Here’s the announcement from Adarna:

‘PS. Mahal kita.’ A Valentine Tertulia at Adarna

Date:   Saturday. February 13, 2010

Time:   7:00pm ~ 10:00pm

Location: 119 Kalayaan Ave., Quezon City

A tertulia is a social gathering common during the turn of the century. Friends usually congregate in someone’s home late in the afternoon or early evening to enjoy conversation, art and culture. The mood is informal and the guests themselves provide the entertainment.

In celebration of Valentine’s day, you are cordially invited to participate in this special tertulia by sharing real love letters, poems or songs expressing Pinoy romance .

This is a FREE event but guests are requested to come in Filipiniana attire—regional, period, or even as literary or historical Pinoy lovers!

Come and celebrate the timelessness of Pinoy love at Adarna.

For questions and reservations please send us a message through our FB accounts or through:

adarnafoodandculture@yahoo.com, and adarnafoodandculture@gmail.com

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Guidelines for the Love Letter Contest

1. All entries must be authentic (actually sent/received) and unpublished.

2. Love letters refer to those actually sent/ received in whatever manner (electronic, postal, hand-carried) expressing/professing ROMANTIC love. This means, that letters expressing love for country, children, pets, nature etc. will not be allowed at this time.

3. Love letters may express the whole range of:
• emotions—crush, passion, lust, sadness, rage, madness, rapture;
• states—beginnings, endings, long-term, it’s complicated;
• forms– proposals, odes, affirmations, vows;
• or cover a range of situations—unrequited, lost, long-distance, second chances, wartime, forbidden, secret, marriage, young love, May- December, LGBT, cyber, interracial, virtual etc.
• letters may be old or new but not written for purposes of joining the contest.

4. Love letter readers may or may not necessarily be the writers and vice versa

5. The entire letter, or an excerpt thereof may be read provided that it does not exceed one short bond, double space, 12 font. For letters written in long hand, it must not exceed 350 words.

6. It is not necessary to reveal the identity of the writer or receiver, however a brief (2 mins!) background on the context of the letter is requested to help the audience appreciate the letter.

7. Only two letters written/sent/received by the same person will be considered.

8. A reader can only read a maximum of two letters.

9. Ideally, the letters should be in Filipino or English so more people can understand it. However, love letters in other Filipino languages, or Spanish may be read and briefly translated.

10. The manner of judging and prizes will be revealed during the tertulia.

Performances
1. Guests are encouraged to share their talents during the program. Songs, dances, poems or the playing of musical instruments are welcome provided that it is in keeping with the theme.

2. Please advise Adarna at the latest, February 10 so we could queue you in the program.

3. In case you require any special set up or intend to bring special equipment, please give us at least three days notice, so we can in turn inform you if such can be arranged/accommodated.

COMING SOON!
• February 6 Pinoy Cocktails

Enjoy old and new Pinoy cocktails beginning February 6. Perfect while waiting for your lunch or dinner orders or just to unwind.

HAPPENING NOW!

For the whole month of February, enjoy 20% off when you order a bottle of any of our red, white and local wines.

Try our new appetizers available only this February!
• Higados- Filipinos of old, used to ‘feel’ strong emotions not with their heart, but their liver called ‘atay’ or ‘hati’. With this as inspiration, Adarna offers chicken liver cooked in wine and spices liberally sprinkled with freshly ground pepper. Excellent with red wine.

• Garbanzos y patatas picante – Fiery crunchy chickpeas and crisp chili potatoes are a fun vegetarian hot treat. Goes very well with chilled white or fruit wine.

• Albondigas en salsa – A dish of meatballs in spicy olive tomato sauce served with bread sticks for some serious flavor. Try this with red wine.

