Dream Photography

Has this ever happened to you?

You have a dream where you have the opportunity to bring something back? But of course, it being a dream, to carry the objects back into the waking world is futile. I remember times when I'd dream of something I really, really want- an upcoming game, for instance. I'd wake up and try to look for it in a daze. Of course, it would be nowhere to be found.

This morning, I had a dream and in that dream, I saw a good friend that I had not seen in a long, long time. Of course, to celebrate the reunion, I whipped out my trusty cameraphone to snap a pic. I took the picture and looked with puzzlement at how I seem to have missed my subject. I repeatedly snapped pics, but again and again as I looked at the screen the subject was out of frame. Oddly, I also remember my camera changing appearance every time I looked.
Eventually, my friend seemed to vanish and I was left with no picture. I eventually woke up.

Weird stuff. Perhaps it's a sign of my latent psychic abilities, groping into the future? Or perhaps just brain fluids, mixing and remixing our thoughts and memories. Remix my mind? Something to ponder.

Slow Daze

I have to confess, I've been neglecting my comics work. For the past several weeks, I've been coming home too tired and sapped to lift a pencil or paper to do my stuff. I haven't drawn a finished, colored artwork in weeks.
That, I promise, will change tomorrow. I'll pencil, ink and render art for all the time I'm home. And with the mammoth mall-wide sale at Megamall over the weekend, staying home is a nice proposition. We'll see though. Bottom line, I should be posting a colored artwork or two of my own making here on the blog soon. Promise.

Scrape with Death

Today, on the way to the office, the cab I rode got into an almost-accident. It was along Santolan Road going to EDSA. The driver, being a bit wreckless, kept going straight even as a big SUV-type vehicle was coming in from a side road. The side of my cab (coincidentally the side where I was pressed against) literally scraped the bumper of the other vehicle. I found myself staring into the other car's grill. In my usual deadpan, all I could do to react was quietly swear.
Luckily, the contact was so slight that the other car just kept on going. My cab driver, slightly panicked, struggled to get us back into a safe lane as irate drivers around shouted obscenities. After a bit though, we were on the road again as if nothing had happened, though the driver kept trying to see how much damage was inflicted on his car (not much, if at all, really).
Looking back, it could have been a lot worse, but as fate (and perhaps the work of my guardian angel) would have it, all I got from it was this blog entry. Lucky bastard.

Live-action Anime


Only the Japanese can get away with a film like this...

Casshern is a new Japanese sci-fi/action-adventure film that just recently started showing in the Nippon. It's a bit hard to explain the premise or plot- it looks pretty complex and features a future tech-driven world, a powerful family, beautiful fiancees, brilliant scientists, girly-man heroes, cyborgs, mutants, ROBOT ARMIES, superhuman swordplay and martial arts, apocalyptic panoramic settings, vast wastelands, tragedy, human emotion... the WORKS!

If all this interests you, check out the website for trailers, wallpapers and stuff. This probably won't make it into theaters here, but once the DVD becomes available, this should be a no-brainer for anime and sci-fi fans. Awesome!

The Village


M. Night Shyamalan dishes out another eerie movie...

M. Night Shyamalan of The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable and Signs quietly releases yet another eerie film of beautiful images, slowly panning vistas and hidden, unspeakable horror. After tackling ghosts, superheroes and aliens in his previous films, it seems that Mr. Shyamalan is now tackling monsters in the woods.
The Village is set in the late 1800s, centering on a peaceful and seemingly perfect settlement surrounded by impenetrable woodlands. But hovering over these contented villagers' heads is the terrifying knowledge that something evil lives within the woods- something so foreboding and terrible that no one dares step beyond their borders. But when a curious and headstrong young man crosses that line, the 'truce' is broken and the future of The Village is changed forever...

This thriller packs in an impressive cast- John "Danger, Will Robinson!" Hurt, Sigourney "Let go of her, You BITCH!" Weaver and Joaquin "Gimme a hug" Pheonix among others. The trailers are deliberately mysterious and teasing- it seems that we're going to have to wait till the theatrical release in July before The Village reveals its secrets.

