Tag: Art

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Neil Gaiman Weekend

Neil Gaiman at Fully Booked

I have always argued that Neil Gaiman is more than just a writer. He’s a story teller. There are some writers, who, when you listen to them speak, sound as if they are speaking in prose. The sentences they construct are uttered with a cadence that makes you stop to listen to every word as he effortlessly highlights his point with stops, intonation and the perfect choice of words.

Mr. Gaiman tells how Philippine literature is rich in realism, yet not so in unrealism as, according to him, we have the richest culture in the world. He didn’t say one of the richest. He said we are the richest. Don’t you wonder?

P.S. Perhaps you’ve already heard about it, but during the 2007 Ad Congress, Neil Gaiman served as pastor to two bronze award winners. The tale is recounted here for the guy and here for the girl. Neil writes about it here. Sadly, I was not able to make it to the ad congress, but I did catch him at Fully Booked, where he recounted the tale.

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Philippine Blogosphere Pitch: Why not aim for the Anvil Awards?

Every year, the Public Relations Society of the Philippines (PRSP) gives out a set of Anvil Awards for remarkable public relations campaigns done in the Philippines.

The ANVIL is a symbol of excellence in public relations in the Philippines awarded by a distinguished multi-sectoral jury for outstanding public relations programs and tools designed and implemented in the past year. The Anvil Awards competition is conducted annually by the Public Relations Society of the Philippines.

The Anvil symbolizes excellence and quality. The standards for winning are high. No award is given unless the standards are met.

There are four award categories:

The Anvil Award of Merit
The Anvil Award of Excellence
The Bronze Anvil Award
THE GRAND ANVIL AWARD

What exactly am I pitching? Why can’t we pitch the ongoing Filipinas Campaign as an entry in the 44th Anvil Awards happening in February 2009. This February 2008 is the awarding for the Anvil for campaigns done between October 31 2006 to October 31 2007. Though it would be too late to include the Filipinas Campaign as an entry to the 43rd Anvil Awards, it can still very well make it into the 44th.

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Oh the madness begins once more!

Starbucks Planner

Although the line was long at the Starbucks Madrigal cashier I was kept entertained by a dialogue between the barista and a woman with slightly heated undertones. The discussion revolved around whether the woman could get a stamp onto a new Starbucks planner card given the sad reality that she forgot both her cards.

Apparently, you can’t combine three cards to avail of the planner – you can only combine two. The argument went on for a couple of minutes as I sighed and drooled over the mineral water bottle behind the misty glass. Mineral water never looked so thirst quenching.

It’s that time of the year once again.

Here we go. The obsession over the Starbucks planner is nigh. Correct me, but what makes the planner such a prized possession isn’t the fact that you can actually plan your life with it, but because it’s only exclusively available in Starbucks during the Christmas season. I know you can buy it right off the shelf, but spending on coffee for the planner is probably the best 0% interest deal for the holidays.

I’ve never owned a Starbucks planner. However, I do look forward to the gingerbread cookies (christmas tree, snow man, etc) which they only sell during Christmas. So if anyone wants my stamped cards for the planner, just tell me.

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Kolektib Shared Spaces at the Cubao Expo

kolektib_cubao_expo.jpg

Over the weekend, Kolektib officially opened at the Cubao X (formerly Marikina Shoe Expo) together with three other shops: Mogwai, Sputnik and White Box Gallery.

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Press Freedom in the Philippines is a huge joke

press_freedom.jpg

You’ve probably heard about this from a few days back. But still.

A mural depicting the history of press freedom made by the Neo-Angono artists in the Philippines was censored by the National Press Club before it was presented to President GMA. How ironic that the NPC’s “press freedom” commission was censored by none other than themselves. Truth be told, the word is not “censorship.” It leans a little bit more closely to “defacement.”

The final mural, which was submitted to NPC on October 24, shows a man reading the latest news on journalists’ killings while press freedom icons from the past and present converge around him. In one scene, Marcelo H. del Pilar is seen with fellow editor Mariano Ponce while rooting for cigarette butts in a garbage can under the streetsign La Solidaridad. Near the two, Filipino revolutionary Emilio Jacinto sells copies of the newspaper “Ningning o Liwanag” whose headlines proclaim the declaration of martial law while an incensed Eggie Apostol walks past. Perhaps the most arresting image is that of the late Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr. talking to National Hero Jose Rizal while the latter reads a newspaper article on the disappearance of Jonas Burgos, son of press freedom icon Joe Burgos.

…

“Isn’t it ironic that an institution such as the NPC would cause the censorship of a work that they themselves commissioned purportedly to promote press freedom? Isn’t the freedom of expression of the artist bound up with the very press freedom that they supposedly uphold? Aren’t these alterations a clear violation of the rights of authors/artists protected by the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines?” the group said in a statement.

[source]

I can’t believe it. More photos of the alterations here. Neal Cruz’s piece talks about it more here.