The Face

Photos from Pinterest. Cover art done by yours truly, c/o Phoster.

May for The Pool Collective is pretty exciting! While all my Diamond writers haven't sent in their works yet (boys and girls, I'm waiting hahaha.) I present to you the theme for May. Ladies & gentlemen, The Face: Dean, Hepburn, Brando and Kelly.

Well actually, I think it'd be better to call May 2013's theme, "Faces of Hollywood" but there's definitely more drama with less words on it. These are four of Hollywood's most iconic faces and even when there are still more beautiful people out there, these four, for me, have the most memorable and beautiful faces that have ever graced the screen. And I could never stress it enough, that for me, beauty especially the human face's, is definitely one of God's most precious gifts to mankind. Correct? 

And there is just something about the face that  summarizes almost everything of a person's, not to say that without a face we're less human, but this is pretty much the cover of a magazine, the cover that captures all of what's inside and gives the outside  an easily understandable material to look at, absorb and appreciate.

So for the writers out there, May 2013 is all about these faces, the faces of Old Hollywood and most definitely the faces the world, even generations from now will love, admire and always look back to as the standards of what stars on Earth ought to look like.

While it's still not May, please make sure to drop by The Pool Collective and read up on the stories published so far. I'm very very happy that I've got myself great writers, I hope this will attract many more talented writers out there! Send me an e-mail at thepoolcollectiveph@gmail.com.

- Gerard

Sunday Sound 2

YouTube is truly one of the better avenues for singers/artists to have their work picked up by anyone, from fans to fans who push for more and hopefully, eventually, record labels. Among the plenty of channels/artists on YouTube, there are five great singers I always go back to when I'm pretty tired of the usual suspects. If you have a YouTube account, these five are highly recommended for you to subscribe to or follow. And actually, they all share a certain sound to them that I think, is more of my taste in music and the kind of voice I PERSONALLY want to have. Enjoy!

Gabe Bondoc is easy listening. He's made some original songs that I personally feel will do good outside of YouTube. Mostly covers is what Gabe does, but he gives it this soft, almost sweet take on everything he covers. Even when they're sad, sad songs, he makes them sound good. He gives Chris Brown's Strip a little more romance and class, and it's beautiful.

Ebrahim I learned from my officemate, Joanne. Since then, I've been hooked. Love, love, LOVE his voice. He's covered Frank Ocean's Swim Good and made it sound, sorry Mr. Ocean, terribly better. He also has an original which I couldn't get out  my head, I'll Be Alright. But this cover shows you just how talented he is

and what good knowledge he has of music. Be patient on this one, cause it's all worth it.

The Great Gatsby

The opening of the trailer, I could still remember in the book.

See, even cool Mr. Gatsby goes crazy when it's hot...

By now you, dear reader, should have some restraining order ready for me whenever there is anything F. Scott Fitzgerald present anywhere it is that I am. But just let me kill myself over how excited I am that Warner Bros. released a new trailer AND a damn handsome soundtrack for The Great Gatsby. This book is the reason I write and read and search. So just imagine my face when I heard they turned it into a movie. And imagine my face when I found out about the cast, Callan McAuliffe (terribly good-looking and promising child), Leonardo Di Caprio (definitely a God now), Carey Mulligan (diamond, for sure) and Tobey Maguire (my all-time favorite Spider-Man...), I mean it felt like Christmas and my birthday rolled in one day.

Come May, you'll be flooded with Great Gatsby shit, you won't like me anymore. But please, even if you're not a fan, spare some time to appreciate the beauty of Fitzgerald's work. While maybe the unsung hero is Tender Is The Night, and I'm obsessed with how intelligently scary This Side of Paradise turned out to be, The Great Gatsby just did it for Fitzgerald. I just can't explain how much I love the book. Seriously. It's a story, so beautiful, so grandiose yet human and real...Definitely thestandard for stories.

But if you're the kind who would never flip a page of a book, give yourself this experience. The movie. The trailer alone almost had me in tears. But yes, you must catch this. You know how other trailers promise you the film will be an experience of a "insert season here", this will surely fit the bill.

And who could ignore the cast, the cinematography, those amazing sweeping shots? I smell resurrection for Tobey Maguire. Beyonce and Andre 3000 doing Amy Winehouse' s Back To Black, Florence & the Machine on the soundtrack and Lana Del Ray too, I mean, come on...Do I even have to?
Or maybe that's just me. I'm fanning.

Jokes aside, this is one piece of art we're lucky to be experiencing, so whether you'll like it or not, it'll be worth it, somehow.

