filmmaking, musings

here’s a picture of me taken last thursday (feb 18) while on a break during a shoot at our garden studio in mandaluyong. the wall behind me was built, which i supervised, for the shoot. it was a replica of a real wall found in korea, and this was made out of plywood, styrofoam, and painted in cement. eto trabaho ko. astig.

that’s rajie at the far end and another carpenter, working on a signage props for this shoot. he’s the head setman/ artist of my boss (dante mendoza). he’s muslim and that has brought a particular connection of understanding between us, natives from native mindanao. originally my boss thought i was muslim also, seeing that rajie and i spoke the same language at times and we seem to understand each other clearly. that and the fact that i sport a billy goat’s goatee and a tubao or an arabian’s headgear (yung red!). he’s also deaf in one ear and we have to either talk out loud in front of him or speak clearly in his good ear.

we took photographs of korean talents in winter clothes, running through fake snow (styrofoam and rock salt). it was very hot that afternoon and the koreans werent exactly enjoying having to act as if they were freezing in impossibly hot weather. oh well, the things you have to do for a chance to be on the papers hehehe

also, we shot in the ayala underpass that evening. earlier i took digital pictures without permission and the guard on duty bounced on me and was raving mad. he was also badly scared. i wondered why he was so angry. i reckoned he would be more friendly if a tourist or a pretty girl were doing that. i later realized i looked like some terrorist (haha) and this happened when the ayala bus bombing was still fresh on everyone’s minds. cheers! 🙂

Standard
movies

over, sideways, and under on a magic carpet ride

a journey through the heartlands of vineyard california

watched sideways last monday with drei and diane. the movie was very simple but very real. it helped that the production was independently produced (partly by fox searchlight) and directed by alexander payne, whose previous work on election, also portrayed rural america. in the film we find two friends on a wine tour through sunny california. along the way they encounter great wine, great sex, and a few cheeses in between. life and relationships were likened to wine which ages greatly in oak barrels, it’s consistency getting darker and clarity heightens every year. of course wine peaks and begins its descent to decay. yet its value rises and should be more cherished. people going through midlife crises find themselves on a similar path with the aging of wine, every moment cherished and life changing, chances taken and are explored, enjoyed, and lived. some things cant be taken for granted like binding friendship and marriage, new friends and old ones, red wine, chardonnay and pinoit. asteg the film, try to catch it while you can.

me wished we had more time to enjoy the night but i got a text that the ayala area was on alert due to bombing threats. of course i wouldnt want to argue with chances so it was bye bye early to both diane and drei.

Standard
laundry therapy, movies

the punjab lasso

keeping your hands at the level of your eyes

i reread the libretto today and it explained why we keep our hands at the level of our eyes. thus reads:
GIRY: But remember: your hand at the level of your eyes!
RAOUL: but (hu-)why…?
GIRY: Why? The Punjab lasso, monsieur. First Buquet. Now Piangi.
MEG (holding up her hand): Like this, monsieur. I’ll come with you.
GIRY: No, Meg! No, you stay here!
(to Raoul): Come with me, monsieur. Hurry, or we shall be too late…

this part of the song wasnt included in the film thus a lot were confused, myself included, with the significance of the action. of course Buquet was talking about the magic lasso in the middle of the first act but that didnt explain much. in the stage version the lasso would magically suspend itself in mid-air (that’s how it caught raoul in the underground lair).

enough talk about lassos and opera ghosts.

******************************

today’s a day off thank God. it gave me the opportunity to do the rest of my laundry, which consists mostly of sheets and towels. now i can change my bedspreads and sleep on freshly washed cotton sheets. the beauty of washing machines and spin dryers. i bet you havent thanked God they were invented 🙂 it’s about time you do.

