September 8, 2008
Notes on the Happy Magnet Monday on September 1.
Don’t worry.
Next Happy Monday
I’ll likely be out of the country.
Tara, Top-Gun-Dance na lang tayo:
Don’t worry, be happy now…
Carljoe Javier and his essay on his Mutant Powers
Transcend the meandering introduction and set-up trend.
The treatment is academic.
The language should be edgier because it’s all declarative/passive.
…Shoot with the finger: YEAH, now it POPS!
…I leave that for other essays…YOU TEASE! TAKE THAT OUT!
Where’s the transition to a couple of years ago?
The humor is so you.
Strongest point: your audience is Young Adults and Adults who are still young adults remembering what high school was like. Parang Luis-Katigbak-College-Stuff.
Giving and giving and fading away: SUCKY END LINE.
I laughed thinking about a mutant power that is DEADLY JISM FROM THE EYE.
Note: Dude, whoever anovayan-interviewed you on your birthday, I would like to have a serious talk with them.
Pocholo Goitia and his “I really want your opinion on this” to the audience.
Uy, thank you! Conscious na may audience! Winner!
1.
I love the tone!
The symbols in your language though have not been subverted.
The articulation: aim for originality.
ORIGINAL: Sooreh boss, whopak!
(I almost pissed the beer while laughing.)
The audience was laughing, yay!
The too-long-words in the text are humps.
2. We are Vigilant
You’re swallowing your end words again.
I love the tone because it’s authentic.
Dear Papa Pocholo, if your cousin who’s doing her Philippine Studies dissertation on Happy Monday wants the posts from 2006 and onwards before Sharpening-A-Porcupine was deleted, I will be happy to give them to her. Write on, tsong! Sincerely,
Pancho Alvarez and his virgin reading and “wait, nasira yun zipper ko, di kinaya”
Warning: ang nervous nakakasira ng zipper!
1. Durian? (English)
It’s prose. If the syntax is less prose? The problem is the language. I like the thought of this one though: postcolonial, historic. I didn’t hear the end.
2. (Filipino)
The Ebak pun is lost in its brevity.
And Joel Toledo says, “Ikaw na ang papalit kay Lope (Cui)!”
Diyos ko, nakup.
Jonar Sabilano and his “bedroom voice”
1. On Regret
I grrrrrr when I am told what a poem is supposed to be and suspect it’s not.
I love the vibrant tone, though.
And yeah to the rhythm!
2. From “last week yadayada”
Dude, listen to yourself:
You’re using Angelo Suarez reading tone when he’s not screaming or reading transcriptions of cab conversation rides.
3. The guitar and drum song number with Enzo.
The first song has rhythm/chords of Teeth’s “Prinsesa” + Eraserheads’ “Minsan sa may Kalayaan tayo’y…” + Los Chuapcabras “Vibrator na Saging”
Claude des (I didn’t catch the surname) and his one-act-play-on-love for JASMS high school.
I understand that this was written for high school consumption.
…But I am so not in high school.
(Air Elves: I’m a high school lover…And you’re my favorite flavor…)
So, to me the piece has the rhyme and meter rubrics of:
The owl and the pussy cat went to sea
In a beautiful pea-green boat
They took some honey and plenty of money
Wrapped up in a five pound note.
The owl looked up to the stars above and sang with a small guitar,
“Oh lovely pussy oh pussy my love what a beautiful pussy you are, you are, you are, what a beautiful pussy you are!”
Pussy said to the owl, “You elegant fowl! How charmingly sweet you sing! Oh--”
I can go on, you know.
I memorized this damned thing when I was in Grade 5 and it’s still in my head.
It’s actually… if you think about it.
I like the part that has the vibe of my precious “FIIIIIIIIIIIRE! THIS ONE GOES OUT TO THE ONE I LOVE!”
Thank you for sharing, but that was *shudder*. Thank you.
Sasha Martinez and her readings of Sir Sawi Aquino’s “
1. Hanging
2. Cerebral (but the reading is lacking its heart)
3. The text message: if you really think about it…what a kinky Boshido old man!
And I asked Sasha, “Really, how come you’re not letting me read any of your stories?”
