Why She’s Magic Meryl

Watching her spontaneous whoop and heartfelt speech after she was announced the winner of the best actress award from the Screen Actors Guild last Monday, I couldn’t help looking back to the very first time I saw her—on the small screen, a television mini-series called “Holocaust” where she played a noble German named Inga.

There is something about how the face of Meryl Streep that is so well put together despite her pointy nose. I became her instant fan, buying any magazine that had her on its cover (Time, People, Ms.). I followed her through Julia, Kramer vs. Kramer, French Lieutenant’s Woman, which I saw twice in one afternoon that stretched to late evening (coming out of the theater, I ran into art critic Leo Benesa; we rode the same homeward-bound bus and he expounded on Streep’s acting and her mastery of accents), Out of Africa, Sophie’s Choice, Postcards from the Edge down the line until I saw her paired with the great Vanessa Redgrave in another made-for-TV movie “Evening.”

“Evening” is special, I suppose, for those two actors—their own flesh-and-blood daughters appeared with them, Meryl’s Mamie playing her younger self, Vanessa’s Natasha Richardson as her dutiful daughter.

In the late 1980s, I was interviewing Filipino actor Gigi Duenas (now Gigi de Beaupre). A photographer was assigned to take her picture. She brought out a copy of Life magazine, flipped it to a page showing Ms. Streep. Gigi said, “That’s me.”

Yes, we all wish we have a bit of Meryl’s gifts.

Galo and His God

The end of curator Marian Pastor Roces’s presentation of the proposed Baguio City Museum was greeted with applause and a shout of “Bravo!” from a number of city residents. Everyone seemed gung-ho about seeing this museum rise from the existing ruins of the monastery on Dominican Hill.

Everyone, except Councilor Galo Weygan who insisted that the city council only agreed to allow 1,000 square meters to this infrastructure. In his hands was his own counter-proposal for an ecological, cultural and prayer center on the same site. He claims that his center came to him in a vision sent by God.

Fortunately, former Councilor Edilberto Tenefrancia was present to put Weygan in his place. “Tene,” as he is popularly called, pointed out that Weygan’s resistance against the museum is just one man’s position. And as for his vision from God, how come the other members of the council were not privy to that?

In addition to that, Tene said Weygan faces a conflict of interest—he is an elected public official and yet he is the pastor-preacher-leader of a Christian sect. Tene reminded him that the Constitution stipulates a clear separation between church and state, and Weygan is violating this by favoring his religious group.

At one point, I butted in, reminding the councilor that the museum should be non-sectarian, not favoring any religion but respecting all faiths. Roces showed in her presentation that the one-and-a-half hectares set aside for the geological garden would be conducive to meditation, contemplation and prayerful strolls.

There’s another reason Weygan shouldn’t be in the business of developing Dominican Hill. His job and those of the other councilors is to legislate, pass ordinances or review those that do not benefit the city and its people.

He reminds me of a friend’s observation of people in their senior years who have not learned wisdom, still cling to power and remain shameless about being beholden to their patrons. Walang kinatandaan.

A pundit said, upon seeing Weygan’s proposed building, “Doesn’t it look like a Korean hotel?” Photo of Weygan's proposed center by ELMER KRISTIAN DAUIGOY

Yao

“Palayain si Yao!” went journalist Gene Taduran’s New Year greeting. When last he stayed wih us, Gene told me I should convince Yao’s master to get him a bigger cage.

Yao may not have gone to obedience school, but he follows a routine. The minute he hears the first flush of the toilet in the morning, he starts barking. It is his way of alerting his master that it’s playtime.

Here they’re shown delighting in each other’s company.

Gone to the Dogs

Although I was originally a cat person (I had a cat named Omar after the Egyptian actor Omar Sharif), I’ve grown accustomed to the dogs in my two households—Bruno and Bogart in Pasig, Yao Ming in Baguio.

Yao is a mixed breed--has Japanese spitz blood but grew too big for a typical spitz’s size. He lived indoors with us as a puppy, but he now spends most of his time in a cage. I never liked the idea of his being locked up, but tell that to his master.

Bogart is a freaky mini pinscher. He has only one ball so he cannot reproduce. Bruno, on the other hand, has balls so big we can expect his line to continue.

I once asked Bruno’s owner, my sister Gigi, what trick her pet knows. She claimed her pug was the fastest eater in his category. So one mealtime, I counted slowly while he lapped up his food. It took him 20 seconds exactly to clean up his dog dish.

