RECAP 2007

Here's a brief overview of some of the things I did in 2007:
January - February - Took care of business in the Philippines; played tourist in the Philippines with Lauren, Allens, and Doug

April - Went on a Panama Cruise; participated in the LA Festival of Books at UCLA with Loren Woodsen
May - taught a writing class, UCLA Extension; participated in the Aerospace Asian American event; was interviewed by Janelle So in Channel 18
June - participated in a literary reading at UCLA Extension; was guest speaker at dinner of the Filipino American group in Lancaster

June-July - visited the Philippines to take care of business; launched A La Carte Food & Fiction
August - taught an online Writing Class for the first time


September - participated in a UCLA-Extension's Writer's Faire and the West Hollywood Book Festival; visited San Miguel Allende and Guadalajara in Mexico



October - Went to New York and on a cruise to New England and Canada
October-November - taught a writing class, UCLA Extension

MORE COMMENTS RE BENAZIR BHUTTO ASSASSINATION

I have a few more things to say about the Benazir Bhutto assassination:

1. The incident reminds me of what happened to Ninoy Aquino. Aquino had been in exile in the United States and had been encouraged by the United States to return to the Philippines in 1983. He barely got off the plane when he was shot dead in Manila International Airport's tarmack. The military or police immediately killed his assailant, and the Marcos government had a lot of stories about Ninoy's assassination. Not too long after, the government of Ferdinand Marcos, that had enjoyed quite a lengthy dictatorship, toppled.

2. American foreign policy - I cannot understand how the United States can talk about installing democracy in other countries such as Pakistan, when all it is doing is installing dictators. Haven't we seen the United States prop up dictators like Diem, the Shah of Iran, Ferdinand Marcos - all in the name of democracy? The American people must understand that when the United States props up these dictatorial governments, there is no freedom in those countries. None. Zilch. Nada.

In this sense the United States foreign policy is screwed up. The U.S. is so eager to support "friendly" governments where it has interests, and in so doing creates despots that oppress their people. This is not democracy.

This was what the U.S. has done in Pakistan - after 9/11, it pumped a lot of money into supporting Pervez Musharraf with the understanding that he'd fight the Taliban and Al Qaeda. According to a recent CNN documentary, Musharraf has made deals with the Taliban and Al Qaeda not to attack Pakistan military, which has made certain places in Pakistan nesting grounds of these militant groups.

Musharraf has suspended judges in Pakistan, and reportedly had placed Benazir in house arrest. He definitely did not provide adequate protection to her, and now there is some Pakistani government story that Bhutto had died from banging her head on the lever of her vehicle.

I've seen this kind of obsfucation - muddle the story so as to confuse the people, so that they fail to see what is important.

A La Carte Food & Fiction wins Gourmand Award

I missed the original email from Gourmandbooks.com, but Marily Orosa and Felice Sta. Maria informed me that the anthology which Marily and I co-edited, A La Carte: Food & Fiction, won a Gourmand World Cookbook Award 2007,in the category Best Food Literature Book. Apparently the book is a winner in the Philippines, and will be competing with other countries' winners.

Here's the official letter from Gourmand:
Congratulations!
Gourmand World Cookbook Award 2007
You are the winner in your country PhilippinesYou qualify for the next "Gourmand Best in the World Competition"

With:

A La Carte: Food & Fiction
Edited by Cecilia Manguerra Brainard and Marily Y. Orosa
25 Authors
Illustrations by Ice de Leon
ISBN: 978 9712718770
Anvil Publisher

In the category: Best Food Literature Book

The winners will appear in the website http://www.cookbookfair.com on January 8, 2008.

The following is more information about the award:

GOURMAND AWARDS
www.cookbookfair.com

WINNING
1.- THE PROCESS
In 2007, over 6000 books were received from 107 countries. All books compete within their own country, sometimes separated by languages, to correspond to the book trade established markets.

The deadline for receiving books was November 15. Entry is free, there are no fees. Anyone may send books to compete, the author(s), the publisher, the readers.
The winners receive personnally their notification at the end of 2007. The lists of winners are posted on internet in January 2008.

2.- THE IMPACT OF WINNING
Given the number of books in the competition, it is an honour to win. Winning books get more visibility in the market place and may get higher sales, often with new print runs.

The selection process tries to focus on books that have international potential. Winners books get international attention: translations and international rights deals may be negotiated.

Winners use self adhesive tickets to announce visibly their award to the public. They issue press releases in their local and international markets. There is much promotion of the awards on internet sites, publishers catalogues, in the next books, and in authors biographies.

