So this is Christmas…

Back to Back to the Future

Dear 1985 self: I know you have trouble imagining the next year, much less the next millennium, and you never thought you’d be around to see the 25th anniversary of Back to the Future, and yet here we are. You haven’t seen Back to the Future II yet, but in case you’re wondering, the future is more like that other movie you saw in 1985, Brazil. (For example, that clip about bureaucracy will give you deja vu in the next decade, when you start experiencing the joy of enrollment in UP Diliman).

Still, it’s not all bad news. As you can see in the video above, Lea Thompson 25 years later is still cute.

What is philosophy?

“Philosophy Bites is a selection of the best interviews from the hugely successful podcast of the same name. Leading philosophers discuss a wide range of philosophical issues, from ethics to aesthetics to metaphysics, in a lively, informal, personal way. Time, infinity, evil, friendship, animals, wine, sport, tragedy — all human life is here.”

So the publishers of Philosophy Bites held a contest, to find “the most tweetable definition” of philosophy. Here are their Top 10 picks:

@Matt0wen — Philosophy is a lot of locks and the occasional gilded key.
@twitkarl7777 — Philosophy is a way to make complex things simple. And simple things complex.
@timjay — Doing the most one can with a language that is not quite fit for purpose.
@GlynREvans — Philosophy is loving the world by working out the right questions to ask it.
@Mark_A_Hooper — Philosophy is the search for truth. Or, (failing that): consistency. Or, (failing that): clarity.
@DanzieD — Philosophy is still asking those questions you started asking as a child.
@nialv — Philosophy is hard earned uncertainty.
@JoMarchant — Philosophy is… Climbing to the top of a really really really tall tower. Then looking up.
@adamjforster — Philosophy is trying to think outside the box, whilst you’re shackled to the inside.
@TomChatfield — Philosophy is the systematic conversion of intuitions into doubts.

(My favorite is the one by Mr. Chatfield.) Find out more about the book here.

Stories for the Stranded

(NOTE: Yeah, this picture of Zooey Deschanel doesn’t have anything directly to do with the list below. Wouldn’t she be great playing Death in a Sandman or Death: The High Cost of Living movie, though?)

FIVE DESERT ISLAND BOOKS, ASIDE FROM THE BIBLE

As someone who normally brings along two or three books whenever leaving the house, just in case, I had a hard time narrowing down my choices for Books I Would Like To Have With Me if I Were Ever Stranded on a Desert Island. In fact, I ended up cheating a little (see #2).

1. Collected Fictions by Jorge Luis Borges
In my experience, a page of Borges is worth a whole book by any number of lesser writers, idea-wise.

2. Sandman by Neil Gaiman (and Various Artists)
Hey, it has one main character (sort of), and a beginning, a middle, and an end (sort of). That’s why I’m counting a 75-issue comics series (plus spin-offs) as one “book.”

3. The Complete Poems and Plays (1909-1950) by T.S. Eliot
Poetry is on the whole better than prose for whiling away the hours as you unlock its mysteries. I’m not even sure if Eliot is my favorite poet; however, the reread value of his stuff is high.

4. On a Clear Day in November, Shortly Before the Millennium: Stories for a Quarter Century by Gregorio C. Brillantes
The best of Brillantes, basically. Which is pretty damn near equivalent to the best of Philippine literature.

5. The Insanity Defense by Woody Allen
For the laffs.

Lock Me Out

So last week I locked myself out of my apartment.

“Again?” my girlfriend said when I told her about it the next day, as if it were an occurrence as reliable as rising prices or the phases of the moon. To my credit, instead of locking myself out the usual way—in which I leave the apartment all dressed and packed and ready for whatever it is I’m supposed to do in the outside world that day, with only one crucial item (that is, my keys) forgotten—this time I upped the stakes a little, by forgetting not just my keys but everything else.

I was watching a DVD at around 3 AM (Forgetting Sarah Marshall, pretty funny stuff), when the fact that my electric fan’s fan blade was dusty started to bother me (yes, I am that easily distracted). So I set the DVD player on pause, removed the fan’s front grill, took out the plastic blade, then took it outside, intending to clean it with a broom. As I shut the door behind me, fan blade in one hand and walis in the other, I experienced a sudden sinking feeling. I grabbed the doorknob, tried to turn it—and found that I had, indeed, locked myself out of my home, with no keys, no money, no phone, not even street clothes (I was dressed in boxers and a T-shirt; luckily it had not been a warm night, or I wouldn’t even have been wearing the T-shirt). In other words, I was screwed.

