Trip to Quiapo by Ricky Lee

“Hindi ka tuturuan ng librong ito kung paano magsulat. Buhay ang gagawa n’on” – Ricky Lee

Sana maraming bumasa ng Trip to Quiapo, kahit walang balak maging scriptwriter o manunulat. Magkahalong manual ng screenwriting at collection ng iba’t ibang anekdota at materyales na konekatdo sa Philippine Cinema, bumuo si Ricky Lee ng isang sincere at kahanga-hangang larawan ng industriyang pinaglaanan niya ng buhay sa mahigit tatlumpung taon.

Importante ang librong ito hindi lamang para sa mga cinephile kundi para sa mga naghahangad ng isang oral history tungkol sa Pinoy Cinema. Marami akong nakuhang insight tungkol sa paggawa ng kwento, at malamang ay babalikan ko uli ang librong ito kung sakaling magbabalak akong magsulat uli ng fiction.

Tongues on Fire by Conrado de Quiros

Conrado de Quiros is among the country’s most articulate and widely-read political voices. His weekly column called There’s the Rub consistently causes pundits and politicians to either lionize him or accuse him of persecution. To put his influence in perspective, he is one of the very first people who called for Noynoy Aquino to run for the presidency, writing “Noynoy for president” in August 2010, following the death and funeral of Former President Corazon Aquino. Noynoy was not even contemplating the bid at this point, but the phenomenal outpouring of grief during Cory’s funeral and the call of people such as de Quiros snowballed into a movement and eventually became the state of Philippine politics today.

Tongues on Fire do not contain materials from his columns but are either speeches or longer essays that are not necessarily political in nature. However, many of the pieces allude to different administrations–from Marcos to Macapagal-Arroyo–and the scandals and indignities to which they have subjected the country. De Quiros is a political animal and it shows, with even speeches about the Boy Scouts of the Philippines containing jibes about corruption. In one essay (“A real book”), he talks about well-meaning friends and usiseros telling him that his talents can be better showcased in other ways, since writing about Philippine politics is an ultimately doomed endeavor. He blithely tells them to get lost.

Stiff by Mary Roach

In my quest to read more non-fiction this year, I went ahead and bought this book which I’ve been hearing about for a long time. As someone who gorges on police procedurals on a regular basis (let me tell you about my feelings for Idris Elba’s Luther one of these days), the subject matter is right up my alley.

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers is a series of long form essays by journalist Mary Roach that tackles the adventurous (after)lives of corpses that are used for scientific research. From the long-standing and ghoulish tradition of bodysnatching for medical schools to the relatively recent educational facility called the “body farm,” Roach examines not only the mechanics of corpse-related experimentation, but also the ethical and practical implications of doing such work.

Fargo Rock City

Pity those with the compulsion to rationalize their obsessions; theirs is a battle with no end. Chuck Klosterman proves with his oral history of heavy metal, filtered through the eyes of a perpetually uncool kid from rural North Dakota. A freewheeling meditation on bands like Mötley Crüe, KISS, Poison, and Guns N’ Roses, Fargo Rock City is already significant as one of the first attempts to legitimize the cultural importance of the spandex-clad, hairsprayed army of badasses who saw their heyday in the late 80′s to early 90′s. But it is also a love letter to a childhood where love of music was tied to a sense of self and belonging. And the undying desire to rock.

Klosterman declares early on that he wants to confront two of the most egregious accusations hurled at heavy metal: that 1) it is frivolous and disposable (therefore “not art”), and 2) it is offensive and dangerous. He argues that these two sentiments can’t both be true at the same time. Being a danger presupposes a potency that contradicts frivolity. It may not be elevating art but heavy metal mattered, particularly to the crop of hormonal teenagers of post-Reagan Middle America.

Moneyball: In Praise of Sabermetrics

I must admit that I like reading about baseball much more than watching it. I can lap up article after article about Ichiro Suzuki by Time Magazine, but sitting through a baseball game is something I can only afford to do when I’m already under the influence of Advil. Still, sportswriting remains an affecting genre for me. Despite being prone to romanticism, there is a lot of naked emotion inherent in it, chronicling the triumphs and follies of grown men risking life and limb to chase after a ball.

Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game is a crusade under the banner of sabermetrics. Michael Lewis’s infamous book about an underfunded baseball team that manages to outsmart several richer teams hinges on a single point–that the old boy’s club of Major League Baseball inaccurately measures the merits and skills of their own players and that this shortsightedness can be exploited by a smarter, if poorer, team. The secret weapon? Statistical analysis.

Day 15 – Your comfort book

Day 15 – Your “comfort” book

Maria Isabel Garcia’s Science Solitaire: Essays on Science, Nature, and Becoming Human

This is a collection of columns Maria Isabel Garcia has written for The Philippine Star over the years. Here’s a more recent example. Despite my declaration that I never reread books, this one is perfect for a reader looking to dip into short bursts of reflection about the wonders and possibilities of science. I’ve come to appreciate science writing more after reading this book a couple of years ago. In fact, part of my reading list right now is Mary Roach’s Stiff and Oliver Sacks’sThe Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat.

Maria Isabel Garcia is also a wonderful and fascinating woman, something I found out for myself after meeting her for a Read or Die event. For a writer who is a scientist by profession, her prose has a lightness to it that renders the discussion of intellectual pursuits (she routinely talks about quantum physics and–dun dun dun–MATH) more engaging. I can trace a straight line from my current fascination with Radiolab to the little sparks of curiosity lit up in my head by this book.

An aside: Holy crap, why is this book priced at 30 dollars on Amazon? D:

Oneshot Webcomics

I obviously enjoy several serial webcomics. However, one of the big drawbacks in following a work in progress is that the payoff of a satisfying ending doesn’t happen for a long, long while. That’s why I appreciate folks who try their hand at one-shots. A particularly brilliant one is Emily Carroll’s Face All Red. A creepy, lurking animal of a tale, it was originally published around Halloween last year but I read the first few panels and decided to put off finishing the whole thing until the Christmas season. Believe me when I say that that is high praise.

Blue Delliquanti’s 24-hour project called Metamorphosis is the adaptation of a segment from Radiolab (my current obsession!). His drawing style lends itself very well to the poignancy of the original audio piece. I also love how he did everything within 24 hours.

If you have any suggestions for great one-shot webcomics, don’t hesitate to tell me! I’m always on the lookout for more.

Day 03 – Best Book of the Year

Day 03 – The best book you’ve read in the last 12 months

Erik Larson’s The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America

I’ve just finished this book and I’ve probably going to make a proper review of this book soon-ish, but my reticence with non-fiction works has been effectively overturned by this book. It’s a fascinating mixture of true crime and history. I loved how Erik Larson used a singular event (the 1983 Chicago World’s Fair) to talk about various aspects of the Gilded Age. Society, architecture, public sanitation, and law enforcement, and one of the most disturbed serial killers since Jack the Ripper converged during one of the most ambitious endeavors of the 19th century. The prose itself is pretty utilitarian but it served the subject matter very well.

If you’re a history buff, or a fan of TV shows like Criminal Minds, you would definitely enjoy it.