Univision wants to know: Is it OK for a priest to call gays "faggots"?

• UPDATE 1: I posted this entry at 3:30pm. It's 4:47pm and the page is gone (reader comments remain, though). Univision must know they erred but there's been no apology yet.
• UPDATE 2: An explanation for the disappearance of the page and the poll. The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) got wind of the poll through this blog and asked Univision to remove it ("Problematic poll removed from Univision.com after GLAAD Intervenes" via GLAAD Blog)

Remember last September when those kooky kids at Univision.com wanted to online readers to chime in and say if soccer was compatible with homosexuality?

Well, kiddies, on Tuesday they went one better and posted a new poll asking "Is it correct for a bishop to call gays 'faggots'?".

On the soccer question one of the options they gave readers as a possible answer was "No, soccer is a sport for macho men".

This time they give the following options:

a) Yes, there is freedom of expression
b) No, it's an insult
c) Clergy should not give an opinion on social issues
d) Yes, it is a defense of a religious perspective
e) No, and it should be penalized

The answers here, of course, don't really make sense nor do they matter that much.  Online sites use these "polls" to engage readers and keep them on their page.

The true issue here is why Univision.com deems it fit to keep posting these homophobic polls even after they've been caught red-handed in the past (the soccer poll was quickly pulled within a couple of days after Queerty and After Elton picked up on my post).

Or does Univision feel there is any question whatsoever on whether it's OK to call gays "faggots'? That's one explanation I'd really like to get my hands on.

Background: There IS some background to the poll. I've even got some video:

As the presidential race is heating up in Peru, the issue of civil unions for same-sex couples has jumped to the forefront up with the leading political party in the polls promising that they'll back such unions - as long as it's not marriage.

The Peruvian Catholic Church has been trying to mount an effort to paint same-sex civil unions as marriages in riling against those political candidates who back the measure and are using the same tropes used elsewhere to argue against them.

In this interview, which aired a week ago today, Bishop Luis Bambarén doesn't stray from the script until the end. He says that marriages are between "a man and a woman" and are part of "God's plan" and that any attempt against changing the rules of marriage is an attack on God's plan.  Yada, yada.

If that's all he'd said to reporters, it probably would have been a blip on the media radar.  But, just as he seems to have finish answering the question, the Bishop turns back to the reporters and asks "why is there so much talk of 'gay', 'gay', 'gay'! Let's talk Spanish, in common language [we say] 'faggots'! That's how it's said, right? So let's say it clearly" [jump to the 2:43 mark on the video].

As you might expect, the comments drew immediate international attention and reproach. Australia's Herald Sun picked up on it as well as the Bishop's semi-apology which he released a day later ("Bishop apologizes after gay slur", January 26, 2011).

So, even Bishop Bambarén had apologized by the time Univision posted their most recent poll on their site yesterday.

Shouldn't Univision stop their homophobic polls and apologize as well? We'll see what happens.

Related:

• Bishop Bambarén's apology, as transmitted on Peruvian radio, here.

Reactions:

• Univision Will No Longer Ask If Catholic Bishops Have The Right To Call You 'Faggots' (Queerty)
• Morning Meme: Armie Hammer's "Ton of Kissing Scenes," Nick Jonas Is "Les Misérables," and Super Bowl Ad Preview (After Elton)

Senior Year (2010)

Senior Year (Jerrold Tarog, 2010)

While Confessional (2007) and Mangatyanan (The Blood Trail, 2009) are all very well made films, introducing director Jerrold Tarog as a very able and promising filmmaker, Carpool (2006), a short film that is mostly set inside a car where friends are rambling about a recent break-up, indicated Tarog’s ability to capture youth’s virtues and vices, from its loose sense of camaraderie to its abject frivolities. Senior Year, although it is the supposed sequel to Faculty (2010), a short film that featured a debate regarding social activism in schools, shares more of its moods and devices with Carpool than any of Tarog’s previous works. The film, drowning its melancholic overview of adulthood with charm and gratifying levity, is simply irresistibly delightful.

The film is very modest in scope. Mostly limiting itself with the few months in the final year in high school of several students of a private school, the film feels like it is circling on dangerously familiar grounds, risking redundancy for the sake of convenient storytelling. However, the film, without burdening itself with pretenses of pertinence or relevance, communicates the universal truth of what really happens decades after the highs of high school, when the lows of the real world has consumed the optimism that youth can only fuel for so long.

The film starts with a man, bespectacled and in an obvious state of nervousness, sitting inside his car which is parked outside a high school where a homecoming of its alumni is about to happen. Self-deprecating quips, defensive remarks, and rationalizing witticisms prevent him from stepping out of his car, registering his name, and enjoying the homecoming. The man, several years ago, is the expected valedictorian, beaming with promise, which has not gone unnoticed by his teachers, one of whom instructs him to prepare a valedictory speech that would both inspire and incite social concern among his peers.

While it is happiness, depicted through moments of lighthearted banter and expressions of youthful love, that makes reminiscence pleasurable, it is disappointment and pleasurable that marks the past with utility to endure the banality of what lies ahead. Tarog thankfully details the high school experience with equal amounts of joy and pain. All of the film’s characters are carved from stereotype. Tarog seems to acknowledge this, but instead of relying on the narrative crutches that working with a bevy of stereotypes provides, he concocts stories that are hardly complicated but fluently communicates the simple pleasures and hardships of that stage in life.

