Babbling Point

> HOT OFF THE PRESS! Hot Manila compresses news. And dissatisfaction. It concentrates anger, condenses plain speaking, flavors it with irreverent humor and presents it with the sort of good writing that's been pansified and adulterated by the growing influx of suck-up lifestyle text producers (I quail at calling them "journalists" or "writers"). This is journalism without hangups or pretense.

~ AVID FAN Congrats to Direk Avid “NINJA BOY” Liongoren for winning best video is this year’s MTV PILIPINAS VIDEO AWARDS! Click here to view Avid's videos. Congrats to Dean for winning 2nd prize in this year’s Palanca Awards for his one-act play "The Onan Circle". IN OTHER NEWS… Shiloah ’s back in Nowhereville. Hurray! Digital bloggin’ postcards . Very nice. July would like these. Party MMS shows how to have real fun with the phone. Got this link from Rachel who asked why she doesn’t see these kind of pics in my phlog. Must get out of office more often. My phlog is just full of pics from our florescent-lit office. Bummer. Eh! COMICS! The very, very first issue of Batch72 is once again available and this time it’s online! “BAD TRIP SA 7TH HEAVEN” was first released in ashcan / risograph format. Jason has now put in online along with other comic book stories by Gerry , Wilson , Hai , Vinzo Ngo , and of course, Jason. ...

+ Click to open album If you're bored with the pic in my phlog , then you might want to check out these more interesting photo-logs: My cousin Carla in New York. Sonny Orange in sunny Dubai. Rogue's Gallery in Ortigas (and sometimes she's in Makati). Jason D is blogging and phlogging again. Mark's photo-log can actually be viewed on the left side of his blog. (Should really learn this HTML blah.) Comic book writer Warren Ellis phlogs with his Nokia 3650. (Still can't believe this phone became a best-seller in Manila, despite it's wacko "rotary" keypad. Goes to show that Pinoys really love to do Kodakan.)

~ Congratulations to Filipino comic book artist LAN MEDINA! 2003 EISNER AWARDS Best Serialized Story: Fables #1-5: " Legends in Exile ," by Bill Willingham, Lan Medina, and Steve Leialoha (Vertigo/DC) Best New Series: Fables, by Bill Willingham, Lan Medina, Mark Buckingham, and Steve Leialoha (Vertigo/DC)

~ The Trouble with Dying This was one of Joey's bedtime prayers when he was four years old. JOEY: Lord, I'm wondering why we have to die to go to heaven because I don't want to die but I want to go to heaven. I want to see Jesus but I don't want to die forever. More of his musings at: The World According to Joey .

~ I DIVORC U! I DIVORC U! I DIVORC U! KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysian (Reuters) -- Malaysian Muslim men can divorce their wives through text messages on mobile telephones, the New Straits Times daily reported on Saturday, quoting a religious adviser to the government. Hamid Othman, adviser to Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, said divorce via SMS or short messaging service was in accordance with sharia law if it was clear and unambiguous. "SMS is just another form of writing," the daily quoted Hamid as saying, following an Islamic court decision on Thursday that ruled in favor of a man who served divorce on his wife using SMS. Islamic law permits a man to divorce his wife by declaring "I divorce you" three times. I wonder if this is a service that the local cellphone companies would like to promote. Text DIVORCE and send to 2333 and get a divorce now! I'm sure this will be a big hit consider the level of promiscuity in this country. (Thanks...

~ Good morning Or should say good afternoon. It’s already 1:16pm according to the clock on my computer. Was not feeling well this morning but I managed to drag myself out of bed, into the car, and to work. Not a great experience all together. At least there was not much traffic. Maybe people are still avoiding Makati. But when I passed by Rustans, there were already several cars parked in the lot that was cordoned off by bombs just the other night. The malls are back in business. Makati is back in business. And I guess the Philippine military is back in business. I do hope that something gets done. The so-called Magdalo Group made some heavy accusations that cannot be dismissed just because they’ve been send back to the barracks. I do not have a whole lot of hope and trust in another Senate Committee investigating another anomaly in the government system. At least the military and these personalities will be put in the limelight and will hopefully shed some real light o...

~ While playing WARCRAFT last night, got a call from my mom to come home quick. News broke out about 20 soliders / officers who left their posts due to grievances about the government. It's funny that as you wage war against orcs and elves, there was a bigger war happening down the street. Couple of hours later, around 2am, I got a text from a friend who was trying to get a cab in front of Rustans department store in Makati. He texted that there are soldiers there and that there was talk of bombs being planted around the area. I quickly switched on the TV and saw the coverage of military men with red armbands planting bombs around the parking area that's in front of Rustans and the Intercon Hotel. Later on, the TV station started to air the video message of the so-called MAGDALO GROUP. According to the news anchor, they got the video in the form of a VCD, which made me wonder... is the pirated copy already available along Ayala Avenue? The Magdalo Group's cl...