3.- THE GOURMAND YEARBOOK
The Gourmand Yearbook 2006 and 2007 give much cookbook and wine book trade information which cannot be found elsewhere = market information, trends, lists of Gourmand winning books with comments on the books.

The Yearbook is distributed at the international book fairs that Gourmand attends, and it is the catalogue of the exhibitions, which follow the Yearbook classification of the winners. The Yearbook is also sold by major cookbook stores around the world, and directly by Gourmand.

4.- THE GOURMAND EXHIBITIONS
Last year winning books had the following exhibitions, free for the winners:

- April : Beijing Gourmand Awards, Dragon Springs Exhibition
Visitors: trade professionals from 36 countries plus many Chinese.

- October: Frankfurt Book Fair.
Gourmand Cookbook Stand of 130 m2.

- 2007-2008: Beijing International Book City
Permanent One Year Exhibition.
The Gourmand stand is one of the 10 biggest among the 48 foreigners present.

In the coming year 2008 there is the same exhibition plan, with a major presence at the major book fairs, such as the London International Book Fair, April 14-16: our Gourmand Cookbook Corner will be even bigger than in Frankfurt, with the exhibition, chefs demonstrations, and a Champagne Bar.

5.- THE FUTURE
Winners qualify for the “Best in the World” competition.
The results of that competition will be announced at the Gourmand yearly awards show in May 2008. The location will be communicated directly to you, and all information will be on internet in January 2008.

For more information, including the Gourmand history and the future schedule see: www.cookbookfair.com

ASSASSINATION OF BENAZIR BHUTTO

I was shocked to learn that Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan was assassinated. A couple of months ago, shortly after her return to Pakistan, there had already been an assassination attempt. (In fact,there had been numerous assassination attempts on her life, for which she blamed the Al Queda.) Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf had not been happy with Bhutto's return, and the world now turns to look at him regarding this assassination.

Bhutto comes from an ill-starred political family: her father was hanged in jail; one brother poisoned in France, and another shot by the police.

I feel sad at the turmoil going on in Pakistan and in Burma and other places in the world.

I am appalled that despots are able to silence opposition, and seem to get way with it. I want to believe in Justice, and I know that Justice does not know "time" as we humans do, but I get impatient when I see oppression, injustice, abuse of human rights continue, and perpetrators getting away with such deeds.

THE ANSWER TO YESTERDAY'S QUESTION

The answer, dear Readers, is that I lost!!!!

DAY AT SANTA ANITA RACE TRACK

The question, dear Readers, is will Precious win or lose at the race track today??????

Stay tuned later, dear Readers, stay tuned!

(In the style of Marianne Villanueva's blog - thanks Marianne - you don't even have the foggiest idea do you that I'm imitating this style???)

CHRISTMAS 2007

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE BRAINARDS!
Here's a memory about Jacob's Crackers. In the Philippines, when I was growing up, the best crackers one could get were English crackers called "Jacob's" - except we called it Ha-cob. The brand had been around since my mother was a young girl attending boarding school. She used to talk about her father visiting her and bringing her "Hacob." The tin can of Hacob was distinctive: rectangular, with a blue-gray design and sprays of wheat. What a surprise I had when I went to my Filipino market on Vermont (Seafood City)and saw what I initially thought was Hacob! My heart stopped; a surge of memories flooded through me!

Well, it wasn't Hacob; the box, the design had clearly been copied. I bought a can - I couldn't resist - the memory of Hacob was too strong in me. Frankly I have no memory now of how Hacob crackers tasted. This Chinese version was all right - indeed they were flaky and light, and anyway, I just had to get a glimpse of the tin can to get the surge of memory from the past and that was enough.

HISTORIC FILIPINOTOWN, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

OK - it's Christmas time, so I'm seeing a number of old friends. Today I had lunch with Joselyn Geaga Rosenthal. Years ago, Joselyn and I were members of the Epic group that used to meet at UCLA; we discussed ancient Philippine epics. It was as a member of this Epic Group that I started retelling the epics, which I later wove into my first novel, When the Rainbow Goddess Wept.

Joselyn and I also share some friends in the Philippines; she had gone to STC Baguio, and attended one semester at Maryknoll Quezon City; I attended STC San Marcelino and Maryknoll Quezon City. She knew Perla Dumundun, Brenda Nuval, and other Maryknollers who had been my classmates.