Senior Year is most enjoyable when the stories of the characters intertwine and erupt into a chorus of emotions that seem so distant now that we’ve preoccupied ourselves with more pertinent matters. Tarog, much more than delighting by reveling in the affairs of the youth, processes such delights to elicit a more spirited sense of nostalgia, one that is not only concerned with the past but as to how the past relates to the present. While the film is brimming with poignant moments, it is the unseen but certainly felt sense of regret that the alumni express, through casual jokes and remarks, while reminiscing that carries the film from being just another high school flick into a heartfelt portrait of our inevitable ordinariness in the midst of a world that is far bigger than any high school campus.

(Cross-published in Twitch.)

Sombra por Wesley Iguti

Essa escultura esteve comigo no lançamento do livro Xampu aqui em São Paulo!
Valeu, Wesley! Seu trabalho é fantástico!

Link do Wesley: http://wesleyiguti.blogspot.com/

Birthday Dinner @ Plus One Steamboat

~ Another backdated post ~

I know i am "MIA" from blogging for another week again *sigh*, time just not enough for me. Lately, work also start getting busy and busier, my boys's homework from school also from thrice a week to daily homework, not to mention have to sit down with them to practise their piano at home and also sit with them at the music centre.

Ok, now back to my post. First, i would like to thanks everyone for the sweet birthday greeting on my previous post.

Last week, i manage to steal some "me" time to go out with my girlfriend to celebrate my big day. Every year, we try to make it and celebrate each other birthday, and in a way to keep in touch. They are my ex colleague cum friends from the previous company.

This time, i told them i would like to have steamboat for my birthday, and here we are at One Plus Shabu Shabu @ One Utama.

they have variety of sauces for you to choose to dip with the food.

we order a jar of sugarcane drink for sharing...

Vivian's pork bone soup....

Catherine's Tom Yam soup........

mine's herbal soup ....

Sorry, i miss out PS's soup base, she was having drunken chicken soup, she came late, and i am too busy eating and forgot to snap the picture.

I like this type of steamboat, because we can have our own pot of soup base and we can choose what type of soup we like and it is more hygiene too. :P

pork slice....shabu shabu

fried bean curd, quail eggs, century eggs, vegetables, bean curd..

Emperor noodles...

mixed balls....four different type of balls.

mixed mushroom..

After enjoy the yummy dinner, what else, start camwhore again! Last 30's birthday, so must snap as much pictures as i can. hahahhahahaha

Vivian ..my partner in crime.

Vivian, Catherine and me...

PS, Vivian and me.

Enough taking pictures, here come the mini cake cutting session. I like what Jacss describe this cake - Diet cake!! hahahhahaha Ya, usually after a heavy dinner, we sure don't have anymore space for the cake, unless we have more people to share a cake.

me and my "diet cake" hahahhahah

ignore the number of the candles, they want to make fun of me, i am not 50 yet!!!

look at what Catherine design this card, she put all my picture from 2006 till 2010!!! I had a good laugh when i look at the card!

my pressie from them, bracelet and a pair of earring from Made With Love.

Four of us yak, eat and taking picture the whole night, till the restaurant almost close and we are the last table to leave!

And finally we get the staff to take a picture of four of us.

Thank you very much my dear friends for the lovely dinner and the pressie! I do have a great great night!

United States to assist in the investigation of transgender murders in Honduras

BREAKING NEWS: The lat 48 hours have brought tremendously sad news when it comes to international LGBT activism:

42 year-old David Kato, by all accounts a tremendous LGBT rights advocate from Uganda, was bludgeoned to death with a hammer on Wednesday, months after he was prominently featured in a local newspaper as a man who deserved to die for being gay.  This, of course, in a country whose legislature is considering a "kill-the-gays" bill drafted with the help of right-wing Evangelical preachers from the United States.

His death, understandably, has elicited worldwide repudiation in what seems to be a turning point for the global LGBT rights movement.  Sometimes it's difficult not to make facile assertions about a specific moment, but this moment certainly reminds me of the immediate outrage that followed the beating and death of Matthew Sheppard in the United States, if on a global scale.

Today, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton released a statement which reads, in part, as follows:

We are profoundly saddened by the loss of Ugandan human rights defender David Kato, who was brutally murdered in his home near Kampala yesterday. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends, and colleagues. We urge Ugandan authorities to quickly and thoroughly investigate and prosecute those responsible for this heinous act.

Hours later, U.S. President Barack Obama also released a statement. An excerpt:

At home and around the world, LGBT persons continue to be subjected to unconscionable bullying, discrimination, and hate.  In the weeks preceding David Kato’s murder in Uganda, five members of the LGBT community in Honduras were also murdered.  It is essential that the Governments of Uganda and Honduras investigate these killings and hold the perpetrators accountable.

Last week I posted my latest update on the horrible string of brutal murders that have been happening in Honduras involving, for the most part, victims who are transgender women.  In that post, I noted that the U.S. Ambassador to Honduras, Hugo Lllorens, had made the Honduran authorities responsible for the proper investigation of these crimes.

