PinoyAvenger Assembles!

Shout Out To My Fellow Fans!

2012-02-26T08:54:00.000-08:00

Last week, upon spotting it at the Trinoma branch of Planet X, I made an impromptu purchase of this item:

Avengers: Official Index to the Marvel Universe

I didn't know it existed nor did I know what was in its pages, but reading the description at the back of the book, I figured it's an important tome for any fan to have.

Which brings me to the point of this week's blog:
I. Am. An. Avengers. Fan.
A big fan!
In fact, probably the ultimate Avengers fan... here in the Philippines at least.

I know only one other person who shares my love for the Avengers and that's my friend Oliver.
Check out his awesome work of art featuring... who else?

Check out Oliver's DeviantArt!

Oli's also a big fan of other comic book titles and characters from Marvel, DC, and even the independent rebels. Meanwhile I can't be bothered to read or care about other characters, which I guess makes me an exclusive Avengers fan boy!
Thing is: I know people who are exclusive fans of Superman, Batman, Spider-man, the X-men, etc. I even know people who are fans of Cap, Iron Man, Thor, and all the individual heroes who make up the Avengers.

But there just aren't that many fans of the team.

Photo from cosplay group Avengers Philippines

Sure, there are the Avengers cosplayers and the collectors (neither of which I am). Sure, there are even those who buy the comics because they're either blown away by Bendis' writing or because Spidey and/or Wolvie also just happen to be there.

This is what I do as a fan! I create!
Check back my deviantart for more!

Because there aren't that many fans here or even around the world, I would take any chance I can get to really reach out and connect with those I encounter.

Avengers vs. X-men cosplayers. Photo by Kit Perez.

Thankfully, there's the Avengers Forever Facebook group, which was set up and managed by the same people behind the now-defunct AvengersForever.org (which was a nice fan-run website that had great sections like profiles, downloadable goodies, interviews, reviews, etc).
Oliver is also a member along with a couple of our fellow Filipino fans who are based overseas.

Speaking as a fan, I'm not really happy with these licensed apparel designs
I spotted at SM Department Store.

Also a member of the group is Van Plexico himself who is the owner of possibly the oldest Avengers fan-site: AvengersAssembled.net. That's where I used to get all the news and information about the Avengers back when I started being a fan. He's also the editor of two books about the Avengers by fans for the fans (which is to say, they were unofficial):

Assembled!

I have yet to get my copy!

And of course, thanks to the movie, there are the denizens of Tumblr who claim that they're fans of the Avengers. I hope they remain fans until after the movie and explore the rest of the Avengers' world!

Outdated photo of my Avengers collection back in 2007.
This has since grown and is bound to grow even more!

So if you're reading this blog and you're a fan of the Avengers regardless if you're exclusive or if you only got excited because of the movie, and regardless if you're a Filipino, in the Philippines, or what have you, let me know!

Leave a comment below and let's talk Avengers!

Assemble!

Of the Widow and the Wasp

2012-02-19T08:23:00.000-08:00

It's officially 65 days until the movie hits local shores. That's just a little more than two months away and I have to fill that time up with this weekly blog about anything and everything Avengers.
For this week's edition, I wanna tackle these two Avenging ladies.
One is a founding member. The other is in the movie.

From Black Widow and the Marvel Girls

Both are insect-themed heroes created by the man himself: Stan Lee.
Both debuted during the opening salvo that heralded the age of Marvels.
Of course I can just as easily be describing Marvel's flagship character, but what I've come to realize recently is that these two ladies occupied a certain niche position that Marvel didn't define for their first few female characters like Susan Storm or Jean Grey. Rather, their roles in the grand scheme of things were originally set by DC, not necessarily for female characters, and that's what makes them interesting.

First let's look at the Wasp.

From United They Stand

Sure, just like the two previously mentioned ladies above, she's the token founding female of the Avengers, but prior to that she was Ant-man's partner - in more ways than one.
Sure, she debuted as a heroine, but not in the way that Marvel, at the time, placed them: As the doting, more powerful paramour of the leader in a team.

Figures from the Toy Biz original Avengers boxed set

Rather, she performed the role of sidekick, distaff counterpart, and even romantic interest - ~~tropes~~ roles that DC markedly defined with Robin, Batgirl/Supergirl, and Lois Lane.
And Janet Van Dyne had to be all that for Hank Pym.

Now let's look at the Black Widow.

From Earth's Mightiest Heroes

She's only the third female recruit to the Avengers' rank whose career started off as a villainess to Iron Man. It would be easy to make the Catwoman connection at this point, but it's her role as Hawkeye's recruiter that makes her a curious case.

From the upcoming movie

She was the alpha female (Again, a rare occurrence among Marvel ladies at the time) - a mysterious, non-powered but lethal one at that - who went after an enemy with superior weaponry and took in an orphan from a circus.
Sound familiar?
In this light, all the roles that the Wasp played for Ant-man fall on Hawkeye.

From Ultimate Avengers

As for the Scarlet Witch, well, her character development is very Marvel. Just like the Invisible Woman and Phoenix, she was the all-powerful token female member, beginning with the villainous Brotherhood, then with the second wave of Avengers along with Hawkeye and Captain America. In both instances, her twin brother Quicksilver was with her. He may not be the leader of either groups nor her paramour, but he still fits the role of overly protective male like a glove.

The first three lady Avengers!

Thoughts?
Feel free to comment below.

For a related entry, please check out my post in my previous blog where I argue that the Invisible Woman is possibly Marvel's Wonder Woman.

My Issues with the Avengers

2012-02-12T07:16:00.000-08:00

A few days ago I thought I'd blog about the Avengers vs. Justice League debate, but I had completely forgotten the meat of it, so I thought I'd share something else.
I thought about blogging why I have a particular distaste for the Skrulls and why I keep hammering that they're NOT GONNA BE IN THE MOVIE, but I think one Skrull-related rant for this week is enough.

So I thought I'd share something else a bit more positive. (And you thought I was gonna rant, didn't you?)
I was thinking a while back how certain issues of the comic certainly fell on very important dates in my life.

One in particular was released before I was a fan, before I even discovered the Avengers, before I even took any interest in comics and superheroes, in fact: Before I was even born!

Avengers Annual 10 (1981)

Yep, it's the annual of my birth year, released just a few months before I was born. I don't have a physical copy of this issue, but I have read it and it's a great issue to be sure! Guest stars abound, the storytelling is topnotch (Chris Claremont baby!), and Al Milgrom's art has a tinge of George Perez (my fave Avengers artist)!

More importantly: a) this was the very first appearance of Rogue who was my favorite X-men; b) this had a story centered around Ms. Marvel - one of my favorite Avengers; c) this featured a guest appearance by another favorite: Spider-woman!

I've said it once before, but if I only get to own one issue to keep forever, it would be this!

Another important issue, of course, is the one that made me a big fan.

Avengers Vol. 3 No. 34

I was turning 19, I had just finished taking a quarterly high school exam, and I had money. What's a geek boy to do? Go to the mall and check out comics (and - ugh - watch Battlefield Earth). I was getting pretty bored with the X-men at the time and wanted to check out something new and I remembered the Avengers/Thunderbolts were having a crossover at the time, so I thought I'd check that out.

It took the very first panel to convince me that I dare not leave Filbar's without this issue.

"It all started--" said the text box. How very true for me!

Sadly it was Perez's last issue and I debated with myself for a while if I wanted to follow the series considering it's the art that got me hooked in the first place. We all know how well that turned up, don't we?

One of my stipulations at the time was that writer Kurt Busiek was still with the series so it's bound to be good - AND IT WAS - but even he had to say goodbye.

Avengers Vol. 3 No. 56

But not without leaving something for me.

(Click to enlarge. Look for the letter by "Nicky Aniceto".)

Yes, I had used a different name. I don't remember what I was angry at my mom's side of the family about, but I was convinced I was going to use my dad's last name forever.

And, of course, the best thing the folks at Marvel ever did for me as a fan was printing another letter I sent on an issue that came out exactly on my birth month, exactly 10 years since I first picked up an issue!

Avengers Academy No. 5

As fate would have it, Academy is the only one of all the current titles with a letters page! This issue is cover dated Dec. 2010, but it came out two months earlier - just in time to celebrate my birthday!

Click to enlarge. Yes, I used my real name this time.)

Except for the last issue, everything else are just brilliant coincidences, but they do make me feel happy - nay, GIDDY - as a fan!

You know what else is a cool coincidence? They released the official trailer to the movie just a few days before my birthday last year!

So, if any of you guys reading this are fans, tell me: Which issues of your favorite book are really important to you?

Maximum Spoilage

2012-02-04T21:59:00.000-08:00

Right now it's Superbowl weekend in the US.
Unfortunately I'm not in the US nor am I a fan of football (or any sport for that matter).
So what this really means for me or anyone who is a big fan of the Avengers is that we get a new trailer for the upcoming movie.
Seeing as this is just a 30-second spot, I don't expect surprisingly new footage.

Which brings me to the point of this new entry: I want to be surprised.

Why is Thor looking another way?!
From Entertainment Weekly.

Just a few days ago, Marvel released a 10-second preview of the Superbowl spot, which totally did not make sense to me. That's 10 out of 30 seconds worth of footage, and judging from the glimpses of screen shots I unfortunately couldn't avoid, most of it is new. That means the next 20 seconds of the spot would have to be really new, never-before-seen, heard or even speculated on. And that's already a tall order considering the previously released full trailer in its American, German, and Russian translations already contain different sets of footage.

For this reason, I chose not to watch the preview and will patiently wait until the whole spot is uploaded on YouTube or something. Call it lowering my expectations so I don't end up disappointed, but I really just want to be blown away by the experience.

Seriously, Thor. Is this highlighting your good side?
From Empire Magazine.

Because that's exactly what happened with the previous Marvel movies leading up to the big one. Aside from casting news, I had no prior inkling as to what to expect from the movies. I didn't see any of those movies' concept art, official behind-the-scenes pics, leaked photos from spectators on set, not even the publicity shoots for magazines. That's probably one of the reasons I enjoyed those movies. For example, this guy's cameo in this movie came as a total shock to me but was apparently reported earlier on.

As far as THE MOVIE is concerned, I don't mind the concept art or the mag shoots, but I do draw the line at the on-set photos, regardless if they're official or not. Why? Because I'd rather keep the magic and the surprise alive. I want to see the film and never think "Hey! I saw how they did that!"

In live action!

I guess I'm just wary because the trailer they released last year left me a little underwhelmed as I have already seen much of the footage thanks to the barrage of leaked and official photos from the Cleveland and New York shooting. BTW, The fact that I know their shooting locations is disturbing me to no end.

I don't know if all these publicity stunts is Marvel Studios' way of making sure interest in the movie remains hot considering they've done a successful job of keeping a tight lid on everything else, but I'm still not buying. I want to be shocked, awed, and blown outta my wits when I leave that movie theater. So I'm keeping myself free of previews, spoilers, and even speculations.

Concept art featuring the team, the Quinjet, and Stark Tower!

That's not gonna be easy considering:
a) I need to be kept abreast of promo art as well as new merchandise; and
b) I'm using my Tumblr to share news about anything and everything Avengers. Unfortunately I'm not the only one who's posting Avengers-related content.

If you haven't already, check out this hilariously impressive DIY take on the Avengers trailer!

UPDATE (Feb. 6): The extended Superbowl spot (1 MINUTE LONG AND ALL NEW FOOTAGE) is here and it blew me away! Success!

Here, Marvel. Take My Money.

2012-01-29T07:32:00.000-08:00

If you really wanna hurt me, this is where you'll do the most damage.

I'm already resigned to the fact that the next few months are gonna be particularly hard on my wallet. And it's not just because that gosh-darned movie would unleash hordes of merchandise that I would be powerless to resist, but it's also because I'm gonna have to rearrange, restructure, or worse - remodel my entire room just to fit them!

Anyway, here's a run down of the movie-related merchandise coming up in the next few months (or weeks) that I'm really looking forward to. Hopefully, my shops here in Manila would carry them so I won't have a hard time making acquisitions.

TOYS
I don't get individual figures and "assemble the team". I prefer getting the entire group in one set! But I just might make an exception with Hasbro's Marvel Universe.

For a complete list and picture gallery, visit the ToyArk forums.

If they don't have a set, that's okay. There's still the Quinjet, which comes with an Iron Man figure. I can just get this and collect everyone else individually.

I don't really play Heroclix, but they're coming up with a starter set.
More details from ComicBookMovie.com

Diamond Select Minimates Wave 44
Though not the movie versions, they're to be released in time for the movie.

Diamond Select Minimates Wave 45
This is gonna be tough as there are Toys R Us exclusives, and our local TRU shops don't even carry this.

Lego! ComicBookMovie has a complete listing of the sets.
Unfortunately, this means I'm gonna have two copies of some figures if I want to complete the whole set.

MiniMuggs spotted by members of the ToyArk forums.
Not as nicely packaged as last year's SDCC exclusive pack.

Funny thing about these things, especially for the Lego and Heroclix sets, are that the descriptions seem to reveal a bit more about the movie.

Flushies by Funko. They're cute, but I'm not too keen on getting them.

Pop! Marvel Vinyl Figure Bobble Heads. Also by Funko.

Wacky Wobbler Bobble Heads. Also by Funko.

TRADING CARDS

More info from ComicBookMovie.com
Not entirely sold on this, but who knows?

BOOKS

The Art of the Avengers HC and Slipcase. Details from ComicBookMovie.com

Of course, there are other merchandise that I have no intention of getting like the perfume set and the costumes.

Man and Machine, God and Monster

2012-01-22T06:20:00.000-08:00

I used to draw superheroes back when I was a kid up until I was in college, and I think I did okay at my best. If I were to draw again just so I can pay tribute to my favorite characters and add content to my long-neglected DeviantArt account, I'm gonna have to devote a lot of time just for practice. Unfortunately I was in a hurry last week as I wanted to put out material to draw attention to the fact that it was exactly 100 days before the movie hit Philippine cinemas. But thankfully I had other skills and talents to back up on.

So I played up my strengths as a professional copywriter and layout artist for a design / advertising agency to come up with materials that individualizes each member of the Avengers and really highlight their diversity. Well, the big four anyway.

I guess I was just disappointed that the posters for the movie aren't as dramatic or epic as they should be. I'm partly disappointed in myself that I can't find a word that also starts with the letter "M" for Thor. Well, actually, there is, but I have to use it for another set of materials I have coming up.

Anyway, do leave me a comment. Let me know what you think. And feel free to share away!

*All done using Magix Xara Photo and Graphic Designer 7*

Avengers Six: JARVIS!

2012-01-14T22:26:00.000-08:00

And here we are at the end of my 6-day countdown. Big thanks to everyone who followed my blogs!
I thought I'd save the best for last, and so we now have the Avengers' venerable butler: Edwin Jarvis!

If there is one character in the Avengers' long history that truly deserves superstar status, it's this guy. After all, he's been there since day one and will probably be there until the very end. If he dies somewhere along the line, his death will be mourned by fans more than Captain America, the Wasp or any other Avenger who ever was.

From United They Stand. Notice the "A" logo on the jacket sleeve.

I take it back: You can take away everything on this list (including the Quinjet) and just leave Jarvis with the most unlikely group of heroes and you'd still have Earth's mightiest!

From Mighty Avengers 21. No mansion, no Quinjet, no big three. Still every bit the Avengers! (Jarvis is the one with the red scarf.)

I mentioned how some of the items on this list humanizes the Avengers, and none more so than Jarvis himself. After all, the Avengers is primarily an organization. Not a family. Not a school. Yet with Jarvis around, the team manages to find its heart.

From Ultimate Avengers

You can have the most powerful sorcerer or cosmic entity on your squad and still need Jarvis around. After all, who can a leader like Captain America turn to for advice about matters like team dynamics than the one person who has seen virtually every incarnation and lineup of the group since the beginning? When the fate of the world rests on your shoulders, who else can you turn to for just a little unburdening?


On of my favorite chapters in the I Am An Avenger anthology is this touching Jarvis / Wolverine story.

That's probably my only complaint with the Marvel movies and the current cartoon: Jarvis is reduced to an AI. I wonder who they would've gotten to play him in the movies if they choose to portray him as a real person. I bet that would've been a hard role to cast!

Even the Transformers know who to ask. From Lilformers.

This is part 6 of 6 in a series of blogs about what I think makes the Avengers.
Part 5: The Charter!
Part 4: The Communicard!
Part 3: The Quinjet!
Part 2: The Mansion!
Part 1: The Battle Cry!

