astrid steiner performs in NY anew!

from my friend astrid, here's an invite for new yorkers to her series of shows this august. it should be something to watch out for...

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Wednesday 26th of August @ MonkeytownEllinikon - a work in progress

A visual remix of Alexandros Lambrovassilis’ images of Athens' old airport "Ellinikon" accompanied with live music by Luke Damrosch & Chris Kuklis
Please visit http://www.monkeytownhq.com/8_26_09.html for reservations and more info.

September 12th – 14th - MOVING SOUNDS

Moving Sounds is a 3-day festival of music, visual media and aesthetic dialogue, with concerts at the Austrian Cultural Forum NY and le Poisson Rouge. I will perform with Austria’s electronic act DORIAN CONCEPT and others. For detailed information about the program



please visit the ACFNY website http://www.acfny.org/http://www.myspace.com/dorianconcept

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astrid will tour europe after these gigs...

joey gosiengfiao rules!

except for the movies he made in a failed attempt to ressurrect alma moreno's career in the '90s ("virginia p.", etc.) after the latter was dumped by dolphy for zsa zsa padilla, i never really saw any of joey gosiengfiao's kitsch-y films he made during his heyday in the '70s, which, thanks to film enthusiasts, have now become cult classics.

last saturday, my friend, jo atienza, hosted myself, anselmo and jo's friend mae, to an all-day mini film festival at her apartment in burbank.

she bought a projector just for the occasion - it was like watching a movie for free!!! i didn't have to sneak in to theaters to catch 4 movies in one day!

jo has a vast collection of tagalog classics. thanks to her i saw (finally!) peque gallaga's classic war film "oro, plata, mata", mike de leon's subversive masterpieces "sister stella l" and "batch '81".

this saturday she treated us to four different movies.

we started the afternoon with "bomba star", joey gosiengfiao's treatise on the evils of cinema (if you can call it that! - hahaha) starring alma moreno, celia rodriguez, marissa delgado (i have never seen her any prettier than in this movie), eddie gutierrez, ricky belmonte, vergel de dios, george estregan, and a host of star cameos!

the movie opens with an homage to "gone with the wind" and "sunset boulevard" (how he was able to do it is part of the fun! - hahaha).

after the opening credits this is what awaits the viewer: marissa delgado dressed in a flowing night gown rushes down this grand staircase holding her best actress trophy while a reporter waits at the foot of the stairs holding a humongous cassette player for a recorder. the background music? you guessed it, the theme from "gone with the wind"!

after the grand entrance, the movie cuts to the interview. marissa's character stella now channels norma desmond. it's so freaking hilarious!!!

the movie's plot is ridiculous but joey gosiengfiao made a very, very interesting movie (where do you find a teenaged alma moreno running on a street covering her boobies; jumps to a pool of mud and emerging fully naked with only the dirt covering her?).

the movie goes from high drama to comedy in a blink of an eye. and the dialogues - omg! they are something one wouldn't forget in a while...

here's a sampling:

celia rodriguez and alma moreno's confrontation scene

celia: lapastangan kang anak! bawal kang mag-artista (or something to that effect)

alma: bakit inay? kung lapastangan ang pagiging artista, lapastangan po ba si amalia fuentes, susan roces at... snooky? hahaha!


marissa delgado to ricky belmonte and eddie gutierrez when she caught them both shirtless and sprawled on the floor (a surprise revelation in the end is a perfect complement to the weird finale!)

marissa: how very touching!


eddie gutierrez to marissa delgado in one of their confrontation scenes (eddie is marissa's boytoy)

eddie: anong akala mo sa akin, isang laruan na iyong lalaro-laruin? at pag sinumpong ka ng hangin ay iyong pipisain? (hahaha!)

as i previously stated the movie ends in a most bizzare fashion! do you want to see a youthful inday badiday crushed to death? go find a copy of this movie! it'll give you more than an hour of fun.

next time we do this, joey's other cult hit "temptation island" will be our main movie.

sally's presidential manifesto

for those fed up with all the shenanigans of traditional filipino politicians, i am presenting this presidential manifesto by my friend, sally, who wants to finally put an end to the misery of the filipino people; bring justice where it is due, put food to the table of every starving families, and bring madonna to the philippines???

here is her manifesto...

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My Manifesto: Why I’ve Decided to Run for the Philippine Presidency
By Sally A., future Philippine President

The answer is very simple: because I’m the lesser evil.

I will not make any promises. I will not make long speeches. Heck, I will not even run a campaign. However, I will be very clear and upfront with who I truly am and my intentions:

I may hold an Australian passport but I was born and raised in the Philippines. I moved to Australia because I decided that I’d rather pay taxes to a government that will use it for my benefit than to pay taxes to finance the expenses of the countless mistresses and second families of Philippine government officials.

I do not hold a doctorate degree in Economics from Wharton but I’m a CPA so I know how to balance accounts. I believe that as long as the credits in the government’s revenue exceed the debits (e.g. expenses to finance my shopping), then the economy should be fine. Who needs an economist???

I do not intend to solve the problems of the Philippines. I am not Jesus Christ. I just want to be the President and be able to experience power, prestige and money that the position brings. I think 6 years in office will address this personal desire. (I told you I was going to be upfront and at least you know I will not run again)

I will share the wealth to everyone and I mean EVERYONE in the country (except those who live in the following areas: Forbes Park, Dasmariñas Village, Ayala Alabang to be fair). If you need proof, check out my farm in Farmville, I always give gifts to everyone, even if they’re not my neighbors. I even give gifts to those not using Farmville, so it is possible that you could benefit from my presidency even if you’re not a Filipino!

I intend to hold office in New York or maybe Paris, or whichever City I decide in the future. I think we would benefit from the emerging culture of telecommuting. All I need is a 4-bedroom apartment in any of these cities. I think the rent will be much cheaper than having to maintain Malacañang.

Thank you and Mabuhay!

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disclosure: i was promised a cabinet post if she wins. wink, wink...