painting with light

young seductress

light captured on film or digital pixels make up a photograph. but what about invisible paint that only takes on form when hit by ultraviolet light? in the first place, why would any painter use such a paint?

magdalene?

art in recent years have gone through an evolution using forms, methods, installations, material, and interpretation. the methods may change but the subjects remain constant.

an igorot woman?

this series shows the artist's interpretation of the filipino woman in various roles. seemingly empty canvass hangs on the walls but comes alive when the ultraviolet rays of the rotating contraption set right in the middle hits the surface.

lady in a terno

the subjects all have a sensuous quality, a sense of mystery and like carnal thoughts, fleeting and disappears before you've fully grasped the entirety of the image.

aeta

lunch break

of late, i've been craving for more than my usual pinoy fix for food. fortunately, food options have improved in the metropolitan cities in the recent past where the there are other options beside the usual chinese cuisine fall back.

just in case you're wondering, i didn't consume all of the food featured here in one sitting. my friends are resigned to the fact that I need to take a picture of the food they ordered before they can dig in which is a tricky feat considering that nobody wants to eat cold food. except for froyo of course.

eggplant curry - teriyaki boy, cebu

if you like the sinus-clearing action of really spicy food, the curry is for you. prepare sheets of tissue to wipe the snot that's bound to drip from your nose as you attempt to clean the whole plate. at one point, i gave up on chopsticks and grabbed the nearest spoon to get all the sauce mixed in with the rice.

katsudon - teriyaki boy, cebu

the usual standard. my friend ordered this one, the same dish he orders every time we end up in a japanese restuarant. you could say some people are creatures of habit and this is one hard habit to break.

teriyaki maki - teriyaki boy, cebu

teriyaki boy is experimenting with maki preparations and this is one of them - teriyaki chicken wrapped in japanese rice then rolled in white and black sesame seeds. the sauce was a mix of mayo and teriyaki sauce which overpowered this one. i ordered wasabi mixed with kikkoman to get the zing going.

beef curry on tomato rice - ila puti, cebu

another curry feature, soft tender strips of beef cooked in spicy green curry with hints of ginger and served on top of rice cooked in tomato. it was a study in contrasts and texture as the sour note of the tomato surprisingly went well with the spicy bite of the beef curry.

a twist on the california maki - rai rai ken, cebu

california maki isn't real japanese but ironically, it is probably one of the most ordered japanese "dish" in the philippines. this one is a twist to the usual california maki by topping it with crunchy tuna sashimi tartar which probably got it's crunchiness from the left over tempura flakes mixed in with the sashimi.

lamb curry, chicken masala - queens, manila

okay, i admit, i have a curry fixation. when i got the chance to visit manila the other week i made it a point to visit a place that serves great indian food. you hardly expect a place called "queens" to serve south asian dishes but this restaurant gives value for money.

vegetable biryani - queens, manila

and if the chinese have their fried rice, the indian have their biryani. fragrant, delicious and is already a meal by itself. the long grain basmati rice is perfect for this sort of dish that requires the rice to hold it's form and grain and tossed well with the other ingredients.

herb naan - queens, manila

in indian cuisine, rice is more popular in the southern indian side alongside the use of chili as part of the spice used for various curries and masalas. in northern india, breads are commonplace with roti, flatbreads and naan taking the place of rice. perfect to wipe off every bit of sauce from the lamb curry.

sambal fish - 101 hawker food house, manila

to round up my lunch selection, here is sambal fish which is typically more malaysian or singaporean in origin. 101 hawker food house brings the singaporean street food experience to the philippines with this shop right in the middle of busy makati. office workers make a beeline for this place to get a sample of singaporean delicious-la dishes without having to put a dent in your pocket.

salt and pepper squid - 101 hawker food house, manila

did i forget to mention that we ordered these dishes during ash wednesday? thus the seafood fixation for lunch (although my food companion totally forgot and ordered chicken green curry). this hardly seems like fasting to me. burp.

brain dead, nosebleed and cinematic impotence

The Adjustment Bureau

if matt damon and emily blunt are part of a chemistry experiment, we'd refer to them as combustible. "adjustment bureau" partially succeeds in delivering an enthralling love story purely based on the spark between the two lead actors but eventually falls into the "love conquers all" cliché. i am surprised that the roman censorship machinery didn't take offense in the loose description of God as the "chairman" who is not as omnipotent as what we roman catholics believe in. apparently, according to the movie, chairman (aka God) and his angels all live in New York, have static disturbance when rain falls or surrounded by water, must only have male agents in the roster, has interest in a select few mortals, and needs magical hats.

the ending falters to a literal *poof* after building up the tension and is the cinematic equivalent of pre-mature ejaculation or impotence.

