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I missed the opening of A Thousand Times Yes at Manila Contemporary last Saturday but I visited the gallery yesterday. It’s the Valentine show at Valentine’s gallery; naturally the theme is love.

Drawing by Christina Quisumbing Ramilo

Photograph of an installation by Ringo Bunoan

Painting by Ugo Untoro

At that stupendous moment, he ate a watermelon.

My project—Anton Chekhov’s The Lady With A Little Dog, handwritten on index cards in a card catalogue box—was displayed on a pedestal as if it were something precious. No one had read it (though the curators had googled a synopsis). What was the point of all that labor if the viewers treat it as a museum piece and keep their distance?

I stuck a Post-It on the box: Don’t just gawk at it, read the story. Then I dragged the pedestal beside a bench so visitors can read in comfort. Please, it’s supposed to get smeared, dog-eared, crumpled. The ink and paper are just the medium, it’s the words that matter.

The most perfect love story ever written: no one prattling about love or falling into someone else’s arms in phony paroxysms of joy. Pure Chekhov.

A Thousand Times Yes is on view until 24 February at Manila Contemporary, Whitespace, 2314 Pasong Tamo Extension, Makati.

The artist: Igan D’Bayan
The work: Gothika Filipina 2
The exhibit: Asian International Art Exhibition (AIAE) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
The censor: The curators
The reason given: Officially, none. Igan never heard from the organizers. “I got a forwarded (actually a re-forwarded) e-mail from Ramon Orlina. The curator, using the unofficial-sounding e-mail address “smash_topek@yahoo.com,” told Mr. Orlina that they couldn’t put up my painting because “the secret part of a woman” is painted too clearly and that they hope the artist “could replace it with the other works that don’t bring any bad interpretation from or to the audiences.” The curator’s e-mail ends with one of those cute quotes on e-mail stationeries: “Never take anything Seriously, Never, Never, Never… That’s me.” I wonder if that’s a line from a Hannah Montana song.”
Where you can see this painting: The Crucible Gallery, 4/F SM Megamall Building A, Mandaluyong City.
When: February 16 – 28. There will be no opening reception but the artist will be present on the 16th.

The faster and easier technology makes our lives, the dumber people choose to be. Yes, they choose to be stupid. How hard is it to click the spellchecker in a word processing program?

The Oatmeal has a brilliant piece: 10 Words You Need To Stop Misspelling. (Especially ‘misspelling’ which has two s’s.)

Invictus, directed by Clint Eastwood, starring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon, reviewed by Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala.

Just saw Invictus yesterday. Flat in the middle and they were not able to pull much out of Matt Damon who is buff but 5 foot 10, whereas the real-life Francois Pienaar is 6 foot 5.

Photo: The real Nelson Mandela congratulates the real Francois Pienaar.

Nelson Mandela was played superbly by Morgan Freeman, and it’s an uplifting story but I’m still waiting for THE movie that will take rugby to its proper place on the podium. Not Clint Eastwood’s best, but a good story.

Factoid: Matt Damon also played rugby in a short scene in The Departed.

I thought the rugby scenes were clumsily staged: the most “cinematic” thing they could find in the game is that part where the opposing teams get in a huddle and push hard enough to give birth. I call this “painful”, but Jaime says it’s called a scrum when it’s a set play and a maul when it’s loose. In the World Cup final the movie builds up to, they do this every three minutes.

Nelson Mandela is portrayed as a saint when he is far more interesting as a person. And there are cornball reaction shots after every score, from the stadium and all over the country. Which the movie needs, because the way the game is staged, the movie audience doesn’t know who’s winning.

I’m just glad the Springboks did not have to recite “Invictus” (“black as a pit from pole to pole”). During homeroom periods at St. Theresa’s the teacher would call on random students to stand in front of the class and recite a poem; inevitably it was “Invictus” or “O Captain, My Captain”.

My teacher and thesis adviser Prof. Elmer Ordoñez wrote about J.D. Salinger recently in his Manila Times column. My thesis is an extra.

Look at the yellowing typescript. Ancient artifact. Yes, I’ve been reading J.D. Salinger since before you were born.

View from the Uffizi museum, Florence.

Two tickets are on us. Maoricia, absolutelysober, john dorian, jeg, and sleeping cat, you each get a pair of free tickets to the Ayala Museum. (Jeg, let us know how many kids so we can provide enough tickets.)

Please post your full names in Comments and I’ll alert you when you can claim your tickets at the museum reception desk. If the receptionists have no idea about the prizes, have them call Ms Rinnah Sevilla upstairs and she will explain it to them.

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1905. We’ve heard from maoricia, absolutelysober, jeg and sleeping cat. Thanks! John dorian, please post your name soonest and you won’t be inconvenienced when you try to claim your tickets.