arts – BRYOLOGUE

Today is World Refugee Day!

June 20, 2013bryologue 1 Comment

My colleagues, especially Robyn, have been working very hard for the past few weeks for the event organized with UNHCR and the Department of Justice. June 20 marks “World Refugee Day” and our NGO has put up an exhibit of artworks done by refugees near the fountain in Shangri-la Mall . It was my first event and I even had to borrow Mon’s blazer because I realized I had none. LOL I have a barong from my graduation rites two months ago, but that would have been too formal for something that requires smart casual.

Continue Reading →

Furniture adventure: a day in Paco, Manila

May 31, 2013bryologue 22 Comments

I’ve been writing a lot lately about our apartment, and what we have been doing to make the place feel more like home. We began by changing the color of the walls from yellow to mint green, as well as bringing in the essentials such as the sofa bed (which I read as a good small bedding idea), exhaust fan and a mirror (lol priorities).

Mon brought home a couple of acrylic paints and blank canvases when he went home last Wednesday, and he had painted two colorful bunch of swirls, which I put on top of that mirror for the obligatory pop of color on the walls.

Continue Reading →

My colorblind art: blue irises

May 20, 2013bryologue 1 Comment

Until now, I’m reconsidering what things to put in our apartment in order to personalize the space, but I was pretty sure I wanted framed things inside. Aside from a framed silk scarf fantasy from last week, I also recalled that I wanted to frame this painting of irises I made on a boring summer about thirteen years ago. I had leftover poster paint bottles and a sketch pad from the drawing/drafting class of the school year earlier, and I thought it would be such a waste not to use them. I had copied these flowers from a children’s book I got from my grade school library:

So when I thought of framing it at the same time with the silk scarf, I also began to question whether I had the color right. Again, I am colorblind and I have a curious problem of identifying and confusing colors from one another. Before I bring this painting to the framing store, I reconsidered whether it was done correctly. So under the pretense of curiously asking Faye about the color of irises, I was stunned to hear that they are normally purple/violet/lavander. I was dumbfounded. All my life, I have deluded myself that irises are blue and I really loved them for that. I have never thought of them as blue. I was living a lie.

Well, a quick Google image search informed me that there are really true blue irises. The catch was I have copied my irises from a children’s book that I loved so much because it was one of those general knowledge textbooks that one can just read on and on. I was recently informed that the iris on top was violet, and the one below was on blue violet. I don’t remember ever using violet in my painting because I only had the basic (labelled) poster paints. My irises painting is still existent in the natural world. But if we were to consider its provenance, then it would be another story because the flowers in the book had different colors.

An incomplete drawing of Geri

So aside from the irises painting, I was also surprised to see other things I have made in the same sketch pad. It was evident that I have a tendency to draw faceless figures because it was something I was unable to do. But come to think of it, it is still something I cannot do. LOL Look at the gay overtones of the two: Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer were definitely having a moment (and whose author, Mark Twain, was also incidentally colorblind!). Meanwhile, Geri is clearly a gay icon, with that iconic Union Jack dress on from the Cool Britannia period of the leate 90s. It was really funny and nostalgic at the same time to peruse old drawings from more than a decade ago. That irises painting might be no Van Gogh, but it deserves its own spot inside my new place. In the bathroom, perhaps? LOL

Off to UPLB!

March 4, 2013bryologue Leave a Comment

It was a fine Monday and we can’t be thankful enough of the overcast weather because we had to go to UP Los Baños and submit the requirements for Lot’s dormitory application. After leaving our things and the office and the collared shirt I would be wearing for work, Mon and I went straight to the Taft area to ride a bus going to Los Baños.

To our surprise, the JAM Liner terminal there did not have any bus departing for Sta. Cruz, the route passing by College, to UPLB. One of the drivers there told us to go to Green Star’s terminal few meters away, and we had barely missed the bus because it was already in the highway, about to leave.

An hour and a half, we already arrived at our destination. I was really excited to go there again because I haven’t been to UPLB for a very long time. I have extremely fond memories of the place and seeing the familiar environment brought the feeling back.