We ate at the Bahay Kubo on Temple Street, and afterwards, she gave me a tour of Historic Filipinotown. For some reason I missed the story of the designation of Historic Filipinotown. Twenty years ago, the Filipino American community had already been already talking about this. There had been a lot of bickering, factions quarreling over which area should be given this name, and community groups split over issues. Some people wanted Carson or some other place to be Filipinotown, because there are more Filipino living there. The other ethnic groups in the area (now designated Historic Filipinotown) resisted the proposal. And on and on , until finally, with politicians on the right side, the designation was made. The area now designated is the same place that the Filipinos back in the 1920s congregated in. The famous writer, Carlos Bulosan, had used Temple Street as the setting of some of his stories.

Joselyn said that she was so excited when this happened that she invested in property on Temple Street. She lives in the area, and as she put it, why not make the commitment? The building she owns has three rental spaces; one is being developed, one is occupied by a 99 cent store; the other, she turned into an Art Gallery named Remy's on Temple (2126 W. Temple, Echo Park, tel: 213-484-2884), which is run by her son Jonathan Yap. The Gallery also sells some books and hosts book signings. Joselyn showed me the garden behind her building, and pointed out what she'd done to landscape the area - she has sampaguita, duhat, avocado, macopa, bandera espanola and other tropical plants.

Joselyn pointed out the banners on the street light poles, saying "Historic Filipinotown." She showed me the antique Filipino designs on some pedestrian's lanes in the area (one right on Hoover and Temple). She also pointed out the mural depicting the Filipino American pioneers.

It was refreshing to see Joselyn's excitement and commitment to Filipinotown in Los Angeles. It reminded me actually of my own enthusiasm about Old Cebu, and the attempts of some of my new friends there to get Old Cebu designated as a historic district. It's like this: even though the place is still gentrifying; we can already imagine the possibilities, and it's the vision that drives us. Joselyn refers to the work she is doing in her building as "playing" - an interesting term which I also use when I fix up the building I own in Old Cebu. When Joselyn speaks about Filipinotown, I know she can "see" something in her head.

I know I do when I think of Old Cebu - the area near the Cathedral, and Santo Nino Basilica - I see this place cleaned up; I see it spruced up so it looks like a Spanish Colonial place. I know this will take years to happen - but I'm willing to join those who have taken the first steps toward this vision - (I mean the Aboitiz's who developed Casa Gorordo; I mean Val Sandiego who put lots of money into fixing up his old house across the Fire Station, and who stages elaborate events several times a year in the Parian; I mean those responsible for building the Cathedral Museum; I am also referring to those who put up the historic signs in the area, and to others who have invested time and energy into Old Cebu.

Here's wishing Joselyn and her kindred spirits - lovers of old heritage sites - the best! (The pictures below show one street banner with "Historic Filipinotown" on it; the mural showing pioneer Filipino Americans (Helen Brown and Remy Geaga, among the figures), and the ancient Filipino design on the pedestrian's lane.)

CENTRAL AMERICA PHOTOS - NICARAGUA, GUATEMALA

I took these pictures in Central America. The two photos were taken in Antiqua, Guatemala.

tags: travel, photographs, pictures, Central America

LUNCH with SUSAN MONTEPIO

I had lunch with my friend Susan Montepio. Susan and I go way back. We were co-founders of PAWWA (Philippine American Women Writers and Artists); we were partners of PALH (Philippine American Literary House); we were involved in 4 books projects: Seven Stories From Seven Sisters; The Beginning and Other Asian Folktales; Journey of 100 Years; and Growing Up Filipino. It was good to see her and to hear that she and her family are fine.

RE REMEDIOS CUENCO BORROMEO

Here's an interesting email correspondence re my grand-aunt Remedios Cuenco Borromeo:
~~~
The only girl in the Cuenco family is Remedios Cuenco Borromeo, she is the only sister of your (grand)father. Although she was not that famous she was gifted in her own right. She was an accomplished pianist and acclaimed writer. She also wrote so many stories in the Veritas. You failed to mention her in your letter to your mother. By the way I am your relative living in Chicago, Illinois. Please acknowledge her existence. She was very dear to me.
from: Angelica Borromeo
~~~~~
Thank you for writing. I have been wanting information about Tiya Edyong. I heard she was a "storyteller." Do you have more info? - her date of birth, name of her husband, number of children, schooling, when she died. And if you can send me copies of her writings, I would be THRILLED. And info re her grandchildren too.

I visited her when I was young and by that time she was half paralyzed, but she always had a sense of humor. (She was the sister of my grandfather Mariano J. Cuenco ) - I remember she said something like, "It's a good thing many of their silbings died, otherwise the Philippines would be in a revolution because of the Cuencos" - she was referring to their volatile nature.

