Ngayun, hanggang linggo, ang Global Stand Up Against Poverty. Ang akward nga lang na may sale din sa Megamall sa mga panahong ito.
Bagama't walang direktang pagbanggit, palaga'y ko'y may kinalaman pa rin ito sa tema. Di ba, Mr. C? Kaya bilang pakiki-isa, isang salin mula kay Soliman Santos.*
Mga apulitikal na intelektwal*
Isang araw
ang mga apulitikal
na intelektwal
ng aking bansa
ay uusigin
ng pinakapayak
sa mga mamamayan.
Tatanungin sila
kung ano ang ginawa nila
habang ang kanilang bansa’y naghihingalo
nang dahan-dahan,
tulad ng matamis na apoy
mumunti at nangungulila.
Walang magtatanong sa kanila
tungkol sa kanilang magagarang damit,
sa mahahaba nilang siyesta
matapos ang tanghalian,
walang magnanais makaalam
tungkol sa kanilang malinis na pakikitunggali
sa “ang ideya
ng wala”
walang makikialam tungkol
sa kanilang kalaamang pampinasiya.
Hindi sila tatanungin
tungkol sa mitolohiyang Griyego,
o tungkol sa kanilang pagkamuhi sa sarili
kapag ang isa sa kanila
ay nagsimulang mamatay
sa duwag na paraan.
Hindi sila tatangungin
tungkol sa kanilang absurdong
mga pagbibigay-katwiran,
isinilang sa anino
ng buong kasinungalingan.
Sa araw na iyon
darating ang simpleng mga tao.
Silang mga walang lugar
sa mga aklat at mga tula
ng apulitikal na mga intelektwal,
pero araw-araw na naghahatid
ng tinapay at gatas,
tortilya at itlog,
silang mga nagmamaneho ng kanilang kotse,
silang nag-alaga ng kanilang aso’t mga hardin
at nagtrabaho para sa kanila,
at itatanong nila:
“Ano ang inyong ginawa nang ang mga dukha
ay nagdusa, nang ang pagkalinga
at buhay
ay tumakas mula sa kanila?”
Apulitikal na mga intelektwal
ng mahal kong bansa,
hindi kayo makasasagot.
Isang buwitre ng katahimikan
ang sasakmal sa inyong bituka.
Ang sarili ninyong kalungkutan
ay uuk-ok sa inyong kaluluwa.
At mapipipi kayo sa inyong kahihiyan
Si Otto Rene Castillo ay makatang Guatemalan at naging taga-pangulo sa Propaganda at Edukasyon ng Rebel Armed Forces.
kinuha ang larawan sa http://www.marxists.org/subject/art/literature/castillo/photo/castillo1.gif
17.10.08
Bilang pakiki-isa...
15.5.08
Cheating
Came across this list in Cimatu's blog, thought I'd give it a try. Should have thought twice. Made me feel that I've left out on a lot of things. Anyway, I'll just have to find a way to prevent myself from dying. For the complete list, click.
Here's how I fared.
155. Jazz – Toni Morrison: have one, haven't read it yet
190. Remains of the Day – Kazuo Ishiguro: started it, didn't finish
195. Like Water for Chocolate – Laura Esquivel: at last, something familiar
200. Foucault’s Pendulum – Umberto Eco: was 3/4 through when I gave up. Why? I ask the same question
223. Beloved – Toni Morrison: have one, haven't read it though
230. An Artist of the Floating World – Kazuo Ishiguro: have one, haven't read it
236. Love in the Time of Cholera – Gabriel García Márquez: read it, loved every bit of it
293. The Name of the Rose – Umberto Eco: have one, haven't read it though
303. The World According to Garp – John Irving: have one, haven't read it
314. Petals of Blood – Ngugi Wa Thiong’o: have one, lent it, haven't got it back yet, bought from the SFW in Diliman, it was translated by the late great Monico Atienza (I think)
315. Song of Solomon – Toni Morrison: have one, haven't read it
320. Interview With the Vampire – Anne Rice: read it
324. Autumn of the Patriarch – Gabriel García Márquez: read it
379. The Godfather – Mario Puzo: loved the movie (does this count?)
399. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel García Márquez: read it, loved every Rosario
402. The Joke – Milan Kundera: have one, haven't read it
423. Arrow of God – Chinua Achebe: have one, haven't read it
437. A Clockwork Orange – Anthony Burgess: saw the movie, disturbingly beautiful, will bite own tongue before reading actual book
