Return to Midgar


Happy Valentine's Day.

If you're a fan of the Final Fantasy VII game, you'll surely have watched FFVII Advent Children by now (if now, what are you waiting for? The english flub, er dub? It's OUT, by the way). Well, the other titles in the 'Compilation of FFVII' series that Advent Children is a part of are starting to come out. Dirge of Cerberus is the second title (the last one is Before Crisis) and, on a wild, out-of-left field direction, isn't an RPG but a SHOOTER. Well, a shooter with RPG elements, and a whole lot of CG cinematics. In fact, the game (which has been out in Japan for quite a while) has received quite a bit of flack from reviews. The gameplay, it seems, isn't up to par... really, the most this game has to offer are the lavish CG FMV's that Square of Japan has come to be known for. Still, if you're an FFVII fan, you'll probably want to check out the game simply for the story and the cinematics, simply because DOC gives fans once again a look into the lives of their beloved characters in the fantasy world of Midgar.

Dirge of Cerberus takes place a year after the events in FFVII Advent Children (which in turn happens about two years after the end of the FFVII game story). The main focus of the tale this time isn't emo-boy Cloud Strife, but UBER-emo boy Vincent Valentine- former Turk (Shinra special agent) and current shapechanging supermutant. All seems well in the world as the WRO or World Restoration Organization is working to bring the planet back to track without the use of destructive Mako energy that Shinra used in the past. One day though, the peace is broken when a new, mysterious enemy attacks the town of Kalm. These invaders are the Deep Ground Soldiers, a special corps of enhanced warriors created by Shinra during the war but buried underground when the Meteor came to the planet. Now released into a world unprepared for their attack, the DGS seek to reawaken powerful forces in their bid for conquest. And their key to their victory is one Vincent Valentine. Now our red-cloaked hero must take up his trusty three-barrelled pistol and take on the enemy, lay to rest ghosts from his past and save the world from destruction once again.

While Vincent is the main and apparently only playable character, ninja cutie Yuffie Kisaragi plays a vital role in the story, often helping out Vincent and appearing in the many cinematics. Also playing a big role is Reeve/Cait Sith, in one scene apparently being gunned down by enemy soldiers. Ouch! Anyway, all of the FFVII heroes (save perhaps Aerith) eventually show up as the big throwdown for Midgar gets underway towards the game's climax. Thanks the Square's CG mastery, the pre-rendered cinematics are pretty much the same quality as in Advent Children, with the same character models being used. This makes DOC pretty much a sequel to Advent Children and well worth seeing for fans of the world and it's characters. I've seen the cinemas and some of the big battle scenes bring to mind the large-scale battles from the Star Wars Clone Wars movies... that's a good thing, actually.

As for the gameplay... well, awkward gameplay concerns just melt in the face of Yuffie Kisaragi's CG cuteness. Yes. Hehe.

The english version of Dirge of Cerberus is slated for an August 2006 release on the PS2. FFVII fans wanting one more adventure with their beloved FFVII heroes should keep their eyes peeled for this one.

Memory

My sister and her family came to visit over the weekend, and her husband brought along his new phone, my old XDA II Mini. I couldn't resist looking at it again... and found myself amazed at how small it felt in my hand, which was by now used to hefting the larger XDA IIi. I was enamoured in the colors of the screen, which was smaller but a more colorful than larger Pocket PCs. I tested it a few times and smiled at the snappiness of the response.

Darn, I miss it. I turned it over and noted with a wince several new scratches on the silver casing. I owned it for a year and never put a scratch on it. Sigh.

I put it back and said goodbye once more. There will be other mobiles, smaller or bigger, in the years to come. But I'll always remember that one.

The Empire Strikes Back (in the Caribbean)


Jack's back.

I have to admit that while I was initially excited back when I first saw the trailer for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Secret of the Black Pearl. But when I watched the actual movie, I found it a bit unnecessarily long, with quite a lot of iffy parts. But while it was uneven for me, I did find the character of Jack Sparrow... no, CAPTAIN Jack Sparrow, as one of the more interesting screen protagonists to come in a long time. Part scoundrel, part dirty rat, part reluctant hero, the flighty buccaneer is given more life than he originally was envisioned to thanks to offbeat cinema heartthrob Johnny Depp. And so, when the sequel was announced I was willing to give it a try. In any case, the trailer and the subsequent features and videos online and on cable convinced me that Dead Man's Chest just might be something special.

Bringing together almost every cast member and character from the original, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest is a spectacular, wild ride. Well, at least it is after the first few minutes of setting up and reintroducing the characters. But once the players are assembled, it's a merry free-for-all of swashbucklers, sea monsters, sailing ships and... well, PIRATES. It gets a bit muddled as we go through... not horrible, mind you, but muddled in a Simpsons' episode sort of way. We all know the general direction- Both Jack Sparrow and the sinister East India Trading Company are after the Dead Man's Chest- which contains an object that just might it's possessor absolute power over the seas. Everyone else- from Sparrow's crew to the returning heroes Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) is running in the same general direction, but with varying goals. It's a mess of double-dealings, betrayals, backstabbings and more of Jack Sparrow's prancing. But at least it's a fun mess which looks absolutely spectacular thanks to great casting, incredible settings, art direction and special effects.

A lion's share of the eye candy this time around belongs to the character of Davy Jones- the mythical old man of the sea and sailor's bane, given tentacled life by the effects wizards of ILM and actor Bill Nighy. Nighy's performance- on a par with Depp's Sparrow and Geoffrey Rush's Barbossa from the first movie- pays off with a living, breathing and malevolently fascinating villain. Jones' crew- a gang of barnacle-encrusted marine-monster brutes, are so ugly and creepy they're beautiful... it's hard to see where CG ends and real makeup or costumes begin.

Performances-wise, Dead Man's Chest lets Depp once again run wild as Captain Jack Sparrow, though this time letting more physical comedy and slapstick bag the laugh instead of clever banter (though he does have several fine lines). Sparrow is more scoundrel in this one, but the ending will lay to rest any doubts about his true character.
Bloom and Knightley are given more to do in this one, and thankfully grow more as characters (Knightley's Elizabeth more so than Turner), while returning cast members like a now-bedraggled and bitter former Commodore Norrington (Jack Davenport) get more screen time and importance. New to the franchise is the much-mentioned but now finally realized "Bootstrap" Bill Turner (Stellan Skaarsgard), Will's father and now-captive crewman on the Flying Dutchman.
As mentioned, Bill Nighy steals the show as Davy Jones, while new villain Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander) is as smarmy as you can get. Returning cast members like Jonathan Pryce (Elizabeth's father, Weatherby Swann), Kevin McNally (Jack's loyal first mate, Gibb), Lee Arenberg (Pintel) and MacKenzie Crook (Ragetti) give the Caribbean universe continuity. Also of note is Naomie Harris as voodoo priestess Tia Dalma, who is probably gosh-darned beautiful since she's dreadlocked and dirty with black teeth but still looks strangely fetching.

Dead Man's Chest gives both laughs and thrills with some quite outrageous stunts and action sequences, like perhaps the longest and most complex three-man swordfight in movies, and several spectacular appearances by the massive tentacled horror known as The Kraken... a monster that would make the Watcher in the Water from the Lord of the Rings movies shudder. The cast and crew are obviously having fun, and it's pretty infectious.

