ten species gone soon?

You think the giant pandas are in the brink of extinction? Think again. There are more species far more endangered than the black-and-whites. Their numbers are so low, they may be gone forever in the next year or so.

1. Sumatran Rhinoceros or Dicerorhinus sumatrensis (estimated number: 300)

2. Western Gray Whale or Esrichtiius robustus(estimated number: 100)

3. Red Wolf or Canis lupus rufus (estimated number: 100 in the wild)

4. Siberian Tiger or Panthera tigris altaica (estimated number: 350 to 450)

5. Black-footed Ferret or Mustela nigripes

6. Philippine crocodile or Crocodylus mindorensis (estimated number: 100)

7. Mountain Gorilla or Gorilla beringei beringei (estimated number: 720)

8. Ganges Shark or Glyphis gangeticus

9. Sumatran Orangutan or Pongo abelii

10. California Condor or Gymnogyps californianus (estimated number: 332)

santa claus murdered.

"Do not gaze at beardless youth, for they have eyes more tempting than the houris."


-from the Arabian Nights

more of best movies list of 2010

France's Cahiers du Cinema has picked its ten best list of 2010. The films in the honor roll are the following:

1. Apichatpong Weerasethakul's Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
2. Werner Herzog's Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
3. Jean-Luc Godard's Film Socialisme
4. Lee Unkrich's Toy Story 3
5. Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox
6. Joel & Ethan Coen's A Serious Man
7. João Pedro Rodrigues's To Die Like a Man
8. David Fincher's The Social Network
9. Darezhan Omirbayev's Chouga (aka Ainour)
10. Bong Joon-ho's Mother

the lady

Production stills from Luc Besson's The Lady have been released. Michelle Yeoh stars as Aung San Suu Kyi. The film on the pro-democracy Burmese leader is expected to be out in 2011.

so long, blake edwards

more best movies list of 2010

It's almost the end of the year. It's time critics, movie reporters and fans will churn out their traditional best films lists. Two lists from The Telegraph. My personal favorites are in block letters.

Sukhdev Sandhu lists his ten best independent films of 2010. His picks are the following:

1. Apichatpong Weerasethakul's Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
2. Christian Marclay's The Clock
3. Claire Denis's White Material
4. Lucrecia Martel's The Headless Woman
5. Sylvain Chomet's The Illusionist
6. Adam Elliot's Mary and Max
7. Edgar Wright's Scott Pilgrim vs the World
8. Lixin Fan's Last Train Home
9. Andrew Kotting's Ivul
10. Banksy's Exit Through the Gift Shop

Tim Robey, on the other hand, lists the ten best movie of 2010.

1. David Fincher's The Social Network
2. Jacques Audiard’s A Prophet
3. Lee Unkrich's Toy Story 3
4. Mike Leigh’s Another Year
5. Luca Guadagnino's I Am Love
6. Lisa Cholodenko's The Kids Are Alright
7. Yorgos Lanthimos’s Dogtooth
8. Chris Sanders and Dean Deblois's How To Train Your Dragon
9. Roman Polanski’s The Ghost Writer
10. Christopher Nolan’s Inception

best movies of 2010

The New Yorker's Richard Brody has listed the 25 Best Films of 2010. His list includes:

1. Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island
2. David Fincher's The Social Network
3. Sofia Coppola's Somewhere
4. Noah Baumbach's Greenberg
5. Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan
6. Jacques Rivette's Around a Small Mountain
7. Josh Safdie and Benny Safdie's Daddy Longlegs
8. Manoel de Oliveira's The Strange Case of Angelica
9. Lena Dunham's Tiny Furniture
10. Miguel Gomes's Our Beloved Month of August
11. Pedro Costa's Ne Change Rien
12. Mia Hansen-Løve's The Father of My Children
13. Woody Allen's You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger
14. Clint Eastwood's Hereafter
15. Eugène Green's The Portuguese Nun
16. Robert Guédiguian's The Army of Crime
17. Rachid Bouchareb's Outside the Law
18. Frank V. Ross's Audrey the Trainwreck
19. Frederick Wiseman's Boxing Gym
20. Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman's Catfish
21. Jay Duplass and Mark Duplass's Cyrus
22. Kentucker Audley's Open Five
23. Nicholas Stoller's Get Him to the Greek
24. Lou Ye's Spring Fever
25. Edgar Wright's Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

What's your year's best?

i heart winona

I envy Winona Ryder. She doesn't use the internet. "I have my e-mail on my BlackBerry, and that's about it. I've never read a blog, ever," she explained to Elle. A simple, uncomplicated life, free from the anxiety of (too much) information.

