NEW BLOG

Hello everyone,

As of now, this blog will no longer be updated. Please visit my new blog:

The Literary Liberal


(Just click on the link)




Thank you all very much!

What Neil Gaiman Book Am I?

You are American Gods! You are mysterious,
intelligent, and creative. To the rest of the
world you may seem a little standoffish, but
really youre just a quiet person. Youre sort of
bookish and are intrigued by mythology and
fairy tales. You might be Wiccan or Pagan,
either that or youre unreligious. You have a
sarcastic sense of humor and are the kind of
person people like to talk to because youre
such a good listener.


*~Which Neil Gaiman book are you?~*
brought to you by Quizilla

Sunlit Days

After several long moments -- or it might have been half an hour -- or possibly several sunlit days --

Yup... that's just how I feel too. Every time.

Obsessed

When I start liking something, I tend to get obsessed. Case in point: When I watched Batman Begins and got blown away by it, I got obsessed and re-read ALL of my batman trades and watched batman 1 again. Also: When I watched Epsiode 3 and loved it, I re-watched the entire saga and re-read almost all my books. In one week.

Obsessed, I tell you.

And it's happening again.

Last week, I read Harry Potter book six. I loved it.

Now I'm rereading the Potter books, again, and lamenting the fact that I'll have to wait another 2 years for the next (and last) book. I'm actually reading the earlier volumes and finding so many things that were foreshadowing events in book 6.... even the supposedly "rushed" relationship between Harry and ____________. Nothing rushed about it... It was all there.

Obsessed, I tell you. Obsessed.

CURSE YOU HARRY POTTER!

Mad About You

I hate being sick.

For the past few days, I have been battling some sort of bug that has made me feel week, given me a stuffy nose, and made my throat feel like it was baking in an oven. Additionally, I haven't been able to play with Deva for fear of infecting her, as I may already have done to Kathy.

Today I finally gave in to this bug and have confined myself to the house for a day of rest and recuperation.

One good thing came out of this:

Mad About You

I don't know if it's a regular Saturday thing or something, but Hallmark was showing a mini-marathon of the show Mad About You. From about 12:30 to 3pm, I plopped myself down on my bed and got reminded as to why this is one of my favorite sitcoms ever.

What I like about Jamie and Paul is how real they are. A lot of sitcoms today, especially sitcoms about couples, focuses on how... weird or abnormal one or both of them are; on how stupid the guy is and how perfect the girl is; on how you can't imagine how the protagonists could ever have gotten together, and yet they did. These shows are funny, but I always felt that they weren't as touching or as human as shows like Mad About You was.

If anything, Mad About You was one of the most heartfelt sitcoms you could find on television. Paul, Jamie, and even doggie Murray formed a wonderfully eccentric little family struggling to make a living in the mad, mad jungle that is Manhattan. Through everything they have each other, sharing their strength and exploring their love. It is never completely perfect, but that's life. They accept it, and they deal with it.

Although they are eccentric and neurotic, they never reach the level of such famous neurotics as Frasier and Niles (Frasier). Neither are they individually moronic about their relationship like Raymond (Everybody Loves Raymond) and Doug (King of Queens). And they try not to be controlling and overbearing, like Carrie (KoQ) and Kim (Yes, Dear).

They are real, ordinary people. And that reality is what makes this sitcom truly special.

Gawd... it's hard to write when you're sick.

Rallies

I live somewhere in the heart of the Makati Central Business District just a few blocks away from Ayala Avenue. As such, it's rather scary that a number of rallies have been occuring in this area.

I'm sick so I'll kee this short for now...

Is democracy in this country becoming abused?

A Life Forged in Comic Books

Recently, we have seen a spate of comic book movies released by major studios with some pretty heavy star and box office power. Batman Begins, Sin City, and Fantastic Four are all just the latest of these films. And over the horizon looms X-Men 3, Ghost Rider, and, the big one, Superman Returns.