What I did not say in that post was that in my years covering LGBT rights in Latin America, I could not remember the last time an U.S. ambassador had spoken up specifically on the issue of human rights violations against a Latin American country's LGBT population.

Well, tonight, add the voice of a sitting United States president to that list. And words do matter.

Time will tell if the senseless brutal murder of David Kato will bring upon the sort national soul-searching and re-evaluation of common-held beliefs that needs to happen for Uganda to counter the virulent homophobia of its political leadership (it's too soon to tell but click here for a hopeful editorial from Uganda's The Monitor).

As for Honduras: Following today's statement by United States President Barack Obama, the Honduran president Porfirio Lobo Sosa held a press conference today and announced that the United States Department of State had committed to send trained personnel to investigate the recent number of transgender murders, even as he took the opportunity to play down the number of transgender murders.

According to La Tribuna, Lobo said that the U.S. Department of State had committed to send an expert on police investigations and a legal adviser who would evaluate all internal investigations on these crimes so far.  The Honduran president said that the assistance would come at his request and added that they would help to investigate "the murder of journalists and what is alleged to be one or two gays who were murdered".

Unites States pressure on certain countries, when it comes to human rights violations, can be very effective. I am glad to see the Obama administration take these steps and hope that they show a new and open willingness to engage Latin America and, particularly, the LGBT rights movement in the region.

Previously:

• The U.S. Ambassador to Honduras addresses transgender murders (Jan. 22, 2011)
•  U.S. Embassy in Honduras expresses concern for recent killings of members of the LGBT community (Jan. 19, 2011)
• Ask authorities to put an end to transgender murders (Jan. 11, 2011)

Why I Don't Always Keep My Trap Shut

Many of you may have already read agent Jennifer Laughran’s awesome post about When to Keep Your Trap Shut. And, if you already have, you probably had the same panic attack that most of my writing friends have had. (Okay, and me. I’ll admit that I panicked, too.) We've all been bad kitties and have shared TMI online.

But as the week progressed I noticed the mood online (at least in my online circles) had changed, and I wasn’t excited about what I saw. Too afraid they were saying something they shouldn't, people stopped talking about anything important at all. Friends erased blog posts and bios that I had found uplifting, and even private emails I received from writing friends were full of fear and nervousness. It felt like the support structure I have relied upon the last three years had been wiped out by one innocent (and well-argued) entry on an agent’s blog.

This has distressed me. I’m not usually one to argue with those who know better than me, especially those I admire and trust (and I admire and trust Jennifer Laughran immensely), but I’ve thought a lot about this and I’ve decided I needed to say something.

We live in a well-connected world. With a few keystrokes, people can learn more about a topic (or a person) than ever before. So, yes, I agree that we need to be careful about what we share online. My agent advised me on what I should and shouldn’t say online way back when I signed with him. And so I’ve been careful about sharing anything. I never share names and dates and personal correspondence. And I always think twice before I post anything online.

However, and I’m probably killing my career by saying this , I haven't shut my trap completely.

And this is why:

When I first started querying agents, I didn’t know what to expect, and I had no writing friends who could tell me. So I turned to the internet for information.

What I didn’t expect, however, was the support I would need, too. This business is stressful. And no one understands that more than another writer. I was grateful when I found others who were sharing their progress (or lack of it) with the world. I lurked on their blogs or the message boards where they posted, and it gave me the extra strength I needed to push through the difficulties and keep going. Soon I started sharing myself. It wasn’t a lot (I’ve always been a little nervous about sharing too much online anyway), but it helped to join in the conversation with other writers.

And when I signed with my agent, it was a whole lot of fun to share the exciting news with others who really understood what an accomplishment that was.

But now I’m in that place where it’s shadows and whispers. Where I can’t say anything because it might make my agent mad at me, or might turn off an editor, or it might kill a deal.

Yes. I’m on agented submission.

And being on submission means you are supposed to put on a happy face for the world and keep your trap shut.

And I have tried. I promise.

Unfortunately I haven’t always succeeded. I’ll admit that I have sent out more than one poorly disguised plea for others to share their struggles. Because it’s hard when you know you’re struggling, but even harder when you’re feel like you're struggling alone. I’m sure somewhere I have shared what I think are basic, generic thoughts and feelings that some editors or agents would think is too much information.

But I am grateful to those who brave the backlash and publicly share their struggles. For example, about a month ago, I came across this post by someday author Natalie Whipple. I can’t tell you how much her post meant to me. Because I’ve been through some (most) of the things she described. And it helped to know I wasn’t alone.

So today I open my trap to plead for a little more understanding from industry professionals. Yeah, you might find out through Google that my manuscript has been on submission for a million years and you are the 400th editor/agent to read it, but cut me a little slack. A million years is a long time to wait…and after the first hundred-thousand years or so, you start to wonder if it’s just you or the industry in general. And when you find a group of writers going through the exact same thing you are, it helps.

More than you might realize.

The Original Dear Darla Pizza

I don't know how accurate the story I heard was but I was told that the Dear Darla Pizzas from Yellow Cab was inspired by the Panizzas served in a restaurant in Pampanga.

