Crimson Crux

I’ll be the one of the panelists in today’s The UP Parser Writing Workshop.

The UP Parser is the school paper I edited (along with Ia) for two academic years. Not only is it rewarding for me to have the chance to share my blessings with a new generation of wordsmiths, but it’s also surreal to be leading a workshop panel only a few weeks separated from my being a workshop fellow (at the UST NWW).

The workshop programme, taken from my Multiply blog:

The UP Parser Writing Workshop 2008
1.0: News and Feature Writing

July 23, 2008
5:30 PM - 8:00 PM
UP Alumni Engineers Centennial Hall
Velasquez Street, UP Diliman

Organized by:
The UP Parser Alumni &
The UP Parser Staff for AY 2008-09

Programme

5:30 - 5:40    Introduction / UP Parser History
5:40 - 6:00    The Winning Team (by Jonel Uy)
6:00 - 6:45    News Writing Workshop (led by Phillip Kimpo Jr.)
6:45 - 7:30    Features Writing Workshop (led by Phillip Kimpo Jr.)
7:30 - 8:00    Open Forum

The Panelists

Phillip Kimpo Jr.
Head Panelist

Phillip served as The UP Parser’s Editor-in-Chief for the academic years 2004-05 and 2005-06, helping resurrect the then-dead publication. During his term, Parser emerged as the foremost publication in the College of Engineering, releasing seven issues with more or less a total circulation of 3000 copies, many of which were in full color and tabloid size. During this time, Parser’s signature line was permanently etched in DCS history: We don’t just write programs; we write.

Phillip graduated from the Department of Computer Science in 2006, and was cited as an Outstanding Representative by the UP Alliance of Computer Science Students (UP CS Network). He currently works as a freelance writer, editor, and website manager.

Phillip is a member of LIRA (Linangan sa Imahen, Retorika, at Anyo), an organization of poets writing in Filipino under the aegis of National Artist for Literature Virgilio S. Almario (a.k.a. Rio Alma). He is a founding member of KATAS (Kalipunan ng mga Taga-Sining para sa Lipunan). He was a Fellow for the 9th UST National Writers’ Workshop and the 2007 LIRA Poetry Clinic. He serves as a staffer for the Bulawan Online literary journal.

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Remember my recent post on laser engraved moleskines? Well, I just got mine earlier this week, and it’s a beauty.

Playing on its coffee steam design, I’m naming my second moleskine notebook “Katas” (Filipino for ‘juice’ or ’sap’). KATAS is also the nickname of a small literary organization I helped establish last year, the Kalipunan ng mga Taga-Sining para sa Lipunan (Society of Artists for Society).

I was especially enamored of this design because 1) I love coffee, and 2) I have a strong interest in cities and urban planning. Not to mention that I interpret the union of coffee steam and city as the (rightful) merger of art with society.

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Reminds me of my Notable Steampunk Games article at Gadzooki!

Sometimes, writing on a moleskine isn’t luxury enough — you’ve got to write on a customized moleskine, one that reflects your personality on the outside as much as in the writings inside.

Enter the laser engraved and etched moleskines. For a few dollars, you can have your own design/photo impressed upon your black book of daily impressions, giving you another means with which to impress your friends. You can also choose from a menagerie of pre-made artists’ designs, such as the ones offered by various custom moleskine companies. Some examples:

From Laser Moleskine comes a tsunami that engulfs mountains and can quite possibly make you believe that your art can surmount any obstacle. Okay, that was stretching it a bit, but it’s an awesome design nonetheless.

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This is what Ia Lucero and I had been cramming for in the past few weeks. Quoting the popular Panitikan.com.ph site:

JUNE 22, 2008

BULAWAN ONLINE LAUNCHED

At his lecture in UP Diliman last June 19, National Artist for Literature Virgilio Almario was glad to launch a new website: bulawanonline.com. He serves as chief editor while Roberto T. Añonuevo, Romulo P. Baquiran Jr., Michael M. Coroza, Vim Nadera and Fidel Rillo serve as co-editors. Phillip Kimpo Jr., Sophia Lucero, Eilene Narvaez and Ernanie Rafael are the staff members.

Bulawanonline.com gets its name from Bulawan, a refereed quarterly journal published by the National Commission on Culture and the Arts. The NCCA is also one of the major forces behind panitikan.com.ph.

The maiden issue features works and commentary by Nikka Osorio, Roberto T. Añonuevo, Ronald A. Atilano, Romulo P. Baquiran, Jr., Michael M. Coroza and Virgilio S. Almario himself. Visit the new site here: http://bulawanonline.com/.

The lit journal only accepts works in Filipino — poems, short stories, critical essays, and translations. Several important links:

• The first issue
• About the journal
• Submission guidelines

Submitted works will be reviewed by some of the most distinguished names in Philippine literature; accepted pieces will be accompanied by critiques from the editors.

