Solidaridad Bookshop Don’t Want Your Business

I just had the unfortunate opportunity to walk into Solidaridad book store, a book shop owned by F. Sionil Jose. I was walking along Padre Faura St. with a friend and we decided to just take a look at what the books were on sale. As we entered, we were immediately told to leave our bags somewhere, not exactly shown where but we have to leave our bags.

I was carrying my 3ds, a huge wallet, a few valuables, cell phones, and other gadgets that I had to carry a backpack to carry all of them and the idea that I had to carry all of them by hand so I could look at what books they are selling, so I could pull out a book from the shelf with my mouth wasn’t an appealing prospect.

I told one of the staff that I’m carrying a lot of gadgets, hence why I carried a bag in the first place.

There was an old gay man sitting by the door who said we have to leave our bags and he said it like this. “It is the store’s policy to leave your bags if you want to go in. Those are the rules. Just take your things with you.” To which I replied “So you would rather inconvenience your customers?” I was carrying a lot of valuables and carrying them to leave an empty bag, was a stupid idea for me. I wasn’t dying to enter but I asked anyway. I asked if they would take responsibility if my things were to be damaged or lost, they didn’t answer my question but just said “It is not an inconvenience, it is the policy of the store.” That answer my question and didn't make me comfortable leaving my belongings, ah but who cares about customer comfort??

I suppose they wouldn’t give a damn whether my stuff were damaged as long as I leave it there and they wouldn’t have to think about someone shoplifting a book, because who cares if a customer’s valuables were stolen or damaged as long as they are keeping their store from book thieves? How horrible is the idea of someone stealing a book, they might actually get rid of their ignorance from reading, oh the horrors.

I didn’t really feel like going in anymore because the way the old gay man was saying the store rules sounded like they didn’t want customers. I wouldn’t mind my bag to be checked before entering and checked before leaving but these guys have some serious customer trust issues. The old gay man then said “If you don’t want to leave your bags then WE DON’T WANT YOUR BUSINESS!!” he said it raising his voice in a way, he should have just said “GO AWAY” and I just said “Okay” because at the end of the day, it wasn’t our loss. My friend was checking out a book and told me to wait a second. I told her “You still have your bag and they don’t want your business.” So we went on ahead. They didn’t even bother to welcome us into the bookstore anyway in the first place and immediately imposed the bag policy. I wasn’t able to read the sign if there were any, about it.

I’d hate to break it to the half-bald gay man by the door if he is the definition of security in the store, but brick and mortar book shops like that NEED customers and shooing them away is not going to help the book shop at all. If they want security, they can hire a security guard or install CCTV cameras. Would they drop dead and compromise between the staff and customer were to happen?

I hope they would treat their customers better in the future if they want establishments that carry a good selection of Philippine Lit to survive long enough and not just appear on some hipster blog saying how awesome it is.

They don’t need to intimidate customers like they did with us and such treatment is not deserved by any customer. That was the rudest and most offensive experience I’ve had in a book shop. It’s not like they are the only book store in Manila or that the books there can’t be seen anywhere else. I’ve taken to just buying books from Amazon because they are cheaper and the million selections available is amazing. Online book buying in the Philippines is also improving, people are trading, selling, and buying books online from fellow book enthusiasts. Who would want to traverse horrific Philippine Traffic and torturous for a book nowadays?

At the age of Kindle and ebook reading, book enthusiasts have found very convenient ways to get the books they want without ever having to leave their houses. Also, the Philippines have a very small crowd of readers. A population of 100 million only has a tiny percent of readers that if a writer here has sold 1000 copies, it is considered a best-seller and would appear in papers already.

That the bestselling Filipino book isn’t something that F. Sionil Jose has written, it was a pocket book titled Kristine by Martha Cecilia, which is the block buster hit of Philippine literature that managed to put a lot of books to shame by selling hundred thousands of copies and probably passing the million mark today.

I love Philippine literature and have read a few of F. Sionil Jose’s saga and novels. Reality is, not a lot of Filipinos care much about Philippine literature. It’s a sad reality in our country where only handfuls are avid readers, and very few are avid readers of Filipino written books exist.

So today, I will be selling all my F. Sionil Jose books at a friendly price online. It is high time to clean out the library at home anyway. It doesn't have to be hard to get his books.

And now, F. Sionil Jose would be writing his endless essays on why Filipinos don't read and don't buy Filipino literature... this is one of the reasons.

Tongue Exchange

Hellishly tired and would really like to sleep but here I am typing away on my netbook. I know I haven't kept this blog alive for quite some time and now I'm being active again.

I celebrated CNY last night at our temple in Manila and was taken by my friends on a road trip to nowhere right after. Slept in a car and I was glad I brought a tooth brush and some change of undergarments. It was only in the afternoon when I finally got back home. I'm happy about getting to spend some quality time with my friends and it was a blast, but it really does take its toll on the body.