Someone's Review of "Ang Himas ni Ricardo"

I found this review of an old short story I wrote in the 1990s. I don't know the true identity of the reviewer, Nanaybunso, but I thanked her for it and asked permission to reprint it in this space. Now to find a copy of my story.

ANG RETORIKA NG BABAENG MANUNULAT: ISANG PAGHUHUBAD

Bilang pagpoposisyon ng personang babae sa panitikang Filipino, napili ko ang isang maikling kuwentong nailathala sa Mirror Weekly at sa Aklat Likhaan ng mga Maiikling Kuwento 1999, isa itong halimbawa ng malinaw na paglalatag ng feministang paninindigan.

Ang kuwento na “Ang himas ni Ricardo” ni Babeth Lolarga ay isang akdang walang bahid ng pagpapanggap. Senswal ang bawat pangungusap sa unang bahagi ng kuwento. Explisitong nailarawan ang bawat eksena ng pagniniig. Bawat detalye ay maaring makapagpabuhay ng libido ng bawat mambabasa nito. Ngunit sa likod ng senswalidad ng akda, nilalayon nitong ibangon ang kamalayang feminismo.

Sa simula ng kuwento, inilahad ng pangunahing tauhan na si Lara Sumulong ang kanyang relasyon kay Ricardo. Nakilala niya si Ricardo matapos niyang iwan ang kanyang nambubugbog na asawa na si Joey. Nabigyang diin sa kuwentong ito ang usapin ng sexual politics sa pagitan ng babae at lalaki. Ang katawan ng babae ay hindi isang bagay na parausan lamang ng mga lalaki. Naipakita ang kaibahan ng paggamit sa katawan ng babae bilang parausan at ang pagkakaroon ng kapangyarihan ng babae sa lalaki gamit ang kanyang katawan. Sa kanyang dating asawa ganito ang eksena:

• “Si Joey ay magpupumilit na magseks pa rin kami. Galit siya tuwing tumatanggi ako. Naniniwala siyang obligasyon ko ang sundin ang gusto niya…”

Samantalang kabaligtaran naman ito ng kanyang karanasan kay Ricardo:

• “Damdam kong masidhing naglalaban sa kalooban niya ang pagtratong paggalang sa akin at ang umaapoy na pagnanasa. Hindi naman ako ang tipo ng babae na kinikilig kapag mamamasdan ang hirap na dinadaanan ng lalaki; ang kinakatuwaan ko ay ang aking sariling kapangyarihan sa epektong kaya kong buhayin sa kanya.”

Sa huling bahagi ng kuwento, ganito ang palitan nila ng salita ni Ricardo:

• “Tinanong ko siya minsang nagpapahinga kami kung kagalakan ko lang ba ang ibig niyang madama. Ibinalik niya ang tanong sa akin, “At bakit naman hindi? Di ba reklamo niyong kababaihan na panay ang kagustuhan naming ang nasusunod? Magandang pagmasdan ang mukha mo habang ganado tayong nagse-sex. Alam kong napapaligaya kita.”

Dito naipakita ang pagiging sensitibo ng lalaki sa pangangailangan ng babae. Hindi lamang sex ang sentral na tuon dito ng akda. Mahalagang elemento nito ang pagkakaroon ng pag-asa ni Lara matapos ang isang bigong relasyon sapagkat nagpapakita ito ng kanyang katatagan bilang babae.

Ang paggamit ng pangalang Lara Sumulong – sumulong na sa kanyang pinakapayak na depinisyon ay nagsasabi ng progreso - ay maituturing na isang mapagpalayang deklarasyon nang pagsulong/pagtaguyod ng kamalayang feminismo. Iwinawaksi ng persona ang kumbensyunal na pagtingin sa pagpapamilya. Ipinagpapasalamat ni Lara na wala silang nabuong anak ni Joey, dahil kung mayroon, maaring nanatili siya sa kanilang relasyon sa isang maling konsepto na kailangan kalakihan ng bata ang isang buong pamilya. Ang pagkatao ni Lara ay matatag at hindi basta-basta nalulusaw ang paninindigan. (“Kailangan sumulong ka babae, ang palaging paalala ko sa aking sarili.”)

Sa malalimang pagsipat ng kuwento, si Lara ay isang representasyon ng makabagong babaeng naigpawan ang agresyon/pandarahas ng kanyang asawa. Pinutol ni Lara ang patriyarkal na relasyong namagitan sa kanila ng kanyang dating asawa nang iniwan niya ito isang gabing himbing ito sa ispirito ng serbesa. (“Isang gabi nang nakatulog na naman si Joey sa harap ng telebisyon at nakakunsumo ng katumbas ng isang galong serbesa, pumuslit ako, dala-dala ko ang ilang mga damit na pampalit.”)
Ito’y isang matapang na hakbang at malinaw na manipestasyon ng paglaban ni Lara sa karahasan sa kababaihan.