Sasha said, “Kasi, gusto ko ‘pag may pinabasa ako sa ‘yo, yung ang galing na.”
I said, “Ashu! Sige, I understand. Okay.”
Joey Nacino and his “eto lang pumasa sa editor ko, hehehe”
Part 1 of “Logovore”: The Wordeater falls in love
Shet, pahre, you’re like so konyo in your oral reading, pahre.
Hay, mga Blue-Eagle-Blood nga naman oh.
If you’re reading about how words are so yummy, then how about adopting a chef’s tone?
Improve your oral reading skills.
I’m imagining how it would turn out if it were read by Pocholo Goitia or Angelo Suarez or Joel Toledo or Jonar Sabilano or The Barefoot Contessa or Judy Ann Santos.
And Pao-Pao says, “Chulat, Itay, Chulat!
And Joey Nacino says that he will never submit in Philippine Free Press and Palanca. I don’t bug him about it because it will lead to a fight-to-the-doomed-writing-couple-death.
Lawrence (recent fellow from Outer Space) and his search for his Sound.
I’m beginning to like how his syntax is evolving.
Read better next time please.
To the background-chatter: Ssssshhhh!
Note: For the record, I don’t tell anyone in the Happy Monday readings to shut up. If I want someone to shut up, I tell the person while performing/talking.
Memory: I told the panelists ENOUGH ALREADY! in last year’s Silliman National Writers Workshop because they kept on ragging on and on and on Primy Joy Cane until she was a folded-up-lepton about her juvenile language and sensibilities and really: just what did they expect from a kid? And right now, who else is contributing from Silliman University/Dumaguete in Philippine Literature in English (besides few known and old)?
That SHUT-UP happened just once and that was to Cos-of-Jello-Cos-Duo in June of 2007 because IT WAS JUST TOO LONG AND TOO GRATING MEANINGLESS MUCK and it was upsetting the anxiety out of Cecille La Verne de la Cruz. I didn’t want my fellow agoraphobic who loves poetry and who actually came to the reading to freak out and be turned off from poetry forever.
First-Aid: I plugged my Zen Playing Rock Music to her ears.
We don’t have enough Mindanao-Voices (Remember? Philippines is made up of Luzon, Visayas, and
She hasn’t returned to Happy Monday since.
So:
Iñigo de (basta mestizo)
I like this: different and whole without a hole.
I like the minimalist touch and range, even with repetition of words.
I can visualize the text on the page to a point that I know that it’s the end word of the line and may be using m-dash on the page.
Enthralled the audience, too.
Please come back.
Princess Leia says, “You’re my only hope.”
Not my only though.
And Joel Toledo says after, “Gusto mo yun kay Iñigo, no?”
I say, “Yep. Yun ang winner for the night!”
Joel Toledo laughs, “Sabi na nga ba!”
Note: Wala pong saysay ang kagandahan at kaguwapuhan at kaawardan ng nagbabasa to yours truly. And ang sabi ko nga, ang guapo para sa akin ay intsik kasi may prototype ako ever since Kindergarten eh when I learned ee, ar, san, su, ooh, yow, chi, pa, so, shu; and it, nang, sa si, go, la, ka-cha!
And look at my boyfriend: intsik na intsik… hindi.
At napagkamalan na po ilang beses na di po raw instik ang surname ko: Muslim raw.
Ang labo ng Earth!
Dr. Drey Terran and her “sabi ni Khavn panget raw yun title”
1. Poem: Title “Japan 2004-2005”
Mare, panget nga!
2. Essay: End line “My life as a slut”.
Tapos!
Pancho Villanueva and his(very grave tone)“things to say to an orphan...(playground tone)Orphan, orphan, or-phan…nenenenenene…”
Surprised!
I laughed!
Galing ng pitik ng tono!
Loko-lokong humor!
And I laughed when I saw the Dylan Thomas poems in the book he recently bought that had the hourglass form (which I used in my I vs. Big Bayaw post). He shook his head and quietly laughed.