The worst thing about this movie becomes clear during the last third of the film- when it becomes clear that Dead Man's Chest is simply a buildup for the next movie (called by some Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End). The film ends with HUGE Cliffhanger moments which will have you rabidly foaming at the mouth for the next movie. Unfortunately, we all have to wait a YEAR (POTC3 is slated for next summer) to see the next adventures of Jack, Elizabeth, Will and the rest of the crew.

BUGGER.

Still, POTC:DMC is a rip-roaringly fun ride and watching this is absolutely necessary in any case. The best thing I can say is that at about 2 and a half hours, Dead Man's Chest moves fast and pays off with great action (Unlike a certain recent Superhero film)... easily a better film than the first movie, and well worth your money and time.

Oh, and about that scene after the credits- it's just a very short comedic scene which has NOTHING to do with the main story, so stay at your own peril... it's probably not worth sitting around ten minutes for.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest is now showing in Manila Theaters. Watch it, now!

Click

It's kinda funny that once-technophobe Dean is now a bonafide technojunkie. He just bought himself a new O2 XDA II Mini after his old XDA II suddenly conked out on him yesterday. Whether it was just a dead battery or some other more serious fault, I don't know... but it's all moot now since Dean up and got himself a new device to replace the failed unit... of course, without his trusty (and by now invaluable) PDA, he felt naked and insecure.

I have to admit that I myself am incredibly attached and reliant on my Pocket PC Phone. It's my communicator, allowing me to instantly reach my home, family and friends, and keep me attached and updated at work. Text, Voice calls, Internet, e-mail... it keeps me in touch. It's my entertainment center... my portable music jukebox, personal movie theater and video library and on-the-go gaming arcade. It's my life organizer, reminding me of events, appointments, friends' or family members' birthdays and wakes me up every morning for work.

Our cellphones have grown far more than being devices that allow us to communicate. They give us control. It basically is my controller of life- how we can, with simple presses of buttons, affect our lives or change paths with a press of a button. Kinda like that new Adam Sandler movie, Click, on a personal level. It's an illusion of control but it's control nonetheless. That's how important the phone has become.

And so, if indeed my phone conked out one night (God forbid, I just got it), or I lost it (NEVER!!!) or it got stolen (OVER MY DEAD..), I would probably not be at ease until I get my satisfying, not-downgraded replacement. Thus I totally identify with Dean. Anyway, maybe it's poetic that both of us got new mobiles recently, no matter what the reason (whether it be to upgrade or replace). Or maybe it's just the way things work.

Always TWO. A Master. And an Apprentice. Hehehe.

Through Hell and High Water

I woke up today looking at the dimness of the glow coming from the blind-covered windows. It was only when I checked my phone did I realize it was almost 9AM that I shot up in bed and threw open the blinds. Thanks to the storm outside, it looked like it was only about 6AM. Despite all the temptation to just crawl back into bed and just wish it were all a bad dream, I made ready to go to The Salt Mines.
Today's commute was more difficult than most, given that the MRT chose this day to apparently close down for some reason. As I was unwilling to try the obviously traffic-choked route to Cubao, I stood my ground and waited for a cab. Unfortunately, oodles of other commuters were competing for the taxis' attentions. I have to say, sexism be damned- women are EVIL when it comes to commuting. They will run in front of you, wave frantically at every cab, making it pretty clear they will get it before YOU. Finally, when every single female had gotten a cab (how come they all seem to get a ride on their first try??), some bastard guy tries to get in front of me too. BAH. It's enough to make you go homicidal. It's all compounded by the fact that I need to keep my umbrella up because of the pelting rain (too big drops to ignore) but am constantly fighting with strong gusts of wind that threaten to tear the umbrella apart. AARGGGHHH.

Anyway, it took me about four tries.

Me: Makati?
Cabbie: Baha doon! (It's flooded there!)
Me: No, it's not!
Cabbie: BAHA DOON!
VROOooom...

Me: Makati?
Cabbie: I'm only to Marikina.
Me: (Slamming Door) Mag-jeepney ka na lang!!! (Be a Jeepney instead!!!)
VROOOooomm...

Me: Makati?
Old Cabbie: No.
Me: (Slamming Door) TANDAAAA!!! (OLD FART!!!)
VROOOooommm...

When finally a supposedly always-reliable R & E taxi denied me also, I decided enough was enough. But as I was starting to walk home, another taxi came along and I made a try. Lo and behold, the cabbie agreed and we were off. Despite some heavy traffic, the trip was pretty smooth and quick. I was so glad to arrive that I paid the guy a big extra on the fare, and I was set.
Well, work goes on. Got stuff to do, some meetings to attend. Hopefully the trip home will be easier (I'll probably leave a bit late) and less stressful. Ah, the things you do for a living. Sigh.

Avatar Fix

I'm pretty excited for the coming weekend, since it'll be the premiere of the first Avatar: The Last Airbender movie. Entitled The Fury of Aang, this is actually two episodes to be shown back-to-back. As the story goes, Aang the Avatar travels with his party across a supposedly impenetrable desert in the vast Earth Kingdom. Their quarry- a secret library of hidden secrets that just may hold vast knowledge needed to defeat the evil Fire Nation. While trying to survive in the inhospitable wilderness, something happens that causes Aang to become frighteningly enraged, unleashing his awesome powers. Meanwhile, the exiled Prince Zuko and his Uncle Iroh search for the aid of a secret society.

I'm really hoping this new 'movie' is awesome; but considering how Avatar has been pretty awesome in pretty much every episode, this is probably a given. Well, I'm going to have to enjoy this one, since the next Avatar fix will be quite a ways off... in September. Sigh. Oh well.
Of course I am talking about Avatar on the net and in the wide world. Sadly, viewers here in Manila STILL are stuck in the measly weekend showings of replays of episodes from Season 1. CATCH UP, Local Nick! Avatar's the hottest show on your channel and you're flubbing it! I have bittorrent and the web to thank for my Avatar fix, since I have yet to find a local anime shop who stocks the show. Oh well. If you can get your Avatar, do so people. This series is a keeper.

BTW, Avatar has already been picked up for a 3rd Season. The third and supposedly last (as yet) 20-episode arc will be entitled the Book of Fire, and chronicle Aang's final confrontation with his ultimate enemy- the Fire Lord Ozai himself. Can Aang and his friends and allies defeat the powerful, ruthless Fire Nation in time? How will the Legend of Aang end? We'll just have to wait and see in the next couple of years, I guess.

Upgrade Complete


My new constant companion.

In the spirit of the Re-quel (like the recent Superman Returns), I upgraded from my longtime mobile PDA phone, an O2 XDA II Mini to the bigger and quite a bit more powerful O2 XDA IIi. It looks almost exactly like my first PDA Phone, an XDA II (I can tell the difference by looking and finding a little 'i' next to the 'XDA II' name on front). Most of the changes are internal, and not at all superficial.

Anyway, for a while my sister had been asking if I was interested in selling my Mini to them- they wanted to use the multimedia functions of the device as a portable and unobtrusive way of presenting sales pitches/videos for their business... I guess it's hard to lug a laptop everywhere and a bit awkward to just whip out. Towards the end of the week I gave my willingness to sell, gave a price and today I sold it off.

Yeah, it's a bit sad to bid goodbye to the PDA phone that has served me, and served me WELL for almost a year- perhaps the longest I've had a phone. Truth be told, I was quite satisfied with the Mini, from the convenient compactness to the various apps and functions it served me day to day, and the hours of time-killing pleasure it gave me from videos and movies to games and music. The only flaw was, pretty much, a smaller screen (perhaps the limit of good portable video viewing). I still totally stand by the Mini as one of the best devices from O2 and it's prodigious multi-usability... so it's kinda sad knowing it's going to be used for mainly demoing some fruit juice videos. Oh well, in any case I hope it earns it's price for them.

