Jessica Zafra's Blog, page 68

I’m giving a Free Workshop on The Craft and Practice of Writing on Thursday, 18 February at 630pm. Book your seats Now.

Wait, weren’t you supposed to do your first workshop for the year at Ayala Museum on Thursday? It’s been cancelled. I got an email at 8am saying, “Due to low turnout of participants, we have to cancel the workshop for Movie Reviews.” Oh, really? The day after my second announcement appeared in the Philippine Star? […]

The X-Files: The truth should’ve stayed out there.

NO ONE was more excited about the return of The X-Files than I was. In the 1990s, that show was my life in an alternate universe. I never met a limb-stretching serial killer who killed people and stole their livers, then hibernated for 30 years in a nest of newspapers, but Tooms was an improvement […]

Deadpool is your Valentine’s day date movie

1. FINALLY Ryan Reynolds can be a star. Deadpool showcases Reynolds’ best attributes: his comic delivery, his torso, and his ass. They’re not coy about it, either: the poster reads, “Smartass, Badass, Great Ass.” In some scenes he wears no pants. It’s rated R-16, go away, children. 2. It refers openly to the Green Lantern […]

Are you a haiku or a Russian novel?

Illustrations for Tolstoy’s War and Peace by Leonid Pasternak (father of Boris) Changing Genres by Dean Young I was satisfied with haiku until I met you, jar of octopus, cuckoo’s cry, 5-7-5, but now I want a Russian novel, a 50-page description of you sleeping, another 75 of what you think staring out a window. […]

The no-scoop perpetual sifting litterbox

Consisting of three identical stacked trays, this aesthetically pleasing litter box just needs you to lift the top tray to separate the waste from the clean, useable litter, which would fall into the tray beneath and be ready to use again. After throwing the waste away, simply turn the top tray around and place it […]

Watch the restored Kung Mangarap Ka’t Magising, Kakabakaba Ka Ba, Ikaw Ay Akin at Rockwell this week

Uro

Uro dela Cruz, who died on Thursday, was a brilliant fictionist, screenwriter, film and TV director, photographer and amateur anthropologist. He was 64. He had shelves full of awards, including seven Palancas, that he was grateful for but did not talk about. Crowing about his achievements embarrassed him — the important thing was the work, […]

Uro Dela Cruz, 1951-2016

Screenwriter, fictionist, filmmaker and photographer Rosauro Quevedo Dela Cruz died of liver failure this morning at 0530. (He did not drink. We know this for a fact because he was the most unpretentious foodie, and if wine came with the meal, we drank his portion as well. He had diabetes for many years, and the […]

Uro de la Cruz, 1951-2016

Screenwriter, fictionist, filmmaker and photographer Rosauro Quevedo de la Cruz died of liver failure this morning at 0530. He is survived by his wife Anna and his children Tata, Toto and Dodong. And many, many cats. Interment details to follow. He should’ve gone to Paris.

From Benghazi to Ate Vi: The uses of cheese

13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi has so many beefy bearded guys in it, we thought we had wandered into a friend’s fantasy sequence. Then we realized that the gratuitous hotness does have a point. Michael Bay’s version of the events at the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi in 2012 is so messy, the […]