#its like if juan luna was just juan

[xx-justsomeguy-xx]

Why didnt they give the lnd men some surnames in the eng localization…. Do you know how much it fucking bothers me that zayne, a doctor, is just zayne

[filipinfodump]

Kabesang Tales - Isang Rap en Rol Musical

A Filipino Musical that hasn't left my mind since the mid 2010s

Poster for Kabesang Tales posted by Palakat Batangas City via Facebook

Although the Philippines is known for its many talented singers which include many that had crossed over to Broadway such as Lea Salonga, and Rachelle Ann Go, alongside many other Filipino-American talents like Conrad Ricamora, Arielle Jacobs, George Salazar, and Darren Criss just to name a few, the musical scene in the Philippines itself isn't as popular nor as successful in the country as it really should be.

Even with Filipino-majority musicals in states like the controversial Broadway musical "Here Lies Love" which narrates the life story of Imelda Marcos, one of the most controversial figures in Filipino politics and history today, and with Filipino stars often taking in lead or secondary roles in major productions, the musical boom of the 2010s did not come with a boom for the musical industry in the local level compared to the sudden popularity of American musicals like Hamilton, Heathers, Dear Evan Hansen, or Be More Chill to name a few.

The very few musicals that did garner the spotlight did not receive the same notoriety of these foreign productions save for one of the few musical movies to have gotten major media acclaim Loy Arcena's Ang Larawan (2017) (en. The Portrait) based on the 1997 play of the same name by National Artist Nick Joaquin which became a media frenzy as being maybe one of the few if not the only original movie not based on major series or created by a large production company to be released that year for the Metro Manila Film Festival. One of the things that had skyrocketed it to media attention was the fact that most theaters did not screen it and it was only shown in very few cinemas, but that's a story for another time.

Despite the time and devotion Filipino musical fans may have for theatre, rarely do Filipino made and produced musicals ever enter the pop culture zeitgeist due to many factors like the lack of advertising, accessibility issues, and honestly the lack of cast recordings. Out of the many throughout the 2010s, one of the few I was able to watch that I still think about at times is Ricky Lee's very own rap and rock musical Kabesang Tales.

Background

Photo of Ricky Lee, the writer of Kabesang Tales the Musical via Inquirer

Kabesang Tales - Isang Rap en Rol Musical) (en. Captain Tales - A Rap n' Roll Musical) is a rap and rock musical first performed in the year 2015 and was written by renowned Filipino writer and National Artist Ricky Lee. The musical was directed by Alejandro "Bong" Ramos, with music by Jeffrey Hernandez and Alfredo Ongleo, and produced by Red Lantern Production (Inquirer, 2015).

Photo of John Arcilla, the lead actor for Kabesang Tales the Musical via Inquirer

The musical stars John Arcilla as the titular character Telesforo Juan "Kabesang Tales" De Dios, famously known for his breakout role as Hen. Anotnio Luna in the historical film Heneral Luna released the same year as the musical, alongside other talents such as Dio Marco as Karyo, Kevin Posadas as Tano de Dios, Alecx Lorica as Juli De Dios among many other talented actors (Inquirer, 2015).

A cover of one of the book's translations posted by twitter user El Filibusterismo (@/joseriz15155899) via X/Twitter

The play is based on Jose Rizal's El Filibusterismo (en. The Filibuster) and more specifically, the character of Kabesang Tales, the head of his barangay (a sort of Filipino village) and father of Basilio's main love interest Juli, who had turned into a guerilla bandit after his family and life were ruined by the Spanish friars. He becomes the feared Matanglawin (en. Hawkeye) who terrorizes the countryside. He plays a minor but important role in the books, being the father of one of the main secondary characters as well as being one of the main allies of the primary characters as they tried to start a revolution in the country.

The play primarily focuses on his perspective throughout the whole book with some scenes focusing more on the main protagonists Simoun and Basilio as well as his daughter Juli.

Performances and Releases

The musical had limited performances throughout some parts of the CALABARZON Region or Region IV-A, with some select performances in Metro Manila as well as some other provinces like in Mindoro, sometime during the years 2015-2017 with some being done in local cultural centers and schools throughout the region with very limited promotion outside of news stories.

The only promotional material I could really find are some posts on Facebook and a trailer in the Red Lantern Production's YouTube channel which could be seen here:

Trailer uploaded by Red Lantern Production via YouTube

There are no original cast recordings that I could find of any of the songs and the only material that I could find besides this are uploads on YouTube of scattered scenes from different parts of the play:

Full Playlist uploaded by YouTube channel pheejaypi here

I was also able to find a collection of clips of Karyo, a character possibly named after Karyo from Mga Ibong Madaragit which is a continuation novel of the El Filibusterismo written by Amado Hernandez, played by Terrence Guillermo.

Video uploaded by YouTube channel pinoy music maestro here

I remember some time in the 2010s seeing uploads of members of the cast singing in interviews I believe but I could no longer find any of these videos.

As of now, it is unknown if the production will ever come back with the last post on the Facebook page having been in 2021 with a post prior to posted on July 2019 calling for auditions in August 2019, possibly hinting that there was a planned 2020 tour for the musical before the pandemic hit.

Photo of the audition announcement posted on Facebook

The Plot (mostly from memory)

As there's barely any material of the live musical, I'll do my best to recollect what I could remember with the aide of the actual books to guide me. Of course, spoilers for Rizal's books Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo if you haven't read them.

The plot follows the events of El Filibusterismo but mainly from the perspective of the titular character Kabesang Tales. It begins with an extremely happy and optimistic scene with him, his family, and barangay as well as the visit of Basilio, Tales's daughter's lover to their house. I remember that there was an extremely cheesy song here between the two that a lot of people squealed over.

Photo of the mentioned musical number between Basilio and Juli posted by Jayson Pascua

The perspective switches over to Basilio and his visit to his mother's grave where he is shocked to see a man there who is revealed to be the thought to be dead fugitive Crisostomo Ibarra who now goes by Simoun, a jewelry merchant from the United States. The two have a bit of an argument where Simoun tries to convince Basilio to join him and his rebellion and I don't recall exactly if there was a song, but it seems likely.

Perspective switches back to Tales as tragedy strikes as his entire family gets struck with malaria resulting in the death of his wife. I don't remember all the details here or if there was a song, but I remember a sort of depressing atmosphere for the rest of this part.

Photo showing all of the actors playing the De Dios Family posted by Jayson Pascua

The family struggles with money and friars come over to cause even more problems for them. There's a rap battle here between Tales and a friar. Here starts his downward spiral as he struggles to make ends meet as well as handle the friars that had been trying to gain his land. I don't recall if it's shown that he has to pay for a lot of lawyers, but he starts paying more and more for legal fees because of the legal drama with the friars and the government.

My sister tells me that there's a song about how good the friars are before they get properly introduced and I have a hazy memory of three friars wearing varied outfits typically associated with friars posing for the stage as people sing songs of praise and goodwill. My sister tells me that Basilio was in the ensemble here.

His son, Tano, gets drafted to the Guardia Civil (en. Civil Guard) and sent to the Caroline Islands because Tales could not pay money to prevent his draft due to their financial struggles. This is shown as a heart wrenching scene in the play where the rest of the family is left distraught.

He starts guarding his property in fear of bandits possibly taking his fields and taking whatever he has left.

Tales then gets taken by these bandits who demand ransom money for his return. There he meets Karyo, one of its leaders who tells him about the struggles of the working class and why he and the others had resorted to being bandits in the first place (?). I don't actually remember if this is the first they meet or what since I do remember that the two have a philosophical discussion about violence later and that Karyo is definitely a member of the bandits but there are scenes where he acts as the emcee during Tales's rap battle with the friar.

The bandits later lets him go back to his family where he finds that he has no one left.

Juli, in order to help with her family's financial struggles as well as pay for her father's ransom, leaves home and asks for loans and find work.

If I'm not mistaken, his father Tandang Selo goes mute with the grief of the continuous tragedies that had struck the family as well. It's hard for me to remember if this was shown in the musical.

When Tales returns, he finds himself at a loss for what has happened to his family. He is left with his daughter forced to work and his father mute. He is then met with Simoun, who comes to him as a jeweler. Simoun tempts him with some ideas of radicalization against the friars and he refuses at first before spiraling further and joining Karyo and his bandits, becoming the feared Matanglawin.

I genuinely don't remember if his meeting with Simoun was also in the musical or not but it's important context for the story.

The musical then switches perspective to Basilio, who gets implicated with a conspiracy against the government and gets arrested. A heartbroken Juli goes to Padre Camorra, a creepy priest that's been trying to corner her, to beg for his help since she saw no one else that could help her. This leads into a rather intense scene acted in shadows and lights where it is heavily implied that Juli gets assaulted.

After this, Juli sings a song about her assault where she contemplates getting revenge or retaliating but instead chooses to jump off to end her life.

The scene switches back to Tales who, unlike in the books, meet with his son again who has returned to the Philippines. This one, I know had a song in it since I remembered the extreme daddy issues punk rock vibes the scene gave off. He sang about how he no longer respected his father and that it's too late to repair things if I recall as he's now a bandit and he's a member of the Guardia Civil.

Photo of the confrontation between Tales and Tano where Tano sings about his frustration with his father posted by Jayson Pascua

Desolate and distraught at the loss of his family, Tales gets visited by a diwata (a forest spirit/fairy) and this part was extremely out of left field and absolutely not in the books.

Here, the diwata shows Tales visions of the future (???) and directly tells him, without any sort of subtlety, that the working class, and especially farmers like him, will continue to struggle in his country in the future. He is then shown a scene of farmers in a protest who were then taken down by police in what I remember as riot gear. He contemplates the future and is further given resolve to continue his rebellion.

