The month of February... for me... (& memories!)

Has ushered in happiness disguised in sad tears.

My birthday was a true surprise this year. What happened to me, I never would have expected in a million years. HA! (As Andre 3000 would say.) I wasn't happy I will tell you that much but that situation did open a new door. Which was going to happen to me whether I wanted it to or not! Isn't that how life is sometimes?! Yeah.

I celebrated my 23rd birthday by moving to Los Angeles from New York, getting an apartment in Santa Monica and having Larry Clark shoot me for the cover of Rebel Magazine. A prestigious out of print magazine from France.

My 24th birthday was celebrated in Los Angeles. I remember being at the Standard Downtown... and than being in New York having dinner with Michel Gondry and Paul Gondry.

For my 25th birthday I was in Paris working with Michel on The Science of Sleep and we partied at Le Baron. Drinks on Agnes B. and everyone was there! Chloe Sevigny, Daft Punk, Elodie Bouchez, Pedro Winter, Gael Garcia Bernal, Gaspar Noe, my friend Gael Foucher, Michel Bernstein, Christophe Lemaire from Lacoste and Olivier Assayas met me the next day to take me to dinner for my birthday. Larry Clark and Spike Lee called to wish me well. It was a merry ole TIME! I rented The Dreamers by Bertolucci since Michel was letting me pick out something to rent since it was my birthday and he freaked out when I put the dvd in.... "Is this the kind of stuff you watch?!" He says that during the clip where Michael Pitt has Eva Green's photo on his penis! ha ha ha!!!!!!!! Unfortunately, I know Michael Pitt and I was there for his first audition for Larry Clark and when he got cast for the movie Bully so I was soooo not into that part but I still crack up thinking of Michel's reaction! ha ha ha.

My 26th birthday was great! I owe that to Sarajane Wilde, Dave Morrison, and Michel Gondry... and Sean Lennon.

I don't know who paid for the drinks and dinner at the Chateau Marmont but it was nice!!!!!!!!

I saw Andre 3000 for a coffee before-hand, he was off to get a massage. Fonzworth Bentley came with his two friends. I met this guy who was the lead singer to Autolux and I forget his name but he came. I met him at Meg from the White Stripes bday party. He was their opening act. Liv Tyler came with Victoria Clay and Tatiana Von Furstenberg and her husband. My assistant Nick Kerkhoff was there. Sean played on the piano and sang Benny and Jets and Money Mark played along. Scarlett Johansson was there in pajamas with Josh Hartnett... and I saw a girl I met from Sophia Rossi named Katherine there. Sam Spiegel was there and Steve Aoki came by to say hello. We were supposed to go to Cinespace afterwards but we all decided to go to Teddy's instead. I don't remember what happened after that though. I also remember laughing at Sean and telling him he was the funniest guy I know and he was like.. what about Fonzworth!? He has a lime green sweater on?!!!! ha ha ha ha

It was sort of surreal because I have one friend that is from Texas that is still alive that I talk to and she wasn't there. And I only have one neighborhood friend who is still alive that I talk to. Believe it or not, the rest are dead or in jail. Its sad. Its cool to have all these people at my birthday but its kind of weird since I did not grow up with them. But I guess I can't be complaining about my life.

When I turned 27... back track here... alright... when I was a kid my favorite director from the Philippines was Cirio H. Santiago, than it would be a tie between Eddie Romero and Lino Brocka. I realized that Cirio H. Santiago was one of Quentin Tarantino's favorite directors too! Quentin and I happen to be bosom buddies... and I heard from someone in New York that Cirio was in Los Angeles. I tracked him down like a bandit! I called Quentin squealing like a pig..... on his answering machine and what does he do? Calls me back squealing!!!!!!!!!!!! We both couldn't believe that THE Cirio H. Santiago was in LA! I arranged a meeting with him on MY birthday! Cirio wanted to meet at Nate-n-Al's! He told me it was an old Hollywood meeting place. I was the first to arrive and I was shaking all the way there. Ahhh lord... I was the only young person in the room... and it was so easy to spot him! And then a few moments later Quentin comes in with (I forget) something for Cirio to sign. Awe... I will never forget that birthday. Quentin was about to do press for his movie Death Proof and it was great that we got to meet our idol Cirio H. Santiago! Oh yeah, QT and TL's fav. Santiago flicks are The Muthers, Death Force, and Ebony, Ivory, and Jade!

When I turned 28, I was with my bestfriend Claudia Wu at the Coffee Shop in NY. I was a hostess there when I was a teenager, when I stopped modeling. The next day we met up with Andre 3000 at The Grammercy Hotel in some private area to celebrate. Than later we were joined by Damon Dash, Irina, Margarita Missoni, and Erin Fethersen... (not sure if these names are spelled right... I will check later.) That was fun because Andre never ever goes out and to see him was like seeing a fictional character come to life!

