Weekly Ketchup 46 - Science and Sensitivities

I got to see Big Hero 6 earlier this week for no other reason than it's a Disney-animated movie featuring Marvel characters, obscure as though they are. I guess I was interested mainly because of brand loyalty more than anything else. I'm not sure that I would've been as keen to see it had it been a Dreamworks production featuring a set of original characters, which it might as well have been given how much the movie veered away from the original material.

The movie touched on all the right bases, meeting all the expectations I had of it but not surpassing them, which is okay. I thought the plot did get predictable but I still enjoyed it. And while I'm not as crazy about this film as much as I was with Book of Life or How To Train Your Dragon, the reason I'm devoting much of this week's blog talking about it is because I love how the film made science cool for kids. Even I wanted to get into science after watching the movie. I don't know if that was the filmmakers' intention but it certainly came off that way to me.

Speaking of science, this past week was a big one for space exploration. Comet-landing! Yay!

Except that, all this time, I thought that landing probes on anything floating in space was such a common occurrence already, which was why I didn't really give the matter much attention when I first learned about it. It wasn't until the YouTube channels I'm subscribed to started talking about it that I fully realized what a big deal this really was.

Yet what really drew my attention to this milestone as I read more about it was that it's not even NASA that accomplished this feat but the European Space Agency! There's this strange part of me that's delighted that another part of the world was able to expand humanity's reach. No, it's really not borne out of some anti-American sentiment. Far from it, really. I just feel like the more agencies out there in the world are as capable as NASA, the more efficiently we can advance our understanding of the universe. I get excited thinking about the competitive and cooperative element of having multiple agencies and nations working towards practically the same goals without the political shadow of the Cold War looming over them. It's an interesting and optimistically hopeful scenario that just makes me happy.

Still on the subject of science, a conversation I had with a friend over Google+ got the wheels in my head turning again this past week.

It's certainly a good idea but how do make this series watchable? How do we attract an audience? Am I capable of producing it? I toyed around with the idea a little bit and thought it might be something worthwhile to pursue. Then I realized I'm comfortable with the idea of producing something like this. I have the right contacts both in science and communications. I know where to secure space and equipment. I have some money saved, though I was saving it for another thing. I can make this happen right now if I wanted to.

Granted, my immediate future is up in the air right now and I already have another project in the works but I am enjoying this sense of confidence and assertiveness about being capable of producing a new project off of a simple online exchange. It more than made up for the helplessness and inadequacy I also felt this past week as I realized that I'm extremely under-qualified for a lot of the open positions on Buzzfeed, which I just learned about a few days ago.

Yes, I was looking for new opportunities. No, this is quite different from the writer position I talked about last week, which I haven't even gotten around to attending to because after the Piolo Pascual article, I was immediately given my next assignment: an Anne Curtis article. If I keep this up, I'll be writing about local stars and celebrities for a long while. They maybe vapid pieces (much like this blog) but hey! They're easy money and they're also work that I can be proud of, so let me at 'em!

Speaking of last week, I feel like I more than made up for the lack of documentation of the shenanigans I talked about by bombarding my Facebook and Instagram feed this past week with real time updates of my adventures - from getting my face marked on last Thursday night after a game of Kaiju tower to the bizarre way I got my gift from geek friend Alec yesterday.

Aftermath of Kaiju Tower. I'm going home looking like this.

A photo posted by Niki Yarte (@pinoyavenger) on Nov 11, 2014 at 9:15am PST

So I received a gift that I picked up and delivered the payment for myself. Thanks a lot, @dwinchester!

A photo posted by Niki Yarte (@pinoyavenger) on Nov 11, 2014 at 8:25am PST

Yeah, I've had a fun week. I do regret not having had enough time to visit UST yesterday though because one of the programs I launched as president of the Communication Arts Students Association is apparently still ongoing and on its tenth year. That validation about having left a legacy behind just makes me feel like I did well during my time. Ah, memories.

Weekly Ketchup 45 - Changes and Challenges

I'm currently taking a break from writing about Piolo Pascual to do this blog. Yes, I'm writing a showbiz article.  Yes, it's for a client. Yes, the only reason I'm doing it is for the money. Yes, I'm well aware that makes me a whore. I've long established that.

Funny enough, this isn't the only time this past week that I found myself having to write something way beyond my comfort zone. I found out that Buzzfeed Philippines was looking for a writer and so I threw my name on the hat, sent my resume and some published samples and all that jazz. The editor got back to me with instructions instead. Apparently getting the gig involves some sort of "audition". I was to contribute a "community" post on the website and they like it, I'm in. I've never really had to brainstorm on a topic before, at least not from scratch, let alone one that's intended to generate online buzz, so this one's a bit of a challenge.

The thing is: I've never really been one to push the populist agenda. One quick tour of this blog and one will immediately surmise that I exist in my own bubble, so I'm not really in tune with where the masses are at. In short: I'm a middle-class elitist snob... who just happens to be an advertising copywriter. Yeah, I can put words together in often incoherent structure to market a product - but to write about experiences that people, specifically Filipinos, can relate with? That's a bit of a stretch for me. I mean, how do I even begin writing a piece like "You know you're a Vilmanian when..."?

There's a part of me that's thinking maybe this gig just isn't for me. But then, there's also the part that tells me it can't hurt to try. Guess which one is winning out? Hint: I just have to finish this Papa P. article and I'll get on it.