Yes, I would LOVE to write about her, but please give me info.

I did not mean to leave her out in the Cuenco site - I just had little information and pictures about her. I was always interested about her, especially when I heard she was a writer. Pls. do send info, her writings, maybe pics, info. thanks!!!!

My mother was Iton Cuenco; in case you knew her. I was the youngest in the family. I've always been interested in family stuff.
From: Cecilia Brainard
~~~~~
I have to talk to my sister Titus. She has some info. I was young when Lola died. I will get in touch with you as soon as I get some more info. I have old pictures of her with husband and my dad Peping. Thank you so much for your interest.
From: Angelica Borromeo
~~~~~~~~
I remember Tiyo Peping! And I am sure we met each other when we were children in Cebu. I remember Mitos - is she your sister?
I have another questions - I remember Tiya Edyong, but the old photo I have showing the Cuenco siblings have her name down as Dolores. Was she Dolores? Or Remedios?

Pls. send me info. I gather what I can about the Cuenco genealogy. You will also find some more info not just in the Cuenco site, but also in my blog - also some Old Cebu historical info. My current friends in Cebu are historic Old Cebu enthusiasts.

Your Dad and my grandfather were first cousins.

Let me know what you find out!
From: Cecilia (I was known as BAby)
~~~~


As soon as I have more information about Remedios Cuenco Borromeo, I'll update the Cuenco site, but in the meantime, do visit: http://www.palhbooks.com/cuenco.htm

CHRISTMAS PAST & COOL KIDS

Some pictures: Top shows Christmas 2005 in Pasadena; next is Dylan Christmas 2005; then some cool pictures of Robert, Luke and Dylan

Lauren Brainard Pictures when he was 11

Lauren ran into some old Pasadena friends who gave him a couple of old pictures. The pictures show Lauren and other Pasadena boys, all around 11 - 12 years old. Lauren is the one with the striped shirt showing.

CECILIA'S MOVIE REVIEWS

Here are some reviews of movies I've seen, rated 1-5 stars, five being the best.

No Country for Old Men - **** - A lot of violence, tension, and action, and it has the quirky quality typical of the Coen Brothers' productions. Entertaining.

Enchanted - **** - Actress Amy Adams carries this delightful movie that merges animation and realty. The movie has charm and is a great family movie.

The Darjeeling Limited - ***+ - Quirky movie about three brothers on a train journey in India to find their mother. The brothers are charming. There's a lot of talking and subtlety. This is a character film, not an action one.

Love in Time of Cholera - **+ - The movie reviews for this movie were terrible so that I had zero expectations. Prepared for the worst, the movie rose to a higher level than expected. The language and acting were stilted. (English spoken in a Spanish accent, and poorly done.) This movie could be seen as the story of a relentless stalker who doesn't give up. But the movie took me away to Colombia, with green, lush, tropical sceneries.

Michael Clayton - *** - George Clooney does a good job in this movie about a lawyer who is the fixer in his law firm. But I have a confession to make, I saw this weeks ago, and enjoyed it after I saw it, but the movie quickly faded in my memory. Hmmmm - either the movie doesn't have enough uniqueness, or my memory isn't that good any more.

Atonement - **+ - The book is infinitely better. Buy this novel by Ian McEwen, and skip the movie. The book is far richer than the movie. The girl character, Briony Tallis, weaves her own reality from scenes she sees, ruins some lives, and later on makes herself a god by writing a happy ending for the people she's destroyed.

The Golden Compass - **+ - This is an unsatisfying movie, that is cluttered with numerous characters and episodes and ends with a cliffhanger. Sometimes movies just ought to have the good guy and the bad guy spelled out clearly.

That's all for now.

JEEPNEYBOOKS.COM

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Our Mission
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Our Vision
The on-line destination for Filipino language and cultural resources.

SPOTLIGHT ON ~TA DA ~ KIKI THE CAT

I found these pictures of Kiki our cat - no, let me correct that, we are Kiki's humans. The pictures here show her strolling in the back yard and relaxing with the television clicker in her paws. (The guy watching TV with her is one of her humans.)

GROWING UP FILIPINO II - CONTRIBUTORS

Here's the lineup of contributors to the second volume of Growing Up Fiipino that I'm currently editing. I'm still waiting for a few more writers to send in their work.

