Archive for the 'work' Category

05
Dec
08

Corporate Scrooge

Fun day at the office today when most of us talents (non-regular employees…coz writing’s a talent, you know) discovered we won’t be getting any Christmas bonuses (around a measly 1000 pesos) from our company because they’ve decided that only those employed between Sept 07 – Aug 08 are entitled to them and most of us weren’t (Even those employed in Jan 08 apparently aren’t entitled. I was officially employed Apr 08, so no bonus for me.)

Even funnier, the Christmas bonus is pro-rated. Which means you’ll be given what your superior thinks you deserve. Way to spread the Christmas cheer, ABS-CBN.

And another unfair thing: they’re giving Sarah M. (a celebrity, and the voice of Velvet) a bonus (she started in Feb) probably because she “deserves” it. Wtf?

No wonder no one stays long in this job. Apparently there are NO benefits at all. Not that I’m in this job for any monetary benefits. As soon as they stop airing my beloved BBC shows, I’ll probably resign. But still…it’s horribly un-generous of them to act this way.

Oh well, you say bah, humbug!
I say karma.

19
Oct
08

Cinemanila 2008

was supposed to post this sooner but got lazy (when have i not?) so anyway this is just shameless plugging to watch:

TUMBANG PRESO (Antoinette Jadaone) – short film in competition
#CAFE (Leo Valencia) – short film in exhibition
TXT B4 MARRIAGE (Rommel Sales) – documentary film in competition

why? ‘coz I scored them (well, in the case of leo’s I gave him permission to use one of my songs)

and, because I feel strongly about it, don’t watch Tropical Manila. It looks prettily shot but it’s one huge pile of misogynistic crap. Well, at least in my opinion. You’re free to form yours of course.

EDIT 10/20: Tonet just won Best Short Film. Yay!

18
Jul
08

Ego F[l]attening

Ranchero (in this year’s Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival) is my most high-profile project to date though probably not my favorite because ah…because composing a score for a full length film is soooo tiring. I hate having to think that long…and considering Maikel’s film is barely passes the full length mark, I don’t know how I’m going to survive in the future. haha. plus the fact that it was also the first score I wrote for guitar (I mostly write music for piano) so the result is what I fondly call loopable music. Anyway…

Ranchero is showing now in CCP. I went to the Gala last Saturday and…well…my feelings about it were mixed partly because there were a few scenes I think should have scored…and a few scenes I think shouldn’t have. I didn’t hate it. I just think I could have done better. Oh well, I’ll get it right next time (though, I’m sticking to short films for a while…a very long while. which kinda means it’ll be a very long while before I actually get paid for a project. haaaay life. haha.)

Anyway, somebody (actually a lot of somebodys but I don’t usually count my friends/acquaintances who say they like it because they might be biased/plastic) thought I did well:

The opening credits foreshadow the films gravity towards simplicity/minimalism. The misty mood is set by the great music score (byToto Sorioso) with each phrase appears/disappears abuptly in black and white. The guitar plucks and strums develop into a steady rising rhythm only to be syncopated and reset again and again—throughout the film.

Yes, I did google for reviews because I wanted to fatten my ego a bit (because I need a little ego fattening after…well, that’s another story) and got flattered by this yet slightly disappointed because the writer got my name wrong. Toto Sorioso performed the score (and did it wonderfully, too) but it’s mine. Me, Ayn Marie Dimaya. Mine!

Haha, sorry. Serves me right for virtual eavesdropping. And yes, consider my ego fattened. But am highly expecting it to be flattened next Tuesday. Again, another story.

31
May
08

I Can Do This, I Can Do This…

…but what I wouldn’t give for a group of singing mice to uplift my spirit. or at least make me less sleepy.

02
May
08

My Heart is Broken…Broken!

The only thing that was keeping me excited about this job was making the BBC period drama plugs. And now  I can’t make them anymore because another writer quit and I’ve inherited half her workload, making mine too full to make the episodic plugs of Bleak House each week. 

Argh! and I’ve been looking forward to it since…well, since I went back to work.

