School of Hard Splits

Meanwhile somewhere in Asia, they are taking pole dancing seriously. In the U.S., pole dancing has become a new exercise craze but in this case, it apparently is not because of the latex pants and fckme boots. In the Philippines, there are hardly any poles. It's just a dirty floor and angst you wish you can convey to your audience.

Jarah Mariano

Ay, napintas nga talaga ti Ilocana. From the new SI Swimsuit Edition.

Music to Make You Sweat

The English has nailed it. I did dance to many of the songs before. What's cool with this list is that they also gave the moves but then no one follows that anyway. Hurray!

HahaHa, the Perils of Autocorrect

The American Family Association is so praning they decided to replace every "gay" word with "homosexual." So when Tyson Gay sets the fastest ever Olympic Trials at the 100 meters, he came out as "Tyson Homosexual." As for Rudy Gay, Gaye Perez, Gay Paree...

Must Have

The Great Concrete Wall of China

Annual production of cement by country in billions of metric tons. Click to expand. Source: USGS 2006 report (PDF) and the USGS 2008 report (PDF).
Former Mayor Bernie Vergara should apply for Chinese visa.
They love concrete there the same way as he does.

Sedaris Cheese-Tasting

Excerpts from the funny David Sedaris's new book of essays

OMG! LA Times Commented on Pacquiao for his "Good Looks"!

I was reading Bill Dwyre's article in LA Times about "The Next Golden Boy" who would succeed "The Golden Boy" aka Oscar dela Hoya. Of course, Pacquiao is the contender. Ok. Ok. Given. Until I came into the middle of the article where Dwyre said, "The things Pacquiao has goign for him are his boxing skills, his good looks and quick smile and the well-documented Robin Hood role he played for the poor in his native Philippines." Rewind. Good looks not good look as in, "Pacquiao had a good look on Diaz before pummeling him with his wicked left." No, good looks talaga. I remember Frank Rivera in Vigan years ago when he said prior to the Pacquiao-Morales fight, Ay. God is good. Yung mga pangit binibiyayaan ng ibang talento para hindi magamit ang mukha. And then he went on to talk about the curse of the Castilian nose of Morales.

Distance Between Critic and the Criticized: Nada

Here's Morgan Meis in Smart Set:

Criticism isn’t powerful anymore. It doesn’t drive anything, it doesn’t define what is good and bad in culture. Surely this has mostly to do with all the changes in the media landscape over the last few decades. Basically, culture has been democratized. It has been flattened out and multiplied. There are no longer real distinctions between high and low. There’s just more.

The word criticism has its root in the Greek word krinein, which means — in its most original sense — to divide or separate. It’s about sorting things out and making distinctions. Criticism is thus about doing something that is, in this era, almost impossible to do. It is difficult simply to keep up with the vast global cultural output, let alone to make determinations and judgments.

So the critic lives in terror and humiliation, without purpose, without audience, without platform. Newspaper book reviews are shutting down (as are the newspapers that used to house them). Magazines are less and less inclined to devote space or resources to traditional criticism. The blogosphere and social networking sites allow anyone to communicate tastes and opinions directly to those people with whom an outlook is already shared. Criticism is essentially bottom-up now, whereas it used to be practically the definition of top-down. The audience does not look to an external authority to find out what to think — it looks to itself.

In response, critics have become bemoaners.

Frank O' Hara

New York Times reviews the late Frank O'Hara's Selected Poems. He died in 1966.
Here is his

Having a Coke With You

is even more fun than going top San Sebastain, Irun, Hendaye, Biarritz, Bayonne
or being sick to my stomach on the Travesera de Gracia in Barcelona
partly because in your orange shirt you look like a better happier St. Sebastian
partly because of my love for you, partly because of your love for yoghurt
partly because of the fluoresent orange tulips around the birches
partly because of the secrecy our smiles take on before people and statuary
it is hard to believe when I'm with you that there can be anything as still
as solemn as unpleasently definitive as statuary when right in front of it
in the warm New York 4 o'clock light we are drifting back and forth
between each other like a tree breathing through its spectacles

and the portrait show seems to have no faces in it at all, just paint
you suddenly wonder why in the world anyone ever did them I look
at you and I would rather look at you than all the portraits in the world
except possibly for the "Polish Rider" occasionally and anyway it's in the Frick
which thank heavens you haven't gone to yet so we can go together the first time
and the fact that you move so beautifully more or less takes care of Futurism
just as at home I never think of the "Nude Descending a Staircase" or
at a rehearsal a single drawing of Leonardo or Michaelangleo that used to wow me
and what good does all the research of the impressionists do them
when they never got the right person to stand near the tree when the sun sank
or for that matter Marino Marini when he didn't pick the rider as carefully as the horse

it seems they were all cheated of some marvelous experience
which is not going to go wasted on me which is why I am telling you about it

