The Wheel and Axle

Today is Wonder Woman Day.

And it’s not just any Wonder Woman Day.

It’s a United Nations-declared Wonder Woman Day!

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20 Oct. 1882 – 16 Aug. 1956

Today is not just the birthday of the fascinating legendary poet Arthur Rimbaud.

Today is also the birthday of another legend, this time from film: the one and only horror icon Bela Lugosi, whose portrayal of Count Dracula forever ingrained the master vampire into the global consciousness. Though there have been other iconic Draculas who succeeded Bela (Christopher Lee and Gary Oldman, in particular), it was Bela’s Dracula that first brought into our collective minds our idea of who and what the count could be and which informed and influenced almost all other later portrayals.

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20 October 1854 – 10 November 1891

Le Dormeur du Val
Arthur Rimbaud

C’est un trou de verdure où chante une rivière
Accrochant follement aux herbes des haillons
D’argent ; où le soleil, de la montagne fière,
Luit : c’est un petit val qui mousse de rayons.

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Just when you thought Golden Girls merchandise couldn’t get any better, along come these fabulous tights. Blanche would be so pleased.

Now, if we can get them to also ship the guy along with the leggings, I would be pleased.

I’ve watched him practically grow up, from High School Musical to Hairspray to… well, to the bundle of freaking hotness that he is today.

Can you believe that he’s now only just one year short of thirty? It seems like yesterday that he was a young Wildcat singing his way through high school. Now, he’s no longer the cute, wholesome, almost-jailbait object of everyone’s (fantasy) affections but an actual ripped, abs-tastic, hunky demi-god that everyone lusts after admires.

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Judging based on its hilarious trailer, I went into The Third Party expecting a funny but predictable film. This was produced by Star Cinema, after all – the master of formula films in the Philippines.

And while I expected good quality acting (particularly from its leading lady) and good quality production values, I have learned to lower my expectations when it comes to generic, rehashed storytelling from this film outfit. Unlike its competitor GMA, ABS-CBN is not known to think outside the box and rarely takes risks, especially when it comes to anything LGBT-themed – where their best efforts seem to be redoing the same old tired Vice Ganda thing.

To be fair, they did have In My Life, which was atypical of Star Cinema in theme, but if you strip away the gay angle, you will see that it still followed formulaic drama.

So it was a pleasant surprise that The Third Party turned out to be not just funny but also not as predictable as I would have thought. Now, it’s still definitely nowhere near as groundbreaking or thought-provoking as GMA TV hits My Husband’s Lover and Destiny Rose, and in many ways it still seems to have that fear of offending mainstream audiences that results in a bit of holding back, but it’s definitely a step in the right direction. (continue reading…)

Accurate. Here’s to a happy and fruitful week ahead, everyone!

Novelist. Playwright. Poet. Essayist.

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On the same day that the King of Thailand passed away earlier this week, another piece of history was made when the legendary Bob Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. This is historic as it marks the first time the award was given to a musician, cementing the fact that music is poetry and deserves recognition not just for the sounds but also for the lyrics and thought.

My only gripe? Jim Morrison never won.

But that’s neither here nor there. Dylan – another master of words and social reality – most definitely deserves the recognition.

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I still remember learning about King Bhumibol Adultadej (Rama IX) back in high school circa 1992 during Ma’am Stella’s Asian History class. I became fascinated by Thailand’s monarchy afterwards.

The King was one of the most beloved monarchs in the world. Aside from their law that disallows the defamation or insults of their king, queen, and heir (in place even before he was crowned), he comes from a line that ensured that Siam would never be colonized. Moreover, he himself has been seem as a calming and unifying force in Thai politics; although he has limited powers (being a constitutional monarch), he has used his influence to ease high tension periods of the country.

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