Babbling Point

Down by the boathouse at Shaker Lake When there wasn't nothing but love to make, They were two young lovers wishing on the stars above. Well, they carved their initials in an old birch tree with a heart and an arrow and a 'sixty-three. You had to be blind not to see... It was a perfect love. It was a perfect love. Ooh, yeah, yeah. Well, they worked one summer together at the '64 World's Fair. They met Robert Kennedy there. Well, that was... right before the fall. And they saved up a little bit of money for his career, And they talked about the future underneath the giant sphere. And all around them, the little voices were singing it's a small world after all. Yes it is, small world after all. And it was... perfect love. Now they were dizzy from dancing on Rockaway Beach. They came to Rockaway. Yeah, and everything they dreamed of was still within reach; dreaming... dreaming as the years roll by, like they always do. Well, they had their share of hard time

Two articles about Pinoy comic books came out in the Philippine Daily Inquirer today. The first one reprints our Trese interview by Paolo Chikiamco of RocketKapre.com For fans of komiks, Budjette Tan and Kajo Baldisimo need no introduction, and neither does “Trese”, their komiks collaboration, now published by Visprint, which is one of the most popular and most successful komik series’ in recent memory. While komiks still remains, at this point, a niche market, “Trese” continues to make inroads into mainstream consciousness, its most recent success being recognition in the National Book Awards in the category of Graphic Literature. In their first post-award interview Kajo and Budjette talk about the success of “Trese”, the importance of their fans, transmedia storytelling, and the future of Philippine komiks: READ THE COMPLETE INTERVIEW AT: http://lifestyle.inquirer.net/super/super/view/20101218-309565/Treses-victory The second one is an interview b

It was December, when four friends went on a road trip in search of the best tasting dishes in the province. Unfortunately, in their quest for the most delicious meal, they may have driven into a town where someone eagerly awaits to have them for dinner. THE FEAST Story by Budjette Tan Script by Budjette Tan and Alex Arellano Art by Kajo Baldisimo Exclusively available in the December issue of UNO magazine . (Look for the one with the delectable Iza Calzado on the cover)

Trese (and Komiks) After the Award: Budjette and Kajo Interview by Paolo Chikiamco For fans of komiks, Budjette Tan and Kajo Baldisimo need no introduction, and neither does Trese, their komiks collaboration, now published by Visprint, which is one of the most popular and most successful komik series’ in recent memory. While komiks still remains, at this point, a niche market, Trese continues to make inroads into mainstream consciousness, its most recent success being recognition in the National Book Awards in the category of Graphic Literature. In what I think is their first post-award interview, Kajo and Budjette talk about the success of Trese, the importance of their fans, transmedia storytelling, and the future of Philippine komiks: READ THE COMPLETE INTERVIEW AT: http://www.rocketkapre.com/2010/trese-and-komiks-after-the-award-budjette-and-kajo-interview/

TV Commercials for the department store JOHN LEWIS John Lewis Christmas ad 2010 John Lewis Ad with Fyfe Dangerfield 'She's Always A Woman' soundtrack

i've heard it said that people come into our lives for a reason bringing something we must learn and we are led to those who help us most to grow if we let them and we help them in return. well, I don't know if I believe that's true but I know I'm who I am today because I knew you... like a comet pulled from orbit as it passes a sun like a stream that meets a boulder halfway through the wood who can say if I've been changed for the better? but because I knew you i have been changed for good so much of me is made of what I learned from you you'll be with me like a handprint on my heart and now whatever way our stories end i know you have re-written mine by being my friend...  who can say if I've been changed for the better? i do believe I have been changed for the better because I knew you... i have been changed for good... "For Good" from the musical WICKED songs and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz

When TRESE: UNREPORTED MURDERS was nominated in the 2008 National Book Awards, I wrote this speech, thinking we had a good chance of winning since we were the only finalist. As most if you already know, we didn't win last year . When were told that TRESE: MASS MURDERS was a finalist for the 2009 National Book Awards, I felt happy and excited, but tried not to get my hopes up. And yet, I couldn't help up but dig up that speech I wrote, thinking that maybe November 13 (the day of the awards) would be our lucky day. Since I knew I'd still be in the UK during the night of the awards, I emailed my speech to Nida Ramirez, our publisher and asked her to read it in case we won. As it turned out, November 13 was our lucky day as TRESE: MASS MURDERS got awarded the National Book Award for Best Graphic Literature of 2009 . Here's the speech I would've wanted to read on the night of the awards: To the National Book Development Board and the Manila Critics Circle, than

The Official Citation from the 2009 National Book Awards : Powerful, iconic characters comic book characters Darna , Zuma and Captain Barbell, among others, emerged fully-formed from the mind of Filipino comic creators. That creativity continues to this day, in all directions, in different ways. But in Trese, Budjette Tan and Kajo Baldisimo have a stunningly original idea, swathed in the irresistible spookiness of our folklore and the edged mythology of our urban legends. Alexandra Trese, the enigmatic paranormal investigator and her lethal bodyguards the Kambal helps the police when encountering cases that just don’t make any sense of the normal kind. In the process, Tan and Baldisimo offers us a peek into the supernatural embedded into Metro Manila’s badly lit corners. In the first volume, Trese: Murder on Balete Drive, we are introduced to Alexandra and her team, and the second volume, Trese: Unreported Murders, showed us one peculiar procedural after another. But it is in this th

As far we can remember it, my mom always cooked spaghetti during our birthdays. Eventually, she taught Manang Terrie, our loyal cook, how to make that spaghetti with ground beef and hotdogs and basil leaves and it became a staple for every birthday celebration. When we were kids, we associated birthdays with big celebrations, where the house was filled with family and guests. At the end of the evening, when all the guests had left, our friends would stay behind and we’d continue talking late into the night, occasionally standing up to get our third or forth helping of spaghetti. After two months of living here and coming home to an empty apartment, it felt wonderful to come back to my apartment and be welcomed with a home-cooked meal made by my mom, Brandie, and Wella. Indeed, it was a very happy birthday day.

