Village Idiot Savant

Missy

2010-03-20T07:54:00.001+08:00

More pics of Missy, the fat dachschund I featured earlier.

Goodbye, Fr. Sun

2010-03-19T17:09:00.004+08:00

I heard the news, of all times and places, during Mass at the chapel in Megamall. In the remembrance of the dead, the priest said: "...pray for the souls of --- and Bartholomew Sun..."

My jaw dropped before my brain could process the information. In my mind's eye, I briefly saw instead the image of his contemporary, the late Fr. Paul Chi ("...surely they mean him...they have to mean him...") before the image resolved itself to the proper face. Only then did I realize, with sad finality:

Fr. Sun is gone.

Over and above the sadness we feel when someone we know dies, his passing leaves me with one regret: I never did get to set down his story on paper like I did for Fr. Chi. I tried, during the time I still lived in Dumaguete, but it never really came together.

Back when I still felt optimistic about the project, I paid him several afternoon visits at his residence inside Holy Cross High School. He couldn't walk properly anymore, and I think he had just recovered from a bad fall, but he still had the spark in him.

The conversations all comes back to me now in scraps and pieces, sadly without much detail: how he left China in the 50s, spent some months in Hong Kong, arrived in Manila, assigned for a few years to various places in the Philippines, before the assignment to the Catholic Chinese school in Dumaguete in the 60s.

I guess that's why I felt I couldn't do justice to his story. By the time of our interviews, the bulk of his story would have concerned Holy Cross where he spent over forty years. I didn't have the emotional connection with the school that an alumnus would have. And so our conversations instead turned to current affairs and relatives in China, things that hardly fit in a proper biographical sketch.

So let me write briefly instead about how I remember Fr. Sun best: as a younger priest, then in his fifties, more vigorous and lively; astride the motorcycle he used to get around the city; the priest with the toothy beaming smile and raspy booming voice; and best of all, how he called out to me in my family nickname in his quaint unmistakable Chinese accent. Somehow, he always seemed to remember.

The last time I saw Fr. Sun, it was a Sunday afternoon, and he sat in his wheelchair by the entrance gate of Holy Cross. "Hello, Father," I said, "do you remember me?" I'm not quite sure he recognized me anymore; my fault, maybe, for having been away too long. His caregiver went to get something from the house; I told her I'd watch over Fr. Sun a while.

There really wasn't much to say any more, and so we just sat together quietly, until the time came to say goodbye.

The best camera...

2010-03-19T10:17:00.003+08:00

If I've been featuring more and more photos in this blog, it's because of this newfound philosophy in photography, thanks to the book of the same name: The Best Camera is the One That's With You.

Funny thing is: I haven't even read the book yet. But the thought is so simple it really doesn't require much more elaboration. But if you need one, I think this line from the web site captures the essence:

Inherently, we all know that an image isn’t measured by its resolution, dynamic range, or anything technical about cameras or photos. An image is measured by the simple — sometimes profound, other times absurd or humorous or whimsical — effect that it can have upon us. If you can see an image, it can move you.

Which is more than what I can say for all the fetishism around DSLRs. Really, people, what are you trying to compensate for?

Darth Vader

2010-03-18T18:05:00.001+08:00

Life-sized statue of Darth Vader at the Toy Kingdom in SM Megamall. Very menacing.

Oakwood

2010-03-18T18:02:00.001+08:00

Oakwood Building in Ortigas. No, this is not the one where the mutiny took place.

Fat weiner dog

2010-03-18T17:33:00.004+08:00

I earlier said this dog was pregnant. I was wrong. This dog is just THAT fat.

Pasig River from Guadalupe

2010-03-18T17:28:00.002+08:00

A view of the Pasig and surrounding areas from the Guadalupe MRT station. I like how the sky and the clouds turned out in this picture.

By the Pasig river

2010-03-18T11:00:00.002+08:00

Believe it or not, people actually fish in the Pasig river now. It's not as filthy as I used to remember it, though I occasionally catch the whiff of effluvium.

This fisherman showed me some extraordinarily large fish he had caught.

No, I didn't win...

2010-03-18T09:16:00.006+08:00

...not even a book signing pass, but I wasn't going to let that spoil my fun. I had reunions with friends I hadn't met in months and even years.
Me with my favorite gang of specfic writers: Charles, Michael, Kyu, Mia, and Joey.

Joey and Mia, one of my favorite specfic writing couples.

With Plurkpal Mark Poa.

With Chiqui Perez, from the SciFi Philippine days.