Last year, I have decided to commit myself in learning Japanese. To really improve my skill from where I left it a few years ago and a Japanese friend recommended a teacher. I happily organized a small class out of my friends to learn it once a week but I found that it wasn't something that I wanted so I searched for another option, of course there are many ways to skin a cat, I decided to look for ads online of people willing to practice their language with someone. So I found someone in Sta Rosa who was a Japanese and was interested in learning Filipino.

It was something that I never really expect would bear any sort of fruit and it was just a try whether it would work out or not. It took a few days to get a response and just when I thought my message didn't push through, she replied and we immediately set a date to meet in my hometown, a rather convenient place for me and for her.

This is my first experience with utilizing online language exchange sites. I've read about it when I was in Taiwan, how foreign men would not only get a language partner learning Chinese but also a partner in bed... of course it is a mutual kind of relationship.

It gave me a few laughs back then because it was something I had no idea about. Back then I didn't need a language partner to practice my Chinese on, we had classes and was most of the time with people who speak Chinese and were willing to correct my sentences when I braved the atmosphere to say something.
I was finally getting the hang of it and memorizing characters wasn't a bad thing but I questioned my ability with languages and if there's a new language I would like to add to my arsenal of fluently spoken languages, Japanese won out. I had to turn my back on Mandarin.

"I think you're an Otaku" Shino said, my language partner gauged.

"Really? You think so? What are Otakus anyway?" I replied, though I had an idea of what an otaku is, a person who is probably a geek who is interested in geeky stuff. Honestly, she wasn't too far off...

"Otaku is a person who looks forward for the weekend to watch animes or play videogames. They just spend their money on their hobbies like that until they're middle aged. But it is alright, we Japanese are proud of our Otakus." Shino answered.

I simply agreed and continued our studies together, but being labeled as an Otaku was a bit unsettling but I  was fine with it. I know in a few days, I must really become an adult, must make commitments and prepare for a lot of things. I am not always an otaku, or will be...

I meet Shino once a week. At the same time and at the same place. It's been going on for months now. I can say that she's enjoying herself because she asked me to have dinner with her on our second meet, I guess I'm good company. I find that she is an agreeable and pleasant person to be with. Shino is not an Otaku, she prefers to go out into the wild and explore things on foot. Her interest in culture and art is rather insatiable and she has traveled half of the globe to satisfy her free spirit.
I consider myself very lucky to have met her. I'm giving myself three years to master Japanese.

Hand Made Monster Hunter Icons

I really love the Monster Hunter series. So I decided that I would make a wooden carved key-chain out of the icons from the game.

Great Sword Icon

I know it's not much but I wanted to see how the icons would look like on wood because of their simple and recognizable design. I'm a bow user so I decided to make one from the bow icon and I found that the Great Sword icon is rather simple enough to give it a try. 

I've been playing Monster Hunter for years now and it started back when I still owned a PSP, was thinking of buying a PS Vita if they had an MH game but sadly the PS Vita didn't, so I decided to buy a Nintedo 3DS instead. 

Currenlty playing MHX today and I'm quite happy about it even though it is only a Japanese release and we don't have news yet if it's coming to the West. I still have a few projects on wood carving so I'm a bit busy with these projects and I also have an upcoming project that is currently in the works.

I'm rather sad about not having the time to play games but I have to take it like an adult. I'm not ashamed that I love playing games and it is perfectly a wonderful source of entertainment and abnegation. 

I will make more of these and see where I can go from here, as long as I have extra materials and time to work on trinkets like these again. In the mean time, projects and commissions come first and I would be happy to show some of the projects that I have been working on some time soon.

Traversing Lairs

Over the past couple of months I've managed to toss myself here and there, to different places where some of my friends live and most of these friends are lesbians that I've met in the past.
I usually just have a few friends that I keep close but I'm also open to getting to know other people better.

I like having lesbian friends but then I get so tired of hearing them wanting to be in a relationship when they just got out from one. Lesbians can really talk about it for days on end. I think I'm the only person I know who don't really care much about these things. But I do understand why people are like that. It's because most people are afraid to be alone. So afraid of being alone that they would cling to anyone so soon. But I think this is also one of the great reasons why relationships fail, because most of them are motivated by fear and have accumulated enough anxieties to sabotage their relationships. Although I am put off by this kind of weakness, as a friend I will always be there to comfort them, even if I have to cross the oceans.
I'm pretty much content and happy with myself and I would never lower my standards just because I would like to settle down with someone.

I'm planning to go back to Taiwan because it's so much fun there and I'd also like to see friends. Though I just got back from Singapore a month ago, visiting a friend who just got out of a relationship and wanted someone to talk to. It was a nice trip and I was able to catch up with friends while being able to do a lot of things.