Photo of the mentioned scene where Tales first meets a diwata who will later send him to the future posted by Jayson Pascua

Photo of the mentioned scene where Tales is sent to the future by a diwata to witness farmers being taken down by cops in riot gear posted by Jayson Pascua

Another photo of the mentioned scene where Tales is sent to the future by a diwata to witness farmers being taken down by cops in riot gear posted by Jayson Pascua

I need to cut in and say that this was so on the nose and is by far the weirdest and personally maybe the worst part of the show. I'm not even against the message, it just ruined my immersion and just left a weird taste in my mouth. I think the play was doing a plenty good job driving that point across already without the time travel diwata scene but maybe that's just me.

The scene cuts back to the climax of the story where Basilio, distraught over then death of Juli, finally joins Ibarra as they plant a bomb in a wedding reception that the Governor-General of the Philippines was attending. The scene plays out like it was in the books where the lamp gets tossed out by Isagani and the revolution doesn't start.

It goes back to a scene of Tales and his men trying to fight the Guardia Civil where he is shot and killed in action, by the gun of his own son. Tano realizes what he has done and is horrified. This leads to a song which later leads to a finale that sings about Tales as the cast come together for the curtains to close.

Photo of the mentioned scene where Tales is shot and killed by his son Tano posted by Jayson Pascua

Another photo of the mentioned scene where Tales is shot and killed by his son Tano posted by Jayson Pascua

The musical ends and the cast is called on to the stage one by one, with the loudest applause going to Basilio who a lot of the girls found hot, and of course, the man himself, Kabesang Tales.

Photo of the closing song with Tales being shown front and center posted by Jayson Pascua

After the play and final thoughts

Ricky Lee actually attended the performance I watched and I remember so many people crowding around the actors to get their autographs. My sister bought one of Ricky Lee's book, his script writing guide "Trip to Quiapo" and had it signed but she genuinely can't find it anymore sadly. My sister also got the autograph of some of the actors and the director on that same book so I'm a little miffed that we can't find it.

I would discuss more things and even show off my old ticket but I'm pretty sure that I would end up doxxing myself if I speak any more details.

That's all I remember from it and I would love to say more or even discuss the songs but as you can see, I could barely remember them, with only maybe a solid grasp in about maybe four songs.

It's a shame that it doesn't have as much of an established release and media presence because despite that one glaring issue I had with the weird diwata scene, I quite enjoyed the musical and it remains one of the few that I actually got to experience live.

It isn't Les Miserables or Hamilton, but it's still a musical I'll probably fondly remember especially since El Filibusterismo is one of my favorite books of all time with the character of Kabesang Tales being one of the most interesting — a man of honor and virtue who slowly descends into extremist violence because society had failed him. It's sad to see this musical barely recognized and very little talked about today and I do hope that it will one day return to the stage.

References

Introduction

Palakat Batangas City. (2015, May 29). "The Batangas City Government and Red Lantern Production present Ricky Lee’s KABESANG TALES - Isang Rap en Rol Musical." [image]. Retrieved on 17 February 2024, from https://web.facebook.com/palakat.batangascity/photos/a.1543377512565520/1636600273243243/?type=3&_rdc=1&_rdr

Background

El Filibusterismo (@joseriz15155899). (2019, November 13). "#TheFilibuster Ventura's salvificact made Rizal gave his original manuscript of El Filibusterismo, a pen and an autograph printed copy." [image]. Retrieved on 17 February 2024, from https://twitter.com/joseriz15155899/status/1194459895657041920

Inquirer. (2015, December 12). John Arcilla stars in Ricky Lee ‘rap en rol’ musical ‘Kabesang Tales’. LIFESTYLE.INQ. Retrieved on 17 February 2024, from https://lifestyle.inquirer.net/215824/john-arcilla-stars-in-ricky-lee-rap-en-rol-musical-kabesang-tales/

Inquirer. (2015, August 29). Ricky Lee writes rap, hip-hop libretto for new musical ‘Kabesang Tales’. LIFESTYLE.INQ. Retrieved on 17 February 2024, from https://lifestyle.inquirer.net/204943/ricky-lee-writes-rap-hip-hop-libretto-for-new-musical-kabesang-tales/

Lee, R. (2015, August 29). Ricky Lee: “I have been longing to do a musical, music being a driving passion in my life.” PHOTO FROM RICKY LEE [image]. LIFESTYLE.INQ. Retrieved on 17 February https://lifestyle.inquirer.net/204943/ricky-lee-writes-rap-hip-hop-libretto-for-new-musical-kabesang-tale

Red Lantern Productions. (2015, December 2012). John Arcilla. PHOTO FROM RED LANTERN PRODUCTIONS [image]. LIFESTYLE.INQ. Retrieved on 17 February 2024, from https://lifestyle.inquirer.net/215824/john-arcilla-stars-in-ricky-lee-rap-en-rol-musical-kabesang-tale

Performances and Releases

Kabesang Tales - Isang Rap en Rol Musical. (2019, July 27). Picture of the audition announcement posted on Facebook [image]. Retrieved on 17 February 2024, from https://web.facebook.com/kabesangtalestherockmusicale/photos/a.459803204196123/1309076952602073/

pheejaypi. (2016, October 3). Kabesang Tales: Isang Rap en Rol Musical clip 1 [video]. Retrieved on 17 February 2024, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jftRyZOpxAA&list=PL1Yv-w-s-ETvRYsDWtaMPw2q0QO0q8Nfc

pinoy music maestro. (2021, January 1). Kabesang Tales excerpts feat. John Arcilla and Terence Guillermo [video]. Retrieved on 17 February 2024, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlOkDi8_D_A

Red Lantern Production. (2015, August 15). Kabesang Tales Trailer [video]. Retrieved on 17 February 2024, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CKKJsuBiuc

Plot

Pascua, J. (2015, October 11). Various photos [images]. Retrieved on 17 February 2024, from https://estranghero.weebly.com/photo-blog/john-arcilla-on-ricky-lees-kabesang-tales-isang-rap-en-roll-musical

[maro0on]

just watched a live musical for the first time ever just yesterday and like.... ive never felt so emotional that day fr i cried MULTIPLE TIMES through that whole show its crazy

i watched heneral juan luna: isang sarsuela btw

[radicalrascals]

Open: our muses hide from an evil supernatural force or monster in a motel in the middle of nowhere - only problem: Miguel is a hunter who hates the supernatural, Martín is secretly a nahual who's not the biggest fan of hunters Looking for: other hunters or other supernaturals, nice ones or evil | happy for a 2 on 2 Muse: Juan Martín, doctor | fc: Gael García Bernal & Miguel Guerrero, hunter | fc: Diego Luna

Martín pressed the rag carefully against the wound of his patient, his fingers surprisingly gentle despite the grimace on his face. "Hold still. I'm sorry I know it hurts." The room was heavy with the stench of damp rot, peeling wallpaper curling like dead skin from the walls. He cursed under his breath, pressing harder on the gash.

Outside, the motel windows rattled faintly, as if the darkness itself was pressing against the thin glass. Something was out there, lurking. An unnatural force that bent the very air around it, shifting the shadows into shapes that weren’t quite human. Martín could feel it watching, waiting. And yet, Miguel stood there, calm, his back to the room, the barrel of his gun reflecting the flickering light as he scanned the landscape. The wind howled, but beneath it, there was something else; a low, guttural sound, like a creature too large to be real, stalking just beyond the reach of the dim motel lights.

"I promise I get all of us out of here alive." Miguel's voice was steady, righteous, but Martín’s blood boiled at the thought. Always protecting the humans, he thought bitterly, only the humans. He cast a quick glance toward the window where the thing outside seemed to coil and uncoil in the darkness, a shifting nightmare waiting to strike. Martín could feel its pull, a reminder of his own secret nature, knowing that if the truth ever came out, the real monster to fear wouldn’t be the one outside.

[artemiseamoon]

My world and yours

David Barron x Ofc (Geneviève Amaris Boyea) | words: 2213

Warnings: show canon warnings, drug world, mentions of violence and death, as usual my narcos disclaimer applies. You know it, I’ve said it a hundred times.

💫 arte releases a draft from the void💫 | gif credit to owners 💫

Any expansion to this will adhere to my new policy and post in full only to A03. Now that I’ve come across this again, I think I def want to add more. I’ll have time in January so if interested in more, stay tuned! Once it’s up, subscribe to the one shot on A03. 💕

This isn’t his kind of place, in fact, David’s only seen places like this from afar or the outside. Sometimes Benjamins meetings with his fancy friends didn’t happen in the light of day, or in sun filled restaurants, sometimes, though less frequently, they happened at night.

Luna Lounge has been here for decades, Juan Escarra, one of Benjamin's important friends, purchased the place two years ago and turned it into his own private lounge. He filled the seat with important people and movie stars and gave VIP treatment to those who he benefits from impressing.

Some nights, Juan closed the place down for special meetings, on other nights, he met them in the private back room, an extension of the lounge free from the general crowd's eyes and ears. It even has its own driveway, parking lot and entrance.

The soundproof two-way mirror on the stage reflected back only the performers and crowds faces on one side, on the private side, they could see everything without being seen themselves.

It’s in this very room David stands, on the outer edges, closer to the private bar to the far left. He’s keeping an eagle eye view on everything.

Just ahead, in the center of the room, Juan Escarra and Benjamin are having a conversation. Also at the bar is Juan’s personal security guy, Ricardo. When Juan signals the bar for another round of drinks, the bartender gets to it and Juan presses a button on the side of the table. Suddenly, the sounds of the other side of the mirror fill the room, dominating the soft music that was playing.