With Plurkpal Yvette and Michael A.R. Co.

With Ria Lu, fellow Davaoeno and creator of Talecraft.

Paige and Louella.

More Paige and Louella.

Louelle and Christelle Mariano, who won first place in the prose category with her story, "A Kind of Flotsam."

In some ways, last night was the fulfilment of a promise. I told Louella, possibly the biggest Sandman fan that I know, that she would be my plus-one if I ever got into this competition so she could meet Neil Gaiman. Close, but not quite; but still....

Oh, right, and that guy. What's his name again?

:-)

Who's that girl?

2010-03-17T09:46:00.002+08:00

Princess of the parade from yesterday's Araw ng Dabaw. I have no idea who she is or why people were so wild about her. Shrug.

Wong Lo Kat iced tea

2010-03-17T09:19:00.002+08:00

I found this in the fridge in the place where I'm staying. I don't know whose it was. But man, did it taste goooood!

Good Omens

2010-03-17T08:39:00.004+08:00

This is me being a fanboy.

Okay, I'm not, really. Really! It's just that I'm about to *hang out* with Neil Gaiman later, and I realize I haven't read much of his work, at least, not compared to all the other real fans out there. I went through American Gods last year, but that's the net of it. I don't want to be a boor; I at least want to catch the references to what the fans will be talking about.

So this is me, cramming.

On a related note, I had a harried female executive for a seatmate on the plane coming here. Annoying, too: up until take-off time, she was on her laptop running through MS Project and uploading via her SmartBro dongle. Anyhow, she wore a t-shirt and on the front was emblazoned with the word:

Calliope

Now I have to hope that's a good omen.

Mutya ng Dabaw 2010

2010-03-16T09:26:00.001+08:00

Yes, yes, I know this is what you've been waiting for.

Araw ng Dabaw 2010

2010-03-16T09:20:00.002+08:00

As my flight isn't later, I still managed to catch a glimpse of the Araw ng Dabaw 2010 parade. It's as boring as ever, what with endless streams of marching government workers. Nothing quite like the Kadayawan.

I did manage to catch some interesting sights, though.

Off to Manila

2010-03-15T14:10:00.005+08:00

I'm off to Manila tomorrow to rub elbows with Neil Gaiman.

No, really, I am. It has to do with this.

If you voted for me, I thank you kindly; if not, pfffbbttt! No pizza for you if I win.

Seriously: given the stuff I write and how I write it and the competition in the shortlist, it's a long shot that I'll win, but what the heck, I might as well have fun, right? Besides, there might be a free dinner, too, and I hope the food is good.

I'll be staying a few days longer, through Sunday, because school is out, finally, and I could use a break. I hope to squeeze in a couple of card games and maybe even an RPG with my old geek gang.

And I might even have a small role in a movie, too. No, I am not kidding. But I'll write more about it when it does happen.

If you want to meet up, drop me a note.

Crossing 2

2010-03-15T12:10:00.000+08:00

Crossing

2010-03-15T12:04:00.001+08:00

Smile, Jerry

2010-03-15T12:01:00.000+08:00

Mini theater production in Ateneo

2010-03-15T10:55:00.001+08:00

Lenaur Abbot, my co-teacher at Ateneo, ran a mini-theater production with her Humanities students last Saturday evening. They only featured excerpts, but all the same, I was impressed. We really should have more of this.

Campaign Season

2010-03-15T10:53:00.002+08:00

Campaign season is in full swing in Ateneo. The teachers in the second floor faculty room are showing their colors.

Dumping computers

2010-03-15T10:50:00.002+08:00

A neighboring cybercafe was in the midst of replacing their computers. They piled their old gear out on the street. I thought it made an interesting contrast with the hawker food stalls.

Jerry

2010-03-15T10:47:00.002+08:00

Now that Jerry's yaya has left, I bring him to school every now and then so he can play on the grounds. He loves running around and since I have to run interference, I get my workout as well.

Chinese goods chicanery

2010-03-12T09:29:00.001+08:00

Various brands and signs found at a cheap Chinese imports store.

Davao's Toy Street

2010-03-12T09:26:00.002+08:00

Emily introduced me to this little corner of Davao last Sunday. Situated in a little alleyway near Oyanguren, hawkers sell plastic toys and trinkets for really cheap. Toy guns and robots go for as low as P10; they almost always never go beyond P100.

Mario in Davao

2010-03-12T09:25:00.001+08:00

My friend Mario Carreon swung by Davao to present his paper on distributed simulation at the recently held Philippine Computer Science Congress in Ateneo.