Amalia Bueno, Leslieann Hobayan, Rashaan Alexis Meneses, Paulino Lim,
Dean Francis Alfar, Marianne Villanueva, Jonathan Jimena Siason, Veronica Montes, Edgar Poma, Tony Robles, Kannika Claudine Pena, Erwin Cabucos, Aileen Suzura, Jaime L. An Lim, Elsa Orejudos Valdimiano, Dolores De Manuel, Maria Victoria Beltran, M. G. Bertulfo, Rebecca Mabanglo-Mayor, Katrina Ramos Atienza, Oscar Penaranda, Geronimo G. Tagatac.

Great stories in this anthology! Will keep you posted!

LEON KILAT PHILIPPINE REVOLUTIONARY HERO

In Carcar, Cebu, there is a monument honoring the revolutionary known as Leon Kilat (Lightning Lion), whose real name was Pantaleon Villegas. My maternal grandmother, Filomena Alesna, was from Carcar, and so growing up we used to visit Carcar. The white monument of a man on a horse became part of Carcar's landmarks, along with St. Catherine's church and school, and the rotunda in the middle of the highway.

My mother used to point out the old house where Leon Kilat had been assassinated, but the story was always vague. What I understood was that Leon Kilat had been a revolutionary and he was assassinated by one of his men.

My history teachers and books weren't much help either, primarily because Philippine history was taught from a Tagalog-centric point of view. We were taught that Andres Bonifacio founded the Katipunan, which had serious battles with the Spaniards in 1896. The Katipunan sent Leon Kilat to Cebu to work with the Cebuano revolutionaries. This happened in the summer of 1898.

Leon Kilat was born in Bacong, Negros Oriental, and he had worked in Cebu and in a circus in Manila where he met a Katipunero. He was said to have possessed an anting-anting (talisman) and had magical powers. He was a Visayan but not a Cebuano. In San Nicolas, Cebu, he was tentatively accepted by the Cebuano revolutionaries, ancestors of numerous Cebuanos - Noel, Alcoseba, Barcenilla, Alfafar, Abellana, Gundoy, Cui, and others.

An earlier battle with the Spaniards was successful and the Spaniards had to retreat to Fort San Pedro. But the Spaniards quickly dispatched a ship to Cebu. When the revolutionaries heard about the Spanish ship, they retreated to Carcar.

On April 7, 1898 (Holy Thursday), Leon Kilat was in Carcar. His plan was to attack the Spaniards on Easter Sunday in Carcar. Leon Kilat was treated as an honored guest and he stayed in the house of Tiyoy Barcenilla. Upon Leon Kilat's request, a tailor took his measurements because Leon Kilat wanted a new uniform to wear the next day. A feast was prepared in the Barcenilla House for Leon Kilat and guests.

What Leon Kilat did not know was that one of the men, Florencio Noel, had met the Spanish friar, Father Francisco Blanco. Father Blanco had reportedly told Noel that the only way Carcar would escape Spanish retaliation was if Leon Kilat would be killed.

So, on the night of Holy Thursday, goat, chicken, pork were served to the men at the Barcenilla House, and afterwards, the men drank coffee and Ginebra (gin) in the living room. Meantime, the Carcar men who had decided to do away with Leon Kilat, became ill at ease, and they whispered among one another, and in fact, Apolinario Alcuitas shouted in Cebuano, "Brothers, I am informing all of you that tonight, I will slaughter a horse."

All of this apparently went unnoticed by Leon Kilat, or perhaps he had too much Ginebra, because he didn't flee. He went to bed, in the room near the stairs of the Barcenilla House. Vicente Barcenilla chatted with Leon Kilat in his room; he goes down in history as the last person to have seen him alive.

Then sometime during the night, several men entered Leon Kilat's room. One of them used Kilat's own rifle butt to smash his skull. And then the men stabbed Kilat. It was a collective deed, but Apolinario Alcuitas' name goes down in history as the assassin.

After insuring Leon Kilat was dead, the group brought his corpse to the center of town to display it. It was 5 a.m. Good Friday, April 9, 1898.

So, generally, historical accounts stop right there. One can assume that the Spaniards did indeed spare Carcar after they regained power. But Spanish power was shortlived because on May 1, 1898, Admiral Dewey launched the Battle of Manila Bay.

American intervention in Spanish Philippine politics quickly put an end to Spanish rule.


Post Script: My grandmother, Filomena Alesna, was most likely related to Florencio Noel. But Cebu is like that. If you trace far back enough, everyone is related. If you think about it, politically speaking, in any revolution, people are never quite sure which side to take. There are those who want the status quo; and there are those who want change.