The crowd's clapping fades as the performers leave the stage. David is just about to look away when the next performer approaches. David’s already still posture remains so as his eyes follow her on the stage.

The beautiful sultry woman stands behind the mic, her back to them now. Across the way, Juan picks up a remote and the large tv comes on, revealing a clear shot of the stage. David was instantly captivated by her profile alone, seeing her fully on the screen only deepens his interest.

“Easy on the eyes right,” Ricardo leans over to him and whispers.

David doesn’t respond, his eyes remain fixed on the screen for less than a second. He then shifts his focus back to the scene before him. Benjamin and Juan are enjoying their drinks and watching the screen.

The meeting is winding down and will soon be over. David straightens up, no longer leaning against the counter and slides his hands into his pockets. He waits for Benjamin's signal.

...

“Hey man,”

David turns his head slightly to look at Ricardo.

“Advice don’t try it. That’s Boyea’s daughter.”

David takes in the information, and only responds with a slight head nod.

Because he’s the muscle, certain people tend to underestimate him. Sum him up to some dumb, violent gang banger. But he notices everything, he pays attention. He knows who the rich important people are, even if others assume he doesn't.

David doesn’t correct them when they do this, even though it pisses him off. It’s better to let them think that way. He knows exactly who Angelo Deon Boyea is. Most who hear his name don’t know his face, he’s a private man, and an important one.

Coming from Afro-Mexican and Caribbean roots, Angelo spent time living all over the world and studied both here in Mexico and the US. He’s a money man, numbers and though his face isn’t front and center, he’s a powerful hand behind many people. He has banks all over the world and is an important man to make friends with, which Juan did wisely. So did Benjamin.

David never saw Angelo Boyea in person, not yet at least. And from what he knows, Benjamin only met him once which seemed to be a common thing, if you work with him, you deal with his people who get back to him. And if you’re in, you get one meeting,

If you get close, if the Boyea family takes you in, he’s no longer a ghost or apparition. In this case, his phantom appearance is replaced by lavish parties, big dinners, and trips. Aside from the banks, Boyea has his hands in politics, naturally. This is where the connection to Juan and the Arellano-Félix deepens.

Angelo has two children that David knows of a son named Deon Javel Boyea, he’s wrapped up in sports and owns a team, secretly of course. The front face for the team is just some stand in for media purposes. Then, there’s his daughter, Geneviève Amaris Boyea.

Not much is known about her, unlike many children of important people, she lives her life quietly, has never been part of a scandal (as far as he and the public know) and is never seen in the popular clubs. Many bigwigs' adult children paired at Christine, and the family's establishments. Not Geneviève.

Like her father, she studied here, in France and the US. She knows four languages and has a love for singing. A year back she won a beauty contest and seems to just focus on performing. She’s made a few appearances in Telenovelas.

Barron gets the signal from Benjamin and halts his thoughts. Goodbyes are exchanged and they soon head toward the door. Just as they reach it Juan calls out to Benjamin.

“There’s a party next weekend.” He approaches them, “Boyea is impressed with you, your family. You’ve been invited.”

Party weekend

The sounds of the party seep into the bathroom, even with the door closed. As he washes his hands at the sink, David catches a glimpse of himself.

He’s not used to seeing himself dressed like this. But the party has a dress code. He also feels naked without his piece. There’s a strong no weapons rule for the party, and though this makes him uncomfortable, he had to respect it.

Security is through the roof at this place, and this party is in a mansion on an island in the middle of nowhere, even the boat they took to get here was crazy. It took some getting used to the world of the Arellano-Félix family. Riches, sprawling properties, only the best and most expensive of everything; this is that time 10.

His scrappy beginnings in the hood and rise up in the gang is a completely different world from all of this. Drying his hands, he looks himself over once more. It’s a nice ass suit, perfectly tailored.

In the back of his mind, he revisits what Benjamin told him, to keep an eye on things but relax, to have some fun. To be honest, he didn’t really know what to do with himself here, but he wasn’t alone. It was easy to spot, even in nice clothes, other people's security guards. All without weapons and trying to blend in.

Leaving the bathroom, David swings by the main room and watches for a while. Benjamin is off to the side, having a conversation with Angelo. David watches for a while, and everything seems fine. He decides to keep moving, and heads to the wrap around balcony.

With the floor to ceiling windows, he can still watch everything inside. The breeze from the ocean cools his skin. As he walks, his eyes shift from the landscape to the scene inside. When a group of people spill out onto the balcony, he decides to head to the ground level, and put some distance between himself and the crowd.

On the ground level, he heads into the banquet room and makes a plate of food. He declines the help of the servers and makes his plate himself. After having what he wants, he steps out and into the dining room. It’s empty, all the other party goers are either on the beach, or on the upper two floors.

David is only in there for a few minutes when someone else enters. David looks up and locks eyes with Geneviève. She must have entered from the other side, there are two routes to the banquet room.

In the back of his mind, he was wondering if she was here, he spotted her brother about a half hour ago, lounging on the couch with some models.

When she re-emerges, she has a plate of food and drink in her hands. When she sits at the table to his left, he tries not to look at her, but can’t help himself and steals a glance.

He’s quick, but she’s quicker and catches him.

“Hi.” She smiles.

David greets her back, then focuses on his plate. He takes a bite of food and from the corner of his eye, he steals another glance of her.

The two eat in silence for a while. A few moments later, Geneviève rests her chin in her palm and looks at him. David swallows his food and meets her eyes.

His gaze follows her hand as she tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. Delicate slim fingers with expensive rings on her middle finger and thumb. Nails painted the same shade of dark blue as her dress.

“Nice suit.”

“Thanks.” A small grin curves at the corner of his lips.

He accepts the compliment and tells himself to look away, but he can't. He's spelled by her deep velvety brown eyes and her long dark lashes.

She raises the drink in her hand to her lips, letting it linger there but not drinking.

Geneviève noticed him earlier. Handsome and pretty faces filled the room, but him- there’s something about him that’s captured her attention. She could tell this kind of setting isn’t his norm. Even in the clothes, he seems different from everyone else.

He’s also the finest man here, and something about his eyes pulls her to him. They’re deep, mysterious and shielded at the same time. Since first spotting him, she's been spinning up tales about who he could be. All she knows about him is he’s with Benjamin, and from the vibe he gives off, likely Benjamin's personal security.

When the prolonged eye contact becomes too much, and she feels heat rising under her skin and warming her cheeks, Geneviève looks away first and takes a drink. His eyes fix on her lips.

He knows he shouldn’t think about it, but his mind goes there anyway. He wonders if she’s as soft as she looks and what her lips taste like. He wonders if she’s quiet or loud when getting fucked and what his name would sound like on her lips -

His head turns to the door just before it opens, in comes a group of five, laughing and talking over each other. He sits up and eats the last bites of his food. He needs to get out of this room, and away from her. It doesn’t help that she smells so good, and it's the only scent he’s focused on, the food before him has long faded into the background of his mind.

As he takes a drink of water, he notices one of the men in the group. He’s seen his face before. The same man makes a b-line for Geneviève and grabs her face, planting a big kiss on her cheek before she could pull back.

“There she is, I’ve been looking for you.” he leans too hard against one of the chairs and it almost toppled over. He catches it.

“I needed some food.” She looks up at him, then secretly glances at David.

“How beautiful is she,” the tall man cups her face and looks back at the group.

“You’re drunk Mateo,” she grabs his forearm as he kisses her cheek again.

“I’m going to marry this one, watch.” He stands up and sighs, his eyes still fixed on her.

David walks away and discards his empty cup and plate. He can feel eyes on his back but goes about his business. Not rushing, not taking his time either.

Behind him the group speak among themselves, he hears everyone's voice but hers. Then it hits him,

Mateo Alverez. Mateo is heir to a fortune, his family made a name for themselves in handbags or some shit, half the people in this party are likely wearing something, a watch, a bag, a top, from the family's fashion empire. This isn’t an area David knows a lot about, or cares about, but he’s seen his face around and the tall brunette at the table, his sister, has been in commercials.

On his way out, David passes the table once more. The group is so wrapped up in themselves they barely give him a glance, except Geneviève. She has a person at either side, Mateo to her left, his eyes hungrily drink her up, and some unknown woman to her right, chipping away about something. Geneviève nods, pretending to listen.

David breaks eye contact and leaves the room. When the door closes behind him, he feels a sense of relief. There are a dozen reasons he should stay away from her and hopes they don’t cross paths again because resisting his urges has never been his strong point.

David takes a stroll around the balcony, then heads back to the second floor to check on Benjamin.

More in January 2023!

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[gosagacious]

I love this kind of exploration of themes! I’ve noticed the Captive Mermaid theme - good name - but I think it’s been around for as long as the ideas of zoos and freak shows and human subject research. There's the whole Feejee mermaid concept (hello P.T. Barnum) which gives the concept of a stuffed mermaid on display. That’s been in the public imagination for a long time now. And since 1947 there have been women performing as mermaids at Weeki Wachee Springs, which is not the same thing, but still - the idea of going and paying to see a mermaid...

And there are folktales! There are so many stories of people capturing fairies and mermaids and selkies. But this modern Captive Mermaid is something slightly different and pretty specific, involving a theme of display or study. I tried to think of some examples matching that.

There's an Italian folktale, "Cola Pesce," centered on a fish-man. In almost every version, a king demands that he be brought to him to perform tricks and wonderful feats of diving, but this always leads one way or another to the fish-man's death. This goes back pretty far; there’s a 12th-century version where the man is named "Nicholas Pipe.”