Speaking of comfort zones, I just realized that in about seven weeks, I'll have to break out of another one, which was what I've been building towards since day one of this blog. There's a feeling of dread and anticipation in the pit of my soul as so many things are up in the air right now but I did make the decision late last week that I was gonna push through with it, however I think I'll have to cut the trip from a potential lifetime to a month-long trip.

I already knew that I have to be here for Beejay's wedding. Being able to include "groomsman" among my life experiences certainly was a deciding factor in that, otherwise I wouldn't have allowed a friend's life event alter the course of my own. Besides, I can always come back but I'll probably never be a groomsman again so there's that.

I do have to work out the logistics of my itinerary though, which was what I've been busy with this past week. I have a pretty ambitious trip in my head but, as always, it all boils down to money. Our company sales is down so I'm a bit nervous about the state of our 13th month pay, vacation and sick leaves, and even our salary for the next two months - all of which are integral to making any of my fantasies for this trip materialize.

This planning is a challenge in in itself as I'm working with nothing else but the resources that are available to me. I'd rather not count on asking my mom, my dad in LA, or even my grandmother in Canada for help because I'm a big boy and I'd rather think I can handle this. Whatever happens, it'll be glorious!

Anyway, in a week of changes and challenges, the Hat Madders (including myself) won the monthly Quiz Night last Thursday (again), which was held at a slightly altered Amici because of the ongoing renovations.

Yesterday, geek friends Alec, Hec, Paul, Jovan, Echo, and I converged in Divisoria upon Mark P.'s invitation. MR was in town and it was his birthday, so we went. We didn't really do much, except munch on dumplings and oyster cake, and looked at toys. It's a change because I hardly get to have any of my friends on my home turf of Manila and navigating the busy streets of Divisoria is a challenge, so there.

Last night, I was supposed to start writing this Piolo Pascual article but I ended up joining the rest at Purdue for game night (that's a change of plans and some challenges right there). We played two games of King of Tokyo (I got to be the kraken and the big ape), Ticket to Ride (I attempted but failed to connect Vancouver and Montreal because Canada), and Love Letter (funny story about that) where I finally won!

Unfortunately, I didn't take any photos from any of these three events. Bad, me! Bad!

Anyway, I also started playing a new game, Beastie Bay, and totally neglected all the other games I haven't finished from last week so challenge changed! I thought it was a fun city simulation/pocket monster hybrid.

Right, so that was my week. Gotta get back to Piolo Pascual now.

Weekly Ketchup 44 - I'm A Player!

Sorry for the click bait but I just mean I play videos and games! LOL

This past week has been pretty lax at work. No clients and new projects coming in, which means I'm getting paid to pretty much just report for the day and standby in case something does come up. While for many people, that may sound like the dream, as a professional in the creatives industry, being "benched" denies me the training and practice I need to further the craft. I feel like this unproductivity would make me rusty before I'm even great at anything.

To be fair, though, the light workload does give me time to daydream and think about other projects, which was what I've been doing with my all-too-generous spare time. It also gives me time enough to check out more stuff that have been floating around in the ether, mainly in the form of YouTube videos. I'm such a big fan of the platform that I'm constantly trying to discover more and more channels to subscribe to. I probably watch more YouTube productions now than TV shows. No, they're not all cat videos. Some of them are very informative while some are just plain humorous, mostly in a slice-of-life kinda way. Take Buzzfeed's video channels, for example.

While this obsession of mine is hardly unique to this last week, I did share more videos on my social networks this week (mainly because of the aforementioned lack of better things to do at work) than any other time in the past . This was also the week that I got to peruse more Saturday Night Live videos, which made me realize something.

Aside from making me wonder how I would've fared in sketch, improv, or even stand-up comedy, I realized that the ever-changing nature of the cast in the show's 40-year history is exactly what I've been looking for. I already mentioned in a previous blog how I tend to organize my experiences and memories in "seasons". For that matter, I think what I want in this life is to be part of something and be remembered for my time in whatever that something is. I want to just come in, do my thing, make an impact, then leave and hope that I'm memorable enough. Right now, the closest I have to that is the last (*almost*) five years in my current job, which ran alongside all the personal growth I've experienced as well.

Of course, Saturday Night Live is equally famous for featuring musical guests weekly and one of the prolific ones they had on the show earlier this year was Sam Smith who - up until last week - was just a name I keep reading on social media. I finally got to check out his music videos (and consequently, his songs) and I gotta say it's refreshing to hear his brand of music, especially in this era dominated by songs like Bang Bang and Anaconda.

Seriously: Whatever happened to slow ballads? Am I just being old and hipster to still want new music to sound soft and buttery in my ears with beautiful and poetic words?

Ironically enough, I got into watching YouTube videos at the office just so I can have something playing in the background while working on client's projects. Now I spend more time there than I do on Photoshop and Illustrator. To be fair, the thought of contributing content to the platform has fueled my motivations as well so all is not lost.

On that note, I also thought I'd spend last week at home working on a client's video but, seeing as the project had an open deadline (as in the client hasn't elected to give me any), I pursued other interests instead. I thought I'd get started on a new book since I finished Neil Gaiman's "Anansi Boys" (and loved it) but that didn't happen because a couple of games kept me busy all through last week as well.

