Babbling Point

Why do I do this to myself? Things Other People Accomplished When They Were Your Age At age 30: Mark Twain published his first short story, "Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog." Danish novelist Hans Christian Andersen published his book of fairy tales. Physicist Armand H. L. Fizeau measured the speed of light. Bill Gates was the first person ever to become a billionaire by age 30. Bummer!

GOD MACHINE X "The Antagonists" 32 pages, black-and-white Php40.00 http://www.geocities.com/theantagonists email: the_antagonists@hotmail.com --------------------------------------- Marco reviewed this book around a month ago. Just got my copy tonight from Comic Quest, Megamall. Well, it's nice and funny... or should I say, funny and nice. It's another book with that manga-influence (and I say it like it's bad thing, but let's not get into that right now). It's about three high school boy who build their own giant robot so that they can join the Ultimate Fighting Robot Tournament. That just made me smile because back in grade school, growing up watching Voltes V and Mazinger Z, I had my fantasies of building a giant robot. I went through the extent of making blueprints (with a blue ballpen) of my earth-saving robots. One of them was called TIGERBOT, my version of Go-Lion aka Voltron. TIGERBOT was made up of three tigers that volted-...

"We had reached a period in terms of our society of not having a mythology, a code that you pass down to the next generation. Friendship is valauble, honor is valuable. There wasn't a movie genre like that aimed at younger people, the 12-year-olds coming of age." -- George Lucas on why he ended up making movies for 12-year olds. I got that from the STAR WARS special of Time Magazine . Which made me think of our "mythology", a mythology for the Filipino youth, we have no code to pass down to them. Filipino pop-culture has nothing to offer the youth of today. They are flooded with anime and Hollywood heroes. I know there is a huge gap between the comic book medium and television and movies, and that a comic book cannot compete with the reach of those other two mediums. I'm just saying... what am I saying... well, I'm saying that we should go into movies. (Althought Gerry is already doing that.) I'm just saying that we have not done ...

3am I should be home. Will be going home in a while. I should have known my day would not be so great. First of all, I found out about these witches . (More about them in July.) Which made me think of missed opportunities and my slacking around for several years. Hell, I'm slacking around right now. Anyway... Then there's the... I didn't get to give away the Cafe Creatives flyers because I had to rush back to the office scenario. And the... I didn't get to go in the Pulp Summer Slam event and meet up and Christian and introduce him to Slapshock. (Umm... long story, maybe tell you later.) And then there's the... I'm back at the office to check on materials for a promo that supposed to save our lives. Well... not really. I can go now. I'm just tired. Will probably stay home all day. And even that amount of time is not enough to recharge my batteries. see you...

For those of you constantly following this babbling blog, you’d know that I didn’t have much of a weekend. Went home at 1am Monday morning and had to be back at the office this morning to make wait for revisions from client. So, it was just great to receive this text from Gerry at 7:50am: Wow! The story of Batch72 #2 is AWESOME. Can’t wait to see what happens next! Kudos to the Morgue character. Very well done, truly frightening. I later went to his message board where he posted this “review” This is not really a proper review but it's just me gushing over something that impressed me a lot. That doesn't happen too often with local or imported comic books. This one is really special. I just picked up the first two issues of Alamat Comics' Batch 72. I thought #1 was good, if only to introduce you to the varied cast of characters of the book, a familiarity that you would need to appreciate the second issue better. The 2nd issue really just blew m...

It's 1:53am and I'm still here. Just finished work and actually have to go back later today. Very sorry to everyone who went to the Fort and looked for the Alamat booth. Sorry we weren't there. Hope you at least had fun watching the bands. :) ...

Of mice and geeks It's 7:04pm and I'm at the office when I should be at the Fort selling comic books at NU107's Summer Shebang. At least, that was the plan. BUT NO. Client didn't approve of certain things and now doing the revisions. Waiting for the other client to arrive. Rush. Rush. Rushing this thing to come out next week. Isn't it great how your life thing is just slowly eaten up or sometimes just swallowed whole by work? Yeah, great.

