Monday, September 29, 2008
ON WRITING AND BLOGGING
"Quiapo deserves a thorough visit from every writer worth his or her salt. I'd begin with a jeepney ride (no cars or taxis, please) from Quezon City of Makati, getting off at Quiapo Church (where you might get your fortune told or have someone pray on your behalf, for a small fee), then walking to Avenida Rizal via R. Hidalgo, Carriedo, or Raon then on to Plaza Sta. Cruz, Escolta, and Chinatown, emerging on C. M. Recto (Azcarraga, when I first set foot on it). Spend some time at Arranque Market, a stationary caravan featuring plump exotic chickens, riotous parakeets, and flea-bitten Persian kittens (and, father up the street, everyone's stolen cell phone, typically if understandably sold without their chargers). Somewhare along the way, eat - preferably in some nondescript but jumpacked hole-in-the-wall with ceiling fans to cool the hototay.
As you walk around, practice sizing up situations and asking yourself 'Where's the story?' or 'What's the story here?' At worst, you'll end up with a bag of details, a literary pack rat's delight, that you can dip into on those still, dry days. At best, you'll come up with a story suggested by the scene at hand."
Source:
THE KNOWING IS IN THE WRITING
Notes on the Pratice of Fiction
The University of the Philippines Press
© 2006 Joey Y. Dalisay, Jr.
I very much appreciate my articles and photos appearing on fellow bloggers' sites, popular broadsheets, and local broadcast news segments, but I would appreciate even more a request for permission first.
Thank you!
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Labels: blogging, Featured book, Featured Writer, photography, writing
posted by Señor Enrique at 1:07 AM
16 Comments:
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ka tony said... Hi Eric,
I love your multi-screen presentation!!!
Reminds me of my "kinetic art" show in Chicago, last March na napakadugo! Consisted of one giant cyclorama, accommodated 36 screens, I used 35mm & 16mm movie projectors, 52 slide projectors with 104 dissolvers, 1,560 drums of carousel projector with millions of slides in it, cans & cans of movie 16mm & 35mm colored & B&W films. Multi visuals that sink in to the audio...whew!
This concept was conceived during the film production of the first "Woodstock" movie by Michael Wadleigh. Which the young Martin Scorsese was one of the cameramen & edited the Oscar winning film!!!
Thanks for the memories & your great presentation Eric,
ka tony-
EM said...
Your post remind me of my own treck of those places. Although i would start from taking the jeep from Sta. Mesa (where PUP is) going to Quiapo or sta Cruz. I forgot the exact name of the route but it's usually my starting point before I go trek the web of people and places in Quiapo. Including Raon where we spent a considerable amount of time because of academic requirements. From quiapo i would walk all the way home at Espana Blumentritt. Not walking everyday but during times i'd like to think things through. Most of the time I would take the jeep of course. :)
Once again I thank you for the the walk on memory lane Senior.-
nutart said...
I have an idea of how monumental that project of kinetic art Ka Tony had just written! WHEW talaga! I was once involved in something similar likethat but in a microscopic scale relative to this one.
Yep, maintaining a blog and/or being a writer takes a lot more than readers would even imagine it to be. Kaya nga wala akong blog, e! Pa-comment-comment na lang. Parang umaangkas sa bisikleta. Tapos, isa pang alibi---wala akong sariling camera--- waaah!-
Señor Enrique said...
Wow! I would've enjoyed seeing this kinetic art show of yours, Ka Tony! Since it was held in Chicago, was it covered by the Chicago-based PinoyCentric.com?
Fifty-two slide projectors with 104 dissolvers, 1,560 drums of carousel projector with millions of slides in it, cans & cans of movie 16mm & 35mm colored & B&W films and synched to audio -- whoa! What was it about?
Did you post a blog feature on it?
The effect I had chosen for this slide show -- 21 photos I had taken during a walk I did last Sunday from Quiapo to Binondo -- somehow reflect fragmented thoughts that eventually coagulate to reveal a single cohesive story.
