Wine, Circumcision and Nick Joaquin

This week we join the Philippine literati in honoring one of the greatest Filipino writers in English—Nick Joaquin aka Quijano de Manila—on his 10th death anniversary. We asked his nephew Tony Joaquin, an artist in his own right, to tell us about the early years of his Uncle Nick who dropped out of school in his second year in high school and went on to become an excellent journalist, social commentator, novelist and cultural icon—the first National Artist in Literature. For a taste of Nick Joaquin's incisive satire on Philippine society, we're also posting one of his short stories, “Gotita the Dragon,” from Anvil Publishing's new Nick Joaquin collection of the same name.

Napa Valley in California has its share of Filipino American wine makers and connoisseurs, one of which is Ron Wagner who  honors his mother, Adela Valisno, originally from Nueva Ecija, by branding his wine Valisno Vintners. Read “Ron Wagner: A Vintner Who Drinks to His Heritage” by our regular contributor, Cherie Querol Moreno, who definitely knows how to sniff out a good story to titillate our readers.

And it's high summer in the Philippines and for many boys, it's circumcision time. We dug out an excellent article, “Writhe of Passage” by Dr. Penelope V. Flores from an old Filipinas magazine issue that gives color and background to this rite of passage that so many generations of Filipino boys had to go through before they were declared grown men.

From May 1–31, 2014, available nationwide in the U.S. on Comcast’s On Demand: “Marilou Diaz-Abaya: Filmmaker on a Voyage,” a film by Mona Lisa Yuchengco.

This documentary on one of the Philippines’ finest directors, Marilou Diaz-Abaya (Karnal, Brutal, Sa Pusod ng Dagat, Jose Rizal and Muro Ami), is now available to digital cable customers for the whole month of May on Comcast’s Cinema Asian America, which features Asian American films and videos in a monthly, thematically-programmed format.

To access Comcast’s On Demand: Through your Comcast digital cable menu, click on the “On Demand” button. In the “Movies” folder, there will be a “Movie Collections” folder. You will find “Cinema Asian America,” and access “Marilou Diaz-Abaya: Filmmaker on a Voyage.”

Read Mona Lisa Yuchengco’s eulogy on Marilou Diaz-Abaya on Positively Filipino.

Please pass on to your relatives and friends in the U.S.

“Marilou Diaz-Abaya: Filmmaker on a Voyage.”