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May all of you have the merriest of Christmases and the happiest of new years!

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And if you’re still stumped about what to give your loved ones this season, why don’t you check out Michael’s list of Christmas Gift Ideas from Filipino Graphic Designers¹.

1. Thank you for the mention, Michael and Merry, Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones![ back]

Hello, I hope you can support the following projects that my Arn recently worked on¹
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• Cast 10: Issue 10 of the charming Nautilus Comics series that revolves around the lives of high school stage play actors. Story by Jamie Bautista, art by Arnold Arre.
• Graphic Classics: Jack London volume 2. Arn illustrated the somewhat tragic Jack London story “The Wit of Porportuk”, adapted by Tom Pomplun.
• Bandang Pinoy, Lasang Hotdog. A re-issue of the original Hotdog Tribute album which was first released in 2001. The line-up includes all of Hotdog’s best-known, well-loved songs and a host of today’s hottest bands.

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I was supposed to write a travelogue about our trip but work got the better of me and so I only managed to make the following articles²:

• The Ghibli Museum in Mitaka
• NHK Studio Park in Shibuya

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We’re currently putting together the 5th issue of Wedding Essentials and the articles and features are pretty amazing as always³ so for the brides-to-be reading this, I hope you’ll watch out for it. 🙂
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Here are a few photos to whet your appetite⁴:
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Among the perks of being freelance is that Arn and I can work anytime of the day and still be able to squeeze in some R&R like an occasional movie (or grocery) date, coffee with a gal pal at a nearby mall, dinner with a best bud, the odd blog entry, and the once-in-a-blue-moon-thank-goodness-for-Nest-for-making-it-happen night out with old friends.
[Soundtrack of the night: opening riff of The Final Countdown]⁵
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The bunch in front of the spanking new Blow-up Babies branch at Serendra: Buddy, Earnest, Myrene, Arn, Lia, Raimund, and Quark
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The “shiny happy people” shot. We contemplated having dinner at “Abe: Where Good Friends Dine” but it was just so given, diba?
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Because Cupcakes by Sonja was closed for a private function (hmph!), we ended up having dessert at Cafe Mary Grace which actually turned out to be a great idea (You have to try their Tsoknut Tsokolate, it’s a yummyness!). This photo was taken before the waitress recognized Quark⁶ and asked to take photos with him. A few minutes later, she also recognized Budz and Raims⁷ and then asked to take pictures with them and eventually the whole group hehe.
UPDATE: Coolness, Nest has a complete recap of the shiny, happy night out including the dialogue between Jona (the very friendly girl who waited on us — Ms. Mary Grace, in case you’re reading this: she’s a keeper!), Quark, and Budz when she realized who they were, hehe. Clicky click, velly funny.

1. I only played supporting roles in these projects — you know, scanning, photoshop and layout/FA work. It’s really me hubby’s show. 😉[ back]
2. They’re quite detailed so if you’re planning a trip to Japan, be sure to check em out before you go.[ back]
3. Kudos to Marbs and the girls! And as always, I hope to do them justice with the design and layouts.[ back]
4. I’ve to be careful not to give away too much to avoid dealing with copycats flatterers. Remember?.[ back]
5. Tinenenent… tinenentnentnent! Pasensya na, panahon namin ito.[ back]
6. “Wag Kang Lilingon“! He’s also directing two films for the MMFF — “Super Noypi” and “Shake, Rattle and Roll”. Show him some love and watch his films, yeah.[ back]
7. Who were bandmates in… Rivermaya! Ahehehe. 😉[ back]

Like our good pals Sheila and Mike, Arn and I have been going on a nostalgia trip, to the 70s this time. It all started when I gave him The Incredible Hulk¹ tv series on his birthday.

And then my ate Pam², a dear cousin all the way in Oz sent me an Amazon gift certificate worth, well, a lot so I decided to use it on items that remind me of her and the days when she and her family still lived next door: The Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys tv series starring Pamela Sue Martin as Nancy, and Patrick Stevenson and Shaun Cassidy as Frank and Joe³. I’m a bigger fan of the books but watching these again made me miss the old days when plots were less complicated and when primetime tv was so much… “cleaner”. It’s true, they just don’t make shows like they used to. By the way, a Nancy Drew movie (starring Emma Roberts as our beloved strawberry blonde sleuth) is slated to come out next year. I can only hope that she stays true to her character in the original Carolyn Keene novels⁴.
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And my fellow 70s kids, because I think I love you⁵ here’s a little video that I’m sure will put smiles on your faces 😀

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The other DVD set I ordered was The Best of The Electric Company which was really fun to watch then and surprisingly even more fun to watch now! Talk about being ahead of its time. And omigosh who can forget the cool Easy Reader, the bumbling Fargo North: Decoder, the bratty Pandora, and of course the singing group Short Circus. Or how about songs like “Punctuation“, “Silent E“, and the spelling silhouettes (which eventually inspired a TV ad for Nike Shox). Like I told Arn, watching the cast in the classic and oh-so-familiar sketches is just like seeing old friends family members again. It’s true, hearing Rita Moreno holler “Hey you guys!” actually brought a tear to my eye⁶.

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I’m still in denial that my schedule is turning topsy turvy again. Here’s what’s on my plate right now:
• Two album packaging projects⁷
• An identity system⁸ for a soon-to-open restaurant in Greenbelt2.
• And of course, the 5th issue of Wedding Essentials which we’re all very excited about. We’ve started shooting already so take a peek now and then if you like. 😉
Ideally my schedule by now should be blocked off to accommodate WE but (1) the album projects were given by one of our favorite and most suki clients so “no, we’re booked” was not an option; and (2) I wanted to take on the restaurant project because, well, it was challenging and not to mention a good addition to my ever-growing-but-needs-updating portfolio.
So if I don’t get to post the following days, you know where to look.

1. Sigh, it’s a much-delayed reaction but I feel bad knowing that David Banner (Bill Bixby) and Jack Colvin (Mr. McGhee) are both gone. 🙁 [ back]
2. With the exception of one, all my Feliciano-side cousins are 4+ years older and she was the one I tagged along behind most often. I don’t have a sister so she was my very first “ate” figure.[ back]
3. …I know! As in “Da doo run run!” Can someone say “Hit-baaaaaackk-baacck-baaacck”?[ back]
4. I’ve read and have most of the 56 original hardcovers, from “Secret of the Old Clock” to “The Thirteenth Pearl”.[ back]
5. Ah yes, another tv series I have to get my hands on. Someday.[ back]
6. Also because I remembered my brother Toting who I used to watch the show with.[ back]
7. Yes, they’re both tribute albums, surprise surprise — that seems to be the trend nowadays.[ back]
8. Meaning logo and signage design, logo application on business cards and stationery, layouts for the menu, flyers, in-house signs, etc. Fun, yes, but it’s also a lot of work.[ back]