You see, many had asked how I could be such a prolific blogger. The answer is the camera that I use to take snapshots of everything that caught my interest while gallivanting around Manila. And the images I had collected would inspire blog posts.
Thus, I agree with Butch Dalisay; that any writer worth his or her salt ought to do a walking tour of Manila from Quiapo to Binondo and collect a "literary pack rat's delight, to dip into on those dry days!"
Frankly, out of these 21 photos in the slide show, I had already thought of at least 15 blog posts from which ... hehehe.-
Señor Enrique said...
My pleasure, EM!
Would you believe that I had walked once from Quiapo to Santo Domingo Church on Quezon Avenue in Quezon City? It was a leisurely walk, though, and I took pictures along the way. Not so sure how many miles of kilometers I had covered on that day, but in New York City, I used to walk a lot -- many times from my apartment in midtown all the way down to Soho.
I don't think I'd ever get tired of walking the tri-district (Quiapo-Santo Cruz-Binondo) of downtown Manila :)-
Señor Enrique said...
Lol ... I think commenting takes enough of your time as it is. I can imagine how demanding your artwork and other tasks, Bernadette, but rest assured, your smart comments are always appreciated.
This immense kinetic art show by Ka Tony is certainly mind-boggling! Wish he had taken a video of it to upload in YouTube for everyone's delight :)-
said... Hi Señor,
I noticed the edifice of Philtrust Bank fully renovated now, with paint. Is it?
I am actually planning to go there next week!
Thanks for the wonderful snapshots.
El Cineasta.-
Señor Enrique said...
Yes, El Cineasta! Its facade has been repainted and it truly brightened up the corner.
Its really amazing how regular upkeep of our old structures brings so much joy and inspires pride of place. Wish many more of our city's property owners do the same.-
ka tony said...
Hi Eric & Bernadette,
Madugo talaga na project ang multi-screen, but a lot of fun! I did similar projects at the Folk Arts Theater & Cultural Center of the Philippines, during my advertising years. My presentation at CCP was great 'cuz they also have a huge cyclorama & a rear projector that can accommodate even 4X5 transparencies for only a distance of 20 feet, with a wide angle lens that fill the whole stage of the CCP! During those days I do 50% of the work; conceptualization, connecting the dissolvers, aiming the projectors, shooting & sequenced the slides, etc... With my last "kinetic art" I only did the concept, selected the slides, supervised, dry run, etc...
My "kinetic art" was sponsored by The General Motors, the same guys who were my client, back in Manila. The theme of my "kinetic art" was "My Generation" which was GM's golden years. So the music & visuals were mostly by The WHO, Beatles & other late 60s & early 70s Bands & events. No one was allowed to take pictures, which was quite hard 'cuz visuals were projected from the rear. Sometimes the cyclorama had 36 screens, sometimes less, will cut to a full screen, cut to a 35mm movie film, dissolves to a still single screen on the top left segued to a melting colored paint, with live nude models painted bodies dancing on the stage! And so on, and so on, for an hour...
I had only two shows, for two days. My regret about this one man show was that, I have no record nor a video for my file! I felt like a Tibetan Buddhist Monk who did a "sand mandala." But like the presentation at the Folk Arts & CCP in Manila, it was good for my "artist ego" Which I'm sure Bernadette can relate. "Self satisfaction" is the main food for the heart & soul of an artist!
Eric, I love the way your multi screen moved as a puzzle solver! Multi screen presentation was adopted from the compound eyes of a fly. According to psychologists who studied the presentation, though humans don't have compound set of eyes, our brain can accumulate & understand all the multi visual that our eyes see & passed on to our brain!
"Yep, maintaining a blog and/or being a writer takes a lot more than readers would even imagine it to be. Kaya nga wala akong blog, e! Pa-comment-comment na lang. Parang umaangkas sa bisikleta. Tapos, isa pang alibi---wala akong sariling camera--- waaah!"