456. To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee: read it
461. Naked Lunch – William Burroughs: borrowed one, can't find it anymore, hard read
472. Things Fall Apart – Chinua Achebe: read it, liked it
508. Lord of the Flies – William Golding: saw the film, haven't read the book
521. The Old Man and the Sea – Ernest Hemingway: have a translated version from SWF
547. Nineteen Eighty-Four – George Orwell: read it, bothered by it. Shhh, Big Brother is watching
564. Animal Farm – George Orwell: read it, bothered by it, two feet good, four feet bad.
574. The Little Prince – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry: read it, still can't get it
620. Keep the Aspidistra Flying – George Orwell: have one, haven't read it though
631. Burmese Days – George Orwell: currently reading it, hearting it
698. Mrs. Dalloway – Virginia Woolf: saw the film, haven't read the book
736. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man – James Joyce: have one, haven't read it
738. Rashomon – Akutagawa Ryunosuke: saw the Kurosawa (hoping that its screenplay was based on the book)
767. The Jungle – Upton Sinclair: have one, haven't read it
790. The War of the Worlds – H.G. Wells: have one, haven't read it, watched the film instead (sticks and stones...)
837. The Brothers Karamazov – Fyodor Dostoevsky: read it, haven't finished it yet
840. Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy: looking for one, partly because of Murakami
861. The Idiot – Fyodor Dostoevsky: have one, haven't read it
867. Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoevsky: read it, bothered still
871. Notes from the Underground – Fyodor Dostoevsky: read it, not finished with it
916. The Fall of the House of Usher – Edgar Allan Poe: read it
953. The 120 Days of Sodom – Marquis de Sade: eyeing to buy one
983. Gulliver’s Travels – Jonathan Swift: read it
992. Don Quixote – Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra: looking forward to own one
995. Gargantua and Pantagruel – Françoise Rabelais: looking forward to own one, due of Bhaktin
I have read/have/want 43 out of 1001. (does wanting it count?)
Could someone do a list of must-read (or must-not-read, right Mr. Cimatu?) filipiniana?
12.5.08
Of Shit and Shite
I was browsing through powerbooks last saturday when i came across a familiar name. Eros Atalia, it said. But this time the cover art was different.
My first encounter with Atalia was with Taguan Pung/Manwal ng mga Napapagal (/sa PAgpapatiwakal; great cover art). A writer-friend recommended the read, saying it was the first collection of flash fiction in the Philippines.
Taguan Pung revolves on acculturation within and without the family and how these phenomena/reality/normalcy subjects the individual. From a kid's first time to hold his shit, to honesty and its drawbacks, to a manual on suicide, Atalia managed to grasp abnormality in what we consider normal. The amoral in the moral. To compare Atalia to Bob Ong is to misread/treat his stories lightly. His works are as carnivalesque as Willie Nep.
And all this in under a few hundred words (maybe 250 max per story).
Now you could understand my excitement over seeing the same name on a different book cover. Atalia has released his second collection of shorts/essays under the title Peksman (mamatay ka man) Nagsisinungaling Ako.
Am truly excited.
Wasn't able to buy the book though.
Shite.
For a sampling of Atalia's lies, click.
* Eros Atalia teaches Filipino in the University of Santo Tomas. When asked how much he's earning, he'll divert the topic and treat you to mami ("the works," innards and all; yung putok batok). Atalia was (unofficially) declared (as early as his first book) as the heir to Jun Cruz Reyes' short stories throne.
photo taken from http://www.geocities.com/phil_literatura/eros.jpg
10.5.08
Fanny Slumbook
Hindi madaling maging ina. Lalo pa siguro ang hirap kung iba ang pangangailangan ng anak.Sa Erick Slumbook (2004) ay binagtas ni Garcia ang pag-unlad ni Erick (at ng sarili na rin) sa larangang familyal at sikososyal. Matiyaga si Garcia, kita/ramdam ito (pag-akda o pangangalaga man ang usapin). Mula sa pagkadiskubre na awtistik nga si Erick, hanggang sa pagkatuto ng ating bida tumipa sa computer, andun sya. Beaming proudly (minsan), ika nga niya. Frustrated (madalas).
Sa kabila nito, hindi kailangan ng awa o hinayang. Dahil wala namang kailangang kaawaan o panghinayangan. Alam ito ni Prof. Garcia. Nalaman ko ito sa kanya.
Ang buhay ni Erick (at ni Fanny na rin; tali ang isa sa isa, sa maraming punto't dahilan) ay naging libro. Mula rito, ang libro ay nabuhay, naging organikong behikulo tungo sa pag-unawa sa awtismo at sa sinasabi ni Virginia Woolf na "angel in the house."
Marahil, para kay Garcia, ang slumbook ay paalala ng kanilang narating, at dapat pang puntahan. At sapagkat ang special child ay bahagi rin ng mundo.
