Saturday, June 24

Comicology

On the comics front, K.I.A. - Kai: Indomitable Assassin is once again available in Comic Quest Megamall. From reports by some friends, it is also on the shelves at Power Books Shangri-La Edsa (Yay!). So if you still haven't gotten a copy of the 160-page super assassin babe anthology, what are you waiting for? Of course, we have Nautilus Comics and Jamie Bautista to thank for getting K.I.A. out wherever we can.

On the subject of Project KRIS,I can't really go into detail about it as of yet. I will go as far as saying that it's not a comic for local sale. I was hired to write out and develop the characters and produce the scripts of every issue. So far things have gone well, with the first two scripts approved, the third submitted and pending approval, and the first issue printed and done. I received a copy of the first issue a couple of day ago, and it came out nicely.
It's kinda ironic that my first mass-distributed, full-color comic isn't really something I can show off right away, nor will it conceivably be released here in Manila. In any case, once I am able I'll tell you guys all about it.

Development is still going on Angel Ace and other stuff. More news here when it happens. That's that for now on the home front.

It's been a bit hard to keep up with comics lately since I haven't been able to go to Megamall regularly, but last night I got all my faves. As expected, Cassandra "Batgirl" Cain continues to get SCREWED in the pages of Robin (all I can say it, there had better be a light at the end of this tunnel... Grrr...).

52 is into week seven, but I'm finding it hard to get into. So many characters, not all interesting... dialogue-heavy panels and not-so-stellar art may be the culprits. Oh well. It's like cable. You order the whole kit and kaboodle but of course there are things you won't watch like the racing channel or several dozen Arabian networks. Same with 52. Not sure if I should continue getting this.

At least Alex Ross' Justice maxi-series continues to impress, with classic Giganta making her presence felt. It's great to see DC's biggest villainess in her familiar costume, ever since the arrival of the watered-down "Dr. Zuel" version in the new Wonder Woman. Another bad babe making an appearance in the issue is Poison Ivy (who looks EXACTLY as her action figure, which is awesome). The embattled Justice League is FINALLY realizing they're being picked off one by one (well, DUH) but it's still bleak for heroes. We're halfway through this 12-issue series and I'm in for the long run. How about extending this to an ongoing series, DC? Justice DCU rocks.

And on the Marvel Comics front, Civil War #2 came out and I have to admit I am hooked. I want to see this series to it's end, which should be pretty cool. Not really too crazy about the tie-up issues, but the main title's art and writing are pretty sublime. War may be hell but this is one comic I am glad to read.

Ah, so many comics, so little time to read...
Gimme Gimme Gimme

I was finally able to walk around a mall yesterday... the past couple of weeks have been simply a war of work at The Salt Mines. Looking around Cyber Zone at Megamall, I saw that while the 3-Gig loaded Samsung i300 was on display at several shops, it doesn't seem to be in stock (which was pretty infuriating). Anyway, my real quarry, the i310, was of course nowhere to be seen. Just as well... the 8-Gig smartphone will probably take a while to get here, and I am still mulling over what's more important- quantity or quality. Is the ability to bring along 8 Gigs of video more important than having a bigger screen? Yeah, the resolution is still 240X320, but it'll hurt to lose real estate. Guess I'll have to wait till I actually see reviews and have the phone in front of me.

On another front, I'm thinking of getting a new monitor for The Sanctum's PC. My old monitor's been around since the era of Diablo 2, and the color's been going wanky at times. It still works, but I think it's high time to replace it. A more expensive but lovely LCD monitor beckons me, but I question my real need for it. Will I just get a 19-inch screen instead? I'll find out over the weekend.

Ah, so many things to buy, so little cash. Bah.

Tuesday, June 20

Snapshots

Here are some of the pics I took during the birthday weekend...


I love saying that seeing Arnold and Cynthia is as rare as (insert rare thing here). But somehow, someway, they do manage to show up when it counts. Last Friday was one such time. We spent the late evening at Cravings and talked about old times, current times and future plans (plans within plans...) over a nice dinner and a scrumptious dessert. I'm hoping that it doesn't take me having another birthday to see these two again. Till next time, Arres!


