Music in my Blog

Yeap, thanks to Kitkat's Elmo I managed to put music to my blog! Whee!

I chose Portishead's "Glorybox" as the theme for Pilya for now wehehehe! Watch out when I tweak this blog as a more Pilya-themed website soon ;)

Komikero Third Anniversary

Happy Third Anniversary to Komikero! Whee! From left: Raipo, me, Cathy, Gerry and Thomas, the newest Komikero member hehehe ;D

PILYA 19

FIRST PREVIOUS NEXT HOME

And may I present you Clair, with her dog Panda, and last but not the least, JM. Wehehehe!



Oh, and thanks to Sean he found out online the meaning of my Chinese name. Whee! Thanks, man :D

Rej Meme

Ok, I tagged Rej for the Se7en, but she said she tagged me first so I have to do this meme(whatever the heck a meme is) first. Oh well, this should be fun. Spunky girl, that Rej ;D And we love her all the more for it!

1. What are the things you enjoy doing even when there's no one around you?

I enjoy doing a LOT of things when nobody's around! like window shopping. and drawing. and writing. and netsurfing. and eating. and puzzle games. You, ha! ;)

2. What lowers your stress/ blood pressure/ anxiety level?

PC games! massage. eating chocolates. reading comics. walking around malls.

3. Tag five friends and ask them to post it in theirs.

Amie
Floyd
Katie
Ed
Lantis

Syeri Baet's Carpool Book Signing

And I present to you another Pinay comic creator, Syeri Baet! Click here to view the full-sized poster :)

Nikki Alfar

And the next feature for Pinays in Comics is Nikki Alfar. Here is her bio:

Nikki Alfar learned to write at the age of two, and never quite figured out how to stop. In the three decades since, she has been a flight attendant, a bank manager, a newscaster, and finally a writer/editor—doing work for magazines, television, comic books, various marketing and PR campaigns, and just about anyone who will actually pay her to do what she loves doing anyway. Along the way, she has managed to pick up a couple of Anvil Awards, a National Book Award, and a Palanca award for her copy- and creative writing. She is married to multi-awarded playwright/fictionist Dean Francis Alfar; their three-year-old daughter Sage is a budding writer herself, having recently completed her first flash fiction, The Big Bad Cat.

Nikki’s work in comics includes: Siglo: Freedom, Isaw Atbp., The Lost, Hainaku!, K.I.A., ab ovo, TxtMen, and the upcoming Project:Hero and Siglo: Passion.

1) How did you come up with Twilight's Calling?

Each of the Jam writers was assigned to write in a certain genre for each of our stories. Since I was editor-in-chief of the magazine at that time, I offered to take whichever genre none of the other writers wanted, which is how I ended up having to write a romance!

No one really wanted to write a love story, but I was convinced that it was something our girl readers would look for, and that it could be done interestingly. I wanted it to be about ordinary teenagers, meaning no powers, no guardian angels, no super-geniuses, going through the extraordinary process of learning about love and life. At the same time, I wanted to have some kind of unusual twist that would make it different from your usual teenage soap opera.

I've always been a fan of Jen van Meter's Hopeless Savages, which is a U.S. comics series about the children of a pair of famous punk rock stars. I had always wished that Hopeless Savages could focus a little more on the Dusted Bunnies, which is the band of one of the children, then I realized that Jam was the perfect opportunity for me to do something like that myself! And focusing on the members of a struggling high school rock band gave me just the right extraordinary-but-not-extreme twist I was looking for.

And it was really much better than my other idea, which was making them members of a badminton team. Ugh.

2) Which of your characters do you most relate to and why?

It's probably Twilight, who is the lead singer of the eponymous Twilight's Calling. She's snarky, outspoken, and not always entirely in sync with traditional Filipino thinking and culture, like me. We're also both very self-assured, why else would I make the lead character of my title so much like myself? Unlike me, though, Twilight is a real go-getter, though I could teach her a thing or two about diplomacy and consideration!

3) What would be your personal 'band story'?

I actually sang for a band in high school, but only for a month or so. We never even had an actual performance, but it was fun getting together for rehearsals all the time. When I broke up with the lead guitarist (and you'll notice that Twilight
has a crush on lead guitarist Sean), the band kind of broke up too, sadly. I was heavily into the Pinoy underground music scene back then.

4) How did the idea come up about 'comics for girls, BY girls'?

The Yonzons (who own Mango Comics) are huge believers in comics and in Filipino talent. So at the time when everyone was jumping or trying to jump on the W.I.T.C.H. bandwagon, they also saw that there was enormous potential and obvious demand for a comics magazine made for girls. But they didn't want to just cash in on it, they wanted to make something that young Filipinas could really identify with, enjoy, and maybe even learn a thing or two from. So they figured the best way to ensure that Jam appeals to girls is to have Jam done by girls. And it looks like they were right.

5) Besides writing for Mango Jam, what are you busy with lately?