The online journal’s elegant design is courtesy of — you guessed it — Ia. Now, if only she’d update her portfolio to include this latest masterpiece!

Visit Bulawan Online.

Another of my dear friend Sophia Lucero’s web design masterpieces has been featured on a top-notch venue, this time on Performancing WordPress Themes, home to “the world’s best free WordPress themes.”

The new Rubidious theme has a classy look that is sure to please lovers of the red-and-dark (myself included):

Rubidious is a three-column theme sporting deep hues of red and blue. The theme name is based on the chemical element Rubidium, which comes from the Latin term for “deepest red”.

The free WP themes site is part of the Performancing.com, a popular and trusted resource where I used to write.

You can preview and download the theme exclusively on Performancing. Also, if you will remember, Ia’s Tiffany Blue design won in a major contest last year.

Today is the first day of the week-long 9th UST-CCWS National Writers’ Workshop, and as luck would have it, I’m one of the workshop’s Fellows (for the English Creative Non-Fiction category).

I learned that I’ve been accepted a few weeks ago (see my Multiply blog post), although it was only last week that UST formally announced the Fellows on the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

This is my second literary workshop after graduating from the LIRA Filipino poetry clinic and being sworn in as one of the organization’s newest members.

Wish me luck!

I know I’ve gone without a post for two months, but this one’s just in time for the season of Lent.

On his blog, my friend and colleague J. Angelo Racoma recently unveiled HolySacrifice.net, the official website of the Parish of the Holy Sacrifice in the University of the Philippines Diliman.

The chapel is a Philippine National Historical Landmark and a Cultural Treasure, being the first circular church and the first thin-shell concrete dome in the country. It is a work of art of five National Artists and many bright minds. (You can learn more on the church’s Wikipedia article.)

On the personal side, I hold the church very close to me — when I was still studying, not a week passed that I didn’t drop by the chapel to say a few prayers and catch a moment of silence. Nowadays the vroooms of passing jeepneys easily invade the sanctity of the chapel, but the place remains as true a haven as you can find on UP campus.

J. Angelo helps manage the site, while the web design is another masterpiece of Ia Lucero (okay, you know I’m biased, but the site does elegant justice to an elegant landmark).

Do visit HolySacrifice.net from time to time.

Me and Ia are better known on the blogosphere by our handles, Corsarius* and Stellify, respectively. I think a lot of people are used to seeing those names together or linked in one way or another…which makes the following ambigram all the more special:

The piece is courtesy of Jonas, our friend and thesis-mate from back in the UP DCS days. If you have the time, do check out his collection of ambigrams. Thanks, Naz!

*Corsarius is also one of my literary pen-names, though I have to admit that it’s not the coolest nom de plume in my ‘arsenal’, hehe.

Because I have this fanboy-ish devotion to Blizzard games, especially StarCraft (a fact not lost on my scant regular blog readers), I regularly drop by the Blizzard Fan Art gallery. When I saw this recently added work by Marek Okon, my fingers froze above the keyboard in stupefaction.

Right at that moment, I knew that I was staring at one of the best Blizzard fan art pieces of all time.

What can I say? This work just captures the “Queen Bitch of the Universe” so vividly. Add to that the fact that my eyes are getting tired of seeing WarCraft-themed art dominate the gallery; I can’t wait for StarCraft II to balance the field.

Enough words. I’ll let Marek’s art speak for itself.

Last week, we launched one of our more ambitious blogs / web projects to date — Komiks.ph, a website created to showcase everything related to Filipino-created comics.

The Komiks portal is envisioned to serve as three things:

1. a blog featuring the Pinoy Komiks industry, from news and events to reviews and editorials, with a few foreign comic features thrown in;
2. a directory of Pinoy comic creators, from artists to writers to animators; and
3. a free blog host and subdomain service for comic creators, producers, and historians.

The first item is fully up and running, while the second’s still in the works. The last service is the one we are actively informing people about right now.

If you’re a Filipino comic creator (artist, inker, writer, etc.), an animator, or someone with a strong interest in chronicling Komiks industry news and events, we are offering you a free Komiks.ph blog, along with a matching subdomain (e.g. you.komiks.ph). Newbies and amateurs to the industry are highly encouraged! You can read our FAQ to learn more.

On the other hand, if you’ve already released a comic book/booklet/webcomic, bigtime or indie, we would be happy to feature your talents on Komiks.ph. Feel free to fill up our contact form and we’ll get back at you right away.

That said, we’d be eternally grateful to people who can help us spread the word, either through their blogs, forums, or mailing groups. (Many, many thanks to sir Gerry Alanguilan, who gave us a much-needed and much-treasured shot in the arm!)

One of our goals is to help inject more life and vigor (as well as draw more creators) into the Pinoy Komiks industry, in every little way we can. We’re only three people (yours truly, Ia Lucero, and Garro Garrovillo) running this project, so we’ll need every bit of help!

Visit Komiks.ph, the portal for Pinoy Komiks!