Naipakita sa kuwento ang pagwaksi sa istiryutipo ng babae bilang sunud-sunuran sa lahat ng gustuhin ng lalaki, na ang babae’y hindi mananatiling anino lamang ng lalaki. May implikasyong moral ang “Ang himas ni Ricardo” ngunit hindi didaktiko ang tono nito. Sa aking palagay, nakatulong ang ganitong istilo upang lalong maging epektibo ang pagkukuwento.

Sa huli, masasabi natin na kasabay ng paglaya ng kamalayan ni Lara ay ang paglaya ng babaeng manunulat na si Babeth Lolarga sa kanyang retorikal na paglalahad ng isang senswal na sitwasyon na may sensibilidad. Isa itong patunay na nailuwal ng panitikan noong dekada ’90 ang isang akdang may kabuluhan at feministang paninidigan.

IPINASKIL NI NANAYBUNSO SA 1:14 AM
MGA ETIKETA: FEMINISMO, PANITIKAN

0 (MGA) PUNA:

Breakfast at Jerry’s

Arriving an hour early for breakfast with the Araos family, I find myself being driven to Amorsolo country right within the campus of the University of the Philippines Diliman. Jerry parked his Mercedes Benz Gelande Wagen on the parking lot of Hardin ng Rosas, the building housing faculty and their families. He brought out and set up his spotter’s scope, a Leica Televid, an equipment so powerful it can bring into close view on full-moon nights the spot where the space capsule of the first man on the moon landed.

Although he has made his name as a sculptor and furniture-maker, Jerry has been a bird-watcher since the mid-sixties. Even without his eyeglasses on, he could see where a bird was resting among the rice fields. He’d summon me to peer into the scope, and there I saw my first yellow and cinnamon bitterns and moor hen (ulok in Filipino). The last had a bright red crest on its head. The scope enabled me to see blades of glass in macro size.

The campus is where over a hundred bird species fly over, roost or take a breather on the way to somewhere else. American and European bird-watchers who visit the Philippines go to the American cemetery at Fort Bonifacio in Makati City and shell out $20 each to catch sight of a little more than 20 kinds of birds. One reason there are less birds there is the caretakers of the cemetery religiously trim the bushes whereas at the UP campus, like I said, there's a wild farm out there.

Back at his home, his wife Melen and daughter Liwa laid out a breakfast fit for a datu. We had sinaing na tulingan cooked in an earthen pot (Batangas style), ginataang puso ng saging, tomato omelette, puto from Calasiao, Pangasinan, whole wheat bread and Jerry’s own strawberry jam made from Baguio berries, butter and coconut sugar, fresh coconut juice and brewed coffee.

I was sorry to leave them because they had a sumptuous Sunday lunch being readied, but I had a date with Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett.

A typical family meal at the Araos house looks like this with Jerry at the head of the table. Photo from LIWA ARAOS’S FACEBOOK

Come Saturday Morning

It’s one of my favorite songs from the decade of the seventies. It was the theme music of the movie A Sterile Cuckoo. It was the theme playing in my head when I had a Saturday well-spent (spent in the literal sense) with my sisters, daughters and niece at this serendipitously named mall-paseo Serendra at The Fort, Taguig City.

It makes me wonder why I have to have an official reason presented to my husband (in this case, I was due for blood chem and checkup with my neurologist and internist at the Medical City)so I could visit family members in Pasig City. I’ve narrowed the two places I visit with some customer loyalty at Serendra: Fully Booked and Cupcakes by Sonja.

I promised by niece Bianca, 6, that I would buy her anything she liked as her prize for turning in outstanding grades in her kinder class at Assumption College Antipolo City. We combed the entire children’s books section. It was my daughter Ida who found her beloved children’s literature characters Madeline and Eloise, and since she’s a kinder teacher and building up her own library, I didn’t hesitate in getting her two titles: Mad About Madeline—The Complete Tales by Ludwig Bemelmans and Eloise in Moscow by Kay Thompson and illustrated by Hillary Knight.

Bianca is a bit like Eloise in that she is surrounded mainly by grownups, except when she’s in school. She can be a smart ass, but as my sister Gigi said, she is not greedy. All of us wanted to buy her something for her remarkable academic performance, but she knew she couldn’t pick anything she fancied. She had to settle for one item from each of us.