Avengers Six: The Charter

2012-01-13T22:56:00.000-08:00

Here is something that's not as tangible as the other items on this list, yet was the most convincing proof that Slott's Mighty Avengers was the superior of all the Avengers-related titles during the Dark Reign era.

From Mighty Avengers 24

Of course, that also means the New Avengers from the post-Civil War era up to the Heroic Age also had no claim to the name, which suits me just fine. I'll take any chance I get to write off Bendis' run as fan fiction or having taken place in another reality.

The first version of the Charter on Avengers Annual 11. Love the signatures! Read the rest of it here.

Several websites have reported that the Avengers are so far the only superhero team with their own Charter, which makes them really unique. Great! One more point for the A-team!

The second UN-sanctioned version of the Charter as it appeared on the Avengers 30th Anniversary Magazine. Already obsolete since the Avengers is no longer under the United Nations. Read the rest of it here.

With multiple squads of Avengers (along with SHIELD) now under the direction of Commander Rogers (himself not an original Avenger), it is unclear whether the Charter is still in effect. Like the Communicard, it hasn't been invoked in recent years (except for the brief mention above), and has neither been reprinted on the latest editions of the Avengers Handbook and Spotlight, nor the Ultimate Guide.

Click for more information about the Charter.

This is part 5 of 6 in a series of blogs about what I think makes the Avengers.
Part 4: The Communicard!
Part 3: The Quinjet!
Part 2: The Mansion!
Part 1: The Battle Cry!

Avengers Six: The Communicard!

2012-01-13T03:08:00.000-08:00

Sure, the X-men also have their mansion and their supersonic plane, but one thing the Avengers have that they and not even the Justice League don't is a membership card / ID / ATM card/ communicator!

I know: Who needs it when the X-men has a chockful of telepaths and the League has the Martian Mahunter to rally the troops? Well, I can't argue with that logic but how about when the the psychics aren't around? For everything else, there's the Avengers Communicard!

I guess I like the idea of having members carry this doohickey around as it makes the Avengers look more like a real world organization - something I can relate to since I used to lead orgs back in my college days. There's just something empowering about carrying a card that entitles you to all the privileges, benefits, and responsibilities of being part of something bigger than yourself.

Also known as the Identicard. They were giving these away as part of the promotion for Siege.

And the thing is: Even when they're not on active duty, any Avenger can still carry that card with them and be called upon to return to active service if needed! Yes, it still comes with all the perks like security clearances and 10% off at Starbucks! Sweet, right?

Of course we haven't seen the Communicards in use in the post-Disassembled era, not even during Slott's run on the Mighty Avengers (at least not that I recall). But I'm glad that it hasn't been forgotten - the current animated series features the Communicard and it even makes an appearance right on the opening credits! (It's on 00:14)

Actually, one of the projects I want to do is have Communicards printed for each and every Avenger that ever was. I think that would be cool to use as trading cards!

Stack of Communicards based on the cartoon used as entrance passes to the Marvel booth at the last NYCC.

I doubt they would, but I would be really happy if they have Communicards in the movie!

This is part 4 of 6 in a series of blogs about what I think makes the Avengers.
Part 3: The Quinjet!
Part 2: The Mansion!
Part 1: The Battle Cry!

Avengers Six: The Quinjet!

2012-01-12T04:01:00.000-08:00

Of course, the only recent news about the movie that I particularly care about is the concept art for the Quinjet.

I can't help but think that this actually part of a larger piece of art that's sure to set the Internet ablaze in the coming weeks, if not in the next few days. Anyway, the Quinjet, for me, is non-negotiable. If anyone's having anything to do with the Avengers, the Quinjet has to be there.

From Earth's Mightiest Heroes

Granted, it's first appearance was much later than the Mansion's (since issue 1), but it's use is actually far more practical. After all, unless you have Dr. Strange on your squad, how are you supposed to transport non-flying Avengers across the globe, let alone across the galaxy, to respond to a major threat?

From Next Avengers

So, yeah, the Quinjet does hold a somewhat iconic status for me similar to how their respective fan bases feel about the Star Destroyer or the Enterprise. So much so that for the longest time I've been looking for a toy or a model to add to my collection! Thankfully, the Superhero Squad line came up with this:

Yes, it's mine!

Which brings me to quite a puzzle: This toy, as well as the animated depictions, have shown the Quinjet capable of firepower. Yet, according to this site, the Quinjet has "no on-board weaponry". I have yet to find another material that confirms this, but from the behavior of the Quinjet in the comics, that looks to be about right.

The only other toy. From United They Stand. Not sure if this was ever released.

Yes, I know the Quinjet is not as iconic as the Batmobile or even the Blackbird - heck, sometimes I feel that slapping an "A" logo on any plane already makes it a Quinjet - but like the Mansion, the Quinjet adds a humanizing element to the mythos of Earth's Mightiest Heroes. Sometimes, it even acts like a character in an Avengers story - just like in Busiek's closing issue for Vol. 3, which also printed my very first fan letter to Marvel!

In a testament to Busiek's genius as a writer, this issue had the Avengers accounting for one Quinjet that was destroyed and one that was illegally parked.

This is part 3 of 6 in a series of blogs about what I think makes the Avengers.

Part 2: The Mansion!
Part 1: The Battle Cry!

Avengers Six: The Mansion!

2012-01-10T18:17:00.000-08:00

I've always felt that the Avengers Mansion is more than just Earth's Mightiest Heroes' HQ.

It's their home.

Members have used it as their personal base even when they're not in Avengers-related capacity, most notably Captain America right after he got unfrozen back in issue 4.

Baron Zemo tore through the Mansion and destroyed Cap's WWII memorabilia in the Under Siege storyline.

Sure, it's not as awesome or majestic as the Justice League's Satellite or Watch Tower, but there's something about heroes being based on ground level that makes them a little more human. Exactly the kind of thing Marvel goes for.

Actually, some of my most favorite issues are those that feature the Avengers just hanging around the Mansion, doing non-superhero things like, say, holding a barbecue.

*From I Am An Avenger No. 2

You can just imagine how disappointed I was when they had the Mansion destroyed during Disassembled with no plans of rebuilding. Instead, they housed the New Avengers at Stark Tower, which just didn't really click with me (see "ground level" sentiment above).

For years, I've endured the Avengers without the Mansion and it just didn't feel the same. The Mighty Avengers' dimension-hopping Infinite Avengers Mansion came quite close though.

Then the Heroic Age came and they brought the Mansion back, which was the only thing that got me excited about Bendis' run on Volume 2 of the New Avengers.
Then he had the place wrecked up again during the Annual, but apparently the damage isn't quite permanent as the Mansion now plays home to both the adjective-less and the New Avengers.

I would love for the movie to use the Mansion, but I highly doubt they will. Oh well. At least there's still the animated show.

Click here for more details about the Mansion, including schematics!

This is part 2 of 6 in a series of blogs about what I think makes the Avengers.
Part 1: The Battle Cry!

Avengers Six: Assemble!

2012-01-09T13:48:00.000-08:00

And, no - I don't mean these guys:

I mean, the six things that makes the Avengers who they are (at least in the Marvel universe). Until this weekend, I'll be posting one daily beginning with today's "AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!"

It took Stan Lee three issues to finally come up with the Avengers' iconic battle cry.
Interestingly, it also took each one of the big three to arrive at it!

*From Avengers Vol 1, No. 11

*From Avengers Vol 1, No. 12

*From Avengers Vol 1, No. 14

It finally made it into the cover and history by No. 16, which was also the first major shake up in the Avengers roster!

Props to ComicBookResources for the research!

PS: I was supposed to this as a 6-day countdown to the 100 days til the Avengers' local release, and it was supposed to start yesterday, but unfortunately, we didn't have Internet at home.

Yes, this post already appeared on my Tumblr.

Counting Down to the Avengers

2012-01-08T00:04:00.000-08:00

As much as I want to avoid hyping myself up, exposing myself to spoilers, then (*gasp*) end up getting disappointed, I can't help but feel that I should do something to really celebrate the release of the Avengers movie in my own way. After all, I have been a fan of the franchise for more than 10 years now, and I know that no matter how the movie eventually turns up, I will love it and support it anyway.

Hence this ambitious project of mine that I just launched today - 107 days from the Avengers movie, which hits local theaters on April 25. From now until then, my blog here, and on multiply and tumblr will cease to be called "Upload and Personal" and will be exclusively devoted to original Avengers-related content.

It will be full blast campaign that will affect all my social networks and will feature mostly tribute materials, news, reviews, opinions, videos, art, etc. not just about the upcoming movie, but anything and everything Avengers - from the comics to the shows, between and beyond. I've been thinking about doing this since middle of last year, and I think it's about time I get it under way.

So what do I have in store for the next four months?

Blogspot
- Personal stories, reviews, opinions, rants and raves, etc. The countdown widget is also there.

YouTube
- Vlog, tribute videos, event coverages

Facebook
- Just launched the Facebook Page for the countdown as well. It will consolidate all the updates from the various sites, and hopefully connect with other fans as well.

Google+ / PicasaWeb
- There's the Google+ Page for the project, which will also contain photo galleries

Tumblr
- Just news and reblogged content. Will also repost art and videos here, but mostly as a means to promote the campaign and blog. I'd like to include this platform as there is a community of fans on Tumblr (even if they're mostly Loki's, if not Steve-Tony shippers).

Flickr
- Original photography - toys, merchandise, costumes, events, etc.

DeviantArt
- ART! (Duh)

My Multiply will continue to be updated with the same content, and updates will also be broadcast on my personal Twitter and Plurk.
That reminds me: I set up the Facebook and Google+ Pages to keep my personal FB and G+ accounts... well, personal.

So there. Still working on the overhaul for most of the sites, as well as the original content I plan on sharing, but everything will be set up and ready by next week - just in time for the 100-day countdown! At least my FB cover photo is already updated!

Thank You, 2011

2012-01-01T04:00:00.000-08:00

I seemed to have lost the resolve to write a lengthy reflection of the year past and my expectation of the year ahead.
I find myself a bit overwhelmed because 2011 has been so awesome I can't quite wrap my head around it yet! How do you bid goodbye to the year that finally nailed the coffin on our Friendster accounts while giving us the Facebook timeline?
Well, here's one idea.

JANUARY
- Family reunion!
- Jovan's birthday at Big Sky Mind!
- Yale New Years Party!
- Geek Fight Team Yale Guest Night!
- UST's Quadricentennial!
- TRIP TO ILOCOS!
- PASSPORT RENEWED!

FEBRUARY
- Balloon Fiesta Trooping / Clark Trip!
- Watched Pat in Askals!
- New kitty!
- SDP wins 5/7 seats (including the presidency) in the ABSC elections
- TRIP TO CANADA!

MARCH
- Goodbye, Cowie
- KaCASA lost 5/7 seats (including the presidency) in the CASA elections
- Next to Normal with Gen, Shey, Jovan, Mark, Jay-R and Armi!
- Karaoke at the Hive!
- Racket with Allstar!
- Catch up with college friends at the Collective!

APRIL
- THOR! (Thanks Meann for the tix)
- Sir Joel's birthday at Centerstage Tomas Morato!
- Jon's birthday at Yale!
- Tal's birthday in Ortigas!
- GAME OF THRONES!

MAY
- CAGBALETE with college friends!
- Free Comic Book Day!
- Urim's Stag Party!
- Urim and Elaine's Wedding!
- Karen's birthday at her place!

JUNE
- 30 years of SDP
- X-men First Class! (Thanks Meann for the tix)
- Monopoly Deal tournament!
- Aida with Ingrid!
- The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber with Ingrid!
- Pat's birthday at Bowlers Makati!
- Nono's birthday at Big Sky Mind!
- Green Lantern with Gen and Icheb!
- Committee Geek Fight Anniversary!
- Nik's birthday at Big Sky Mind!
- JOINED GOOGLE+!

JULY
- Happy birthday Paul!
- Fund-raiser for Penny and Dexter!
- Urim and Elaine's Baby Shower!
- Started singing lessons at Manila Philharmonic!
- Karaoke with the Geeks at Chicago KTV
- Captain America with Ingrid!
- TRIP TO SINGAPORE!
- Captain America with Hec!
- The Lion King Musical with Gen, Ninay and Wilson!

AUGUST
- Anya's birthday at her place!
- Visiting and saying goodbye to COLF!
- Karaoke with Giselle!
- Rest in Peace, Lelay Odulio
- Zombadings with the geek friends!
- Happy birthday Joaquin and Clara's Baptism

SEPTEMBER
- In the Heights with Ingrid!
- Bon Voyage, Dek! (Big Sky Mind)!
- Bon Voyage, Zuri! (Ateneo)!
- All-4-One/Color Me Badd with Anya!
- Racket with Leo Burnett!
- Rest in Peace, Tita Baby Rosero
- Macy's birthday at her house!
- Reunion with Center for Arts
- Hanna's birthday at her place!

OCTOBER
- Hanging out with CashCashPinoy peeps!
- Phantom of the Opera 25th Anniversary with Mama!
- Urim's birthday at Big Sky Mind!
- MY 30TH BIRTHDAY WEEKEND!
- TRIP TO HONG KONG!
- Welcome back, Hec and Alec!
- Hec and Carl's birthday at Last Home!

NOVEMBER
- Rej's surprise birthday party at Roseroland!
- Welcome back, Lola!
- Welcome home, Tita Vicky and Tita Bubbles!
- Rest in Peace, Sunny "Juice" Kompleto
- Danes' birthday at Krispy Kreme The Fort!
- Ryan and Jacqui's wedding!
- Lost phone!
- Photoshoot for GISHWHES!

DECEMBER
- HOSPITAL! SURGERY! APPENDECTOMY!
- New phone! New number!
- Raket with RCG!
- Adam's birthday at Papa John's Makati!
- Office X-mas party!
- X-mas party with the Trekkies!
- X-mas party with the Troopers!
- Holiday get-together with college friends at Spazzio!

I also did a lot of growing up in 2011. While 2010 was about making up for lost time, 2011 became more about owning up to my past mistakes - like finally revealing my dark years as an out-of-school youth and my true origins as a kid growing up in the province.
It was also a year of progression. I realized how much I've gone from that awkward boy who thought he'd never find true friends to that man whose friends accept him for who he is. With these revelations and realizations, I've also achieved a great deal of confidence. I allowed myself to win and celebrate my victories. I know now what I'm doing as far as my career is concerned. Heck, I even traveled to a foreign country all by myself!
Speaking of, traveling was never on my list of things to do for 2011, but that's probably what I would remember the most: The year of the new passport and the foreign travels!

All these blessings and invigorated confidence leave me feeling a bit more invulnerable and invincible. I feel like it's prepping me up for when I have to deal with major disappointments somewhere down the road. I now feel more ready to take on whatever life and fate has to throw at me.

I hope 2012 would be more awesome, but just in case, I'll always have 2011. Well 2012 is bound to be epic for me anyway - at least on two VERY IMPORTANT fronts:
The Avengers movie.
And the last Wheel of Time book - A Memory of Light.
(*Both of which are absent from my 2011 list*)

So bring it on, 2012! I'm ready for you!

*PS: Not that I forgot the little things - like the books I've read, the shows I started following, etc. It's just that I have similar subjects I want to blog about and they could easily fall into those topics.

So I woke up in the middle of surgery...

2011-12-06T23:57:00.000-08:00

...and other fears realized in a span of one day.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Exactly a week ago I was enjoying a non-working but productive holiday that ended when I decided to sleep off what I thought were the onset of hunger pangs at midnight. A couple of hours later I woke up with all hell breaking loose! My entire tummy was on fire!

It took all of my strength to get up out of bed and go to the bathroom for any "unloading" that might help ease the pain in either solid, liquid, or gaseous form. I also did the laying down on my stomach thing. I was rewarded for all my effort by the easing and subsiding pain in my sides. I was hoping I can just sleep the rest of it away and maybe take a halfday from work. Except the remaining pain would not let me sleep. And when I can't sleep, my mind wanders, and so does my hand. I had begun to think that this was more than just a gastric thing. After some careful prodding, I found it. My stomach was hurting all over, but there was one spot where it hurt the most: On the lower right abdomen.

I already knew then what was happening but I just told my mom that I'm going to the hospital because my tummy aches. To my surprise, she decided to accompany me. This scene was actually a rerun of an incident from mid-2007: Same scenario - me writhing in stomach pain and telling her I have to go to the hospital. I took a cab by myself to the UST Hospital emergency room where nurses immediately took lab tests of my liquids while doctors poked and prodded my stomach. Come daylight, the pain was gone (with no medication to boot) and all the doctors could say was that "It may have been appendicitis but the problem was not surgical in nature yet". I was back at the office the same morning.