Dana

Dana Batnag now blogs

Wedding Announcements at the End of the Marrying Month

David Diaz: The Mountain Province Connection

Joaquin Henson said that one of the two full-time sparring partners of David Diaz for the Pacquiao fight was Diamond Gutomen Baier, 31, a Mountain Province-born boxer. He was chosen because he moves like Pacquiao. And to think that Baier only started to box five years ago. His father is Telesforo Gutomen and the late Verina Tuason. Diamond migrated to the US when he was ten years old. He was adopted by his aunt who was married to a German, William Baier. Diamond wants to turn pro.

SOS for our Iloilo Media

From Tonette:

Dear All!

We just realized that our media friends, partners and colleagues in the Province of Iloilo were also hit hard as the public that they were covering! Diosa Labiste, who was out on assignment, got hourly updates from her family: the whole ground floor of their residence went waist-deep in floodwater; her books now swimming, all unsalvageable, and worse, the puppy drowned...
Arnold, a photojournalist, was not able to save anything, except his cameras.
Many lost their homes, other possessions...
And all these, while they went ahead doing their jobs, giving voice to the people, even responding first to the call of the disaster.
We are appealing to all-- let us look after our colleagues who now need our help.
Any donation, be it in cash or in kind, will go a long way. Please send your donations to the PNA Office at Radyo ng Bayan in Iloilo City c/o Ms. Lucy Montealto, or
to Ms. Diosa Labiste, c/o the Center for Community Journalism and Development,
4/F, FSS Building, No. 89 Scout Castor St., Quezon City. Contact Nos. are the
following: 02-376-5550; 0917-8137699

Espanya!!!

Team Pac You

The congressmen who went to see Bush and Pacquiao at your expense (Mabuhay! That's how little you deserve our trust):

Rep. Narciso Santiago III, Alliance for Rural Concerns Party List Group
Rep. Monico Puentevella, Bacolod
Rep. Albert Garcia, Bataan
Rep. Mark Llandro L. Mendoza, Batangas
Rep. Hermilando Mandanas, Batangas
Rep. William Irwin Tieng, Buhay Party List Group
Rep. Jose Zubiri III, Bukidnon
Rep. Lorna Silverio, Bulacan
Rep. Mitzi Cajayon, Caloocan
Rep. Diosdado "Dato" Macapagal Arroyo, Camarines Sur
Rep. Joseph Santiago, Catanduanes
Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr., Cavite
Rep. Antonio Cuenco, Cebu
Rep. Eduardo Gullas, Cebu
Deputy Speaker Raul Del Mar, Cebu City
Rep. Rommel Amatong, Compostela Valley
Speaker Prospero Nograles, Davao City
Rep. Antonio Lagdameo, Davao Del Norte
Rep. Marc Cagas, Davao Del Sur
Rep. Nelson Dayanghirang, Davao Oriental
Rep. Teodolo Coquilla, Eastern Samar
Rep. Andres Salvacion, Leyte
Rep. Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez, Leyte
Rep. Trinidad Apostol, Leyte
Rep. Ma. Zenaida Angping, Manila
Rep. Amado S. Bagatsing, Manila
Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr., Manila
Rep. Rizalina Seachon-Lanete, Masbate
Rep. Herminia Ramiro, Misamis Occidental
Rep. Yevgeny Emano, Misamis Oriental
Rep. Rozzano Rufino Biazon, Muntinlupa
Rep. Joseph Gilbert Violago, Nueva Ecija
Deputy Speaker Ma. Amelita C. Villarosa, Occidental Mindoro
Rep. Anna York Bondoc, Pampanga
Rep. Aurelio Gonzales Jr., Pampanga
Rep. Juan Miguel Macapagal Arroyo, Pampanga
Rep. Conrado Estrella III, Pangasinan
Rep. Ma. Rachel Arenas, Pangasinan
Rep. Eduardo C. Zialcita, Parañaque
Rep. Roman Romulo, Pasig City
Rep. Mary Ann Susano, Quezon City
Rep. Nanette C. Castelo-Daza, Quezon City
Rep. Danilo Suarez, Quezon Province
Rep. Junie Cua, Quirino
Rep. Arturo B. Robes, San Jose Del Monte
Rep. Roger Mercado, Southern Leyte
Rep. Munir Arbison, Sulu
Rep. Rex Gatchalian, Valenzuela City
Rep. Antonio Diaz, Zambales

The perks:
$300-5000 - Willard Hotel rate with 30 rooms booked. $400-500 - Dinner per plate. $207++ - Airline rate per person, $800-1000 - Rental per car with 30 cars rented. P100,000 per member of the Team Pac You.

