What Did I Miss?: March 2024

Published Works

The Creative Team of ‘Larry The Musical’ Gears Up for the Premiere of a Healing Show Based on Larry Itliong – For the Center for Asian American Media, I speak with the people behind this Filipino American-centered musical about the making of it, ahead of this month’s premiere at San Francisco’s Brava Theater.

‘Doctor Who’ Official Trailer Teases Adrenaline-Inducing, Timey Wimey Season – For The Nerds of Color, I shed a light on this solid first look on what’s to come from the upcoming season of “Doctor Who.”

Words About “Dasig”

The Build: Friends Apartment w/Team Dasig – Kristian Kabuay and I sit down with the folks of Distance NERDing to talk about what we nerd out over, our individual works, and on creating Dasig.

What Did I Miss?: February 2024

Published Works

Despite Potential, ‘The Tiger’s Apprentice’ is a Rushed Effort – For The Nerds of Color, I give my mixed reaction to this Asian American-centered animated feature film.

Michelle Ang and ‘The Bad Batch’ Executive Producers Discuss Conclusion of the Series – For The Nerds of Color, I sit down with some of the team behind this “Star Wars” animated series once more for a retrospective of the making of this third and final season.

Stan Walker on Creating the Song “I Am” For Ava DuVernay’s ‘Origin’ – For The Nerds of Color, I share my conversation with the New Zealand singer behind the creative process of making this moving ballad for this very important film.

‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ In Concert Arrives at a Cultural Moment for the Franchise – For The Nerds of Color, I provide coverage of my experience attending this special music experience for fans of the beloved Nickelodeon series, and what it means to see it in the moment we’re in.

Words About “Dasig”

Unlocking the Secrets of “Dasig”: How a Filipino American Comic Book Raised $11,017 on Kickstarter to Create a Martial Arts Masterpiece – Kristian Kabuay is interviewed by Hot Tropiks about the process we took with raising funds for the graphic novel, as well as the creative process.

What Did I Miss?: January 2024

Words About “Dasig”

Dasig – Lotus Magazine interviewed me about the making of the graphic novel for their January/February 2024 issue (see pages 11-12).

New coming-of-age graphic novel centers a young warrior’s quest for purpose and self-discovery – Mahalaya Newspaper interviewed some of the members of Team Dasig about the creative process of making the graphic novel, as well as reasons for why it was made and the decisions made for the story.

Appearances

“Nimona” and the “What are you?” Question – I take to The Nerds of Color Instagram, where I talk about something I realized from the Netflix film, “Nimona,” as a mixed race person. (I also accurately predicted the film’s nomination for Best Animated Feature for this year’s Academy Awards).

Published Works

‘Star Wars: The Bad Batch’ Gets Ready to Return for One Last Fight – For The Nerds of Color, I give a look at the trailer a high tense third and final season of this “Star Wars” animated series.

 

What Did I Miss?: December 2023

Published Works

Hayao Miyazaki’s ‘The Boy and the Heron’ Challenges the Ghibli Generation on How to Live – For The Nerds of Color, I dove into my thoughts and interpretations of the themes expressed in the latest work from the renowned auteur.

‘Doctor Who’ Christmas Special Summons a New Era of Empathy – For The Nerds of Color, I shared my opinions about the kickoff to the latest era of the long-running British sci-fi series.

Appearances

Los Angeles Comic Con: Filipino Comic Companies inspire with Halo Halo Panel | TFC News Digital – I took part in the Halo-Halo panel at LA Comic Con, and a bulk of it was recorded for ABS-CBN.

I’m a mixed Asian kid… – From Mixed Asian Media, I took part in this particular video trend, heightening the often cliched experiences and assumptions made about mixed-race Asian people.

“Giant-Size Lumpia” Interview – At FanExpo San Francisco, I along with artist Don Aguillo were interviewed by Amelia and Adinah Delegencia about our work on the latest comic book set within the Deep Fried Universe.