Note: My two old men grumble about my being an embudo or a human funnel. It gets me sick raw eh. They fuss like old women. But then again, we all agree na “di sinusuway ang bilin ng mga namatay”. Mas mahirap yun bilin sa kanila eh. Anyway.
Joel Toledo and his “Piso”
His same narrative treatment but different content: more socio-historical. Yeah, ayan na, papunta na sa...
And then the Palancas came…
I had congratulated Kael Co for winning this time
in the Filipino poetry category:
Animal naman sa blingual-galing oh!
Bigyan ka
A reading by Dr. Marjorie Evasco and her personal favorite among the Mookie-Katigbak-Palanca-collection.
Narrative…
It ends with “the world’s end”.
Whopak!
…Perhaps it’s the reading that I like.
The question on the emerging dominance of narratives: so what’s different with this one?
Hmmm…it flows?
It flows!
Trivia: Dr. Evasco never won a Palanca in poetry because she never entered her poetry in the Palanca. National Book Awards et international cetera for her poetry siya. Ang taray!
Trivial: Ako rin never nag-enter sa Palanca ng poetry. Kasi fiction and essay ang sinusubmit ko. Ay, trip: makasubmit nga sa poetry next year! Feel ng writing ego ko majombag rito!
A reading of a Mookie-Poem by sweetie Sarge Lacuesta
Whoa, apparently it’s a Mookie-Katigbak-Night nga.
Next time, please post if it’s “someone’s” night.
(Elf! Elf! Why weren’t we informed?)
(Elf: Your Evilness, if that were done, then this wouldn’t be a surprise, hello?)
Oo nga naman.
Sweet.
Shucks.
Hey, I was surprised!
Puss in Boots, “Mare, di ka naman yun sinusurprise eh! Si Mookie Katigbak!”
Ay, hindi ba?
Akala ko kasi yun audience.
Tsk, my bad pala.
Anywho:
The poem read is better appreciated on page or a matter of private apprehension.
I have a problem with the exuberance=excess vibe of this one.
Who read Mookie’s “Gold?” Nabasa kasi yun papel, smudged yun ink, pasensya na.
Hum?
Night-time-terrors: BELLch.
Romanticized.
Self-absorbed /theoretical vibe.
Repetition of words/sound for sustaining power.
Good ending.
A reading by Larry Ypil (whom I congratulated on his Free Press award) of Mookie’s “The insomnia of…” (mouthful)
Too drawling. It’s almost like blah-blah-blurk.
The text is abstract enamored of sounds.
Oh shit! It’s about the process of writing!
(Note: Recently, I made an editor LOL when I told the editor that I detest short stories about/with writing/art and had writer-names as characters. It distracts editors-kuno like me from believing the character because there’s a real character superimposed on the text character. And kasi---)
I look around: not touching the audience, see?
A reading of Mookie-Poem by Joel Toledo
His trademark reading tone.
Again, lost the audience, lost me.
A reading by Marie La Viña (Congratulations on your 3rd place Poetry Palanca!) of Mookie’s “A View Of The Water”
Narrative.
Okay, let’s dance on:
Water, Water, Water, R-sound.
Repetition like Stein Tone+ Pound Thought+ Strand Sound.
The poem’s thesis: what is emptiness? I like.
But too long for reading.
And it has the same rhythm.
A reading by Daryl Delgado of Mookie’s “a really beautiful poem, my personal favorite. I don’t want to preempt but (elaborate on beautiful yadayada of poem)”
Ma’am, question: um, isn’t that preempting the whole beautiful thing?
Playing Evil Advocate lang po, Ma’am!
Melanie Marquez says, “Don’t judge a book if you’re not a judge. I’m not a cover!”
It makes sense bakla!
So I went around and asked Happy-Suddenly-Into-Mookie-Monday consumers:
“Do you honestly find this entertaining?”
And majority of the answers was “NO.”
One said, “Bakit di nagbasa yun ibang winners?”
(Uh, surprise tribute nga po raw kasi kay Mookie Katigbak eh.)
