Collaborating with Keds
I grew up wearing (and painting on) sneakers. So when Keds (which is my all-time favorite sneaker brand, no kidding, folks.) invited me to collaborate with them last year, it was a no-questions-asked yes. This summer, I collaborated with them again. And to make it extra exciting this time, it is for a cause!
This Saturday (June 2), pairs of Keds painted by me and the illustrious Soleil Ignacio, will be auctioned in the Keds and Status Magazine’s Earthly Delights event. All proceeds will go to the Haribon Foundation.
The very cause of the auction inspired my design. Growing trees on a pair of Keds for an organization that help the Philippine trees flourish.
It will be 7 hours of fun, food, drinks and of course, music. I hear we can get bars of Magnum for free, throughout the event. So I really hope to bump into all of you on Skye Lounge on Saturday!
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Please Like the Keds Philippines Facebook Page and follow them on Twitter! :)
The Cocktails of Coolness
“The only true currency in this bankrupt world is what we share with someone else when we’re uncool.”
Cameron Crowe couldn’t have put it better as he wrote this line for Lester Bang’s character in the movie, Almost Famous. And indeed, this movie has given me one of the most useful life lessons - the beauty of being uncool.
Because when you are uncool, you are the sober one in the party filled with drunk rockstars, artistes, celebrities and haha, hipsters.
Of course the party never starts with everyone already drunk. The first hour will always be the awkward easing in and feeling the place. But one thing’s for sure, everyone will start taking their own social potions to lubricate their interactions. These potions are especially formulated to make people appear how they want the world to see them, exponentially - the cocktails of cool.
Take your concoction of choice! And you don’t have to stick to just one, in fact, you can even take in all four. Depends on how really cool you want to be. Each sip will taste incredible and feel twice as nice, giving you that feeling of orgasm beyond the physical. It will be addicting. And just like any liquor, the more you take in, the more you get drunk. (Unless you’re Steve Rogers.)
The feeling of coolness creep through your veins and shoot up directly to your brains. Your heart will either expose itself or just simply shatter, directly affecting the choices you make and the actions you take. Everything will start to look like a low resolution photograph zoomed seven times. And when your body can no longer hold all coolness, you will explode. All the coolness with be barf. Pure mess.
Some might say the buzz is all worth it. Or that you can always enjoy the cocktails moderately, taking it little by little, pacing and taking pauses. Getting the right amount of coolness. But I think there is a certain comfort in being figuratively outside looking in. You may be off the radar but you’re definitely off the mess too. Staying sober can be a blessing as you become just a spectator, detached but aware of truths cool people will be too drunk to see.
And I guess there’s an incomparable sense of sincerity to a person when he is devoid of any coolness concoction.
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All images were drawn on my iPad using Jot Pro Pen on the Paper App.
3 Inventions I Wish The Metro Manila Roads Would Have
My mom said I should not be driving. Because when I'm on the road, if not asleep, I'm usually angry. I can't help it! In the gritty roads of Metro Manila filled with feeling-rakstar motorcycle drivers, bus drivers with IQ and EQ levels that won't reach the price of gas and injustice, who wouldn't be angry? So what you are about to read is a recollection of my regular road rants as a passenger and the solutions I wish existed (and would usually do a monologue about).
Emotional Tail Lights
This is actually an improvement of my initial road expression idea which was an external speaker, similar to what people use for barangay level motorcades and recoridas. I'm pretty sure at one point in your life, you wished to yell "P******** mo!" at the bus that dangerously cut you as it swerved unto the wrong lane in EDSA, at 12:30 midnight. But I figured that would make so much noise pollution in our already air polluted roads. So maybe the less deafening but equally expressive alternative are tail lights that can visually express emotions like "Leche naman bigla ka na lang lumipat ng lane?!", "Tingin mo makakasingit ka kung i-overtake mo ako?" And of course, let us not spare some of the traffic enforcers with hearts as black as tambutso smog. Using our tail lights, we can flash them "Wala kang puso. Corrupt!". The tail lights are simple and quite easy to understand, only requiring a nano-short attention span (unlike some billboards with 3 sentences as headline!)