LA Comic Con celebrates Pinoy culture, return to Hollywood | TFC News California, USA – The Halo-Halo panel that I appeared on at LA Comic Con is briefly featured in this news piece for ABS-CBN News.

10 Years of Lola By the Bay and 2023 Year in Review

My eyes do not deceive me, nor does the basic math fail me. It is, in fact, true. It’s been ten years since the formation of my own little corner of cyberspace. Hard to believe it’s been that long. While that might not bear as much significance in a day and age where the practice of blogging is nowhere near as frequented as opposed to, say, having a TikTok account, it means something to me. But I do bear in mind how outdated the practice has become, but more on that later.

What Did I Miss?: November 2023

Published Works

‘The Boy and the Heron’ English Dub Given First Look in New Trailer – For The Nerds of Color, I highlight the first good look at Miyazaki’s latest work, translated for the English language audience.

Nerd Poppin’ Throughout the SAG-AFTRA Strike – For The Nerds of Color, following the end of the SAG-AFTRA strike, I provide a brief rundown of shows I’ve been watching during that time.

KQED’s Mixed-Race Podcast Takes Center Stage in Live Event – For Mixed Asian Media, I recap and review this live event, exploring the wide variety of experiences that make up the mixed-race communities.

Words About “Dasig”

Review of “Dasig” from The Aswang Project – Jordan Clark, the individual behind the Filipino folkloric educational resource, gave the most thoughtful review to date on the graphic novel.

Staff Picks: Our Top 15 Gifts for This Holiday Season – “Dasig” is one of the books featured as part of the book advent calendar section in this holiday gift guide.

Upcoming Conventions for “Dasig”

It’s been a busy time, both in my life and the world, for better and for worse. I can’t believe it’s been just about a month since Dasig came out. It’s fair to say that it’s definitely doing better than my first two novels combined. We’ve been getting a lot of good press for it, and have had people respond very positively online to it so far.

It’s with that that I would like to announce that Dasig will be featured at two upcoming conventions before the end of the year, and one of them is this week!

What Did I Miss?: October 2023

Press for “Dasig”

A Beyoncé RENAISSANCE Concert Movie; WGA Wins Big; Celebrating FilipinOctober – Journalist and Diaspora founder Dino-Ray Ramos gives “Dasig” a shoutout in his Oct. 2 newsletter, under a section dedicated to Filipino American History Month.

Meet the San Francisco artist keeping ancient Filipino writing alive – NBC’s Jobeth Devera interviews “Dasig” producer Kristian Kabuay on his work, which includes a brief mention of the graphic novel.

Lauren Lola on Writing, Identity & Her New Graphic Novel, Dasig – I was featured on one of my regular outlets, Mixed Asian Media, on the work that was spent on writing my first graphic novel.

NOC Exclusive: Lauren Lola and Ponsi Alfonso Break Down ‘Dasig’ – In another outlet I regularly contribute to, The Nerds of Color, illustrator Ponsi Alfonso and I talk about how this graphic novel manifested into what it has become.

ShoPowSho 118: Kristian Kabuay & Lauren Lola return to talk ‘DASIG’ with Kuya P! NRW! – Kristian and I make a follow-up appearance on this podcast, where we dive into the making of the graphic novel.

Happy RELEASE DAY to DASIG!

What you place your importance in will determine your focus.

-Bituon, “Dasig”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Dasig.ph (@dasig1521)

Premiere Events for October – For the Graphic Novel and Comic Book Debuts

With two weeks to go until the release of Dasig, I am pleased to announce that it will be premiering at the Undiscovered block party in San Francisco. It will be held on Saturday, October 21st from 12-6PM in the SOMA Pilipinas Filipino Cultural Heritage District. This will be the first of many opportunities for people to come and buy the graphic novel, its corresponding merch, and also get to speak to those of us who made it happen.