Babbling Point

memories Remember when life was simple? When extending your arms was all it took to guard your interests. When you chased dragonflies instead of deadlines. When kuya was all the security you needed. When you had no concept of failure. When your assets were shared freely and your most precious secrets kept. Client: Globe Telecom * Agency: Harrison Communications * Creatives: Grace Alvarez, Rachel Warren, Noel Martin * Accounts: Dino Laurena, Tey San Diego * Producer: Chona Bustamante TRIVIA: The song used is "Suo Gân", a lullaby sung in Welsh. It was also the theme song from EMPIRE OF THE SUN. The Loboc Children's Choir was asked sing to this version.

resolutions Stop talking about the future. Stop studying the possibilities. Stop exploring all options. Stop weighing the odds. Stop waiting for the perfect time. Stop wishing. Let's begin.

Butch Perez, film director , Lifetime Underachievement Awardee. Budjette Tan , advertising creative director by day, aspiring superhero by night . Jaime Augusto Zobel, corporate overlord, publisher of Flip, Bruce Wayne? All part of Jessica's READERS' BLOC at: http://jessicarulestheuniverse.com/2007/12/19/readers-bloc-2007/ (wow, I guess that's the closest I'll ever get to JAZA.) hehehe

Per DTI The famous Christmas song Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer started life as a poem created by an American advertising executive called Robert May. He was requested to produce a poem that could be given away to children by the Santa Claus employed by Department Stores at Christmas! Working as an Advertising Executive Robert May had a natural flair with words and was able to compose the Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer poem which was specifically designed to appeal to children. This marketing ploy was a massive success and approximately 2.5 million Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer poems were given away in the first year of its publication! In 1949 the singer Gene Autry recorded a musical version of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer composed by Johnny Marks. My art directress Kitty sent us that piece of trivia (as well as the original artwork) a couple of days ago. It's interesting for me to find out that such a classic poem / song / movie all started from a typical Job Order, issued

... OR ARE YOU JUST HAPPY TO SEE ME? An excerpt from David Hontiveros’ PELICULA INT. MEGAMALL BUILDING B – SECURITY OFFICE – A SHORT TIME LATER LUIS CONRADO, young, handsome, ridiculously muscled up-and-coming actor, is busy stripping off the now sweat-sodden costume of Habagat, superpowered defender of the Filipino people, and heroic protagonist of Channel 8’s latest fantaserye (and highest-rated show), Habagat. The red boots, cape[1] bracers, chest icon[2], and yellow long-sleeved tunic[3] are already off (the cape and tunic soon to be rushed off to the dry cleaners), and Luis is peeling off the black tights to reveal a shiny silver codpiece strapped to his pelvic area.[4] [1] A superhero’s cape (for those who wear one) is the most vital accessory in the bold fashion statement that is their costume; the cape should look both regal and heroic, no matter the circumstance. Habagat’s cape would prove to be one of the biggest pains in the collective posterior of the show’s costume design

YOU KILLED MY MASTAH! NOW I KILL YOU! Well, that line isn’t really said in THE IMMORTAL IRON FIST: THE LAST IRON FIST STORY, but Danny Rand does say, “I know kung-fu! Hi-yaa!!!” TIIF:TLIFS (aka the really kick-ass Iron Fist story) written by Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction with art by David Aja (and whole lot of other artists who do the flashback scenes) was something I finally got to read it over the weekend thanks to Ian “I’ve got Neil Gaiman’s home address and you don’t” Sta. Maria. I first got interested with this title when I heard Matt Fraction and John Siuntres talk about over at Word Balloon . Then I read rave reviews about it at the now-defunct Major Spoilers site. I was never really a fan of Iron Fist, but I do remember buying the last POWER MAN & IRON FIST comic book where Iron Fist died (and like all Marvel characters, they just won’t stay dead. Hey! Is that Captain America I see crawling out of his grave?) Well, that doesn’t matter. Readers who don’t know a thing abou