Standard
musings

letters to digital friends

here’s a YM chat record i sent to cuzin tootsie (bohomo) while she was offline:

Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2005 05:45:45 +0800
From: “- 2tC -” teptep@yahoo.com
Subject: Re: ey
To: “Asante sana squash banana” paderewski@yahoo.com

hehe..juker kaayo ka thir…unsa na balita karon? so back to katips naka?

paderewski@edsamail.com.ph wrote:

You currently appear invisible to teptep.

paderewski: hoy mata na! im bored tutay. as in. been in cagayan since christmas. walay gakahitabo sa akong life diri. waiting for paolo tiangco to contact me regarding racket sa bukidnon. video docu. we have yet to talk again. he lost his phone man gud. no way to contact him. only by email. and he hasnt replied yet. meanwhile i lay wasted and restless. if by the end of the week he doesnt contact me ill borrow money and make my way back to manila where things happen.

paderewski: hay

paderewski: listening to accuradio classical music on the net. it’s comforting but the p20/hour rate here is insane. and im broke.

paderewski: i should just have written these down an email

paderewski: but i find this convenient

paderewski: im in dvsoria, to escape from blumentritt and rer. seeking solace in an internet cafe with badaircon but their headphone’s great

paderewski: the connection’s pretty fast, hence my fascination with radio on the net.

paderewski: wanna write and produce a film but ive no money to pull through with it. the irony of creativity and financial capability. sure you can come up with something with nothing. but my type of stuff just happens to grow only around papernotes from the central bank of the philippines

paderewski: i smell coffee. great, newly brewed coffee. i miss katipunan and my life in UP, full of hopes and dreams and the idea that everything’s possible and things do happen. things are not just happening to me here in cagayan. and im so friggin bored

paderewski: speak to me. wake up. wake up. hey. yo! oy! oy! btw, i bought a copy of bridget jones’s diary yesterday, to add to my collection of british comedy that i love (including a boy’s life)

paderewski: ill probably post this conversation again into an email so you wont miss any of my angst ridden moment in cyberspace. i do take comfort in the net, and my online friends. i miss all of them. and the bigger world out there, out of here.

paderewski: currently listening to an instrumental piece by, would you believe, elvis costello. and it’s pretty good. title’s “the identity parade” and it plays like a 60’s tv show

paderewski: been surfing through myspace this afternoon and hey, wait. gotta get off the net now. im running p40 on my tab and that’s already pretty scary, considering im broke. ive like less than p800 to last me till i get to my next racket. and if i were in manila, i wouldnt even have time to stay on the net. that

paderewski: that’s irony for you

paderewski: and im wealthy (supposedly) in manila

paderewski: taxi fare’s so way up, flagdown is p30 and so i spend p150 from the office to the house. that’s why ive resorted to commuting when i can or have the energy to do so.

paderewski: what can i do here in cagayan? any ideas? even the supposed atmosphere in may’s dos isnt doing any good. i might as well get some coffee and hang out at the capitol.

paderewski: hey, macarthur park’s getting shaped up by the government and it’s really amazing, theyre doing such a good job at beautifying the place. the capitol building is back with white paint, adn the little fishpond in teh front is unfenced, just like when we were kids

paderewski: theyve tiled up the pathways and planted new carabao grass all over. theyve even built cement picnic benches. might send pics soon

paderewski: gotta go, im running 2hours14mins here and i still have to buy tita an her vitamin c’s. i guess she caught the bug as i did. will stop over the dvd area and exchange the “love actually” we purchased yesterday because it was running on PAL system.

paderewski: alright, cheerio and see you soon!

Standard
musings

decided to make this all simple for this month, my life’s been too much of a rush and i havent been having the time to do anything much. at least i can easily update you with stories using a stress free template 🙂

and oh yeah, im running on times new roman, one of my least favorite type faces, mainly because we’ve been using it since windows came out and the romans at it since well, you get it.

******************************

ive been busy back at work, or have i told you that? the last time i wrote i think i was still in cagayan. been in manila since the beginning of february. when i got back at the office we already had a shoot for smart communications. just yesterday we finished this other pictorial with korean talents. nahurot akong korean english no! “ok, where you now? you in taxi? you go there stay aircon room. you this, you that, sit down read. you others extras like korean winter.” they understood me perfectly.

it was a lot of fun, and i got home early and with my weekend free, which is great. in this line of work, you dont get weekends free. you dont have an 9-6 clock in time like the rest of the labor workforce slaving in 4sq.m. blue grey cubicles like lab rats on observation. i work 21hour days for 7days with no assurance that i could watch movies because youre just gonna doze off anyway from fatigue.

but the work is interesting and fun, i get to go out in the sun, walk the streets of dvsoria or down the aisles of airconditioned malls, stay in the office for hours, or long hours in production studios during shoots. thus i remain.

but i have others plans still. i wanna study again, do a film, write a book, publish, produce, create, act, perform, etc. etc. and it seems my boss is open enough to let me do these things.

btw my boss’s company will now soon be a real company. we already got a name and pretty soon, maybe IDs! how exciting! hehehe and then we can now call ourselves a production house probably. astig.

enough about work.