I had to taste it! I went to C' Italian last month and I tried their famous Panizzas! A Panizza is a thin crust pizza and you roll it after putting Arugula leaves and Alfalfa sprouts. (Just like the Dear Darla Pizza)

Anyway, this Panizza was SUPERB! *drools* The cheese was excellent, the prosciutto was fresh, the mushrooms were awesome! Plus the place was an authentic Italian joint so you get your money's worth! The prices are a bit on the high side and it's a 90 minute drive to Angeles. But you know what? IT'S SUPER WORTH IT! SOOOOOO WORTH IT!!! There are a lot of Panizzas to choose from!!!

You want to bring your girlfriend to an awesome restaurant out of town??? Go to C' Italian Dining!

C' Italian Dining
Don Juico Avenue (Perimeter Road)
Brgy. Malabanas, Angeles City
+63 45 8924059
+63 45 8926993

Tetsuo fan art - pencils

Argentina: Bears attacked

On Tuesday, January 18th, three members of the Buenos Aires Bear Club in Argentina visited the offices of the National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism (INADI) and filed a claim detailing a number of recent homophobic attacks against the club and its members.

Club coordinator Gabriel Sánchez tells Tiempo Argentino that on the night of January 15th, as club members and their friends began to arrive to a monthly grill-and-meet event, twenty or so individuals living in a nearby hotel started harassing them and asking them for money.

When members refused to give money, Sánchez says that some of the assailants began to shout "You getting together to fuck, fat faggots!"

As the tone got more aggressive, club members went inside the clubhouse and shut the door.  Outside, assailants pulled a discarded mattress and some trash bags against the door and set them on fire, as captured in this photo which was posted on the paper's website.

Club members were able to open the door and put out the fire with a fire extinguisher. By then, Sánchez says, the police had arrived and kept guard preventing further violence.

"We are well aware of the different economic situation and the reality of living in an overcrowded hotel, but were never hostile to them," said Sánchez, "These people are enraged by sexual diversity, something that has never been a problem in the neighborhood."

Sánchez says that the problems began a month earlier when the hotel accepted a number of new residents a month before the latest incident.  Bear club members started to complain of being verbally harassed as they made their way to the clubhouse or that their vehicles were damaged after refusing to pay them a bogus parking fee.

AG Magazine says that, in their complaint to INADI, bear club members describe the assailants throwing rocks and glass bottles which left a few of their members hurt. They also say that while the police did eventually arrive, they treated the altercation as a minor problem between neighbors but refused to arrest anyone or to register a complaint.

Maria Rachid, a former president of the Argentinian LGBT Federation who was appointed as Vice President of INADI in December by Argentinean president Cristina Fernandes de Kirchner, said that the government-led agency would accompany the members of the bear club and help them to file criminal charges on the basis of any personal damages or injuries as well as attempted murder.  She also vowed to approach the local police department to address the way their officers responded to the attack.

Rachid was also instrumental in pushing and securing marriage equality rights for all gays and lesbians in Argentina.

• Related: Rex Wockner: Buenos Aires Bears clubhouse attacked (Bay Windows, Jan. 24, 2011)

Achy Obejas: Cuba goes both ways on gay rights

"Cuba goes both ways on gay rights". That's the title of a masterful opinion piece published yesterday in In These Times and authored by renown lesbian Cuban author Achy Obejas.

An excerpt:

"Cuba’s split personality on LGBT issues came onto the international stage at the United Nations in November, when it was the only Latin American country that voted to have 'sexual orientation' removed from a list of discriminatory motivations for extrajudicial executions. The amendment would have changed the LGBT-specific language to the vague phrase, “for discriminatory reasons, whatever they may be.”

Citizens around the globe raised such an outcry that, a month later, the international body reversed itself and passed an inclusive resolution.

In a second round of voting, to re-insert the original inclusive language, Cuba abstained.

Breaking with Cuban officialdom, pro-government Cuban bloggers joined dissident bloggers—in defiance of a complete blackout on the matter in official Cuban media—in criticizing the Cuban U.N. delegation for the anti-gay vote..."

Read the rest of the essay. Now.

Update: The United States Ambassador to Honduras addresses transgender murders

An update: As I wrote Wednesday, the United States Embassy in Honduras has taken the highly unusual step of releasing an official statement asking the Honduran government and it's authorities to investigate a number of recent murders committed against members of the LGBT community in Honduras.

Hugo Llorens (pictured), the U.S. Ambassador to Honduras, sat down to talk yesterday with La Prensa and was asked about the murders and the official statement from his office. Here is what he said:

"The gay community in many countries, including mine, is very vulnerable to discrimination and harassment. It's not an unique problem to Honduras, but it is worrisome that the five murders have occurred within a period of a little month than a month.  That's why we have asked the authorities in charge to apply the extent of the law [and] to see the situation as a threat to human rights."

I am so impressed that the ambassador doesn't shy away from admitting that gays in the United States are not immune to discrimination or persecution, nor from stepping up and firmly asking the Honduran government to take matters at hand.

This is the same guy who got into some WikiLeaks trouble when it was revealed he'd sent cables to the United States Department of Defense calling the 2009 ouster of left-wing president Manuel Zelaya "illegal" and "unconstitutional" (this from a Cuban-American guy appointed as ambassador to Honduras by President George W. Bush).

