Writing ‘funny’, and being successful at making readers laugh out loud, is much harder than writing ‘sad’ or thoughtful, if you ask me. Humor is often very subjective, so to hit the funny bone of so many is a rare gift. Here are three novels that attempt to do just that. ...
HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRIPE-VINE It’s the time of the year when several lexicon platforms come out with their Words of the Year (WOTY); and each will have their own system for coming up with their choices. The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is one of the more popular ones, and they...
HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRIPE-VINE We often talk of Pinoy Pride; but isn’t it ironic that most of us can readily identify a Chinese Panda or Australian Kangaroo, before we’d recognize the Philippine Pangolin? There are numerous species of fauna and flora endemic to the Philippines,...
From the comfort of one’s armchair, and from one remove, here are three novels that deal with violence and murder in different ways - but are united in affording us countless hours of guilty reading pleasure. Going to the Dogs by Pierre Lemaitre A Prix Goncourt awardee...
DANCE THE NIGHT AWAY Top management of PTC joining a dance number Christina S. Manzano with her father Amb. Carlos Salinas PTC CEO Gerardo ‘Dito’ Borromeo with Rommel Ramos In 1979, 45 years ago, Ambassador Carlos Salinas had a dream of setting up a company that would shine...
HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRIPE-VINE Our 3rd MB Sustainability Forum may have happened last Nov. 19 and 20, so call me pig-headed for refusing to hammer in the last nail; but I just need to mention one sequence that occurred during the panel discussion of one of the morning sessions of the Forum....
The three titles today would be dropped into the Sci-Fi and Fantasy basket. But don’t let that fool you, as beyond that genre classification; they’re also strong examples of fun, literary fiction. Lake of Darkness by Adam Roberts Roberts has been nominated for the Clarke...
HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRIPE-VINE Our MB Sustainability Forum, held at the University of the Philippines Biology Auditorium in late November may be done and dusted, but I’d like to think the takeaways and lessons learned still reverberate with our physical and online audiences. There...
BRIDGES OF MEMORY This anthology is a collection of the works of participants in a creative writing course at Sunshine Place Held at Sunshine Place on Jupiter Street in Makati City, a haven for senior citizens, was the book launch of their Bridges of Memory . I use the possessive pronoun...
HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRIPE-VINE It’s that time of the year when the Yuletide season is upon us, with Christmas fast approaching. We’re popular all over the world for having one of the longest of Christmas celebrations - kicking the season off as early as a hundred days before Christmas. In the...
Nick Harkaway, son of John Le Carre, writing a George Smiley novel. Jonathan Coe, with his latest political satire, and Alan Moore, who wrote V for Vendetta and Watchmen , with his new time travel yarn. What more can one ask for when deciding on which new novel to read? Karla’s...
HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRIPEVINE The Philippines hosted this year’s Seatrade Cruise Asia (STC) conference, with our Department of Tourism (DOT) leading the way in welcoming all the participants and guests. Entitled Advancing Asia’s Cruise Future 2024, it’s worthy to note that Seatrade Cruise...