So down we went to the art supply section (increasingly a rare section in other stores—there are just not enough quality stuff). She settled for glitter glue and Lyra watercolor pencils which I later showed her how to manipulate.

All that going up and down the multi-level bookstore made us hungry. Consensus for best pick-me-up place was Cupcakes by Sonja where sister Suzy and I chose our favorite lemon-frosted cupcake and Ida had a pistachio cupcake with strawberries and cream. My older girl gave me P500 (which is my affirmation that I must’ve been a good mother because the girls don’t mind giving their jobless mother some pin money).

Somebody had the bright idea of returning to Fully Booked. Big mistake (spending wise) because I ended up charging almost more than a thousand pesos worth of books on Suzy’s credit card.

I shall be armchair traveling for the next couple of weeks with Sarah Turnbull’s Almost French: Love and a New Life in Paris, Caroline Seller Manzo’s Casa Nostra: A Home in Italy and Novel Destinations: Literary Landmarks from Jane Austen’s Bath to Ernest Hemingway’s Key West.

Ida and I are shown perusing our purchases. Photo by KIMI FERNANDEZ

Marj Evasco and My Cell Phone

The cell phone is a practical tool. It gets your message out to the intended receiver/s fast. Citizen reporters use it effectively as shown in the CNN program “I Report.” But in the hands of poet Marjorie Evasco, this small mass communication tool is a vehicle for poetry.
Every now and then, especially on full-moon nights, I would receive from her messages such as this latest one:
The last full moon of the old lunar year is risen! Happy Full Moon!
“Coming from darkness
I shall enter on a path
Of greater darkness.
Shine on me from the distance,
Moon at the edge of the mount.”
--Izumi Shikibu
I never quite know how to reply to a message in verse. I just store the poem in my phone and look at and read it every now and then.
Thank you, Marj, for putting poetic images in something as utilitarian as a cell phone. Photo courtesy of Corporacion de Arte y Poesia Prometeo

The Pleasure of Eddy Alegre’s Company

News of his demise yesterday turned the skies grayer. It came a month after Bobi Valenzuela’s death, another great lover of good food and life’s riches. Writer Edilberto Alegre’s image in my mind remains that of a “hiping (hippie) kulelat.” He always dressed like an overaged flower child, hair tied in a ponytail, loose pants held up by drawstrings and a t-shirt that had seen better days for his top.
But his credentials as a scholar cannot be dismissed. Together with the late Doreen G. Fernandez, they reconstructed the lives of early Filipino writers in English with their two-volume Writers in Their Milieu series. They went on to co-write defining books on Pinoy cuisine.
Eddy was known for handwriting his manuscripts. When she was still alive, Doreen was his “secretary,” encoding pages of Eddy’s scribblings. Once the two posed with Bookmark’s Lorenzo Tan for The Sunday Times Magazine for which I was doing a story. Doreen whipped out a comb from her purse and started combing Eddy’s hair before the photographer clicked the shutter.
In 1996, Eddy came up to Baguio. My husband Rolly, a certified Filipiniana bibliophile, brought his collection of Alegre-authored books for his autograph, and he beamed with pride at seeing his life’s work before him. He told Rolly that he must have earned a good amount of royalties from him alone He wrote on the introductory page of Kinilaw: “This is a once-in-a-lifetime research and the insights too are ‘ no-repeats.’ Glad you keep going back to it. With thanks, eddy.”
My most vivid memory of Eddy was as I was passing through Tacloban City, Leyte, with the crew of the defunct tv show “Womanwatch.” We had just interviewed survivors from the catastrophic Ormoc flooding and stopped by the capital city for lunch. Eddy met us, walked with us for several blocks only for us to stop at what seemed to me a hole-in-the-wall eatery. It was not air-conditioned, and our bodies were craving for small creature comforts after our work and long bus trip. Eddy bought rice in heart-shaped packaging from the sidewalk (I know there’s a native name for that, but it escapes me now). Then he ordered with the voice of authority. He instructed us to wash our hands thoroughly. What came after was one of the best seafood meals of my life: ruby red crabs oozing with fat and eaten with our hands.
Eddy took us also to a town in Samar known for its banig (mats), and we crossed San Juanico Bridge while I hummed the martial-law period propaganda song about it: “San Juanico Bridge, symbol of love…You’re an inspiration, a product of wisdom of the First Couple of our land.” While we waited for some made-to-order banigs to be woven, Eddy talked about a terrible kind of pulutan (drinking side dish) that even he would not touch. It’s the head of a dog. Eddy said no matter how many hours you boil or grill it, you can’t kill the rabies virus.
His good friend Linc Drilon has many letters from Eddy and is thinking of compiling them into a book. We hope that project pushes through. As another friend Alex Dacanay said of Eddy, “We still have great need for him.”