You might think that this might disqualify the Ambassador from being heard by the current right-wing administration of president Porfirio Lobo Sosa but you'd be wrong.

Combined with the pressure put upon the Honduras government by the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC), UNAIDS, the Latin American and Caribbean Network of Transgender People (REDLACTRANS), the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of American States, and Honduran LGBT rights activists, there finally seems to be movement from authorities in resolving and preventing these crimes.

Yesterday, José Romero Luna, the Vice-Minister of the government's Security Commission, said the department was very well aware of the persecution against transgender people in Honduras and had launched investigations into these crimes, according to El Heraldo. He also said the department was ready to collaborate in developing preventive measures to protect the transgender community from these type of crimes.

Marco Palma, of the Honduran Criminal Investigation Division (DNIC), told the paper that their investigations had advanced and that they expected imminent arrests in at least three of the recent crimes.

The local, regional and international pressure on the Honduran government is definitely working.  If you haven't added your signature to a call for justice in these crimes, please do so by clicking here and completing the form.

Previously:

• U.S. Embassy in Honduras expresses concern for recent killings of members of the LGBT community (Jan. 19, 2011)
• Ask authorities to put and end to transgender murders (Jan. 11, 2011)

Last 30's celebration!

Yo Yo Yo~ Yes, i am another year older today!! This is my last year to enjoy my 30's birthday. *sob sob* I know i know, it's just a number, but still i feel kind of sad.

Well, last night my bunch of girlfriend had a small celebration with me, we had a fun time, will blog that later. Today, i don't have any plan but will go out to have lunch with my old friend from the first hotel that i am working with, which we have known for 17 years. Tonight, we will attend a wedding dinner to "celebrate" my big day. LOL!

Thanks for all the birthday wishes through sms, Facebook and birthday cards! Thanks everyone and with you all have a great weekend!

How often do you update your sidebar links?

I confess. I haven't updated my links since I put this blog together. And there are a few blogs I adore that you won't find on my sidebar. Why is that, besides the fact that I'm lazy when it comes to updating my blogs?

I wondered if I was alone in this. So I checked my friends' blogs. Not a lot of new blogs showing up there, either. Or a lot of links, period.

(And, I'll admit, my blogs don't show up on most blogrolls. Or any, come to think of it. That is so not good for my plans to take over the world. But I digress...)

I think we're doing each other a disservice. Sure, the only reason I really care right now is because I am basically trying to do anything I can to procrastinate the work on revising my WIP (Curse you, dual first person POV!), but still...shouldn't we fill those blogrolls full of places we love to visit?

So let's all get to work and update those links! Then I'll have more places to go than I could possible visit in this lifetime. And that will help me immensely with this procrastination thing.

Thank you.

TNTEMA - The Librarian - Terry Pratchett fan art - pencils

Shake Rattle and Roll 12 (2010)

Shake Rattle and Roll 12 (Zoren Legaspi, Topel Lee & Jerrold Tarog, 2010)

Something has to be said about how Regal Films treats its films. Shot digitally, the films are haphazardly transferred to film to be projected in theaters. As seen in theaters, the films look absolutely abominable, with its already muted colors bleeding into each other and digital artifacts scattered throughout the unsatisfactory images. In other words, far from the usual gloss that has been part and parcel of mainstream filmmaking, all the recent films of the historic film studio, in its attempt to churn out movies within a budget by utilizing digital filmmaking, are horrid manifestations of the ills of technology in the service of filmmaking for convenience and profit rather than artistry and integrity.

Shake Rattle and Roll 12 exemplifies this blatant bastardization of film that seemed to have ripened into practice for Regal. The fact that it is the twelfth in the series of three-part horror/horror-comedy anthologies that started in 1984 is enough proof that these films exist as cash-cows and that any artistic merit that can be derived from them are mere byproducts of their commercial goals. The series has never been a bastion of originality. However, either by sheer luck or actual inspiration, several episodes like Ishmael Bernal’s Fridyider (1984), Richard Somes’ Ang Lihim ng San Joaquin (2005), and Topel Lee’s Yaya (2006) have surpassed their borrowed beginnings and can be regarded as contemporary classics in Filipino horror filmmaking. That said, the fact that included in the series’ twelfth installment is an episode that justifies the series’ continuing existence despite the strong evidence that the series is nearing creative depletion makes the aforementioned lack of respect by Regal for its filmmakers and their films more painful.

Shake Rattle and Roll 12’s first two episodes, Mamanyika (Mama Doll), directed by Zoren Legaspi, about a murderous doll that purports to be the mother of a little kid who lost her mother, and Topel Lee’s Isla Engkanto (Enchanted Island), directed by Topel Lee, about a group of friends who become victims of engkantos in an island, are slightly entertaining but hardly memorable additions to the franchise. Jerrold Tarog’s Punerarya (Funeral Parlor), however, is something else. It is that rare deliberately graceful horror short that is made even more special by the fact that it seems to be a piece of treasure in a sea of junk.

Punerarya starts inside a funeral parlor where a young teacher (Carla Abellana, who magnificently avoids all clichés in horror film acting to deliver a refreshingly relaxed but intense performance) is introduced by the funeral parlor’s owner (Sid Lucero) to her children, her new students --- a morose girl and her friendly brother who are curiously sensitive to light. What follows is a slow yet delicious unraveling of mysteries closeted within the confines of a morbid but otherwise normal business operation.

