Village Idiot Savant

Joy Luck

2012-06-04T08:00:00.000+08:00

I see you...

2012-06-03T22:44:00.003+08:00

Hiding in my shell

2012-06-03T00:10:00.002+08:00

Some days I feel like doing this. Right now is one of those days.

The Japanese Dolls Post

2012-06-01T17:13:00.000+08:00

We found these dolls in, of all places, a combined coffee shop-plumbing fixture showroom. How that mix came to be I don't know; but the owner has very eclectic taste in furniture and art. Still, the Japanese dolls were captivating, beautiful yet eerie, and exquisitely made. I just had to take photos.

Why You Can't Write Filipino Science Fiction

2012-05-27T09:38:00.002+08:00

Why you can't write filipino science fiction

View more presentations from Dominique Cimafranca

My presentation for the recently concluded Ateneo de Davao Writers Workshop 2012.

Ateneo de Davao Writers Workshop 2012, Day 5

2012-05-26T01:03:00.000+08:00

Ateneo de Davao Writers Workshop 2012, Day 4

2012-05-24T22:06:00.000+08:00

We started the day with a talk by Dr. Mac Tiu, who explained to us his techniques in writing his award-winning fiction. Mac admits he is a die-hard Aristotelian, so his stories take on the classical structure of "a single rising action with a single effect." Mac starts with the beginning and the end, or in other words, the problem and the solution; getting from one point to the other is the story.

Clearly that's a very basic tenet of storytelling, but something that many young writers forget. Everyone was in rapt attention. You just can't go wrong with a classic.

Mac divides his stories into "frames", or "scenes". Each frame moves the story forward, adding complications and driving up the action. Mac then showed us the differences between his drafts and final version for his short story "Black Pearl."

And for something new and different: we brought the workshop on the air! Farah, Greysh, and I hopped over to the radio booth next door during the snack break to do a quick spot for Blue Knight radio.

Farah read an excerpt from her short story "Purple Box", and Greysh read from her creative nonfiction piece "An Ode to My Left Ventricle." I wasn't wrong in my selection of Farah and Greysh because their voices were just fantastic and radio-perfect. At the end of each reading there was a pause as the DJs recovered from their stunned silence.

Now that's girl power.

Ateneo de Davao Writers Workshop 2012, Day 3

2012-05-24T12:00:00.000+08:00

Ateneo de Davao Writers Workshop 2012, Day 2

2012-05-24T08:00:00.000+08:00

The second day of the Ateneo de Davao Writers Workshop proceeded apace. We opened the day with a talk on poetry by Prof. Ric de Ungria. Addressing the present misunderstandings by young writers on the form, function, and motive of poetry, Prof. de Ungria took us through examples of bad poetry, such as "A Tragedy" by Theophile Marzails and "The Stuttering Lover" by Fred Emerson Brooks. Poetry is refined taste, Prof. de Ungria pointed out, and most bad poetry, stem from lapses in taste.

Poetry conveys emotion, a characteristic lacking in the works of many beginning poets whose works tend to be idea-driven discursive pieces. The poem must communicate emotion from sheer reading. However, with poor word choices, pathos, which good poetry aims for, can easily degenerate into bathos.

Allen Samsuya, Jeff Javier, and Karla Singson, past fellows of the Davao Writers Workshop and Ateneo de Davao Writers Workshop paid a visit and listened in on the discussions.

The day also had pleasant surprises and intensive and interesting discussions, especially on a piece written by Farah Aimee Virador from USEP. It's a piece we hope to publish in Dagmay soon.

Mr. Roboto

2012-05-22T08:04:00.001+08:00

My desktop companion and anti-boredom device.

Ateneo de Davao Writers Workshop 2012, Day 1

2012-05-21T22:28:00.000+08:00

Today was the first day of the Ateneo de Davao University Writers Workshop 2012. All in all, a pretty significant affair for me because it's my first time to be a workshop director, and the burden of responsibility weighs heavy on my shoulders. Which is not to say that it wasn't a fun day, which it was; and by many measures, I'd quality the day as a success.

Of course, I couldn't have pulled it off without my mates from the Davao Writers Guild -- Ric de Ungria, Mac Tiu, Jhoanna Lynn Cruz, Don Pagusara, and our keynote speaker Dame Aida Rivera Ford -- nor the energetic SALEM president Karen Kae Dicdican, nor the efficiency of Humanities Division secretary Jo Dizon.

Aida Rivera Ford gave our keynote address. She talked about her early experiences as a young writer in Silliman University and how they started the Sands and Coral publication, and about her adventures taking up her MA in English at the University of Michigan. Key revelations: she wrote her widely anthologized stories "Love in the Cornhusks" and "The Chieftest Mourner" because of pressure to produce for the Sands and Coral and for her thesis work.