Me and my college buds call ourselves collectively the BLT Crew- on one hand, it means "Brains, Looks and Talent". On the other, it just means "Born Loser Team". Why? We love the comic strip 'Born Loser'. And we have the irritating knack for getting into slippery situations when we're together. Maybe one of us has the proverbial 'balat sa puwit'. No, we've never checked. Every now and then we meet and when we do, the laughter never ends. So we'll be sure to keep meeting for years to come.


The Comic Quest gang rarely meets these days, but when we do it's always inspiring. Meeting with such creative and dynamic individuals just makes you want to produce more. Telling stories is our collective passion so whenever I can, I'll always give time for the group. We've done great things before, and we'll do more in the future, that's for sure.

Whew. Till next year, everyone. I'll be posting these pics and more at my Phlog as soon as I can. Later!

Monday, June 19

Heir Apparent


The upcoming Samsung i310 Smartphone.

For the past several months, I've been seeing phone, smartphones and PDAs come and go. Nothing has really impressed me enough to even consider replacing my current sidekick, the O2 XDA II Mini. Some have gotten a bit close- like the upcoming Sony Ericsson W950i, whose nice, slim, calculator-like form factor attracted me. Even more amazing is the 4 gig flash memory in the phone. However, the W950i has no camera, and the Symbian OS doesn't have the video playing capability I require. Recently, I saw the Nokia N91 and while that was cool, it was inadequate for me again.

But now, here comes the Samsung i310. It's a smartphone, running Windows Mobile 5.0 for Smartphone, and comes with a hi-res 2" screen, 2 megapixel digital video and still camera with flash and, get this- an 8 Gigabyte Hard Disc. 8 GIGS!!! WHOA! Imagine how many movies, anime episodes and other videos I can stuff into 8 Gigs! Plus, the phone comes with a TV-Out feature, so I can conceivably watch loaded videos on a bigger screen than the supplied 320 x 240 TFT screen. Awesome!

It seems perfect- the only flaws seem to be a slightly smaller screen size and that I have to sacrifice some apps made for Windows Mobile 2003, which will not be playable or usable in the Windows Smartphone, plus the loss of a touchscreen and stylus input. However, I do have my prime app- The Core Media Player which is pretty much MPEG-quality video anywhere, anytime. And the huge storage space plus a great camera should make up for that.

Pretty awesome gadget... I'll be sure to keep my eyes open for it locally. But will it really replace my Mini? We'll see then, when I get one in my grubby, mobile-hungry hands. Heh.
Under Siege

That's kind of how it felt like to walk into RCBC Plaza today. This is in the light of the news reports yesterday that some new subversive group is threatening to blow up the building. Apparently, letters were sent cautioning tenants and employees of the monolithic structure to leave for their own safety (this particular group is apparently careful to keep casualties nil).
Well, I'm in the Salt Mines anyway. There doesn't seem to be much chance of anyone sneaking in a nuclear weapon into this place- which seems to be pretty much the only way to destroy the whole building. In any case, the security (which was already tight under normal times) has been beefed up even more, making the place pretty much a fortress. Better yet, a fortress with it's own 7-11.

Anyway, crossing fingers that no bomb or other evil device ever makes it into the Salt Mines. Back to work, then.
Celebrations

While my birthday was actually early last week, the actual celebrations took place over the weekend. I actually had three separate meets with various groups of friends in my life, which was pretty rewarding.

On Friday, I had dinner with Arnold and Cynthia. The Arres met me at Cravings in Katipunan where we spent a grand time reminiscing, getting up to date on news and stuff about life, other friends and comics and just having a good laugh. I see these two dear friends only so rarely so it was a distinct pleasure to just hang for a couple of hours.
Saturday saw the Comic Quest gang at the homestead to feast on Mom's now-famous spaghetti. Thankfully, everyone stuffed their faces until they were pleasantly stuffed with meat sauce, so I guess the party was a success. Aside from the veteran crew of Dean, Vin, Nikki and Cams, newcomers to the Salt Mines included El, Jamie, Andrew, Kate and Alex.
And finally, Sunday brought together my old college barlada (or the BLT Crew) to The Sanctum, and once again the spaghetti sauce flowed like a river. Of the gifts that I got, one I am really thankful for is Andrew's fixing of my PC... hence, my ability to blog and surf (and download stuff) once more.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for making the birthday weekend a pretty fun and cool experience. Let's do it all again next year! Pics will be posted soon on my phlog. Later!