-Gerard

Sunday Soul

You could never go wrong with great music. Music that just goes deep and cool and sounds terribly, terribly awesome. These songs will make you want to reach out at the top shelf and mix yourself a drink., yes, even when it's just a cold, cold glass of water. They're that good.

I highly recommend these songs. They suit lots of moods and still somehow play well into one playlist. It's Monday tomorrow, so better enjoy what you can and have. And maybe these songs get you by the work week too! Happy listening!

That brunette stunner, too beautiful. Plus the guys look all too well. And the song is amazing.
Nothing wrong here.

Nick Waterhouse is starting to shape up into one truly promising kid.
Can't wait to hear more from him. Gives you all that 50s-60s old school rock n' roll/R n' B vibe.

Miguel is pure talent. That's it. After I learned of him, there was no turning back.

So Swim

So Swim by Gerard Gotladera
Photo credit

There was always something beyond the pool. And the tall, tall trees that stood guard around it. And beyond it, deep past the darkness I've known and somewhere farther than what I've explored. And it stares right back at you, that something, comfortably darker than the dark itself yet oddly bright that it stands out, impossible to miss...Eyes...Cold. White. Eyes, with only a drop of what once was some hue. It disappears when you've stared too long, like a blink or a flash of light or an idea so good, so quickly conceived it leaves the moment it comes to life. Too fast it disappears that you'd ask yourself if you've truly seen something, anything...

...I swam through the lunar blue of our pool, feeling my beating heart nestled safe and warm deep in the recesses of muscle, bone and skin. As I rolled through the surface, looking up and stabling myself on the water, I could still feel it and hear it. It had calmed me, this kind of stillness all over, except for the heart. It reminded me, for 17 years, that despite what could've been-should've been, I still am alive.

The moon was watching me, her stars once and a while showing off some glitter as choreographed as most of nature was. And it was beautiful. I was falling asleep, counting stars and proud that I had floated on in such still, unmoved fashion when little waves slowly woke me up. The stars were still there in their stationary dance, the moon mum and watching. Nothing's changed, but there obviously was something different. Some foreign object had disturbed the peace of the waters and it was growing harder. Little waves like ripples were now strong enough to tip my float and force me to get up and check what it was that has disturbed my peace. I swing my legs down and feel my stomach crunch under the weightless water and immediately check around. There was nothing here. And the water too had calmed down. 

"Dad?" I called, now suddenly familiar with my own voice. The house was approximately ten long steps from the pool and it was still lit. Dad didn't answer, he wasn't here. Something wasn't right anymore. The top of my ears felt cold and my nape grew tingly. I looked around again, in search for something, anything just to satisfy my curiosity. When I turned to the little woods that framed the back part of our house, I caught a glimpse of an incredibly white object, slicing through a tree and ruffling some plants that lay on the ground. I moved back, feeling my once calm heart race madly inside my chest. 

"Who's there?!" The water just rippled, a reaction from my sudden movement and the plants that it had disturbed were slowly heading back to their upright positions. The moon watched on, her stars still glowing and everything else looking at me as if they knew what it was while I feared for my life.

"Hello?" I called, one last time, my voice dying in the open space. I kept my eyes on the tree where the flash of white disappeared and waited long until I memorized how it looked in the dark. I was slowly walking back to the pool's edge to where my towel was and had planned to head back inside as fast as I could. And just as I was about to head up, there it was again, a fast flash of white letting itself in plain sight, like catching a glimpse of a pale, pale foot stepping off past a wall. I think I might've screamed too loud for my own good that  in such short notice everyone was outside, my parents, Frank and Polly and our three maids.

"What happened Greg?" My dad asked.

"There's something there-" I pointed and stumbled on my way up the slippery steps of our pool. My mom looked at the tree I was pointing at, gave it a thought and a smile cracked her beautiful 40 year old face. 

"Hijo, don't tell me you still believe in that story...Come on...Let's get inside. Jesus Christ, I can't believe my 17 year old Greg is scared of that childhood horror story he used to love..."

"But there really was something there. Do I look like I'm shitting you?" 

"Mom he's shaking." Polly felt my shoulders and put on the thick orange towel I kept by me for my swim. My mom went off to frown at my language and gave a short speech about respect. Frank meanwhile, walked to the other side of the pool, looked into that eternal darkness and turned to us, confused.

"Nothing there bud. Maybe it's just your imagination..." Frank said, yawning and bracing his waist. I looked behind Frank and saw nothing but a tree. When we've all decided I was on drugs and that I was crazy, we all headed back inside. By the door I gave the night one last look and saw the pool in ripples and waves dashing towards where the trees were, as if someone had raced through the pool, got up and just disappeared. --- Gerard Gotladera

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