Standard
musings

lost in translation

i feel like im in some limbo, confused and anxious. restless nga diba? yesterday to save myself from boredom, i went out with my cuzins for some beers to drown out my sorrows. wow. drinking to forget problems? never really did that. yeah i drink but only to heighten cognitive processing and flavor discourses with inspired (spirited), enlightened visions and viewpoints. so anyway, the night air was cool and crisp, the atmosphere set with music by brit artists, and we spent most of the time lamenting on the state of our praise and worship bands. eh?

my relationship with the peoples on mindanao country is both comforting and alien at the same time. my existence here is temporary at best. i wouldnt want to explain, my migraine’s kicking up mainly due to the caramel chocolate cake we had at bigby’s this afternoon.

while cruising down the aisles of the ororama grocery area, cuzin maylin and i chanced upon hairdyes and i bought a packet of black dye to try on doing tattoos, pretty much like what youd do with henna. i then spent the better part of the late evening painting my left hand with t’boli inspired designs that ran from halfway up my fingers all the way down to a little below my wrist.

it’s just unfortunately that i only have one drawing hand. while my whole left hand is covered with ethnic patterns, my right is clean as a slate. talk about being bored. at least i was trying to be creative, using my body as canvas. maybe i should stretch my back on a frame and hang it up the wall. that might be too hannibalistic.

Standard
movies, musings

happy new year

hi all. finally afforded some time to update on the how-now browncows of me. im in mindanao and looking forward to doing this documentary for bukidnon. unfortunately my contact lost his cellphone and the only way to contact him is through email, and im almost never online as i used to.

so, “how now, browncow?” well, i just finished working on my boss’s film. it might not see light in local theaters as it is slated for an international release. i havent finished my docus in lake sebu and la paz zamboanga. im paranoid about wasting time in mindanao. i wanna go study abroad but i am clearly not viable to finance myself. i wanna get a laptop so i can be mobile.

looking forward to phantom of the opera the film. id think it will be a fascinating experience. for the mmff, ive seen only panaghoy sa suba, which i enjoyed, and happy together, which was, for lack of a more smarter term, stupid.

ive seen the documentary on the making of star wars from the bonus dvd disc of the original trilogy. am giving it to fanatic cuzin patsy for xmas.

i will be updating my page for real once i get back in manila. ill be following the template i used in about me, and might keep it that way for around 3 months, much like when i kept the balot embryo/these dreams templates for months.

im broke but im happy.

i miss my online friends. havent made chika or left notes and comments to them. i feel so removed since i havent really been online for months. since november. i havent recovered from supposed separation anxiety. i have my issues with this particular unintentional withdrawal. it’s driving me nuts!

i feel this is rather temporary. im bound for greater things yet my life is at a standstill, ready to take the plunge but not quite. a lot of things are missing. does time matter? perhaps. opportunities are nothing as long as i stay in mindanao. it’s a trap i dont have the energy to break out of too.

my life was at a roll until january seeped in. now i have lots of pending jobs and things are piling up. and i dont have the will to let things happen. or stop it from happening. things might get worse. and ive no idea what’s taking place.

how hard can life get?

a picture cesar hernando, my professor, took while in prague. when he realized ive been using paderewski for my domain name and email names, he gave me this copy. i learned about paderewski when i was a child. one of my dad’s various classical albums contained a recording of a waltz by paderewski, a polish diplomat turned pianist. my aunt, tabexs, commented on paderewski, it resembling the family surname, padero. years later, while in search of a name for my first email address (back in 1997 i presume) i remembered that recording, hence i started using paderewski.

the use of “unburdening my digital soul” was inspired by the film, “the matrix.” as i am clearly not out of it, i am in fact still slave to the machine, and since i would in effect dream electronic sheep and simulate environments that are of the virtual world, then what i know of myself is artificial. and perhaps my soul also is. although ive surrender to the God almighty, i may be conscious only of my digital soul, which rants and raves every so often. and to lay down my weary self on electrons, i unburden myself the only way i know.

enough blabber for now. i wish you all a joyous year ahead, i pray your goals and ambitions be fulfilled and may God be glorified always. oh yes, Lord do forgive us all. cheers to you Lord, you are indeed the greatest.