Anyway, with the money for the sale and some extra cash I had lying around The Sanctum, I was free to get a new mobile. I know I mentioned the Samsung i310 smartphone (which came with an 8 Gigabyte Hard Disk), but I eventually realized that all that storage space was useless since the videos would look perhaps half the size of the videos on my former Mini... and that was just too much. I went to Greenhills and looked over the many models and phones available.

Benq P50... interesting form factor, with proportions kinda like one of those old brick games. It has a nice screen (kinda like the Mini) and a full QWERTY keyboard. It used SD/MMC cards and had WiFi. However, the processor was the same as the Mini (416 Mhz) so I got turned off. There are quite a few of these though around, and they look kinda cool. Like grey-black Treos.

Nokia N91... again the Finnish 4-Gig wonder beckons. Again, the tiny screen and the fact that this is a Symbian phone made mainly for music repels me.

Sony Ericsson W900... again, a Symbian OS phone, and the swivel-form factor just screams inconvenient. Plus it looks kinda like a toy. Not the kind I need.

Nokia E61... a Blackberry/Treo-like offering from Nokia, this is strictly a business phone since there isn't even a camera on it. 3G and WiFi are in though, and the screen's pretty big. It would be kind of ironic for me to buy the model that was competing with my Mini for my sister's money. Pass.

Hewlett Packard rw 6828... this is a new PDA phone from HP, which kinda looks like the Mini- same size and form factor. The onboard WiFi and FM radio seemed attractive, but I felt it was underpowered for my needs and it used mini-SD cards.

O2 Atom... I decided that I really didn't like the plasticky, toyish-looking Atom. The 2-megapixel camera with flash and the other perks can't mask the downgrade in power and memory (Mini-SD), and the smaller (slightly) screen.

What beckoned to me then was an XDAIIi being displayed in one stand, which I first saw last week and was still there this week, as if waiting for me. The price was very attractive (big savings from the brand new price of 45K and upwards in most shops) and the device was in pretty pristine condition, and complete box and accessories. After a slight bit of wandering around (who knows, I might have seen something else), I plunked down the cash, set stuff moving and now I had a brand new toy.

Thankfully, after coming home and reinstalling ActiveSync, it only took a few seconds to restore all my Contacts and Notes, Information and Data to my new phone- pretty painless and cool. After installing my Games, Themes and Apps, everything was good to go. So what did I get with my XDAIIi upgrade? Well, the processor is faster- 520 MHz compared to the 416 MHz of the Mini. The onboard RAM and ROM memory is double that of the Mini as well. The IIi's screen is a mammoth 3.5 inches compared to the 2.8 inches of the Mini. While the IIi's camera is also 1.3 Megapixels, it seems to have a better sensor than the Mini, with less if any snow even in low light. That's a good thing. Then there's the nice little new extra that the IIi has WiFi, so now I can actually surf wirelessly in Hotspots without resorting to pricey GPRS. No 3G, but who really needs it? Not me, not now at least.

There are lots of tiny little perks I am discovering... like how the onscreen keypad is better than before (FINALLY a CAPS lock) and there are more detailed stuff to help tweak my mobile. For the most part, it's cool to finally have something new again after all this time.
I guess it's just another way of showing that if you get complacent and content too much, change is needed to freshen things out. Every now and then you should take steps to just make things fun again.

Next project: A PSP loaded with the new Tekken: Dark Resurrection. Hehe.

Neo Comics

There are once again new kids on the local comics block, in this case literally. According to the editor's note for the debut issues of Neo Comics (of which there are two- an Epics issue and a Tales issue), many of the artists and creators working on these manga-style local releases are in their teens (and apparently are named with otaku-style code names like AKIRA and 730N). Well, it shows given the quality of the art, which sadly is not a positive. Most of the art and stories try to emulate popular Japanese stuff, featuring generic characters which look like they were ripped directly from some manga, anime or game. While in full color and on glossy papers, the color quality is also washed out- it seems that some of the art was hand-colored in some medium which doesn't translate well to printing. As for the writing and stories, I haven't read them yet so I'll reserve comments on that later (see the Comments for additional stuff).

Yeah, being a maker of manga-esque comics myself, I am probably the LAST person on earth to say 'don't use Japanese manga style', but please... DON'T grab designs from the latest Japanese manga or anime/games and please DO try to put something new and fresh into your story or concept at least. It's your chance to shine, so shine through your own creativity, not as just another wannabee.

Not sure who is releasing Neo Comics- the group calls itself Juggernaut Studios but they have ads and are in full color, plus distribution, so this isn't just a small studio. Some publisher got together some young artists for cheap and are trying out their stuff, which is good in that these young artists get to see their stuff on shelves. However, the art quality and the Japanese manga cliches repel me. If this is like Psicom's stuff though, this will be lucky to reach issue 2 and beyond. we'll just have to see.

Anyway, Neo Comics Epics and Neo Comics Fables are now out in magazine stands and bookstores for P85. Check out the latest Pinoy manga to come along.

Typo



I spotted this funny mistake in Gateway Mall, and I just had to snap a pic. Remember, boys and girls, spelling is everything. Heh.

Hitback: The Streetfighter II Animated Movie Retro-Ramble Review


Uncut, Uncensored, Unleashed.

Waaaaay back in 1994, the Street Fighter franchise was at an all-time high in terms of popularity. It became so popular that not one but two movies based on the games were released. One was the US-produced live-action movie starring Jean-Claude Van Damme et al; probably one of the most reviled videogame-to-movie translations known in the history of man (though I admit to having cheered the first time I saw it).

Yes, that has the version that marred the late actor Raul Julia's memory, it being his last film before succumbing to an illness. In another reality, instead of the Addams Family excerpt, the last image of Julia to the world is his goggle-eyed General M. Bison shouting "GAME... OVER!" Ew. It was the live-action movie that insisted on rationalizing every single appearing character (all 16+ of them), giving them all last names and ridiculously detailed background stories, even butchering the origins of others (Blanka and eventual SF Alpha character Charlie are merged into one mutated mess), and still others are neutered beyond belief (Dhalsim turns into a wimpy scientist who only gets his trademark looks after getting BURNED). But of course, it also commits the cardinal sin of putting the mantel of main hero on the American fighter Guile (ironically played by someone known as 'The Muscles from Brussels').

But of course, the real Street Fighter movie is the Animated Movie produced in Japan. Known as Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie, this is simply the most faithful and accurate depiction of a videogame franchise to a movie. The art was gorgeous and true to the games, and the fight scenes were fluid, incredibly well-animated and intense to the extreme.
And there were a lot of them (contrary to the live-action version) too. Included of course is the infamous Chun Li versus Vega fight- a knockdown, drag-out duel between the masked Spanish Ninja and the spunky Interpol agent who spends the whole fight wearing little more than her bra and panties- yep, before Agent Aika flashed underwear in anime, there was Street Fighter. Fan service aside though, this action sequence, along with the two-on-one final battle between the Shotokan Brothers and the Master of Evil Psycho Power, M. Bison are some of the best fight scenes you'll ever see in anime.


If only Chun Li's undies were a selectable costume in the games...

