I LOST MY GLOBE! ARRRRRGH!!!

Please help me re-build my Contact List.

Send me your cell# at: budj (@) rocketmail (dot) com

Thank you.

Ugh!

I lost my cellphone in Starbucks, Greenhills (the one beside Chili's). I must have been too sleepy to notice that it fell out of my pocket.

I was at work til 10am yesterday. I rushed home, took a bath, dressed up, then went with my mom and Brandie to meet up with family friends. After lunch, we went to Starbucks and that's where I lost my phone.

I noticed that I didn't have my phone as we turned the corner. So, we rushed back. That must have only taken 5 minutes. Maybe less. By the time we came back, the table was already clean and my cellphone could not be found. The busboy who cleaned up our area said he didn't see any cellphone. Even the guard said he didn't notice anything.

Bummer.

It's just annoying how people can be so dishonest.

I wish that whoever got that cellphone will put it to good use. Maybe he'll use the money to buy food for his family or buy medicine for his dying grandmother. And if his grandmother is already dead, may she rise from the grave and eat his brain.

It's also annoying how much info is lost because of that cellphone.

Aside from all the names and numbers, it also contains pictures from birthdays and weddings and parties. It also contains a whole lot of important messages that I didn't want to delete. The hardware can easily be replaced. It's those other things that matter more.

It's annoying how I've stopped making an effort to remember things because of that cellphone.

When I got that Nokia 6630 last year, I started to use it as a notebook as well. Under each contact list, I would include little note; like the names of the children of that particular friend and their birthdates and addresses as well. Now, I don't even know my own home phone number. I don't remember my mom and brother's cell #s as well. Crazy.

One comedian in Conan O'Brien's show said, "Do you remember that time when you knew your friend's phone number? When was that dark age?! I've got an ancient cellphone. All it can do is text and call. I'm afraid that one day, I'll be walking down the street and some guy will hover right next to me and I'll ask, `How can you do that?` And he'll just shrug and say, `I don't know. My cellphone does it!` "

Crazy.

Annoying.

Happy New Year.

(And don't forget to send me your cell#)

Our Golden Age



Men of Justice and Speed
of Mystery and Magic
of Fire and Steel and War,
Women who burned with
the light and energy of distant stars,
whose shoulders carried
the weight of the world
whose beliefs
kept all of our heads high
and whose lives
were lived for the greater good.

("Justice", a poem by Wang about

the Justice Corps of World War II ,
transcribed by David Hontiveros)

Here's to looking forward to an even greater year in comic books, graphic novels, and storytelling. Congratulations to all the writer and artists who were able to find a way to get their works printed and published. Many thanks to all the shops and stores that carry our titles and to all the readers who got copy and shared our stories with others. May we someday look back and mark these times as a "New Age" for Filipino comic books. (I think it would be presumtuous to already call these times our Silver Age, but I'm sure we've already set the foundations of something truly marvelous and super.)

Chief of Staff

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- John Spencer, who played a tough and dedicated politico on "The West Wing" who survived a serious illness to run for vice president, died of a heart attack Friday. He was 58.

I read this news a couple of days before Christmas, but haven’t had the chance to blog about until now.

I’ve been a big WEST WING fan ever since I saw “Isaac and Ishmael”, their special episode that dealt with what happened during 9/11. When the local stores started to bring in copies of the first two seasons of WEST WING, I got both sets.

John Spencer played Leo McGarry, the President’s Chief of Staff, in the show.
One of my favorite moments was a scene in the first season. President Bartlet was about to give the State of the Union address and he was talking to the Secretary of Agriculture in the Oval Office. From the adjoining room, Leo McGarry overheard this conversation:

President Josiah Bartlet: Roger, If anything happens, you know what to do, right?

Roger: I honestly hadn't thought about it, sir.

President Josiah Bartlet: First thing always is national security. Get your commanders together. Appoint Joint Chiefs, appoint a chairman. Take us to Defcon 4. Have the governors send emergency delegates to Washington. The assistant Attorney General is going to be the Acting A.G. (pause) You got a best friend?

Roger: Yes, sir.

President Josiah Bartlet: Is he smarter than you?

Roger: Yes, sir.

President Josiah Bartlet: Would you trust him with your life?

Roger: Yes, sir.

President Josiah Bartlet: That's your chief of staff.

And that’s what WEST WING was all about. Well, of course, it’s all about politics and I when I first heard about it, I thought it would be a boring show about politicians. It’s also about family and the best of friends, trying to do the country some good. It doesn’t always have a “happy ending”, but they always put up a good fight and they believe in what they’re fighting for.

Past two years, whenever the workload would bring me down and I get home around 2 or 3am, I pop in one of the WEST WING DVDs and “come home” to the White House and see people who are dedicated to the job and are willing to do anything to get the job done. It’s escapist to do so, I know. But it’s also… I don’t know… hopeful? Inspiring? Humbling? I also felt a bit envious of President Bartlet’s Senior Staff. It would be great to have a team like that.

(I’m babbling. Must be because one that one-pound burger I just ate.)

John Spencer will be missed in the corridors of the West Wing. May he rest in peace.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead, US anthropologist