I have never seen a film so sincere and remain very entertaining. The movie musical Hairspray radiates with so much optimism that it can brighten your view of the world! It will leave you smiling even after the credits have ended and you’re out of the cinema. Hairspray is an adaptation of the Broadway musical of the same title (also adapted from the 1988 comedy film by John Waters). The story takes place in `60s Baltimore and revolves around Tracy Turnblad (newcomer Nikki Blonsky), a plump teenager whose dream is to become part of the “coolest” teenage dancers in the local TV program of WYZT station, The Corny Collins Show. She finally gets her chance when Corny Collins announces that one of his council kids (the teenagers who dance in the show) is taking a leave of absence and there will be an audition for a new dancer. Tracy’s timid best friend, Penny Pingleton (Amanda Bynes)-whose mother won’t even allow Penny to watch the show, accompanies her to the audition. But Tracy is instantly turned down by Velma von Tussle (Michelle Pfeiffer), WYZT’s station manager because of her size and her support for the integration of the white and black people of America. Velma also choreographs the dances in the show. She is also Amber’s (Brittany Snow) mother–one of the council kids-and being such makes sure that her daughter gets the most exposure in the show. When Tracy finally gets in the Corny Collins show, she becomes a threat not only to Amber’s popularity but to the latter’s relationship with the show’s heartthrob Link Larkin (Zac Efron), as Link becomes increasingly fond of Tracy.

Hairspray is one movie that is able to gather a perfect set of cast. No one can be more perfect for the role of Tracy Turnblad than Nikki Blonsky, who instantly caught my attention the moment she appeared on the screen, singing “Good Morning Baltimore.” She did her role very well as the vibrant, hefty high school teenager. She’s so optimistic about the world and even believes that “fairness is just gonna happen.”

Amanda Bynes, despite her few lines, faultlessly played her role as Tracy’s best friend, shy and unsure but always supportive of Tracy nontheless. They’re total opposites, yet they get along, understand each other and Penny always has nice words to say to Tracy.

After a long time, we see John Travolta dancing again. But this time in a fat suit (and in high heels!), playing Tracy’s mother Edna Turnblad who had shut herself inside the house working as a laundress, because of her appearance. I enjoyed seeing Christopher Walken dance, who played Wilbur Turnblad. If there is one touching scene in the film that I won’t ever forget is Wilbur’s admission that his heart “only beats for the size 60″ woman who is his wife. And that was complemented by their duet “(You’re) Timeless to me.”

As the wicked Velma and a true stage mother, no one can question Michelle Pfeiffer’s performance. She’s manipulative and will do anything (even cheat) just to make sure her only daughter will not be outshined by anyone.

Queen Latifah always shines in any role that she does. She’s simply vivacious as Motomouth Maybelle, a local R&B deejay who hosts the Negro Day on Corny Collins Show.

Relatively unknown actors that simply steals the screen without effort are Elijah Kelley (who played Seaweed, Maybelle’s son and Penny’s love interest) and Taylor Parks (as the energetic Little Inez, Seaweed’s sister).

Hairspray is so fun to watch that slow-paced moments passed unnoticed. It’s so joyful and unpretentious. It’s a candy-colored celebration of the outsiders. Humor is always a good tool to make a political/social stand about inequality and discrimination. Yes, they do exist and most of us forget that the people we consider “outsiders” or some of us tagged as “uncool” have feelings, too. Most of all they have talents, maybe much better than us.

I recommend Hairspray as a must-see film. Really worth your money. Great singing, great dancing. I had a great time watching!

Hairspray is directed and choreographed by Adam Shankman; written by Leslie Dixon; music by Mark Shaiman, lyrics by Scott Wittman and Mark Shaiman. It stars John Travolta (Edna Turnblad), Christopher Walken (Wilbur Turnblad), Michelle Pfeiffer (Velma Von Tussle), James Marsden (Corny Collins), Amanda Bynes (Penny Pingleton), Queen Latifah (Motormouth Maybelle), Zac Efron (Link Larkin), Brittany Snow (Amanda Von Tussle), Elijah Kelley (Seaweed), Taylor Parks (Little Inez), and Nikki Blonsky (Tracy Turnblad).

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I’m currently enjoying the songs in the film! “Go, mama, go, go, go!”