Since that incident I have prepared myself for the eventuality of a repeat performance. I read up on the appendix, and pretty much understood what all the poking was about! Last week's rerun happened pretty much the same way, except my mom was with me, we went to UERM instead, and when the doctor arrived to do the poking, fears 1 and 2 materialized.

Fear #1: Yes, it's appendicitis. According to my blood tests, my white blood cells are on overdrive - they're fighting an infection and my bloody red and crusting sore right eye, which I also unfortunately contracted the day before, isn't enough to cause it. It was the only indication as none of the tell-tale symptoms materialized - my urine test didn't yield anything nasty, I wasn't feverish, they were bending my legs to check if anything would hurt and pressing my abdomen to check if it would hurt upon release. Nada! Zilch!

Fear #2: My age has become a liability. I believe the doctor's exact words were "Because of YOUR AGE and history (the mid-2007 incident), you're at a higher risk." I was 25 when I had my first run-in and I just turned 30 barely two months ago! How was this happening to me?!

When the threat of an invasive surgery became real, so did fear #3: Being unprepared to handle the expenses. When the doctor laid it down that surgery is the order of the day, my mom asked if I was prepared. Did she mean financially prepared? I just got back from Hong Kong a month ago, I just lost my phone, and was paying debts acquired months before. So, no, I wasn't She actually meant if I was mentally prepared. Oh, that I definitely was. I've thinking about this moment since the 2007 incident and was actually very calm about it.

So we opted to get admitted to the Charity Ward as we couldn't afford my own room and what got me wasn't contagious anyway. I had vomitted twice that morning: Once before they fitted me with an IV bag and once after. The second time was nastier as all I could barf out was bitter yellow bile. They stuck me with a pain killer that did not seem to work - I was still in so much pain. At least until I got to my bed at the Charity Ward to await my operation.

Maybe it was the air conditioning in the Emergency Room, but the pain seemed to have dissipated at the Charity Ward. By that afternoon, cooled only by electric fans, I started having second thoughts about going through with it as I was suprisingly feeling better. But I thought if it doesn't happen now, it's going to come back with a vengeance at some point. Get it over with now before it gets complicated. Thankfully I was able to sleep that afternoon before I had my operation that early evening.

As they were wheeling my stretcher to the operating room, I wondered what my mom thought. This is only the second time she's seen me at the hospital other than the time I was born after all! Was she more nervous than I was? Frankly I was excited! I can notch it up to my list of new experiences this year and it would relieve me of this pain and anxiety! Plus: Being stark naked under the gown was oddly liberating! I knew I was gonna come out of it okay, so I wasn't afraid of never waking up. If anything, I was more afraid of waking up in the middle of surgery!

Which brings us to fear #4.

I don't know when I lost consciousness, but I remember waking up on the operating table. I couldn't open my eyes and I couldn't feel anything but I know my arms were spread out. I don't know if they had sliced me open already and were in the middle of extracting that demanding but useless vestigial organ, but I felt the freezing cold! My chest and arms were shaking. My teeth were chattering. And I can hear! I did hear someone say that it was too cold. One even noticed that I was shivering. I panicked more at the thought of being conscious through the rest of the operation in this frigid madness not being able to do anything than being conscious as they cut through to my innards. Fortunately, that lasted only a matter of minutes and the next thing I knew I was at the recovery room, unable to feel my legs. So this was what paraplegia felt like. It wasn't a fear I had come to life but it was still disconcerting.

They told me that for the anesthesia to wear off completely so I can move my legs, I had to breathe deep and exhale. Unfortunately, since I started taking singing lessons and learned proper breathing technique, "breathing deep" for me involves the expansion of my stomach - exactly where they had just patched me up! So I had to breathe through my chest and lungs again, but I kept dozing off, so it took quite a while before I could move my legs again. When I finally lifted both knees, they sent me back to the Charity Ward where I spent the next two days recovering.

It's been a week since the operation. I'm okay now, resting and recovering at home. The staff of UERM really did a good job looking after me. Of course, my concern now is: Will it leave a scar? Will I get fat after this? That latter part is actually fear #5. Here's hoping it doesn't materialize.

Poster Boy

2011-11-20T15:29:00.001-08:00

So I haven't even blogged about the Avengers this entire year at all, and a lot has certainly gone down already what with next year's movie certainly boiling things up. While I try my darnedest not to keep up or get affected by all the hype, it's another story when it comes to all the merchandise that have recently sprung up (riding on the coattails of the movie, of course). And since Bendis' fan fiction of the franchise is an exercise in self-torment to continuously follow, building up my collection helps keep me in the fandom.

There's really not much of a story there since I've been pretty lucky so far. Just check out how I was able to complete last year's wish list. However, there was one acquisition that I enjoy telling the story of because of its scale! It all started with this post on the National Bookstore Facebook Page.

When I found out about it, they were already announcing the winner. But I was determined to get a copy of that poster or at least a soft copy of the art. To that end, I posted a question on some of my comic book groups on Facebook asking if anybody knew where the art from the poster was. It was one of the responses that got me my first lead: the Singapore Toy, Game & Comic Convention where it was given away for FREE!

A quick google search led me to this picture:

Which led me to this blog, and to this Facebook account! It's the only image of it that's available online. I tried to spot the signature of the artist from the photo to no avail. So I did the last logical thing to do: Contacted the owner of this very poster and offered to buy it from him, but no - I should've known better than to think a fellow geek will part with a limited edition FREE print for money. He wished me luck on the hunt, though.

While I wasn't quite back to square one, I was completely out of leads. In desperation, I posted the photo on my FB wall asking people for leads in exchange for my soul. Manny pointed out that there was a Hasbro event on the same day I posted it, which I knew about but didn't bother to go to, and guess what? They were giving away the poster for FREE! Another missed opportunity.

In one final act of desperation, I emailed everyone on the STGCC Contact Us page asking them if they still have some leftover copies that I can buy! At least tell me where they got it or who the artist was! I wasn't expecting anyone to respond, but one of them did, telling me that I can get a copy for FREE from their office! All I needed was to work out the logistics, which basically meant asking some SG-based friends to pick it up for me!

I first asked my college friend Ninay because I knew she was about to fly back here, but she got sick so she wasn't able to pick it up for me. Next person I asked was fellow geek Hec who, as it turns out, works so close to the office where the posters were to be picked up from! I was expecting just 1 copy, but Hec said there were 11 posters plus bigger ones for the Captain America movie, which I didn't care for so I asked Hec to do with them as he pleased. Another geek friend, Mark, visited SG a few days later and brought the posters back. I didn't get them from him when we met up several days later as it was raining. The next time I saw my posters and finally brought them home was exactly on my birthday just last month! How timely!

It's not the most adventurous end that a fan has gone to to build their collection, but it's certainly the most insane I've ever done for my fandom! I still can't believe the length I've gone to for a poster! Right now, the posters (all 9 of them - I gave 1 each to Hec and Mark for their troubles) are tucked away while I figure out where to put one up in my room!

By year's end I'll probably blog about how the collection has grown, and update this entry from 4 years ago (wow!). In the meantime, Avengers Assemble!

Birthday Weekend

2011-10-19T08:28:00.000-07:00

First of: May I just say I love how I can post to Blogspot straight from Picasa? Google FTW!!!

Anyway, so I had a very hectic weekend, which began last Friday and continued on until Sunday. I turned 30 and yes, it's a bit of a big deal. I guess what most people dread about turning 30 is the expectations - career-wise, family-wise, etc. I don't know if that was ever my problem as: a) my family has never really pressured me to be anything really; and b) I spit at the expectations that society place upon me!

I suppose I'm just afraid of getting old, of being weighed down by physical and societal limitations. I just barely started over and I'm still a work in progress. And I like it like that. I like that I'm still growing and discovering new stuff about myself and the world around me.
But the pessimist in me feels that I'm not going to make a career out of all the new things I'm re-learning (like music, singing, art, and dance for example).
And the realist believes that the opportunities that would have been available to me at 25 and under are nil at 30 onwards - even if the 30 year old me is smarter and more talented.
Yet the optimist knows that I'm going to keep trying and learning anyway - because guess what? I still can! Damn all the odds!
I suppose I just want to stay young and foolish, wide-eyed and hopeful. I don't ever want to hear myself say "I can't anymore!"
So when they say that growing old is mandatory and growing up is optional, I would rather have it the other way around because growing up comes naturally to me. I keep making mistakes and owning up to them. I keep wanting to discover and explore. I'm perpetually a kid. I'm just genetically engineered to stay young forever.
I mean, just look at me. I'm hot stuff! (Something I never would have said 2 - 3 years ago!)
Best decision I ever made was to take better care of myself: quit smoking, get a job that was fulfulling but not stressful, cut back on oil and carbs, and get enough sleep. I still have a 29-30 inch waistline and I intend to keep it that way!
So turning 30 can suck my dick cause I don't look and feel like it!

I'd say this though: I wouldn't trade what I have now for the chance to go back to my younger self.
Just look at what I have:

Finally having friends who indulge my delusions and make me feel like a star.

Finally opening my home and share my personal space with friends I've known the longest.

Finally ridding myself of the guilt with friends I felt that I've lied to for 10 years!

Finally having a healthier relationship with my family!

Turning 30 in a Few Hours

2011-10-13T05:10:00.000-07:00

If you've been following me on Tumblr (Or on Facebook or Twitter for that matter), you'd have probably noticed a series of photos I've been uploading daily over the past few days, starting with the one of me and my mom when I was born.
It's sort of like a countdown to my birthday, which is just a few hours away actually.
And it's not just any birthday.
I'm turning 30.

I'd like to give this entire campaign a deeper meaning like being "a look back on the past 30 years and seeing how far I've come" kind of deal but I just know it's a load of bull. I'm just an attention whore. Period.

In any case, notice that all of the pictures I've posted are scanned photos back from when digital imaging was but a dream. The thing is that from 2005 onwards, which is about when I was 23 years old, all pictures of me were from digicams already and exist somewhere on the web in one way or another. So I thought the scanned pics (most of them scanned straight from the negatives) are most likely a surprise to some people, especially to my friends now. I was interested in how people would react to old photos of me. (What part of "attention whore" is hard to understand?)

Anyway, do visit my tumblr account and go through the photos if you like.

In the meantime, in honor of turning 30, I shall leave you with a couple of photos I had taken at a studio when I turned 21, specifically so I can remember how I looked like back then in case I turned out differently somewhere down the road. Yes, I know look awkward in these photos and it's not really something I should share or be proud about, but hey! That was me at 21.

I actually don't see much of a difference between these guys and me now.
Whether that's a good or a bad thing remains to be seen.
Here's to turning 30.

4 Medals and a Trophy

2011-08-29T06:36:00.000-07:00

Thank goodness for long weekends for the time to get stuff done and be able to blog about it. I haven't blogged in a while and this entry is one of those I've been wanting to share for the longest time.

You see, one of my issues in high school was that I never got to be awarded anything. I tried joining drawing and writing contests but never once placed. Blame it on the amount of great talent we had in Community of Learners. We're a small school, mind you, so it's easy to get noticed if you're brilliant in one way or another.

It's also easy to feel mediocre and unimportant.

It didn't help that I played no sports nor was I academically gifted. I loved doing productions and plays but I'm always relegated among the red shirts. I never really shone at anything!

This frustration was among the reasons I chose to delay college after junior year and fly to Canada to finish my high school (and ideally my life) there.

It was a good call on my part.

About 2 years later, I came back to Manila and enrolled in DECS' home study program. Upon graduation, I clenched my very first medal: 3rd honor (among hundreds of graduates). Not bad considering I didn't have any tutors at all. I would've been first honor and the other two above me would have been Valedictorian and Salutatorian. Sadly, schools are only allowed one of each and since our school had "regular" students as well, those titles belonged to them. A little trivia: Our first honor was actress Dimples Romana.

After that little victory, I knew I was ready for college. So off to UST I went. I had so many plans and things I wanted to pursue, but there was one I did not realize I was even decent at: Debating! Which gave me my 3 other medals.

I had encountered debaters my freshman year mostly because of my political activities. By my sophomore year, I decided to give it a shot and voila! There I was representing Communication Arts (CA) for 2002's AB Debate Series! I was winning my rounds and inching my way to the finals and snagging the 3rd best speaker slot.

However, my promising debating career had to give way to my career in student politics, which was bubbling by then. I won my first election and was holding other positions, so I didn't have much time to debate anymore. I did represent CA again in my junior year though - as a cheerdancer! We placed 1st runner-up!

By the end of my junior year, everyone expected me to run for the student council - an opportunity I've been waiting for since freshman year but ultimately turned down to run for CASA instead. I guess my campaign was bolstered by my winning my first and only trophy: Best Male Presenter of the very first Junior AdQuest, which happened the weekend before the start of campaign season.

Best Male Presenter, 1st Junior AdQuest (2004)

I had never felt like a break out star before or since - getting recognition, earning medals, winning elections. I was on fire!

My last two medals were from senior year. I had to represent CA again for the 2004 AB Debate Series because we had a shortage of members needed to complete the roster. I was awarded 7th best speaker, which is way below the 3rd I won the last time I competed, but it was just deserving. I wasn't training after all, and there were others who did really great during that tournament.

My last medal was for representing my college, the Faculty of Arts and Letters, in the 2005 Crossfire Debate Competition, which was a debate show televised around the campus. Our team managed to make it to the finals but lost to UST High Shool. Again, it wasn't a big loss because we weren't training for it as hard as the other team did, but we gave a good debate. I couldn't have asked for a better round to cap off my career and my college life.

(L-R: 3rd Honor, HS Grad 2001, DECS RESPCI; 3rd Best Speaker, AB Debate Series 2002; 7th Best Speaker, AB Debate Series 2004; Finalist, Crossfire Debate Tournament 2005)

This is definitely a case of "it will come to you when you're ready". It took some time but I got there. I have 4 medals, which I've been meaning to frame for the longest time that I only got around to doing now, and a trophy to display in my room.

Yes, they may not be the ultimate awards, but I did get the ultimate reward: Confidence not to feel mediocre and unimportant anymore. Don't know if and when I'll be able to snag medals and a trophy again, but I'd like to celebrate what I have.

Cheater, Theater

2011-06-26T07:56:00.000-07:00

Everyone knows that I've been pretty much watching what I eat because as we grow older, our metabolism tends to slow down and yes! I am a sizist. I do not care for big bellies at all. Of course, it would be nice to pair up my conscious dieting with calorie-burning activities but I'm too much of a wuss to engage in anything physical (except dancing).

In any case, I decided yesterday while I was at the mall that it was going to be my cheat day. I've been a good boy for quite a few weeks actually and successfully cut my beer and rice intake down, so I thought why not. So I got a pair of Hawaiian pizzas from Pizza Hut, a regular serving of curry-flavored fries from Potato Corner, a donut from Gonuts Donuts. The encore was a Miguelito's Fried Ice Cream, which I've been curious about for years but never tried. What I thought was a meager conservative serving at P40 turned out to be this:

That's "fried" chocolate ice cream with chocolate sprinkles, some choco chip cookies, and solid slabs of white chocolate all topped with oozing caramel syrup. I couldn't finish it. I wanted to puke halfway through. I was pretty disgusted at myself.

In other news, I caught Atlantis' production of the Tim Rice/Elton John musical Aida last Thursday night (right as the storm was brewing) courtesy of my good friend Ingrid.

To be honest, it wasn't that good a show as I expected. Don't get me wrong: The musical performances were still great, but coming from someone familiar with the soundtrack, that's to be expected. I guess I enjoyed it because I was experiencing one of my favorite soundtracks live. I'm not certain if anyone not familiar with the music would appreciate it as well.

Ima Castro had the vocal chops, sure, but I never once believed that she was an enslaved Nubian princess. Nor did I believe that Myke Salomon was an Egyptian military commander. Nor did I believe that they were ever in love with each other. Of all the main players, I only believed that Rachel Alejandro was a ditzy Egyptian Queen who eventually comes into her own.

Alas, even the supporting cast didn't fare any better with the exception of Alys Serdenia who was very captivating as Nehebka (She would've made the perfect Aida IMHO). Rachel's own father Hajji failed to convince me that he's a diabolical architect. Also: There was one note from one of his character's repertoire that I was really looking forward to hearing live (which, done right, would've had the same impact as Wicked's Defying Gravity). That fell flat, but that was far from the most unforgivable part of the show.