To be fair, the SF Animated Movie is not perfect- the story, of course, is a videogame story... Evil organization uses the world's best fighters as assassins in their service. The movie is also long... overly long, with lots of lulls and lingering pans of scenery (or Ryu meditating) that you would probably want to skip or fast-forward over to get to the good stuff. Sexy commando pixie Cammy is hyped about to no end in the movie's posters and art, but in truth only appears for a few seconds at the start of the film (although she does make an impression). Lots of characters are just glossed over, and the movie's ending... a weird bit with Ryu, M.Bison and a Mack Truck(!)... just leaves you with a WTF feeling.

Still, the movie is about as close to a true translation of a great videogame into a movie/anime format as you can get... something that other franchises have failed in. Remember the vomit-inducing Tekken anime? Even the relatively well-done Mortal Kombat movie (the first one) had to make quite a few changes and is still less than a perfect translation.

Anyway, if you were too young to see the original SFII Animated Movie, the film has been re-released in the US in an "Uncut, Uncensored and Unleashed" version which gives the whole kit and kaboodle... which means that you can see Chun Li's boobs and butt (which were censored from previous releases) in her infamous shower scene. Plus, some fighting scenes have a bit more blood and violence to kick up the action a notch. You also get a choice of the dramatic, ballad-heavy Japanese soundtrack or the obnoxious and ear-grinding heavy metal cacophony in the US dub. If it isn't obvious, I prefer the Japanese music, which I believe has at least emotion and gravitas, while the crappy US music is just LOUD. As far as voices go, the US dubbing is also pretty iffy, so go with the US subtitled version.

Copies of the SF Anime Movie are available in local anime shops. Or you can go for the recent US release through Amazon or other online shops, or with nice US-based relatives. Or you can download the kit from Bittorrent (hehe). In any case, if you're a videogame fan, you gotta have this in your library (if you're an SF fan, you probably already have it). Chances are, they'll be showing the Live-Action movie on cable, but never the anime. Ick.

Ah, the Street Fighter II Animated Movie. Still pretty awesome after all these years. Seeing Chun Li grind her foot into Vega's face never gets old. Good times. Heh.

Lost in Oblivion

My latest, and apparently greatest, acquisition for my Xbox360 library is the much talked-about first person RPG, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (or just Oblivion for short). Set in the same world as the previous Xbox's Elder Scrolls III, this title thankfully improves on pretty much everything in the previous game. You needn't have played in Morrowind before to appreciate Oblivion- this is a self-contained game, or world, that is all-new and just waiting to be discovered.

Set in a land called Tamriel, Oblivion puts you in the boots of a prisoner- a hapless soul who was put in the imperial prison for no apparent reason. One day, as you are wasting away in the dungeon, a peculiar sight greets your eyes. Several heavily-armed and armored soldiers enter your cell, escorting a regal old man. It turns out that there's a secret passage right in your cell leading to the outside... and the old man is the Emperor. Apparently, the ruler's life is in danger so he's being spirited away by his Blades, or elite knights. Naturally, you follow the Emperor's party and soon orient yourself with stuff like combat, stealth, exploration, magic and item use. By the end of the introductory dungeon, the Emperor is dead and you've been charged with a quest to somehow save the realm by closing the 'Gates of Oblivion'.

What is that quest all about? Why were you chosen? What will it take to save the world?

I have no frickin' idea.

For starters, when I got out of the dungeon and breathed the sweet air of freedom, the first thing I thought was to go exploring the vast, lovely city nearby. Soon, I was collecting items (some by judicious pilfering), talking to people or listening to gossip, and carrying out a quest for some local merchants in what amounts to a lot of stakeouts and shadowing people. My current interest is earning money by engaging in mortal combat in the city arena, slowly building up my skills in gladiatorial combat while I fatten my purse. Oh, and some hooded weirdo likes my penchant for making people dead so I've been invited to some assassin guild. Ooh. Somehow I'll get to the main quest and try to save the world. Someday.

Oblivion is a huge game, open-ended and expansive with tons of stuff to explore and discover. It doesn't hurt that the game looks gorgeous; the graphics are downright mystifying to see... you can just stare at the beautiful countryside for hours... providing there aren't any rabid monsters chasing you down at the moment. You get the create your own character, right down to facial details like nose width and eyebrow angle (so conceivably you can make them look like anyone you want)... the only problem is that it's a bit hard to get them looking good. Hmm. You can also make your character into a large variety of classes and occupations with varied skills in both magic and combat, from fire-hurling battlemages to stealthy nightblades or relentless hunters and intrepid agents. As you use skills, you get stronger and better.

Combat is also cooler this time around, handled in real time and depending on your agility to maneuver around opponents and waiting for the right times to strike or parry. OR, you can try to master deadly spells and fry enemies from afar. It's not perfect, but it's darn more fun than in the previous game. The realistic rag-doll physics engine also makes fights more realistic than ever.

The quest is also more focused. While the earlier game threw you into the world with no clue, here the interface is a lot more user-friendly. If you want to get to the main quest right away, you'll be aided by a helpful mapping and journal feature, plus a handy compass which basically points you where to go next. Also, once you've been to a place, you can basically 'teleport' there using the map, so you don't have to walk or make a long trek everytime. Genius!

As with RPGs of this type, the main fun is in finding your way and discovering stuff on your own. You can be a glorious, honorable hero and citizen of the realm, or a fearsome villain. The gorgeous fantasy world around you is literally alive with sights, sounds and characters who go about their lives. It's up to you to choose how your path affects theirs.
HIGHLY recommended. If you have an Xbox360, this is THE one game that is indeed a must-have.

Some Odd Things About Superman Returns

SPOILERS AHEAD

As always. still nobody notices that Clark Kent looks EXACTLY like Superman with glasses.

A whole building of intrepid reporters can't put two and two together that both Superman and Clark Kent left the same time and were gone for exactly the same time.

WHY, if Superman Returns is following the continuity of the first two films, does Luthor STILL basically repeating his same scheme in the original movie? Need a creative team, Lex?

WHY doesn't Kal Penn ever speak a word?

WHY does trigger-happy dude on the roof even bother to use a dinky little .45 on Supes when frickin' GATLING CANNON shells don't even register on the guy?

Judging from Lois Lane's reaction, Lex Luthor is apparently the ONLY guy in the world to use wigs.

HOW did Superman manage to lift the damn Kryptonite continent into space when just being near the place lost him his powers?

Am I the only one kinda thinking that Lois Lane got bumped around a bit too much in the airplane?

Would ANYONE actually want to LIVE in that crystalline Kryptonian island?

So, did any of the nurses squeal when they took off Superman's hanfords? Did any of the doctors?

Man of Steel


Superman returns. But is this a good thing?

I finally got to watch Superman Returns on Sunday. As you've read in my previous posts, I was not too enthusiastic about the movie, given some lukewarm to downright-pissed reactions from some of my friends to this 'requel' of the classic Superman films from former X-Meg Bryan Singer. Reviews all over the place have praised it to the high heavens or damned it to the depths of the sea. So what does a MADman think about this latest superhero flick?