Tarog has mastery over the time and thematic limitations of his medium. He withholds telling too much plot to the disservice of creating an atmosphere that accommodates the episode’s mix of the real and the bizarre. The episode seamlessly shifts tones and modes, incorporating Tarog’s own musical score that delights in what is overtly fanciful and subtly sinister, making most of the carefully mapped visuals.

Punerarya is a near-perfect use of the thirty-or-so minutes of its running time. Like Bernal before him who in Fridyider created a wildly horrific view of Philippine suburbia with his newly relocated family who gets terrorized by a murderous refrigerator, Tarog eschews the built-in thrills of his already strange subject matter, a family of aswangs who hide behind their business for survival, to create something more intelligent, something more horrifying. Sadly, the episode exists as a washed-out and perhaps shortened version of what it should have been, thanks solely to the indomitable power of the purse who regard what could be a future masterpiece as just another Christmastime commodity.

(Cross-published in Twitch.)

Blabbeando nominated for the 1st ever GLAAD "Oustanding Blog" award

Seriously. Seriously? --- OK, "Seriously" is probably the one of those 2010 expressions that I hoped wouldn't survive the new year but I can't help but use it as I express my surprise at being chosen as one of five nominees to the first ever Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) "Outstanding Blog" awards.

And the nominees are:

• The Bilerico Project / Twitter
• Blabbeando / Twitter
• Joe.My.God. / Twitter
  
• Pam's House Blend / Twitter
• Rod2.0 / Twitter

For a long time, GLAAD has used its awards ceremonies to highlight excellence in media and televised coverage of LGBT issues but this the first time they honor excellence in social media including blogs.

It's bizarre, though, to be named in the same list as Burlesque (a nominee for 'Outstanding Film - Wide Release'), Grey's Anatomy (a nominee for 'Outstanding Drama Series'). Modern Family (a nominee for 'Outstanding Comedy Series'), the Scissor Sisters (a nominee for 'Outstanding Music Artists) and others

A preview:

I wanted to highlight some of the other nominees that might not get as much attention elsewhere.  They include the incredibly moving Peruvian film "Undertow / Contracorriente" which I saw in December and thought was the best movie of the year (nominated as 'Outstanding Film - Limited Release').

And, under Spanish-language nominees, I wanted to highlight amazing Mexican singer Christian Chavez who came out a couple of years before Ricky Martin did (he released a solo album called 'Almas Transparentes' last year and is a nominee for 'Outsanding Music Artist - Spanish language nominees'').

The great thing about being nominated for this first-ever 'Oustanding Blog' award is not necessarily that I expect to win. It's that I know each and everyone who has been nominated and consider them to be friends.  It might certainly be a cliché, but I am truly honored to be nominated.

Thanks, GLAAD, for considering this blog worthy of the nomination.

Related:

• GLAAD website here
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U.S. Embassy in Honduras expresses concern for recent killings of members of the LGBT community

 

Photo: LGBT rights advocates hold a press conference on the streets of Tegucigalpa on January 13th, 2011. The banner reads "No to hate crimes" and it highlights the brutality used in the recent murders of transgender women and gay men who have been stabbed, shot, strangled and incinerated (Source: La Prensa)

• Previously: Honduras: Ask authorities to put an end to transgender murders (Jan. 11, 2011)
• Related: Gay murder rates soar in Brazil, Honduras (Gay City News, Jan. 19, 2011)

Earlier today The United States Embassy in Honduras released the following statement (Spanish version here):

United States Embassy Notes Concern for Recent Killings of Members of the LGBT Community
January 19, 2011

Tegucigalpa - The U.S. Embassy notes with concern the five killings that have been committed against members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community since December 18, with the latest being in San Pedro Sula January 17.

The protection of Honduran law extends to all its citizens regardless of sexual orientation and the Lobo Administration has repeatedly expressed its commitment to defend the rights of all Honduran citizens.

It is in this regard that we call upon Honduran law enforcement authorities to vigorously investigate these crimes, bring to justice the perpetrators, and take all necessary steps to protect LGBT persons, who are among the most vulnerable to violence and abuse in Honduras.

It's the highest-profile official statement I have seen since Honduran media began profiling a series of gruesome murders, mostly against the transgender community, that have taken place since December 18th and since the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission launched an action alert demanding authorities investigate these crimes (Warning: Graphic images).

On Monday, the Geneva-based UNAIDS also released a statement condemning the murders:

UNAIDS condemns killings of transgender people in Honduras

17 January 2011

GENEVA, 17 January 2011—UNAIDS is concerned by the recent reported killings of transgender people in Honduras. Since late November 2010, five individuals from the transgender community have been reportedly killed in separate incidents in the country. The motive for these killings has not been determined.

“UNAIDS urges the Government of Honduras to take every step to investigate these killings thoroughly,” said Mr Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “All forms of discrimination, including transphobia, block access to HIV prevention programmes and impact the quality of care for people living with HIV.”

Honduras has committed to protecting the human rights of all individuals in various international and regional resolutions. “I urge all states to provide adequate protection to transgender people,” said Mr Sidibé.