That honor fell to Josh Santana as Mereb whose performance kept making me cringe in my seat. Everytime he speaks, I felt like I was watching some campus play, which would've offended me if I paid for my ticket. Same goes for watching the male chorus members dancing as Egyptian soldiers. I can't tell if it's the choreography or the execution because the Nubian scenes (which involved the same actors in dual roles) were performed quite beautifully.

I guess the spectacular set design and the rousing vocal numbers (The Dance of the Robe and The Gods Love Nubia come to mind) were the saving graces of this show, which is not really saying anything because I've always known Atlantis to be uncompromising. Well, I hope they ironed the kinks out. That was their very first show anyway, which was more for the benefit of the press.

Lastly, I caught the matinee of The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber earlier today. Again, thanks to Ingrid. My first time to watch anything at the CCP Main Theater and I have to say: Anywhere you sit there would be okay. The sound carries through and you can still make out the performers' faces even if we were seated to the side 4-5 rows from the back.

Pic c/o Ingrid

We got in a tad late and missed the first song, but we saw everything else. Eight performers did select songs from Webber's long repertoire, among them Evita, Jesus Christ Superstar, Phantom of the Opera, Sunset Boulevard, among others I'm not quite familiar with (which I shall now rectify). My favorite part was the Cats medley, which closed Act I to roaring applause.

The show felt short for a revue. I wanted to hear As If We Never Said Goodbye and Ingrid wanted to hear Unexpected Song but I guess it's okay. We had a couple of encore performances, which left my palms quite numb from all the applauding I had to do.

So that's been my stormy last few days. My only drama was my laptop's power brick dropping to the floor as our house got flooded (again). Yes, it was charging. Yes, it short circuited. Yes, it's now useless. Yes, I got a replacement already.

Final (ly) Fantasy

2011-06-19T10:41:00.000-07:00

    As always, this is a long overdue blog. Not because I've been putting off writing it, but because I had only about an hour ago met the condition with which I intended to herald my writing this entry.

    I finally finished Final Fantasy IV Advance on my Gameboy Micro.

    As most things concerning me and my geek cred go, this is one of those long time coming scenarios.

    Try about 11 years.

    I had already explained the significance of this game in one of my YouTube videos, but I'll break it down for this blog anyway. Cue magic sparkles and sprinkler music.

    So 11 years ago I was an American-born Filipino bumming around in Canada at the home of my cousins - one of whom just happened to be a huge Backstreet Boys fan, especially of Nick Carter (as all teenage girls at the time were). I can't quite quote the source but there was a rumor that circulated about Nick playing a character called Cloud in an FF adaptation. As my cousins had a SNES unit, they went ahead and rented FFII (which was what FFIV was known in North America) from the local cartridge shop not knowing that Cloud was not in this version of the game.

This was also around the same time I discovered fantasy books, so my head was constantly swirling with knights, dragons, magic and all these things. Also, my experience with console games at the time was limited to sidescrollers. I have heard of Role Playing Games, but it was always in the context of pen, paper, and dice games that the kids from my high school never invited me to play.

Given these conditions, a kid like me discovering a console RPG with a story rooted primarily on medieval fantasy was the closest I got to my own Neverending Story. I was hooked from the start and it helped that I got to hog the SNES all day because my cousins were at school. Since we only had the cartridge for about a week, I was on that game from the moment I woke up until when my cousins came home. I got through the torture of waiting by reading more books and creating my own world.

Keep in mind: This was a time when walkthroughs weren't readily available online so I really had to navigate my way through the game with no help at all. It was both frustrating and liberating, and every level I succeed in just drove me forward.

Sadly, I never got to finish the game. I guess I took too long figuring some levels out and I think we also had to return the cartridge earlier than expected as we were set to go on a road trip to Seattle (which in itself was a fantasy journey for another time). Though I remember I got as far as the moon, which was more than halfway through the game.

Flash forward to late 2008. I can't remember why but I was obsessed with getting a Gameboy Micro, the 20th Anniversary Edition even. I'm no hardcore gamer, but I guess it was for people like me that the GBM was made for. I got mine brand spanking new at Greenhills for a fraction of the mall price with two free cartridges to boot (which was a complete surprise). I had done no prior research as to which games were available, but when I saw the FFIV Advance cartridge there, I had the inkling that it was the game I abandoned 9 years prior.

True enough it was. There's a reason why it had changed numbering but I'm not gonna get into that. As soon as I got home, I started playing it and eventually got farther than where I left the SNES version. For some reason I still didn't get to finish it. I think the levels got too hard.

Sometime later I got an EZ-Flash IV game cart, which opened me to 2gb worth of GBA roms, including an RPG specifically made for the Advance: Golden Sun and its sequel The Lost Age, which got me through the bleak period of 2009. Then last year I loaded the game cart with all the FF Advance roms, including FFIV, but for one reason or another, still neglected to finish the game. However, I did finish FF1 and the real FF2.

     Then we come to 2011, specifically last March when, on the plane to my Canadian vacation, I decide to start playing FFIV again from the beginning with the express purpose of finishing the game at the same place where I started playing it. It would've been dramatic and poetic.

    Except that I failed.

    Then life and other priorities took over and I found myself only weeks ago deciding to level my characters up so they can defeat the final boss once and for all. As I do this and my characters keep discovering new powers they didn't have before, it dawned on me that maybe it's not them but me who wasn't ready to win yet. I didn't work or prep them hard enough for the final battle.

    Earlier, as I was contemplating what to do with the rest of the night, I decided that I wasn't going to let another day go by that this game remains unfinished. I have confronted and vanquished my own personal demons and have learned to live with and let go of the past, including the dark, idle days of 11 years ago. It was just time.

    So there I was in battle with Zeromus the final boss of FFIV. There were times when I thought I would lose and start over again, but ultimately I prevailed with all my characters alive.

    As I watch the cut scene afterward I felt like I was saying goodbye to old friends. After all, these were characters I've known way before I was a fan of the Avengers or the Wheel of Time. I guess there's still some drama and poetry to the timing what with my recently invigorated sense of self-worth and confidence.

    It's done. I finally won.

Blame Canadia

2011-04-03T08:29:00.000-07:00

This past week, I've been editing and uploading the videos I took of my trip to Canada last month. I've so far updated my Youtube channel with the first half of the trip and I plan to finish everything by this week. The thing is I haven't really seen the extent my footage until I finally sat down and compiled them together to tell the story of the trip.

It's been fun recalling what those two weeks have been like, and I think it's about time that I put this blog together. I've been meaning to write this since the last day of the trip but I just kept putting it off. Not anymore.

A lot of my friends know that I've spent a couple of years in Canada - particularly the years before I went to college in UST. This leads people to assume that I'm as Canadian as Robin Scherbatsky is. In actuality, I'm an American owing to my birthplace being California. The only reason I was in Canada was because the only family I have in the States are those of my father's, and being an illegitimate child, the potential for drama is just ludicrous.

It's all right there!

So 13 years ago, I flew way up north where people are apparently afraid of the dark to stay with my Grandma, my aunt and my cousins. Thew idea was for me to finish high school there. Halfway through that, we discovered that due to me being of the stars-and-stripes and not of the maple leaf, I really shouldn't be studying or even living in Canada.

Who's an illegal alien on account of being American? Only me.

Eventually I was deported back to California where, in the most awkward of situations, I had to stay with my oldest half-brother's family who I had only met the year before. It also just happened to be my 17th birthday. What a lucky kid right? How many people can say that they got to spend their birthday on two different countries?

At the time, a younger half-brother was about to get married and dad was flying over from the Philippines. He laid it down: I couldn't be at the wedding and I can't stay with his family any longer. So he somehow arranged for me to come back to Canada while all the adults on both sides of my family figure out what to do with me since going back to Manila was not an option.

I was the Ryan Lafferty to my dad's family.

So I stayed in Canada for about another year or so. Not studying. Hiding from Canadian immigration. Doing nothing productive with my life but daydream, write and draw. Though I did come up with some of my best stories during that tumultuous time. How many American-born Filipinos are in Canada and how many can say that about themselves?

I haven't renewed my passport since it expired 8 years ago. What a difference a long time makes.

Eventually, when things were going nowhere, I decided to just quit the whole thing and come back to Manila. By this time, I had become more angst-ridden. The thing I hated most about the whole mess was how everything was a matter of circumstance. So, no, I don't really blame Canadia (as my friends fondly call it).

It's been 11 years since that dark period and I'm proud to say that I managed to pick myself up and got my life together. When I found out earlier this year that I was going back to Canada to accompany my grandmother, the bittersweet memories of those years came rushing back. Yet I was excited. After all, I haven't been out of the country since then.

All set! Not quite.

Of course, no out-of-country trip is ever complete without my American citizenship giving me trouble. This time with Philippine immigration. At least I know it was my fault and not circumstance.

See you at the Rainbow Bridge, Cowie

2011-03-17T07:49:00.000-07:00

I wish this was the blog about how spectacular my recent trip to frigid Canada had been but it's not.

This is the blog about my dog, Cowie.
The one who passed away a couple of days ago.
I've often heard of stories about dogs who get depressed when their master had been gone for a long time. In any of the stories I've heard, the dog ultimately lost the will to live.

Yet I've been told that you can talk to your dog and assure them that you will be back. And against all sense of reason, they will understand.

I had the talk with her before I left. If she understood, there was no way for me to know. But I thought it would be enough.

Apparently not.

When I arrived at the house last Monday morning, she was the first thing I wanted to see. I expected her to meet me at the gate, wagging tail and fussing over the luggage I brought with me. Two calls later and she still wasn't there.

Finally, my mom came out and told me she's been weak, frail and not eating for the past few days. She said to go see her and let her know I've come back.
So I did. There she was under my mom's bed, but for the wagging tail, nothing else let me know that she was happy to see me again. She was so thin and fragile but I had to move her to my room.

She was born in that very same room 10 years ago. That's when I found that my dog just decided to give birth in the comfort of my bed. I thought the little disgusting sac was stillborn but she cleared it up and that's when I got a clearer view of her first pup: A precious little white thing with splotches of brown and black that reminded me of a cow. Hence the name.

Ten years later, on the floor of the bed is where she would take her final breath after days of dehydration and malnutrition.

Perhaps she thought it was her fault and that I abandoned her.
I couldn't help thinking the same. Maybe it was my fault. Maybe I abandoned her. Maybe I shouldn't have been gone for so long. After all, two weeks is a long time in a dog's life.

Now she's gone.
The hardest part is going through my old routines and realize she's not there anymore.
Having to wake up on my own every morning because she's not there promptly at 6am poking her nose and her paws in my face, making sure I'm up.
I still set aside leftovers from lunch and dinner only to realize she's not there to lap them up heartily.
I keep expecting she's still there outside the bathroom door waiting for me to finish, but no she's not there.
Just like she's not there when I come home from work. Yet I'm still careful when I open the door because she might be behind it just waiting to pounce on me and pull me down just so she can lick my face.
She's not there when I open a bag of bread loaf. Wherever she is in the house, whenever I open that bag, I just know she'd come running. I'd tear up the first slice, throw each piece up in the air, and she would always catch them. If I give her an entire slice, she would lie down, piece of bread cupped in both paws, and munch it like a regular person.
What I miss the most is when she just sits down, one paw stretched, waiting for me or anyone to shake her paw. I don't know she picked up that habit but she's the only one of my dogs to have done so.

Her passing marks the end of the dog era in the house. After losing four dogs in two years, I took me a while to muster up the courage to watch "Marley and Me". When I finally did early last, she was there while I cried over that movie. Now she's not here as I cry over this entry.

You stuck with me the longest, and I'm sorry that I wasn't around for the last two weeks of your life. Thank you for everything and goodbye. I love you.

Journeys Part 3: The Narnian Chronicles

2011-02-14T08:53:00.000-08:00

*The last of a three-part series.

Long overdue. That's all I can say about this blog post and about having only read CS Lewis' seven-book series just now. Being a fantasy and mythology nut, Narnia has always been in my periphery but I have never ventured there. I remember the first time I even heard of it was sometime between 7th grade and 1st year high school when Pog and Duffie were talking about it. Of course I couldn't relate.

Fast forward to a decade later and the movie version of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe came out and blew me away. Since then, I've always wanted to read the books but it's either I find loose volumes that would be missing a book or two or the complete boxed set would just be too expensive.

Then Prince Caspian came out and I loved it.

Then Voyage of the Dawn Treader came out and I loved it.

After three movie adaptations, I finally thought it time to play catch up. Funny thing is I made a spontaneous decision to finally buy all seven books when I spotted them at National Bookstore Santa Mesa while doing some Christmas shopping last year. I wanted to get my oldest niece started on building her library and I thought Narnia would be a great place to start. But when Dawn Treader came out, well, my niece got the complete Hunger Games trilogy instead.

She finished those books in a week's time!

My journey through Narnia started early December and lasted until late January. Narnian fans would chastise me for this but I read the books in the order of how the edition I bought were numbered - chronologically. Yep, unlike die-hard Narnians I know, my travels began with the Magician's Nephew.

What I discovered was a world that was as familiar as it was mysterious. Here was a fantasy world that was a welcome break from all the grim fairy tales of modern high fantasy series like the Sword of Truth, A Song of Ice and Fire, and (yes, I admit) even the Wheel of Time! I keep wanting to explore more and more of this land that Aslan the magnificent lion created every time I close a chapter. More so when I finish a book!

Narnia was also the last in a list of things that I missed growing up and made up lost time for last year. That list includes playing Final Fantasy I and 2 and reading Weiss and Hickman's Dragons of Autumn Twilight - both similar works of high fantasy! Also on the list is reading Watchmen and The Catcher in the Rye.

I don't know how or why I missed these things, but I guess that explains how I managed to hold on to every bit of youth I have left: I still have a lot of stuff to make up for and so many experiences to try! Case in point: My recent trips to Ilocos and Clark with some very close friends elicited moments of pure, seething unadulterated enthusiasm on countless occasions! Like being transported through Calormen, Archenland, the Eastern Ocean and the northern realms of Narnia, I often found awe wherever I went. Thankfully I still have the energy to wander and explore.

I'm glad I didn't grow up soon enough. Else I never would have appreciated Narnia at my age. It would've been nice to have cheerful memories of growing up with the books but that's okay. That just means I still get to be a friend of Narnia. Afer all, I actually like my trip there better than my travels to Middle Earth or Hogwarts.

One last thing about my trip to Narnia was that even if I didn't pick up the Christian themes as much, the books have given much to think about faith. I have to believe that there must be a reason why fate brought me on that journey only recently. If I didn't miss out on this great adventure growing up, I probably would've never thought to introduce Narnia to my nieces and nephews.

That's right. Having finally finished The Last Battle as soon as I got home from my Ilocos trip, I finally gave my books way to their rightful owner: My niece who would later share it with her younger siblings and cousins. They get to grow up having read the books and I can only hope that they become better persons for having read such an insightful and (most importantly) magical story!

Journeys Part 2: The Ilocos Chronicles

2011-02-05T19:20:00.000-08:00

*The second of a three-part series.

A week ago today, I was either soaking up the sun or was soaking wet at Pagudpud. It was a trip hatched early in the year through a Facebook exchange between me, Mark, Jay-R, Jovan, and Densio - we of the impromptu Tagaytay road trip early last year. We invited a few other folks to come with us but sadly, only Rej and Oneal made it.

The idea was to take another road trip but with Densio presently stuck in Germany, she requested that we take a photo of her with us wherever we went. I can't exactly remember how we settled on Pagudpud but we could've easily gone to some other destination and it would still be a great trip. The thought of traveling to such a remote location with my friends was something I just couldn't pass up. I was actually more excited about the traveling than getting there.

Some Twitter updates from the trip.

Thanks to Globe's Twitter mobile service, I got my followers updated on the trip. It also made it easier to recall the progression of events as they transpired - except that Twitter lacks time stamps. In addition, I had my trusy photo and video cams with me!

Anyway, we left Thursday night around 11am and had reached Tarlac around 1am where we had a brief pit stop at a McDonald's. By 3am, we had reached La Union and by 6am, we finally got to Ilocos Sur at the outskirts of Vigan. The entire time, we were guided by two things: Traditional maps and a GPS care of Oneal's Samsung Galaxy Tab. Jay-r was driving and Oneal was navigating.

Calle Crisologo

Our first day was pretty much spent exploring the Ilocos region. We got to Vigan around 6am and left the area around 2pm. In between, we had breakfast and lunch plus visited some key sites courtesy of our callesa ride:
- Calle Crisologo
- Bantay Church and Belltower (Got up to the bell! It's friggin high!)
- Hidden Garden
- Syquia Mansion (They didn't allow me to shoot a lot of videos! Blah!)

