Xixi Maturan's THIRD WORLD LIVING

Seven months after shooting Howard Yambao's BEST. PARTEE. EVER. in a slammer in Pampanga; I get to once again be part of a film starring THE COMEDY QUEEN herself, Ms. AIAI DELAS ALAS , with The Joel Lamangan no less at the helm.  A cameo is always welcome; it is a short appearance, with minimal exposure requirements and I get to just be myself or as to how I deem the role should be carried out with.  I play a parlorista who rages on another parlorista [played by Byuti Veloso] ; who I share a chin prominence making us look like twins!  Ms. Aiai's character, a Barangay Kagawad and sort of a 'jane of all trades' pacifies us.  We shot in Proj6, Quezon City and it was a breezy day which made it quite comfortable.  That was on April 2.  I never expected that suddenly I would be called back to do more appearances ; delighted and totally flattered who was I not to oblige? I did three more scenes; two of which were highlights of the hilariously riotous ...

Frankly , I haven't heard of her before the story conference of Howard Yambao's BEST. PARTEE. EVER, entry to last year's QC INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL starring JC De Vera.  JC played a straight-acting gay man caught in nasty broil of Ecstasy addiction and trade.  The film was shot almost in its entirety in the confines of provincial jail where I played a hot headed old fag jailbird. At the conference, as we were introduced, she caught my attention.  Well-made up and in a cocktail dress she amiably smiled at everyone , her name: CATALEYA SURIO.  As we were given a rundown of role assignments, I realized that she was playing a transwoman in for some crime and detained in the male cell.  This was because in the Philippines, a sexually re-assigned is still recognized with what is on one's birth certificate.  Ah, alright. "As far as I remember, I was ALWAYS a girl", Cataleya nonchalantly declares in our online interview.  Orphaned at a very young ...

Poverty. Its prevalence. It , connoted to be the main word to reckon with when the label THIRD WORLD is stuck upon a country's forehead.  It , without having to bat an eyelash flood our thoughts with the dire lack of material needs to feed the best of races and fly high into a plane where abundance lurks.  But on a hundredth thought, Poverty may simply be a manifestation of IGNORANCE.  A blatant syndrome that of which several cranial functions are left unattended to perhaps augment other mortal values of those who call the shots.  If we look around and identify the essence of ignorance, we may simply be amazed with how seemingly happy they are not to know a lot things to propel progress through communal struggle.  We all are ignorant at some point of our lives, but somehow experience may just play roles never imagined to exist. Asia is one continent where third worlds abound.  But then, there is only history to blame.  Colonizers  simply did ...

RODRIGO {Photo: Duterte Today FB Page] All of us who are worth anything,  spend our manhood in unlearning the follies, or expiating the mistakes of our youth. -SHELLEY While  for some twisted loop and leap of destiny our third world country elected a president who dared promise a decent society free of the ills of mind warping substances, sticky itchy fingered officials who dipped on public funds as their own, and the elimination of pseudo humans who only did intriguing tasks that created havoc upon a race systematically razed of moral decency and self-value in the distant and immediate history; so to speak.  A charming puck faced crowned by a dominantly fat disproportionate nose rose from the ranks of mayoralty of a southern city became the highest elected official of the land; amazing as it may seem but his notoriety was totally ignored just for the sake of 'someone' unorthodox and therefore new.  New but jaded that he is, one cannot deny but join...

'Tis mad idolatry, To make the service greater than the god -Shakespeare In some scenario, there might be two kinds of people : The Greater and The Lesser ones. Of course, the former bear the power to influence, manipulate and enslave the latter.  Scanning through social media , it is interesting to note that minions work overtime for their gods.  They must come cheap since you cannot count them with your pubic hair. They abound and embrace the thought that there are no moral standards in building up and defending their choice of a modern day flesh and blood idol who reign supreme in owning them skin and soul.  They are basically called TROLLS, since they dwell in the dark caverns of their beliefs and are presumed to only have ugly intentions of confusing issues at hand and provoke teeth and blood argument as well as maximum disruption.  They are indeed the lesser ones who assume almost respectable as well as mediocre names to surf through the widest platfo...

He's a fool, who thinks by force, or skill To turn the current of a woman's will. -Tuke. Rodrigo had it coming.  With Leni Robredo as his VP, he must have shrunk in dismay when the final results blasted into the tally boards.  He must have cringed with the idea that she wasn't going to be a peeble but rather a rat on his shoe who would chew away the nastiness that he was accustomed to.  Those who doubt the democratic exercise screamed [and filed protests later, and ongoing still] anomaly to the highest order.  But she was proclaimed and well went to her way as the second most powerful person in the land.  Known to be naughty and oddly disrespectful to women, the Bicolana widow readily was outspoken with every single malicious thought, deed or insinuation thrown at her. Frankly, Rodrigo's treatment to a lady is beyond wits for comfort.  Imagine an old man ogling at the length of her dress to a meeting ; or a supposedly respectable man firing her ca...