UNAIDS expresses its full support for the community of transgender people in Honduras and for the Latin American Network of Transgender People (REDLACTRANS) in their efforts to stop intimidation and violence against transgender individuals.

On January 13th, a number of LGBT rights advocates protested outside the national Public Prosecutor's office demanding action.  Holding banners that called for an end to hate crimes and graphic images of murdered transgender women that had been featured on the cover of several local tabloids, activists argued that the government-sponsored institution had done little to stem the violence.

According to La Prensa, activists called attention to the killing of of well-known and respected LGBT rights activist Walter Trochez on December 13th of 2009 and the fact that his murder was still unresolved a year after his murder.

José Zembrano, one of the protesters, said that there was hate in Honduran society towards sexual diversity.  "Just in the last 45 days we have learned of the killing of five of our [transgender] friends", he said.

The activists said they knew of 31 transgender women who had been murdered since June 28th of 2009.

Later, La Tribuna reported that Sandra Ponce, the Public Prosecutor herself, had stepped out of her office and expressed concern about these crimes:

The Prosecutor's Office is giving priority to every case, independently of whether it's our responsibility to pursue state officials who commit human rights violations while on duty; nevertheless, taking note that there might be an element of discrimination and homophobia in these killings, we have put them under investigation.

On January 17th, as today's U.S. Embassy statement mentions, La Prensa reported yet another murder of a transgender woman. The sixth transgender woman found murdered, according to the paper.

TNTema - Primates - Gorilla - pencil

Multiple Personalities (aka Dual First Person POV)

Does your book (or manuscript) have multiple personalities?

Mine sure does.

I'm dealing with a fun, popular, talkative but somewhat shallow 12yo boy, and his sullen, ignored, uncommunicative but deep thinking 14yo brother.

Getting these two very different points of view to mesh has been...well, difficult.

Okay. Truth be told, I'm not sure it's any good. I've had to step out of the revision cave for a few days to give my poor, overworked brain a rest.

The biggest problem is that both boys' moods are so different, so the mood of each POV feels different. Almost like each POV is a different book altogether. The 12yo's POV is light and fun and silly (and, I'll admit, it feels just as shallow as he is). And the 14yo's POV is more serious and substantial (but a whole lot less fun). And the story, though it is really is about a mystery the brothers solve together, it also deals with how these two brothers learn from each other and grow. So, by the end of the book, the 12yo is less shallow than he was (and a little more serious about life), and the 14 has learned to lighten up a little.

So I'm trying to start out from two very different places with two very different moods, and slowly move them closer together by the end of the book.

And did I mention that I'm trying to keep this MG, which is hard since one main character is definitely MG, and the other is more YA?

My head hurts just thinking about it.

Though it could be that I'm making this way more complicated that it needs to be. I tend to do that. A lot.

Do you have a multiple POV story you'd like to share with me? Please do. I could use all the advice/support I can get.

*dives back into the revision cave*

Pagmumuni-muni

The picture above was taken last September at the Aquino Museum in Tarlac. It was called my 3D Family Album.. Anyway, I'll talk about that some other time. This picture was actually candid at first but it didn't turn out well. So I stood there and reflected.

It's good to reflect at times. You have to see where you were, where you are, and where you are headed. The past you can never change but it's good to look back to understand where you are now. Learning from the mistakes of the past will set a better tomorrow.  

The picture on the left is a shot of my Lolo Ninoy when he was under trial... It makes me think now what he was thinking when he was sentenced to death at that point of his life. But what awes me when he was incarcerated for 7 years and 7 months in Fort Bonifacio. There was nothing to do there according to the stories I've heard.  Even much worse was he was sent to Fort Magsaysay in Laur. It was where he got stripped of his clothes and was put in a box. All he could do was count the seconds that turned into minutes and the minutes into hours which turned into days and into weeks. It was loneliness. And in that loneliness was when he had his pagmumuni-muni. My Lola told me that the incarceration made my Lolo humble. It was when he turned back to the Lord.

I have to be honest that I forget to pray at times before going to sleep. It's bad I know. That's why I'm putting this down to remind me that I shouldn't forget how to pray. To reflect I believe will clear the mind. Hopefully it will clear my own...

When was the last time you had your own pagmumuni-muni?

One more 'Blabbeando' shout out from "Pura Politica" on NY1

Bear with me a little bit.  I know this might come out seeming as self-serving as the last time I mentioned something like this but this just tickles my bones.

Last week I shared a translated clip from the weekly political Spanish-language show "Pura Política" which airs Friday nights at 6pm on Time Warner Cable's NY1 Noticias. In it,  New York State Senator Ruben Diaz, Sr., who we have criticized profusely on this blog due to his homophobia, gave props to this very blog.

Well, I'd saved the show on DVR and decided to finish watching it today. Little did I know that the show's host, Juan Manuel Benitez, followed up the Reverend's comments by doing a small segment explaining this blog to the show's viewers (click on the clip above).

I know more than a few people have expressed dismay to me that I posted the Senator's comments last week telling me I had fallen hook, line and sinker for a strategy to paint himself more moderate and friendly. As I said then, I don't think there is any love lost on either side, even though I also think the Senator was being sincere.  It was just an acknowledgment of civility.