Hot Agency

No, it's not because my ad agency's particularly award-winning... our airconditioning system in the office is on the fritz. GAH! It's really irritating to have to put up with the significant warmness in the air... especially when the computers and other office equipment we're all using shed heat like dogs shed fur. Outside, the summer heat is positively broiling. I hope the building administration fixes up the climate control soon... I want a frigid office environment to work in. Brain need cold.

Vinterview


"So, sir, these comics... they have pictures on ALL the pages? Amazing!"

Last night, Vin was interviewed by a reporter from The Cory Quirino Show. The segment was about Siglo: Freedom, our group anthology book published by Mango Books. Siglo proponent Jamie Bautista was also there earlier but had to leave before the talk started. Vin answered five questions, all about the why's and why not's of the project. I even got to extra in the segment. Heh.
If you wanna catch this, the show's on Channel 23 I think (it's an ABS-CBN show), during late nights. Just refer to TV Guides for exact scheds.

K.I.A. in the flesh?


Agent K in the flesh?

She plays 'Rommie' on the sci-fi series Andromeda, and last night I even caught actress Lexa Doig's performance on the latest Friday the 13th flick, Jason X. She's no stranger to strong female roles, and as anyone can plainly see, she's a fox. While she's probably more hispanic than oriental, her chiselled features do bring to mind Agent K's look; perhaps a haircut and bangs would complete the picture. Still, I think Zhang Ziyi is still the first choice...
Addendum: Miss Doig is 30 years old this year, which means she isn't young enough to play our 20-ish super assassin, as pointed out by Evil Dex. She's also half-Filipina (which I could pretty much tell). And, she's married. Ow. Oh well.

Lust List

I think I'm a fairly content and happy person, in terms of little doohikies, kits and kaboodles and other gizmos that a modern/newly-discovered techie/gamer dude would like to have. In terms of anime, I pretty much have access to almost every anime I could want. DVD movies and VCDs have made sure of that. The gamer in me has a Playstation 2, an XBox, a Dreamcast and even a classic Sega Saturn to play games on. In terms of mobile phones, I've got a Nokia 6600, which I strongly feel is, pound for pound, the best phone there is right now. And of course, I've got an Apple Powerbook G4, which is basically the wet dream of many a techie. Happy as a clam, I am, I am.
But then again, nothing is ever static and life is always in a state of flux. And I am a firm believer in the principle that desire and a goal is something all humans must always have to keep from becoming stagnant and old.

So, my Top Ten List of Wanna-Have Lustable Stuff...

1. A Playstation Portable- while probably not the platform the next Dead or Alive game will be coming out on, the PSP will boast amazing graphics and gameplay for something you can carry around. I've held out on getting a Gameboy Advance SP since the PS1 quality graphics never really caught me... the PSP just might move me to become a mobile gamer.

2. Dead or Alive Ultimate- the next chapter in the most graphically beautiful fighting game series ever. DOAU is set to come out on the Xbox this June, and gives gamers a redone DOA2 with even more awesome graphics, and an arcade-perfect version of the original DOA. Players can take their game online via Xbox-Live, and beat up opponents from across the world (optimally). Of course, fans will be waiting for the supposed tons of new costumes to dress up the characters in.

3. Nokia 7610- Yes, I was kidding when I said I was giving up comics for this upcoming mobile from Finland. But I wasn't lying when I said I was interested in it. What's not to love? The 7610 has pretty much all the features I love in my 6600, along with a Megapixel-camera to take pictures that put all current cameraphones to shame, the ability to take 10-minute videos and editing programs. That, plus a smaller and more compact size and stylish good looks make this my probable next phone.

4. A Big-screen, Flat TV. These things cost a bundle- more than I would comfortably part with. Well, I can dream, can't I?

5. Sony Ericsson S700- while I don't normally like phones with moveable parts, this switchblade-type phone from SE has gotten myu attention. It looks good, with a HUGE 2.3 inch screen, a 1.3 megapixel camera, expandable memory via Sony's Memory Stick Duo, video recording and playback, connectivity and all the works. The features and looks of this phone just rock, and it'll be a tug of war between this and the 7610 come later this year.

6. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Extended Version DVD Set- nuff said.