One said, “Bakit? Siya ba yun 1st place?”
(Ang taray-abot-sa-kilay naman nito!)
Another said (while looking at all the Palanca partying people):
“Eto yun mga parte na tingin ka na lang sa chicks.”
(Dude, di yun chick, long-haired-dude yun.)
Issue: if you didn’t like it, why didn’t you just walk out?
Never mind first-come-first-serve basis, korek ka diyan!
I did quietly walk out after the 7th noted (and continuing) reading
and came back when the whole Mookiebang was thought to be done.
Di pa pala.
And somewhere along the still Mookie-Reading-Way,
Krip Yuson clapped and loudly hailed, “Marvelous!”
So I looked around at the faces of all these people in the audience.
They wore: NYAK! ANONG MARVELOUS DIYAN?! ROCK ON NA!
I winced, mehn.
Iskandalo yun kung sumigaw ako ng
“Excuse me po, anong marvelous po raw diyan?”
Eh celebration nga eh.
Ma-accuse pa kong party-maasim-na-ubas.
At masampal pa ko ng award.
‘Di ko bet!
(Na manampal ng Tazzy-Consciousness!)
Bumalik kasi na ko para dun sa birthday celebrant
na natuwa dun sa chocolate cake slice and flaming blue gasoline
pagkatapos ng Mookie-Verse.
And 1-2-minutes-after-yay-happy-birthday:
All-right-pasensya-na-sa-istorbo-go-on-now-with-your-business-everyone!
And in my head, Mel Brooks is singing
ala History of the World Inquisition Scene
The im-po-si-tion…yeah, yeah, yeah
Kaya may accusation ang madla na---
Tsk.
Wala naman po raw ganun eh.
Culture, er, subcultures po raw.
And Morphing the Bading Morpheus says:
Welcome to the Rayot!
And if Mookie-Katigbak-Gun-Club chooses to gun for me:
Write it!
Kung trip akong personalin, sige lang mehn
sanay naman na kong solong mabaril ng mga cliques-circles-clubs mehn
na tatalunin ko pa ata si executed Jose Rizal
sa firing squad ng mga nito mehn
at si Ninoy Aquino sa intriga assassination ng mga nito mehn
kasi Stark Industries Jericho ba naman kasi ginagamit mehn
I’m spreading my arms like the Oblation, mehn
My life in the service of the country, mehn
(ELVES: Noooooooo! Your Evilness! You can’t diiiiiiiiiiiiiie! Supercollider Armed!)
Pero mukhang Bulletproofed With Porcupine Wings ata being ko mehn
(ELVES: Because Your Evilness, what will we do with the grass if the horse is gone?)
(You can just toke or choke from the bad grass laugh trip mehn).
(ELVES: Your Evilness, this is why Playing Dead Poet Kristos Mon calls you his
Trippy Winka? Hihihihihi!)
(Heh! You’re fired!)
And I love Philippine Literature in English mehn!
Shet, baka ako ang maging Echoes Arlene Babst-Vokey of our Generation: Awwmehn!
(Afraid mehn!)
Don’t wanna be nouveau bagong dead bayani mehn!
Congratulations and I hope one year Mookie Katigbak will be number 1!
(Kasi dreaming coming true ko na yun 1-2-3 winners babae eh.)
So, guess who and who will be in the Top 40 under 40
Writers In (English ba?) The Country?
Kapag wala diyan sa 40 na
Bakla, Engkanto at iba pang Weirdo representatives
of buong high tide low tide Archipelago:
Ewan ko na lang.
And Bienvenido Lumbera said:
Philippine Literature is a matter of Politics and Poetics.
And Rolando Tolentino said:
We’re launching a book entitled Politika at Poetika.
My New Word In Critical Discourse Vocabulary:
Poletics.
And Morphing says:
Mahvelous Dahling!
Compete ititch with I vs. Big Bayaw!
Thenks, mehn!
Salamat at
(‘Pag hindi: Ang
Sige, balik na ko sa writing My-So-Called-Interesting-Life.
*arabesque tayo arabesque!*
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