Join scriptwriting workshop

Martin Masadao, freelance production designer for stage, film, and tv, who has written, directed, and mounted six plays at the University of the Philippines Baguio, will conduct a scriptwriting workshop for one-act plays or film and TV.

Sponsored by the Baguio Writers Group (BWG), the workshop will be held for two consecutive weekends--Jan, 24, 25, 31 and Feb. 1 from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. each day. Venue will be at a room at UP Baguio.

The workshop "echoes" exercises from modules in different workshops Martin attended, including Ricky Lee's scriptwriting workshop and Writers' Bloc under Rody Vera.

The workshop will accept a minimum of five participants and a maximum of 15 participants, first come, first served.

Participants may send their story-lines to Masadao not later than Jan. 22 at this email address: masadao@gmail.com, cc: lotusbearer@yahoo.com .

Participants must bring their own favorite writing materials (paper, pens, notebooks, laptops). For reservations, contact BWG president Padma Perez at 0908-361-2844. Martin's photo by LUCKY BESA

Tube-a-ness Series

Being a fan of fashionista Cecile Zamora, I couldn't wait to find an excuse to do a word play on her much-visited blog Chuvaness. So here are my takes: two paintings with the titles "Tube-a-ness 1" and "Tube-a-ness 2." They are done in acrylic on canvas paper and currently on exhibit at Rumours Bar and Restaurant on lower Session Road. Exhibit ends Jan. 20 with a bang. Other participating artists in this group show "Nine Walls, Nine Expressions" are Bumbo Villanueva, Baboo Mondonedo, Desiree Caluza, Merci Javier Dulawan, Frank Cimatu, Chi Balmaceda Gutierrez and Rishab. Photos by EV ESPIRITU

Baguio Beans

Trust the students of UP Baguio to discover a new hangout. Called Baguio Beans, the outdoor café on Gen. Luna Street, right on a corner of the empty parking lot of a white elephant building, Casa Generosa, gives off the ambience of a Boracay hangout. The colors of the walls are bright and loud, the tables are covered with tie-dyed cloth with prints of seashells and the like. What is lacking is the sound of waves rushing to shore. Plenty of other sounds: motor vehicles passing by.

The house brew costs P40 a cup, way below Starbucks rate. A list of sandwiches is scrawled in colored chalk on a small blackboard: pesto chicken, roast chicken, philly cheese steak, heart attack (crabmeat and tuna combined). They’re accompanied by salad greens or scalloped potatoes. All under P200.

The cafe is going through growing pains. There are no pastries or cake slices to accompany your hot beverage. The server assured me though these offerings are coming soon. Wifi should be installed within the month.Best of all, the place is open till 1 a.m.

Now if we can only be assured of safety with the presence of roving cops. My husband almost lost a box of takeout pizza to snatchers along the same street one early evening in the year just past.

Ranting against Peter Rey Bautista (1st of a series)

As a Baguio resident, I'd like to express my disappointment with the administration of Mayor Reinaldo Bautista Jr. His term is about to end, but he will be leaving without a good legacy. He has not provided basic things like lighted streets at night, sidewalks you can walk on without stumbling, a solution to the vehicular pollution and garbage problems. He has no cultural program that can harness the active writers groups, visual artists and theater enthusiasts who are doing their work on their own without his support. Bautista is only good at uttering "Of course" and "Actually" in his television sound bytes. I feel like a disenfranchised voter when the mayor I elected, Braulio Yaranon, was unceremoniously removed from office when he was only doing his job. Everytime former Baguio residents visit our city, they are dismayed at what it has become. It hurts to hear that.
The young mayor who showed potential has two choices: shape up or ship out.

Liz Gilbert’s Questions

The author of Eat Pray Love guested more than once in Oprah Winfrey’s show. She has become a kind of guru or life coach (but I suspect she cringes at those titles) because many women identify with her life story.

Anyway, we caught her two appearances on the show and remember the three questions she asked women to habitually ask themselves at the start and end of each day.

What do you really really really want? (Emphasis on “really.”)
Write the happiest moment of your day.
Refine your mantra. (Throw out negative thought habits.)
In this picture taken by one of my daughters, a Christmas Eve scene is captured, one of the happiest times for me in 2008. I love the candlelight, the festive table setting, the presence of dear ones (clockwise: Chingbee, Claudine, Rolly, Willie and Nancy Fernandez). So what do I really really really want? More moments similar to this one.