last horror movie was Peque Gallaga's Sa Piling ng mga Aswang in 1999. I fondly remember Maricel from before she used to do drama. She was the final girl for the fantasy/ comedy genre that was prevalent in the 80's, though the title of "final girl" of that era should still go to Manilyn Reynes, since Maricel's movies were more comedies with horror elements than than the straight out horror (sometimes with comedic elements) that Manilyn became known for.

T2 will be out this April, probably in time for Holy Week. Nothing like spending your Good Friday, the day that our Lord died, watching a horror movie.

Read about the movie here and here, and watch the trailer here.

Uno Magazie Party

Come join the fun! Hot chicks abound. If I go, that is. *ducks to avoid flying furniture*

The Only Song on My Playlist

I've always liked The Clash but for some reason, I had never heard "Police on My Back" until Erwin played it in his car. He sent me a file of it, and its original version the next day.

To put it in teenaged girl speak, it is the best song evar. This one song is responsible for making my training more immediate and more fun. It's made me want to get outdoors. It made me want to run. It's the only song on my playlist and I have it on loop.

There's just something about the tune and the lyrics that makes you want to run. I guess it comes from being a song about being chased by the police.

It got to the point where I started running out of places to run to so I had to join the gym just so I could get access to a treadmill. Sad, I know.

I never thought it would come to this. I've contented myself with eating and getting fat and then losing it all in one go through liposuction. It was a beautiful dream. But then one day my legs started aching. Not hurting, more like itching to go do something. I am not an active person, so I don't know where they got the idea. All I know is now my legs blackmail my brain into training, so that each session becomes a test of brain vs. legs. I still get bored working out but I find that if I tire my legs sufficiently enough, they leave my brain alone so that it can pursue other things.

But when I play "Police on My Back," everyone is happy.

A Time for Dragons

From Dean's blog (Sorry for copy/pasting, Dean. You said it best):

Join the book launch of A Time for Dragons (Anvil Publishing), edited by Vincent Simbulan, March 29, 2009 (Sunday), 3:00 pm, Shangri-la Mall Grand Atrium. And yes, there will be a parade of dragons.

Accodring to Vin, this book is a collection of new dragon stories by Filipino authors to present the dragon in new and inventive ways, and renew and refresh the dragon for a more sophisticated and mature audience. The kickass cover and all interior art is by Andrew Drilon - and his original book art will be available for purchase at the launch.

Table of Contents:

"Glass" by Nikki Alfar

"Dragon Brother" by Cyan Abad-Jugo

"The Annotated Account of Tholomew Mestich" by Elyss Punsalan

"The Clockwork Dragon's Heart" by Vincent Michael Simbulan

"Moondown and Fugue" by Alexander Drilon

"Gunsaddled" by Alexander Marcos Osias

"Lex Talionis" by Paolo Chikiamco

"The Final Tale of Zhang Bai Long" by Elbert Or

"A Fishy Tale" by Apol Lejano-Massebieau

"Johnny Tatô and the Dragon of Pasig" by Joseph Nacino

"Capture" by Gabriela Lee

"3:30pm with Sir Galahad" by Kate Aton-Osias

"A Change of Guards" by Oscar Alvarez

"The Fossil" by Angelo R. Lacuesta

"A Little Knowledge" by Dominique Cimafranca

"The Bridge" by Yvette Natalie U. Tan

"Fallow's Flight" by Dean Francis Alfar

"Dragons Among Us (Essay)" by Charles Tan

Let the Right One In

Finally saw Let the Right One In, arguably one of the best vampire films made (sorry Twilight fans). The film, directed by Tomas Alfredson, is based on the novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist (he also write the screenplay).

It's about Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant), a 12 year-old loner who is bullied in school and who befriends his neighbor, a girl of "about 12" named Eli (Lina Leandersson), who turns out to be a vampire. That's the short version. There's much more to it, like Oskar's penchant for collecting newspaper clippings of gristly crimes, and his imagined encounters with his bullies, where instead of getting beat up, he stabs them with his pocket knife instead.

From the start, he senses that Eli's strange, though he does not know why. For starters, he smells funny and does not seem to need winter clothes.

The way their relationship develops is explored without giving away too much detail or falling into eroticism to provoke a reaction. The direction, like the movie's landscape, is sparse, but each shot is lovingly constructed as if it were a photograph.

There's a lot of white in this film, a lot of emptiness. It's set in winter, and the dreary landscape only serves to underscore the strange relationship that the two children forge. Eli tells Oskar to hit back at the bullies. Oskar asks what wil happen if Eli walks into a house uninvited.

The movie contains almost no special effects. Eli does not change form when she feeds. She doesn't grow fangs or change into a monster. She is simply a little girl who lives on human blood. And she is hands down the vampire with the most beautiful blood spatter ever. Her face is awakened wenever she has blood on it. She blooms.

I think that the film could have ended twice before it finally did. While I liked the last scene, I thought that it should have ended at the scene before that. Without giving anything away, I thought that the last scene made it too much a horror movie whereas if it had ended beforehand, it would have straddled the thin divide between horror and coming of age.

Let the Right One in is a lovely movie. You sit through it, numbed by the cold flashed onscreen, and only after the movie ends do you realize how affected by it you are after all.

I hear an American remake is in the works. It remains to be seem whether it will stand up against the original. Somehow, I doubt it.

Turn into a jet (Like a Boss)

Luis did an awful thing yesterday.

He made me listen to The Lonely Island's "Like a Boss" from their new album Incredibad. I couldn't get it out of my mind after that.

These are the same people who couldn't make me stop adding "jizzed in my pants" (even though I'm not biologically built for it) to every statement that I made about myself last Christmas (I went to church and I...) and counting off steps two Christmases before that (Step one, cut a hole in the box).

"Like a Boss" has different situations, all of them followed by "like a bawss," that progressively get more and more bizarre.

I haven't heard the whole album yet but Luis' stories of Norah Jones belting out "You look like a bag of trash" intrigue me.

Oh Luis, why did you do this to me? Now I must go eat a bagel. Like a boss.

Help name NASA'a Space Station Node 3 Eraserheads!

Got this from Marie, who is out on a crusade:

From the NASA website:

NASA wants your opinion in naming the International Space Station’s Node 3 – a connecting module and its cupola – before the two segments travel to space and are installed on the orbiting laboratory. The name should reflect the spirit of exploration and cooperation embodied by the space station, and follow in the tradition set by Node 1- Unity- and Node 2- Harmony.

You know what you have to do. Go to the site and suggest Eraserheads! You know you have to.

Morenas, Calvin and Hobbes, Rock Ed and Mang Larry

Things people have pointed me to today:

From Indira, a post on Calvin and Hobbes, all grown up. The strips are kind of cute but also kind of sad, especially the last one. I found myself tearing up after reading them.

From Luis, a post of Stephanie Dychiu's informative article on the rise of the morena, as featured in Marie Claire.

From Ramon, finance and then some, courtesy of Todd Diamond. 2.38 minutes of fun!

Again from Indira, an online compilation of Larry Alcala's Slice of Life series. Classic!

Aaaand... if you happen to be in The Fort area tomorrow afternoon, drop by Fully Booked for Rock Ed Radio Live. The discussion will be about the country's game show culture. Panelists include me, Mich Dulce and Erwin Romulo. No annying dance numbers, promise!

Aaaand lastly, Vin Simbulan's much awaited dragon anthology will be launced on March 29, 3pm at the Shangri-La mall atrium. I'm in it and I'm going to be there. Yay!