Haaay, so now I have to make plugs for crappy shows while the actual good show (hello, it won a Peabody! a Peabody!) gets overlooked all because it’s British (therefore hard to listen to) and period (therefore, old).

.

.

.

Oh well…moving on…

28
Apr
08

After 3 Weeks…

I finally finished it!

Of course, the actual doing took less than 24 hours. I just kept on getting distracted. hee.

Now…to my bed…away!

08
Apr
08

Signs That You’re Too Tired to Work and Really Should Go Home No Matter How Much You Love the Free Aircon (Pt. 1)

you spell “masterpiece” as “masterpeace”

to be continued…




ah ahm vahmpyrrr!

"Vous m’avez dit “Je t’aime.” Je vous ai it “Attendez.” J’ai Presque dit “Oui.” Vous avez dit “Partez.”" (You told me “I love you.” I told you “Wait.” I almost said “Yes.” You said “Go away.”) ~ from Jules et Jim by Francois Truffaut

Ayn Marie Dimaya: Fangirling since 2003

Bittergrace is derived from the hebrew variants of her first names: hannah loosely meaning "graced" and miriam loosely meaning "sea of bitterness".

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Recent Viewings

Strings
(Anders Rønnow Klarlund, 2004
Mad Men Season 2
(Matthew Weiner, 2008)
G.I. Joe
(Stephen Sommers, 2009)
And I Love You So
(Laurenti Dyogi, 2009)
Bones Season 4
(Hart Hanson, 2008)
How I Met Your Mother Season 4
(Carter Bays & Craig Thomas, 2008)
House Season 5
(David Shore, 2008)

Recent Books

Skylight Confessions
by Alice Hoffman
Echo
by Francesca Lia Block
Verses
by Ani DiFranco
Changeling
by Kristin Cashore
Briar Rose
by Robert Coover
Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea
by Chelsea Handler
Fragile Eternity
by Melissa Marr

Recent Songs

Wicked Girls Saving Ourselves
by Seanan McGuire
(2008)

Wendy played fair, and she played by the rules that they gave her;
They say she grew up and grew old -- Peter Pan couldn't save her.
They say she went home, and she never looked back,
Got her feet on the ground, got her life on its track.
She's the patron saint priestess of all the lost girls who got found.
And she once had her head in the clouds, but she died on the ground.

Dorothy just wanted something that she could believe in,
A gray dustbowl girl in a life she was better off leavin'.
She made her escape, went from gray into green,
And she could have got clear, and she could have got clean,
But she chose to be good and go back to the gray Kansas sky
Where color's a fable and freedom's a fairy tale lie.

Dorothy, Alice and Wendy and Jane,
Susan and Lucy, we're calling your names,
All the Lost Girls who came out of the rain
And chose to go back on the shelf.
Tinker Bell says, and I find I agree
You have to break rules if you want to break free.
So do as you like -- we're determined to be
Wicked girls saving ourselves.

Alice got lost, and I guess that we really can't blame her;
They say she got tangled and tied in the lies that became her.
They say she went mad, and she never complained,
For there's peace of a kind in a life unconstrained.
She gives Cheshire kisses, she's easy with white rabbit smiles,
And she'll never be free, but she's won herself safe for a while.

Susan and Lucy were queens, and they ruled well and proudly.
They honored their land and their lord, rang the bells long and loudly.
They never once asked to return to their lives
To be children and chattel and mothers and wives,
But the land cast them out in a lesson that only one learned;
And one queen said 'I am not a toy', and she never returned.

Mandy's a pirate, and Mia weaves silk shrouds for faeries,
And Deborah will pour you red wine pressed from sweet poisoned berries.
Kate poses riddles and Mary plays tricks,
While Kaia builds towers from brambles and sticks,
And the rules that we live by are simple and clear:
Be wicked and lovely and don't live in fear --

For we will be wicked and we will be fair
And they'll call us such names, and we really won't care,
So go, tell your Wendys, your Susans, your Janes,
There's a place they can go if they're tired of chains,
And our roads may be golden, or broken, or lost,
But we'll walk on them willingly, knowing the cost --
We won't take our place on the shelves.
It's better to fly and it's better to die
Say the wicked girls saving ourselves.