Cool life & Hot times

Boracay, June 25 to 29, '09

But the pictures were great and everybody looked great. So happy for the wandergirls :)

Btw, I'm the shadow in the background and Dre is the one in the white tank top. hehehehehe

Joseph Gordon-Levitt, nymag

Story here:

The Fierce Sensitivity of Joseph Gordon-Levitt

After years of TV sitcoms, then dark and quirky film roles, the actor stars in his first romantic comedy, 500 Days of Summer—a love story for his generation.

Finally--insert hundreds of smileys here. Congrats Cel and Jun!

Bride's and little bride's gown, and Groom's Barong Tagalog by Cecilio Abad
Bridesmaids' dresses by Ava Paguyo (sewthepopstation.multiply.com)
Bride's make-up by Jossa Cruz, using Tink Face Pixiedust (The Junkie Shop, Cubao Expo) 0917.8105666
Additional make-up (entourage) by Kitty Caragay, using Tink Face Pixiedust ((The Junkie Shop, Cubao Expo) 0917.5304096
Photography by Guj Tungpalan (RedSheep Photography, istilldontknowhowto.multiply.com)
Video with onsite editing: Phoeben Teocson (http://phoebenteocson.com/)

Christ the King Church, Green Meadows
reception at The Mango Farm, Antipolo
Catered by Eloquente
Photobooth: playwithmephotobooth.multiply.com
Preps at Astoria Plaza, Ortigas
Pre-nups by Guj Tungpalan, at Cubao Expo and UP Bahay ng Alumni

1. Our dresses for tomorrow's wedding are NOT YET DONE. The seamstress did not seem to know what an emergency is.
2. Celine Lopez lambastes Philippine Fashion Week's Ready-to-Wear show when she was NOT EVEN THERE.
3. Kobe supposedly "sold" that last game, missing as many as seven freethrows.
4. More people read my blog than I thought. I don't know if that's good or bad.
5. My brother saw Usher in his black Ferrari convertible at an intersection in Beverly Hills.
6. Roald Dahl's Switch Bitch and Kiss Kiss are now available at National Bookstore!
7. Conan O'Brien, as The Tonight Show host, kinda sucks. (C'mon, Conan, don't let us down!)
8. The Transformers T-shirts at SM are surprisingly worth buying.
9. When the dream job came, I still had to make sure it was mine. Well, it wasn't.

At the risk of sounding elitist, Philippine Fashion Week's Ready-to-Wear show last night couldn't get any more, er, masa. Held at SM Mall of Asia's Atrium, where LCD TV giveaways are usually displayed, the show felt like a barangay-to-barangay album launch of some band with a shameless cover of a classic tune.

We hadn't reached halfway when we felt the urge to ditch it, but we were at the third row, mere feet from Mr. Henry Sy, who gamely watched, so it would have been very rude. I cannot express how unbelievable the vision, designs, models, fabric, and craftsmanship were. Please, go ahead, put words in my mouth.

There was only one designer who succeeded in all such aspects, and it's rather unfortunate that the show opened with her collection, making all the next ones fail miserably in comparison. You know when people say, "Hell, it went downhill from there..."

True, Project Runway Philippines's Ava Paguyo is a friend, and she made our fantastic bridesmaid dresses for the June 12 wedding, but I firmly believe I am not digging my own grave when I say this: she should have been given a show all to herself. I have to exert effort to describe her collection because only photographs (apart from seeing it live) can do justice: it was a solid, strong vision defined by experimental finishes on richly textured fabric; a play on materials that, individually, do not really have an appeal but she lent them a lot; impeccable handiwork from the head accessories to the dresses, from the capelets to the trousers, from the tights to the shoes.

I hope I have whetted your appetite for probably the most promising designer to have premiered at the ongoing Philippine Fashion Week. She is THAT good.

Check out Ava's previous designs at www.sewthepopstation.multiply.com. Please also visit THE JUNKIE SHOP, near Pablo Gallery, second floor of Old School store in Cubao Expo to see her and her collective, The Electric Cutes' ready-to-wear collection. Pictures from last night's show to be posted soon, and to celebrate, here are three hits every bit as enjoyable as Ava's.

I got a Nokia 7210 Supernova instead of E66. It's cheaper by at least P11,000, but I can still expect to read my e-mails and take high-quality pictures and never have to delete another text. It's also my first phone with which I can use actual mp3s as ringing tone (before you deride me for this, read my blog first to find out that I am not exactly a diligent fan of gadgets). So when somebody calls me, The Kills's URA Fever plays. Fantastic ;)

Text me your numbers please at +639196310849.

Cobra Starship finally launches single with Leighton Meester. There's no trace of Blair's voice here, thank god.

Cobra Starship feat Leighton Meester - Good Girls Go Bad

Cobra Starship

Filipino Brillante Mendoza competes for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival (today through May 25) yet again, the second consecutive year now. He screens Kinatay, about a criminology student who takes on a job to earn some extra money, which he later learns involves killing a woman. Screenplay is by Armando Lao.

So while the wait for judgment on Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds is enough to thrill the Pinoy cineastes, there is Mendoza's film, too. In the New York Times Cannes primer, Thierry Frémaux likened Mendoza to John Cassavetes, who made Rosemary's Baby, in a paragraph about the new things that are brought in at Cannes each year.

To us, Filipinos, this is quite important, and we value this achievement--as well as the special mentions that come with it--dearly. We are the nation that beatifies a boxing champion not only because he is the best but also because, er, there's no one else. So now you know why a thing like this is major for us.

Wishing Brillante Mendoza all the best.

For the other auteurs featured at the Palais des Festivales, Directors' Fortnight, and Un Certain Regard, launch NYT slide show.