Finally, my Alma Mater (UA&P) has an Alumni Card!!

I swear I could hear Ode to Joy playing in the background when Joel Parcon sent this announcement to our alumni group. Oh, and it’s a discount card as well. Sorry if this is such a trifling matter to the more “established” colleges. I graduated from a fairly young university so this means a lot to us alumni.

I’m reposting it here for blockmates and orgmates who read this humble blog of mine. The best perk is actually not being harassed by the front gate guard who insist you show ID:

The Amorsolo Retrospective: Community Driven Amorsolo

I wasn’t really into paintings but my parents were. We had a couple of Amorsolo’s and Goya’s at home and they were, if I recall correctly, gifts. Behind one of the Goya’s, which was a portrait of my mom, she had a photo with him stuck on the canvas.

So it’s pretty cool how art appreciation is slowly taking advantage of new media. The latest is The Amorsolo Retrospective, which is an online collaboration of collectors to upload Amorsolo art that they own, and embed them on blogs. I guess it’s sort of like turning your blog into an online art gallery, which is kick ass. It’s nice to know we have local new media efforts to preserve our sense of art and culture.

Fernando Amorsolo,
First National Artist.

He portrayed his ideals through his art, capturing the essence of Filipino beauty and sunlight on canvas.

The Amorsolo Retrospective aims to take another look at our first National Artist Fernando Amorsolo through a four-month multi-venue exhibition of his finest works. This is all made possible by our many sponsors, particularly our co-presenter, Metrobank.

This rare gathering of his paintings, illustrations and sketches hopes to cultivate a deeper understanding of Filipino culture and values as seen through the eyes of Amorsolo. His art was a reflection of his values. They depicted a fervent idealism, a sense of community, the respect of women, the love of beauty, the dignity of hard work, and a celebration of our country’s history.

Join us as we celebrate one of the greatest Filipino painters and the beauty he saw in everything.

If you want to showcase Amorsolo’s works on your blog or website, just follow these simple instructions or go to http://amorsoloretro.com/hangyourown. If you OWN an Amorsolo, you can actually showcase it to the world! Check out www.amorsoloretro.com and click on “Upload your own Amorsolo.”

Art In Site Magazine to print 3,000 different covers made by YOU.

Truly hot. Art In Site is an upcoming magazine for Filipino artists, made by artists. And they’re doing something really bold. For their first issue, they’re calling for 3,000 artists to submit artwork to be used as the cover of their 1st issues (they’re printing 3,000 individualized covers!).

Need I say more? Here are the guidelines of the project. There are currently 2,054 slots left and 34 days (as of 12.08.08 2:56 PM) till the submission of your work. The magazine will come out in January 2009 – a bold, bold project! Reserve your slot now!

LAGALAG: The Traveling Journal of Filipinos Project 14 months later

In May of 2007, the LAGALAG moleskine notebooks looked like this:

LAGALAG before the trip

14 months later, the notebook is FAT with stories to share from 20 Filipinos around the world.

14 months later, it landed on my doorstep via express mail and duty bound, I had to fill up two spreads. So here they are:

LAGALAG Spread 2

LAGALAG Spread 1

A tattoed military man in Japan rescues a dying man inside a car.
A writer in Cambodia loses himself in a foreign land through a painful ritual.
A former recording artist discovers new wells of creativity in Canada.
A man in the gaming industry prowls the streets of Manila in search of lost messages.

They have never met each other but they are bound to share one amazing journey around the world. They are just four of the twenty Filipinos in Lagalag, sharing one thing in common – they all take pictures.

Twenty different ways on how Filiipinos see the world.
Twenty photos. Twenty stories.
One destination. Your doorstep.

Dadaan ba sa iyo ang biyaheng Pinoy?

LAGALAG: The Traveling Journal of Filipinos Project

I interviewed Wil about Project LAGALAG back in May of 2007. This was as memories served me right, the first podcast interview I’ve ever recorded.

After finishing my two spreads I had wanted to deliver the moleskine personally to the next guy as he was based in Makati. I held back.

The novelty – the mystery of reading about the personal accounts of many other Filipinos I’ve never met seemed to be even more charming than reading it from a blog – which practically is the same thing. There really is some charm to it. The personality of the author’s penmanship, the awkward strokes on the edges of the paper, the glue and felt marker stains …

Gotham Knight DVD Set

Alfred: Sir … give me your hand.

Batman: I … I can’t.

One of the best scenes I’ve ever seen from any Batman flick. This was taken from Working Through Pain, an episode from the 2008 DVD set, Gotham Knight starring Kevin Conroy as Batman / Bruce Wayne.

Batman: Gotham Knight will be available on both single and two-disc DVD editions, as well as a Blu-Ray version on July 8th, 2008.

The special features on the single-disc edition will contain an audio commentary of the film by Gregory Noveck, Dennis O’Neil and Kevin Conroy, as well as a sneak peek at the next movie of the DC Universe Original Animated Movies line: Wonder Woman.

The two-disc and Blu-Ray editions of the film will contain the above mentioned special features as well as a documentary titled Batman and Me: The Bob Kane Story, a featurette exploring Batman and the Gotham villains he faces titled A Mirror for the Bat and four episodes of Batman:The Animated Series , presented by Bruce Timm.[wiki]

You can watch the entire thing here but the original DVD set is so worth it.