29.
The great age.
The last year I will be in my twenties!
I am going to live everyday like its my last.
I am going to just go for it. (So should you!)

I lost my wallet and you can't rent a car or stay at a nice hotel without a credit card! I had loads of cash on me but that didn't matter one bit. I didn't worry about it though but that sort of stressed me out. Mitchell Gutman and I had food and drinks at this Thai restaurant called Toi. I always wanted to go there because Quentin told me that he used to write in there for hours and I wanted to see what this place was all about. It lived up to its promise and I saw that the Pulp Fiction poster was strategically positioned next to a Godard poster of Anna Karina... I know why. Do you? I will post the photo I took of it on this blog later. Than I went to Hyde to meet up with Yacine. Than to the Chateau Marmont for the sake of it and old memories... and Yacine, Mitchell, Yorgan, and I had a really nice time. Yacine and Yorgan left. Mitchell and I went to some bar in Silverlake and it smelled like vomit! I don't know the name of the place. HA!
I put medicine on my face and it burned my skin! There were two burn marks on my face. And scar marks from when I was sick! That was not good. It should have been the Omen for the night. I got dressed in my vintage white embroidered mini dress and wore black wedges. I ate Thai food, went to Happy Endings (which I thought was like the New York version but its not, its more like a frat bar.), and than called it a night.
My life changed that night though for many reasons.
My last year of my twenties, nothing is going to get me down.
I love it!
I love life.
Yippie!

So that is what happened. I know I didn't write about my birthday but I have been traveling all over the world in a short span of time and I haven't been able to blog. Just dealing with alot of things too. Upset with alot of things too! But in the end, Happy.

So now. After the Grammys! I had to leave town. In LA they did have the Cirio H. Santiago Tribute at the New Beverly Cinema on the 10th! Man I was kicking myself for not attending that but Brian from the theater just emailed me and told me that they might have another one in a few months. Quentin and I will be attending that one for certain!

So what did you do for Valentine's Day?
I felt sleepy!
I had a great Valentines.

OH yeah! Me Magazine's newest issue is out now!
I will blog about that later.

Now I am tired of writing here.
Gotta go.
PEACE!

TL

Cirio H. Santiago Tribute (R.I.P.) Serge Gainsbourg Tribute

One of my childhood heroes was Cirio H. Santiago and I was blessed enough to meet him in 2007. I remember sitting infront of the television when I was a toddler and watching all his terrific B movies. I can't take all the credit, my father was his ultimate fan. (Thanks dad.)

Tonight in Los Angeles at the New Beverly, they are doing a tribute to Cirio H. Santiago. Quentin Tarantino lent them some of his priceless prints and they are screening them tonight. I will have to contact Brian at the theater to find out which films but if I am not mistaken, they will be showing THE MUTHERS and EBONY, IVORY, AND JADE. (Just tried to call the theater, he is not answering) I just figured that they'd be showing those two films because those are mine and QT's favorite Santiago flicks! (AND he owns the only prints available on the planet EARTH, AND I've seen these films at his personal theater with him at his home, in AUSTIN, TEXAS during the QT FILM FEST, and in the Philippines WITH Cirio H. Santiago present!!!!!) *** update! Brian just called me back and he said that the tribute will be moved to February 10th. Alot of special guests will be there and I will update you on that. AND they are going to show THE MUTHERS AND EBONY, IVORY, AND JADE... TOLD YOU SO! (wink) **** so stay tuned for the updates, thanks.

ALL HAIL THE PHILIPPINES!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (only true b movie heads would get this and true cinema connoisseurs of international films. ie. tarantino and Gilles JACOB (The President of the Cannes Film Festival, whom by the way knows all of the classic and b films of the philippines! He was Lino Brocka's biggest fan.)

Speaking of Cirio H. Santiago, Vincent Sandoval contacted me about doing a tribute in June. Not sure if that will happen because I am too busy this year with prior commitments. But if it does, I will be helping to bring Eddie Romero and Quentin Tarantino to New York. We'll see... Cannes is in May and I know Quentin is bringing his film there and if he's doing press after that, I highly doubt there will be a little festival in New York. But Q and I do plan to do a tribute in the Philippines, not sure when though. I will keep you posted.

Today I feel great for some reason. The new year started off okay and this little cold (which I think had been lingering) crept up on me! Than it just took me over completely! I was in a state where I just didn't want to talk to anyone or be around anyone. I just dabbled on this blog, read Angela's Ashes, and worked on this project that Larry and I have been crafting. (for forever!) I read some of Diablo Cody's blogs and they made me laugh. She wrote one about the Sham-wow towels and it was genius. (I also read her book Candy Girl and that had me rolling on the floor too.)

