Sales and chickens: Filipino SF roundup 23 July 2010

Welcome to today's Pinoy Pop news roundup, focusing on Philippine genre news--and by "Philippine" we're not limiting ourselves to events that happen here, since our genre-loving countrymen are doing us proud both here and abroad. First up though--don't forget that Fully Booked Bonifacio High Street is turning three this weekend, so they have a few events lined up:

The 2010 Fully Booked Book Grab is taking place later today, July 24, where five contestants will have the opportunity to race through the store and grab as many books as they want. There's also a mysterious "new kid" who will be "introduced" (not a lot to go on, really).
Assuming the contestants don't pocket the whole store, Fully Booked cardholders will be entitled to participate in a special sale from July 25 to July 26 at the Bonifacio High Street Branch.
On July 27 and 28, it will be the turn of Fully Booked Twitter followers or Facebook friends (or "like-ers" or whatever the term is).

In other news, let's go to the latest developments regarding the Philippines most famous… chicken.

Elmer - New Official Site is Up: Gerry Alanguilan's fowl masterpiece was picked up for international release by two publishers recently--it will be published in the United States of America by SLG Publishing in November, 2010, and Editions Çà Et Là in France and other French speaking territories, late in 2010. As such, it seemed a good time to give Elmer a brand new site--if you haven't read Elmer yet and are wondering what the fuss is all about, you can read the first 30 pages in a PDF from SLG Publishing. The SLG Publishing edition is available for pre-order at Amazon.com.
Rochita Loenen-Ruiz and Charles Tan Guest-blogging at Ecstatic Days: Over at the popular Ecstatic Days blog of speculative fiction author/editor Jeff Vandermeer, two of our fellow Filipinos have been taking on guest-blogging duties. Rochita Loenen-Ruiz has a post on "Finding Our Stories," on Filipinos writing science fiction and how hard it can be to find the stories that "only you can write about." She also links to an inspiring video from Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Meanwhile, Charles Tan rounds up a few links to Philippine Speculative Fiction online.
The 15 Who Finished the 24hr Comic Book Challenge: A great many brave souls entered this year's Philippine 24 Hour Comic Book Challenge, but only 15 emerged with a complete 24-page comic book. Check out the winners at the link, and help push your favorite into the magical top ten which will be submitted to the judges for their evaluation--take note of the debate going on in the comments! The winner will be published by Espresso Comics (who have a brand-new website by the way).
Gatilyo, a short film by Chris Costello: (NSFW) Our very own Macoy Tang points us to a short film by komiks supporter Chris Costello (one of the owners of Sputnik) which is loosely based on Macoy's Operasyon komik.
Ernie Chan's Audio Interview: Randy Valiente points us to an "[a]udio interview with legendary Filipino artist Ernie Chan conducted by Toronto Cartoonist Workshop's Walter Dickinson." Randy also has a post with some samples of Chan's artistry. (via Malikhaing Komiks)
Cosplay Tournament of Champions - Baguio: The New Worlds Alliance reminds us tha the next stop for the Cosplay Tournament of Champions is at SM Baguio, on July 24--tomorrow!
Commonly Misused Japanese Words and Phrases by Philippine Anime Fans: Wrong Grammar: Magnetic Rose has a continuation of her Commonly Misuses Japanese Words and Phrases series.
Philippine Pantheons - Gods and Goddesses of the Philippines: Finally, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention my own contribution to the genre this week--the Philippine Pantheons page at Rocket Kapre, which I believe to be the most comprehensive (but in no way complete) list of Philippine deities online.