Standard
musings

yeah im back

sorry havent updated you on the last leg of my mindanao trip, im still pretty racked up about having to leave the place. im still speechless, cant express myself fully about how beautiful the whole place is and what a wonderful time i had while doing the documentary. as soon as i can i will write about it.

anyway, yes im back in manila. arrived monday morning ready for work. will be meeting my boss today pa lang though. and im going to cebu tomorrow for one of his projects, will be back in manila by the evening (wow, jetsetter daw! hwahaha). im still have other projects i need to finish: edit the docus i did in la paz, zamboanga and in lake sebu, south cotabato, finish the script of the uccp youth choir christmas cantata, write a script for the reception of a friend’s wedding, and sleep. 🙂 oh yes, eat too.

gotta go. my boss texts me just now he’s to meet me in aurora ave at 11.30. it’s 10.50 and i havent bathe yet. cheers!

Standard
travel

the return of the comeback, part 2

ok, by midnight tonight ill be off to davao and to gensan and to marbel and to surallah then to lake sebu by lunchtime tomorrow. im going back! still have a few interviews to catch and a few more places to shoot. my sked is really killing me, my boss in manila is already looking for me and was expecting me to be back in mandaluyong middle of october. and here i am still going round mindanao.

mindanao is soo much fun. everything is practically accessible by bus. and the traveling just adds to the charm of the place. cruising through foggy nights across mountains and plains and waking up in a different city the next day, though not entirely strange and unfamiliar. the spirit of the pinoy lives on and the more islands and hills you explore the more you realize what a wonderful place the philippines is, and how the government is doing a rather crappy job looking after it.

see you all soon. and perhaps more stories later too. just got another set of my photos from the developers this morning. more pictures of t’boli women dancing, and a few more of my nieces and nephew. cheers y’all! 🙂

Standard
travel

tilapia all day

my short stay in lake sebu was another amazing journey to familiarizing myself with the beauty of the philippines (char). lake sebu is a municipality located 1,000mts above sealevel in south cotabato. it is home to 19 barangays (18 of which is governed by the T’bolis and the Ubos) and sports three mountain lakes, including the enchanting lake sebu itself. having acquainted myself to natives i have been educated yet again on life’s hardships and glorious moments. the documentary im working on in the area allows me to get in touch with many of them, hearing about their movements and noting down their sentiments, recording their cries of injustice and sharing in their stories of determination and triumph.

arrived in lake sebu early monday morning and was briefed by sir jorge on the taxi about the project in cotabato. was led to a single-room cottage with a balcony and a great view of the lake. i immediately rounded up the NGO people in the office and asked what the main issues of the area were. after half an hour we got to a general idea of how the docu should come out but still unclear about details and how to get it. eventually through interviews with datus and farmers, we were able to flesh out a working outline of the video. however the real cut of the film would only be finalized after i got it cleared with the big bosses in zamboanga.

first meal in lake sebu was tilapia, fished fresh out of the lake. dinner, apparently was also with tilapia. oh and could you guess what we had for breakfast? im not gonna tell you.

oh yeah, made a couple of booboos that irked an educated t’boli with a lot of hangups. ok, i should be more understanding. but hey, if i was forewarned i wouldnt have started shooting the nak’d lady by the public well! ok i was kidding.

had a great time when t’boli children surrounded me and my cam in a circle and while singing a native song. and i was serenaded by an old t’boli in full regalla– on her knees! then we hiked up traankini to get shots of the waterfalls where i accidently slipped and got the cam wet. oops, did i just give myself away?

more later when i can gather my thoughts better. right now im in cagayan de oro for a break but i will be going back to lake sebu after the all-saint’s day holiday. cheers y’all!

Standard