Heroes Chronicles is a spin-off of Heroes of Might and Magic III with pretty much the same gameplay. I never got to play it until I bought my copy from GOG.com, so it's like a familiar thing that I'm also experiencing for the first time. Yeah, it's funky like that and I still love the game after all these years! I got to finish the third chapter in the game by the end of last week. Hopefully, I get to finish the remaining five by the end of the year!

While Heroes Chronicles has taken the time I wanted to spend editing a video, Zenonia has taken the time I intended to start on a new book. The thing is, though: Playing a fantasy RPG is pretty much like reading a fantasy book as far as I'm concerned (and I love me some fantasy). The same thrill and excitement is there and the story element more than makes up for it. Of course, repetitive gameplay does take me out of the experience but that's okay. There is a certain joy that comes with leveling up in experience and earning money to buy more powerful equipment, both staples in any RPG game.

What surprised me about this game though is that I don't have control of a party. I just have one character and I'm kinda getting bored. Keep in mind: I didn't just start playing the game last week. I did spend more waking mornings and sleepy nights playing it though. It does kinda get addictive and that I have an Android-based gaming device with physical buttons make the button-mashing all the more rewarding. I ended the week finishing off a tough boss so yay me!

So I put off editing my client's video until the weekend. That didn't happen because I decided to continue with Age of Wonders 2, which takes me roughly half a day to finish a level. I thought I was on the last level the last time I played the game about a month and I can finally move on with my life but, as it turns out, I skipped a few "bonus" levels, which I think is just fine. I just wish I can finish it before the year ends though.

The thing with Age of Wonders 2, though, is that there's no random map generator so you're forced to either play the preset scenarios or the campaign. I can't just play a casual game to test out the different factions, as I am wont to do when it comes to strategy games.

I remember writing about the dangers of becoming less of a creator and more of a consumer some time ago and the reason while this blog was delayed was because, in the original draft I wrote yesterday, I was berating myself for simply enjoying these things that I do instead of being productive. I realized halfway through it that I really didn't like how it was going. I just want to enjoy what's in front of me and share it without any drama and so here I am.

Lastly, Friday was Halloween and, as much as I wanted to go join my friends even if just to take photos (or videos) because I didn't have a costume but I also just wanted to stay home and play games. Guess what ultimately won out, though I do feel a tad envious that I didn't get to see this.

Weekly Ketchup 43 - The More They Stay The Same

I've had friends tell me that I'm "masipag" when it comes to maintaining this blog. I tell them it's really not that hard since: a) I stick with a regular schedule as much as posssible; and b) there really isn't all that much to do or think about since this is mainly just a recap of the week's events. Most of the time I just react to or recall seemingly random events and find some connections and commonalities for the sake of cohesion.

There are times, though, when do I let the need to deliver content drive my actions for the week, which mostly results in me sharing the latest book, game, or movie that I'm checking out. I haven't done any of that these recent weeks either because there are more pertinent matters that I felt were better to discuss or because I don't really have anything new on those fronts to share. For example: I'm still playing Zenonia, Age of Wonders 2, and Heroes of Might and Magic Chronicles. I did get started on Neil Gaiman's "Anansi Boys" a few weeks back but I haven't finished it, though I am liking it far better than "American Gods". I haven't seen any new movies in a while and my taste in shows have just merely carried over from the previous shows. I haven't been checking out any of the new shows for fear of them getting cancelled just as I was getting invested. I'll see if the shows I'm interested in make it past December before I dive right in.

All this pretty much highlights what I've known all along: That sometimes I just got to let things plateau and just chill. I started this blog announcing all sorts of changes and challenges, all in the hopes of finding something new and exciting, of pushing myself forward, and all that jazz. Sometimes, I just got to let things stay the same.

I do have to point a couple of things out though:

I saw "Book of Life" last Tuesday and surprise! I actually liked this movie far better than "Frozen". However, I do feel like the story could use some restructuring so that we spend more time in the Land of the Remembered. We seriously didn't need 15 or so minutes establishing their childhood. I also didn't understand why there had to be a framing story with some kids in the museum. But other than that, I thought the film was perfect and really wins in animation and voice direction.

And yeah, this trailer, which I already wrote at length about already, so I'm not gonna bother anymore.

Of things that stay the same, I found myself back in my habit of compulsive spending, which is only notable because of last week's blog. If I've been Instagramming a lot more than usual lately it's because I got myself another cheap-ass droid last week mainly for the mobile Internet and the camera. I also got new more expensive eyeglasses last weekend because the plastic one I've been wearing breaks easily (at least once a year). Here's hoping the investment pays off and it stays with me for at least ten years. Lastly: A quick errand at SM yielded a shirt and new jeans (something that's been known to happen to me A LOT in the past). To be fair, they were on sale and I do need new jeans. Also: A sideline job paid a couple of weeks ago but not enough for a party (yeah, I'm being defensive).

New shirt, jeans, and glasses and taken with a new phone.
I look great, okay!

I'm also back in the habit of unconventional dieting where I would eat a lot in the morning, a little during the day, and nothing but water in the evening. Of course, that also lead to my habit of breaking that diet when geek friend Tobie treated me to his special pasta recipe and milk shake from Ludo last Friday evening. This was his late birthday treat for me, which is just really sweet of him. Of course, Tobie being Tobie, we played some games! I surprisingly won our game of Carcassonne Wheel of Fortune at his place and Ludo co-owner Jay won the two "engine-building" games we played there.