Superman Returns picks up the slack sometime after the old Superman II flick (you all know... the one with "KNEEL BEFORE ZOD"). Knowing this is important since there is a pivotal event that happened in II that bears fruit (Hehe) in Returns. Anyway, Bryan Singer's film basically retcons the horrid Superman III (with the supercomputer) and the absolutely abysmal Superman IV: The Quest for Peace to the blackness of oblivion. After II, Superman finds out that astronomers have found deep in space what appears to be the remains of Krypton. Struck by the need to see if there's even a tiny shred of his origin left out there, Kal-El squeezes into his star-shaped spaceship/cradle and goes off into space, not to be seen for the next five years. Once he returns, he finds a world more violent, less innocent and more troubled than ever before... a world desperately in need of a god-among-men to help give a hand. But while the world praises Supes for his return, the one person he values the most seems to have gone on without him.

Despite all my misgivings about this film, I actually got through it without much of a strain. In fact, it's quite enjoyable at times, given that modern special effects have finally, FINALLY allowed the grandness that is Superman- flying, invincible Superman, to be realized on the big screen. The special effects, for one, are quite good compared, especially compared to the old movies. Brandon Routh, the relative unknown who has now been catapulted into instant recognition (thanks to countless action figures that bear his mug), acquits himself rather well as both mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent and his super alter-ego. As Clark, he seems to emulate Christopher Reeve, but thankfully with little of the over-the-top dorkiness. As Superman, he's doesn't talk much but lets his actions communicate his benign, 'big brother' like presence (yes, he hears EVERYTHING).
As for the other cast members, Kevin Spacey does, in my opinion, a fairly excellent job in his portrayal of Lex Luthor, Superman's nemesis. There's a hint of Gene Hackman's con artist in there, with a bit of Mr. John Smith from Seven, and a little bit of Keyser Soze's seeming infallibility. This new Luthor has humor and slightly a forgiving side (at least he doesn't kill off moll Kitty Kowalski (Parker Posey) for an act of betrayal, and he does seem to care for his underlings a bit). He's still ruthless and scary when he's serious though... and he's still ridiculously obsessed with REAL ESTATE.
Other characters. Kate Bosworth is gorgeous, but I really see her as too young for the part. Otherwise, I like her. Frank Langella's Perry White, Eva Marie Saint's Martha Kent and Sam Huntingdon's Jimmy Olsen are note-perfect. Jason Marsden is a revelation in this one... X-men's former Cyclops vindicates his defection to DC's flagship as a character that is pivotal to the movie (unlike his underwhelming role in the X-films)- Lois Lane's fiancee' Richard White. Here's a man, an ordinary man, who nevertheless stands equally with the Man of Steel in terms of the love of one woman. Marsden plays it with class and I hope his character pans out more in future installments.

And then there are the iffy's. Parker Posey's Kitty Kowalski is Luthor's moll, his mews. She provides quite a few laughs in the film and serves a good purpose as the inevitable turncoat. A bit grating she may be, but she fares better than Kal "Kumar" Penn, the young comedian who is given a dialogue-less role as one of Luthor's thugs. His bit of casting mystifies me, but what the heck.

Unfortunately, Superman Returns is not flawless. The movie is overlong and could do well with several minutes chopped off. I understand as a starting movie you can't throw in Darkseid or have Zod return from the Phantom Zone just yet, but darn... all Superman does in this film is fix stuff. There are no big fight scenes. No toe-to-toe fights, save for a one-sided beating late into the movie. The most thrilling part is an airliner/space shuttle rescue that happens in the first third of the movie, leaving uneven action sequences for the rest of the movie, along with a non-climax that doesn't really pay off much. Yes, the movie opens for a sequel, but it would not have hurt to have a good finish, a satisfying getback before the final Christopher Reeve-emulated smile in space.

In the end... Superman Returns wasn't as horrible as I feared (Ang Lee's Hulk is still untouchable in that regard). The flashbacks to younger days didn't last too long, and I didn't get the urge to walk out of the theater (except to go piss). Performances were fine, the special effects amazing. Let down a bit by non-action and a questionable, too drama-heavy script, but promising for good things to come.

What I want? For the 'requel' of Superman II to have Ralph Fiennes as General Zod, Angelina Jolie as Ursa and Paul 'Triple H' Levesque as Non. Let the speculations begin. Hoho!

Up in the Air

The new Superman Returns movie is in theaters now. Some people, like Vin, have already gone and watched the flick, but I'll be seeing it over the weekend, probably. I have to say that while I do want to watch it, I'm not a big Superman fan. In fact, I never really liked the old movies. The original Superman movie by Richard Donner with Christopher Reeve was, for me, one of the most boring and slow-paced superhero movies ever. Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman) was more con man than genius, there was no big super fight (save for multiple disaster scenarios and saving stunts) and the finale was... turning back time? I'd go as far as saying I put the original Superman along with the Hulk movie in terms of superhero movie popularity in my book.
Now, here comes Superman Returns, which director Bryan Singer has unequivocably stated as following the mythos of the first two Superman flicks. It's a 'requel', ret-conning the ludicrously bad Superman III and IV into non-existence (and good riddance) and re-starting the stage for a new direction. Unfortunately, from all that I've read, Superman Returns also seems to be re-treading the events from the original Superman film- same Luthor plot, same revisiting of the boring times at the Kent farm in Kansas, blah blah blah. So you can understand why I'm not exactly shaking in my boots to see it. In fact, I'm more excited at watching Dead Man's Chest.

Anyway I will be seeing the film in any case over the weekend so I can blog about it. I am looking forward to seeing Kevin Spacey's turn at bringing the bald blackguard to life, though I still feel the animated version in Justice League Unlimited can kick both Hackman's and Spacey's baddies into the vastness of space with ease. Review to come soon after.

Fighting the Good Fight

For the past several weeks, things have been a storm of overtime at The Salt Mines, particularly because of a product pitch. FYI, pitches are held when a client/company needs get a new ad agency to do the advertising for their product. Agencies are selected and butt heads, pitching their stuff to win the account (in much the same way that lawyers battle in court). It usually involves hours and hours of brainstorming, pouring over research and the inevitable overnight stays at the office to produce the winning materials that will impress the clients enough to award the disputed account.

This particular pitch has been incredibly fierce... we were initially in the running with at least five other agencies. After the first round of presentations was over, the field was narrowed down to TWO; Us and one of Manila's leading ad agencies today.

With not much time and quite a bit of pressure, the crew threw stuff into the breach to win round 2. Somehow, someway, we went into the second presentation confident in our position and our materials.

It was a weekend before we would be told the results... There was going to be a ROUND THREE.

That's what's been keeping us all busy this week, as we made one last big push to make our mark. It's also where everything seemed bleakest, when we reached a crossroads where, to quote a line from Harry Potter, we had a choice between doing something that was 'right', or doing something that was easy.

In the end though, we all went with what we felt was right and steeled ourselves. Win or lose, we were going down swinging.

Just some time ago, I was informed that, unfortunately, we didn't get the account.

HOWEVER, apparently the final fight was pretty close to the very end, and we apparently impressed the clients enough that they awarded us a different account.

So, somehow, after all was said and done, we fought and lost but kinda won too. A hard-fought loss that ended with a little victory. But then again, maybe we had already won the night before.

It's these kinds of things that make advertising such a weird and colorful place. And why, in a strange way, that I know I'm in the right field of work.

Time to get some rest now. Life goes on at Salt Mines tomorrow.

Shock Advertising


One of the controversial 'Executed' print ads of the Hitman: Blood Money game.

