Jim Pascual Agustin's Blog, page 51

"The Side of Love" video for my poem

This might be the last one for a while. I need to regroup and recover my weary troops of invisible little helpers.

Here's the link to THE SIDE OF LOVE, a poem dedicated to the late Palestinian poet, Mahmoud Darwish. Music from El-Funoun.

Images from the photo galleries of the International Solidarity Movement.

Filed under: Fragments and Moments, Imperialism, Influences, Literary News & Articles, Mga Tula / Poetry, Middle East, poetry, politics Tagged: Alien to Any Skin, Baha-bahagdang Karupukan, Gaza, human rights violations, Israel, Israeli apartheid, Jim Pascual Agustin, Mahmoud Darwish, Palestine, war on terror

"Aral sa Wika / Lesson in Language" on YouTube.com

This poem opens the first section of my poetry book Baha-bahagdang Karupukan.  Be warned, you might get a bit of a fright watching and listening to this video.

Filed under: Creatures, Fragments and Moments, Literary News & Articles, Mga Tula / Poetry, poetry, Silly Babble Tagged: Alien to Any Skin, Aral sa Wika, Baha-bahagdang Karupukan, Jim Pascual Agustin, Philippines, poetry, sci-fi, UST Publishing House, YouTube

"Si Taft sa Kalabaw" on YouTube

Here's a silly video I put up to promote my new book, Baha-bahagdang Karupukan. English translation (draft) available to those interested. Just say please. 

Filed under: Asia, Creatures, environment, Fragments and Moments, Imperialism, Mga Tula / Poetry, North America, poetry, politics, Uncategorized Tagged: Baha-bahagdang Karupukan, Filipino poem, Filipino poetry in English, Jim Pascual Agustin, Philippine-American War, poetry, Taft, tula, US imperialism, UST Publishing House

Water Renders on YouTube

I posted my poem "Water Renders" from Alien to Any Skin on YouTube. Hope it isn't too mushy for you folks. I'd love to hear what you think. And if you do like it, you can consider getting the book.   Yeah, right.

Filed under: Asia, environment, Fragments and Moments, Mga Tula / Poetry, poetry Tagged: Alien to Any Skin, Filipino poetry in English, Jim Pascual Agustin, poetry, UST Publishing House

Spare the Karoo: Shoo Shell Away!

"Fracking requires vast amounts of fresh water…"

That word, "fracking," sounds like a curse, or something worse.  To be honest I had never heard of it until a day or so ago. Petroleum giant Shell (among other usual suspects) is proposing to mine gas in the Karoo using fracking.

Now we all know that Shell's reputation is as clean as a baby's bum (before or after?). No wonder they throw millions at ad agencies and hit squads.

THE PEOPLE OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA DO NOT WANT SHELL TO DESTROY THE KAROO!

Is that clear enough to you, Shell bosses with big asses?

Filed under: Africa, Capitalism's greed, environment, politics Tagged: destruction of the environment, environmental protection, gas mining, greed, Karoo, Lewis Pugh, Shell, South Africa

Because Memory is a Terrible Thing

When someone cries "Save us!" in another language it goes through a high-tech UN-approved translating contraption that comes out crisp and clear as:

PLEASE BOMB US NOW

Forget what happened in Iraq. Afghanistan was never invaded. The western powers are only helping people in different parts of the world.

Only flies must fear the spectacular show of force once a country is declared a NO-FLY ZONE.

Applause please.

 

Filed under: Europe, Imperialism, Middle East, North America, politics, terrorism Tagged: invasion, Libya, Security Council, UN

2@42

I turn 42 only once, and I doubt I'll ever have two books released at the same time again, so this is just to mark a day when friends new and from a while back might want to spend some time with my work, if not with me, online. This is my way of getting around the barriers of time (six hours behind my motherland the Philippines!) and space (I'm still in Cape Town, South Africa and my teleporter is not yet fully functional!).