News World Stopped for Pacquiao

Here's what happened to the world the past three hours according to Bombo Radyo:

Boston Celtics players, nagpapicture kasama si Pacquiao sa LA

'Panalo ni Pacman, inspirasyon vs Frank'

Dionesia Pacquiao, hinimatay sa tuwa nang manalo si Manny vs. Diaz

Diaz: Hindi ko inaasahang gano'n kagaling si Manny

Round 9: Diaz, bumagsak, na-knockout ni Pacman

Mata ni Diaz, puntirya ni Pacman sa Round 8

Round 7: Suntok ni Diaz, balewala kay Pacquiao

Mata ni Diaz, iniksamin ng doktor sa round 6

Mukha ni Diaz, sargo na sa dugo; Nagmistulang punching bag ni Pacman

Diaz, bugbog sarado sa Round 4

Round 3: 'Diaz, lumaban na pero Pacquiao, lamang pa rin'

Ilong ni Diaz, dumugo

GMA7

» Pacquiao has turned into a complete fighter - analyst 12:32 PM

» David Diaz: I didn't see it coming 12:25 PM

» Boston Celtics meet Pacquiao after Vegas victory 12:08 PM

» Pacquiao's mom faints after learning of son's victory 11:52 AM

» Pacquiao KOs Diaz in ninth round, wins fourth world title 11:49 AM

» Round 8: Diaz fading 11:47 AM

» Ringside blog: Manny's ear 11:43 AM

inquirer.net

• 11:54AM (UPDATE 2) Pacquiao KO’s Diaz in 9th
• 11:35AM Diaz scores
• 11:31AM 5th round: Pacman’s Pet left goes to work
• 11:23AM Diaz bleeding from multiple cuts
• 11:21AM Bottled water debate hits a boiling point
• 11:19AM Diaz comes alive, but Pacquiao still in control
• 11:15AM Diaz bleeds in second round
• 11:13AM Lethal Combination gets going
• 11:12AM Americans outsource life's tough or mundane tasks
• 11:07AM ‘Manny, Manny’ in 1st round
• 11:03AM First round of Pacquiao-Diaz fight begins
• 10:58AM Excitement builds up at Mandalay Bay Events Center

abs-cbnnews

• Arroyo on Pacquiao win: What a masterpiece! 6/29/2008 1:22:25 PM
• Riots in southwest China over police beating case 6/29/2008 1:10:14 PM
• ANC: Pacquiao bags WBC lightweight belt 6/29/2008 12:59:47 PM
• Mugabe set to be declared winner of Zimbabwe poll 6/29/2008 12:59:45 PM
• Cavite folk rejoice with Pacquiao victory 6/29/2008 12:51:31 PM
• Arroyo, McCain discuss fight vs terrorism 6/29/2008 12:46:18 PM

Alcohol Tips

I know you want to drink with all these tribulations and Pacquiao winning. As if you need any reason to drink, you liars. But need to heed these things:
1) I see a lot of call center agents drinking booze and quaffing Red Bull and other "energy drinks" on the side. Not good combination. RB is full of caffeine which is a stimulant while alcohol is a downer. You are making your nervous system, well, nervous and your heart might not be able to take the combo. So for that matter, drinking coffee thinking it would calm you down while drinking alcohol is also bad.
2) Diet Coke with Tanduay is also bad because diet soda tends to be absorbed by the bloodstream faster. So you get drunk faster. You think you are on a diet doing that? There are other ways of dieting.
3) Do have something to eat before drinking. We call it "lining the stomach" but it slows the emptying of the stomach which would have hastened your getting drunk.

Mudguard

Junlee saw this on a mudguard of a jeep in La Trinidad:

It's better to lost one thousand of chicks
than to lost one drop of wine

Pacquiao Dedicates Victory to Frank

It was the most impressive victory of Pacquiao after that first victory over Eric Morales. I have a feeling Manny would be comfortable in this division. Next, he will do a Robert de Niro and gain 50 pounds for the heavyweight title. Go Mehnni! of course, the newspapers will again resurrect the headline, Manny Pacquiao Unites the Storm-Battered Nation

Sarah Manguso

Asking for More

I am not asking to suffer less.
I hope to be nearly crucified.
To live because I don’t want to.