I have a husband and a three-year-old daughter, believe me, that keeps me busy enough! Other than that, though, I have my usual corporate copywriting projects, that's my bread and butter. I have a short short story coming out soon in the Sawi
anthology; I've submitted my script (which will be drawn by my good friend and constant collaborator Marco Dimaano) for "Project: Hero" (That's a working title), a comics anthology edited by Andrew Drilon and Elbert Or; and pretty soon I'll be lettering my story for this year's Siglo: Passion, which I had the privilege of working on with the amazing Lan Medina, Reno Maniquis, and Ed Tadeo. Oh, and I'm trying to submit a new short story for my husband Dean's speculative fiction
anthology! I sound terribly busy, don't I? But of course I make time to keep up my blog (http://nikkialfar.blogspot.com/) and do similarly important things like play mindless video games, haha!

PILYA 18

FIRST PREVIOUS NEXT HOME

This strip features blogger Pinay grrl Katie! Check out her blog to read the rants and random thoughts of the most gorgeous 'tibak' I know ;)

Shelly's Se7en... Somethings

Shelly Soneja is one of the most talented young artists I've seen. I wish her all the luck for her thesis and may I see more of her webcomics again someday!

Seven things that scare you:
1. blood
2. rapists
3. psychos
4. stalkers
5. backstabbers
6. liars
7. cowards

Seven things you like the most:
1. productivity
2. prosperity
3. accomplishment
4. independence
5. cable DSL
6. massages
7. dark chocolate

Seven important things in your room:
1. dreamcatcher
2. Cellphone
3. Cellphone charger
4. Bed, fan and kulambo
5. sisters
6. mamy
7. mikko

Seven random facts about you:
1. I'm a net addict
2. I'm a sucker for freebies
3. I do caricatures and facepainting in kiddie parties
4. My favorite meal is Beef Bulgogi plus kimchi
5. I love eating sashimi, especially maguro and kani, with lots of wasabi
6. I met Dingdong Dantes after I drew a comicbook for him
7. I joined Bikini Bodies 2005 and won People's Choice Award

Seven things you plan to do before you die:
1. be acclaimed as a comics creator
2. own a house with a fruit orchard
3. own a net cafe
4. get married
5. get rich
6. get power
7. get even (Jac for president! *evil laugh*)

Seven things you can do:
1. multi-tasking
2. be brutally honest
3. raise both eyebrows individually
4. fold my tongue
5. wiggle my ears
6. give massages
7. sense other people's emotions

Seven things you can't do:
1. cook
2. stay up for more than 3 days
3. play a musical instrument
4. maintain a beauty regimen
5. draw tsampektibs
6. ballroom dancing
7. eat gross food (nope, can't play in Fear Factor)

Seven things that attract you to the opposite sex:
1. sincerity
2. sweetness
3. confidence
4. honesty
5. fit body
6. long hair
7. maturity

Seven things you say the most:
1. fota
2. futek
3. asus!
4. putangina
5. Amusing
6. Whee
7. wehehe

Seven celeb crushes (whether local or foreign)
1. Takeshi Kaneshiro
2. Anne Curtis
3. Ethan Hawke
4. Angelina Jolie
5. Brad Pitt
6. Monica Belucci
7. Trowa Barton

Seven people you want to see take this quiz:
Rej Layug
Eclair
Kel
Azrael
Soloflite
Geedot
Achilles

Interviewed by Rachel

Here are The Official Interview Game Rules:
1. If you want to participate, leave a comment below saying “interview me.”
2. I will respond by asking you five questions - each person’s will be different.
3. You will update your journal/blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview others in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

Rachel is one of the actual people Clayton based on for characters in his webcomic Surreal U. It's been a great comic and they're a bunch of cool people :)

1. Suddenly everything you draw comes to life. What do you do?

I’d start drawing dollar bills. Suitcases and sacks full of ‘em!

2. You can only listen to 10 CDs for the rest of your life. Which ones are they going to be?

1) Tori Amos
2) Alicia Keys
3) Imago
4) Parokya ni Edgar
5) Eraserheads
6) City of Angels soundtrack
7) Best of U2
8) Rex Navarette
9) Gorillaz
10) Linkin Park

3. Sweet or salty?

Sweet.

4. If you could change the outcome of one movie or book, what would you change?

Harry Potter won’t lose any more loved ones.

5. Neo has come to rescue you from the Matrix. Will you keep the illusion or embrace reality?

Embrace reality so I can learn to control the illusion!

PILYA 17

FIRST PREVIOUS NEXT HOME

That's Geedot cosplaying the Warrior character of Guild Wars, with Taray cosplaying the Ranger and Pilya cosplaying the Mesmer. Wehehehe I love making comics, cosplaying can't get any cheaper(and easier) than this LOL!

Guild Wars cosplayers

Geedot just gave me the heads up! Green Dot Cafe, located near College of Saint Benilde, had Guild Wars cosplayers yesterday giving away free 10-hr Guild Wars preview cards and flyers. Click here for more details!