The Dutch story of the Mermaid of Edam, which was written down in 1470, features a mermaid who is captured and taken to live among human beings. She was taught to spin and kept in a house where she was carefully guarded, and people came from all over to see her. I think in early stories she looked pretty much like a human, but later versions described her with a fish tail; one newspaper account had it that “She would have her tail in the water, and accordingly had a tub of water under her chair made on purpose for her.” The Spanish story of the fish-man of Lierganes, placed around 1650, is really similar although I don’t think it’s been as romanticized. (There’s a running theory in both cases that these stories might have been inspired by real human people who were found swimming.)

In Juan de Luna's 1620 book The Second Part of Lazarillo de Tormes, the main character is a normal man but is captured and forced to dress up like a merman and perform in a tank.

A Manx newspaper from 1810 describes a man discovering two wounded “merchildren” on the beach after a storm. He was able to save one and nurse it back to health, at which point it was:

conveyed to Douglas, where it  still remains, and seems likely to do well. It is one foot eleven inches and  three quarters in length, from the crown of its head to the extremity of its  tail ; five inches across the shoulders ; its skin is of a very pale brown colour,  and the scales on its tail are tinged with violet ; the hair,  if it may be so called, on its head, is of a light green cast, it is attached  to the crown of the head, only hanging loose about the face, about four inches  in length, very gelatinous to the touch, and somewhat resembling the green seaweed  commonly growing on rocks; its mouth is small, and has no appearance of teeth.  It delights much in swimming about in a large tub of sea-water, and feeds chiefly  on muscles and other shellfish, which it devours with avidity: it also now and  then swallows small portions of milk and water, when given to it in a quill.

The collector noting this down comments that “It is regrettable that the merchild should not have delayed its appearance until  the institution of a Manx museum.” Tongue-in-cheek but still feels notable. (A Manx Scrapbook, W. Walter Gill, 1929)

The trope is also in “The Asrai,” a story in Ruth Tongue’s Forgotten Folk-Tales of the English Counties (1970, pg. 24): a man captures a water-sprite-like creature and thinks "He would take her to the great lord's castle and he could keep her in the fountains there and show her off to his noble guests.” I have to say Tongue’s an infamously untrustworthy source and I think she was indulging in a little bit of “i’m just going to make up my own stories and claim i heard them as folklore.” But the trope is there.

That’s stuff I can recall and have noted down, and I feel like there’s probably more out there. If people believed in mermaids, then there is naturally the idea that someone could catch a mermaid and bring it back. And they would have known of such things happening with wild animals, or seen unusual people and sights being shown off, so why not mermaids? And now we have aquariums, which it’s even more natural to imagine a mermaid in. One big change that I do think is modern is how the captive mermaid is typically viewed with sympathy - way more sympathy than there would be in older folktales.

The Captive Mermaid is one of those very specific cultural images which I think has only been around for the past forty years or so, but it’s basically everywhere at this point. A mermaid has been captured and is on display in a fish tank or an aquarium or in some kind of government research site.

Splash, 1984

Siren, 2018

May: The Mermaid of Lily Lake by Andy Ivanov

“Deep Trouble,” Goosebumps Terror Trips, 2007

This is also everywhere in fanfiction and fanart. You can’t swing a stick without hitting a mermaid AU featuring The Captive Mermaid.

And I can’t stop thinking about The Captive Mermaid, because it’s such a huge and recognizable image, and as far as I can tell, nobody’s recognized it as a. Thing. A theme. A trope. If you look up “mermaid aquarium art,” you’ll get hundreds and hundreds of extremely talented and beautiful pieces of art by artists online, but nobody I’ve seen has stopped to say “Oh hey this is a recurring image in western art and media, I wonder why that is.”

[calliopesink]

Long-vacant Hours? Here are Places Where You Can Spend it

Having long vacant hours is normal for college students, students can use that time to study but when you are in college, it’s inevitable for them to spend these vacant hours with friends. If you are looking for places to hang out and spend time with your friends, here are a few places:

Ermita

In front of the university, is the Luneta Park and Rizal Park. If it’s not too hot, these Parks are perfect to walk around and spend your free time. You can see the famous Monument of Rizal, which commemorates the Hero’s death and his contributions to the Philippine Independence from the Spanish Colonization.

Surrounding Rizal And Luneta parks are the National Museums, these are entertaining yet informative places you can go to with your friends, and most of these museums are air-conditioned so you can beat the summer heat inside. Fortunately, there are a lot of free-entrance museums near Adamson University. Here’s the list of the museums you can visit:

- National Museum of Fine Arts - if you want to visit and look at the fine art collections of famous Filipino artists such as Juan Luna, Simón Flores y de la Rosa, Carlos V. Francisco, and many more influential Filipino artists. The museum is embellished with beautiful artworks like paintings, sculptures, and drawings that have significant contributions, not just from the local art scene but also the influence of Philippine society through the years.

- National Museum of Anthropology - if you want to learn about the significant past of the Philippines, you’ll be able to see crafted clothes and accessories during the pre-colonial civilizations from the different regions, weapons used by the pre-colonial Filipinos, and other pre-colonial ethnological remains of what the Philippines has.

- National Museum of Natural History - if you are interested in the biodiversity of the Philippines, you can see the different kinds of species endemic to the islands, the beautiful plants and trees, you can also see the world-famous largest saltwater crocodile in captivity ‘Lolong’, located on the fifth floor of the museum.

- National Planetarium - if you are fascinated with the cosmos and its phenomena, the National Planetarium is a go-to place to explore and know more about the expanding study of the universe and the solar system. The planetarium covers cosmic events from the Big Bang to the formation of the Earth, it also exhibits the Philippines at night, the significance of the stars, and other celestial bodies in hunting, farming, and sea navigation.

Intramuros

Adamson University is also located near the stone-walled Spanish city, Intramuros which gates numerous Spanish buildings, churches, monuments, and other universities scattered around the area.

It is sure to be a long walk when wandering around the streets and parks of Intramuros but you will surely not feel hungry while wandering around the Intramuros because of their pure filipino-style restaurants, cafes, carinderias, and stores that can cater to all of Intramuros visitors.

I would suggest heading to the cafe of Manila Bulletin inside Intramuros which is Paper + Cup that offers a range of coffee blends and a few selections of pastries to accompany you.

If you want to keep souvenirs as chachkies, stores are selling Intramuros momentos all around the hotspots.

Binondo

If you still have time left for your break before your next class, The Oldest Chinatown welcomes you to the Binondo Church. After visiting the church, just walk over and smell their traditional authentic Chinese dishes and street foods along the area and streets of Binondo Street.

Binondo is popular for its food crawl videos online and it deserves its limelight in social media. Chinese restaurants that offer authentic Chinese foods are all over the place. Honorable mentions are the following:

- Sincerity Restaurant - their specialty is their Chinese-style fried chicken and they are famous for it.

- Eng Bee Tin - famous for its hopia and they have a restaurant on the second floor.

- Chuan Kee - one of the oldest Chinese restaurants in Binondo.

You can only be young once, spend your time doing, exploring, and eating things that are unfamiliar and new to you. Use your time to make memories that could be worth telling to your children – that you had your fair share of fun during your college days.

Written by: Neil Carolino

Pubmat by: Cathleen Jasmine Marfil

[csarts]

Arts 1 - Y3 Finals - Raf

The questions that I was able to create using from the resurfacing of the “Hymen oh, Hymenee” by Juan Luna are as follows: 

Does the context behind a painting add more to its value?

What is the importance of rich families and businesses in the art industry?

Is there reason to keep the painting privately instead of giving it for public viewing?

The reasoning for the first question is the history of the painting and how it was able to effect the reputation of the painting itself. It begs to question if the context makes a painting a lot more valuable. Just like how “Mi Ultimo Adios” is one of Rizal’s most popular written piece given the context of when it was written. A part of its popularity stems from the fact that it was written before his death. It is quite possible that the same effect happened with Juna Luna’s last painting which was lost after his death and was eventually found. Now it is halied as the holy grail of Filipino art possibly because of the context not just the technical skill, message, and quality of the painting.

For the second question, the reason the painting was brought to the attention of the public in the first place is because of Jaime Ponce de Leon. He is the founder of the Philippine base auction house named Leon Gallery. De Leon was able to acquire the painting and transferred it to the Philippines. A few years later it was displayed for public viewing which was eventually loaned by the Ayala Museum. Without Jaime Ponce de Leon, it is possible that the painting touted as the “holy grail of Filipino art” will not even be known to the public and be hidden forever. It is true that museums and art businesses owned by rich organizations exploit artist but it is impossible to deny the fact that it gives recognition to the art displayed. These commercialized museums that are available to the public allow a painting to be seen and discovered.

For the last question, the painting of Juan Luna was bought by a Spanish aristocratic family which was then passed down to its lineage. After being lost, the painting was found with the aristocratic family around the 1920s. Around 1970s a Philippine collector Eleuterio Pascual tried to purchase the painting but was denied by the family. Eventually, the family agreed to sell the painting and it immediately became a big hit after being displayed to the public. It becomes interesting since the painting suddenly had a lot of value when it was publicly displayed compared to when it was kept in Europe. It now begs the question why would a family keep the art for themselves instead of sharing it with the public?

[mimirpipart]

Finals: Three Questions on the Resurfacing of Juan Luna's Long Lost Painting, "Hymen oh, Hyménée"

Enlightening myself about the history of Juan Luna's sentimental painting, "Hymen oh Hyménée," has been tumultuous learning, from its production during the artist's honeymoon, winning bronze in the 1889 Paris Exposition Universelle, to the killing of his wife and mother-in-law due to a fit of jealousy, towards the rediscovery of another masterpiece that reminded Filipinos that we are and should be treated as equal in front of the world, especially in front of the western world, and how this piece tackles yet another or rather many questions about the equality of the whole not just being Filipino but acknowledging questions about oligarchy and its hands on the production and distribution of the arts.