I used to always stay at a friend's condo in Boni, we would just hang out in her place have roast chicken for dinner(we were both vegetarian) and just talk or watch a movie for the rest of the night. We would sleep in a single bed that is too small for the both of us. Her room was so small you can only take 4 steps of walking space while the rest is occupied by the bed, table, and a small chest of drawers for clothes. She was one of those writer friends whom I enjoy talking about life and other things that most people couldn't even dream of thinking about. She was a pothead so she was always stoned and because I'm not exactly a person who likes going out for the sake of going out, we always just stayed in and have a mellow evening.
Well, she lives in Swiss now and we only get to hangout in Skype. I am also staying at different places with other people now since I always have to stay in Manila for many reasons.

I guess I've always been that transient visitor who is only passing through...

Use Your DS as a Japanese Learning Gadget!

I'm studying Japanese again, on my own. I should have known that I will be needing this sort of skill and I would have probably enrolled myself to several classes right after my solo show, unfortunately it wasn't a priority back then. :(

Things have changed ever since the news for Monster Hunter X will be coming this year for the 3DS. I suddenly wanted to study the language again and hopefully be better at it.
I bought a DS console not too long ago and I'm pretty happy with it, the price was a steal and I love going back to the old games I missed.

The great thing about the DS is that there have been several games that teaches players to learn a language, some art skill, and even some guide to the Louvre. Nintendo wanted a console that not only play games for entertainment but also make education fun and entertaining to the user. That's why they always publish educational titles or accept them from third party developers.

I've recently been involved with game translations and the game that I'm translating is a very popular game franchise that is yet to be released in the West. Not gonna drop names but it is a very popular turn based strategy rpg game. I'm having difficulty translating the game therefore, I must study some more. The group that I'm with the translations, is very strict.

The DS game library has a lot to offer and I know that DS games can also be played with the 3DS.
But I had to separate them for organizational purposes.

Here are the games that are worth playing if you wish to learn Japanese in a fun and entertaining way:

My Japanese Coach

It is a simple game that provides decent knowledge in Japanese. There are trivial and geographical information of Japan. It does get difficult in the long run but it is a game that I have in my library that I currently play. So far it's very helpful in teaching vocabularies and grammar. A must have for learners.

Anpanman Franchise

Rainbows, UFOs, super heroes, and learning Japanese? Count me in!
This game is considered for kids but is still fun to play and learn with. Players should at least memorize the hiragana and katakana characters before proceeding. Anpanman is a famous anime/manga that started back in the 70s. He's popular and I guess he's still being sold to children up to now. There are many Anpanman games on the DS and they're all educational, some of them have been remade as well for the newer console.

Kanken DS Training

That funny trailer should explain very well what Kanken DS is about. Learning Kanji is a difficult thing and it's really nice to have applications like this to help out. This is for more advanced learners. Some people don't bother with Kanji much and just hone their skills in speaking, however, it is not going to be helpful when playing games because it requires a lot of reading.

End:

There are more games available for the DS to help out on your Japanese studies, all you have to do is search a bit. What I love about the DS is that it is a portable thing that is not very heavy like a book and learning is interactive. It's not boring and is actually very fun.

Attack on Titan and the World Hungry for Flesh

If there's anything that I haven't done in a long time, it is to enjoy a pretty good manga and anime. Not because anime or manga is for kids and that I have outlived that kind of enjoyment at this age but Attack on Titan is definitely not for kids. It has a higher character death rate than Game of Thrones where any character can practically just get squished like a bug, ripped to shreds, and get eaten.

The thing that attracted me to the anime is because I have the game on my 3DS and the plot twist that humans are nothing more than caged livestock just waiting to be devoured by gigantic humanoids known as Titans. This anime provides a perspective on what it's like to have the tables turned, when man is no longer on the top of the food chain.

After watching the anime, I proceeded to consume the manga up to the latest chapters. It's interesting to note that in this world within the walls, people are not meat eaters and mostly have a vegetarian diet. Eating meat is considered a luxury.

If our world haven't realized it, eating meat is one of the biggest things that is wrong in our world. As long as we continue eating meat, murdering animals for "sustenance" when we can live without the meat diet then we can never be rid of war, suffering, women exploitation, and violence. I could write a book to elaborate on those things how they are connected but I'm hoping someone had already written one or I'm waiting for someone to do so.

So in attack on titan, because humans are the ones being eaten, and being gifted with intelligence, and determination to cling to life, humans have devised ways on how to fight the Titans back despite knowing that chances are rather small. In order to really defend themselves against the titans, they must fight fire with fire.

"Sadness over a bird killed. No sadness over a fish killed. Lucky are those with voices."

