The thing with Manila Kingpin: The untold story of Asiong Salonga

The Ultimate in Angas Eye Candy!

•  I really had high hopes for it ever since the trailer came out: watching a group of Tondo thugs walking in an almost straight line, portrayed by the best under-rated Pinoy Actors (Baron Geisler, Ketchup Eusebio, Pen Medina…) shot in Black and White, with all the yosi smoke floating in the air, Gun fights under the rain in slow-mo..
• Never mind if the story was already retold several times or if the typical Pinoy action film cliches exist in the film, IT WAS THE ULTIMATE in Angas EYE-CANDY, something you’ll watch for the fight scenes and not the story itself (reminiscent of Suckerpunch)
• But then news of re-editing without the Director’s consent started to surface, so at the back of mind, I was thinking that it isn’t going to be great as it supposed to be, and I was literally identifying which of the scenes were “re-shoots”
• For all its worth, there were a lot of scenes that used the black and white medium effectively (i.e. using contrasts to make the scene look really pretty), Opening Credits were unusually stunning for a mainstream Pinoy Flick, glorious moments of slow-mo cinematography made for exciting gunfights - just for these scenes, and the fact that a Pinoy Film can achieve such an aesthetic – I’d say I got the most out of my 180 peso-ticket.
• What keeps it from being great: the awkward editing, acting (Seriously, Governor ER’s acting made me realize how hard it was to force yourself to cry, naawa ako sa kanya) – the use of Mad World as the background music at last gun battle - out of place, meyn! and probably the fact that somewhere there exists a better version of this film, a version that didn’t veer away from the vision of the person who conceptualized the film’s memorable moments.
• Cheers to Amay Bisaya, and yes, I’m one with the netizens clamoring for the release of the director’s cut version of this film

P.S. Interesting biographies of Manila’s Most Wanted in this blog, which includes what really happened to Asiong Salonga.

How to Sell your Old Books when you’re in Manila part 2: Textbooks Edition

The Recto Book Sidewalk

In part 1 of this post, I detailed some steps on how you can sell your still popular or Really old pocketbooks. Now in part 2, I’ll be featuring the kind of books usually traded in the streets of Recto: Textbooks.

I was engineering student before, and I had a lot of Calculus, Math and Electronics textbooks, hardbound and softbound, gathering dust in my cabinet. So instead of occupying space, I decided to sell them, expecting to receive a significant amount. Even though I purchased the books around 2003 to 2005, they’re still Engineering Books – and they’re HARDBOUND. So I was expecting to at least get 1000 pesos for 5 books. Turned out I got 750 for 10 books. Much lower than I expected, but it is better than getting coins in exchange.

A bit disappointed, I asked Ate Cecille, the seller who I sold my books to,  for tips on what does she look for when buying books from people:

Textbooks for Sale!

1. The books’ edition – Students mostly buy textbooks from Recto in the hopes of getting their textbooks cheaper than commercial bookstores, so the buyers are on the lookout for the latest editions they can easily resell. The trick here is to sell your used textbooks right after you use them so you can fetch a higher price for them. Don’t be discouraged to sell older editions though, they still buy them because some people use older editions “as a reference” according to Ate Cecille.

2. Condition – The better the condition of the book – the higher the price.

3. Relevance / Demand / Rarity – The demand is high for Nursing and Engineering books, so they’ll fetch more buyers and higher rates. If the book is popular across schools (i.e. The Calculus Series), then you’ll find more willing buyers. In my experience, I had a hard time selling my hardbound Calculus book, probably because not a lot of Recto-goers can afford them – fortunately I was able to sell it to Ate Cecile,  whose stall is located inside the building. Which leads me to another tip..

4. Sell to the buyers inside the building – When I tried to sell a less popular textbook to a sidewalk buyer, what happened was the buyer went inside the building, asked the stall buyer what the price was, and then she returned, and told me the price. I figured from this that people in the sidewalks resell their books to those with the stalls – so its possible that you might get a higher price for your books when you go directly to the stall buyers.

While selling my books, I also managed to take a peek at the books being sold – seems like they really had everything – they had books by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, The Little Prince, the classics (or prescribed literature class reading). They were even selling Filipinana titles in there. I had a hard time fighting the urge to spend the money I just earned from selling. Bookworm paradise talaga ang Recto, both to those who would want to make a quick buck, or someone who’s looking for a bargain, or for literature hunters on the lookout for a steal or that one-of-a-kind find.

Read part 1 here.

Career Shifting Adventures: Lessons I learned about Design for the past 7 months

The Tumblr Tree Planting meetup

Wow, its been years since I wrote anything here, and if I wrote anything, its book related – I’m starting to think that books are keeping me from doing things that I need to do. So the year’s winding down, and everything’s pretty crazy. For those who know me personally, they probably know of my adventures of jumping the IT ship and wading through the design world around April, and it has been 8 months since I did that. And now friends go, “So you’re a Designer now?”…uh, yeap, pretty much. (I still can’t believe I’m saying that, actually)

It really has been an adventure. I think I’ve met as much more people withing those 8 months than the people I’ve met for my entire life. Its like undergoing a Second Teenhood: studying, projects, internships, volunteering, going to tumblr meetups (apparently its the in-thing with kids these days), free concerts, household chores, and finally “graduating” from school. Luckily I still look the part and I could still pass for a 20-year old, unfortunately I do give off the ate-vibe.