Today feels like the greatest day in my life. I have finally been able to catch up with writing and that makes me feel like the wealthiest woman in the world. Claudia and I are working on Me Magazine and that is all caught up with. Thank goodness. I still have more to do but I am taking it one day at a time. Yesterday was a little stressful because I was plotting my year. The end of January to June is a hectic time for me every year. Birthday, Valentine's Day, Grammys, NY fashion week, Paris fashion week, SXSW, Cannes.

OH, my cousin Jean Grae is performing at The New Museum! Go and check it out. I was supposed to be in New York throwing her an after party at The Submercer but my plans changed.

SERGE GAINSBOURG TRIBUTE IN PARIS

Voila, Serge Gainsbourg. One of my favorites in the world. I am definitely going to this tribute. See you there! Who does not love him? If you don't know who he is than you must have been living under a large rock or don't have a penchant for anything French. Because if you did, you'd know who he was. Get it together!

This is bringing back memories. Man, its been since 2005.... I remember when I was in Paris and Michel Gondry and I were working on THE SCIENCE OF SLEEP. I was watching Gael Garcia Bernal in that little suit and admiring the details of the sets. I remember when Michel was casting the film and he mentioned Charlotte Gainsbourg and I thought, perfect! She was just perfect. That made me dust off every Gainsbourg item I had. Records, cd's dvd's, books, posters, you name it.

I can't wait to be back in France, eventhough I am there all of the time. I can't wait to see this tribute. Awe, makes me want to day dream.

(SNAP!)

Gotta go, gotta write.

TL

Ps. One of my friends just posted something new on his blog, he is going to be performing at the Serge Gainsbourg tribute as well. Check it out!

SEAN LENNON'S MYSPACE PAGE BLOG

Live your life.

Tarantino & Limos serve it like THE MUTHERS!

BLAST FROM THE PAST.... AUGUST 2007

Quentin and I did the whole Asian tour last year and it was pretty fun.
We met all of the icons we idolized when we were younger, mind you I had seen the same B movies he was watching when he was working at the videostore. Most of the B movies were shot in the Philippines, I will get into more of that later.
Prince Chatri from Thailand came to hang out with us for a little bit as well.
We met up with the President and had a great time.
I still have alot of photos to scan and put up from this time, I would like to share that experience. Its not everyday that you get to see something like this in the South Pacific.

Arrival in the Philippines: Tiffany Limos and Quentin Tarantino

Quentin Tarantino: I'm a big fan of RP movies

By SCOTT GARCEAU
The Philippine Star

It's been 15 years since Quentin Tarantino's first film, Reservoir Dogs, exploded onto screens at the Sundance Film Festival. And it's been 13 years since Pulp Fiction took the Palme d'Or at Cannes. So it may strike the 44-year-old filmmaker as a bit amusing that he's being given a Lifetime Achievement Award at this year's Cinemanila Festival. As much as he's drawn from Asian cinema — evident in the black-suited killers in Reservoir Dogs, the Samurai sword-wielding Bruce Willis in Pulp Fiction and the "Crazy 88" Yakuza in Kill Bill — he's also had a huge worldwide influence on a generation of young filmmakers — including Filipinos.

Tarantino found himself arriving at Centennial NAIA-2 Airport around 1 p.m. (arriving from Japan on time on a PAL flight, no less) and wandered his way through the arrival terminal, where he met with Cinemanila founder Tikoy Aguiluz and a few assistants. Tarantino looked every inch the Manila tourist — tall, laid-back, dressed in black T-shirt, black shorts and black sneakers, and donning black wraparound sunglasses. But he also looked like Quentin Tarantino, the quintessential film geek who grew up in Los Angeles in the 1960s, dropped out of school, took acting classes, found a job at Video Archives (a video rental place in Manhattan Beach), and proceeded to pen a pile of scripts that brought him immediate Hollywood attention, and finally his shot as a director.

Since then, Tarantino has dabbled in theater (appearing in Wait Until Dark on Broadway in 1998 to less-than-rave reviews), adapted an Elmore Leonard novel into a film (the underrated Jackie Brown), worked with director Robert Rodriguez on films like From Dusk Till Dawn, Sin City and the recent B-movie "double feature" Grindhouse. Kill Bill 1 and 2 meanwhile brought his pop-fueled consciousness to a new set of film viewers — those who might have missed out on Reservoir Dogs but who find a Japanese schoolgirl lethally wheeling around a mace to be the coolest eye candy around.