-Saito Ryokuu

AoT also has a number of strong female characters such as Mikasa Ackerman, who seem to have awakened powers and is generally has the mental state prepared for their current situation unlike the protagonist Eren who always seem weak and helpless until he discovered his latent gifts and powers but despite his abilities to be strong, I find it strange that he doesn't seem to have the mental capacities to adapt quickly in the given circumstances. He's still shocked whenever someone gets killed and needs to calm his tits every 5 minutes. He's whiney and I find him really annoying, that perhaps his redeeming quality is that he was given a gift he can use to save mankind and is determined to help humanity selflessly.

Their comic relief was Sasha Braus, who is also known as the potato girl, and pretty much needs to stuff her face with anything at any time. She reminded me of myself when I was living in the temple when I was always hungry. Some argued that she's always hungry because her stomach was used to eating meat because she came from a hunting village where hunting game and eating meat is their pride and glory. She's one of my favorite characters but not much spotlight is given to her, I think she will be one of the characters that you get attached to that the series will probably kill off in the end for a higher impact. Hopefully she doesn't die...

When it comes to love stories and developments the only pair worth noting is Ymir and Christa. Ymir is a strong female character as well that is as well rounded as Mikasa. A blunt girl who always follow Christa around and later in the story was explained deeply why and how feelings over time developed. Their pairing is canon and the creator confirmed it. So they are officially the couple in the series and some of the pairings are still rather vague like Eren and Mikasa where people argue that it's sibling love and that Eren is really paired with Annie. So up to now, no other love story development aside from Ymir and Christa have been confirmed. Their pairing is mostly known as YumiKuri, this ship sails itself.

The video provides a rather apt reaction when the yumikuri was declared canon. I would go ape shit if one of them dies. I will be glad to attend their wedding. <3

Well just because there are many badass female protagonists and that the creator didn't really bother much about gender and sexuality, sexism still exists in this world. It's still a pretty good development that anyone can love anyone here without homophobic judgments.

It's a beautiful anime that I feel will revolutionize future stories. In parallel, their fictional world and ours aren't any different. There is something going on in the bigger picture but humans still prefer to squabble over petty things, are still greedy, and twisted, and that the shining ray of hope lies in someone who is also just as dark and twisted. It is a portrayal of the human condition in a circumstance that might as well have resembled the real life crisis that people are going through.
No one is perfect, no one is good or evil, it is always a play of something in between and that people have done some good and bad things in their lives. It implores the audience to let go of the notion that there are people who purely good or bad but depicts humans as flawed broken people. Only their motivation to be whole differs.

Paper Trail: Contemporary Art Philippines Feature

PAPER TRAIL

Book Artist Veronica Laurel incorporates the traditional crafts of wood carving, carpentry, and bookbinding into her contemporary art practice.

Inside Artinformal's Big Room exhibit space is a modest collection of curious pieces made of paper and found objects encased in glass and carved wood. Veronica Laurel's first solo exhibition, Beautifully Damned, presents her latest book art creations. Utilizing her skills in wood carving, carpentry, and book binding, Laurel turns old books and paper into art objects. Right off the bat, one can appreciate the meticulous process that went into creating these handmade pieces.

Laurel is currently based in Laguna. She describes herself a collector of things, who likes to gather materials for her pieces. Her interest in woodworking started at a young age because of her family's wood furniture business. She learned wood carving in Paete, Laguna and studied book binding on her own. Of her learning process, she says, "I wanted to keep doing it until I got it right. It doesn't matter if my first tries were terrible. What matters is that I'm willing to try. Same goes for carpentry and carving."

Laurel's use of found objects correlates with the Buddhist view of making use of what is available. The wood she used in her pieces is sourced from old demolished houses. Buddhist beliefs are actually something that Laurel had the opportunity to explore when she lived in a Buddhist temple in Taiwan for three months prior to her show. "The preparation to get ready was long; the execution was short," she adds. Laurel was also influenced by Masaki Kobayashi's Human Condition film trilogy, as well as literature on Western and Buddhist psychology. In Beautifully Damned, she shares the culmination of her spiritual exploration, merging it with her artistic practice into a harmonious whole.

"Beautifully Damned" was the title of a poem she wrote a few years earlier. It was about living in a world where people choose to numb themselves, thus becoming the beautifully damned ones. "The truth is, damnation is just damnation. I added the word "beautifully" because people don't to believe that we are all just damned. The romantic are optimistic enough to call it beautiful, a sweet a suffering, a vulnerable state of mind," Laurel explains.


Prior to her first solo exhibition, Laurel's early works were included in Ayala Museum's group exhibits and, most recently, at the Met Open 2014 in the Metropolitan Museum of Manila.

(End of First Half)

(For the complete article, look for Art+ Contemporary Art Philippines Magazine Issue no. 35)