Splendor
Image credit: BoardGameGeek.com

Diet be damned again come Saturday evening because a friend I thought I've lost is back in my life. Beejay and his fiancee Din invited me and Din's friend Karen to dinner. I haven't seen or spoken to Beejay since a spat we had over Facebook messenger early last year so I was surprised to get the call sometime ago (briefly hinted at here) inviting me to be a groomsman at the wedding. I'm also to be a host at the reception, along with Karen, which was what the evening was really about. What I thought would be an awkward dinner turned out to be quite enjoyable - like no time at all has passed (I am disgusted at my own cliche but it is what it is). Even if I feel like I've changed a lot since the last time we saw each other, and he most certainly has, there's still that sense of familiarity and it's wonderful.

From Din's Instagram

I suppose going back to the comfortable and familiar in a sea of change is a good thing every now and then. Yet before I even get to big change I've been planning for myself, I now have a problem: The wedding is in February. I wasn't planning on hanging around these parts by then. What do I do?

Whatever happens, I wanna be able to vote in the 2016 US elections in person. I mailed my absentee ballot for this year's local elections last Thursday and I felt like cheating. Why am I voting when I don't even contribute taxes there (something I feel strongly about the voting populace here)? And, no, this isn't a new experience since I've already voted in absentia back in 2012.

Weekly Ketchup 42 - Money/Talks

It was my birthday this past week. I wanted to have this Broadway-themed Halloween costume party where me and my friends would dress up as characters from Broadway shows and sing songs from the musicals. I had a venue in mind already but, obviously, that didn't happen because, well, money and that I didn't have enough of it. I was hoping to score another gig a month ago, which I obviously didn't get as well, otherwise this would be a totally different blog altogether. The thing is: I have been saving money since the year started, which has been great, but I'm also not making enough from my day job and I'm not scoring enough moonlighting work to splurge on a birthday party. A big consideration is that I am also leaving soon.

When I was younger, say 15 years ago, I thought that I'd be financially okay by this age. That I'd have all the money in the world to splurge on my hobbies and interests and that I wouldn't ever go hungry. To be fair, those expectations were met, except that I also imagined I'd be living in an apartment and paying rent but that didn't happen either because the reality is that I can't have my cake and eat it too.

I honestly don't know how to be wise or smart with money or even how to make them other than to work, be productive, and create something I can be proud of in the future. For me, that's always been in stories - whether in photos, in videos, or in words. Yes, even in ads and design & layout. I've been offered to change careers into something more lucrative (*ahem*BPOs*ahem*) or engage in different schemes of multi-level marketing, which, more than anything, offers "financial stability" but I just didn't see the value in any of it other than the money. I've also been offered long-term investments with the already little money I make but that would mean giving up on theater, movies, books, and everything else that I enjoy.

Money today just makes me happy but money in the future would just make me less miserable, which are two totally different things. This mentality of mine scares the living shit out of me because, as much as it makes perfect sense, it's also not practical or sustainable. I realize that the solution to all of this is to move to a bigger, higher paying  company, which I'm not willing to do as I've already discussed here, or get promoted, which my current company isn't willing to do. And now I'm back to square one: Spend less and make more money elsewhere. Seriously, if I had been born incredibly good-looking, I'd whore myself out to the highest bidder. Yeah, I'm that kind of person.

Yesterday's new haircut plus today's new frame.
I thought I looked hella good until people said I look more like Olaf.
I just can't win!

Yet, despite unmet expectations, I can't really complain. I always say I'm still better off than a great number of people, I've always managed to stave off emergencies despite my limited means, and what I currently make is really more than enough - if only I wasn't me. But I am who I am and, as was evidenced to me this birthday week despite the absence of a big party, people like me well enough, which is something I wouldn't have been able to say 15 years ago so I still win in life!

Which brings me to my next thought.

I'm not really sure what I enjoy the most about engaging in conversations or interactions in general: That they let me get to know another person or that I get to know more about myself. This entire ramble about money was borne out of a conversation I had with geek friend Paul over pad thai and pho yesterday after checking out Uniqlo (another thing that was borne out of a particularly interesting conversation over Facebook). I already knew that he fared a little better than me in the salary department (though he does pay bills and rent that I don't), but he is also incredibly prepared. The word "mutual fund" figured into the conversation. There's just something so adult about it that's just not me and I find it fascinating.

Me at Uniqlo before Paul arrived. Didn't much care for it.

Another conversation that got me thinking about my status in the universe is one I had hours after that with geek friends Denice and TJ at Uno Morato about, well, porn. I'd like to think that I'm well-versed in the perverse but apparently porn and porn stars are something that people talk openly about now - as if they're regular summer blockbusters. Denice and TJ bandied names and words with the crowd at Uno Morato and I was like, "WTF?" I have never felt more like a prude my entire life. To be fair, I have seen my share of porn and I find it disgusting. I don't understand how disproportionate body parts and bad production can be titilating. Short Bus, though.

Checked out the Saturday morning cartoons thon.
I arrived really late though.

I suppose this shouldn't really be any surprising given last week's revelation (do they go hand-in-hand?), which my teammates (Nabs, Marge, Kai, and - for the first time - Nina) at last Tuesday's Relik Trivia Night (where I ended up celebrating my birthday) pulled me aside to talk further about. Questions like "Do I fancy anybody at the bar?", "What's my type?", and other questions but I was fumbling for answers! It was so awkward! I felt like I was improvising a role that people were forcing me to play and I was talking out of my body (to be fair, I was also a bit sloshed)!