That hope, that sweet agent—
My best work is its work.
The horse I ride into Hell is my best horse
And bears its name.
So, friends, drink your cocktails and wear your hats.
Thank you for leaving me this whole world to go mad in.

I am not asking for mercy. I am asking for more.
I don’t mind when no mercy comes
Or when it comes in the form of my mad self
Running at me. I am not asking for mercy.

Sarah Manguso
About the poet, here's Emily Mitchell's NYT review of her poems:
In her second year of college, the poet Sarah Manguso developed a blood disease so uncommon it doesn’t even have a real name. The autoimmune condition, a rarer form of the already rare Guillain-Barré syndrome, is known as chronic idiopathic demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy, and it took more than four years to run its course. More

The Power of Rumors

Science reported: GIRLS are no less competitive than boys, they're simply subtler about it, a study of pre-schoolers suggests. While boys use head-on aggression to get what they want, girls rely on the pain of social exclusion. To test the apparent differences in how very young children compete, Joyce Benenson at Emmanuel College in Boston and her colleagues divided 87 4-year-olds into same-sex groups of three. In successive trials, each trio received one, two or three highly prized animal puppets. The sexes behaved similarly when there were two or three puppets to go round. The differences became clear, though, when there was just one puppet for each group. Boys tended to ask for the puppet, grab at it, or even chase the child who had it. By contrast, girls punished the puppet-holder by excluding her from their clique, whispering behind her back or even hiding from her (Animal Behaviour, DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2008.01.027).
Benenson says that these socially aggressive tactics may account for why girls exhibit greater jealousy over same-sex friendships than boys. They could be trying to protect themselves against exclusive coalitions. Melissa Emery Thompson at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque says the results help to dispel the myth that females are the less competitive sex. Even at an early age, they avoid risky direct aggression in favour of subtler forms of competition such as small shifts in tone and expression, or spreading rumours.

Graphic, Being all Equal

chairs, candles, people in orange are used here

Revamped Graphic Equalizer from Marcelo Costa on Vimeo.

Spadrilles

Oh, yeah! The flamingos...

Posporo

Japanese packaging makes pyromaniacs of the rest of us

President Arroyo as Hall of Famer of Women Divers

Seriously. She is now an honorary member of the Women Divers Hall of Fame. The citation, as read by Martha Watkins Gilkes, said: As a scuba diver and a world leader, President Arroyo recognizes that a healthy marine environment is the foundation of a stable, productive society that can develop in a sustainable manner.”

Oh.

I thought it was due to her plunging popularity rate that knew no nadir.

Constitution, 2008: Running the Prisoners

This represents the 85,000 people arrested and held at US-run detention facilities with no trial or other due process of law because we have to preserve the US way of life. This is part of Running the Numbers by Chris Jordan

Act of God vs Cry for Love

A Catholic bishop castigated Sulpicio Lines owners for calling the "Princess of the Stars" as an "act of God." He said that it is an act of man. The good bishop forgot what their Archbishop called Typhoon Cosme and other typhoons and natural disasters for that matter. He called it a "cry for Love." Tell that to the relatives of the dead still awaiting the bodies. Their ship capsized. A cry for love? Then the rains didn't stop raining. A cry for love? Then they learned that pesticides were in the cargo and must have upended making it hard for the survivors and the divers to continue. Another cry for love? Love has left the boat a long, long time ago. To put "God" and "Love" confuse the tragic situation. Let us stop the metaphysical or else will end up like the senators with their blame game ad infinitum. Prioritize the physical. Upend the ship. Identify and find all the bodies, if that is possible. Punish the Sulpicio people after giving them the slap on the wrist for so long because they are so well-entrenched. Make the laws tougher. Give the survivors or the loved ones something warmer to remember other than the assurance that this is God's act or a fucking cry for love.

Boratified

Nash ordered one. This we gotta see.

Book Review Booty

Ay naku, when I used to review books, I used to buy them at A Different Bookstore. Now I don't because they only review potboilers and books sent to them. But New York Times recently featured the shags (promotional booties) managers give their book reviewers. Only because an NYT review from, say, Michiko Kakutani can make or break you. In fact, just being mentioned by her is enough for an obituary to some. For example, this wooden Trojan gift horse has the "Lost Books of the Odyssey" inside.

Imagine the gifts that Oprah gets.

Purple-Tongued

Journalist Visa

Got this from ananova. Funny that the journalist here was the top photo editor of Mirror. Couldn't he have just taken a better photo of himself?