If you buy imported gaming magazines regularly, you're sure to have come upon at least one of the eye-catching advertisments for Hitman: Blood Money. Playing with various puns or sayings with the word 'Executed', the ads portray victims of assassination... or some would say, just plain murder. In "Beautifully Executed", a lingerie-clad woman is lying provocatively on satin sheets, a small bullet wound on her forehead. In "Coldly Executed", an old man's corpse is hunched inside a walk-in freezer, with a little dog sitting and staring at the body from the outside. "Classically Executed" features a cellist seated on his chair in an opera theater, his neck slit. And of course, the "Shockingly Executed" ad is the one featured above.
Apparently, these ads haven't escaped the attention of various groups and individuals whose comments range from the ads being mysoginistic, inspiring violence towards women or glorifying murder. A big hubbub is going on right now. They're ads for a mature game, with a bald-headed assassin taking out targets in various, often brutal and imaginative, ways. What do you expect? IMO, the ads are clever and quite attention-grabbing, to say the least. They look quite nice too, murder simulated images notwithstanding. I think it's just another scapegoat for US politicians to blame with videogames for all the crime and violence they have. Feh.

I still don't believe that staring at ads featuring beautiful naked women will turn you into a murderer if you aren't one already. I do, however, get the urge to kill whenever I read about politicians in the local newspaper. Oh well.

Batugan (Translation: Lazybones)

At present, I'm a habitual taxi rider. I've always been a commuter (thanks to my feeling that road rage would make me into a mass murderer behind the wheel), but these days I just want to dispense with crowding into sweat-smelling crowded MRTs and buses that make hour-long stops. Taxis get you to where you want to go, fast. It's not cheap, but I can afford it. In the past several months, I've seen good taxi drivers and bad taxi drivers. I curse them, praise them, damn them to hell or lift them up as saviours of the race. Ah, taxi drivers.
Well, early today I got another memorable taxi experience. I was heading to work, standing at Katipunan to hail a cab. The sixth or so taxi that passed finally stopped and when I mentioned my destination, he nodded. I hopped in and we were off. Seconds later, he asked me again where we were headed. Apparently, the guy was only now realizing he was headed for Makati.

Anyway,, some minutes later, as we were on C-5 Highway, in the middle of nowhere, the cab starts to slow. The guy stops at the sidewalk, and then starts trying to 'restart' the engine. "There seems to be something wrong with the starter," he says, trying several times to bring the engine to life. Of course, to no avail. He blames the owner of the cab for replacing the starter with some cheap part. As he apologizes to me for the inconvenience, saying that this is as far as he can go. I respond with "I'm sorry too." At which point, I get out of the cab and start walking away.
The grungy cabbie (he's not even in uniform- just a t-shirt and 'puruntong' shorts, showing he's a colorum driver) calls my attention and asks for payment. I angrily respond with a negative. "YOU LEAVE ME OUT HERE IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE AND YOU HAVE THE GALL TO ASK ME FOR PAYMENT??" He says something about the starter, but I don't even bother to listen. I keep walking. You could argue that I could have paid him for the distance I came, but I knew what the real score was. I hated being conned.
Another cab came and I hailed it. It stopped and I jumped in. "Makati," I said, and the old driver nodded. I looked ahead at where the other cabbie, with his supposedly stalled taxi, should have been.

Of course, he had driven off by then. That was fast for a cab that wouldn't start.

StarZ

Today I found out on the local news that the final casting of the movie adaptation of Carl Vergara's Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah has been announced. Regal Films held a press conference with the actors involved, as part of the film's inclusion in the upcoming Metro Manila Film Festival.
Playing the title role of superheroine Zsa Zsa is Zsa Zsa Padilla, whom I believe is a far better choice than the other names touted to be in the running for the part. To play the alter-ego of ZZZ, gay beautician Ada, will be controversial actor Rustom Padilla (another better choice IMO than the former rumoured actor for the part). Playing the villainess Femina will be Pops Fernandez, while comedian Chocoleit of TV's Marina will be playing the loveable sidekick Didi.

How great will the ZZZ Movie be compared to the sublime musical play? We'll just have to see later this year.

Eye Candy

Over the weekend, I and my friend Pot went off through the rain to Greenhills to get upgrades for The Sanctum's PC. Apparently the thing that had been plaguing me all these months was a faulty, underpowered power supply, so that was my primary goal. Another thing on my list was a new monitor.
I got what I was told was a 'branded' power supply, which the shopkeeper and his tech guy recommended as the best I could get. It was a bit more expensive than the usual (and supposedly low quality) component, but I shelled out the cash just the same. With that out of the way, I looked for the next item on my list.

Looking around the swanky shops in V-Mall, it was easy to get enamoured with the large LCD Monitors now making the rounds in the computer sections. Such a thing was beyond my budget though, so I made do with a LG Flatron Monitor, which boasted a flatscreen at about half the price of an equivalent LCD. Not bad! Before we finally called it a day and left the mall, I had the fortune of finding an Asian version of Oblivion at one of the new game/anime shops. FYI, Oblivion is the first first-person RPG on the Xbox360, and it's gotten rave reviews for the incredible graphics, redone fighting system, open-ended gaming world and lush story. I've been wanting this game for a while (the US version is unplayable on my Japanese system), so I scooped it up. Fortunately, the Asian version is cheaper than the US game by quite a bit.

It was a hard day of malling, and I'm feeling quite a bit under the weather right now... but seeing my lovely new monitor (and the crisp colors) as well as a lovely new addition to my Xbox360 library (review to come), makes me feel all warm and tingly inside. Good stuff.

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.

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!

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!

Belated

Thanks to The Sanctum's PC suffering the apparent inevitable bout of non-functionality, I wasn't able to blog on my own birthday. Anyway, I turned one year older yesterday... I'm now a little bit wiser, a little bit heavier, a little bit lazier. Thanks to everyone who texted, called and greeted me on my personal day of days. While I had grand plans to go out and paint the town red, splurge all of my non-existent savings on various impulse buys and whatnots, I pretty much spent the day at home, resting and just vegetating- the afternoon rain showers just lulled me to sleep for the most part, nixing any plans to go out. Hopefully I'll get the PC working again soon- on Sunday (when tech support arrives) at the latest. I want my DSL back. Heh. Also, got to pencil two pages of the Angel Ace comic, which is good. It's a start.

Again, thanks to everyone for the greetings! Here's to more MADness to come in the months and months and years and years ahead.

From Angel to Sinner

There's a hot rumor going around that Sin City director Robert Rodriguez has a hankering for none other than Miss Lara Croft herself, Angelina Jolie, for the pivotal role of Ava Lord in the Sin City sequel. Ava is a femme fatale antagonist in the book A Dame To Kill For, a book she shares with characters like Dwight (previously played by Clive Owen), Gail (Rosario Dawson), Miho (Devon Aoki) and Manute (Michael Clark Duncan).

Angelina Jolie would make an AWESOME femme fatale temptress and villainess... far more awesome than other supposed frontrunners for the part (Frank Miller has mentioned that other actresses considered include Salma Hayek and Rose McGowan). Jolie certainly out-stars these other girls.

Rodriguez is apparently delaying the project in order to wait for Jolie to recover from her recent pregnancy. If Angelina does push through, it should be worth the wait. Woowie.

Gadget Lust

Today I got to fiddle around with an officemate's Nokia N91 mobile phone, which was pretty fun. The N91 is the Finnish developers' answer to the Ipod and Sony Ericsson Walkman phones- a Series 60 Symbian-powered Smartphone loaded with a 4 Gigabyte Hard Drive, music playing capabilities and a nice, professional-looking stainless steel exterior. I wanted to see if it was as good in person as it was in paper, and to test the video-playing capabilities (which is pretty much my first priority with mobiles).
For one thing, the N91 is pretty big- it's not heavy but the top-heavy bar shape fills your hand pretty much... and I have large hands. The phone is longer than my O2 Mini, but a bit thinner. On the good side, the phone feels firm and solid.