Bantay Church and Belltower

Afterwards, we were supposed to be headed to Laoag but made a wrong turn and found ourself at Juan Luna's house in Badoc. It was a happy accident and they allowed me to shoot videos while exploring the place.

Lost but found ourselves some place nice.

Off we went to Batac to visit Marcos' corpse. Unfortunately, while waiting for the mausoleum to open, we heard gunshots so close to where we were waiting and had to run away from the commotion. We don't know what happened but it was nervewracking just to know a crime had occured nearby.

Updated tweet from that scary incident.

So we decided to go visit the sand dunes and rid ourselves of the bad vibes. While following signs, we chanced upon the Church of Paoay, which is possibly the oldest church I have ever seen! Another happy accident. Sadly we didn't find the sand dunes so just made our way to Laoag where we stocked up on supplies before heading straight to Pagudpud.

Church of Paoay

When we got to Pagudpud, it was so dark that we can't see anything of the waters. Waking up the next day though is another matter altogether. Our resort was close to the water and we were within eyeshot of the windfarms, which was another welcome surprise. It was so cold that morning though.

The rest of the morning was spent swimming, nay bouncing, along the South China Sea. The waves were high and really aggressive. There was no point in really swimming. You just had to ride the waves and roll with it. It was also a bit freaky when the undercurrent drags you back to the open water after the waves deposit you to the shore.

In the afternoon, we went to visit the blue lagoon at Maira-ira beach. The way there was warm and sunny but it was cold, really windy and drizzling when we got there, it was ridiculous. I didn't risk my camera's lens so I didn't shoot anything.

Next we went to the Bangui Wind Farms where I had the most spectacular experience of my life. It was just as cold and wet when we got there but for me it just added to the majesty of the experience. It was like nature unleashed defying these towering manmade structures. All the while I was standing at this stretch of land with sparse vegetation, which was actually a small portion of the sand dunes. I didn't risk snapping a photo here either but I'd like to think I'll remember that fleeting moment forever!

Notice the droplets on the lens.

By night time, rain had reached our last night at Northridge.

We had to leave early the next day but I managed to snap a few photos and videos of the South China Sea in the early morn. Our adventure didn't end there though. Thankfully, the rain had stopped and we were treated to a nice sunshine as we made our way up to the Cape Bojeador Lighthouse. It was really windy though, which added to my agoraphobia.

After that, we were on our way back to Manila with a stopover once again at Vigan for lunch and some pasalubong. We amused ourselves in the car by playing Taboo and spotting funny business signs (Ilocoslovakia Auto Repairs, anyone?).

By 9pm, we stopped over at Gerona, Tarlac for some dinner at the Isdaan, which was an incredible place. There's something for you to do or look at everywhere you turn! I even tried my hand at that Tacsiyapo wall where you get to let out your anger by throwing cups and plates and even TV sets!

The Smashing Tacsiyapo Wall!

We got back to Manila around midnight on Monday. It was a great trip and I wouldn't mind doing it again just to see the longer stretch of the sand dunes!

Journeys Part 1: The Thomasian Chronicles

2011-02-03T07:12:00.000-08:00

*The first part of a three-part series of stories.

One morning exactly a week ago, I made a spur of the moment decision: Instead of going directly to work, I opted to go the other way and back to school to UST. I hadn't intended to go but a huge part of me was dying inside because I wouldn't be there that evening to celebrate with my fellow Thomasians our alma matter's 400th year anniversary.

As a die-hard growling tiger, I thought it only proper to visit the grand old place even with the lack of pomp and pageantry (and quite frankly - people). Armed with my camera, I played like a tourist at my own school. Upon reaching the España gate alone, I could already feel something was up in the air. The place was more festive than usual at 9am and having had my share of Paskuhans and college weeks during my time, I know how busy the place really gets. Last week's was ten times more amplified.

The other thing I noticed was that I wasn't the only "tourist" there. Everywhere I looked, there were groups of people - no doubt families and old gangs - from older batches and I could hear them talking about their time as students. Often the remarks were how things have changed since their time. Some older folks were even with who I assume are grandchildren who were appropriately dressed for class that day. It was amazing!

I guess the best part for me was being able to go inside my home in UST - the Faculty of Arts and Letters. I didn't think I'd get in what with the lack of proper identification and all, but I did! Just the flood of memories alone was overwhelming. I remember running along the halls for a variety of reasons - catching up to a professor or a classmate or an orgmate, rushing to the photocopier, meeting deadlines, all of it. It was so vivid in my memory it may as well have happened yesterday.

It was a good thing I caught Mam Faye at room 211 - my very first classroom in UST. That's where I met my friends at Saunos and where I had a couple of embarassing moments. Yes, I will never live down that time I was late and crashed into 1Journ1's class thinking it was our class. I kinda did it again when I barged into Mam Faye's class (2CA5) but it's all good.

Another overwhelming moment was when I came across CASA's bulletin board. I didn't think I would be emotional about it but I was. Even if I'm in regular contact with the current batch of officers, it still beats seeing again the part that you had to leave behind when you graduate. It's that legacy you leave for someone else so that they might have the chance to experience what you have.

Of course every Thomasian experience is different. Mine was riddled with constant stuggle and a lot of growing up. I went from over-the-top student to student council slave to mediocre debater to president of one of the biggest organizations in campus. Every now and then, I got to write and dance outside of any class requirements. Yes I was the guy you got sick of after one encounter too many. Evidence here.

Hey, I live less than 30 minutes away! What'd you expect me to do with my overly free time? Study?

This was from my junior year.

Yet for all that, I believe I was one of Communication Art's most promising students (If my mentors could just see me now, they'd wonder "What happened?") I owned my subjects like they were yesterday's news. My approach to academics has always been more relaxed. I never really bothered about grades. They're just numbers. I passed. I learned. End of story. Move on.

Grad photo with the UST quadricentennial emblem.

So many more stories I can tell about the college years but for now I leave with this: I was never really comfortable with uniforms primarily because I have never been a conformist and I grew up practically not wearing one. So I would find ways to deviate - like wearing a printed shirt underneath or wearing my trademark earrings. Oh, and when they stopped for the 3pm Angelus, I moved. I still think it a waste of time.


My school ID pic resurfaced.

Despite such lapses, I am and will always be proud to be called a Thomasian. Not because we have the best academic program ever (Hell no!) but because the place left an indelible mark on me. For one thing, it helped me gain the courage to defy convention, which is something you'll need if you're in the creatives industry.

After only spending about an hour that morning last week, I did feel fulfilled that I have honored my den, my alma matter, and was at peace with myself. I did great during my four years there. Only thing now is that I have to challenge myself to do even greater.

Thanks for the mentors and the memories, UST.

On Vidyeurism

2011-01-16T08:29:00.000-08:00

I can't exactly remember in what context I said it during last night's party but at one point I blurted out that "Voyeurism is in the very fabric of my existence". I got a laugh out of Paul for that one. Something to do with me shooting videos of the party.

Which brings me to this week's self-absorbed blog. Maybe for the same reason I like taking pictures, but I've always enjoyed shooting videos. Maybe it's the sentimental chap in me but I like the idea of capturing just that few moments and have it for all eternity - or at least until the format becomes obsolete. VHS tapes, anyone?

I guess that makes me a video voyeur. A vidyeur, if you will.

So as part of my goals, I decided to finally invest on a good digital camcorder after the glorified webcam that was the Aiptek pocket camcorder I've been using these past few years. Just like the GE X5, I had my criteria:

1. Handy and pocketable
2. Runs on AA batteries
3. Swivel screen
4. Works great on low light conditions
5. Earphone jack
6. SD Card
7. At least VGA resolution (I didn't care if it shot in HD. Frankly, I don't need it to.)

In all my search, I've only encountered one product that matched: The Verzio D520HD which was about P6k. It would've been perfect except for one tiny detail: The brand. I realizedbased on my awful experience with Aiptek that I need a global brand with strong product support from both the brand and the consumers. Also, making the purchase just didn't feel right wherever I checked.

I've also considered getting one of those flip cams like the Kodak Zx1 or Zi8 despite the lack of a swivel screen. Though I only fancied the Zi8 for its mic slot. I was this close to getting the Zx1 when I stumbled upon a store in TriNoMa selling it for half its original price. I guess it wasn't meant to be 'cause when I came back for it, the item had been sold.

Then I came across the Samsung SMX-C200 Memory Camcorder, which I had quickly dismissed because it didn't run on AA batteries, lacked an earphone jack, had a pinkish glow and bounced between P10k to P13k. But as fate would have it, I would run into this camcorder again at Pixel Pro Megamall while doing some last-minute Christmas shopping. I just thought I'd ask what price they can offer me for it but I was quickly sold on the spot.
Why?

1. From the original price of P13k, they gave it to me for only P8.5k. After getting this quote, I just thought I'd check somewhere else and this was the cheapest offer.
2. While the unit that I spotted was the same pinkish one that turned me off, what they gave me was a sleek black one!
3. The package includes a bag and 4gb SD card already so I didn't have to worry about them.
4. Plus the Pixel Pro ladies were really nice and friendly.
5. The 10x optical zoom was a welcome bonus that the Verzio D520HD didn't have!

I didn't even read much about it (I was surprised to discover it actually has a manual focus) but I guess if it felt right, it's meant to be. I've been using it for about a month now and it hasn't failed me yet. I made a few bad choices before (Exhibit A: Aiptek) but I have no regret with this one. I guess I've developed this instinct when buying gadgets.

Today I decided to try out its built-in video editor (Intelli-studio). What's so cool about it is that I don't need to install it. I just need to plug the camcorder in the PC and the program s right there in its hard drive! For a stripped down basic editor, it's pretty awesome. Just check out the test video below.

My only concern now is looking for spare batteries.

To Perform Again...

2011-01-08T22:47:00.000-08:00

For as long as I can remember I've always been a performer. Ever since grade school, if there's a show to be done, I'm always there. I've always enjoyed the preparation and rehearsals leading up to it and I don't think I've ever experienced stage fright come show time.

In high school, I was lucky enough to go to a school that was strong in its support of the performing arts. We had a program at the end of every quarter and each year we staged a musical and a Christmas variety show.

Because of all that, I learned stagecraft and how to sing, dance, act (on stage anyway). The biggest tragedy of my life was that I didn't capitalize on any of it. I mean, I knew the basics but I could have really made something out of myself if I just took up classes outside of school.

By the time college rolled along, my endeavors leaned towards organizations, student councils and debating. There were few chances afforded to me to perform and by that time I was already rusty. What I realized later on was that I was much more comfortable on stage than I was on a podium.

Fast forward to now and my evaluation of the life that I've led. I never dreamed of being a star but performing has always been in my blood. So when I was drafted to perform at last year's Rockstar BSM for a charity drive, I was more excited than nervous at the idea. I was nervous because I haven't really performed in front of a crowd for a long time (not counting Rockeoke and Broadwayoke) but I wanted to take the opportunity to gauge how far I've come. I mean, I quit smoking so I can have better control of my vocals.

I don't remember the exact events that led me to performing Green Day's "21 Guns" but the thing is that it wasn't my usual fare. I like the song but I wasn't sure I could pull it off. As a friend puts it, I'm more into ballads and Broadway. Then again, "21 Guns" is a melodic song and the Broadway version from "American Idiot" the musical was just amazing.

To prepare for Rockstar BSM, I had to practice the song for about a week - singing it in karaoke and recording my voice with a minus one version of the song. I even sent one of my earlier (abysmal) recordings to my friends Adrian and Ingrid for a bit of help. I even swore off ice cream and everything that might compromise my vocals during that period.

Unfortunately, on that fateful Friday and because it was a payday, me and the office mates decided to have something from McDonald's delivered and I just had to have the new Creamy Brazo Sundae. Discipline fail.
Maybe because of that and the smoke at Big Sky Mind but a few minutes before show time, I could feel my throat tightening up. And I just had to be the first performer. Then I was so caught up with Karen's intro that I forgot my cue.

Everything was a mess but I had to do it. After I was done, the whole thing just kept going over and over in my head, which compromised my enjoyment of the rest of the evening.
Then I when I checked out the video, I realized it wasn't as bad as I thought it was. It was far from perfect but then again I have to remember that I'm taking baby steps again. Like I mentioned in this entry, part of this whole crusade is stumbling over and getting back up again.

I just gotta chalk all this up to experience and strive to do better the next time (and I hope there will be one). Meanwhile, I just gotta continue practicing. I already have as much control of my vocals now that I'm not smoking and, as a lot of friends and Wawi Navarroza pointed out, I have stage presence down pat.
Good thing I haven't lost that part of my earlier training.

Rej won the night with her rendition of Alysa Alano's "Keys Me" but I was one of the recipient of the "Best-Dressed" award. Hell yeah!

PS. How do rockers do it? Smoke, drink and perform at the same night in a smoke-filled room?

The Top 100 of 2010

2011-01-01T04:38:00.000-08:00

I wrote an entry on my journal about how awesome 2010 has been. Unfortunately, it reached 3 pages - too long for a blog. So here I have a list of things I would remember about 2010 - good and bad. I got as far as 75 last year, so now I'm going to kick it up a notch and try to reach 100!

Epic Yale New Year Party
Welcome home, Jeff!
Totally quitting smoking and cutting down on beer!
Relaunching Fandom Live
Working at Fizzer.ph
Impromptu Tagaytay trip with Jay-r, Mark, Jovan and Densio
Watching the Backstreet Boys concert with Mark, Icheb, Jay-R, Jovan and Shey
Welcome home, Alec!
Komiks Trip
Welcome home, Hec!
Coordinating Rej and Oneal's Star Wars Wedding
Watching RENT! with my closest geek and college friends
Boardgaming with nieces and nephews
Welcome to Montage Advertising and back to copywriting
Writing for Playboy! (Thanks, Dante!)
KaCASA Wins 6/7 seats at the CASA elections
Finally hanging out at Mayric's (now Sazi's) to catch The Strangeness
Watching The Princess and the Frog, Toy Story 3, and Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Watching Sherlock Holmes with Paolo, Rej, Oneal, Karen, and Hank
Watching How To Train Your Dragon and Alice on Wonderland on the same day!
Watching The Blind Side with Chris, Paolo and Jovan
RIP Karen's Dad
Wholly Trek Day 2010
Watching Avenue Q (again) with Caz and Regi(Thanks to Claire for the Tickets)
Welcome home, Chan!
Anak ng Tikbalang wins 2nd Place for the People's Choice Category at the Fully Booked Graphic/Fiction Awards
Getting a Creative Zen Mozaic (Which I eventually lost)
Bare: A Pop Opera soundtrack
Komik Kon Summer de Avance
Watching Kick Ass with Rej, Oneal, Urim, Adam, and Lorie!
Goodbye, SM Megamall Bowling
Reading The Trouble Boy (Tom Dolby), The Catcher in the Rye (JD Salinger), Dragons of Autumn Twilight (Weis-Hickman), Brida (Paulo Coelho), and The Chronicles of Narnia (CS Lewis)
Reading and reviewing Ilustrado (Miguel Syjuco)
Playing Final Fantasy I and II
Jukebox musical soundtracks: American Idiot, Rock of Ages
Legally Blonde the Musical (Didn't see the show but got the soundtrack)
Discovering the music of Nick Blaemire, Kerrigan and Lowdermilk, Adam Gwon, and Adam Guettel
Siege and The Heroic Age
Happy Birthday, Sir Joel
Lomophone!
Rej & Oneal's Housewarming party
Birthday Dinner for Ricky at Bellini's Cubao X
Watching Iron Man 2 with Donna
KKK / 99 Bottles (aka Jon's birthday party at Big Sky Mind)
Happy birthday, Tobie at O Bar
Free Comic Book Day 2010 with Mark and Macy
Elections 2010
Getting a keyboard and learning how to play
Surprise birthday party for Oneal at Yale!
Musical Thon (Finally saw The Sound of Music, The King and I and West Side Story)
GEEK FIGHT!
The Avengers movie assemble at the San Diego Comic Con
Espresso Launch Party
Happy Birthday, Teacher Marj at Freedom Bar!
Happy Birthday, Paul at Yale!
Lora and Melvin's Wedding
Happy Birthday, Yanx at the Pageshop Office!
Banana Gangbang Rock Festival with Joana, Hanna, Gen, and Ade!
Densio's Despedida
Watching Knight and Day with Karen
Reading Watchmen (Alan Moore/Dave Gibbons)
Happy birthday, Rocky at O Bar
National Bookstore Mockingjay Launch at Bestseller's Galleria
Anya's Birthday Lunch at their place in Cainta
M's Birthday Party at Nuvo Sky Lounge and Metrowalk
RIP Jon's Father-in-Law (First time to attend a Chinese wake)
Writing for Netbooster Asia! (Thanks, M!)
Writing for Saatchi! (Thanks, Jerik!)
Mark E.'s Birthday Party at Big Sky Mind
Quirino Grandstand Hostage Crisis
Game Night at the Homestead
Welcome home, Lola!
Watching Xanadu with Jay-R and Paul
Hello, GE X5!
Watching Legend of the Guardians with Rej, Oneal, Karen, Meann and Gary!
Troopings (Cosplay Mania 2010 and Party Pilipinas)
Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes TV show
Hoarding Avengers merchandise! (Posters, books and toys!)
Birthday Suit Up/10th Avengers Fanniversary/Turning 29
Assembling the SHIELD agent costume for and hosting the Hard Rock Halloween Party
Meiday Halloween Edition
Lady's Tim Burton-esque Halloween Party
Reading Towers of Midnight!
Trip to Pinatubo with Luna and Simon
Rej's Birthday Salubong Inuman at Big Sky Mind
Performing "21 Guns" at Rockstar BSM
Rebel Legion Night at Aids' Fortress
Happy birthday, Beejay and Paola at their friend's place
Goodbye, Gadgets (Blue H1 UMPC, Palm Z22, Creative Zen Mozaic)
Hello, MSI Notebook
Doing Flash animation (Thanks, Rej!)
Editing videos for the RCG Christmas Party (Thanks, Beej!)
Watching Little Women with Jihan
Paskuhan!
Last Take Me Back Tuesdays at Il Ponticello with the college friends
Hello, Samsung Memory Camcorder!
Welcome home, Hec! (Again)
Ninay and Wilson's Wedding
Watching RPG Metanoia with Jovan, Mark, Jay-R, Lianne, Urim and Elaine!
Drinking and impromptu game night at the Homestead

Not even counting all the OGMs, Kapihans and various other hang outs, 2010 has been a really memorable year with friends, family and fandom! I had to edit some stuff and move items around just to keep this list at 100. Good things must really come to an end but I'm thankful for a great year!