From Jovan's Facebook. WE WON!!!

My reaction to these scenarios obviously speaks volumes about me more than the other party. Like I've already established, I relish my oddities because I'd be boring without them. It's the adaptive nature of evolution at work, I guess. With no looks or money smarts to bank on, I'd need talent and an ebullient personality to survive. One, I can work on (and have been working on); the other, I either have or don't - and nature has at least given me that.

Now if only I can make money off of my neuroses. Hmmm.
Maybe a sitcom or webshow about me and my equally eccentric dog?

Weekly Ketchup 41 - My One Regret About Growing Older

No, I'm not about to go on a ramble of insecurities, mistakes, and regrets about turning another year older in a few days, though I very well should. This past week alone, social media has brought to my attention that a couple of org-mates from college who pretty much received the same education as I did were now either teaching or being deployed to other countries. I'd be lying if I didn't say I'm just a tad envious but they got it going on and good for them! Meanwhile, I'm still crawling through, learning on the job and celebrating every little gig I get. Just today, I got to cover another baptism/birthday combo with my trusty new camera. Just a few days ago, I sent in a new article for Planet Philippines. While either doesn't really make me much money (none of what I do or try to do really does), that I get to do both, among other things, is a dream enough come true. Maybe someday whatever I do will take me places. Maybe someday I'll be so good that I'll be invited to teach. Or maybe not. But right now I'm happy that I can tell my 23-year old self that "you're doing exactly what you would imagined you would be doing ten years after college graduation - writing articles, making videos, taking photos, etc".

Boho Quiz Night. Our team, the Candlenicks, won! 

No, I'm also not about to begrudge time and nature for aging me. Yes, there is gray in my hair and my hairline has receded a bit (my bangs have all but disappeared). My face has gotten a bit gaunt, my lips thinner, and I wrinkle. I say bring it on - it means that I made it! I'm still here and I'm healthy. As unfortunate as it is, I've already outlived some friends from college. So yeah, let time do its worst! I'm prepared, though if it could do it in little increments over a long period of time, that'll be great. I don't wanna make wearing sunscreen a daily habit - something that I started doing this week. Also: If my body would just let me enjoy life without breaking down easily, that'd be great too. I'd like to enjoy more of last Wednesday's Boho Quiz Night, which was followed by an impromptu YouTube karaoke. I'd also like to get more from my day. Yesterday's Star Wars Reads at Glorietta 5, while fun, left me exhausted that I didn't have energy to go out and party some more.

Chaos at Star Wars Reads Manila

And no, this is not a spree of tired cliches and pretentious adage about what "growing up" means (because really why?) but I do want to point out some things. I am now roughly the same age when my mom had me (my dad was way older) so some things do bear thinking. Having been surrounded by families and children this entire weekend, maybe it's also a thematic question to ask: Marriage, family, and children? I guess same with success, aging, and maturity, I could care less about having any of them (Yeah, I say it now).

Here's the thing: I don't know if these things will ever be in the cards for me. I'm certainly not closed to the idea. Maybe I'll grow into the role of a family man someday but it isn't something I'm actively working towards.

Obviously because it also takes more than just my efforts.

While I think I've made peace with the various aspects of my personality so much that I feel like a complete person who can take on anything, this is the one area where I fail completely. Heck, I'm 33 and I've never even once gone on a date, flirted, hooked up, much less been in a relationship. I just never really saw myself as good enough for anyone. To be fair, people have gone up to me to make me believe otherwise but I just got creeped out most of the time. And yes I've known infatuation as well but I just dismissed at that: Infatuation. True enough, whatever it was I thought I was feeling went away as quickly as it came.

I'm obviously an incredibly strange person, which is one of two reasons I've always had in my head about why I've refused to let anyone else get intimately closer; the other being that I didn't like the idea of my life, my time especially, being intertwined with another person's (people in relationships call it "compromise"). Now I'm thinking "strange" means "interesting" and maybe "intertwining" isn't so bad after all. So if there's one thing I do regret about growing older is that I wouldn't know what it's like to be young and "in love" enough to write about it. I've let youth and beauty lapse without having lived the complete experience.

Like I mentioned in an earlier blog, it's the things I didn't get to do that I regret the most. Now having put this nugget of information out here, what next? I guess I'll let you know once I've figured it out.

Weekly Ketchup 40 - When It Pours

After relatively quiet weekends with virtually no social obligations to meet, I decided that I was gonna go to EVERY EVENT I was invited to this past week. This after many months of skipping conventions and other events, which, to be fair, has done wonders for my wallet and my time (being definitively "anti-social" allowed me to advance in the many games and ebooks I acquired the past year).

While tiring myself out in pursuit of geek activities (remember Geek Week?) isn't really new to me (lord knows how I feel about repetitive activities, especially conventions), something just clicked into place earlier this week: A sudden burst of motivation, inspiration, and productivity.

The team at Relik's Trivia Tuesday. We lost by 2 points. Bummer!

See, for a long time now I've been thinking about launching a vlog series about geek life in Manila. I actually shot some footage a couple of years ago (in standard definition) but never got around to compiling them into a watchable (and hopefully shareable) video. So yeah, it's been a long time coming and the footage have just been gathering virtual dust on my hard drive.