Anyway, some observations and learning on past 7-month stints:

Pedring Reading: Azurin’s Random Walks and De Veyra’s Super Panalo Sounds

What I like about reading is that you get to experience worlds that you’ll probably be never be able to venture to in your lifetime, because of resource constraints, or simply that world currently does not exist (particularly fictional worlds of Fantasy and Sci-Fi orgins). For todays’  typhoon Brown-out induced reading – its more of the former, today I got transported to the world of boardrooms and businesses for the first few hours, and the world of Drugs-Drugs-and Rock’n Roll for the latter part of the day.

On Juan Flavier’s Back to the Barrios and Korean Drama IRIS

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I’m really digging this slideshow feature by wordpress. No more messy pictures all over your blogposts. Anyway, 2 insights just to get my mind of these 2 things keeping me from doing schoolwork.

32nd Manila International Book Fair

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And its that time of the year again. Intentionally placed myself in a book-buying drought just for this event, came home carrying a bagful of books. And to think that just a few months ago I offloaded my shelf by selling my books. This particular book fair is an interesting one since it was graced by a lot of authors (signing books of course), some new exhibitors, and new titles and bargain books by local presses!

La Dulce Diva: Goosebumps 10x over.

This.

Pagbigyan mo na ako. Sabi nga nila kanya-kanyang trip lang talaga. And there I was surrounded by people old enough to be my parents/grandparents. Instead of spotting maybe Anne Curtis or Rockstars or some celebrities my age I saw Kuya Germs, Boots Anson-Roa, Bro. Jun Banaag of Dr. Love Radio Show fame and National Artist Eddie Romero. Going there felt like I’ve aged 20 years. I was the youngest one to deliberately (i.e. hindi hinila ni Mommy at Daddy) go to the concert. This is my old soul manifesting itself. But I digress.

Cinemalaya 2011 Day 2 of 2: Ligo na U, Lapit na Me, Ang Sayaw ng Dalawang Kaliwang Paa, Rakenrol, Zombadings

Cinemalaya 2011: Our Day 2!

And after a week we were back at CCP for our second batch of Cinemalaya Movies to watch: Erick Salud’s Ligo na U, Lapit na Me, Alvin Yapan’s Ang Sayaw ng Dalawang Kaliwang Paa, and fortunately I was still able to get tickets for Cinemalaya’s 2 Closing Films: Quark Henares’ Rakenrol and Jade Castro’s Zombadings 1: Patayin sa Shokot si Remington. I almost spent the whole day inside CCP save for the dinner we had at Harbor Square.

Cinemalaya 2011 Day 1 of 2: i-Libings at Ang Babae sa Septic Tank

Cinemalaya 2011

Trekked to CCP for Cinemalaya 2011 to watch our First Batch of Films. Me and my friend have decided to watch i-Libings and Ang Babae sa Septic Tank  for the first Cinemalaya weekend and the film Ligo na U, Lapit na Me and Ang Sayaw ng Dalawang Kaliwang Paa on the second one. When we arrived, ang daming tao sa CCP! It was packed like I’ve never seen before.

Daming tao sa CCP

It’s interesting to notice that the crowd was mostly made up of young people, even though most of it might have been students required by their professors to watch Cinemalaya films. But I do like to think that the younger generation is more interested in art stuff, and its not really a bad thing to require students to watch Cinemalaya movies, para mabahiran ng kultura ang mga katawan nila, as my friend aptly puts it.

Postcards, Stamps and Design

I’ve recently gotten into a hobby of sending postcards to people abroad via postcrossing. In return I receive postcards from people all over the globe. Its very interesting to receive pictures of sights, or to have a peek on how a stranger’s day went, but what excites me more is to receive art and design cards from around the world. (Here’s my postcrossing wall to have an Idea of the cards I’ve received so far).

Aside from sending Philippine View cards, I also make it a point to send Design Postcards abroad. Its really hard to find Design Postcards since they’re not usually sold in bookstores – you’ll have to scour the artsy/pa-art/hipster bazaars and stores every December, or the interwebs for artists selling postcards of their work. This particular postcard by Tof Zapanta was received pretty well with 5 likes. Its like you’re broadcasting Philippine Design to the world in your own little way. This little piece of design has made its way to Japan.

Postcards Yey!

This afternoon, I’ve sent another 2 postcards with Commemorative Stamps for Rizal’s 150th year – these 2 stamps in Red and Blue featuring the winning design of Team Manila designers Ramon Vizmonte and Ritzh Sales – is now making their way to the US and Kazakhstan. Nakakatuwa lang isipin na may Pinoy design na nakakarating sa Kazakhstan. Sorry naman, mababaw lang ako.