I could see my TV through the window: Jason Segel and Kristen Bell locked in their duel of the sexes, trapped in a will-they or won’t-they moment. I could see my books and magazines scattered everywhere as usual, see the couch on which I suddenly longed to crash. I felt like a burglar planning to break into my own place.

Thankfully my situation wasn’t quite as hopeless as it seemed. 3 AM was too early to wake anybody up, but by daybreak I could count on perhaps being able to borrow a set of keys from the landlord. All I had to do was kill time for a few hours, with nothing but a fan blade and a broom to amuse myself with, and no place but my doorstep to go. (The compound I live in has a gate that was also locked, which of course I couldn’t open, so I couldn’t even stroll around the neighborhood in my boxers, terrorizing stray dogs and ghosts.)

I was able to find a grungy old monobloc chair elsewhere in the compound, so at least I had something to sit on aside from my doormat. Since the fan blade and the broom could not engage me in conversation and I could not assemble them in such a way as to make a rudimentary flying machine, I set them aside. I was alone with my thoughts. That, and the cool night air, which would have been pleasant were it not for the fact that it was wafting the scent of fresh cat excrement my way.

I soon realized how every single waking moment of my life is packed with input. I’m always either reading something, watching something, listening to something, or talking to or txting somebody. The thought of several hours without any input—and without the relief of sleep—was suddenly terrifying. How long before I would be reduced to reenacting remembered episodes of Fullmetal Alchemist using the chair, the broom and any mice in the vicinity that I could catch? Or banging rock against rock in a primitive imitation of someone connecting to the Internet? I could feel my sanity slipping away. Perhaps it would be replaced by something more viable, like the collective intelligence of a bodiless race of alien wanderers looking for a host, or a set of instructions on how to make good corn mousakka.

Soon enough, I was thinking about my life, something that I can usually avoid with an endless barrage of violent comics, YouTube clips, and pop songs. But forced into a situation where my world was essentially silent, where I was alone with my mind, with no distractions, I started to really think. The more I thought about my life so far, about the relationships in my present and past, about my achievements and regrets, about my most cherished beliefs and assumptions and attitudes, the more I came closer to a profound realization: I need to make more money.

My landlord eventually woke up, I eventually got back into my apartment, and I eventually finished watching Sarah Marshall (the main lesson of the movie: Mila Kunis is cute). But if you’re like me, and you’re always distracting yourself with a million things urgent and otherwise, I recommend getting locked out of your home once in a while. Unless you live in a really bad neighborhood.

(This originally came out in Luis Katigbak’s column, “The King of Nothing to Do,” in 2008.)

7 Years of UNO Magazine

(Music: ‘Climate Spike’ written, produced and performed by Moon Fear Moon; Edited by Lia Martinez)

7 Years of UNO Magazine

UNO is a monthly magazine for the discerning man (and woman). There are features on women we admire, occurrences worth covering, art forms we appreciate, objects that inspire acquisitiveness, and ideas that deserve attention, among other things.

There are also jokes, which may or may not always be in good taste. We value writing and images that are extraordinary. We love women. It is our belife that digital tools should be used to emphasize natural beauty and/or enhance a specific aesthetic– not for turning people into wax models.

Again, we love women.

We think that there’s more to men (and women) than their surfaces.

UNO: Dispatches for the Discerning Man

UNO June 2010 “The Anniversary Issue” SEVEN YEARS STRONG

UNO—one of the country’s longest-running men’s lifestyle magazines— celebrates its 7th Year as the premiere guide for the discerning male. Since re-launching last year with none other than RJ Ledesma at the helm, it’s become a showcase of the best writing, groundbreaking art/photography and, of course, the most beautiful women in the country. Blending high society with the lowbrow, every issue is a compendium of Filipino pop culture from political punditry to culture vultures, street style to designer pomp, mass-market celebrity to cult heroes.

Gracing the cover for our anniversary issue is none other than fashion icon Sarah Meier, who appears for the first time in a men’s magazine as nothing less than a superhero. (Styled under the visionary art direction of Norman Crisologo and distinctly photographed by renowned lensman Juan Caguicla.