PELICULA : AN ONLINE NOVEL BY DAVID HONTIVEROS Fame is a power many dream of possessing. It is a power Luis Conrado is very familiar with, especially when he assumes his super-powered alter ego Habagat. Having the power to fly with the eagles, the strength of a hundred men, and the ability to withstand pain and injury can sometimes pale in comparison to the shining, blinding power of fame. Standing in that blazing spotlight for too long, Luis does not notice the ones standing in the shadows. The architects of his fame. The ones who hold the true power. Read the first chapters of PELICULA at: www.davidhontiveros.com Habagat designed by Ian “Neil Gaiman asked for my autograph” Sta. Maria . Also at the site, a gallery of the super-hero Habagat . With illustrations by Carlo Vergara, Kajo Baldisimo, Bow Guerrero, Ronnie Tres Reyes, Dennis Crisostomo, Arvie Villenia, Reno Maniquis, Oliver Pulumbarit, Aldin Viray, and Edgar Tadeo.

We went to the Ad Congress in Subic and we didn’t even get a stupid shirt. We did bring home something better :) Maki’s radio commercial about having curly hair and headaches won us a Bronze Award Jao and Rommel’s TV commercial about the ABC’s of driving was awarded Bronze in Film, Bronze in Editing, and a Silver in Art Direction. Brandie and Tin’s LOTUS SPA won a whole lot of awards, including BEST OF MEDIUM and a Gold Award. Their works for Ponstan, Bonamin, and PAWS got them several awards as well. (Will upload the complete list when I get it) I didn’t get to bring home any award, but I did get the chance to give Neil Gaiman copies of TRESE. I can’t remember what I said when I was finally in front of him and he started to flip through the pages of our work. I suddenly realized what Hob Galding or (dare I compare myself to) Will Shakespeare as they stood in front of Morpheus. Gaiman was just this great presence, this prince of stories, and I wished I could’ve said more than whatever

HAPPY 3RD BIRTHDAY TO THE KOMIKON! MY, HOW YOU'VE GROWN! MY BIRTHDAY WISH FOR YOU WOULD BE... But before anything else, Wella would like to thank all the people who bought copies of Trese, Skyworld and Maskarado. Last year, during the early afternoon of the Komikon, I was alone at the table. So, I was the one handing over copies to the buyers, getting their payment, using my cellphone to computer for change (because I suck at math), rummaging for change from my Superman lunchbox, then sign their copy of TRESE (if they asked for an autograph). By the time Shali and the other arrived, I looked like a headless chicken. Shali said I looked less frantic this year. And the main reason for that is Wella and Shali-- our sale girls / promodizers (yes, there is such a term for people). After a couple of minutes of sitting at the table, Wella and Shali had perfected their patter. "Hi! This is the new comic book Skyworld. And this is the complete set of Trese. If you buy all seven copies

Kita-kits sa KOMIKON http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif Well... you'll kinda, sorta, somewhat see Trese and Makabo at the Komikon . They'll be sold on the same table but they won't be in the same comic book. (Well, at least not yet.) The pin-up above was illustrated by Ian Sta. Maria . Makabo the Tikbalang is one of the characters from the comic book SKYWORLD. Before we ever get to this magical,mystical, marvelous team-up, you'll have to read Mervin Ignacio and Ian Sta. Maria's SKYWORLD: APOCRYPHA . After many years of writing and drawing storyboards for clients (who have a tendecy to revise everything you put on the page) Mervin and Ian finally finished this story which they can say is all theirs. (Well, a couple of people gave their inputs and asked for changes as well. HAHAHA) Aside from SKYWORLD, TRESE 7: EMBRACE OF THE UNWANTED will also be available at the Komikon. So, for those of you who haven't picked up the complete set of TRESE, you can get all s

Habulan Taya! "HABULAN" TEASER HABULAN NA TALAGA! Every team in every agency will have that story... you know, that story about the project that just seemed to take forever to get approved, to get produced. (Russ always wins with his "we did 99 storyboards" story.) Anyway, when the team got the brief for this project, they came up with stories about a city where cake-people lived and where cakes envied other cakes and cakes other cakes and those just didn't fly with client. After several meetings, the idea for using cartoon or comic book characters was suggested by client. Since the product is all about this choco-coated cake, using the residents of PUGAD BABOY became the obvious choice. It was great to finally get to work with Pol Medina Jr. I was able to attend the first meeting with him, but then I had to leave for my 3-month gig in KL. Anyway, this project has always been Mervin's baby and he definitely made sure this baby came out right. When I came bac