Without the internet, I wouldn't have to worry about the collapse of diplomacy brought about by Wikileaks' divulging classified US cables which ups the paranoia among world leaders. Nor would I have to be mortified by the image of Kanye West naked. I wouldn't be anxious about China's rising power which became more pronounced in recent weeks when it threatened countries which would send representatives to the Nobel Ceremony. I wouldn't be kept abreast of Noynoy Aquino's constant mistakes.

What you don't know won't hurt you. Since I hardly watch television, no Kris Aquino or Boy Abunda or his boyfriend. No Sarah Palin shooting a caribou, and recently, a bear cutout. No walking time bomb named Lindsay Lohan.

I could stop surfing the net to check whether people liked my film or not.

Without the internet, I would be more productive as I would be devoting my time on creative pursuits rather than stalk people on Facebook or Twitter. I would keep my vanity in check instead of feeling superior because I speak and write better English than half the world's population. I could avoid eavesdropping on people, even if they are ten thousand miles away from me. I could really be elsewhere rather than imagining the places where I should be. I could stop blogging and start getting a life.

hobbit-eating bird?

BBC says The Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society reported a recent fossil discovery of bones belonging to an estimated 1.8 meter tall marabou stork, named Leptoptilos robustus, in Flores island, Indonesia. The bones are believed to be up to 50,000 years old.

Palaeontologist Hanneke Meijer of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC, and affiliated to the National Museum of Natural History in Leiden, the Netherlands, made the discovery with colleague Dr Rokus Due of the National Center for Archaeology in Jakarta, Indonesia.

What is more intriguing about the find is that the island was previously famed for the discovery of Homo floresiensis, a small hominin species closely related to modern humans. The stork may have been capable of hunting and eating juvenile members of this hominin species, say researchers who made the discovery, though there is no direct evidence the birds did so.

But the distinct difference in size between the 1.8 m-tall giant stork L. robustus and 1m-tall the tiny hominin H. floresiensis raises some interesting questions.

Would the hominin have eaten the giant stork?

Direct evidence of H. floresiensis 's diet is hard to come by, but it is suspected of hunting animals on the island for meat.

However, modern marabou storks mainly eat carrion, but they do take fish, frogs, and small mammals and birds.

So would the giant stork have eaten the hominin?

"Whether or not this animal may have eaten hobbits is speculative: there is no evidence for that," Dr. Meijer told the BBC. "But can not be excluded either."

The giant storks towered over the hobbits.

More importantly, juvenile hobbits were no bigger than giant rats that existed on the island, which themselves may have fallen prey to the giant stork, she adds.

As yet is it unclear why the giant stork, and the pygmy elephants and hobbit hominins, went extinct.

"But we have several clues," says Dr. Meijer.

"All the bones of the giant marabou as well as those of the pygmy elephants and the hobbits are found below a thick layer of volcanic ash," suggesting a recent volcanic eruption.

"Second, the giant marabou and its contemporaries go extinct right before modern humans appear at the cave."

Around 15,000 years ago, the climate of Flores went from dry to being wetter, and a combination of any of these factors may have been enough to drive species on the islands to extinction.

ah, the hypocrisy

The Wikileaks scandal involving US diplomatic cables unravels like a television soap opera - riveting, intriguing, salacious, leaving the readers for more.

In what may prove a particularly incendiary cable, US diplomats describe a world of sex, drugs and rock'n'roll behind the official pieties of Saudi Arabian royalty.