Loading music onto the N91 is a drag-and-drop affair; plugging it into a laptop or desktop computer with a mini-USB port will turn it into a hard drive. About 3.5 Gigs are yours to use, which you can fill up with photos (shot with the 2M Cam) or vids, or with tunes (the phone supports MP3, WMA and AAC files). While the music played fine (in fact, quite excellently), I unfortunately wasn't able to test video since the phone didn't have Smartmovie installed (which is an additional app, after all... ah, Smartmovie... my best friend in the pre-Betaplayer days...). On the other hand, it's just as well... the N91 has a dinky little screen that hearkens back to the 6600 and 7610 days... watching movies on it would be painful for me now, used as I am to relatively enormous PPC screens.

And so, while it was pretty cool to hold and play with the N91 for a while, Nokia's latest stunner won't be replacing my Mini. Fortunately. Anyone else who is interested in the slick new music phone (and it's 3G capable too, if that floats your boat) should go try one out for size... it's quite a nice gizmo.

A Night of Extinct Ice Monsters and Fiery Food

I finally got to get to Megamall after a two-week gap from my last visit. I have to say that the place seems to have changed a bit since I last saw it. For one, the Ice Monster shop near the Skating Rink is gone... replaced by a carpet kiosk, of all things. That made me feel kind of sad. While Ice Monster WAS really just a glorified Halo-Halo stand, it was pretty cool (pun intended). It's strange... these fad things usually go out of business due to competition stealing away sales. But there really weren't any copycat Ice Monster businesses that popped up ala the Zagu and Shawarma debacles of years past. Maybe people just got tired of icy whatever-snacks and it's time was just up. Anyway, I think there are still Ice Monsters elsewhere in other malls, so no worries if you get a lychee or sweet potato or mango on ice craving.

I got my bunch of comics for the last couple of weeks, and picked up the latest issue of UNO Magazine, which has Meiling Melancon on the cover and inside. Miss Melancon, if you would remember, played Psylocke (all ten seconds of her) in the recent mutant blockbuster X-men: The Last Stand. At least the mag gives her a bit more... exposure (heheh). Too bad she won't be coming back for any possible sequel, given that Psylocke was scattered to atoms by Phoenix. Oh, and finally I got my copy of Gerry's Elmer, which I'll read and review as soon as possible.

I finished the night with a dinner of spicy Butter Chicken and Hot & Sour Soup at Lemon Grass (Fire Nation food, as the Avatar fan in me would say) which was quite filling. With my stuff in hand and a hot, full tummy, I was off home. My downloads were waiting. Heh.

And now for something pretty AWESOME...

If you thought that talk of a Transformers movie was just a load of bull, check THIS out.



I can almost hear "You've got the touch" playing in the background... WOOHOO!

Overtime X


Overtime, Assemble!

Who says I haven't been able to do any comics lately? Take tons of overtime, inebriation from soft drinks, a random discussion about Image Comics in the 90s, a digital camera, Photoshop and an inexplicably large amount of free time and you get THIS. The Salt Mines Crew just flipped our collective lids and struck a group superhero pose ala WildC.A.T.s or Stormwatch. It's actually grown into a full-blown digital comic- glorious non-action in multiple panels that you can find here. Unfortunately I'm not really in the issue but what the heck. Heh.

Local Comics Stuff

On my end of local comic publication, the Angel Ace graphic novel is still main on my thoughts. I've decided to include the Angel-Kai friendship and the SIVA origin chapter (which is a book in itself) into it, as well as tying up the loose end from Angel Ace Next (which gave rise to K.I.A.) in the book... it won't do for Angel to just let her best friend get sent through hell and back without batting an eye. The book is still in the writing/concept phase, though I am trying to get started on actual pencils. It's hard, I have to admit. But once I get started, this should go fast.

On the flipside, Project KRIS is happening. I am going to say though that this comic is NOT what anyone here probably expects- for one thing, it's not a mainstream release comic and I am only writing it (art is being done by someone else). Once it is done, I may show it here. Suffice to say that Project KRIS is funding Angel Ace, so that's what's making it worth my while.

As for other stuff, I still am seriously considering doing a webcomic. It's just a matter of deciding on the content. Kunoichi Boy and K.I.A. installments are okay, but I want something new. We'll see what I think up of as it happens.

On other local comics releases, I got to see the manga zine edition of Psicom's Otaku! zine. All I can say is... they need an editor, bad. Typos and wrong grammar abound, while the content is all derivative of existing manga/anime with art varying from amateurish to passable in quality. Not even the glossy paper and color printing can make me get into this. Can't fault them for trying, but it's not a good try.

That's that for now. See you on the comic stands, people!

Hitting Pause

After a week of continuous brainstorming, overtime office stay-overs, delivered fast food and lost weekends, I finally got a bit of a break today. Of course, it's just a day off but these little things are enough to keep a guy sane (even MADmen need to keep a bit of sanity). I'm not sure it it's a sign of age or just of the times, but I'm now pretty content to just stay in at The Sanctum to kick back and enjoy the abundant baubles and pleasures I collected during my more outgoing, impulse-buying days. Maybe it's because of the DSL connection that lets me download my anime and media instead of having to hunt for it in some mall or black market.

Anyway, today is a rest day so the only stress I am allowing myself is to decide on what to do tonight- either traipsing into some musty tomb with my brand new copy of Tomb Raider Legend on the Xbox360 or watch some DVDs. Decisions, decisions.

Finger-licking Good


Click Play to see the Trailer!

From Gerry Alanguilan, comics extraordinaire and creator of Wasted and tons of cool grafiction comes Elmer, a truly unique local comic in these days of generic superheroes and manga rip-offs. What is Elmer all about?

ELMER is a window into an alternate Earth where chickens have suddenly acquired the intelligence and consciousness of humans, where they consider themselves a race no different than whites, browns or blacks, and push to recognize rights for themselves as the newest members of the human race. It tells the story of a family of chickens who live and struggle to survive in a suddenly complicated, dangerous and yet beautiful world.
ELMER is published through Komikero Publishing and Alamat Comics, and will run a projected 4 issues. First issue is 32 pages. 5.5"X8.5" Color covers, black and white interiors.
Elmer is now available in Comic Quest Megamall, Comics Odyssey Robinson's Place Malate and Druid's Keep in Magallanes. For a look, go visit Gerry's Komikero Website.

I've yet to read this, but I'll be sure to grab a copy once I get to pass by CQ. As a lover of fried chicken myself, this is sure to be an interesting read...

Out of the Closet


The new Batwoman. Cross Silver Age design with Batman Beyond colors and personality from Will and Grace.

Recently, DC has just revealed the all-new, controversial Batwoman, who will be appearing in the weekly series 52 (which chronicles the missing year that passed after the company's monumental Infinite Crisis and just before the One Year Later issues. Batwoman first appeared in the final issue of IC, but only recently has there been solid info on her.
This new Batwoman's secret identity is one Kathy Kane, a lesbian woman who apparently has ties or past links to both disgraced police officer Renee Montoya and Bruce Wayne. According to DC's Executive Editor Dan Didio, they wanted to refresh the Batwoman character, giving her an all-new ideology, personality, backstory and treatment that's in line with the radical changes brought about by Infinite Crisis. "Blame Superboy Prime," is the catch phrase. This new Bat Family member is a member of high society as well as being gay, and will have been operating in Gotham in the year that Batman left for his sabbatical after IC. The character's costume was designed by none other than Alex Ross, who gave nods to both the Silver Age Batwoman design and the black-and-red color scheme from Batman Beyond.

