Sunday, August 15

Winning Weekend


Sweeet!

This weekend was pretty busy. In the late afternoon, the gang (Vin, Dean, Gig, Carl, Andrew, Elbert, Jason, Charles, Jaime and of course, me) converged on The World Trade Center in Manila to attend the National Book Fair and later, the 2004 National Book Awards. Particularly, our object was the award for Best Comic.
The Book Fair was, to Dean's estimation, crap. Well, I really didn't expect anything, nor was I expecting to get anything at all. In the end though, I got myself a couple of acquisitions- George R.R. Martin's A Game of Thrones (which I have been hearing of FOREVER from Dean, Gig and Vin) and four choice issues of Asterix the Gaul. I even won a free umbrella from National Book Store, which was fortuitous at the very least since it was raining and I brought no real protection at all.

Anyway, the awards were held in a partitioned-off area of the Book Fair and I have to say, it was the WORST awards event I have ever seen. The plastic walls of the venue were falling off with alarming regularity, threatening to flatten unfortunate audience members, and the presentation of the awards were... not particularly engaging. Sigh. Well, at the very least Ruey's spiels were entertaining, and the Comic Award magnanimously went both to Siglo Freedom AND the competition, the Darna series by Mango Comics.
Afterwards, it was a sight to see Dean talking and discussing comics and publishing with the Yonzons, and perhaps something will come of this night that will be good for all of us comics makers.



After the awards, the group split up to make their way to Rockwell for a well-deserved dinner. Me and Jason drove in the Pinoy nomad's pickup through traffic and rain to the sound of The Lord of the Rings- an experience to remember, actually. Eventually, the group had a pricey but satistying repast at Burgoo's. Later, it was winding down time at Country Waffles, which let us talk more comic geek talk and appreciation time for newly-bought books. Then, it was home for me and Karaoke Night for most of the rest.

Today, I was lucky to have a bit of rest. The weekend's not over since I have to go attend my friend Alex's delayed birthday party. Later tonight, I hope to at least get some work done on pages. Then it's work again tomorrow. The weekend's almost over, but it's been a winner.

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