This is Talis and he's got a plan to save the world. I’ve been itching to do a Pinoy super hero story for the longest time. So, early this year, when I was supposed to be working on the Trese Book 4, I ended up scribbling this story and pitched it to Kajo. We had a grand plan to juggle working on Talis on one month and working on Trese on the other month. Well, our dayjobs and other projects got into the way, so we ended up getting delayed with both books. So far, this is the only finished TALIS story and we’ve decided to focus on the very delayed Trese Book 4, so it might be sometime before we can get back to revealing the other people who’ve crossed paths with Talis. We hope to release Trese Book 4 early next year and if we’re lucky, we’ll get the chance to do another Talis book soon after that. That’s the end of my intro and this link http://tresekomix.blogspot.com/2010/11/talis.html leads you the first issue of TALIS. Please do give it a read and tell us what you th

I started listening to NU107 when I was in college because of a girl. I found out that NU was her favorite radio station, so I thought if I tuned in as well, I’d have something to talk about with her. “Hey! That Midnight Countdown! That so rocks, yeah?” Did it work? Well, let’s just say I freaked her out and she didn’t talk to me for an entire sem. But I kept listening to NU anyway. It’s always Station #6 in my preprogrammed settings. It was 1993, I was trying to find parking in that patch of dirt that was considered the university car park when I heard these lyrics on NU: “Ilang isaw pa ba ang kakainin, o giliw ko? Ilang tanzan pa ba ang iipunin, o giliw ko? Gagawin ko ang lahat pati ang thesis mo!” Me and my blockmates were in the middle of preparing for our thesis and as far as we were concerned, that was the impossible task that needed to be done that year. When I got to the barkada tambayan I was raving about this song from a band I’ve never heard of, a song about a guy willing

Secret Cinema is a growing community of all who love cinema, experience and the unknown. Secret audience. Secret locations. Secret worlds. The time is now to change how we watch films. Whisper only amongst yourselves. Tell no-one. http://www.secretcinema.org/ Well, with over 60,000 Facebook fans, it's not really a secret anymore. Every couple of months, the guys behind Secret Cinema invite you to watch a movie, but they won't tell you what it's all about. They'll give you clues, like "wear goggles, bring an umbrella, beware of acid rain, we're going to another planet". Participants are asked to assemble at a certain area and they are lead to the secret venue where the movie will be shown.  When Secret Cinema screened BLADE RUNNER, they brought the movie-goers into a warehouse that resembled the neon-lit Chinatown in the movie, where they interacted with the Decard, Pris, Rachael, and Gaff.  During the classic scene where Roy Batty lamented

LIFE ISN'T ABOUT FINDING YOURSELF. LIFE IS ABOUT CREATING YOURSELF. George Bernard Shaw

ME: LIVE LONG AND PROSPER WELLA: LIVE LONG AND CONQUER ME: UMMM... NO... NO... NO... ME: OH, WELL... SURE... LIVE LONG AND CONQUER!!!

WOOT WOOT GANG comic strips Stories by Shirley Tan Art by Reinard Santos These jokes were originally supposed to be made into TV commercials. When we couldn't produce all the stories, I thought we could try to pitch them as comic strips that would run in magazines and newspapers. The campaign eventually changed directions and we weren't able to use these stories. Hope you like them!

Come knocking at the door of The Diabolical and get the chance to win a treat from Trese. What’s the treat? This limited-edition Trese poster by Kajo Baldisimo. To win, draw any character from the Trese graphic novels and show them trick-or-treating. Drawings can be in black-and-white or full-color. 13 winners will be chosen by me and Kajo. To submit: 1. post your drawing in your blog, DeviantArt, Twitpic, Flickr, Tumblr, or wherever it is you post your artwork. 2. Label it as TRESE: TRICK OR TREAT 3. Post a link of your artwork in the comments page and include the following: YOUR FULL NAME YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS LINK TO YOUR ARTWORK Ready! Get set! Scare us! BOOO! Deadline is on October 31, 2010

Couple of weeks ago, I read this announcement in Bleeding Cool that Alan Moore was giving a talk in Northampton for the benefit of the Fight for Sight Eye Research. I quickly checked Google Maps and saw that Northampton was two hours away by train from Manchester. I didn’t care if it was four hours away by camel. It felt like a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet one of my comic book idols. The event was held in the Great Hall of the Guildhall. The hall could’ve comfortably fit a hundred people, but there were only 50 of us, maybe even less. While waiting outside, I saw people walk up to the poster, read it, and then try to explain to their companion who Alan Moore was. “He wrote Watchmen and V for Vendetta!” One lady just said, “Well, he looks scary,” and continued to walk down the street. I just couldn’t believe that people from Northampton weren’t excited to meet Alan Moore. His heavy footsteps echoed as he strode down the hall clad in a beige paisley blazer that seeme