Jeddah consulate officials described an underground Halloween party, thrown last year by a member of the royal family, which broke all the country's Islamic taboos. Liquor and prostitutes were present in abundance, according to leaked dispatches, behind the heavily-guarded villa gates.

The party was thrown by a wealthy prince from the large Al-Thunayan family. The diplomats said his identity should be kept secret. A US energy drinks company also put up some of the finance.

"Alcohol, though strictly prohibited by Saudi law and custom, was plentiful at the party's well-stocked bar. The hired Filipino bartenders served a cocktail punch using sadiqi, a locally-made moonshine," the cable said. "It was also learned through word-of-mouth that a number of the guests were in fact 'working girls', not uncommon for such parties."

The dispatch from the US partygoers, signed off by the consul in Jeddah, Martin Quinn, added: "Though not witnessed directly at this event, cocaine and hashish use is common in these social circles."

The underground party scene is "thriving and throbbing" in Saudi Arabia thanks to the protection of Saudi royalty, the dispatch said. But it is only available behind closed doors and for the very rich.

More than 150 Saudi men and women, most in their 20s and 30s, were at the party. The patronage of royalty meant the feared religious police kept a distance. Admission was controlled through a strict guest list. "The scene resembled a nightclub anywhere outside the kingdom: plentiful alcohol, young couples dancing, a DJ at the turntables and everyone in costume."

spin, spin

I live with nine Persian cats. Azlan in the photograph is one of them. Everyone who owns long-haired cats knows that this could pose some problems. Overcrowding is one. Cats tend to be territorial. Unless neutered, male cats can be aggressive. Persian cats are special cats. They cannot be left behind for extended period of time. They are prone to depression which, in rare instances, leads to fatal consequences. And there's the issue of the hair, lots of it.

Everyday I wake up with cat hair all over the house. Despite constant brushing and combing, I'm still surrounded by hair. I vacuum the house twice a week. When there are visitors in the house, they leave with cat hair in their garments. "You want to use a lint roller?" I would offer them, embarrassed.

Over coffee the other day, I discussed the hair issue with my cousin Philip. "I hope there's a way to spin cat hair into wool," I told him. "With all the hair, it could be a lucrative business."

I checked the internet, and, voila, a solution to the problem.

There are two other useful tips in spinning cat hair here, and here. All I need now is a spinning wheel. Some patience. I can make this in no time.

america's end

Respected scholar Alfred McCoy has predicted the fall of the U.S. in 2025 barely fifteen years from now. It is a far more realistic assessment, according to McCoy, compared to 2040 or 2050 that Washington is foretelling.

"Under current projections, the United States will find itself in second place behind China (already the world's second largest economy) in economic output around 2026, and behind India by 2050. Similarly, Chinese innovation is on a trajectory toward world leadership in applied science and military technology sometime between 2020 and 2030, just as America's current supply of brilliant scientists and engineers retires, without adequate replacement by an ill-educated younger generation.

"By 2020, according to current plans, the Pentagon will throw a military Hail Mary pass for a dying empire. It will launch a lethal triple canopy of advanced aerospace robotics that represents Washington's last best hope of retaining global power despite its waning economic influence. By that year, however, China's global network of communications satellites, backed by the world's most powerful supercomputers, will also be fully operational, providing Beijing with an independent platform for the weaponization of space and a powerful communications system for missile- or cyber-strikes into every quadrant of the globe."

Furthermore, McCoy wrote "Viewed historically, the question is not whether the United States will lose its unchallenged global power, but just how precipitous and wrenching the decline will be. In place of Washington's wishful thinking, let’s use the National Intelligence Council's own futuristic methodology to suggest four realistic scenarios for how, whether with a bang or a whimper, U.S. global power could reach its end in the 2020s (along with four accompanying assessments of just where we are today). The future scenarios include: economic decline, oil shock, military misadventure, and World War III. While these are hardly the only possibilities when it comes to American decline or even collapse, they offer a window into an onrushing future."

I am extraordinarily patient, provided I get my own way in the end.


-Margaret Thatcher

going greek

The 51st edition of the International Thessaloniki Film Festival is open. Limbunan is part of the Independence Days Section of the Festival, with screenings on December 6, 3:15pm and December 7, 7pm at the John Cassavetes Theater.