Happy Bday Brandie!!! Yup, the Golden Boy turns 25 today!!! Yeehaa!!! Other stuff... Got to watch DONNIE DARKO at Brash Young Cinema . Was with Mark , Petite , and Roach. Got to meet Shiloah . It was one of the films that just gave you a headache. I'm sure Dave would have loved it with it's 80s music soundtrack. The movie felt like a Vertigo comic book.

hey kids! According to the thermometer, it's time again for NU107 's Summer Shebang! Once again, happening at the Fort, on April 27 (Saturday). The rock'n and rollin' begins at 3pm and ends... when we all want it to end! :) They got over 20 bands lined-up, Xtreme sports exhibitions, and us comic book geeks! Oh yeah, the Neutral Ground people will be there, so if you're into RPGs, then go check them out! As far as Alamat is concerned, go to the booth and get to meet Carl Vergara (ONE NIGHT IN PURGATORY), Marco Dimaano (ANGEL ACE), and Budjette Tan(BATCH72), Karen Kunawicz (ONE THE VERGE). If you're lucky we might be able to drag the other Alamat people out of the mall and into the sun! Selected Alamat comic books will be sold at a discount on that hot, summer day. And if there's any space in our little tent, we might even have an art exhibit. So, come on down! Bring your sunblock and shebang! shebang!

It's one of those days... when I feel like I have to re-learn how to write. When I write a comic book and write dialogue for characters, I'd like to believe that am capable of giving a voice to the character and make him or her sound distinct and hopefully, sound like a real person. And when I apply that discipline to writing copy for an ad, it seems like I miserably fail and have to start from scratch, from square one, from... oh you know what I'm talking about. So, today I tried to write like a girl and sound like a girl and failed miserably. I have just borrowed three video tapes of " Sex and the City ". Hopefully, this will help me get in touch with my feminine side. Or maybe I should try and electrocute myself in a the bathtub filled with an assortment of feminine products, so I'll finally find out what women want. Or at the very least, I'll find out what my boss wants. And in the process of my doing research for my feminine side, I...

Monday morning. Suddenly have the sniffles. Bad trip. Maybe some chicken soup would help get rid of this. Or maybe... some Babycakes would be better. Wonder if they taste like chicken? :)

It was the summer of `99 and… well, it seems like Barenaked Ladies have made a song detailing my life during those humid months. It’s amazing how much detail they’ve captured. It’s like they had their spy-cam on me and they recorded everything that happened and turned my life into a song. A hit song, at that. And they’re making all the money! Must find a way to make money out of my misery. I’ve got the material. Now, if only I had a rock band… I’d be in business. Thanks That Was Fun Words and Music by Steven Page and Ed Roberston I'm learning, I'm yearning I'm burning, all your stuff But that's not enough. I'm faking, that I'm aching Mistaking lust for love. Thanks, that was fun Don't forget, no regrets Except maybe one. Made a deal not to feel God, that's dumb Everybody knows the deal fell through. I was hoping I could just blame you. When was it that I became so soft? This sentimentality doesn't look good on me. ...

Every day we rush and rush to get things done. Cellphones in hand we call we text always on the run But every now and then we must find time take pause, give thanks to God, the Almighty One. This was supposed to be the copy in a print ad that’s going to come out on Sunday. It had to be shortened and ended up not being a poem. Guess there’s very little room for poetry, even bad poems, in print ads. I was in the office till 3am working on that copy… well, not just on that… but still… it’s just crazy how you work for so long on something and it just doesn’t get approved. But why am I complaining? That’s how it’s always worked. And sometimes, you get lucky and you get approval for the study that you really want. But that doesn’t all to often. And so I’m back here in the office, 12 hours later. Rushing. Rushing. Rushing to get this ad out on time. Then we get a 48-hour break from it all and come Monday, it starts all over again and you c...

Required Reading: KOMIX 101 Another blog?! Well, not really. As the sub-head of this blog says, it is a compilation of articles, interviews, and reviews about Filipino comic books and their creators. This is will also serve as the temporary site of all the articles written about Alamat before they're all neatly organized and placed in the revamped Alamat site. But this site will not be limited to Alamat Comics. As much as possible, I'll post any article that has anything to do with Filipino comics, komiks, komix... hence the name of the site. It's also called KOMIX 101 because I consider this required reading for anyone who wants to write a report, thesis, term paper on the local comic book scene / industry. Every now and again, we get email from students asking us all sorts of questions for some report that they're writing. Hopefully, this will answer their basic questions about Filipino comic books. Eventually, I hope to put up a site that will...