The daughter of supermodel Elektrika, she talks to UNO editor-at-large/multi-Palanca award recipient Luis Katigbak on just how she manages to stay the course and keep on soaring in the fashion world (as well a few tips on just how to save the day).

For this special collector’s edition, we’ve also put galleries of the best art that was featured within our pages the past year and exclusively commissioned by UNO from the likes of rising stars like Brian Vallesteros, Lala Gallardo and Apol Sta. Maria to celebrated veterans like Arnold Arre and Gilbert Daroy.

Of course, we’ve also painstakingly chosen and collected the best shoots of all the women we’ve had the privileged to feature the past year, including many never-before seen portraits of our favorite muses such as Cindy Curleto, news anchor Gretchen Fullido, top models Bianca Valerio and Ornusa Cadness, internet celebrity Ellen Adarna, TV personality Maggie Wilson and fashion maven and lifestyle editor Celine Lopez to name a few. Also, we collect and reprint our best covers from the past seven years featuring the likes of Teresa Herrera, Nicole Hernandez, Maike Evers, Vivian Tan, Bianca Araneta and Pia Guanio.

We also have indie princess Saab Magalona sampling the veggie cuisine at Nomnomnom and “man of the moment” RAMON BAUTISTA explaining just what it takes to be the perfect human being.
Available in stores on June 4, get your copy now!

More Than I Ever Wanted Anything

A story by Luis Katigbak | Photography by Juan Caguicla

Read story in UNO April ’10

“There is nothing more awesome, than seeing one’s words in print.”

Noey Pico on UNO’s April issue:

A couple of months ago Luis poked me on YM and roped me into penning down a smattering of lyrics for songs written by a woman who he had dubbed his “lost rock goddess” or LRG, for short. For over a week, he tossed me music that would give me an idea of what she was like, told me how he envisioned her to be and then set me loose.

And while I know it’s May the 5th and no longer my birth-month, I only managed to run by the BookSale at the Cityland building today after work to grab a copy.

I don’t know if there will be back-issues still on the shelves (mine was apparently one of the last three in that particular store), nor do I know if people reading this will pick it up just because I mentioned it here (but please, do; there’s a review of the eighth E-heads album – curious now, aren’t you?). But I wanted to figuratively bounce off the walls with glee, so to speak, here, on LJ; with those who’d join in the bouncing with me. [source]

Holding Hands While The Walls Come Tumbling Down

Tears for Fears finally played in Manila yesterday, May 2. Nineteen songs and it ended far too soon.

1. Mad World (intro/”orchestral”)
2. Everybody Wants to Rule the World
3. Secret World
4. Closest Thing to Heaven
5. Sowing the Seeds of Love
6. Call Me Mellow
7. Mad World (original version)
8. Memories Fade
9. Raoul And The Kings Of Spain
10. Quiet Ones
11. Floating Down The River
12. Everybody Loves a Happy Ending
13. Seven of Sundays
14. Billie Jean
15. Pale Shelter
16. Break it Down Again
17. Head Over Heels
~ Encore ~
18. Woman in Chains
19. Shout

Roland talked between #5 and #6 — he said that they had played all over the world in the past two-plus decades, and he wondered why it had taken so long for them to come here. This was of course met with a typhoon of enthusiastic screaming from the utterly packed coliseum. He and Curt seemed suitably overwhelmed by the responses of the Pinoy audience. Between #12 and #13 Curt spoke — he started off with “Mabuhay!” — and he mentioned that their Philippine visit had resulted in him being deluged with the most Twitter messages he had ever received.

The middle of their set was mostly unfamiliar to the audience (I still can’t believe they performed something from Raoul, and no less than 5 songs from Everybody Loves…) Curt Smith’s “Seven of Sundays” was surprisingly touching, and won the crowd over by the chorus, and then Roland did an unexpected and somewhat bizarre cover of “Billie Jean” (in response to the chants of “Eighties! Eighties!” perhaps?). “Break it Down Again” launched the screams into the stratosphere, and then “Head Over Heels” sustained the frenzy, and then they left for a while, but came back and ended strong with “Woman in Chains” and of course “Shout.”

Glad I was there. Thank you for the tickets, you know who you are.

Songs I hope they play the next time they come here: Advice for the Young at Heart, Change, Watch Me Bleed, Start of the Breakdown, The Working Hour, Mothers Talk, I Believe, Broken, Year of the Knife, Goodnight Song, Famous Last Words.

[Original Facebook note]