Hang Out with the Dream King A Gathering of Dreamlings and Nightmares with Neil Gaiman Where Neil Gaiman reads from his latest works & answers your queries Only 1,000 tickets available Includes an autographed Beowulf manuscript The first 100 attendees to register at the venue get to be part of the an exclusive book signing hour with Neil Gaiman. El Centro Subic, Subic Bay November 24, 2007, Saturday, 9am Tickets at P1,500 (cash basis only) Call Lucre Mae Villaluna at 09156436040 or (02)7518152

DAY OF THE DEAD Neil Gaiman wrote an episode of BABYLON5 where the dead came back and spent a day with their loved ones. I forgot the details of the story, but each crew member of Babylon5 was only visited by one person from beyond. Which makes me wonder who will come and visit me if that strange cosmic event ever happened on Earth. So, let me take the time to remember three people on this day. BUDDY TAN: That’s what a lot of people called me dad. I wonder if his mother ever called him “Salvador!” when he was being naughty or disobedient. A lot of people also called him “Boss.” When me and Brandie were still kids, we used to sleep in between my mom and dad. When we got too large to fit in one bed, we started sleeping in the other room with my mom. My dad would make me stay with him. He’d tell me that the aswang might come and he’d need me to stay and protect him. Now that I think about it, knowing that an aswang would come should’ve scared me more and made me run to the othe

MYSTERY AT THE MALL On the night we watched “Stardust” in Powerplant, something strange happened. When we parked the car at the 2nd level basement of the mall, we left the following things in there: on the dashboard, Wella left some chocolates (Madel’s pasalubong from Jakarta) and I left copies of TRESE in the backseat. The comic books were place behind the passenger seat. Behind the driver’s seat was a box full of copies of Batch72. After the movie, we got in the car and the chocolates were missing. We found the plastic bag and the empty wrappers stuffed in the side compartment on the driver’s side. The lid of the box was left open. The copies of Trese were found behind the box. Other than those few pieces of chocolates, nothing else was missing. So, was a thief with a sweet tooth, who didn’t like comic books? Could it have been a duwende looking for midnight snack and something to read? We tried not to talk about it on the way home.

Bio-blography Have you noticed the number of parents now blogging about their children? These blogs are filled with pictures and anecdotes about what their child did today and what they said today. Some have even started to upload the video / pictures of the ultrasound of their baby. In a way, these children are lucky to have their biography uploaded online day-by-day. When they're older, all they have to do is click on that bookmarked link and they can read about their early years. For our generation, we have to open dusty cabinets and pull out the albums. We crack them open because the plastic pages have gotten stuck together. The plastic, as well as the pictures, have become yellow with age. The scent of the past makes us sneeze as we flip through the pages. Depending on how diligent your mother was, we would be able to read captions on each picture. Some captions would've been made using that Dynamo tape, while others resorted to writing the blurb on paper and sticking them

RAK EN ROL COMICS I was Comic Odyssey today, collecting the sales of TRESE (where it got sold out! thank you, all five of you who bought!). While waiting to chat with Sandy, the owner, a butterball of a boy came running in the store. He was probably 11 or 12 years old. He ran to one of the sales ladies and asked, "Miss, do you have Umbrella Academy?" The lady quickly lead him to the shelf that had a copy and grabbed it with both hands. "MOM!" he yelled, "This is the comic book!" He looked towards the door and his mom had not yet stepped in the store. He stared at the cover, both hands still on the book, and he whispered, "I've been looking for this." I couldn't help but ask, "You're a fan of Umbrella Academy ?" Before he even said anything, I knew what his answer would be. The kid smiled and said, "I'm a fan of Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance!" His mom finally caught up with him and he ran to his mom with hi