Now that I have a better high definition camera and with so many geek events happening back-to-back, I thought it would be a great idea to restart and actually pursue the project. This would all have been pretty dandy but, as with any good story, there must always be conflict. Unfortunately, inspiration isn't the only thing that came pouring in heavily this past week. I'm talking about the effin' weather! On more than one occasion, the rains have (literally) dampened my plans. Our house was also flooded in TWICE this week! It's ridiculous!

Winners' selfie after Amici Quiz Night last Thursday

Also: Being out every night wreaks havoc on my budget and diet (yeah I said it). I've been trying to cut back on my gluttonous behavior because my pants haven't been fitting well these past few months but I just can't help it when I'm out with friends. And when you eat, you spend! I didn't get to attend Geek Fight Wednesday because of the rain and because I spent too much the night before at Trivia Tuesday. But that's just on food!

Since most of the events I attended ran well into the night, another consideration and reservation I had was security. The entire week I was worried about going home with my expensive camera that I won't be able to replace anytime soon if it gets stolen. I don't drive and I can't afford to take a cab every night (I had to take a cab Tuesday evening because I wasn't feeling well) so I was risking a lot to pursue this project.

Pirates at Ludo! Got to play Pirate Fluxx, Walk The Plank, and Munchkins!

Rain and limited money were the reasons why I had to walk a long way to get to Ludo for Play Like A Pirate Day on Friday evening. Come CosplayMania the next day, I had to deal with EVERYTHING - keeping my camera secure from the rain and theft, not feeling well, and working with a limited budget!

Was it all worth it?

My only picture from CosplayMania. From geek friend Adrian's Instagram.
That's other geek friend Alec as Starlord.

Well, all throughout the week, I had to remind myself why I was doing this. Aside from hanging out with friends and the satisfaction of completing a personal project, I was thinking I could use the experience to beef up my portfolio in case an opportunity to earn money from doing similar projects comes along. I'm subscribed to many YouTube channels right now (the Buzzfeed channels and John Oliver are my latest favorites) and I would love to participate in that industry as well.

Hopefully, I'll have fewer things to stress about in the next few events I plan to cover. Star Wars Day, Komikon, and the Christmas ToyCon are all in the pipeline but I'll start working on editing the footage I already took this week! As always, the chief motivation is just to be able to say "I've done it".

This week's newest discovery is John Oliver.
I plowed through his entire playlist.
So informative and entertaining!

Weekly Ketchup 39 - Three Things

First thing: Late last week, there was a typhoon. Been there, done that.
Along with the rising flood waters came the sudden swelling of my lower lip. I suspect it was either the pin prick of a sore I noticed a couple of nights before (either I bit on it or an insect did) or the unsanitary way I shaved that part of my face just the day before (yeah, it's a thing). Either way, it was itchy, heavy, and painful and, once again, another medical emergency that I couldn't afford to have at the moment.
Both unfortunate circumstances threw a wrench at last weekend plans, which should've included Play Like A Pirate Day, the Manila International Book Fair, and game night with a bunch of geek friends. I did see a doctor when the sky cleared up and was prescribed an antibiotic. Thankfully, no surgery or needles were required.
While I spent the entire weekend feeling feverish (maybe my body's reaction to the rather strong medication), the rest of the work week was just me going through my normal daily routine, except with a comically large lower lip (and a bit of puss). Thankfully, the damn thing has healed now and life is back to normal.

I was glad that I didn't have to see people; then I snapped this selfie.

Second thing: I received an unexpected but very welcome call last Monday from someone I haven't heard from in a couple of years. The nature of our conversation has immediate ramifications for my plans to leave. It may derail them, in fact. On one hand, I don't want months of planning to unravel. On the other, the opportunity offered to me happens only once in a lifetime. Sorry if I'm being vague but I've been sworn to secrecy but I'm sharing a bit of it here because I kinda wanna track the progression of this story as well, Hopefully, I get to dedicate an entry to this situation in the coming weeks.
Right now, I'm trying to focus on the solution aka to have my cake and eat it too. It's a dilemma, to be sure, but I find that focusing on the problem is just gonna weigh me down (like that time). But this new development is gonna involve plenty of sacrifices on my part but, hopefully, it forces me to grow and evolve. So challenge accepted (I guess?)

Lastly, this past week is memorable for the number of pitchforks slung. I agree that rape is not funny and leashing a performer is distasteful (notice I did not say "female"). However, the number of opinions and discussions surrounding both incidents are already staggering plus I already spent last week on an overarching ramble about another societal issue so I'm not gonna get into them here. I will just point out three things:
a) The irony of timing as both issues went viral at the same time that Emma Watson's speech at the United Nations did.
b) Watson, of course, emphasized the responsibility of males to take up the feminist cause as well. The thing is: As someone whose earliest memories happened during the time of a female president; whose parental figures were my grandmother, my mom, and my aunt; whose earliest comic heroes were the X-men and their powerful female characters; and who has worked with more female bosses, the idea that women are inferior in any way have always been alien to me. While that may not mean much coming from a guy with a queer identity, I look at my closest male friends who've had a traditional hetero-normative upbringing and I think we see women the same way. Must be a geek thing.
c) I do wonder: If rape did not exist or if it wasn't a prevalent crime, would joking about it be simply cathartic? After all, Greek dramas were all sprung from exploring aspects of the human experience that were not realized at the time. Similarly, if male patriarchy or slavery were figments of our imagination, would the image of a man holding a woman on a leash just mean to satisfy our curiosity? And to tie this matter off with last week's conundrums: If it had been a black woman holding a Filipino man (two cultures with no common histories) on a leash, can it just be art?