Something I didn't mention last week is that I did find his comments to the effect that I loved "Pura Politica" or, more specifically, Juan Manuel Benitez, to verge on a homophobic dig at the show's host. The Senator, of course, knows exactly what this blog is about, and obviously takes pleasure in telling Benitez that I like him.

Never met the guy before (actually maybe once when he was covering some event and I was there shooting a few pictures) but I insist he runs one of the best political television political shows in the New York City metropolitan area for the same exact reasons that the Senator says he reads this blog: Benitez is impartial and lets guests like the Senator dig their own holes.

I also wanted to point out the following: Benitez thanks this blog for not only covering the show but also taking the time to translate those segments that might be relevant to readers of the blog. He says that it helps the show to reach people who might not otherwise watch "Pura Politica".

I wish other media sources would take note of that. Others would ask for this type of content to be taken down. Instead, Benitez recognizes that the type of coverage I give the show increases the opportunity for people to find out about the show.  I thank him for his words about this blog and I thank him for recognizing just that.

I am Master Chef for the day....

Ok, i know this is a really backdated post, i better do now. Lately just too busy with work and also school homework and acitivities. :(

Remember i mention in my previous post, i said i rushing to another place for an activity for my boys after the casting? Two of them want to become a master chef for the day! I register them for the Marche holiday baking program, I missed the one year before. After i read Barb brought Ashley to her first cupcakes bake in the first week of December and i check with her, is Ashley going for another one, she said yes, she will go for another one on the last week which is buns making. Right away i told Barb to make booking for my two boys too, i want to let them try.

Tada!! Now...look at the three master chef for the day...Cruz, Ashley, Fearles.

After they put on their apron and hat, their "cikgu/teacher" lead all the master chefs to washroom to get their hand wash then only start their project.

firstly, the teacher taught them what to add in the flour... some yeast, egg, butter, then mix them up.

kids are looking carefully how the Main Chef knead the dough.

while wait for the dough to raise, they got one ready one, he cut it and divide to all the kids. Every kids get to get three dough.

Fearles got his share...

Cruz got his too....

After few knead and roll.....now time to add some raisins and chocolate chips..

one of the assistant come and help/teach how Fearles how to add the raisins inside and how to close it back.

Fearles enjoy baking!

this is Fearles's buns with neatly arrange chocolate chips on top.

look at this messy Cruz with all the raisins on top of the buns!!

After sent their buns to the oven, they are doing some coloring while waiting for the buns.

color pencils and art picture and a small cup of coke was served.

When the kids are busy with the coloring, what did the two mummies doing? Since the two daddies are going for some window shopping in the Mall. Me and Barb decide we had something to fill our stomach.

we order a baked potatoes for sharing.....

a slice of fruit cake, very yummy!!!

and Panna Cotta, my favourite dessert!! But this one so so only, nothing to shout about. :(


After 20-30 mins, the buns were ready......

we saw this on the table....strawberry jam ...

Fearles proudly showing his buns!!

Cruz said "nom nom nom" i want to eat it!!!

The buns smell really good and soft, especially freshly baked from the oven. Now, they need to squeeze some strawberry jam inside the buns, or you can dig a small hole on the bun on top to do do like donuts, any way you want.

poke a hole on the bun with the butter knife, then squeeze in the strawberry jam.

daddy help pumping the jam into the buns.....

Ashley with Barb's help...

Fearles want to try his own baked bun..he said Nice and Yummy!!!

Last but not least they got a cert for that!!

Cruz with his Cert..

Fearles with his cert and some free meal voucher..

and one with their "teacher" for the album!

I can see Fearles enjoy himself very much, he told me, he want to come again, he want to learn baking. hahahhahahhahha
And yes, we bring back 5 buns with us!!!! (one eaten by Fearles already)

outside the restaurant, three of them took a pictures together...

After spending two hours at Marche for the baking, then we continue with some window shopping at The Curve. It didn't end there, we even went for a 6pm movie, we are watching Trons and this is the first time the boys watch a 3D movie.

Show end at around 8.30pm, we had a quick bite at A & W, since all of us already dead tired, this is my first time spending almost 8 hours in a shopping mall!! A bad experience at A & W, i am not really like A & W, but hubs want to have their root beer, so we went. It was quite empty, not much patrons, only 5 -6 customers. At the counter, there was only a lady staff serving us and she is having a bad flu!! Maybe she is not well till the suppose smiley face we also can't see, we only can see a sour face. That doesn't matter, we just want to have a quick bite and go home. We order two kids meal for the boys, me and my hub had our meals, but the kids one took so long to prepare. When the Corney Hot Dog serve, it just a plain bun with hot dog inside, no sauce at all and it look so dry. I am so tired, i open the paper and just pass it to the boys, lucky hub is quick, he said he saw some black mildew (fungus) on the bun, ask me to check. I had a closer look, there was a small patch, when i turn the bun i saw another patch on the bun. I went back to the counter and told the girl. She apology and said will change another one for me. I should have took a picture of it, *big regret* :( It's a long day, i don't have anymore energy to make a scene. I think i will ban A & W for a while.

What a fruitful and tired day! ~ 27/12/2010