Laptop Opus

2010-11-29T06:40:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I got myself a brand new full-featured laptop - the MSI CR410.

It wasn't really a purchase that was a long time coming, but what's interesting about it is the chain of events leading up to it.

First, my brother bought a ridiculously powerful laptop (4gb RAM, double core processor, NVIDIA graphics card). Same brother then asked for my help on how to use PowerPoint for a presentation he had to do to get a promotion at work. He eventually gets the job and was so grateful to me that he promised to let me use his laptop if I ever need to use its power for my needs.

Of course, that is, as long as he's not home or not using it.

Then, Beejay gave me a racket editing videos for his company's Christmas party. Naturally, I cashed in on the favor my brother owes me and had his laptop to myself just last weekend so I can work on it. I finished and delivered the project and got paid immediately. Then I gave the laptop back to my brother.

Last Friday was payday at the office, including our 13th month pay.

Then last Saturday, Beejay told me he had a few more videos that needs to get worked on. It's also a long three-day weekend, so I figured I'd have time to work on it.

Unfortunately, it's also a long three-day weekend for my brother despite that he works at a call center where their holidays are not usually synchronized with the local arrangements. He may filed a personal leave.

That left me with a bit of a problem.

Also yesterday, my netbook, which I've had for two and a half years, suddenly died.

So I was left with the following situation:
1. I have a requirement.
2. I don't have the equipment.
3. I don't even have a computer.
4. I have a bit of money.

What's a guy to do?!

I was saving up money to eventually buy a Mac, but evidently circumstances have forced me to forego that dream for a while.
Still given the influx of funding, I still only had enough to get me a netbook.
I went online and found that one of those eMachine netbooks could work for my short-term needs (ie, Beejay's project).
Then I headed to Greenhills where all the best deals are.
After less than an hour of searching, I came across the MSI CR410 at PC Gilmore.

I thought it was a long-term solution at the price of a short-term one.
It was probably priced the way it was because:
a. It used AMD processors, which are just fine for my needs.
b. It didn't come with an OS, which was okay because I had a genuine Windows XP installer.

The good people at PC Gilmore even gave it to me at a much lower rate.
I WAS SOLD!

This is my first full-featured laptop and I'm really happy with it. Aside from the specs, the brand is globally recognized and there is a local service center in case I run into trouble. Still getting used to the big keyboard. Eventually, I hope to upgrade to a 4gb RAM.

Amazing how things work sometimes. I never even encountered this particular model until I chanced upon it on a store window!
I guess it was just meant to be.

Towers of Midnight: The Spoiler-FILLED Not-Review

2010-11-18T21:17:00.000-08:00

This is where I get to rave and rage like a rabid fanboy. I will not hold out on spoilers. Be warned.

Towers of Midnight was the book that I needed to read to feel like the world of Wheel of Time is ready for the last battle to be chronicled in the 14th and final book, A Memory of Light.

I had less anticipation for it compared to The Gathering Storm maybe because there was a slightly less waiting time and I half-expected many of the plot threads and loose ends that would be tied up with this book. Still, Brandon Sanderson and Harriet Rigney managed to pull off surprises after surprises with every chapter.

Of course, it wouldn't be a Robert Jordan book without the long, drawn-out narrative. As a WOT fan, you learn to forgive that and just look past it and see the bigger picture. Even if many of what happened in TOM seemed predictable, it's really how they get there that makes up the most amazing parts of the story.

Some initial thoughts (SPOILERS GALORE):

- TOM should be retitled the Trakand-Damodred story. Not surprising given the absence of Elayne from TGS and Moiraine (She is a Damodred) since Fires of Heaven. Also great to hear from Galad and Gawyn after so long. Never thought I'd like Galad as a character until now.
- I still cannot bring myself to respect Elayne. Still ditsy. Feisty, but ditsy.
- Also, I was half-worried about Moiraine's return after having read through 90% of the book and it still hasn't happened.
- Galad and Berelain? Predicted.
- Danelle as Mesaana? Predicted.
- Graendal killing Asmodean? Predicted.
- Hopper's death didn't move me as much as Moiraine's and Verin's did. But the battle of Maredon was heartbreaking.
- Still no sign of Loial or the Ogier. They're probably lying in wait until the Last Battle.
- Also, Sanderson said there wouldn't be new characters in TOM. So Nakomi is somebody we already know.
- The ambush on the Whitecloaks, Perrin and Egwene's battle in the World of Dreams were much more epic than Mat's travails at the Tower of Ghenjei. The Aelfinn and Eelfinn were really scary though.
- Healing Asha'man madness and Power-wrought weapons. 'Nuff said.
- Rand, Perrin, and Mat are equal now:
   - Mah'alleinir = Callandor and Ashandarei.
   - Mat has one eye = Rand has one arm, Perrin has golden eyes
- I thought something was gonna happen when Elayne, Birgitte, Perrin, Mat, Galad, and Gawyn were all in Caemlyn. Of course, the Trolloc attack happened when all of them had gone to the Fields of Merrilor.

At the end of it all, we are only left with a few threads left to tie up (As far as I could count anyway):
- The Seanchan
- The Black Tower
- Demandred*
   *Adrian from the Wheel of Time Phils. mailing list already pointed out that he is not Mazrim Taim - Robert Jordan even said so!

   I know it's Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 1 week, but I had also just today lifted the embargo on Towers of Midnight-related discussion over at the Wheel of Time Phils. mailing list. So there.

Towers of Midnight: The Spoiler-Free Not-Review

2010-11-15T20:14:00.000-08:00

As the title implies, this blog is not a review. This is a summary of my thoughts, experiences and feelings leading up to the release of this latest volume in my ever favorite Wheel of Time (WOT) series, as well as the immediate aftermath.

First of all, what is up with our local bookstores?
Last year, The Gathering Storm (TGS) was released earlier than the announced international release date. That left many people looking for the book on the said date. Apparently, as soon as they get their supply, the bookstores release it. So basically, everything is a matter of luck - if you happened to stumble upon a copy, good for you. Otherwise, sorry!

This year, Towers of Midnight (TOM) was released a week delayed than the release date. Apparently the distributor was late with the supplies. Anyway, because of what happened with TGS, I made reservations with Fully Booked for my friends and members of Wheel of Time Phils. to make sure we get our copies. Luckily, they got their supplies earlier than the other bookstores. Unfortunately, that was the night before I left for Pinatubo.

Having had my copy transferred from the Boni High Street branch to Gateway, I only picked up my copy last Wednesday, along with another book I've been eying.

I started reading as soon as I got home. Then I realized this is the first time since I graduated from college that something else was interfering with my reading a WOT book: Work.

Yep. When I got Crossroads of Twilight, Knife of Dreams and TGS, I had no job. So it was easy for me to breeze through them.

With TOM, I actually considered not reporting for work just so I can continue reading. I didn't even go to Geek Fight last Friday and delayed my appearance at Komik Kon last Saturday just so I can read. Well, there was that matter of my Grandma's birthday and drinking with the cousins last Friday night, which delayed my reading, but that's okay. I also didn't catch up on last week's shows until I was done.

Plus last weekend was when some of my other friends went to Boracay. I declined to go with them, though circumstances almost had me joining them at the last minute. That didn't happen and I'm glad because I would rather be reading TOM than going to the beach.

I finished it last Saturday night. Was it all worth it?
One big resounding yes.

Trek To Pinatubo

2010-11-08T07:53:00.000-08:00

I guess my friend Gen summed it up pretty nicely in a couple of text messages:

What possessed you to join (the trek to) Pinatubo?
Just never figured you to be the outdoorsy nature-tripper type.

To cut this story short, I first heard of last weekend's trip through Simon who wanted to see the crater lake while he's on vacation here in the Philippine. At P2,275 per person, I thought "Why not?"
It would be a trip I can chalk up to experience and was also prime opportunity to shoot landscapes with my new camera.

Snacks for the trip. Yes, it comes with different flavors now.

Honestly I wasn't excited about this trip. A huge part of me felt it was just something I had to do.
Maybe because Pinatubo just wasn't a dream destination. Maybe because I'm not the "outdoorsy nature-tripper type."

Streams of sulfur!

Nevertheless, I was amazed by what I saw heading up to the crater more than the crater itself.
Surrounded by these magnificent monuments and threading on what was once a river valley now full of sediments, it felt just like those journeys that I read about in fantasy novels. Like a journey through remnants long forgotten by history. In reality, a well-remembered recent history.

Of course, this stretch of the trek was what Travel Factor failed to include in its itinerary. It took about a couple of hours of endless walking through uneven, wet, sandy, rocky and downright messy terrain. The metropolitan boy in me was crying havoc the entire time as our assigned tour guide was leagues ahead of us. I didn't even get to take photos as I had to keep up. Thankfully, there were other trekkers and the trail was easy enough to follow.

This was a riot!

Then we get to a certain spot where the trek up to the crater actually begins. That wasn't so bad. The trail up the mountain is also easily navigable. Simon and I did well without a tour guide.

The reward after all that effort is the spectacular view of the crater. The site of a once massive explosion is now a serene green lake. Honestly I found it underwhelming. Then we head down to the lake and I had to face my acrophobia only to find out the lake is not really friendly towards amateur swimmers like me. It goes down deep really quickly. Bummer.

Still made for some nice photos though.
We spent about a couple of hours at the crater before deciding to head back down and go home.

The way back had just me, our guide and Luna with her sprained ankle. The other trekkers had gone ahead upon hearing about a landslide that leveled one of the 4x4's that drove us there. Since I wasn't in so much of a hurry, I was able to snap photos of the "valley of the gods". Thankfully, there was enough afternoon sunlight to shoot the scenery, which to me looked like something out of a Peter Jackson movie.

I suppose this journey to the Pinatubo crater lake just proved the adage that the journey is more important than the destination. I'm not keen on going back but I hope to see more sights like these in the country.

Here is video I took of our trip. Please excuse the audio.

SHIELD Agent, Costume-made Uniform

2010-10-31T18:39:00.000-07:00

Of the geeks, I'm probably the one who's the least bit interested in costuming. I'm very selective with the costumes I have so far worn. I declined the Star Trek uniform because I didn't like the fit.
I'd probably wear a costume that was lent or given to me, but I'm not the type to assemble or spend for it. Why?
a. For something I'd wear once, it takes too much effort (sewing, painting, etc.)
b. For something I'd wear once, it's costly especially since I'd have to defile the materials for the costume

The last time I actually assembled my own costume was in 2007.
Since then, I decided that by principle, any costume I'd put on should be:
a. Striking in its simplicity (Plus the fact I hardly ever wear a costume)
b. Made of clothes and accessories I can wear everyday

When I found out I'd be hosting this year's Marvel/DC hero-and-villain-themed Hard Rock Halloween party, I knew it was time to put on a costume again.It only hit me last Wednesday night what I wanted to do: A SHIELD agent.
It was unpredictable because:
a. It was neither hero nor villain but belonged in the universe
b. Not many people dress up as SHIELD agents
c. People anticipated that I'd go as a member of the Avengers

I thought of it Wednesday night and that's when I started foraging for the materials. I couldn't find what I needed at the mall, so I hit a nearby ukay-ukay and found the perfect shirt.
Then I decided I'd hit Divisoria Saturday morning because I bought a couple of belt packs there before that would be perfect for the waist. The rest just fell into place.

Here is a break down of the costume.

a. Black zip-up turtle neck shirt (P230) - It fit my neck, shoulders and chest just sexily but it was loose towards the waist, so it was problematic to tuck in.

b. Belt pack (P150) - It's actually a bit beige in color but it was closer to white than the gray one.

c. High-rise shoes (P650) - I stumbled upon this at one of the street vendors lining up Recto Ave. going to 168 Mall. There was one in pure white, which was perfect, except that the only pair they had was a size 9 (I'm a size 8). Looking back, I should've gotten that 'cause the one I got squeezed my toes painfully.

d. Two white belts (P80 each) and suspender (P80)- I found one street vendor selling these, though I only worked out how to make the legs and upper body straps when I got home.

e. Cargo jeans (P470) - I was just going to wear a pair of slacks but when I saw this from a street vendor, I thought it was perfect. It had a 29-inch waistline (I wear 30-inchers) but it fit me nicely, even with the shirt tucked in. I just had to rip out a couple of patches sewn into the pockets.

f. Two white leather armbands (P50 each) - I saw these at the mall and thought I can get it cheaper at Recto Ave. near where the schools are.

g. White cotton gloves (P29) - The first thing I saw when I was looking for materials at the mall but the last thing I bought after my trip to Divi.

h. Sticker paper (P35/10 sheets) and printing (P5) - For the SHIELD insignia. First I thought I'd print it on regular bond paper and use double-sided tape. The idea of using sticker paper instead dawned on me just a few hours before the event.

Total: P1,909. The best part is I can reuse and abuse everything. And I looked hella awesome!

Me, the Trigger Happy Shutter Bug

2010-10-25T07:26:00.000-07:00

As part of my overall rehabilitation, I finally took a more serious interest in photography again.
The thing is I've always loved taking pictures. I remember in high school, I was always the undeclared yet designated documentalist of parties and other events.
In college, I took great photos for our plates in photography class. Except my photos with my partner Krystal as my subject came out blurred while her photos of me came out great. That was our final plate and I got a 70+ and she got 90+. But all of those ideas and concepts - including the ones she shot me with, were all mine! I was just under student-leader-related stress when we were shooting them.

Krystal took this photo. Concept: MINE!

Anyway, I wanted to get a DSLR but I realized I didn't want the bulk just yet plus I had other things I really wanted to spend that budget on. Besides, while I know my way around a camera, I'm still not a pro. So I settled for a semi-pro, training camera instead. A bridge or zoom camera, if you will.

My ideal model just had to meet the following criteria:
1. Must have a viewfinder
2. Must run on non-proprietary AA batteries
3. Must write to SD cards
The only models that fit were the Kodak Z981 (my first choice but I couldn't find anywhere in the country), the Fuji Fine Pix S1800 (which received some unfavorable reviews) and the GE X5 - my new baby!

The GE X5 might be touted as the poor man's DSLR and it would be very flattering. I got mine for only P9,878 and it already came with a couple of 2gb SD cards (KingCom didn't have one 4gb card) and a couple of recheargeable batteries with charger (They give out four pieces in other branches. Was I shortchanged here?)
I actually thought I was gonna have to spend further for these additional items so when I found out the package already comes with them, I knew that unit was mine. Oh, and it's also glorious in black! (I didn't really care for the white version).