Nothing indeed , but the possession of some power  can with any certainty discover  what at the bottom is   the true character of any man. -Burke EJK  or Extra Judicial Killing crept into global consciousness with a brown flavor.  Definitely.  Overwhelming and undeniably alarming, its wake gave the islands a rather twisted picture.  Rodrigo* , true to his character lambasted his critics in a trail of presidential speeches which were not only tainted with anger and a cuss here and there, but rather an alzheimeric [not a real word] oral diarrhea whatever the occasion or audience.  He hammered on his promise to wage war on drugs and whoever was into it within his breathing space he would 'PATYON KA NAKO!' [I will kill you!']. While the I-will-kill-you-slur is embedded into the colonized culture, it offers a myriad of effects on a diverse inter island population not to mention the persistence of several generations sharing a na...

Another haphazardly composed FB STATUS... ... had RODRIGO made an extra effort to go beyond his promise to thwarp the drug trade, the pushers and the users; he would have consulted his inner self what his greasy face was up to. ... is he aware that 'mindbending' substances traces back beyond the start of civilization? that early humanoids found edible but not lethal growths and flora fauna to make them solve inane difficulties which made them dependent on them until they stumbled upon a new thought to establish themselves as the prime creatures of this planet? ... was he feebly in his elements when he mouthed phrases of threat such as 'I WILL KILL YOU'? Was he then aware that this race is a confused lot... they literally interpret anything that comes from a prominent figure as well as the media? He may have the best of intentions but again, didn't he ever come across an adage that 'GOOD INTENTIONS ARE NEVER ENOUGH? That it comes from a deep r...

As an apolitical creature during most of my youth and  after several years have finally realized that I am a parcel of a whole that is a brown race ; I have taken the liberty to use social media to vent my indignation of what happened to the pipe dreams I blew when the widow took over in 1986.  Before her, I was into what seemed to be a smooth sail as a showbiz upstart.  I did FM radio, got fancied to appear as an actor in films and television and did preprod work with a then hot director of risque photoplays.  Then, things took a turn when the most touted democracy was supposedly regained; I had to work like a horse, a dog and a fleece just to keep my body and soul glued to each other.  But then that is all but the past and even if our past is our worst nightmare and enemy, I can gladly say that so far people can talk to me coherently. FACEBOOK is such a relief for so many maladies that knocked on all parts of consciousness.  I was particularly fond o...

I feel too excited to share this YouTube video that takes us all above our prime metropolitan site : Manila.  Enjoy but do lower the volume... 

I am not a political creature.  I was born in an academic environment where logic and morally acceptable acts are supreme.  Although my father was a victim of what you may call 'academic politics' ; I still stand strong that I am NOT within its realm.  As early as 5 years ago or so, there were social and mainstream media screams as to who will or should be the next president of this third world republic.  Names were dropped like jaws.  Or as sputum.  Jejomar , who won over Mar among others as vice president, blatantly showed his extreme interest to be the next president.  Well, his preemption gained him a plunder accusation which now after a meticulous and malicious grave digging clearly shows that , indeed he dipped his dirty black hands on the coffers of Makati.  Had he waited for a later time to declare his ambition, the mischief his clan initiated may not have had the chance for a total abolition mode.  He may as well get his skin rea...

I guess it was in the early part of the new millenium that a paper shredder found its way to my realm.  My brother, also as gay as the month of May who happens to be an anthropologist and a consultant of multinational entities sought the contraption to do away with confidential files .  Being manual, I shared the chore of destroying reams of documents and when there was almost a mountain pile I found it rather interesting.  I kept them in a box where for whatever reason , I'd grab a handful and start a bush fire [I was quite ignorant then of the Clean Air Act];  keep fragile gifts cushioned inside their boxes and even mix them with the  kapok in my pillows.

Nothing salacious. Nothing prurient as the other mouth of the chlamy-proud attests to a movie where she is supposedly ecstatic to be part of .   Of course, inserting risque scenes in a totally absurd titled flick would be merely redundant.   Without having to bat a limpy eyelash, it quite is screamy for comfort to see a film produced by one of largest syndicated network in the world.   Isn't it enough that they are quite successful to serve mediocrity into our gullible tribe?   Actually, the    THREE X'S are as follows:

No trace that I am balancing a selfie stick here! Oh yes, image manipulation is evident No filters. The Chaikran Sisters torching the darkness. When I archived my long running ALIWAN AVENUE domain and settled to go on a dollarless blog, I promised my imaginary friend RazaZo'O that my foundling borne out of desperation and orgasmic frustrations in life will exploit the very essence of what my cellular components are made of.

My fascination with botanical sprouts goes a long way back to childhood.  I was born and raised   in an agricultural college [which eventually became a university] in Bukidnon . To crossover in a lush environ is a phenomenon in itself ; growing up gazing at vasts mountain ranges is another thing.  You are effortlessly  drawn towards a sacred vacuum where nature reigns supreme and absolutely convey  a mystical thought that indeed man is one with his Supreme Creator.

Age is merely a referential element to acknowledge one's generation.  At 59, although I no longer hunger fame or glory, I just wish to keep my consciousness in focus.  Doing best what I love , and filled with excitement even just to whip up a breakfast feast or smudging a song.

... pensive.  THE Mercedes Cabral! As a child, it may have occurred to her that one near future she was going to wear skins of a myriad of women [and men?]. It may not have come as a wondrous dream but rather a steamy afterthought.

Android phones are now relatively affordable. Nobody is ever caught without it except for old school farts who insists that 'that' thing-y or gadget is nowhere within their cranial capacity. Or they just have to be cute when they wave their analogs in the air explaining that they have no time for the complexities of modern living,