I am # 4

aliens on earth, can only be killed in a sequence, shark like humanoids hunting them down, teenage hormones, football school bullies and a kick-ass blow-to-smithereens ending is the perfect description of "i am number four".

despite the scathing review with rotten tomatoes of a whopping 30% approval rating, the movie debuted at number two in the US box office fueled by hordes of (mostly prepubescent female) fans that idolize english actor Alex Pettyfer in the lead role of John Smith. what's with english actors and american females? it must be the mojo!

don't worry, you don't have to use your brain for the most part of the movie, just sit back and enjoy the visual treat.

3 Idiots

despite the title "3 idiots", the indian movie revolved around "heart" and not the brain.

the movie subtly questions the caste system, the cutthroat indian education system, parents who see it their prerogative to churn out engineers and doctors as a status symbol for the family, dowries, the all powerful mint sauce that sheds light on a person's character, the fear that cause us to fail and having to stand in that precipice of indecision to choose our parent's dreams or your own.

and yes, the movie answers the question whether noses "bump" when people kiss.

amir khan delivers a heartfelt performance as a servant boy who pretends to be the master so he can get the title and education as an engineer but must relinquish the very same title as a promise to his benefactor.

as with most indian films, the ubiquitous dance (and dancing in the rain) sequence is a must. skipping through these scenes doesn't diminish the movie but it does provide some breathing relief when things get emotional.

in addition, the movie gives us an insight into indian culture where it is perfectly appropriate and okay for men to cry and hug. expect a lot of crying and i won't be surprised if you end up shedding a couple of your own. any movie that makes me cry a tear or two is two-thumbs up in my list. and if anyone says that men don't cry, tell that to the crazy psychos that carry super firearms to school and mow people down just because society tells them it is NOT okay to cry. ra-ta-tat-ta-tat.

we filipinos have this expression "nosebleed" to refer to something so highbrow that it literally freezes the brain and causes the uncontrollable gushing of blood through our nose.

inception was a classic nosebleed experience and i certainly didn't expect that in a matter of months, another movie would literally keep me glued to my seat as i absently wipe at my nose for another session of brain hemorrhage.

bi-polar delusional schizophrenic. big words for a small production that allow us to peek into the life of a control-freak-perfectionist ballerina who grew up under an oddly controlling mother who wants to live her own stunted dreams via her daughter.

barbara hershey as the mother can easily play the role of norman bate's mother and the few minutes that she spends on the screen made the audience squirm in discomfort and that same nagging feeling you want her dead.

despite barbara's peformance, natalie portman lives up to the accolades of SAG, Golden Globe, BAFTA and Oscar as the winner of best actress for her portrayal as Nina Sayers who went on two extreme ends to portray the perfectly pure white swan and the wantonly seductive and destructive black swan.

the movie chips away at the psyche of Nina and leads the viewers through layers upon layers of psychosis superimposed upon a modern retelling of the classic Swan Lake ballet.

you don't have to take my word for it, but rotten tomatoes rate the movie at a respectable 88% rating that is a full 2% higher compared to inception. there's just some thrill to watching a crazy, sexually depraved chick.

Hereafter

to wrap up my most recent cinematic adventures, i accompanied a friend to watch "hereafter", a movie starring matt damon as a genuine psychic that can see the dead and deliver otherworldly messages from beyond.

the movie is actually tied to three stories running in parallel but are ultimately linked to each other. a popular lady tv-host-reporter from france who suffers a near death experience, an english boy whose twin dies after he goes off to purchase medication for their substance abusing mother and a psychic who has decided to retreat to his own world and refuses physical human contact because of a curse that allows him to see and deliver messages from the dead.

ironically, the dead has a lot to say in this movie given the circumstances that they probably didn't have much opportunity or courage to say what's on their mind when they were living.

like adjustment bureau, the movie builds up to that fateful intersection of three lives and abruptly ends, leaving the audience to... nothing.

there are very few movies that can pull off that hanging thread (e.g. inception) that works to its advantage. hereafter simply cuts off to nothingness leaving the audience wondering if a few more scenes are coming right after the credits. (rotten tomatoes rating of 46%)