There are amateur blogs (put up by yours truly) for each book with links to Scribd.com where the sample pages are up for browsing. I intend to post some audio clips of my Kermit-like voice (might actually be closer to a Miss Piggy voice) during the course of the month just to make you guys laugh. Visit the blogs and listen at your own peril.

If you are lucky enough (not begging here, ok?) to have already got yourself copies of the books and found some poems that made a connection – even if it was just a YIKES! or OOOH THAT WAS BAD! or EH, ANO BA ANG PINAGSASABI NI JIM DITO? or perhaps anything a bit more positive – then please feel free to post a comment on the relevant book's blog.

I am also opening the door for the more visually or musically creative friends I have met to make their own interpretation(s) of any of my poems – a short video, a visual poetry rendition, a sketch, a spoof, a song, an opera (hahaha) anything at all.  I know it's not a lot of time, and maybe people won't even bother to pitch up (pitch in?), but hey, it's worth a shot.

You may participate via the following or on Facebook. You don't have to wait for the 31st of March to take part, and it certainly does not have to end on the same day.

www.alientoanyskin.wordpress.com

www.karupukan.wordpress.com

skype & ym: matangmanok

Filed under: Africa, Asia, Fragments and Moments, Life in a different world, Literary News & Articles, Mga Tula / Poetry, Middle East, North America, poetry, politics Tagged: 2@42, Alien to Any Skin, Baha-bahagdang Karupukan, cyberlaunch, facebook, Jim Pascual Agustin, UST Publishing House

National Bookstore chain will soon have my books on display

I just got news from my publisher that both my books – Alien to Any Skin and Baha-bahagdang Karupukan - will soon be available at the behemoth retailer National Bookstore (in the Philippines they are far too easy to bump into). The titles won't come up in their website's search box I bet, but I've been told you can start phoning their branches to add some pressure in putting the books on display.

I remember when my first book came out – it was a back to back edition with another poet's collection (ouch!). Whenever I went into a National Bookstore outlet that had it I would go over and flip the book so that my side would be visible.    Naughty me.  And the "hidden" employee (a paid character who pretends to be a customer just to keep an eye on shoplifters) would come over and look at me funny, until I told him I was the author and he smiled and left me to my petty devices.

Here's the cover of that book which, if you search on Amazon.com, you will find to be on sale as a collector's item at a staggering price.

Filed under: Africa, Asia, Fragments and Moments, Life in a different world, Literary News & Articles, Mga Tula / Poetry, poetry, Sanaysay / Essays, Silly Babble Tagged: Alien to Any Skin, Baha-bahagdang Karupukan, Beneath an Angry Star, Jim Pascual Agustin, National Bookstore, UST Publishing House

Water Will No Longer Be Just Water

The news of what befell the people of Japan on Friday continues to shock us. It is a tragedy made worse with the threat of terrible nuclear meltdown – ah, nuclear energy, that "safest energy source" according to some.

In 1995 I wrote a poem (in both English and Filipino) about a tsunami that hit an island in my homeland. It would be nearly a decade later that the most devastating tsunami would strike many countries.

That poem was posted HERE in 2009.  The Filipino version is included in my book Baha-bahagdang Karupukan.

Filed under: Asia, environment, Fragments and Moments, Mga Tula / Poetry, poetry, Uncategorized Tagged: Baha-bahagdang Karupukan, Balita, earthquake, Japan, Jim Pascual Agustin, Mindoro, news, nuclear meltdown, Philippines, tsunami, UST Publishing House

Quick review: Murder in Samarkand by Craig Murray

Murder in Samarkand: A British Ambassador's Controversial Defiance of Tyranny in the War on Terror by Craig Murray

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a strange book – part political thriller, part confessional, part sexcapade. He isn't a journalist and not really a hero, more like a normal person with faults but decides to not be part of the lies that feed the horrific work of US and British politicians and military strategists (terrorists). I was hoping it would be grittier.

View all my reviews

Filed under: Asia, Europe, Fragments and Moments, Imperialism, Middle East, politics, terrorism Tagged: Craig Murray, Goodreads.com, lies, Murder in Samarkand, torture, war on terror