Some public school teachers undergoing training for the upcoming K-12 program dropped by and took the opportunity to have their photos taken with Dame Aida. Aida showed off her latest book, published by Anvil, "Heroes in Love", a collection of plays about Rizal, Gregorio del Pilar, Manuel Quezon, and the fictional Crisosto Ibarra.

Despite some changes in the lineup for fellows, we still had a good turnout: we have 15, all told. Majority are students of Ateneo de Davao, but we have guests from University of Southeastern Philippines, University of Immaculate Conception, University of Southern Mindanao, and Cebu National Science High School.

This year, we're experimenting with slight changes in the format. Instead of the traditional critique workshops all throughout, we've included intensive writing sessions, our so-called "writing blitzes", and breakout read-aloud groups. I also asked the panelists to read the works soon after the keynote so as to give the fellows a chance to know them better by their works.

More to come tomorrow!

Old Dog Terence

2012-05-21T21:44:00.000+08:00

It's sad to see a dog grow old. I remember him when he was a young, frisky, misbehaving, and uncatchable blaze of fur. Eventually we channeled all that energy into agility training, and for a time, he was the poster pup for many local dog shows. Now he's droopy and limp. But he still comes when I call. I only wish I could have brought him with me after I got married, and we might still have had plenty of morning walks together.

Two questions from a former student

2012-05-19T10:00:00.002+08:00

1. How well do the concepts in a book translate into reality outside its pages?

A literary work is an interplay between the author and the reader. What the author writes cannot be a fully accurate translation of what he means to convey; such are the limitations of language. So the reader likewise must fill in those gaps with his own experiences. In effect, a book reflects the reality of the reader.

For more on this I would refer you to Sven Birkerts in "The Gutenberg Elegies." There's an essay there on the relationship between author and reader.

2. What is the difference between a sci-fi fantasy story, and a mythology?

Fantasy stories rely on some degree of unreality, either in character, setting, theme, or plot. Scifi stories are essentially fantasy stories, but they rely on plausible scientific explanations of aspects of their unreality. The scope of mythology is broad, but I like to think that myths are fantasy stories that have come to wide and enduring acceptance within a certain culture.

I would also refer you to GK Chesterton's essays on fairy stories in his book "Orthodoxy" and to John C. Wright's essays.

Avengers one more time!

2012-05-18T09:48:00.000+08:00

Avengers fever is dying down, so here are some parting shots until the next movie. These chibi figures are part of my small collection; officially, they're called "Marvel Heroes 2-Inch
Self-Vending Buildable Figures." How's that for imaginative branding?

Dusk

2012-05-17T18:39:00.001+08:00

Even as the light dies, we can still capture shadows and shapes.

Lines

2012-05-17T18:37:00.002+08:00

Quite a common sight in these parts, and mostly ugly, too, what with their crisscrossing wires and such. But sometimes I pause and consider the geometry and, well, they can be fascinating, too.

You want my advice?

2012-05-17T12:00:00.000+08:00

Revel bars, lemon bars, and chocolate chip cookies: all home-made and fresh from the oven, and baked by my wife.

You want my advice? Marry a baker.

Photo fun on a Thursday morning

2012-05-17T07:22:00.000+08:00

It's been a busy couple of days and I haven't had time to take the camera out for a spin. I decided to break that lassitude and inactivity with a morning walk around the park: take some shots, never mind how trite. These are what I came up with.

Transformers: Sideswipe

2012-05-13T21:48:00.000+08:00

Nope, not from the Mindanao Toy Convention, just one of my own collection. I dusted Sideswipe from ye olde toy shelf so we could have a little posing fun. I took this shot sometime dawn (I'm an early riser). I like how the light catches the silver finish.

Mindanao ToyCon: Bird's Eye View

2012-05-13T21:24:00.000+08:00

I didn't get to go on the last day of the toy convention, but I did swing by yesterday. Here's an overhead view of the whole affair.

Mindanao Toy Convention: More Gundams

2012-05-13T16:01:00.000+08:00

More Gundams from the Mindanao Toy Convention. They had a model building contest, too.

This Gundam was put together by my student, John Paul. It had a place of honor among the other models from the local Gundam modelers.

This was an entry from the kit-building contest.

As was this.

Mindanao ToyCon: Marvel's Toughest

2012-05-10T06:00:00.000+08:00

Mindanao ToyCon: Japanimation Models

2012-05-09T18:00:00.000+08:00

Mindanao ToyCon: Gundams

2012-05-09T14:00:00.000+08:00

Mindanao ToyCon: Optimus Prime and Bumblebee

2012-05-09T10:00:00.000+08:00