Motorcycle Sensors
I'll probably blame it on the sudden drop of motorcycle prices and the very workable payment schemes, as well as the notion of the macho man riding the motorcycle, wind blowing on his face, battling the difficult challenges of life. (Excuse me but...) ULUL. I've met some guys who own motorcycles and big bikes and they would always tell me driving one of those roaring little machines seem to require more skill and responsibility than actually driving a car. You should be extra careful and protect yourself (with a helmet) and your probable (hopefully just one and not a child) passenger. But again, here in the very charming Metro Manila, the motorcycle drivers act like they are Manny Pacquiao of the road - physically small but fast, and with a terrible amounts of confidence (and more often than not arrogance). These motorcycles drive fast with unbelievably low levels of road courtesy. They swerve, they cut, they emerge from directions you can't even predict. That's why our cars need motorcycle sensors to alert us and we can actively manage motorcycles that are about to commit acts of road foolery.
The Justice Amendment
As a child, (yes I was in grade six) I would always ask my mom this: If we hit a pedestrian but he's not crossing on the pedestrian lane, are we going to be punished? Why can't we simply hit all the people who block the road by not using the pedestrian lane? My parents may have simply concluded that their Promil-fed child is officially a sociopath. After all these years, my thoughts did not change. In fact, I have more thoughts to fortify it. What if we stress that when people are hit and there is a foot bridge or a pedestrian lane near them, the drivers shouldn't be responsible for them? I find our traffic laws twisted for always siding with whoever's physically smaller, regardless whether or not they were essentially wrong. Dear lawmakers and city mayors, maybe when you fix the road (with overpriced budgets), you can also fix the road rules? Maybe its about time you give the virtue of justice a closer look. As much as we demand discipline, courtesy and common sense from the drivers, maybe we should also be equally responsible pedestrians.
I always brag about how Machiavellian I can get. And that I'm not a fan ot the "its not the journey but the destination" thinking. But because of everyday experiences of fighting my way from Malabon to Makati just to get to work on time (or to a movie night), I'm now realizing that maybe there's merit in taking the old adage literally. The road we travel is not just ours, in fact, there are approximately 2.37 million cars passing EDSA everyday*. So I think we ought to think about the way travel - the way we drive or commute. Because If simple rules can't keep us in order and even occasional road kills seem like not enough reason for us to be responsible, then where the hell are we all going?
*Based on Traffic Dito Trivia
For My Great Parenthesis of 2010
I have a new friend who’s been nursing the post-breakup heartaches.
I just thought of sharing this playlist that kept me sane and sped up my recovery from The Greatest Parenthesis of 2010. ;-)
Here’s the playlist:
Bear by The Antlers
Great Divide by The Cardigans
Hurting Each Other by The Carpenters
And Then You Kissed Me by The Cardigans
I Can’t Make You Love Me by Bonnie Raitt
It Ain’t Me Babe by Bob Dylan
Surprise Track*
The Bad In Each Other by Feist (this is actually an addition because Feist just released her Metals album last 2011)
Take It Back by She & Him
It’s Okay by Land of Talk
Let It Die by Feist
Norwegian Wood (This Bird Had Flown) by The Beatles
A Waltz For A Night by Julie Delpy
Everything Refuses To Move by Hannah+Gabi *didn’t put the file because you all should get a copy from Mikey Amistoso! ;-)
If Only It Were True by The Walkmen
Landed by Ben Folds
Think Before You Get Offended
I was hearing a very angry Ted Failon on the cab’s stereo.
“Artist ka diba? I-drowing mo nga ang Diyos mo. Tapos lalagyan namin ito ng ari ng lalaki. Hindi ka ba mababastos?”