As joyous as the nation about the artwork's reveal, I have felt disconnected- disconnected because knowing its early discovery and now with the super-rich, being lent to the Ayala Museum as a loan. I cannot stretch the fact that this new blog feels like the continuation of my previous blog, an issue that the media almost blatantly ignore the schemes of the super-rich.

Therefore, I ask these questions to help us ponder. And to think critically with context on ethics of the art patronages of the wealthy and art patronizing in general. 

Why wasn't the piece shown in 2014, when discovered?

According to Kasilag (2023), the piece was already discovered by Ponce in 2014, so why not then? What was the wait for a few more years before releasing it?

Was it testing the waters to see if this, if released on a specific date, such as on the date of our independence day from our Spanish colonizers, would garner more attention, thus improving the already thirsty market to skyrocket the original price Jaime Ponce de Leon paid for it? 

No doubt it's an ingenious strategy because of the state of the painting, and its painter, who is a historical figure and prominent in the propagandist movement. Media and the social world would be roused, such as us talking about it and writing it on blogs. We already see news articles poured out in the coming weeks of its reveal! And because of its historical background big named galleries would want a taste of the wedding. 

Why didn't Jaime Ponce de Leon donate it to the National Museum of the Philippines?

The question might be a personal one for the owner. But for a piece of Filipino history, one must ask. It feels as though this celebration of rediscovering history is a mockery, a facade for more marketing. Why was it loaned to Ayala Museum? 

Was it because the painting acquired from a foreign unnamed aristocratic family was just too much money? Thus it was loaned to the gallery acting as collateral. Or so that this lending scheme was to fund another chance to secure another art exhibition, so collectors and partnered private galleries would keep piling valuable works of art into their vaults or freeports? Letting the super-rich exceed their titles. 

Many more factors come into play that can rouse the critical mind into guessing, such as forms of tax avoidance, wherein art has been used to deduce taxable incomes. 

As much as we want to celebrate Filipino art and its history, its distribution to the world, and its prideful production, a Filipino once painted this painting amongst the land of their colonizers. I cannot stress the darker side of our arts, the institutional, the neoliberal mongering, and the inequality this brings to the people. Art that was supposed to mean everything to another was gatekept by the richest. 

The modern art world is a smokescreen for capitalist agendas and money-making schemes of the elite one percent. Now I cannot stop but attribute the boda romana to the commemoration of the partnership of Jaime Ponce de Leon with the Ayalas.

 What art is relevant today?

This a dreading question for a creative who wishes to create their innermost thoughts but is drowned in a culture of finance and hegemony. 

I ask this question not because of sheer curiosity about what's in trend, but to ponder why is this silent discourse not being put into the limelight. As I've thought of this question with the previous questions in mind, I couldn't help but be nauseated because relevancy is a firm driving factor for the mega-rich to decide which piece is next to be showcased. And it leaves me thinking of how much more hidden art is stored just because it wasn't the "right time."

I cannot help but think of how many artists and creatives will ask questions such as: which great artist is so prevalent that we should feature in Vogue? What content would get us a lot of clicks? Should we adapt this dominating nuance to be considered relevant? Is this indigenous cultural art selling? Oh, it's the disappointing truth that these are hypothetical questions probable in the current status of the art world.

Yes, art is a commercial product, but doesn't it also deserve recognition as part of our culture and identity? 

Retrieved from: https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2023/06/11/2273024/juan-lunas-long-lost-masterpiece-unveiled-ayala-museum-multimedia-show. Headline by Lisa Guerrero Nakpil. Juan Luna’s long-lost masterpiece, ‘Hymen, oh Hyménée! (Roman Wedding)’

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Indeed it's a celebration of history. Also, it's a wedding for the rich.

To conclude, these questions reveal the sad truth that art is increasingly becoming merely for financial capital rather than social or cultural. May these questions be reflected on the status of our local artworks and their future. As a personal question for fellow scholars, critics, and creatives, who are you in this circulation of arts- are you the commodity or the Bayani?

Reference:

Kasilag, G. P. (2023, June 12). Finding Luna: Hymen, oh Hyménée comes home. Business World. https://www.bworldonline.com/arts-and-leisure/2023/06/12/528032/finding-luna-hymen-oh-hymenee-comes-home/

[omnidemidisaster]

Roy general and relationship headcanons

Cw: Mentions of sexual abuse, attachment issues, ptsd, and trauma

General Headcanons

□ Roy is questioning his romantic identity, he only knows he loves both genders and doesn't mind his partners gender. He thinks he might be omnisexual so thats the label he uses

■ Roy also is ftm and goes by he/him

□ Roy is very attached to Ross and Robert, him only feeling comfortable around them

■ Despite bullying Skid and Pump, he doesn't hate them. If anything, he likes them alot. He'll bully them but if someone decided to hurt them, he is about to throw hands

□ He secretly has a love for Japanese music ( Like babymetal, band maid, vocaloid music, reol, ect )

■ Time for the angst yaaay-

□ Roy has a fear of older men ever since the thing with his uncle

■ Like he has to have Ross and/or Robert by his side before he even thinks about willingly being nearby an older guy

□ He hates physical contact unless it's the hatzgang, skid and pump, or his mom

■ Speaking of his mom, his mom is pretty absent

□ She doesn't abuse him nor make him feel unsafe, but she's just absent all the time cause she's at work

■ But when she isn't working, she's actually a decently good mom

□ But he does wish his mom was more involved in his life, but he loves his mom and would rather have his mom the way she is then others

■ Juane and Radford try to care for Roy as their own whenever he's over by either of their houses

□ He's actually a really good artist and expresses his feelings and interests through art

■ Ross and Robert keep every little drawing and painting that Roy gives them

□ Roy really only cries when he's really really emotional

■ For example, Robert gifted him a chest binder once Roy came out to him and Ross. Roy saw the binder and began to start crying

□ ( I might actually make this bit a short fic )

■ Roy met Ross and Robert pre trans and when his name was "Luna"

□ When Roy came out, you bet your ass Ross and Robert backed him up and supported the shit out of him

■ Roy has a giant cow plushie ( Think of Sayori's giant cow plush ) and its one of his favorite things on earth

□ Roy is extremely snuggly and will cuddle up with Ross and Robert

■ He loves dancing and will encourage to dance with Ross and Robert for fun

□ Roy has sensory issues with sounds and keeps a pair of headphones to play music

■ His music playlist is full of female artists, he just finds women voices calming

□ He has pretty neat handwriting and he's shy about it

■ To be honest, he's shy to everyone who isn't someone he's familiar with

□ He loves my little pony comics and keeps a stack underneath his bed

■ As a kid, Roy usually kissed his friends on the cheek. He saw his mom do it to her friends as a greeting and as a goodbye thing, so he did the same

□ He doesn't do that all the time anymore, but he does kiss Ross and Robert on the cheek platonically

■ The two boys don't mind it, they like it actually. Its just how they express their love and care for each other

Dating Headcanons

○ Roy loves it when you tangle your fingers in his hair

● He knows his hair is super soft so go ahead

○ He isn't as mean to you, still mean but your special <3

● Roy will be little spoon thank you very much

○ Roy only trusts Ross and Robert around you

● He is already weary and protective over himself, so now you have a protective boyfriend

○ He understands it when you say "girl issues" and he offers to help you with something

● Roy likes putting his hat on you

○ If you give him your hoodie/shirt/sweater ect, he will treat that thing like treasure

● Like he cuddles with it at night. It just smells like you and it calms him down

○ Roy likes to casually make flirty comments, usually the kind where he says it and you have to take a second to process what he just said

● He likes to tell you stories and vice versa. If you like to talk about whatever for hours, he will listen

○ He likes listening to you talk

● He stands up for you whenever you're being bullied

○ His love language is gift giving and will give you his artwork

● He gers a little flustered when you give him something in return

○ He adores everything about you

● He might be a bully, but he can't help but swoon over someone like you

○ Kisses from boy are always on your cheek and lips

● During the winter, he loves holding your hand to warm you up

○ He loves it when you compliment him, especially if its masculine compliments. It makes him feel valid and happy

● Dw, you will of course get compliments too

○ He likes doing makeup on you, he thinks you look pretty

● Not saying he finds you ugly without makeup, but he definitely loves it when you wear a little bit of makeup, even if its just lipstick or eyeliner

○ Makeup or not, he loves you

● He has a thing where he gently nips your arm, usually during sleepovers and when the two of you are sleeping together

○ Like you'll be sleeping soundly, arms around Roy. And suddenly he softly bites your arms. He's unconscious so he doesn't understand he is doing this.

● He doesn't bite hard, just soft nips on your arm. He always feels bad when he finds your arms covered in light bite marks and will apologize profusely

[thatscarletflycatcher]

What are your favorite books in Spanish?

hi! and sorry that this question has been sitting in my inbox, but that's mostly because I'm ashamed to confess I haven't read Literature in Spanish extensively outside of school. School can do that to you.

Most of the stuff I liked there was poetry; I read Quevedo and Rubén Darío and Martí (if you want a Martí recommendation, Ismaelillo, a book of poems dedicated to his son is quite endearing) and García Lorca, and Bécquer and Neruda and Quevedo and Lope de Vega... you get the gist.

I always particularly hated Neruda. And García Márquez. A lot.