Continue Reading →

Frenemies Betty and Veronica for MEGA magazine!

February 4, 2013bryologue 2 Comments

While browsing Facebook earlier, I was elated to see this photo:

(Photo from Mega magazine’s Facebook page)

Growing up reading Archie Comics, I always find the dynamics between the two to be interesting and exasperating at the same time. What’s with Archie, anyway, and why were they fighting tooth and nail to catch his attention and affection? Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge are definitely the epitome of the cartoon version of what frenemy is. Frenemy, a portmanteau of the words ‘friend’ and ‘enemy’, which readily gives us an insight on what sort of relationship that exists between people who consider each other frenemies. But in the entertainment industry as a whole, how many men frenemies can you identify? Maybe not a lot, or if ever, none at all. This frenemy phenomenon must be exclusively existing between the ladies, and popular culture from generations before until now have its own version.

(Photo from Gawker.com)

(Photo from MSN.com)

Another notable thing: the brunette-blonde dichotomy. Joan Crawford and Better Davis, Blair Waldorf and Serena van der Woodsen, and of course, Betty and Veronica. There seems to be a fascination on the difference between the dark-haired and light-haired girl.

Anyway, back to the magazine cover, Archie comics’ Dan Parent has illustrated the girls wearing local designers’ collections, presumably from the Holiday 2012 collection (because we obviously don’t have Fall/Winter here). Betty’s wearing Veejay Floresca, while Veronica’s donning a Cary Santiago piece. Reading the text next to Veronica, it mentions the girls being the new faces of MAC. O_O How will that exactly work and the simpleton me was left wondering how on Earth do you make use of cartoon characters as the “face” of a cosmetic brand. But reading from this article on Dailymail, it is actually more of the personality of the girls. Now, it brings us back to the supposed dichotomy of personalities between blondes and brunettes because product names such as ‘Girl Next Door’, ‘Summer Sweetheart’ and ‘Kiss and Don’t Tell’ (for Betty) or ‘Boyfriend Stealer’, ‘Past Curfew’ and ‘Double Trouble’ (for Veronica) actually reinforce such split. Not to mention, “Archie’s Girls” — they were not even “Betty and Veronica”, but are still attached to Archie’s identity.

(Photo from Trendland.com)

As for concept of the shoot, it is definitely not the first time that cartoon characters are used for a fashion magazine editorial. Sure we had Disney characters posing as designers for the April 2010 issue of Elle España, or even an appearance of Shrek characters in VMan May 2010 (which was controversial because of the ‘sexy’ nature of the shoot), the most famous and notable one is still the “Simpsons go to Paris” editorial from Harper’s Bazaar’s August 2007 issue (for more pictures, view it here on harpersbazaar.com). I think it is a very wise decision for the MEGA magazine team to have this clever cover featuring Betty and Veronica. I’m not too sure if there will be a spread inside but I might be actually buying my first ever MEGA magazine just to own this unexpected cover. Unlike the Shrek and Disney ones, Betty and Veronica would hopefully be wearing the clothes, similar to the Simpsons one. If I see that inside, I’ll be extremely happy. =D

Ballet, Hansel and Gretel

January 26, 2013bryologue Leave a Comment

I met with Raisa and Claude in Gateway Mall because we were to review and discuss topics for their upcoming examinations. Raisa also gave Mon and I two tickets for the collaboration performance between Ballet Manila and South Korea’s Yewon Dance Company because she won’t be able to watch it. It was slated at 5PM and I had adequate time to catch up with these girls and even if we should be reviewing, I had a great time laughing with our crazy stories. I also met up with a seller of secondhand college entrance exam booklets from Sulit.com.ph, and I bought the lot of five books for Php 600. I had no idea how much they cost brand new in National Bookstore, but as they were as good as brand new and already with plastic cover, I think the price was justified.