Obviously, Ted Failon was talking about the current national controversy - Filipino artist Mideo Cruz and his artworks Relic and Poon. Seeing the artworks (even just online) left me awestruck. Mideo Cruz is a brave guy, which is a very usual trait for artists. And if he wanted to get the people’s attention and shock them, he was successful.
Then I searched my (trivia teflon) memory of artists and artworks that I’ve seen that had similar themes - juxtaposing Catholic images with sexual symbols, or visual cues relating to commercialism and capitalism. This imagery isn’t new. In fact, you’d see this theme in art school thesis exhibits. Mideo Cruz’s artworks did not shock me. I was shocked by how most Filipinos were offended by them.
Then I realized that this whole controversy is not an issue of whether Cruz’s artworks are offensive or not, this is an issue of how most Filipinos look at art. The country doesn’t lack artists who impart challenging and progressive ideas, the country lacks a refined appreciation for art.
Back in 2007, I was doing my thesis in the UP College of Fine Arts about the MAKABAYAN - the revised elementary curriculum for our public schools. Basically, the curriculum collapsed Music, Art, Physical Education, Sibika at Kultura, Home Economics and Homeroom into just one subject. This just goes to show that the Philippine education does not prioritize art and culture as much as science, math and language. Most of us were taught that art and culture is a peripheral need. But it makes sense for our third world status - would you think about art if you can’t even have a decent meal for the day?
When I went to Barcelona, I realized that as an old civilization, Europe has an evolved value for art. It seems to them that beauty and aesthetics are basic needs. There was no ugly corner in Barcelona. The architecture and urban planning were refined, carefully planned and designed. Even their trash bins match the city’s design!
Now I realize that most of us were made to believe that art is a luxury. Only a few can afford it, yes. But does this mean that if you can’t afford art, you should not appreciate it? And this current issue with Mideo Cruz’s art and the CBCP labeling it as “blasphemous” is a reflection of our culture that has a dearth of sophisticated art appreciation. Is as if we are not a critical audience. We allow ourselves to be offended instantly, without trying to understand what is presented to us. We cast judgments without even asking why.
Art is often defined as the artist’s expression of an idea or an emotion. But personally, I’d like to think that more than an expression, Art is a form of communication. It is a dialogue between the artist and the audience. History would even support me - art movements transpire as a reaction to a precedent action. The Renaissance was a reaction to the Medieval period. Realism was a reaction to Neo-Classicism. I could go on, if you want. Art doesn’t end with the creation (the artwork) - the art should be seen. The audience have to be affected or at least react. That way, art comes full circle - it becomes an experience.
Indeed, a lot of people got affected by Cruz’s art, and they reacted instantly. I understand that looking at an art piece is subjective. My experience of a certain artwork (or a film, or a song) is an entirely different experience from you, or from our neighbor. Our reaction is an amalgam of previous experiences and values system that are uniquely ours. So if you appreciate something or take offense from it, it is because of who you are and what you believe in. I believe that taking offense is an emotional reaction - it’s instinctive and illogical. But Art is not a basic experience (like how our elementary education stressed through the years!), so maybe a reaction to it shouldn’t be basic too! A reaction to art should be critical and well thought of. I wonder now if the people who got offended by Cruz’s piece tried to understand it before they reacted? We often reject what we don’t understand.
On the other hand, I am curious if Cruz took in consideration who will look and experience his art. Or did he simply want to express himself? Did he think whether or not his audience was ready for what he was going to show? Or did he intend to be understood or to simply vomit out his ideas for the sake of putting it out there?
I don’t know.
I can’t answer for anyone but myself. For me, I see this controversy as a challenge to both the Filipino artist and the audience. For the audience, this is a challenge to be critical on looking at art and to give out an educated criticism of it. For the artists, I see this as a challenge to be more sensitive to their audience and to be insightful more than just simply being inspired. I see this whole thing as a disruption of the status quo that art is just an expression. I really find that very selfish. Maybe it’s about time we communicate.