WE HAVE SUCH SITES TO SHOW YOU I still remember Andre lending me his copies of THE PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL with that dark artstyle that just blew you away as a kid. (Well, we were already in college, but I still felt like a kid.) The artist signed his name with Japanese characters, so I never really thought about his nationality even after reading that his name was "Whilce Portacio". When Whilce took over X-FACTOR, "Marvel Age" ran an interview about him and that was the first time I found out he was Filipino. His Iceman vs. the Cyborg-Ninjas is still one of my favorite X-Factor stories. So, after getting to draw most of the Marvel Universe, it seems like Whilce is setting his sights on the DC Universe. He just finished a gig at BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL and is now working on a SUPERMAN/BATMAN story arc . (Of course, he's still drawing WETWORKS.) Go do the click-click thing and see new his art at: http://whilceportacio.net/ http://www.chemsetcomics.com/ CUT-AND-PASTED FR

HH Client: URC / Product: Presto Agency: Harrison Communications ECD: Alex Arellano DECD: Budjette Tan ACD: Mervin Ignacio Art Directors: Mark Mendoza, Louie Aquino Copywriters: Bonsai Fojas, Louie Aquino Accounts: Monday Gonzalez, Sinta Rosales-Baguio, Ethel Dino Broadcast: Jho Moya, Bambi Gonzales

DAMN THE COLLECTIVE UNCONSCIOUS Just when you thought you’ve come up with something original, you come across someone else’s work that just proves you wrong. I know there’s no way I can claim that TRESE is an original idea, but it is an attempt to tell certain stories from a different point of view. Like I’ve said before, Trese was supposed to be a man, but we decided not to go down that road because of characters like John Constantine and Karl “The Nightstalker” Kolchak. So, we made Trese a woman and one of the first reactions we got was, “Hey! She’s like Kate Beckinsale in `Underworld`!” DOH! Well… no… not really. Then, another reader pointed out to me an anime that had a female lead and her assistant /bodyguard was this tall man who wears a mask. (Thankfully, he didn’t have a twin.) The other week, I was in Fully Booked when I saw this novel and the cover art attracted my attention because she looked like you-know-who. Then I read the blurb in the back: “Something is

13th Month 'Why do people love us? We are always trying to figure that out, but only by using our own point of view. That way is so limited. Sometimes they love us for things we don't even know about ourselves. For example they love our hands. My *hands*? Why would anyone love my hands? But they do and they've got their reasons why. You must accept that and realize the person they know and love is different from the one you know.' Jonathan Carroll, THE GHOST IN LOVE (photo swiped from Rina's blog)

Additional Evidence The latest piece of evidence for EXHIBIT 13 has been submiited by Scene of the Crime Officer DINO IGNACIO. See the rest of the evidence at: http://exhibit13.blogspot.com/ See more of Dino's work at: http://www.dinoignacio.com/ Read the latest TRESE case at: http://tresekomix.blogspot.com/

TRESE 7: EMBRACE OF THE UNWANTED At the lowest basement of the MagnaMall, the mangled body of a woman is found. The trail of blood brings Alexandra Trese face-to-face with what was once thought to be an urban legend. When all is finally revealed, midnight madness at the mall will never be the same. Read the complete story at: http://tresekomix.blogspot.com/2007/09/trese-7-embrace-of-unwanted.html Story by Budjette Tan Art by Kajo Baldisimo

For this special online edition of 13 Letters Down, we did a very quick Q&A with Kajo Baldisimo, artist and co-creator of TRESE. What comic books are you reading now? What was the last comic book /graphic novel you read that you really liked? I keep re-reading WATCHMEN (ang aking paborito) from time to time and I’m still in love with it. Pero, teka… if that’s not counted , uhm… the latest comicbook I’ve read na nakaka-aliw … Kiko Machine ni Manix. Who are your favorite artists? We’ll run out of paper if I put everyone kaya siguro yung top 5 lang: Jim Lee, Nestor Redondo, Fernando Amorsolo, Alex Nino, Mar Santana, Alex Ross… saka Hal Santiago. Why the change in art style in this issue? What inspired this? I’ve been experimenting since issue 1, looking for that definitive TRESE look. I want something gritty yet clean (an’labo no?). I think I’ve hit it with issue 7. This is the same style I used dun sa Trese pinup sa Ish 1 . I will be re-drawing Trese 1-6 after I’m done with Trese 13.