7. A nice, airconditioned, brand-new car with a driver-bodyguard trained by MOSSAD to kill with one hand and leg tied behind his back. If he were a she and as sexy and cute as Agent K, all the better.

8. An Airport card for my Apple Powerbook so I can surf wireless at the mall.

9. A bunch of new jeans and more Spoof! shirts.

10. A cold cup of Watermelon Ice from Ice Monster right NOW.

Giga-Mail

Hey, fellow bloggers! If you're like me and you pretty much zoom through the Blogger homepage to your 'Create New Post' page, you may be missing a great offer from Blogger and Google. It's called G-Mail and it's a radical offer that gives you a Free e-mail addy from the no. 1 Search Engine on the Web. What makes it radical? Only the fact that it gives you a Gigabyte of storage space! Yep! You'll never have to erase your inbox again (or in the forseeable future) since you can basically keep every mail you have for years and years! It'll also come in handy in storing large files and other stuff online. And even better, since it's still early, you may be able to get the address of your choice!
Anyway, this service isn't totally available to all... but it IS initially available to us bloggers! So, go on over to the Blogger Homepage and get your own G-Mail account now!

Action Anime


Martial arts, sexy babes and romance abound in Tenjou Tenge.

In the wake of Ikki Tousen comes another sexy martial arts anime. Tenjou Tenge is adapted from the long-running manga of the same name. The story revolves around Todou High School, a place that specializes in martial arts. Enter Nagi Souchirou and Bob Makuhara, two transferees and veteran fighters who live to fight stronger and stronger opponents. Upon entering though, they soon discover that Todou's reputation for having the strongest and most powerful fighters is very, very true. Soon after arriving, Nagi finds himself getting a fiancee' in the sexy and somewhat air-headed Aya Natsumi, a kendo warrior and heir to a centuries-old fighting family, meeting Aya's older sister Maya, who normally appears as a grade-school kid but can transform into a voluptious babe for battle, and getting beat up by Mitsuomi Takayanagi, Maya's student and also an awesome fighter. Soon, Nagi and Bob's antics attract the attention of other forces in Todou...
The manga version of Tenjou Tenge had tons of raunchy sex, and this seems to be toned down a lot in the animated series. However, the fighting action seems intact, with hard-hitting action that is far superior to Ikki Tousen and other similar anime. The series has martial arts in spades, fan service and humor that should appeal to fans of these kinds of shows. I'm hooked from the first two episodes. Now, if only I was sure how to correctly pronounce the title...

Close Call

Last night, after getting dropped off at my usual bound-for-home point, I may have had a brush with the dark side of men. Maybe.
It was a little before 2 AM, and there I was, waiting for a cab. At that late/early hour, there was almost no one about... except for several men walking my way from down the road.

They were dressed as the usual layabouts on the street, and looked either they had a bit too much to drink, or sniff. Aside from their raggedy appearance, there were some telltale signs that made me wince. As they approached, a dog started barking. Animals are usually good detectors of danger, and I think at this point it was dead on.
One of the men seemed to move a bit faster than the others, while the rest hung back. I watched from the side of my eyes as the first ruffian slowly moved past me, without a doubt casing me as well. The others were fast approaching. I was, in effect, being surrounded.

Now the last thing I wanted was to be in the midst of unsavoury, dark and silent strangers who looked like they were either drunk or high. Even less, these guys were too quiet. You could feel their malevolence in their approach. So, without another second to lose, I walked across the street to a nearby 24-hour convenience store. I walked in, made a half-hearted pass through the aisles and then looked to the door. I think one of the men- the one who passed me- followed me into the store. A seedy-looking guy entered the store, and immediately you could see that the convenience store people were on alert, watching him. I left the store and crossed the street. The other men where standing nearby, but seemed to be out of range. Finally, an empty taxi came and I flagged it down.

The cab was one of those CB-networked cabs- it made me feel safe enough to talk to the driver about the men, and my almost-maybe-mugging encounter. He agreed that I had done the right thing- in any case times were dangerous and no one can be too careful. I got home and paid the man extra for taking part in getting me out of peril's way, went into the Sanctum and contemplated the evil that men do.

And then I watched Animax.