PILYA 16

FIRST PREVIOUS NEXT HOME

Welcome to PILYA's Pinoy Bloggers' Month! This week I'm featuring Rej Layug, my all-time favorite Matrix fan-movie character wehehehe! In this strip she's using the shirt and bag charm she bought off me! If you guys have a Blurty account you can add her :)

Karen Kunawicz

Yay for Pinays in comics!!!



Karen Kunawicz is, among other awesome things, the editor of Mango Jam.

Mango Jam a serial comics made by Mango Comics, who brought us the golden anniversary special of Mars Ravelo's Darna. This is the Philippines' first all-girls comics, created by girls, for girls containing four different stories. Out in National Bookstores now :)

Ms Kunawicz graciously agreed to answer my questions and I'm posting the interview now:

1) Exactly what do you do as the editor of Mango Jam? Which are your most and least favorite parts of the job?

As the Editor in Chief of Mango Jam, I am largely responsible for the content of the magazine. I meet up with our writers and some of the artists to decide what goes in each issue (aside from the main stories), I play a role in setting the dealines too as well as making sure the sentences are pretty much grammatically correct too. I meet often with one of our art directors, Jovan to work on issue themes and pagination and to discuss ways to make the production process go smoother. I also have to constantly touch base with the publishers (Mango Comics) who get the finished product out and get it distributed.

The best part of the job is working on a project that is fueled by young Filipina talent! The art, articles and stories are made by girls and I am really proud of that. Another great part is collaborating with artists and learning about the comic book industry as I go along. I've only been at this since 2005.

Our original editor in chief was Nikki Alfar who writes "Twilight's Calling" for us, she has a lot of experience in the world of comics and helped Mango lay the groundwork for Mango Jam.

My least favorite part of the job is getting some of the team to submit their work on time. They have such great talent but if you want to get your work out there, discipline will have to come into play and that means meeting deadlines or at least informing us if there are any problems in meeting the deadlines.

I think part of that also stems from the fact we all work from our own homes. Believe it or not, we do not have an office where each of us has a cubicle, and where we have a meeting room where we can exchange ideas and proceed accordingly. A lot of the work takes place in cyberspace. We communicate through a mailing list, and often have to use courier services to send our work to the art directors.

2) How is Mango Jam doing in reaching its target audience? Which feedbacks are most common so far?

I do my best to read and answer all the letters we get(thus far), and basically our readers have been giving us very encouraging feedback. They ask why it isn't so easy to find it in National Bookstore Branches so if anyone connected with National Bookstore is reading this, maybe you can add more Jam to your shelves?(Nudge, nudge, wink, wink) Surprisingly while we originally targeted young women, a lot of guys
have been reading the comic as well.

Other than that, we get letters from young people who want to come out with their own comic book title and reading Mango Jam sort of gives them a little extra inspiration to get their projects going. I honestly wouldn't mind reading samples of our readers' stories.

3) What are your plans for the future of Mango Jam?

I think ideally, our publishers would like to come out on a montly basis but this would mean beefing up the staff, which in turn means having to generate more income to afford this. We're also looking at getting our readers involved in the comic as well as reaching out to young women and just getting them to realize they have just as much a right to be heroines, make decisions and be agents of positive change in the stories of their lives.

4) How did you come up with the unique concept of Kali, especially the ghostly grandmother?

When I was laying the groundwork for Kali, I was a thirtysomething single mom studying arnis once a week.

I am not really a natural athlete but arnis was something I could really appreciate. It's a beautiful but tough martial art and more importantly, it's ours.

We see arnis techniques being used in many Hollywood films (be it with sticks, daggers, improvised weapons)and it seems funny how people in the States, Europe and Australia are so excited about the art but we are rather lukewarm about it.

I decided to tap into the idea that the pre-Hispanic Filipinas were respected as leaders, priestesses, healers, equals to men--and maybe be even warriors?

I see Lola Fely as the matriarch we all wish we had -- extremely warm, loving, smart, tough, tender, no-nonsense, not afraid to put her foot down to stick up for what she knows is right. It's kind of ironic that what makes her character add to the gothic feel of the story is what also makes her fun.

5) What would you like to say to all the girls out there who want to write and create for comics?

JUST DO IT. Nike already uses that as it's tag line but there's no better advice I can give. Write your story down, make the drawings, publish the on the net, photocopy them, go indie or go big time. Nothing compares to getting your work out.

Sure you will run into problems along the way, it will not be smooth sailing and there might even be people who will criticize your work (some will have a right to, some will be constructive, some will just be plain old crabs). But wouldn't you rather be the person who had a dream, stuck their neck out and got talked about instead of the person sitting in some chair sour-graping, saying they can do better but aren't making the attempt anyway?

Kikay Shirts, Wallets and Bag Charms

SOLD SO FAR:




...and a Hello Kitty wallet and an aquamarine bag charm:)

See the rest of what's for sale! For directions on how to buy click the link below :)

ITEMS IN LIBIS NOW!!!

Got a Gold Star

I helped a university student with research -- won't you do the same?