Despite not having a detachable lens and hot shoe, its manual controls are very impressive. I can actually compose my shots with adjustments to the aperture, shutter speed, ISO and even exposure compensation! The DSLR-lite form factor is a major plus too!
Of course, the X5 prides itself for its 15x optical zoom and 5x digital zoom. I have yet to fully appreciate its immense zoom capabilities but it already makes for an interesting feature.

Very cute icons illustrating the X5's features

I've been having a lot fun with the X5 these past weeks. Mostly training my eyes to compose and getting the hang of photography again. I hardly ever shoot in automatic mode unless I actually mean for it to act like a basic point-and-shoot.

What's also great about my experience is that there is a local group of enthusiasts on Facebook.
So we can chat about the camera and offer each other tips. I've given out a couple myself already.

Also, since my unit didn't come with its own carrying case, I've been looking around for one that isn't too expensive as most camera bags are wont to be because that would just defeat the purpose of getting the X5 at a steal. Thankfully, I dropped by Hidalgo today and discovered this from Fans Digital.

Its padded and fits the X5 just snugly. There are compartments for batteries and cards plus I can sling it over my shoulder or strap it to my belt. As luck would have it, it was also on sale: P420 from P840! Score two for me!

My mistake. I thought the 512mb was the 2gb one.

Someday I will be worthy of a DSLR. Right now, I just gotta go back to basics and evolve from there. May I just say that my skills and the camera both aren't too shabby either. Just check out these test photos I took these past few weeks!

Starting Over at 29

2010-10-14T09:50:00.000-07:00

525,600 minutes.
How do you measure a year in the life?

Mine would be in ups, downs and reflections, I guess. Last year, I celebrated my birthday by leaving/losing my job mostly because I hated it. The reason why I left my previous advertising job for the one I had also just left was because I was entering my late 20s and I needed to explore what else was out there. I did not want to be trapped with no more options left for me. Plus: I thought I needed a job that would help me mature as a professional and offered me benefits and security. I thought a BPO was gonna give that to me.

The thing is: I was already trapped. I really had nothing else to show of my professional life but my advertising career. Mostly because I spent much of my mid-20s thinking about doing stuff but never got around to doing them. Then I remembered why. Sometime after turning 24 when nothing was working out, I stopped planning my life and just went with the flow.
The thing is when I stopped planning, I also stopped having goals. In college, I was a superstar because I knew who I wanted to be when I graduated. In the real world, I was a smoking, scattered brain mess!

When I realized this, I promised myself that the moment I get a steady income going, I was gonna start doing everything that I've always wanted to do:
1. Quit smoking so I can sing and dance again.
2. Learn to play the piano.
3. Draw again.
4. Write stories again.
5. Practice ice skating.
6. Swim more.
7. Learn to ride a bike.
8. Play billiards more.
9. Take up photography again.
10. Learn videography.

Then it hit me that I also wanted to do some of these things when I was much younger and that I lost a lot of my teenage years because I was angry, depressed and in limbo when I could've been more productive. I imagine if I had just focused back then, I would be in theater right now - one of the passions I left behind as I entered my 20s.

Fortunately, I was given a third chance this year. It may be too late to make a career out of them, but that doesn't matter now. With me back in advertising, I realized that maybe being a better professional does not mean working for a big corporation where the standard and therefore the challenge and subsequent reward are all really high. Maybe it's about being the best at what you do wherever you are. There is so much more in advertising that I have yet to explore and I do believe I'm on the right track at being the best if I just applied myself. I imagine that as soon as I can play keyboard better, I can compose my own jingle and sing it! As soon as I can draw better, I can provide artwork. Maybe shoot the photos and videos or maybe even choreograph! I just get excited thinking about the possibilities!

I don't know if I should regret that these realizations came to me at the tail-end of my 20s, but I guess it just means that there would be something more for me to look forward to. I mean, if I had everything, what else would be out there?
So I'm picking up the pieces and starting over. I have a lot of time to make up for and part of that is also catching up on games, movies, books and comics that I missed growing up, as well as taking better care of myself. Not only have I accomplished those in the last few months but I have also gotten started on a lot of items on the list (including quitting smoking). Now I can look forward to getting frustrated and angry, as well as appreciating the little victories along the way.

I'm in a much better place this year than where I was last year and even the years before not just because of my new job but because of my new "lease on life". Now I have something to live for and work on. Goals.

Right now, I'm working on figuring out if confidence and certainty leads to cynicism. I find that the more I know myself and assert my place in the world, the more I become impatient and judgmental with other people. I guess I've become more protective of my interests now.
No, I have an entire year to figure that matter out. For now, I just want to appreciate what I have.

All I Want for October

2010-09-09T19:25:00.000-07:00

Not only am I celebrating my birthday next month (*shudders*), it also marks an entire decade of avenging.

Yup, it would be ten years since I picked up my very first issue of the Avengers comic and I never looked back.

Since then, my collection has grown by leaps and bounds to include various merchandise and collectibles.

So it would be very nice if I can add these items to my collection in commemoration of one avenging decade!

Marvel Avengers: The Ultimate Character Guide (DK, 2010)

This book is supposed to come out later this month.

I hope Fully Booked or PowerBooks would carry it.

I got the 2006 edition of the DK guide at Fully Booked before.

Superhero Squad Quinjet (Hasbro, 2010)

Supposedly this came out earlier this year but I have not seen one ever.

I hope Toys R Us or Toy Kingdom would carry it.

Unfortunately, they don't carry a lot of the Squads.

Runners up because they aren't easy to find:

Emperor Doom (2nd Print, 1990)

Yes, I'm kinda picky that way.

The 2nd edition with the gray cover and the Avengers logo prominent.

Check out the first 1st edition and see why I prefer this one.

Marvel Collector's Edition Original Avengers (Toy Biz, 1995)

The listings I found for this item is hella expensive!

I'm also apprehensive about buying it online and having it go through customs.

With the animated series and the live action movie coming out, there is bound to be more merchandise.

For now, I shall contend myself with these items.

So if you guys spot any of these items in the wild, do let me know.

Or you can get them for me!

*hint*hint*wink*wink*

UPDATE (Nov. 15, 2010):
Well, whadayaknow?
Since writing this blog, I've manage to acquire half of the items on this list.
First, the Ultimate Character Guide last Wednesday.
Then just last weekend, the Collector's Edition Toy Set.
Yeay me!

UPDATE (No. 24, 2010):
And now I'm down to one last item on the list.
Just got my Superhero Squad Quinjet from Greenhills earlier today!

UPDATE (No. 12, 2011):
More than a year after putting this list together, I finally completed it!
My copy of Avengers: Emperor Doom arrived today!

Lessons from Ice Skating

2010-06-06T08:11:00.000-07:00

I first tried ice skating about a year ago and I thought it would be something I could actually work on getting good at. Something to practice on at least once a month. Well, that didn't happen. BUT since I had free time today, I thought I'd give a try again. So I did. For three or so hours. Alone. In that time, I've come to realize a few things about learning to skate and life, in general. Things I already live by but worth reminding me and my friends of anyhow.

1. Make the most out of an obstacle.
Gone are the P100++/hour rates. Now they charge P390 for unlimited use, which I did not budget for. Still, I thought that I'm already there and it looks like I wasn't gonna do it every month, but I may as well go as far as I can. So I did.

2. Set realistic goals.
I probably wasn't gonna spin, skate backwards or brake with flair but I can get used to the skates and the ice. For a beginner, that actually takes a while and by the time you're there, you only have a few minutes left to enjoy the experience (at least in the old rates).

3. If something is too tight or too loose, it probably is.
Don't be afraid to go back, make adjustments or ask for a replacement, if necessary.

4. You're off to a bad start if your skate is controlling you.
If you're not in control of your tool, then either you're doing something wrong or you have to go back and make adjustments.

5. Fall and get it over with.
The sooner you face that humuliation, the better. Takes out fear for the rest of the experience.

6. The music of life is varied.
Intersperse 30 Seconds to Mars with High School Musical if you have to to set the mood. It won't matter if they help you equally.

7. Striking the balance between trusting your abilities andtrusting in fate/faith is simple: keep your chest forward, bend your kness, glide and slide, then let your instinct take over. In short, do your tangible best but don't discount your instinct.

8. Falling is actually easier than staying balanced.
If you make a mistake, allowing yourself to fall is the coward's way out. Staying up, keeping balance and picking up from where you left off is actually more challenging. Hurts my thighs and ankles more than falling does my whole body.

9. If you had no choice but to fall, it's okay.
One, everyone else has fallen at one time or another. Two, when you're learning something new, everyone expects it of you. Don't sweat it. Figure out what you did wrong and go from there.

10. Quit while you're ahead.
After three hours, I thought it was time to move on. I've been skating for about two hours without falling (but still not flawless) and with control and direction, but my feet were getting tired. I've also gone as far as I can with the goals I set for myself. I thought I did good work for the day.

There is also a lesson that I should probably remind myself next time I go ice skating, which is probably gonna be in three or four months (since I don't have the time and money to do it monthly).
You were a dancer once. Rhythm and grace comes naturally to you. Use them. I actually did earlier. Helped me stay balanced when I made a mistake.

Oh, and multi-tasking while learning a new skill? Never a good idea.

Musicals Share

2010-05-21T23:01:00.000-07:00

For the longest time, all Yul Brynner was to me was the imposing pharaoh Rameses in The Ten Commandments. He who inspired Holy Week fear.

That is, until I saw The King and I last weekend during a thon sponsored by my geek friends in an effort to educate me in the ways of classic musicals.
See, it started like this. Last December, Dante gave me an assignment to cover Feel Harmonic Encore at the Powerplant Mall for Playboy magazine. It was a Yuletide-themed mini-concert featuring veteran theater performers Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo and Michael Williams, among others. I agreed to cover the event mainly because the cast of 9 Works Theatrical's Rent was also going to be there.

Since I already knew that I wasn't gonna be familiar with some of the songs they were gonna sing (there are tons of musicals out there after all), I set my phone to record audio. The plan was to transcribe the lyrics and google them later so I can name the performances for my article.

In the course of that process, I discovered that the reason why I'm not familiar with some of the songs they performed was because they were from popular classic musicals and that I HAVEN'T SEEN THEM! If I have seen them before, it's must've been a way, way back because both time and memory are fleeting.

We're talking songs like Something Good from The Sound of Music and We Kiss in Shadow from The King and I. I realized then that apart from these two productions, I also haven't haven't seen West Side Story, among other classics.

I mean, I grew up listening to the Disney soundtracks and doing straight plays and musicals in grade school and high school, but I was never exposed to these productions. I also did a few musical revues and workshops back in the day, but I never really knew where the songs came from. I admit my active promotion and following of musical theater is only a few years old.

Realizing these things became the angle to which I anchored my eventual article (please get your copy of last April's Playboy 2nd anniversary issue). A few friends sought to remedy this by organizing the thon.

We screened three movies last weekend: A Sound of Music, The King and I and West Side Story.
My general impression of the movies is that music, lyrics and dance back then are what CGI is now: padding. They serve to bloat up the movie and give audiences a spectacular experience seemingly without moving the narrative forward. All the dancing in West Side Story became unnecessary and distracting after a time.
I realize it was the norm at the time, but the movies tend to get really dragging. I don't know if I can bring myself to sit through three hours of each again. However, The King and I made it bearable because it had humor (Yul Brynner FTW) and it was more spectacular than the other two. The movie felt more like a theatrical performance (hello, soundstage!)
The songs were not as memorable as the other two though.
Speaking of songs, I took a lot of heat for saying "I don't like Sondheim" after snoozing through Repertory Phils.' production of Sweeney Todd last year. The OST of Into the Woods bore me as well. I do find the West Side Story songs far more memorable though than Sound or King. This is probably because compared to Sound, King, even Todd and Woods, the West Side Story songs were more contemporary than classical.

This makes sense for me because my taste for musicals hinges on those infused with pop, soul and rock (In the Heights, Spring Awakening, Aida, Wicked, Once on this Island, Hairspray, RENT!). I even like the Broadway versions of The Little Mermaid and The Lion King, but Beauty and the Beast is just hard to swallow.
The thing is I need my songs to pull me in and not push me away, which I'm afraid to say is how certain classic musicals and even the Phantom of the Opera make me feel.

I guess that just makes me more Top 40 and less rhythm-and-blues.

These Are Just Some of My Favorite Things

2010-04-28T02:54:00.000-07:00

While preparing for work this morning, my train of thought somehow led me to mentally list down my favorite everything.

And I noticed a pattern.

See if you can find it.

My favorite comic book characters.

My favorite musical.

My favorite TV show.

My favorite RPG/console game.

My favorite Strategy/PC game.

My favorite fantasy book series.

What I've come to realize is that they are all ensembles.

Even if Wheel of Time and Final Fantasy IV have primary characters, the stories played out with a large cast of protagonists.

My musical taste also reflects this trend.

I seem to like bands and soundtracks more than individual artists.

I guess my preferences suit my personality well.

I enjoy plurality.

I like options and the opportunity to try new things and combinations.

I like being able to try my hand at different skills, ultimately being a jack of all trades but a master of none.

'Cause Everything Is RENT!

2010-04-02T19:48:00.000-07:00

Another long overdue blog.

That's me with three of my closest college friends - Krystal, Lyca and Gen. We got to see the very last show of the 2010 Manila run on Feb. 28.

This after about 4 years of professing undying love and devotion to Jonathan Larson's masterpiece.

My first real memory of Rent was sometime in early 2001 when I was doing theater and my group wanted to do 'Seasons of Love'. I borrowed someone's cassette copy of the soundtrack and listened to it once. I didn't know what the musical was about and I don't remember being fascinated then.

Then the movie version came out in 2005 and was released here early 2006 exclusively to Ayala malls. I remember finally being curious about the story and decided to watch it - sadly not in the cinema. Let's leave it at that.

I was hooked. Been a Rent-head since then.
I now have a copy of both the movie and original Broadway soundtracks. I've memorized all the songs and I'm just not getting sick of them even after all this time.

One of my goals in life was to one day watch the show live on Broadway but that was crushed when the show closed last September 2008.
Thankfully, Sony filmed the last show and released it on DVD. Thanks to Tobie, I also got to see that - but sadly not on DVD. Let's leave it at that.

So imagine my surprise late last year when Jon plurked about auditions for a new Rent production to be staged here by 9 Works Theatrical! I may not have had plans of auditioning, but it was exciting because it meant that a company is staging it and I was finally gonna see it live!

Last December, mere weeks after the cast was announced, Dante sent me on an assignment to cover Feel Harmonic Encore.Having followed 9 Works on Twitter & Facebook, I knew that the cast was gonna be there. So I went but I felt that their performance Seasons of Love and Finale B at the time was sorely lacking. I don't know. I just wasn't wowed.

The cast then went on to make an appearance on the now-defunct SOP. My friends who got to see them were a tad disappointed. Based on these and reviews from friends from within and without local theater, I knew I had to lower my expectations just a bit when I finally get to see it with the geeks and my college friends.
Speaking of the geeks, it turns out one of the the producers was Oneal's classmate in grade school (or was it high school? Can't remember).

Then I finally got to see it. It took all of my energies to refrain from singing along but I managed to lip sync at least. The moment Fred Lo as Mark Cohen began his dialog, part of me was already teary-eyed. I can't believe I was finally seeing it live. It was epic for me all the way through.

So now, I've experienced the original Broadway cast, the movie cast, the final cast and the Manila 2010 cast. I couldn't help myself. I just had to do this:

Angel Dumott Schunard

*This is actually Job's first role in professional theater. He did great.

Benjamin "Benny" Coffin III

*Rodney Hicks was Taye Diggs' understudy in the original production.

I first saw Noel Rayos on Atlantis' 'Hairspray' and 'The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee'.

Joanne Jefferson

*I thought Jenny Villegas lacked that spunk that made Joanne as a character stand out.

Mark Cohen

*Adam Kantor and Fred Lo have something in common: They were both still in college when they got the role - Adam in Northwestern University and Fred in De La Salle University.

Maureen Johnson

*This is the second time Eden Espinosa took over a role originated by Idina Menzel - the first was when we she performed as Elphaba in Wicked.

I first saw Carla Guevara-Laforteza on Atlantis' 'Avenue Q' and 'The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee'.

Mimi Marquez

*I thought Nicole Asensio's version of Mimi was much closer to Daphne Rubin Vega's while Rosario Dawson and Renee Elise Goldsberry mirrored each other.

Roger Davis

*I don't know what it is but Gian Magdangal failed to move me!

Boy, was he oh-so-hoarse after two performances prior to the one I saw.