TRESE 7: COMING SOON Previously in TRESE... Read all the latest cases of Alexandra Trese at: http://tresekomix.blogspot.com

Telling True Stories in the Living Room Hey, you’re here! You’re just in time. Grab a chair. There are still a few empty chairs up front. The band’s just about to start. Can I get you anything? San Mig Light? Vodka 7? Tequilla? Welcome to The Living Room. Now on stage is the beautiful Kelly Flint the rest of and Dave’s True Story. SPASM EVERLASTING NO DOG STORY There is a playlist in my iTunes marked TYPING , which is the music I listening to when I’m typing down notes I’ve written in my notebook or when I already know what to write and just need to bang away at the keyboard. Included in that folder are the songs of Dave’s True Story. I found out about them when I was looking for a soundtrack that would get me depressed. At that time, I was re-writing a storyboard for Globe called “Closure” (and for those you who are familiar with that story, then it just means you come from that G-moment batch of Harrison… I still hope to get that approved and produced some day. B

The Illegal Facilitator IF: Illegal Facilitator, a criminal whose crimes facilitated the crimes of others. “He’d looked, Milgrim thought, like an ethnic version of a younger Johnny Depp. Brown had once referred to the IF and his family as Cuban-Chinese, but Milgrim would have been unable to make an ethnic identification. Filipino, in a pinch, but that wasn’t it either. And they spoke Russian. Or texted in an approximation of it.” — Spook Country by William Gibson In Gibson's first novels, his characters surfed cyberspace by jacking-in, literally plugging themselves into the net with a hardwire connected at the back of their necks. With his new novels set in the present, they jack-in using the usual monitor and keyboards and by going to Google and Wikipedia. Still, he introduces concepts like "locative virtual art" that just gives you the same mindfuck you got when you first read about the concept of cyberspace. So, if the IF was texting in "an approximation of

IMMORTAL KOMBAT There are no decent comic book shops here in KL. (Well, they're not like Comic Quest, Comic Odyssey, and Druid’s Keep.) They do have enormous stores like Kinukoniya and Borders where they have a huge selection of graphic novels and an even larger section with manga. In their Chinatown, I found two stores / comic book libraries that had original manga and anime DVDs. Anyway, since I have no access to the single-monthly titles that come out, I’ve had to do with reading their summaries at: www.majorspoilers.com . (Yeah, I know I can probably down scans of comic books, but I don’t.) The site recently reviewed Matt Fraction’s THE IMMORTAL IRON FIST . Fraction’s work has been getting rave reviews from the likes of Brian Bendis and Warren Ellis, which takes a whole lot of restrain from buying the IRON FIST HARDCOVER TPB that I saw in the store recently. But check out these very, very cool villains from the latest issue. THE IMMORTAL IRON FIST will definitely be on my pull

What am I thinking of right now? Couple of months ago, Arjun showed me this site called TWITTERVISION , where you see a map of the world and every couple of sections a word balloon would pop up on some part of the map and it would be someone leaving a note on this big world map about what they were doing in their part of the world. At that time, Arjun thought that would make for a nice execution for a TV commercial. (Has anyone done anything like that lately?) Anyway, I later found out that the foundation of Twittervision was the site / service called Twitter . I eventually got an invitation get a Twitter account, which I did and got excited by the feature that let me text in my “blog entry” or my whatever it was I was Twittering about. It also allowed me to receive (via text) the Twittering of other people. So, ever now and again I would get a text/Twitter from the people I’m linked up with and I’d get to know little things happening in their day. They’d Twitter about where they were,

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Commentaries: babbling about movies I recently watched BOURNE ULTIMATUM If ever Hollywood decides to do another Daredevil movie and if they really want to do it right, then they should get Paul Greengrass to direct it and Tony Gilroy to write it. Heck, while they’re at it, they should get Matt Damon to play Matt Murdock (aha! They even have the same first name!) And maybe Ben Affleck can start as the cop that gets killed by Bulleyes in scene one. Did you see that rooftop/ le parkour chase scene? Did you see all those close-quarter combat scenes? Aren’t all those just classic Frank Miller-Daredevil scenes?!!! I could already see the sfx word KRESHHH pop on screen when Bourne crashed through the window. Out of the three BOURNE movies, I liked this the best. It did have the advantage of having two previous movie provide all the set-up for the character, so for most of the movie you just see him getting his mission accomplished. The movie wasn’t burdened with too much backstory and we di

