These are velour frames that Leo Abaya bought in Osaka. We brought them to our optometrist Nella Sarabia, who added our prescription lenses. Rene came along and had three pairs of glasses made—frames and lenses, total Php5,000 for the lot.
Nella’s shop is at UP Shopping Center in the Diliman campus; call 435 5685 to make an appointment.
Behold our 100 Favorite Books (May 2014 revision) list, written by our resident antiquarian scribe Anne Tamondong.
Aegon the Conqueror riding Balerion the Black Dread
The Aegon who is known to history as Aegon the Conqueror and Aegon the Dragon was born on Dragonstone in 27 BC. He was the only son, and second child, of Aerion, Lord of Dragonstone, and Lady Valaena of House Velaryon, herself half-Targaryen on her mother’s side.
Aegon had two trueborn siblings; an elder sister, Visenya, and a younger sister, Rhaenys. It had long been the custom amongst the dragonlords of Valyria to wed brother to sister, to keep the bloodlines pure, but Aegon took both his sisters to bride. By tradition, he was expected to wed only his older sister, Visenya; the inclusion of Rhaenys as a second wife was unusual though not without precedent. It was said by some that Aegon wed Visenya out of duty and Rhaenys out of desire.
All three siblings had shown themselves to be dragonlords before they wed. Of the five dragons who had flown with Aenar the Exile from Valyria, only one survived to Aegon’s day: the great beast called Balerion, the Black Dread. The remaining two dragons — Vhagar and Meraxes — were younger, hatched on Dragonstone itself.
Continue reading at George R.R. Martin’s website.
Did HBO accidentally reveal the identity of this White Walker and hint at events that have not even been written yet? Remember the story Old Nan told Bran…(Spoilers you can find yourself.)
Thanks to Noel Pascual for sending us a copy. Tabi Po, Issue # 1 is available at National Bookstores.
Tabi Po messes with your head. It’s real horror, set in a cruel world that offers neither comfort nor explanation. Here, the human condition is dread. The masterstroke: it is inspired by the novels of Jose Rizal. In 19th century Philippines, a young man, awakens from a deep sleep with no memory of who or what he is, only a bottomless craving for human flesh. He is an aswang, our local ghoul that transforms itself into a black dog and eats people. When he devours his prey, his consciousness merges with the cosmos. His name is Elias, and he makes his way to the town of San Diego…It’s a weird and beautiful trip.
Read our column, coming up at InterAksyon.com.
Mat: Why am I so handsome?
Cats don’t just look inscrutable…they are inscrutable. What does it mean when they sit on your computer keyboard and engage you in a staring contest while you are rushing to meet a deadline? And then when you try to play with them, why do they ignore you? How are you supposed to know which flavor or brand of cat food they want to eat today? Why must they sharpen their clothes on your favorite furniture? What are they trying to express that our human minds are too dense to perceive? Are your cats neurotic, or is it just you?
On Friday we’re doing a podcast with The Cat Whisperer, Mieshelle Nagelschneider. Nagelschneider is a professional cat behaviorist, author, and founder of The Cat Behavior Clinic based in Portland, Oregon. In her twenty-year career, she has worked with clients worldwide. Post your questions for The Cat Whisperer in Comments and we’ll relay them during our interview.
Author of the cat behavior book entitled The Cat Whisperer, Nagelschneider has appeared on Today Show, Australia’s The Circle, National Geographic Channel (Nat Geo Wild), and Animal Planet. She is a strong proponent of cats advocacy organizations and has recently endorsed the Paw Project, an anti-declawing program based in Los Angeles, and the Stray Cat Alliance, a rescue organization focused on the recovery and care of stray and feral cats.
The Cat Whisperer will appear at All About Cats, an All-Breed Cat Show presented by The International Cat Association (TICA) at at The Plaza in Newport Mall, Resorts World Manila on Saturday, 10 May 2014.
Register your cat at http://fb.com/ticaphilippines or email ticaphilippines@gmail.com. And don’t forget to post your questions for The Cat Whisperer in Comments. Email your cats’ photos to saffron.safin@gmail.com.
The Stories So Far (Fiction), hardcover, 15x20cm, bookpaper. Book design by Ige Ramos, cover design by Jay Lozada, photography by Jo-Ann Bitagcol.
Geeks Vs Jocks (Essays), hardcover, 15x20cm, bookpaper. Book design by Ige Ramos, cover design and photography by Ricky Villabona.
And as the spooky little girl in Poltergeist announced, They’re heeeeeeere. Almost. We got the advance copies from the printer today, field-tested them on a couple of extremely opinionated friends, and sent the final approval for the printing.
ETA for the finished hardcover books: 26 May 2014
They will be available at: www.library-of-babel.com
Price: To be announced
Reservations and Requests for interviews: Send an email to saffron.safin@gmail.com and the cats will inform you when the books are ready or when the author will talk. (You’ll have to come to Makati. It’s too hot.)
Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>More