Bernadette, your pa-comment-comment, is not just a pa-comment-comment! I learn a lot from you. Umaakas nga lang sa biskleta, but you give light & directions to the biker & the others like myself, na umaankas din!
Maraming salamat sa inyong dalawa,
ka tony-
Señor Enrique said...
I don't think I had ever seen such presentation, Ka Tony, but as I said, would have loved it.
Laurie Anderson, an American performance artist, had a show at Brooklyn Academy of Music replete with a giant screen and awesome visuals synched with her live performance; however, her presentation, I think, may have not come close to the magnitude of your kinetic art show.
The rock band Genesis with Peter Gabriel as front man used to incorporate a giant screen and arty visuals in their concert performances, which I was fortunate to see -- Lamb Lies Down in Broadway tour.
However, from what I understand, Pink Floyd used to present the best visuals along with their live music performances. unfortunately, never got to see Pink Floyd live despite the connection s I had in the music industry. The other groups I didn't get to see live were Led Zeppelin, The Who, and Yes.
Thanks for sharing your artistic achievements with us, Ka Tony!-
nutart said...
this is just mind-boggling!---that i still get to hobnob with intense and talented people via the Internet~! The world has really shrunk with these many expanded ideas. Ka Tony, I know the vastness of the stage of CCP. I started designing my first full-length puppetry production at the Folk Arts theater and I was near to tears because of the vastness of the stage area. But I was able to hack it. Then next, was the CCP stage---OMG I nearly fainted again! The light system was triple that of the FAT. So, your kinetic art was like creating the Universe or something!
Eric, are you sure you don't miss New York ;-)??? Was this the Gabriel who did the soundtrack of Scorsese's "Last Temptation of Christ?" All those other groups you had watched---they're just like print material for me!
Thanks also, both of you!-
Señor Enrique said...
Honestly, Bernadette? Not really. You see, I'm barely scratching the surface here in Manila :)
Yes, same Peter Gabriel. Phil Collins played the drums then, but he took over as front man when Gabriel left to go solo.
Wish I had known you back then when you used to do CCP. I would've loved to document the behind-the-scenes of your productions.-
said...
A picture's worth a thousand words. I belatedly discovered the truth of that saying when I also discovered photography. Your pictures tell a lot of stories!
How nice that Blogger now allows you to have a slideshow in your blog!-
said...
Eric... thank God, you have at last copyrighted your photos! :)
To share a bit of info to fellow readers here, aside from winning the three Best Single Post awards, Eric's blog was also finalist for the Bloggers' Choice Award at the 2008 Philippine Blog Awards. Were it not for the confusingly intricate voting process, and if he only posted a blog entry about it, I'm sure Señor Enrique could have easily won. :)
How I wish I could be as prolific a blogger as you are, Eric. However being a mom demands so much of my time, focus and energy. Many times a lot of ideas for blog entries flood my mind. But they easily get lost in my stream of consciousness -- as if I'm being jolted from a dream -- whenever my cellphone suddenly rings and I hear any of my children's voice from the other end. hehehe.
Oh well... someday soon maybe. :)-
Señor Enrique said...
Nasapawan at ng slide show ang article ko tungkol kay Butch Dalisay. Goes to prove how powerful images are, Bugsy! ... hehehe.
I found out about Slide from BW of The Warped Zone when he had used it on one of his posts. Been using it ever since, and yes, Blogger allows you to embed it on your posts much like YouTube does :)
Looking forward to some of your slide shows, Bugsy :)-
Señor Enrique said...
Many thanks, Rhoda; however, let's not forget the many wonderful blog sites out there worthy of the Bloggers' Choice Award :)
I can imagine the tasks you have to attend to especially with such an active and smart kids. Nonetheless, keep a notebook handy to jot down your ideas for future writings!