Horacio Quiroga being a national author is someone I read a lot and liked his stuff; the Cuentos de la Selva are very sweet and I like them a lot as stories for children. After reading stories by Edgar Allan Poe this year for a book club (Quiroga is called the Modernist Edgar Allan Poe often in Spanish speaking literary circles), my appreciation for his horror stuff grew, specially his ability to create mood and set up stories in just a few lines. Like how, for example, El Almohadón de Plumas makes set up and mood in two lines:

Su luna de miel fue un largo escalofrío. Rubia, angelical y tímida, el carácter duro de su marido heló sus soñadas niñerías de novia.

Boom! That's what I call economy!

I also read a lot of minor national writers like Serafín J. García (Juan el Zorro) and Juan José Morosoli. Morosoli in particular has a story that fascinates me in its simplicity and hidden meaning, that I do recommend a lot: El Viaje Hacia el Mar. There's even a movie for it!

There are some books I have never fully finished, but they are so important and classic I do always recommend them:

Don Quijote de la Mancha, which I suspect most English speakers do think of as "so Cervantes is the Spanish Shakespeare, ergo, Don Quixote is like reading Shakespeare", but that's mostly true on the humorous side. This novel is mainly affectionate parody of chivalry novels, and some of the scenes are hilarious. It's like the Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey of chivalry novels.

El Gaucho Martín Fierro, because that epic is so classic terms coined in it became part of the slang of Rioplatense Spanish, and also, stuff like this:

"Los hermanos sean unidos porque esa es la ley primera. Tengan unión verdadera en cualquier tiempo que sea, porque si entre ellos se pelean, los devoran los de afuera"

El Poema del Cid. I don't think this one needs an explanation.

El Conde Lucanor. This one is less well known, but it is a collection of tales, where the count asks a question, and his adviser Patronio tells him a tale to present his advice. It's just that flavor of Spanish medieval literature.

Speaking of which, for the Catholics I do recommend Gonzalo de Berceo's Loores de Nuestra Señora, which is... basically that, tales of miracles and praise to the Virgin Mary.

Also, for the Catholics, and English speaking Catholics that are proficient in Spanish, I beg you to read St Teresa the Great, anything by her, because she was amazing and grounded and had such a zest and humor, and pretty much every English translation I have picked up turns it down a lot. Like, there's this one in the public domain that is not only horrifically Jesuitical, but it also turns the delightful "entre los pucheros anda el Señor" (the Lord ambles between the stews") into "the Lord goes with you in your duties, even to the kitchen", and considering how little known her absolute spot on description of life as "una mala noche en una mala posada" ("a bad night at a bad b&b") is, I fear it might have suffered a similar fate. But I think the matter of translating St Teresa should go into another post XD

So... what else? There must be more stuff, literature wise, but I'm blanking now.

When it comes to philosophy I also haven't read that much. I did read and found SUPER interesting Ortega y Gasset's Ideas y Creencias, in the way it highlights the closeness between scientific discovery and fantastic imagination. It was an eye opener.

Something I read last year, which is a classic of Uruguayan essay, is José Enrique Rodó's Ariel. It's an address to the youth of the Americas and I think it is very representative of the spirit of its time, some things are applicable today more than they were back in the day.

But the philosopher I have read the most in Spanish is Carlos Vaz Ferreira. Vaz Ferreira is a peculiar guy, because while most of his stuff isn't like, NEW or GROUNDBREAKING, his approach to philosophy in analytical ways that recognize the limitations of human thinking without despair is VERY refreshing, specially in terms of what is the late 1800s and early 1900s.

And this is all my brain is willing to provide today. I'm sorry I couldn't be more specific and varied in my response :(

[nichehouse]

Building Art in the craft of Architecture

Architecture

Google gives an oversimplification of architecture as the practice of designing and constructing buildings. While this holds true, most people will agree that there is more to architecture than just the design of houses, condominiums, malls, or buildings in general. Architecture is among the many points of intersection where the intricate world of arts and sciences meet. It uses creativity and imagination to form designs which are visually pleasing to the users and audience. At the same time, it also uses established formula and principles to ensure that these buildings will still be functional despite them being pleasant to look at.

An intricate piece architecture found in Portofino Alabang | photo from Brittany Corporation

A harmony between people and their environment can also be a fitting definition for architecture. It is a product of how a person sees themself as a fit to those surrounding them, either culturally, economically, or even spiritually. It is a source of support for the activities that they engage with in their everyday lives. It is a part of life - an aspect that has stuck to lives and influenced routines without people noticing.

Architecture is not just for architects. It is for those who want to improve landscapes and spaces. It is for those who want to practice self-expression through giving a touch of themselves in places. Consequently, it reflects the decisions and preferences of humanity. It is a black canvas that is painted by those who give it meaning.

As the great Roman architect Marcus Vitruvius would say, architecture is a provider of “firmness, commodity and delight”. It is business for some, a profession for many, and a passion for most.

Art

Our friend Google has been a bit more explanatory with the definition of art than when it defined architecture. Art was defined as expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power. It is true, because there is creativity in everything you do - from the food you eat, the clothes you wear, up to the songs in your playlist.

Art is experience merged with expression. It is the means by how a person conveys their thoughts or their feelings and emotions which they gained from several circumstances in different times. It may be for the consumption of an audience. But an art for just the eyes of the artist also totally makes a lot of sense.

Juan Luna’s iconic Spoliarium | Photo form NoliSoli

There is power in art. While it is a form of expression, art also has the ability to influence the audience and relay messages through visually appealing materials. It is an opportunity to share narratives of the past, instill to people important things happening in the present, and give a glimpse of the promises of the future. Those who witness art can relate with the material and also learn from its methods.

The thing about art is that its visual attractiveness adds to the willingness of the audience to understand and appreciate the message behind the piece. Those who see art are immediately drawn to it, and once their attention is held, they absorb what the art wants to relay. This makes art one of the most powerful tools in conveying messages or even to the extent of educating people.

A lot - if not all people - can appreciate art. And you would be surprised to know how much these people are willing to spend for a piece that they’ve come to like. But regardless of these extravagance and prices, art possesses the ability to reach people regardless of their religious, social or cultural background. It encompasses an entirely different paradigm that can transcend through barriers and extend to people under different clusters.

Is Architecture Art?

It is more than understandable that people see architecture as a field that prioritizes functionality over form. After all, it is imperative for a structure to be useful first before it becomes visually pleasing. One cannot reside in a house that is pure beauty but has no air coming in. You also cannot be comfortable staying in a building that has a pretty color combination, but is relatively unsafe. However, is it really necessary to choose one over the other when you can have the best of both? As what Louis Sullivan - regarded as the spiritual father of modern American architecture says - form follows function.

The atmosphere in a space also has a huge contribution to its purpose. In addition to the function, the visual appeal of a certain structure can contribute to the mood of those who stay in this. Therefore, workspaces that are good on the eyes can encourage employees to work better or be more productive because they appreciate their surroundings. Study areas that are light in the eyes and aren’t crowded are more conducive for learners since the vibe of the place can affect their ability to absorb new information. So, although it is obvious why the majority would prioritize function over form, architecture as an art can provide the best of both. After all, practical needs of a structure like ceilings, windows, and doors are opportunities for architects to incorporate design in their plans and consequently merge form and function. Lastly, architecture is used as an art in the sense that it is a form of expression. The structures must reflect the owners and have a certain connection with them. It is in these buildings where they can see their personalities and prove their preferences - either lots of sharp turns for the owner with a strong personality or child-friendly designs for a family. This is why a huge part of architecture is consultation, because architects would always want their clients to see their final output as a reflection of themself. This is all the more applicable in building a house. You’d want to ensure that you’ll get what you like because these are just some of the hard decisions in life. It must have an emotional connection to those who will see it, and most especially to those who wanted it to be made.

Architecture - regardless of its diverse inclusion as a field of engineering and science - possesses the same power as art. They both have the influence to the audience because each and every one has their own experiences and stories that are reflected in any art that they see. They are forms of expression, and expressions of imagination and creativity.

[carnegiemuseumnaturalhistory]

In the Field: Following the Work of a Paleontologist

Introduction by Jessica Sperdute

Edited by Matt Lamanna

With 22 million specimens housed at Carnegie Museum of Natural History (CMNH) and nearly 10,000 on display at any given time, chances are you’ve seen a dinosaur or two during your museum visits. But have you ever wondered how those dinosaurs get to the museum after they’re found? Or how we know where to dig for them in the first place?

What is a Fossil?

Fossils are the remains of animals, plants, and other ancient life that have been preserved in rock layers, or sediment. Fossils can include things such as leaves, skin, feathers, hair, footprints, and, most commonly, hard material such as wood, shells, teeth, and bones. Even poop can be fossilized! Many kinds of fossils are rare, and studying them can help us understand how the world looked tens of thousands or even millions of years before our time. Scientists who study fossils are known as paleontologists.

Looking at the Layers

Paleontologists use many tools to help them find fossils, but the key to knowing where fossils may be hidden underground lies with rocks—massive layers of rocks, called strata, are piled onto one another over time. These layers of different rocks can tell us not only what type of rock the layer is made of, but also approximately how old the layer is. The study of rock layers is called stratigraphy, and paleontologists use it to find potential fossil beds. For instance, if a paleontologist is looking specifically for fossils of dinosaurs, they would use stratigraphy to locate exposed layers of sedimentary rocks that formed at the time when dinosaurs lived and died—the Mesozoic Era. Once rocks from the Mesozoic Era are found in a location, the paleontologist goes to that location to hunt for fossils.