Obviously, I didn't really see a female being ensnared by the patriarchy. I just saw another human being and it is disturbing (but was it also cathartic?), especially since the concept did not call for it. Writing this just now made me realize I wasn't as offended by the imagery as my friends were.

Just like racial and cultural issues, matters about sex, gender, and representation are important to me not just as a person but also as a would-be creator. Unfortunately, our lot in life is that we're born either one or the other, so the "write what you know" principle is harder to follow when you're talking about the opposite sex or people of other cultures so it helps to collaborate as well as to keep the dialog open.
In the age of social media, however, there is the added challenge of sifting through wanton activism and knee-jerk reactions to get to little nuggets of enlightened opinions. Thankfully, there is an abundance of smart people in my life to mine them from.

Weekly Ketchup 38 - Racial Ramblings

As soon as I finished last week's catch-up, I immediately had an idea what this week's blog was gonna be about since the thought weighed heavily on my head days after posting it.

When I made the jump from talking about 300: Rise of an Empire to the Islamic State, I did not mean to imply that modern-day Persians (aka the Turks and the Iranians) are in anyway related to the terrorist group. I actually had to research about the difference between Persian and Arabian people because for the longest time, and I'm sure I'm not the only one guilty of this, I thought they were one and the same mainly because of geography and religion. I guess it's the same how some people can't differentiate between Koreans and Chinese (or even Japanese) and assume that the cultures are interchangeable. This doesn't necessarily mean that lumping unrelated peoples together is racist but I do understand how the ignorance can be offensive, regardless of the intent.

Though I wonder why everyone else but white people seem quick to cry "racist stereotyping". Since I talked about my love of the fantasy genre last week, allow me to make examples of elves (a Norse creature) and satyrs (a Greek creature) or, more similarly, fairies and nymphs being lumped together in games and books. Why is noone crying foul over the homogenization of European culture?

I also wonder: People were up in arms when Ziyi Zhang, a Chinese woman, was cast as the lead in Memoirs of a Geisha but I don't remember a single protest raised against the "Indianization" of the Fire Nation, which had a more Japanese inspiration in the cartoons, in "The Last Airbender". The latter, of course, had bigger problems when it was accused of white-washing peoples that had distinctively Inuit and Chinese origins.

Of course, the difference between "Geisha" and "Last Airbender" was that the former was explicitly set in Japan - a real location - whereas the former was set in a fictional world, so I can maybe give the producers a little leeway when it comes to reinterpreting the source material for the big screen to appeal to a wider domestic audience (same thing that happened with the Dragonball movie).

I admit I'm also given to a bit of bias. I really don't mind if a traditionally white character gets made over into a totally different race in a reinterpreted adaptation. Michael Clark Duncan as the Kingpin? Sold! Fan Bing Bing as Blink? Loved it! Michael B. Jordan as the Human Torch? Well, let's see how this goes but I'm open. There really isn't much room to wiggle here since these are characters that have been canonically illustrated as white people with a back history set in an idealized "real" world that specifically establishes such but I'm still all for it! But hell will be raised if War Machine or the Falcon were depicted as white.

That being said, I do wonder if a reinterpretation of "The Lord of the Rings" or "A Song of Ice and Fire" set in a more Asian-inspired fictional world, going directly against the authors' visions, would work? I wonder if I would be open to the idea. Right now, I'm a little curious about it as that sounds like an awesome production, travesty to the source material aside.

Admittedly, the modes of pop culture I consume - fantasy novels, comics, cartoons, even the CGI-laden summer blockbusters, and games (possibly) are all constructs of white people's imaginations, so it makes sense that some of the early works, even some of the current ones, in those genre were about them. I guess noone's crying foul about the homogenization of European cultures because the perpetrators are themselves white. We, as non-white consumers, cannot feign ignorance either because our education system has been Euro-centric from the get-go, which is why it's easier for us to accept the Greeks as heroes and the Persians as villains. Heck, I knew more about Greek mythology from high school than I ever did about Filipino lores. And no, it can't be that empire-building just leaves a bad taste in our mouth because the Romans and Alexander had empires and are venerated for it.

Why all this matters to me has to do with what I intend to leave in this world as my life's work: A fantasy epic that has gods, monsters, magic, heroes, and all sorts of creatures. One of the original ideas for the story was a desert-dwelling, moon-worshipping tribe of villainous ogres, which was immediately dropped after 9/11. I also wanted to present a human race that was far more diverse than what JRR Tolkien had in his legendarium, so I had main characters that resembled and were based on American Indians, Chinese, and Persian peoples. Meanwhile, the human halves of my humanoid creatures (aka harpies and minotaurs) are black. And yet my main character was a white boy. Even the gods I imagined then were Greek-inspired so they were naturally white.

As time wore on and my knowledge of the real world increased and deepened, the fictional world I have in my head also evolved, albeit somewhat conflictingly. The gods are no longer white humans but magical creatures instead. I have now added more humans into the world, including those based on the East Indians and the Africans. All of them inhabiting the same world as elves, fairies, djinns, dragons, and vampires! I feel like in the effort to not be racially biased, I have created this rather colorful but convoluted world and lost track of the story!