At around 3:30 PM, I had to leave and take the train until MRT Taft because Mon’s Korean class usually ends at around 3PM. I expectedly arrived past 4PM and we still had to eat some snack. It was also not easy hailing a cab and we were still waiting for one even if it was already 5PM. The show has already started. We did not know how the seating arrangement was, but when I mentioned “Korean Embassy” to the marshal, we were led to this row:

Ballet Manila was already performing “The Prince of the Birds” and we were catching our breath from running. It took me a few minutes to take everything and realized how amazing Ballet Manila was. The last time I’ve been inside Aliw Theater was when Kim Chiu was crowned the Big Winner in the first ever PBB Teen Edition. LOL We were sneaked in by a teammate because he was part of the production team. We just finished watching another ballet performance of dancers from France (it was organized by the French Embassy and my visiting professor that time gave me some tickets, maybe because I gave him one before for our annual dance concert). So, more than half a decade after, I found myself sitting in Aliw Theater for free again.

After a 10-minute intermission, the Yewon Dance Company began performing and it was really nice to see the audience being appreciative of our foreign guests’ performance. It was a series, mixing both classical ballet and Korean traditional dance. I especially adored their wonderful tutus. =D Too bad that I did not have my camera with me because I left it in the office! Luckily, an officemate was working on a Saturday and I asked her to keep my camera until Monday. How on Earth did I manage to forget it? Anyway, even if I had my camera with me, it was actually forbidden to take pictures/videos of the performers and there were a lot of marshals with their flashlights, reprimanding people for not complying with the house rules. It was really distracting.

The show ended before 7PM and we headed straight back to the MRT because we had a 9PM movie to catch in Gateway Mall — Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters. I love how poker-faced Gemma Arterton was, but I clearly had enough of Jeremy Renner. It was unexpectedly funny and gory and I no longer cared if it was extremely panned by critics in Rotten Tomatoes. Imagine, naming the troll Edward. LOL The movie was clearly not taking itself seriously and I loved it for that!

Winter in South Korea – Day 4: Simone Handbag Museum

January 17, 2013bryologue 7 Comments

*extremely picture-heavy post*

For our last day in Seoul, we already have our itinerary in set and it was non-negotiable for us not to go to one of my must-see places. Back in October 2012, I previously expressed my anticipation of visiting Simone Handbag Museum and I could not believe that I finally had the chance to go and visit it. It was very uncommon for tourists to include a bag museum to their travel itineraries but I consider it a sin for sort-of bag lovers like myself not to drop by when in Seoul. So from Myeongdong Station, we travelled all the way to Sinsa station in the upscale Gangnam-gu to visit the museum (directions to this place can be found at the end of this post).

Simone Handbag Museum’s building in Gangnam-gu

Rainy winter - me on the bright side, while Mon in his neutral ensemble ---- and I love out transparent umbrellas we bought for only KRW 3,500!

Rainy winter – me on the bright side, while Mon in his neutral ensemble —- and I love our transparent umbrellas we bought for only KRW 3,500!

Continue Reading →

Crazy Crayola Crayons!

November 24, 2012bryologue Leave a Comment

When I was in grade school, the 24-crayon box was just the most I used to have. My classmates sported the better boxes but I was never really big on them. Being colorblind and all, I was actually happy with the simplest 8-crayon box because I needed less complication in my life. LOL

Last November 1, my relatives and I went out for a stroll and I have bought my nephew a box of Crayola 64 Crayons. It was only an hour back that I got to see the contents when JB brought the box to the dining table where I was eating.

It was admittedly a nice set of crayons and I immediately went to look for the silver and gold ones. My nephew, however, thought of showing me each of the crayons and I was surprised to see oddly-named colors. The last time I tinkered on a box of crayons, I remember Carnation Pink, Lavander and Goldenrod. However, I was shocked to see these written on some of them:

As much as I admire the imagination to come up with these names, I can’t fathom enough on how useless tickle me pink or macaroni & cheese were. Pacific blue was actually nice, but if you were to test me and remove the labels, I bet I won’t be able to recognize even half of them. LOL