741 million things to do

My friends and I are still debating whether or not there's a real winner in the recent Lotto jackpot amounting to 741 million pesos or US$17,233,000 -the largest prize ever in Philippine lottery history. The top conspiracy theory: The Palace ordered the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office to declare a 'winner' so that it can keep the funds. Gina is a hoax. But the 741 million pesos is not.

I wanted to bet but the closest I got was to fill up the form. The queues in the two outlets that I visited were a kilometer long. So I am content on dreaming about winning the jackpot prize. The top ten on my to-do/to-buy list include:

A new camera. My choice of the moment is the Panasonic AG-AF100 HD camcorder.

Build a glass house, surrounded by trees, overlooking the Davao Gulf.

Donate millions to an organization that would develop supplemental materials on Moro history and culture to be used in schools across Muslim Mindanao.  A young populace aware of their identity that is deeply rooted in their own culture and history will not be easily swayed by fundamentalism.

A trip to Konya, Turkey. Located 250 km from the Mediterranean Sea and 500 km from the Black Sea, at an altitude of over 1000 meters in the Anatolian steppe, Konya is one of Turkey’s most fascinating cities, full of mosques and museums. One of the most popular museums is the Green Mausoleum of the poet Rumi.

And what better way to travel than with vintage Louis Vuitton luggages.

Fund a madrasah that will teach its students the barzanji, instilling in them a profound love of God and the Prophet. Its central tenet would revolve around God is Love and the Qur'an is the Book of Love.

I love cats. I will build a fully-staffed cat house for stray cats which I will call The Muezza House in honor of the Prophet's beloved feline.

Open a restaurant, just for the heck of it. If I didn't become a filmmaker, my career alternative would be restaurateur/chef. Ideal location for my restaurant would be Hamburg, Germany. I would give Bok a run for their money.

I will shoot my next film Cartas de la Soledad with Joem Bascon, Cesar Montano and Mayka Lintongan as lead stars. After which I'll hie off to Barcelona, Spain to shoot the final sequence and just chill out.

ulli lommel, box office party and the quiet grandeur of wiesbaden

I shall never forget Wiesbaden.

There I met cult director Ulli Lommel, the German actor and director best known for his horror films (The Boogeyman, Diary of A Cannibal, Black Dahlia). We had a brief chat details of which I barely recall. I was heavily jetlagged and worrying about my lost (and later found) luggage. He invited me to the screening of The Boogeyman that evening. I even got myself a ticket but decided against watching the flick at the last minute. I am scared of horror films and being alone for three nights in my hotel room in a century-old building I thought that it was not a good idea.

In Wiesbaden exground Film Festival -the real purpose of my visit - I also participated in a very unique festival experience: The Box Office Party. Ten or more people squeezed inside the newly renovated box office of the Caligari FilmBuhne for a half hour of drinks, cheese and glorious sandwiches. We were so pressed together we almost defied the laws of physics. What was logic defying was how a small room like that could cost 100 thousand Euros.

"I could make ten films already with that amount," I quipped.

Wiesbaden is a city in the heart of Germany. It was the retreat of the kaiser who sought the city for its rejuvenating hot springs. Now the affluent members of Hessen society continue to make it home, preferring its old, quiet grandeur to the hustle and bustle of cosmopolitan Frankfurt only twenty minutes away.

Wandering its streets during Eid, I strayed into the city's section that has become home to Turkish, Iranian, Syrian, Iraqi, and Lebanese migrants. "Salam," I greeted a middle aged man on the street. He started mumbling Arabic to me. I could not understand him. He spoke in broken German. I was speechless. His granddaughter walked out of a store and smiled at me. "You speak English?" I asked her. She nodded and offered me a baklava. She said something to his grandfather then he invited me, "Would you like to spend the Eid with us?"

"It's a beautiful city. The magnificent buildings were spared by the Second World War," Brigida, the lady manning the box office, told me.

I was in Wiesbaden for barely a week but the city will remain a beautiful memory for me.