Another question that have plagued me in recent years was whether to write my Filipino ancestry into the story. After all, Tolkien drew much inspiration from his Irish ancestry for his Hobbits. I tried to rewrite the story in this vein when I joined NaNoWriMo a few years ago but I ended up with a totally different story than I originally intended! This got me thinking: Regardless of whether I find a large enough audience, should I bear the responsibility of bringing my world into this genre that I love and aspire to participate in?

On a related story: This past week, some of my friends from UP have been accusing the NU Pep Squad (and other squads) of "cultural misappropriation" in their choice of themes following last week's cheerdancing competition for which the UP Pep Squad, despite their strong advocacy theme, placed second. While I don't doubt my friends' objectivity about the matter, it can't be helped to taste bitterness in their objections. The same can be said about me expressing this observation coming from the school that placed third.

Now all was on my mind a few days ago when I thought: Maybe the only way my work would not come of as Euro-centric, racist, ignorant, culturally misappropriated and not worry about representing my ethnicity was to instead create a whole new race of humans that are far removed what exists now - like people gray skins with blue hair. I can take what little tidbits about real cultures however it would serve the story. How cool would that be to have samurai-like warriors headquartered in a pyramid, for example?

Of course, I'm rambling about a piece of work that doesn't exist yet but as my life's work, I need to really think hard about these things and educate myself.

Anyway, I'm currently feverish, fighting off a lip infection, so I apologize if this week's edition isn't studded with links and images. I'll update when I feel better, hopefully this coming week.

Weekly Ketchup 37 - Flight of Fantasy

Geekdom is a vast realm of varied interests and I have long cast my lot with fantasy and mythology. Last week alone, I found myself gorging on as much magic and fantasy as I can handle - and somehow found some connections between my hobbies, current events, and existentialist questions.

First things first: I finished the entire second book of Avatar: The Legend of Korra and, while not awful, it just didn't quite capture my imagination as much as Legend of Aang did. Its world of automobiles, "movers", mechas, etc. were just alien to me. In fact, the only episodes I fully enjoyed were the saga of Wan (spin-off please?). I would've appreciated the world better if bending somehow explained the new technologies. That being said, I'm sure still gonna follow book three.

Wan/Raava vs. Vaatu
(Source)

On the gaming front, I'm still on Warlords Battlecry 2 and Age of Wonders 2 (yeah, it takes a while). I've been playing WB2 on a daily basis since Geekstractions and I've now conquered three quarters of the world (with a sad win-loss record of 1:2). Meanwhile, I've been spending my free Saturdays on AoW2, playing a couple of really long levels at a time, and is now one level away from finishing the game! Yay me!

Book-wise, I started Daniel Arenson's Firefly Island. I didn't remember the premise of the book and why I bought it so I went into blindly, not certain if I liked it a couple of chapters in. But the more I unraveled Arenson's world, I became so much more invested that I plowed through about eight chapters last Saturday! The narrative is easy enough to follow, the characters are likable, and the world-building was wonderful! It reminds me a lot of David Eddings' and Brandon Sanderson's works!

I also caught up with some movies that I deliberately missed because of bad reviews: Wrath of the Titans, The Immortals, and 300: Rise of the Empire. Titans was just plain awful in every conceivable angle while Immortals and Empire were serviceable enough - they were at least pretty. My main problem with the mythology in Titans and Immortals, though, was that the "twilight of the gods" was a Norse concept and not Greek. Can somebody just make a film about Ragnarok and be done with it?

Coincidentally, I saw Rise of an Empire last Thursday - exactly the anniversary of 9/11. Just the day before, Barrack Obama addressed the ISIS situation. It was then that I acknowledged (internally) that I am afraid, especially at the prospect of another world war (thinking about Russia and North Korea as well). While violent conflicts are par for the course of any fantasy epic in any medium, I don't think I'm prepared to handle such a situation if it hits close to home.

Gorgo and Artemisia were the best part of the movie!

While we're on the subject of fantasy and religion, I've always wondered what it said about me that I am now averse towards the magical and fantastic doctrines of organized religion but sold on anything with dragons, fairies, avatars, titans, and the like. Then again, fantasy doesn't force me to believe that wizards are real the same way that religions venerate their saints and prophets. Then again, I'm no atheist. I'd still like to believe in a powerful unknowable force that permeates the universe. Maybe that's why I haven't lost my sense of wonder? Or maybe they're not connected?

Anyway, I also had the pleasure of teaming up with Paolo and Denice, both members of the Geek Fight committee, at last Wednesday's Boho Quiz Night hosted by Jon (one of my usual quiz night teammates). We didn't win but it was a fun evening nonetheless. I got to participate in Paolo's impromptu mini trivia game at our table since he was showing us some of the questions he used before. As usual, if it's not related to fantasy and mythology (or comics), I'm useless.

In other news:
I went to my college friend Hanna's kid's baptism way up in Bulacan yesterday. It's always good to see the old gang, especially Tintin who's been based in Singapore for more than 5 years. Of course, I found something deplorable about the priest's sermon. It's the thing I hate most about religious doctrines: The divisiveness.

We tried to catch the livestream of the UAAP Cheerdance Competition on the road but eventually our feed was cut off just as it was getting interesting. And while the general Thomasian community is glad that the UST Salinggawi Dance Troupe finally made it back to the top 3, I'm glad they delivered a performance that I can get behind because the past few years have just been mediocre at best.