Tarantino walked through the sliding glass doors with light luggage and was immediately beset by dozens of questions from TV and The Philippine STAR, but he was friendly and effusive, granting quick-fire answers as he slowly inched his way toward a waiting car.

"I'll be staying through next weekend," he told one journalist. "I don't know my schedule, but I'll be seeing the different movies and films at the festival, and just hanging out and taking in Manila."

Is this your first time here in the Philippines?

Very first time, very first time. I've been wanting to come here since I was a kid. And now I'm finally here.

You get so many invites to so many film festivals around the world every year. Why did you choose this one?

Oh, I've always wanted to go to the Philippines. And also I've become friendly with Cirio H. Santiago, and knowing that Eddie Romero was going to be here, and we're going to be talking about Philippine cinema, which I've been a big fan of, it's going to be great.

What Philippine films have you enjoyed?

Oh, there's a lot of them I like. Cirio Santiago's The Mothers. I love Eddie Romero's war films, The Ravengers, Leyte Gulf, all right? Walls of Hell is terrific. I love the Blood Island movies with John Ashley. Bamboo Gods and Iron Men, that's a terrific movie.

Congratulations on the Lifetime Achievement Award.

I know. That's really cool to be getting that here, yes. I'm also doing a panel, I think, on Filipino action and horror cinema.

We hadn't noticed any explicit connection between your movies and Filipino B-movies, but we figured that it was only a matter of time...

Even in Kill Bill, the Hattori Hanzo character that Sonny Chiba plays, there's a little bit of that based on the character in The Last Samurai — not the Tom Cruise movie, but the Cirio H. Santiago movie with James Englehart, there's these two Japanese soldiers on the island? I kind of based a little bit of their relationship on those two characters from Santiago's film.

We hear there will be a Quentin Tarantino film festival as part of this year's Cinemanila.

I know, they're showing all of my movies. This is actually the first time I've allowed a festival to do a retrospective of my work; this is the first time.

We're very happy about that.

(Laughs)

Have you had a chance to check out any younger Filipino directors or more recent films made here?

No, I haven't. So this will be a good chance, at the Manila film festival, to check out some of their films.

Do you see yourself as an influence on Asian filmmakers today, just as Asian cinema has had such an impact on your films?

Well, that's for them to tell me. (Laughs)

How did you and Tikoy meet?

I had actually sought out Cirio H. Santiago myself, to introduce myself, because I'm a big fan, and after that introduction, and from another friend of mine, Tiffany Limos, I got the invitation for the Cinemanila Film Festival, and I took (Tikoy) up on it right away.

Are you scouting locations here?

Nope! Just going to Manila, having a good time.

What's the latest on Inglorious Bastards (Tarantino's long-evolving war script, now reportedly up to 600 pages)?

Pen is on paper right now. We'll see what happens. (Laughs)

Have you always been attracted to Asian cinema?

It's always been a big influence on me. I can't help it.

Is the "Asian horror" genre played out yet?

I'm still watching it!

What have you watched recently?

There was a Korean horror movie called The Red Shoes. That was pretty good. Not bad.

Other directors have directed your scripts; would you ever direct a script written by somebody else?

Probably not.

Why not?

Because I like to start with a blank page. I usually lose interest if it didn't originally come from me.

Where do you do most of your writing? California?

I do it all over the place. I write in California, I write in restaurants, I write in cafés, in bars. When I'm on the road I write, and when I'm at home I write.

Would you consider guest directing another TV show, like E.R. or C.S.I.?

If it's another TV show that I really like again, and I've become a huge fan and I want to jump into their world, then possibly.

We like that you create strong women characters (say in Kill Bill, or Jackie Brown). But how does that fit into your male testosterone world?

Well, I'm the creator, so they're my characters. I love them. And not only do I create them, I am them when I create them.

Do you feel different when you're writing those characters?

Well, I'm a method writer. I am them while I'm writing them.

Can you characterize Filipino movies, the ones you grew up enjoying?

Well, you can't break that down to a couple words. They're very different. Cirio H. Santiago's Blaxploitation movies are very different from his Vietnam movies. And Eddie Romero's World War II movies are very different from his Blood Island movies. And the "women in prison" movies are different from the rest.

Why was Grindhouse (the "double-feature" B-movie homage shown in the US) split into two separate movies here?

Well, because we didn't want to show it as a double feature around the world, because not everyone has that thing, that tradition. And also, we had to cut the movie back drastically to do the double feature, so when Death Proof plays here, it's going to have a half hour more than Grindhouse. The Death Proof that's being released here, that's the script I wrote.

Any advice for aspiring young Filipino filmmakers?

Yes. Come up with a story that you want to tell, that you have to tell, and tell it well.