Big Prospects

Finding the right type of strata is only half the work of finding fossils; once paleontologists arrive at the field site, they need to physically walk around and search for clues that fossils may be around or underneath them. This is called prospecting, and the best place to prospect is usually at the base of a hill. Wind and rain will erode or gradually wear away rocks, allowing some fossils to break loose from higher sediments and roll downhill. If a fossil fragment is found, the team can then search the area to see if there may be other, more complete fossils—oftentimes higher up the hill and still embedded in rock.

Once prospecting has yielded an area where a fossil is likely to buried, the team can begin to block out the site and start digging. They use a wide variety of tools—even household items like paintbrushes, shovels, and hammers—to uncover fossils without damaging them. Records are taken of this step-by-step process to ensure all the data, from the precise location of the dig site, to the type of fossils found and their spatial relationships to one another, and even the measurements of the quarry, is kept for further study.

Safety First

The team has found a fossil, dug it up, and recorded the data. Now what? Once a fossil has been carefully excavated, it needs to be protected. Most fossils are delicate, so to transport them, especially larger ones, paleontologists use a method called plaster jacketing to protect them. First, they wrap the fossil in soft material such as paper towels, toilet paper, or aluminum foil to cover it. Then they wrap the covered fossil in strips of burlap that have been soaked in liquid plaster. This method is like using a cast on broken bones. After the plaster hardens, it acts as a shield. When the fossil has been safely transported and is ready to be studied or put on display at a place like Carnegie Museum, the paleontologist can gently cut away the plaster without damaging the fossil inside.

Paleontologist Photos

Dr. Matt Lamanna, Mary R. Dawson Associate Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology here at CMNH, has shared some of his favorite photos of his work at previous fossil dig sites. Look at the photos—do you recognize some of the locations, the tools that Dr. Lamanna is using, or the fossils that he’s digging up?

Here, Carnegie Museum of Natural History Mary R. Dawson Associate Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology Dr. Matt Lamanna is pointing at two ribs of a small—possibly baby—sauropod (long-necked plant-eating dinosaur) projecting from a rock face in the Bahariya Oasis of Egypt in 2001. He’d found this small sauropod only minutes before this photo was taken. Sometimes prospecting yields great finds! Credit: Mandi Lyon.

Dr. Matt Lamanna (right) on an expedition that found dozens of roughly 120-million-year-old fossil bird skeletons, mostly belonging to the species Gansus yumenensis, in the Changma Basin of Gansu Province, China in 2004. Lamanna is with collaborator Hailu You. Credit: Ken Lacovara.

In this photo, also taken in 2004 in Gansu Province, China, Dr. Lamanna poses next to the ribs of a giant sauropod—these ribs were just part of the massive skeleton that was discovered. Credit: Hailu You.

Dr. Lamanna on the expedition that found the new and gigantic titanosaur (a type of sauropod, again, a long-necked plant-eating dinosaur) Dreadnoughtus schrani in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina in 2005. Lamanna is shoveling loose rock out of the Dreadnoughtus quarry. Credit: Ken Lacovara.

Members of the expedition from Drexel University, the Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia San Juan Bosco, and CMNH that found the giant titanosaur Dreadnoughtus in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina in 2005 (left to right: Lucio Ibiricu, Chris Coughenour, Ken Lacovara, Matt Lamanna, Marcelo Luna, and Gabriel Casal). The huge femur (thigh bone) and tibia (shin bone) of Dreadnoughtus are visible in the foreground. Credit: Matt Lamanna.

Dr. Lamanna on the expedition that found the titanosaur Dreadnoughtus in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina in 2005. He’s sitting behind the 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) femur, or thigh bone, of Dreadnoughtus not long after its discovery. Credit: Chris Coughenour.

Here, Dr. Lamanna is using a rock drill (one of his very favorite field tools!) to help collect the skeleton of a new armored dinosaur in Queensland, Australia in 2008. Credit: Steve Salisbury.

Dr. Lamanna (right) with collaborator Gabriel Casal making a plaster-and-burlap jacket to protect bones of the titanosaur Sarmientosaurus musacchioi in Chubut Province, Argentina in 2008. Credit: Mandi Lyon.

Lamanna on the day he found the only known fossil of the new, ~90-million-year-old crab Hadrocarcinus tectilacus on James Ross Island, Antarctica in 2009. Credit: Patrick O’Connor.

Here’s another photo of Lamanna on James Ross Island of Antarctica, this time in 2011. The team found tooth and bone fragments of the theropod—meat-eating dinosaur—Imperobator antarcticus at this site. Credit: Meng Jin.

During the 2011 Antarctic expedition, Lamanna and his fellow paleontologists also found lots of fossils on nearby Vega Island, especially those of approximately 70-million-year-old birds. Credit: Meng Jin.

In this photo from 2015, Lamanna is shown collecting fossils in a New Jersey quarry with a research team from Drexel University, who were uncovering marine creatures from the very end of the Mesozoic Era. Credit: Ken Lacovara.

Jessica Sperdute is a Gallery Presenter II Floor Captain and Lead Animal Husbandry Specialist in CMNH’s Lifelong Learning Department. Museum staff, volunteers, and interns are encouraged to blog about their unique experiences and knowledge gained from working at the museum.

[anggecity]

Heneral Luna, a movie review

By chance I was able to check out the full movie in Youtube; I had always looked forward for free time to watch this and another movie, Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral. But this one came first; better late than nothing!

Heneral Luna is a biopic of the titular historical figure, Antonio Luna. While it has placed a disclaimer at first that certain parts were added—the film has used creative deviations to highlight certain nuances which, we may know or not, would have been in their minds and hidden sentiments before. 

The nuances were not all-serious; certain scenes provided ample comic relief or surprise factors that would likely refuse a sleepy watcher from dozing off completely.

There lies a lace of intimacy which easily captures a contemporary perspective, even if some of the scenes were fictitious or “composites”.

 The differences of customs before and now would have made it akin to a moving still, but naturalness was clearly evoked with the choice of angles and points-of-views.

But it is not the naturalness per se that made the film pop; it is how it shows what can be considered an act of heroism with the humanness—the fragility, after all, of the characters. How Luna's character was depicted—hotheaded or composed at his will—is a plausible representation of who he was in his day, based on contemporary perspectives. 

The character and scene depictions faithfully followed those of the archival images and records, though there are a few inaccuracies such as Fort Santiago lacking its second floor structure and the sculpture (Fortsan lost this structure after World War II) and the fiber clothing being replaced with modern alternatives (the fabrics are apparently machine-embroidered see-throughs). Inconsistencies shall not be perceived as mere errors; the point here is about authenticity weighed with practicality. This, regardless, is a notable move which I think raises the standard even higher for Filipino historical fillms.

Exterior vistas were depicted but not at best, as the current state of Philippine heritage, and the railroad at Northern Luzon being defunct would barely permit such extensive creative liberty. Such a workaround by recreating interiors proved to be an impressive alternative. Though still, the lack of exteriors felt low-key alienating.

Overall, the props are given a sense of life and the production managed to compensate strategically with structural interiors relevant at that time and logical blocking making the height assumptions seem right.

Aside from depicting the titular character without the glossy “hero” branding, I think the best asset of Heneral Luna lies on creativity within the box coming from outside.

The film also shows glimpses of other aspects of Luna's life and relations, from his family to fellow illustrados—Filipinos of his time who were upperclassmen, enlightened, and had opportunities to study abroad.  In this short time, the brief recount appears to be a coalescence of a dreamlike state and a dialogue, and is a wink to a closeness between the brothers Antonio and Juan.

The dialogues and solo shots alternating in the film reinforced a sense of life, that beyond the colorized photo color grading, this is a person that once lived that is breathing beneath the big screen, and he was more than a brilliant military tactician.

The full movie is posted in TBA Studios’ Youtube if you wish to check it out. 

I do not own any of the screencaps, though those also happen to be my favorite scenes. (I just did not include one which is a very brilliant choice of blocking and allegory; see it for yourself!)

[juliannaczareen-madrona]

(The Spoliarium by Juan Luna)

HOW IS ART POLITICAL?

Art is something that has been used in many aspects of life as it is something that could either be pleasing or disturbing to the human eye, in this way it affects the perspective of a person. There are tons of artworks that have their own interpretation which depends on the artist, it  is a given fact that Art is something created because of the ideals of the artist, it also depends on the artist what the purpose or intention of his or her creation consists of, and as to whether or not it is also something that could be related to politics. Which is why I have come to the conclusion that Art is something that is also political. This is a statement that I have learned based on our discussion on Ambrogio Lorenzetti’s Buon Governo Frescoes. 

Artists use elements that define the meaning of the art that they want to show, for instance Filipino artists like Amorsolo use different drawing techniques that depict of the typical Filipino society, he uses characters that present the set up of Filipino families living in a Farm which was how the livelihood of the Filipinos were back then. Another example would be how the artwork that I have chosen for this reflection which is Juan Luna’s “Spoliarium” (as seen from the image above) shows a depiction of how Filipinos suffered during the Spanish Colonization. The same goes for how Lorenzetti’s work used elements of the life in Siena to portray their government, this depiction that artists do gives a sense of comfort and understanding to those who view their work, it gives the people a view of their society in a sense that the purpose of the art is implied for it either comforts the disturbed or disturb the comfortable.

Basically, the artworks presented and explained in our discussion is about the depiction of a good and bad government. It provides an analysis of how values that make a country are portrayed through certain artworks, such as Peace, Justice, War, Vainglory, and etc. In the Philippines, until this day we are still experiencing issues regarding injustice and corruption which is why there are various artists who still use their work and passion to motivate and inspire the Filipinos through their Art. Besides the fact that art is for aesthetics, its power to be something that affects the political aspect of life proves how significant it could be to many people. Art is something political not just because it gives out a message or depiction of a society, but it also serves as a historical preservation of how a specific place was, making it historically relevant as well.