NOW SHOWING Gerry Alanguilan's TIMAWA http://www.webcomicsnation.com/komikero/cresthut/series.php?view=single&ID=84338 WASTED: Episode 4 http://www.webcomicsnation.com/komikero/wasted/series.php?view=single&ID=79874 This is probably my favorite episode in the series, where Eric delivers that monologue in the car. I read that page during one of those poetry reading sessions in Mars (some of you might not even remeber that place). Yeah, I cheated and didn't read any of my own work. Anyway, after reading that poem, I saw Barbie Almalbis and gave her a copy of WASTED. After she read it that night, she was so moved and affected by the story, she ended up writing the song "Dancing" the next morning. COMING SOON More preview art at: http://iantoy.deviantart.com/

Over here, dusk arrives a little after 7:45pm. Tomorrow seems to take its time. It wanders in much later compared to its version back home. I wonder if it’s really raining in Manila. I am waiting for the sun to set.

Don't Look Under the Hood The other day my mom drove to the church to attend mass. After the mass, her car wouldn't start. She said the battery seemed drained and she couldn't recall if she left any of the lights on. The next day, she asked our neighbor if their driver could go with her and try to jumpstart the car. So, they went back to the church and to her surprise, the car started. Thinking there might still be someone wrong with the electrical system of the car, she brought it to the reair shop. The mechanic said that once the battery gets drained, it's not possible for it to start again. "Maybe your car has a friendly spirit in it," was the diagnosis of the mechanic. Which made me wonder, how much do mechanics pay for exorcising possessed cars.

52 weeks later All of these lines across my face Tell you the story of who I am So many stories of where I've been And how I got to where I am But these stories don't mean anything When you've got no one to tell them to It's true, I was made for you --Brandi Carlile, THE STORY

Post-its A wastebasket overflowing with Kleenex. An empty blisterpack of Neozep on top of it all. On the shower drain are overlapping spirals made out of long, black hair. The scent of burnt Spam still lingers in the kitchen. Reminders of your very short stay. As I clean up everything, I get teary-eyed, but I stop myself when I remember that you used up all the tissue.

arrival The trip seemed to take too long even though there wasn’t any traffic on the road. I glanced at the taxi cab’s speedometer and I was surprised to see the needle at the 100kph mark. As it wobbled near 110kph, it still felt like we weren’t moving fast enough. Funny how time warps when I’m rushing to meet you.

KaPaw!!! If you've been wondering why you haven't seen any new TRESE episodes lately, it's because Kajo's been busy with the day-job, as well as working on other artworks (and using a different canvas). Check his collaborations with Paw. Here's my favorite pair: If you want your own pair made/modified, just ask them at: http://kapaw.multiply.com/ They've already been featured in a magazine: http://hyphenate.multiply.com/journal/item/1/KAPAW Astig! p.s. Kajo emailed me the latest pages for TRESE. So, you'll get it to read it very soon.

While at the urinal, my thoughts drifted to Leonard Nimoy in a turtleneck sweater (What follows is my attempt to track down how my brained hyperlinked “taking a piss” to “Leonard Nimoy”.) So, there I was, standing at the urinal and while I was doing my business, I looked down and noticed a piece of paper in my breast pocket. That paper contained the number of the people who manage my apartment. I got that number because I was supposed to give it to Ms. Chin, the lady who sells prepaid load (because she’s looking for a new place). And I thought about how some names sound better if they were preceded by a “Mrs” rather than a “Ms”; like Mrs. Peel from THE AVENGERS . Which made me wonder if there was ever a Mr. Peel and if he was ever introduced in the show. The image of Mr. Steed and Mrs. Peel flashed in my head. That visual then quickly became the image of another couple from another TV show that was produced in the 60s/70s. In my head, I could see Leonard Nimoy in a turtleneck sweater