A journalist had his new passport photos rejected - because his bald head was too shiny. Ian Down, 42, got the pictures taken at a photo-booth and handed them over with his documents at a passport office, reports the Daily Mirror. But a clerk at the Passport Service looked at the flash reflecting off Ian's head and asked: "What's that mark?" Ian said: "I was shocked. I told them what it was but they said some countries might not let me in if they saw it." Ian, head of pictures at the Mirror, was sent away to get some new photos by the clerk in Victoria, Central London. The new ones also had a bit of glare from the flash but not enough to cause a problem.

Dolphin

As I say Gdnite, here's a charming sad story among the storm of sad stories:

A dolphin rescued a fisherman after his fishing boat capsized Saturday in the wake of typhoon "Frank" off Negros, although both of them died upon reaching the shore of Burias Island in Masbate.

Germany - Turkey: Wha Happened?

It's just a matter of who're hungrier

Laoag Girl Wins Top Investigative Reporting Prize

Glenda Gloria, the pride of Laoag, wins the Jaime V. Ongpin for Excellence in Reporting for her report on the disappearance of Jonas Burgos, the son of press freedom fighter Joe Burgos, who incidentally hails from Vigan. Her article, "Trapped in the Web of Lies," came out in Newsbreak Magazine, where we also used to write regularly. Roel Landingin also won for explanatory reporting for his articles on the NAIA3 entitled "The Battle for Manila's Gateway." Landingin's story also came out in Newsbreak. Also given merit was Prime Sarmiento for his article on waste water which came out in PCIJ.

Obama's Wonder-full Music

Stevie Wonder is on heavy rotation in Obama's iPod. Also Bruce, Bob Dylan, Jay-Z and Sheryl Crow(?!)

A True Non-Joke only Fil-Ams Can Understand

A Filipina born in Hawaii who became a man is now set to deliver a baby on July 3. Thomas Beatie whose birth name is Tracy Lagondino is legally a man and is married to a woman. They are going to have a girl.

Lotion

A joke only Filipinos would understand:

How would you say to somebody that he or she is obese without really saying so?
Answer: "Is Mang Tomas your lotion?"

How Pacquiao Can Really, Really Hurt Diaz

Presidentiable Etiquette

As any so-called midcareer Filipino journalist, we get swamped by press releases from Roxas and Villar. So it is no surprise when I got this from my inbox. Villar: Latest maritime accident undermines competence of Filipino seafarers.

Hmm. Brave words. The rest of the story follows:

Senate President Manny Villar today said the latest maritime accident involving a ferry with more than 700 passengers is not good for the image of Filipino seamen, whose reputation is now widely known as one of the trusted in the world.

“Since most of the seafarers worldwide came from the Philippines, accidents in RP waters send a bad message against the competence of more than 300,000 Filipino seamen. Second to our ultimate goal to protect lives, this is one of the reasons why we should not allow the list of these deadly sea accidents to continue,” Villar said.

Villar, who is now in Europe, said he is echoing the concern of Filipino seafarers he met there after news of the sinking of MV Princess of the Stars reached them...

Ay ganoon. He is in Europe while taking on the Pinoy sailors. There is something wrong here. A great number of people died. I am still grieving over that young girl using the photo of her kuya as her hankie as she sheepishly wept. The country is in a deep funk. Villar, come home then start blaming. I see no difference between you and PGMA right now.

Bruce Lee Anthology

The great Gilbert Yap Tan emailed me the site for the Enter the Dragon soundtrack. Galeng-galeng! I remembered tuloy my plan for an anthology:

Do you have a Bruce Lee Moment?

Do you remember that time when you punched your school bully on the solar plexus at sunset over the grassy knoll of New Lucban? Yes, I did. Now if you have a poem, short story or literary essay about martial arts and writing, send it to me. If not I will extract it from you. I already have Peter Bacho and that crazy Irish writer who fought with Bruce Lee. I also have my own essay about visiting Bruce Lee's karate school in Seattle.

Movie Credits

Movie credits in the age of CGI. You longed for that time when actors and stories are the only things that matter. Now it's the pixels that count.
I love reading the UK magazine The Sight and Sound because they list all the movie credits of the movies that review. But the length of the LOTR is a put-down.
Who cares who moved the mouse on that scene and on that scene.
Was JRR Tolkien mentioned? He may have become irrelevant here.

Papua

That explains why I had a visitor in Papua New Guinea.
The yawning dog never gets a chance to use the laptop.
As for that hand on the breast...

The Lost "Art" of Film Posters

These are film posters you never saw before because they were old films re-made by current artists. This site will let you appreciate film posters and why they should not only advertise films but be the events themselves.