Jessica Zafra's Blog, page 83

Ganito Kami Noon, Paano Kayo Ngayon: Define “Filipino”

Ganito Kami Noon, Paano Kayo Ngayon (This Is How We Were, How Are You Now) is a film that constantly asks, “What is a Filipino?” but is so vibrant and droll that it never feels like the essay section of a dreaded social studies exam. It does not have the grinding sense of seriousness and […]

Make your drafts look like illuminated books.

We’ve started writing a book-length memoir of our feline companions. We want it to be different from the two columns we write every week, so we’re not using our trusty Moleskines. For this project, we got these faux-antique notebooks by Paperblanks. The two above are reproductions of a 1688 binding adorned a la fanfare, a […]

Oliver Sacks now investigating the afterlife if there is one.

Oliver Sacks. Photograph: Adam Scourfield/BBC/AP Photo/AP Goodbye, Dr. Sacks. You were one of the best friends that nerds obsessed with thinking and consciousness ever had. Fortunately for us we can continue our conversation with you every time we read your books. (As many books as he wrote, there were other manuscripts that he never got […]

Shakespeare’s Globe’s Hamlet: Depth takes a holiday

A public service announcement from Benedict Cumberbatch, now playing Hamlet at the Barbican in London. In truth, writing about Hamlet intimidates me. I’m afraid that Professor Wilhelmina Ramas, who taught Shakespeare at UP, will train her death stare on me and say, “No. No. Nonononono.” I had to armor myself by re-reading Shakespeare’s fan club […]

Vicious: Revered thespians behaving badly

Sir Ian McKellen and Sir Derek Jacobi are two of the most esteemed British actors of stage and screen. Theirs are the careers that young thespians aspire to. Between them they have played Hamlet, Macbeth, Lear, Uncle Vanya, Cyrano, Alan Turing, Magneto, Claudius and Gandalf. They have played just about every great role we can […]

Good night, sweet Mat

Keep chasing that laser pointer. This morning I woke up at 6:30, which I almost never do, and saw that Mat had walked from the kitchen, where he was sleeping last night, to the foot of my bed. He had used his last burst of strength to cross those few meters. The rest of the […]

Mat the Cat: A Life

Mat, the big white cat with black ears, paws and tail who moved into my house 13 years ago, hasn’t eaten solid food in four days. He’s declined everything I put in front of him, including his favorite treats, and takes in only milk. Mat has always loved milk, and showed no ill effects despite […]

Vote for Filipino scientist Giselle Yeo for the Centenary Institute Lawrence Creative Prize

Filipino scientist Giselle Yeo has a video submission to the Centenary Institute Lawrence Creative Prize and would very much appreciate your support. The Prize recognizes work by an early-career scientist who uses innovative methods for a medically relevant application. As far as we can tell, Giselle’s research combines molecular biology and physics to study tropoelastin […]

The raw truths and heart-rending hilarity of Transparent

In the pilot of Jill Soloway’s amazing series Transparent, the former Mort Pfefferman prepares to come out as a trans woman to his three grown children, Sarah, Josh and Ali. The children, being unused to sudden dinner summons from their divorced father, expect him to announce that he has cancer. They have a boisterous family […]

Joel Edgerton has directed a movie and now he wants to give you a notebook.

The movie is The Gift, it stars Jason Bateman, Rebecca Hall, and Edgerton himself, and it is now showing in cinemas. We haven’t seen it yet, but according to the production notes it’s about a married couple (Bateman and Hall) who run into an old high school acquaintance (Edgerton) of the husband’s, who starts sending […]