Tom Collins

*Surprisingly, I first saw OJ Mariano when he was a 'celebrity speller' the second time I saw Spelling Bee. I was like 'Who? How is he a celebrity?!"
He did a memorable Tom Collins though.

So there. Here's me with the rest of the geeks. That's Shey's scarf around my neck, which I borrowed just for the night.

Oh, and last Wednesday, I snagged a copy of Rent: Filmed Live on Broadway DVD at 50% off to boot. So here's everything RENT that I now own:

Souvenir program and ticket to the left.
DVDs to the right: Rent movie on top and Rent: Filmed Live on Broadway at the bottom.
Not in picture: Rent souvenir shirt.

Backstreet's Back. Alright!

2010-04-02T06:31:00.000-07:00

Obviously, this is a long overdue blog post.

Yes, the group was here for a concert last Feb. 27 sans Kevin Richardson who had already retired.

Yes, I was there in Gen. Ad. with Mark, Jay-r, Icheb, Shey and Jovan.

Yes, I once followed their career and liked their songs. I was 15 and clearly not so cool. Sue me but I will not make excuses. What? Bubble gum pop was all the rage back then!

I actually still have their first album on cassette. I once had a CD of their second album but I gave it to my cousin Monique who was so into them back in the day. I think she still is. I should go ask.

The thing was that my copy was the Asian edition and it came with bonus tracks that the North American edition didn't have. The time I went to Canda to stay with Monique and her family was around the same time that the appeal of BSB pop was beginning to wane on me. I didn't follow the group anymore after the second album.

So I gave my copy to Monique as a parting and thank you gift when I went back home in late 1999.

Ironically, the first time I saw the group perform live was in Seattle with Monique and my cousins. I still remember the ocean of cheering fan girls surrounding. I think my ears are still ringing. I don't having as much fun watching them though (what with the whole declining interest thing).

Flash forward to about a month ago and there I was dancing and singing along to Quit Playing Games With My Heart and As Long As You Love Me, among others. The concert itself wasn't as spectacular as the one in Seattle ten years ago - prolly cause they're not as big now as they were before. Still, the crowd was just as shrilling and I actually had more fun - maybe because of the novelty of it all.

More than anything, what I realize though is that being in that venue with that crowd and that boy band, I can pretend like I was 15 again. Good times, good times.

My cassette and my ticket.

Judgment Day for Tikbalang and KaCASA

2010-03-16T13:00:00.000-07:00

Before the clock strikes 12 tonight, I would know two things:

1. Whether Neil Gaiman and whoever the other judges are would name our movie, Anak ng Tikbalang, the Best Short Film in the Fully Booked Neil Gaiman Graphic/Fiction Awards.

2. Whether resident members of the Communication Arts Students Association (CASA) have elected the candidates of my party, Partido KaCASA, to any or all seven posts in the CASA Executive Board for next year.

ON TIKBALANG
The movie was written and directed by my good friend Dek. When she asked me to manage its production sometime in mid-2008, I immediately agreed. The concept was fun and to be part of it was just something I couldn't pass up.

We made the movie specifically as an entry to the upcoming Fully Booked Neil Gaiman Awards, which opened the Best Short Film Category up only that year. More than a year passed from shooting and submitting Tikbalang to being notified that we made the short-list of nominees. Being short-listed meant that our movie had a one-in-ten chance of being best film by Neil himself. It also made Tikbalang eligible for the People's Choice Awards, which I've been actively campaigning for in the last few days on various media platforms - mostly thru text and Internet.

ON KACASA
I went back to the den of tigers, UST, early last week to meet with our candidates. As it turned out, we've encountered a major bump in the road when our President and PRO were idiotically disqualified by the AB COMELEC. A petition to the university-wide COMELEC yielded favorable results when our candidates were finally allowed to run.

Anyway, my real purpose on coming back and meeting with our candidates was to train them in their speeches and give them advice, having been in their situation twice. I actually ran twice during my junior year - in June when I ran for VP-Internal and in March when I aimed for the Presidency. I won on both occasions.

The campaign was held late last week and the elections were done the past two days. Canvasing would be tonight and the results to be announced later.

So I'm excited and nervous but nonetheless calm about both results. After all, we've done our best. The rest is up to fate now and I can only hope that it would be so kind.

Thank you to everyone who supported our movie and our candidates.

Almost every KaCASA candidate from '04 to '07.
Photo from Lester.

Relaunching Fandom Live

2010-03-15T13:51:00.000-07:00

Late last year, Dek, Tobie and Paolo came to me with a proposition to revamp Fandom Live for this year.

One of the most important changes was to favor quality over convenience. That meant taking the extra long route from shooting an episode to doing post-production.

Another change was to streamline the segments. That entailed lessening the number of hosts and maintaining regular and consistent segments. As opposed to having different styles, color schemes and whatnot for almost every episode.
One of those regular segments turned out to be We:View, which was ultimately assigned to me to produce, direct and edit.

One last important change was to finally settle on a home where the episodes would be hosted. After ustream and youtube, we've finally come home to Fandom Cafe.

At first, the idea seemed fantastic. It would mean I get to play with equipment, software and do what I've always loved to do: production.
Until the real world sets in, of course, and our audio won't sync with our video, footage get magically lost and ultimately our episodes (mine, in particular) get delayed. That doesn't even include taking the time to take the trip to Fandom Cafe and actually edit the videos because I don't have the proper equipment at home. Or the fact that we have to constantly sync our skeds so we don't burden each other.

So there are these problems that we're incessantly looking to avoid with each new episode that we do, even those that aren't assigned to me (Dek handles the non-we:view episodes).
Of course, all these setbacks get blown in the wind the moment we see the final product. Case in point: our We:View episodes for Avatar and 2012.

2012 was shot first as the supposed season opening because we couldn't shoot Avatar without Rocky who had more to say about the James Cameron flick. However, I felt that Avatar was a better opener because of all the gimmicks involved. So despite already having introduced 2012 as the first episode of the new season, I worked on and finished Avatar first. Despite the delays and spending almost a day on it, the result was just amazing. Not Avatar-amazing but it was definitely worth the effort and it deserved to usher in the new era for Fandom Live.

Behind the scenes, I'm thankful our current creative team hasn't gotten to the point of arguing and bickering with each other over details. At least, not on set, which, most often than not, is the Fandon Cafe mezzanine.

We actually argue our creative differences through emails but never to the point of taking things personally. By the time we start rolling, all of us are clear and united about what we want to achieve. Maybe because we have respect for each other's role in the production. During We:View shoots, Tobie acts as our headwriter and Dek is my second cam and cinematographer, and I let them do whatever. They certainly didn't question me when I decided not to release 2012 as the premiere episode nor when I asked for a certain shot to be done for Sherlock Holmes.

So that has been the experience so far with the first quarter of the new Fandom Live. We got more plans for upcoming episodes, so stay tuned.

From weBLOG to BackLOG

2010-03-14T08:15:00.000-07:00

When I started blogging, it was because I wanted to share my stories, opinions and ideas. I had this delusion people cared about what I had to write about. I still do.

It's just that I don't know if people got busier or blogs just got cumbersome. Everybody seems to have migrated to the microblogging platforms of Plurk, Twitter, Facebook (to a certain extent) and Multiply (ironically enough). Even myself.

So I pretty much unraveled everything that I consider important and worth sharing these past few weeks in 140 or so characters (including spaces). Even me.

Having an EDGE-capable phone and a ping.fm account help me keep everyone abreast of what's going on in my life - not only in real time but on all my networks. That was certainly useful when I was stranded in Ermita during Ondoy.

Yet I feel that my new life stories still deserve the 250-word treatment. Why? Because while plurks, tweets, stat messages, notes, wallposts, shoutouts and quicknotes let people know I'm still alive, they make for less than ideal writing practice.

So now I have a list of blog topics that stretch back as far as January. Some of the things I'd like to cover are:

1. The Fandom Live relaunch

2. A certain wedding you may have heard of

3. A certain boyband concert

4. A certain musical recently staged locally

5. That whole career thing.

Whodathunkit?

I'm blogging about blogging or lack thereof.

We Don't Need Numbers To Tell Us We're Screwed

2010-01-24T05:08:00.000-08:00

About a month ago, I was invited by a friend to the launching of their popdev initiative - 'MulatPinoy'. Now what exactly is popdev? No, it's not population development. It's 'population AND development'.

It refers to how population growth affects a nation's key socio-economic indicators. For example, what does it mean for the country when our numbers grow exponentially?

The good news is that there are nearly enough Filipinos to keep the world running. The bad news is that there isn't enough of the Philippines for the Filipinos to run around in. I remember that during the launch, I struggled with all the facts and figures the speakers were presenting. Yeah, they were compelling. Yeah, they were staggering. Yet, how do I put all that in a blog? How do I explain GDP, GNP and all these high-faluting acronyms?
Then I realized the sad truth that I don't need numerical statistics to confirm the facts. Let's play a game. I'll throw in a few keywords and see how many of you would feel optimistic.

Education.
Employment.
Environment.
Well? How many of you thought we had enough of those to go around? None? Thought so. That list didn't even cover the basic needs of food, shelter and clothing.

In progressive countries, the trend is different. The more controlled the population growth, the higher the standard of living. The issue, of course, is bigger than population control.
I doubt that we'll adopt China's one-child policy anytime soon. Our lawmakers can't even get family planning off the ground, for Christ's sake. Speaking of Christ, the crap should we care about supposed Catholic doctrines when our people are suffering?

MulatPinoy wants presidential aspirants and other candidates in this May's elections to be answerable to these questions. What policies do they intend to espouse to address these issues? Where do they even stand on these matters, if at all?
To that end, MulatPinoy had been holding Kapihan sessions for the past two weekends now and will continue to do so for two more weeks. The sessions raise these very issues to political aspirants with each weekend bearing a different theme - from education in one to environment in the next.
The MulatPinoy website itself is very informative. Aside from containing links to websites of presidential candidates, the site also tracks each candidate's statement about the issues surrounding popdev.

As for the launch itself, I learned that in order to get to the truth of things, I really have to do the math. The irony is that I took up Communication Arts in college because of the minimal math requirements. Heres's a few numbers that was shocking enough to commit to memory:
There's only one policeman for every 700+ people.
There are only 4% of the country's forests remaining.
We are the 12th most overpopulated country in the world. By 2050, we would be on the top 10.
Crap.

In the end, the initiative aims to tap our net generation to bring about the message that we are in big trouble and we want our future leaders to figure out how to solve them. Personally, I believe that citizens should also be held responsible for whatever problems we are facing now. Let's begin by taking the right to vote seriously. Listen to the candidates. They may not be likable. They may not be popular. Their ads and endorsers maybe annoying. Still, who knows? Maybe at least one of them would have a solid platform to address these issues.

PopCity is an online simulation game that attempts to teach young people the relevance of popdev. The game was developed by local studio Flipside Games and can be found on their official website.

2009: The List

2010-01-01T10:08:00.000-08:00

So I finally decided to activate my Blogger / Blogspot account and I decided to start things off with the things that made my 2009 - both good and bad. Celebrity deaths and other current events that didn't have anything to do with me were not included.

I wanted to make a list of 100 things but I couldn't populate it, so I went with the next best thing: a list of 75 things!

1.Dark Reign
2.Yale New Year's Party 2009
3.Welcome Back, Kathy Repol
4.Goodbye, my dog Queenie
5.Invasion of Malaysia – Jovan's Birthday
6.Goodbye, Hec / Welcome Back, Hec / Goodbye, Hec / Welcome Back Again, Hec / Goodbye Again, Hec!
7.Joon's “Wala Lang” Party at Joon's
8.Iana's Graduation Party at Iana's
9.Singles Poker at Jovan's on Valentine's Day
10.Pirate Mardi Gras at Il Pirata – Oneal proposed to Rej
11.Victorian Valentine's
12.Aids' Prom Birthday Party at Club Dredd
13.Jihan and Albert's Birthday Gimik at 77
14.Lynn's Birthday Party in Makati
15.TAGCOM – got a lot of Avengers goodies here!
16.Welcome Home, Papa
17.The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
18.Rockeoke – this was when the Big Bang Gang was first formed
19.Broadwayoke – sang “Out There”, among other things, and got an applause from the pianist
20.COLF '99 10th Anniversary Reunion at Metrowalk
21.Fandom Live Star Trek Shoot
22.SDP Thanksgiving Party - Majority win, except the top 3 positions.
23.The Original Avengers Minimates
24.Sir Joel Birthday Gimik – my last before finally exiting Pageshop
25.Slimerrun and Swimming
26.Ricky's 2nd Death Anniversary Picnic
27.Jon's Birthday Party at Yale
28.Goodbye, Pageshop - after two years!
29.Hello, Swiftworks
30.Shey's Coffee Party at Bona BF
31.Free Comic Book Day 2009 – another Big Bang Gang formed here.
32.Karen's Birthday Rockeoke!
33.Cameron Crowe Thon at Roseroland
34.Komik Kon Summer Fiesta – got loads of Avengers back issues, including A-Next
35.Fully Booked FCBD / Geeks On Ice – Happy Birthday, Oneal
36.Legally Blonde
37.ToyCon 2009
38.Bianca's Party at Metrowalk
39.Paul's Birthday Party at Yale
40.Iana's Birthday Party at Big Sky Mind
41.VA Anniversary Party at Fandom Cafe
42.Metro Comic Con – got a complete Avengers Infinity set
43.Paolo's Birthday Party at Fandom Cafe
44.Anya's Birthday Lunch in Anya's place in Taytay
45.Shopping Spree – got to get rid of old stuff!
46.Avengers Forever HC
47.Ninay's Birthday Party in Cavite
48.Hank's Surprise Party at Big Sky Mind
49.Getting A New Phone – Nokia 3110 Classic Baby!
50.Talk Like A Pirate Day 2009
51.CosplayMania – there's a reason this was memorable!
52.The Hunger Games LARP / Manila International Book Fair
53.Ondoy
54.Spring Awakening
55.Goodbye, Swiftworks – I got fired, then re-hired, then resigned!
56.Happy Birthday To Me! - no Octoberian Birthday Bash but that's okay. Had fun with friends anyway.
57.The Gathering Storm
58.Planet X 1st Year Anniversary – I got Avengers Domination Factor sans 1 issue!
59.Dante's Birthday Dinner
60.Komik Kon – got loads of back issues, including the complete runs of The Good Guys and The Crusaders
61.Starbucks with CA4 Friends – We had four editions already
62.Goodbye, my dog Dino!
63.BORACAY! - 5 days of Paradise
64.Fizzer Launch Party
65.Thanksgiving Dinner at Adam's
66.Sweeney Todd
67.COLF '99 X-mas Reunion at Gerardo's
68.Welcome Back, Lady
69.Welcome Back, Inggak
70.College Friends X-mas Party
71.Finishing Golden Sun & Golden Sun: The Lost Age on the Gameboy Micro
72.Baul Photos – Thanks, CA4!
73.Troopings
74.OGM's
75.Kaladkarans

Now, for something fun, here are my personal favorites of everything I've experienced this year.

Movies:
Watchmen
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Star Trek
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
GI Joe
Amelia
Avatar – MOVIE OF THE YEAR!
Wapakman – WORST MOVIE EVER! EVER!

TV:
Glee - SHOW OF THE YEAR!
Community

Books:
The Gathering Storm - BOOK OF THE YEAR!
Got a copy of Brida (Paulo Coelho)
Finished Sword of Truth Books 5 & 6, A Song of Ice and Fire 4

Music:
Discovered The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and Once On This Island
Tried Out Jersey Boys but didn't like it
SONGS OF THE YEAR: BEP's “I Got A Feeling” and 30 Seconds to Mars' “Kings and Queens”

Comics:
Trese - COMICS OF THE YEAR!
Bayan Knights
Sanduguan

Theater:
Spring Awakening
Sweeney Todd
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee - PLAY OF THE YEAR!

Events:
CinExpo – I did a lot of the marketing / advertising collaterals for this!
Feel Harmonic – I saw the cast of “Rent Manila 2010” for the first time!
ToyCon 2009
Komik Kon Summer Fiesta 2009
Komik Kon - EVENT OF THE YEAR!
CosplayMania
TAGCOM

So, I guess that was my 2009. I've learned to be more trusting and that has been rewarded dutifully with trust as well. Despite all the trials, I laughed and I cried in 2009. It was all worth it.
For my 2010, I think I will continue on the same path I'm already taking now. I'm learning to take more risks and improving on my relationships with people. My personal goal though is improving on my skills and talents.

(*This isn't my traditional obligatory look back for 2009 because there were some pretty personal stuff there that I'd rather not share with everyone at the moment.*)