Art has always been and will continue to be a means for artists to communicate their thoughts and beliefs. Individuals are engaged in visual communication as a result of art, which creates interactions between the artist and the spectator. It has the ability to impact and inspire people by introducing fresh ideas, thoughts, and perspectives on social and political topics. Art, politics, and social issues have all played a role in the history of art.

[group18c]

IS SPACE EXPLORATION REALLY WORTH IT? Space VS Other Flaws

By:  Virginia González, Maria Camila Gutierrez, Juan Sebastian Larios, Isabella Silva and Eduardo Leon. Group 1. 8C.

Space exploration has always been an interesting topic (especially now with the race to Mars), but they never told us the side effects of this. It is not any secret that space exploration is not low-cost or easy to perform and develop, but have you ever wondered in what things we could use the money spent in space exploration for? For example, this money could be used for investment in other major situations like poverty and cancer. The amount of economic resources being used will be compared with other major situations that should be prioritized, but are not. Even though Space Exploration is useful because it has helped in many areas such as medicine, science, energy, and the environment; the nations of the world should not spend that immense amount of money on space exploration which is not our top priority right now, instead we should focus in other major risks and flaws, such as hunger, COVID-19 or education.  

NASA’s budget increased 3% compared to last year, this could be seen as a small amount but is a 7 million difference, for example, in 2020 NASA’s budget was 22.6 billion dollars, but now in 2021, their budget is 23.3 billion dollars (Society, 2020). Problems on Earth are huge and there are so many that we can't even count them, we have climate change, hunger, overpopulation, underdevelopment, among others. But still, some countries take as a priority exploring or establishing a human presence on other planets. The US is the world’s largest investor in space at 58% of the world total, with China, France, Russia, and Japan following in that order. The US budget for space in 2020 totaled $48 billion, whilst China continued to maintain its second-place ranking, with an estimated $8.9 billion budget. France has also continued to increase its space budget, topping European national spending to overtake Russia as the third largest investor with a $4 billion budget envelope dedicated to space in 2020 (News Desk, 2020). Also, according to studies, in 2020 there are between 88 and 115 million poor people, and as amazing as it sounds there is a solution that could eradicate poverty. According to one study made in 2017 by Anthony Clunies Ross, we could eradicate poverty by just spending approximately $1.5 billion dollars (this study was made in 2017, but this amount couldn't grow much from 2017 to 2020, so we could still eradicate poverty). This is related to space because as we saw before, countries are used to spend billions of dollars on space exploration when they could make a found and end poverty by 2045-2050 according to studies. In addition, some places protest against the launches of rockets, for example, the ones in Kourou and Cayenne, the major cities in one of the poorest French overseas departments, where almost 40% of the population lives in average poverty, the highest murder rate in all the country, and the unemployment rate around 30%, which is more than double that of the mainland France. This French department is located in South America bordering Brazil near the equator, and it uses the Space Center there, to be easier to send space rockets to the equatorial geostationary orbit taking advantage of the angular momentum of the earth's rotation. France technically uses the territory for the Guiana Space Center, spends millions in observatories, launches, and researches while the rest of the population (almost three hundred thousand) lives in misery, this territory is almost completely forgotten by the French government. The amount of money spent in the Guiana Space Center near Kourou has alarmed the poor people in Cayenne and near urban areas and almost all the department and has created multiple protests and blocked roads of workers that refuse to live in such distress while the space center spends millions that could help them in jobs, in education, security and other multiple services, and even though the Government has sent ministers and has promised to help the place with several billion euros, things still haven't changed.    

As an interesting fact, when you compare the money spent in space and the money spent on other different things like Cancer or COVID-19, the difference is huge. Let’s see how many monetary resources are or have been invested in cancer research with how much is or has been invested in space exploration. Before beginning, let’s clarify that the money that has been invested in cancer research, has not been given by the government but with donations that people have made. In 2019 a group of people helped to invest more than 145.9 million dollars in cancer research and since 1946 there has been a total of more than 4.9 billion dollars for research. Now let’s see how much budget has been invested in the space faculty. In 2019, 18 countries spent at least 200 million dollars on space-related activities and a total of 22.3 billion has been invested in 479 space companies since 2009. This means that in just 10 years there have been more than 17.4 billion dollars in space in comparison with what cancer research has made in 73 years.  If we compare how much NASA has been requesting and using compared to the research for the cure of Covid-19, we can see a gigantic difference, currently, the Covid-19 vaccine has received 3.400 million dollars from donations and the vaccine is already done, meanwhile NASA asked for a profit of 135.000 million dollars for projects in 2020, and past years (without donations) NASA earns 20.000 million dollars in a year. In other words, NASA makes and asks for huge amounts of money in critical times.  

Even though space explorations are not the best thing ever, as explained in the past paragraphs, space exploration still has many advantages such as the different accomplishments they have done in the past decades, which are important and mind-blowing. These different advancements have moved humanity into more steps every single time. For example, technological development done by many intelligent people who have been able to expand their skills and contribute to humanity with what they do with companies like NASA, they have been helping in areas like medicine, transport, public safety, energy, and the environment with projects and gadgets like "Improved solar panels, implantable heart monitors, light‐based anti‐cancer therapy, cordless tools, lightweight high‐temperature alloys used in jet engine turbines, cameras found in today's cell phones, compact water‐purification systems, global search‐and‐rescue systems, and biomedical technologies." (NASA. 2013) which are now of great importance to humanity. Another advantage it has is that the data found by scientific research in space is leading to different discoveries with benefits to life on earth. Some ongoing research from the ISS in areas like "human physiology, plant biology, materials science, and fundamental physics – continues to yield insights that benefit society. For example, studies of the human body’s response to extended periods in the microgravity environment are improving our understanding of the aging process " (NASA. 2013)  that is one of the problems that humans face and that prevents them from having a longer life and achieving more things. Also, “Fundamental scientific studies of the Martian environment, its evolution and current state represent important benchmarks of terrestrial planetary evolution, and hence, provide a model that some scientists believe will aid our growing understanding of climate change processes on Earth.” (NASA. 2013) It is vital to stop climate change because if we don't, many disasters around the world could happen affecting us all.  

Space Exploration centers and everything related to the advancements of technology in our knowledge of the cosmos has made the Homo sapiens understand a ton of information we didn’t know a few hundred years ago, in an era like ours, our humanity has learned more than in any other time about space, and every single year there's more and more. Every single part of it is extremely useful and supportive, but there are still some things that may be a little more important, and even though space is an interesting topic that still has millions of things left to discover, there are still situations and problems right now around the globe that should be more prioritized, risks to our species. Millions and millions of money are spent by big countries such as the United States, China, France, Russia, or Japan are simply exaggerated, and they could decrease it and use it in other environments, not just in the space exploration faculty. Global warming, overpopulation, the increasing hunger and droughts, the injustice, the lack of education, the bad health care and the hundreds of diseases, and much more are a huge threat and should be taken care of, every single one of them, in every place of the world. In a few years, all these problems will grow and grow until there’s no way back, and we should all work together and use the economic resources we got to try to solve them, it's not the time to waste money, and were are not saying that the space exploration is a waste of money, but when there are so many problems moving around, space shouldn’t be the number one spot of interest.

Bibliography and Sources:

Álvarez, R. (2019, June 15th). The Moon is complicated for NASA: they estimate that they need between 20,000 and 30,000 million additional dollars... Xataka. (n.d.) https://www.xataka.com/espacio/luna-se-le-complica-a-nasa-estiman-que-necesitan-20-000-30-000-millones-dolares-adicionales-presupuesto#:%7E:text=Trump%20se%20contradice&text=Algo%20casi%20imposible%20si%20consideramos,durante%20los%20pr%C3%B3ximos%20cinco%20a%C3%B1os

American Cancer Society. (2020). How American Cancer Society Research Funding Works. Retrieved from https://www.cancer.org/research/how-american-cancer-society-research-funding-works.html#:%7E:text=We’re%20also%20not%20funded,best%20scientists%20across%20the%20country

FORTUNE. (2019, August 5th). 50 Years After the Moon Landing, Money Races Into Space. Retrieved from https://fortune.com/longform/space-program-spending-by-country/#:%7E:text=That’s%20just%20on%20the%20government,to%20investment%20firm%20Space%20Angels.  

Lomborg, B. (2017, July 23). Un billón de dólares y adiós a la pobreza, según analista. El Tiempo. https://www.eltiempo.com/economia/sectores/eliminar-la-pobreza-costaria-un-billon-de-dolares-111916

Lothaire, F. (May 31st, 2019). France 24. https://www.france24.com/en/20190531-revisited-french-guiana-two-years-after-social-unrest-poverty-overseas-france  

Marino, E. (June 2nd 2014). The Borden Project. https://borgenproject.org/poverty-in-french-guiana/  

NASA. (2013). Benefits-Stemming-from-Space-Exploration. https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/files/Benefits-Stemming-from-Space-Exploration-2013-TAGGED.pdf  

NASA. (n. d.). Why We Explore. https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/whyweexplore/why_we_explore_main.html#.YCV39mgzbIX  

The Economist. (April 22nd, 2017) Cayenne, French Guiana. https://www.economist.com/europe/2017/04/22/french-guiana-in-south-america-seeks-more-autonomy-from-france  

Who needs $ 31 billion for tests and vaccines? (2020, July 1). News ONU. https://news.un.org/es/story/2020/06/1476672