In the publishing side, DC Comics is undergoing a creative renaissance. I won't go into details now, but if there was ever a time for me to renounce my retirement from buying single-issue comics, it would be now.

With articles about comics appearing in magazines ranging anywhere from Time to Entertainment Weekly, the comic book as a form of entertainment seems to slowly becoming validated once again. More and more newsstands are proudly displaying the latest titles of JLA and Superman; Bookstores like Barnes and Noble and Powerbooks have layers upon layers of Graphic Novels; and Neil Gaiman is a rock star.

Ah yes, it's a great time to be a comic book reader.

But of course, I always have been.

When I was a kid, I used to travel up EDSA with my family every saturday to spend the day with my Angkong in Mandaluyong and my Wawa (lola) in Cubao. I love my Angkong and I enjoyed spending time with my cousins in Manda, but I especially looked forward to my time in Cubao with Wawa and my cousins who lived there. One thing I looked forward to was hanging with my Kuya Myke, and his seemingly inexhaustible stack of comic books.

My parents never understood my penchant for comics (which I will blog about later), and so never really bought a lot of comics for me when I was younger. So, when Kuya Myke would bring out his stash, I was in Heaven. He kept his comics in a way that would probably scandalize most collectors today... he book-bound them.

If I recall correctly, his collection at the time consisted of 3 giant black books, 2 smaller blue ones, and a small red one, as well as numerous un-bound single issues. The contents of these books were a veritable smorgasbord of fantastic superheroics, neatly balanced by a smattering of science fiction and fantasy. Daredevil, Spiderman, Batman, Superman, JLA, Teen Titans… these were the titles I remember the most from the superhero side. Micronauts, Star Wars, Warlord, and even ROM the Space Knight made up the rest. I’m sure there were more… but these were the ones that made an impact. My sister mostly read the red book… I think that one was mostly Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse.

My Saturday afternoons were filled with these stories of derring-do and acrobatics. No matter how many times I read them, I enjoyed them anew. I thrilled to the capture of Stilt-Man by the Daredevil; I chuckled at Spider-Man’s juvenile humor; I awed at Superman’s majesty; and I felt for the characters that made up the Teen Titans. I thirsted… no… hungered for more.

As I grew up, I never let go of that love for comics. I discovered in my mid-teens that I loved X-Men and Superman in particular, but I still made it a point to keep up with other comic titles as well. As I got older, in my late teens, I matured in my tastes and went for Batman and Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner.) As I got even older, it was pretty much Vertigo that did it for me.

I was, and still am, a huge comic fan, and as such I have read a heck of a lot of comics in my life. I owe that to Kuya Myke. He started me on the wonderful and bizarre life, and I am forever thankful for that.

And in addition to that, I have to thank him for introducing me to my two favorite, and undoubtedly the greatest, comic book series ever: Sandman and Starman (more on them in a future post.)

Today, I don’t collect individual comics anymore… it got too expensive. Instead, I wait for the collected versions of my favorites and gratefully read the issues that Tonton has. But I have always been, and forever will be a comic book fan. There is something about that medium that strikes a chord in me, and I feel a rush of happiness every time I read one.

Thanks Kuya.

Favorite comic reads (no order after #’s 1 and 2):

1. SANDMAN and everything Neil Gaiman
2. STARMAN

Hellblazer (Ennis and Azzarello’s runs)
Lucifer
Swamp Thing
100 Bullets
Superman (John Byrne and Dan Jurgens’ run)
Batman (Azzarello, Year 1, DKR, Jeph Loeb’s stuff, Greg Rucka, Ed Brubaker)
Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner)
JLA (Everything I’ve read)
Wonder Woman (George Perez, Greg Rucka)
Supergirl (Peter David)
Teen Titans (Wolfman and Perez)
Alan Moore Stuff
X-Men (Jim Lee, Joss Whedon, Claremont)
Power
Midnight Nation
Meridian
....

No. I can’t do this right now. Too many favorites. :)