> I'm the only one left in the office. (Well, Roach just came back.) Still trying to figure out the headline of this one ad that needs to be presented on Monday. So, decided to check email and just this link from Brandie. At least, it made me laugh. Check out the heroic adventures of KIKKOMAN !!! I love Kikkoman... the sauce... not the hero. I think I can eat anything with Kikkoman. Yes, I will eat ampalaya with Kikkoman. I'll eat just rice with Kikkoman. Ice cream and Kikkoman? Ummm... maybe will give it a try. 11pm... still haven't had dinner. Time to go home. Need to buy some Kikkoman.

~ It's been a crazy week. Been working since Sunday. Actually, it's been a crazy and hectic month. (Oh God, it's August next week!) Will rush home now to watch CSI. (The little consolations of life.) Hope to see you soon... whoever you are.

_ Starboy Mr. Baloney has revamped his site. Check out THE NULL and click on the star that says "works". I like this new "painted" look that he's using. But I still like his cel-shaded art, especially the manananggal. Twisted News "[The next issue of FLIP] will be the First Anniversary edition, out in August. This issue will include the profiles of the 2004 presidential contenders, which should've appeared in the May-June issue." -- Jessica Zafra

:( Sorry. Please allow me to sulk. It's a Friday night and I'm still in the office and from the looks of things I'll be going to work this weekend. To make matters worse, IT'S THE SAN DIEGO COMIC CON!!! Here are photos from Day Zero and Day One of the comic con. Went there back in 1994 and 95. Had fun! Would have been more fun if I was with people I know. Back then, I thought I'd get my big break and all I had to do was show them the comic book I made. Should've. Could've. Would've. Next year... I want to go back next year.

> Glasgow, Scotland: (30 May - 2 June) In which hotel reservations are lost, haggis is piped in, and porn movies almost abound. Hurrah. Miami, FL: (12 - 19 November 2002) In which two inner party girls run rampant and I declare that I'm not a dyke but my girlfriend is. Want to know what happened next? Then read the Memoirs of a Confirmed Hotel Slut on the Move. CLICK HERE .

+ Basta Ikaw Bro! Bro. James P. Dunne, S.J. , Counselor for many years in the Ateneo High School and in the Dorms, died of massive heart failure yesterday, July 14, 2003, around noontime. Bro. Dunne was the one who interviewed me when I took the entrance exam in the Ateneo High School. He asked me what were the things I liked to do and I said that I liked to read comics and create super-heroes. He always remembered that little detail and would point it out whenever I'd bump into him in the corridors of the high school. God bless Bro. Dunne. May perpetual light shine upon his soul.

:) Just found out that our myGlobe girl already has her own fan club . Of course, I immediately signed up for membership. Yes. Yes. I am fanboy. See me drool.

~ I'm tired. Can't wait for this week to be over.

~ Found this in Evil Dex's blog . Please email him if you want to join. SGF4 (Samahang Galit sa F4) Members Wanted! Nananawagan po kami sa mga gustong sumapi sa aming samahan! Kailangan namin ng mag lalaki o babae na mahahaba ang buhok. Siyempre dapat sinusuka nila ang Meteor Garden. May free cake po para sa dadalo sa grand launching natin.

:) Text from Mark... The owls have returned with a message: MAY WC3 EXPANSION NA SA AREA! :) YEEEHAAA!!! Where shall my blood be spilled!

~ July 8, 2002 marks my fourth year here in Harrison Communications (a subsidiary of McCann-Erickson Philippines, as it says on my calling card). Tempus fugit and all that latin jazz, as Dave used to write. Surprised I survived. Lasted this long. Glad to have had great team mates when I started and an even better team now. Thankful that they are more than just work mates, but are also my friends.

~ ON THE WRITE PATH Last night, as I was getting in my car, a street kid came up to me, so I gave him some coins. He then said, “Kuya, pwedeng akin na lang yan ballpen mo?” (Sir, is it okay if you just give me your pen?) The kid pointed at the pen in my breast pocket. I held on to the pen. Despite the fact it was a typical sign pen I could easily get in National Bookstore, I was very particular about that pen. I get attached to such small things and really hate it when I loose it without having used up all the ink. So, I asked the kid why I should give him my pen. He held up a dog-eared notebook that had the HULK on the cover and said, “Wala akong pangsulat, eh.” (I don’t have anything to write with.) “Oh… okay…” I said and gave him my pen. The kid smiled, said thanks, and ran back to his friends across the street. On the way home, I thought about the kid and hoped, that maybe, God willing, he will grow up to become a great writer.