Pero ngayo’y alam na alam na alam ko nang autistic ka, anak. At mula nang malaman ko, ang buhay ko ay waring isang roller coaster ride ng mga emosyon…Gayunman, sasabihin ko pa rin sa iyo nang buong katapatan, paulit-ulit at ilang beses man, sakaling muli akong bigyan ng Lumikha ng pagkakataong tahakin pabalik ang landas ng buhay at pagkatapos ay muli akong magsimula at ngayo’y may opsiyon na akong pumili ng gusto kong gawin at hindi gustong gawin, walang pero-perong hahanapin at tatahakin ko pa rin ang landas patungo sa iyo, anak, susunduin kita at magkahawak-kamay at magkaagapay pa rin tayong maglalakbay.”
(Now I know so very well that you are autistic, my son. And since that day I knew, my life has been one emotional roller-coaster ride… But I tell you with all honesty, and I repeat this over and over, if the Creator would give me the chance to trace back my life and start again, if I were made to choose what to do or not do, I would have no ifs and buts in seeking and taking the same path toward you, my son, I will take you, and hand in hand we will make the journey together.)
~Fanny Garcia
* Si Prof. Fanny Garcia ay manunulat, mananaliksik, higit sa lahat, ina ni Erick. Kasalukuyan siyang tagapangulo sa Departamento ng Filipino sa De La Salle. Ilan sa mga naisulat ang Sandaang Damit (1994) at Apartment 3-A Mariposa St. (1994). Si Erick ay 18 taong gulang na ngayun (ata).
** Sa aking nanay, (na bagama't di ako awtistik ay nahirapan din) xoxo. Ang anghel sa aming bahay.
image taken from http://www.anvilpublishing.com/books.php?cat=010200
9.5.08
Is Waiting a Verb?
Here's a sample courtesy of Wikipedia.
Quelle aubaine ! Une place de libre, ou presque, dans ce compartiment. Une escale provisoire, pourquoi pas ! Donc, ma nouvelle adresse dans ce train de nulle part : voiture 12, 3ème compartiment dans le sens de la marche. Encore une fois, pourquoi pas ?For Thaler: "The verb is like a weed in a field of flowers. You have to get rid of it to allow the flowers to grow and flourish. Take away the verbs and the language speaks for itself."
Fool’s luck! A vacant seat, almost, in that train. A provisional stop, why not? So, my new address in this nowhere train: car 12, 3rd compartment, forward. Once again, why not?
Indeed, why not?
No subject-verb agreement, no worries.
image taken from http://www.freewebs.com/esperanzafrancais/tap3_alamo.gif
6.5.08
On Philippine gay lingo
by Danton Remoto* But they never considered the fact that Philippine gay language is a language of slippages: it sits on a site full of fractures and fissures. Since the 1960s, Tagalog, the mother lode of Filipino, has metamorphosed into another variant called Taglish, or Tagalog English. Taglish has become the language of the educated elite and the middle class. One of its steady sources has been gay language, which has generated so many words and idioms that have been inserted in the mainstream of the everyday Taglish. In fact, since the 1970s, gay language has even become a mediator among the many languages spoken in the country. In a sense, it is like the mestizo, the fair-skinned progeny of the brown, Malay ancestors with the Spanish or American colonial masters. The mestizo speaks Taglish, a mélange of languages which, according to Dr. Vicente Rafael, "evokes yet collapses the colonial relationship. It is the most unstable, and thus the most malleable, of languages." Gay language belongs to this realm. It has the "capacity to disrupt" because of its colorful associations, its elements of parody and spirit of play, its sheer jouissance. Moreover, Dr. Rafael adds it is capable of "embodying the possibilities of language." Read the full article here. *Remoto is one half of the editors that made the Ladlad series possible. The third deviation is now available (daresay nationwide?). Nice cover art don't you think? Wondering who the artist is.
5.5.08
Sirit na!
I already started with U Eliserio's second published book, Di Lang Anghel ("finish" with Sa Mga Suso ng Liwanag). The introduction promised of Gaiman influence. Am not really fond of Gaiman, but I think we're in the same page when it comes to ethics and human (/cosmic?) behavior. The complexity of behavior dressed in simple "anti-social" acts.
It was getting to be an interesting read, however, sleep demanded its turn. Anghel requires active reading (much like Prof. Lumbera's endorsed "reading" of a movie). Stubbornly persevering through the pages would only be folly.
I did that with Suso and look where it got me. I still couldn't figure out who killed Sando.
Unless some angel bring light to the mystery, looks like I have to re-read Suso.
By the way, I bought my copy of Di Lang Anghel from a used book shop behind Palma Hall. I envy the manong there (forgot his name). The way he recommends books, it's as if he's read every last one of them. And I mean read. He even measures/gauges/probes your preferences to give appropriate recommendations.
Their pricing is relatively manageable. More importantly, the books (most of them, anyway) sold there are in good condition. I just wish they get their hands on more Filipino books.
Image taken from http://ueliserio.blogspot.com/
3.4.08
Lata at mga Latak II: Paa ng Sirena*
Mula sa kaibuturan ng karagatan isang mayuming sirena ang umasam na mabuhay bilang isang normal na tao, ang makapanood ng Darna at Encantadia, ang makainom ng maylo at ang maka-amoy ng Jollibee.