The WB has provided The Continuum with a first look at the cast of Birds of Prey , the live-action pilot based on the DC Comics characters. From left to right in the photo, are Ashley Scott, who plays Helena Kyle, the Huntress; Dina Meyer, who plays Barbara Gordon, Oracle; and Rachel Skarsten, who plays Dinah Lance, the Black Canary. Sherilyn Fenn plays Dr. Harleen Quinzel in the pilot. To the non-comic book reader BIRDS OF PREY will look like another some spin-off from DARK ANGEL or BUFFY. Bunch of girls in tights fighting crime. Hey... I got no problem with that! :) After the success of SMALLVILLE, TV networks are now trying to mine comic books for the next big hit. There's also that show called MUTANT X that has nothing to do with any character by Marvel but it does involve a whole lot of sexy and handsome mutants on the run from the law. Don't know how well it's doing but it seems like it's still airing. On the movie front, Marvel seems like lucky wit...

Beam me up, baby! William Shatner guest-stars in the season finale of Futurama on Sunday, April 21. The episode is titled "Where No Fan Has Gone Before." Bwahahahaha! COOKY CHUA'S gig sched this April ----------------------------------------------------------------- 9- BISTRO 70'S (CIR) 10 - EROS (WITH MIKE) 11 - HOBBIT HOUSE, MABINI (CIR) 13 - MONKS DREAM, JUPITER ST MKT (JAZZ PULSE) 14 - PADIS POINT, LAS PINAS (BUHAY) 18 - HOBBIT HOUSE (CIR) 19 - PADIS POINT, SM MLA, WINSTON CONCERT SERIES (CIR) 20 - BATANGAS (CIR) 21 - PADIS , LAS PINAS (BUHAY) 23 - VIRGIN CAFE (BUHAY) 24 - EROS (WITH MIKE) 26 OR 27 - PICC - MYX FASHION SHOW (CIR) 28 - PADIS, LAS PINAS (BUHAY)

From the FWD Email Dept. Got the email around a year ago. It was one of those things that was just forwarded and you don't really know who wrote it in the first place. I was cleaning out my old hard drive and found it again. Thought it would be more relevant to post it now. Actually I was planning to post it in November, which is when I turn 30. But I'm posting it now, maybe as a reminder to myself that I need to get these things done soon, most especially get #7 done. I have a bad habit of bringing my ghosts along, even when they're all tired of haunting me. * * * * * * * * Turning 30 is not a right of anguish anymore; realizing what one has not done the past three decades. Turning 30 represents a chance to right wrongs, settle scores, and start fresh. It is time to build on past successes while creating new ones. The following may not be applicable to everyone in making the most of it, but among those who asked who were in the cusp of 30, these are the th...

Dave is back and says, "BOO!"

Monday. 11:55pm Tired. Sleepy. Presentation tomorrow... later at noon. Still no headline. Bad trip. Hello Erna ! Thanks for signing the guest book. :) Erna went to Sanctum last year. Wish I were at Sanctum now. Went there a couple of weeks back to watch Cooky. Wish I was watching Color It Red in Sanctum now. Hungry. Had a burger for dinner. Monday. 11:58pm It's almost Tuesday. Bad trip. have to go have to write later...

MARCH 27, 2002 WEDNESDAY 4:42pm Still at the office. My email is down. At least PinoyExchange is online again. I realized last night that I spend too much online doing nothing. Well, I check what’s new with comic books, go to my usual favorite blogs, then head off to the message boards. Well, now there’s cc:Café Creatives which Brandie and I plan to promote, maybe after the Holy Week. Nice to see that people have been coming and posting. Most of them just lurk around, according to the visitor’s log. Nothing like a controversy to get people going to you site or message board. Look at what happened with Gerry’s site. After he put up that article , his message board got so busy and crazy he had to move it to Delphi. Not that I plan to put anything controversial in Cafe Creatives, but knowing this industry, I'm sure something will come up. Well, the next couple of days will be a bit of rest. Forced into reflection as we do our usual Holy Week routine of attend all t...