Namuhay kasama ang mga tilapya, syokoy, pusit, tinapa at mga pating... Sa paglatag ng kadiliman, ang dalaga ay pumupunta sa pampang upang tanawin ang mga taong may dalawang posteng ginagamit sa paglalakad at pagtakbo. Hindi nya alam ang tawag dito o kung saan man ito mabibili. At wala rin syang pambayad kung sakali man. Mula sa kanyang kinaroroonan ay tanaw rin ang isang taong putol ang kabilang binti at ang tanging hawak na saklay ang siya lamang nagsisilbing suporta. Kaya naman naisip ng sirena na kumuha kaya ng kahoy at subukang gamitin din sa paglalakad. Tiyempo namang may mga sangang nakalutang papalapit sa kanya. Agad niya itong nilanguyan. Hawak ang dalawang mahahabang kahoy, sinubukan ng dalaganag maglakad. Ngunit di niya nagawa. Tumutulo na ang kanyang sipon at luha hindi pa rin sya sumususko. Makakaya nya ito gaya ng iba! Subalit bigo pa rin ito. Bumalik sya sa laot ng may panlulumo.
Hiniling na niya sa lahat ng bituin at starfish na siya’y makalakad subalit bingi ata ang mga ito, naiintindihan nya naman , ‘mahal ata ang cooton buds ngayon’ kaya bihira lang din makarating sa dagat..
Hayyyyyy ...kelan kaya siya makakatikim ng chippy, mr. chips, makakainom ng emperador, san mig light at makakatira ng shabu? Kawawang sirena, nagpakalasing na lamang sa tubig alat.
Isang araw may nakita siyang lumulutang na tao sa karatig-dagat. Kasinglaki niya lamang ang naturang lalaki. Nasiyahan siya nang malamang patay na ito. At naisip nyang hindi na ito mangangailangan pa ng mga paa...
Kaya sumisid siya at kinuha ang mga nalikom na cutter at kutsilyo sa barkong titanic.
Hiniwa niya hanggang sa maputol ang beywang nito. Mas lalong natuwa ang sirena nang makitang magkahiwalay na ang pang-itaas at pang-ibabang katawan. At ang susunod na lamang nyang gagawin ay ang putulin din ang sariling beywang.
Nang subukan ng sirenang sugatan ang sarili ay nakaramadam siya nang kirot. Pero inisip nyang ito’y normal lamang , at marahil kelangang bilisan nang sa gayon hindi maramdaman ang sakit. Kaya binilisan nga niya ang paglaslas...hanggang sa...nakaramdama siya nang panghihina. Hindi pala siya nakapagdala ng paste! Papaano niya ngayon ididikit ang mga binti sa kanyang katawan? Tuluyan nang nahemorrhage ang sirena. Hanggang sa dumilat ang kanyang mga mata at nalagutan ng hininga.
Mula naman sa di-kalayuan dalawang matandanag sirena ang nag-uumapaw sa tuwa dahil may rugby silang dala at ...mighty bond!!!
(:Para sa isang nakakwentuhan, sana may nekstaym pa ulit para nakawin natin ang mga rose sa garden nyo—na hindi madilim at nagmamadali:)
* Sinulat ng isang kaibigang naguguluhan. Makakaahon ka rin. Pansamantala, alalahanin mo muna ang iyong naging pangarap.
22.3.08
Panahon na naman (Post-Valentine's Post)
Ilang sipi mula sa nobelang Love in the Time of Cholera ni Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
Together they had overcome the daily incomprehension, the instantaneous hatred, the reciprocal nastiness, and fabulous flashes of glory in the conjugal conspiracy. It was time when they both loved each other best, without hurry or excess, when both were most conscious of and grateful for their incredible victories over adversity. Life would still present them with other moral trials, of course, but that no longer mattered: they were on the other shore.
To him she seemed so beautiful, so seductive, so different from ordinary people, that he could not understand why no one was as disturbed as he by the clicking of her heels on the paving stones, why no one else's heart was wild with the breeze stirred by the sighs of her veils, why everyone did not go mad with the movements of her braid, the flight of her hands, the gold of her laughter. He had not missed a single one of her gestures, not one of the indications of her character, but he did not dare approach her for fear of destroying the spell.
He allowed himself to be swayed by his conviction that human beings are not born once and for all on the day their mothers give birth to them, but that life obliges them over and over again to give birth to themselves.
He repeated until his dying day that there was no one with more common sense, no stonecutter more obstinate, no manager more lucid or dangerous, than a poet.
No, not rich. I am a poor man with money, which is not the same thing.
Uncle Leo XII
at ang panghimagas...
He is ugly and sad … but he is all love.
Fermina Daza