So what will Batwoman's sexual orientation do to affect her storylines? Will we see her getting intimate with Gotham's femme fatales? Perhaps. Perhaps not. It should make for some new ways of approaching interactions between characters. The new Batwoman will be making her debut in July's 52 #11.

As for me, I'm curious about the character but I'm still quite pissed by the fact that Cassandra Cain has been transmorgified into a "Lady Shiva Junior" as head of the League of Assassins in the Robin title. Well, according to Didio's teasing remark, there may be a future yet for Cassie as Batgirl... maybe. Grrr. Whatever. We'll see what happens in the colorful world of comics in the next several weeks.

Bullets and Broads


Trash-talking, tattooed, gun-toting, violence-prone Levi. Yep, I like her.

I've already been through every single episode of Avatar, including the latest one (which I was able to download and watch a day after it premiered). Since the next episode of the Aang Gang's adventures won't be for another week, I decided it would be good to get myself interested in another show while I'm waiting.

That show turned out to be Black Lagoon, a slick new anime from Madhouse (Ninja Scroll) and Geneon. While Avatar, a US cartoon, is all about positive values along with the solid, epic storyline and martial arts magical action, this properly Japanese anime is pretty much everything a parent would probably NOT want her kids to see. Black Lagoon is, to put it simply, about the adventures of a gang of pirates. No, not even loveable rogues like Captain Jack Sparrow... these are mean, nasty folk who tote guns and would shoot you as soon as look at you. The only thing that separates the crew of the PT Boat Black Lagoon from the rest of the armed rabble and mercenary scum of their world (which seems to consist of the waters in the East China Sea) is their hard sense of honor and a slight nice streak. Very slight.

The first episode of course introduces us to our surrogate into this vicious world of modern buccanneers- Okajima Rokuro, a young Japanese salaryman who just wants to live a normal life in his regimented, regulated office. Unfortunately for Okajima, he gets sent on a ship to transport a valuable disk containing critical information that gets hijacked on the high seas. The kidnappers are, of course, the crew of the Black Lagoon- consisting of big, black brother Dutch, super-hot and kinda-psychotic superkiller Chinese babe Levi (or Revi) and Jewish tech guy/communicator Benny. As the Lagoon crew takes the disk, Levi snags along hapless Okajima so they can get extra cash for his ransom. Unfortunately, it soon becomes apparent that Okajima's employers have given up on him and the disk, sending a bunch of mercenary assassins to get rid of all of them, in one fell swoop.

And so, in the course of dodging bullets and battling helicopter gunships, Okajima eventually ditches his last chance to rejoin his former world and instead joins the Lagoon crew as a sailor, taking on the name Rock and becoming a pirate himself. Hey, if I had a choice between being continually bullied by either some corporate SOB or a gorgeous babe in super-skimpy cut-offs, I'd become a pirate too. Heh. From there on in, much of the drama in the show will showcase how mild-mannered salaryman Rock interacts with his new (and slightly mentally imbalanced) mates... and how the skills he's learned as an office worker actually prove useful in the dangerous underworld of organized crime syndicates and assassins. Hmm. Interesting.

Anyway, Black Lagoon is excellently animated and seems, for now, pretty much all about brainless, spectacular and violent action and the occasional sexy pose from Levi- not a bad anime combo. It's a pretty mature anime that isn't afraid to be bad-ass and nasty. The fan service though is nowhere near the uncomfortable levels as in the Aika series, so it's really more of a straight action title than a fetish show- so it should be quite watchable by most mature anime fans. It's pretty clear that Levi's a big draw for this title... in any case, there hasn't been a good girl-with-guns anime for a while that really lets itself cuts loose. This looks to be a cool ride.


As crazy as she is hot. Uh-oh...

Storm

Yeah, Halle Berry still kinda sucked in X3, but she did have her kick-ass moments... but the movie Storm was nothing compared to the real thing.

As a sidenote to my X3 review, the aftermath of our movie night was no less memorable. As the gang headed off in separate ways to eventually rendezvous at some dinner place, nature exploded in a pretty spectacular lightning storm. For about an hour, rain fell in fierce buckets and there were more flashes than a paparazzi party. Whole areas of the metropolis around us blacked out as power lines failed. There didn't seem to be any refuge as the resto we were originally headed for- Dampa at Libis- also fell into darkness. It was so bad that a taxi was even hit by lighting on the road, according to the others in the gang, who saw it from their car (relayed to us by text).

Vin, Andrew and I spent the whole time weathering through traffic-choked and flooded roads to make it back to the central Ortigas area, where we eventually decided to dine at The Podium's Chinese Star restaurant for some hot Chinese food. What a storm. But I feel good at having gone through it. Darn, that was exciting, if a bit scary.

X-men: The Last Stand


Death, triumph and mutant fighting aplenty.

Last night, the gang got together in a rare outing to watch the third and supposedly final installment of the Marvel Comics' X-men films. Now, whether the Last Stand is truly the last time we'll see the alumni of Xavier's School onscreen depends really on time and box office receipts.
X3 has been beset by a slew of problems in its making- the so-called super-director Bryan Singer bailed out of the series to meg DC's Superman Returns. The script, which was leaked online early on, had fanboys and geeks foaming at the mouth at various character deaths and other nitpicks. Particular rancor seemed to be aimed at director Brett Ratner and producer Avi Arad. I have to admit I saw the script leaks and I got a bit apprehensive, but I resolved to not judge the film until I actually saw it. I saw the trailers, and I was interested. Let's see the movie and get it over with.

So, did I like the movie? Nope.

I loved it.

The movie kicks ass with easily some of the best scenes and moments in the whole trilogy- stuff that will have you clapping of smiling or grinning at the coolness of it all. There are fewer if any 'iffy' moments as in previous films (No 'What happens to a toad when it get hits by lightning' lines, thankfully) and the pace is fast and never boring.
One big thing that I disagree with a lot of negative reviews is the so-called way that several major character deaths are handled without emotion- I have to say with the exception of the first death, which was intentionally hidden, this is not true. The second, monumental demise had the right sense of finality and power (in fact, it was one of the highlights of the film) and was addressed excellently. The third major character demise was the climax of the movie so that is also a major moment that struck the right tone.

What lacked in previous films (too little in the first and none in the second) was the simple fact that the X-men weren't fighting foes that measured up to them. The final fights in the first X-men were kinda lame (save for the Wolverine-Mystique tussle). The second film had zilch. In X3, we see the X-men take on a literal ARMY of mutants, and it really turned out excellently- Ratner knows how to stage great action, which is an improvement over Singer's stunts in X1 and X2. There is speed, brutality, comedy and smarts in the various action setpieces, and it kicks arse.

In terms of characters, this is pretty much Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) and Storm's (Halle Berry) movie... James Marsden's Cyclops is a shadow of his former self and has little screentime (one can't help but think this was caused by the actor's defection to DC with Bryan Singer), while returning Jean Grey (Famke Jansen) gets to go all goth-like and scary as the Phoenix (No, not the Power Cosmic entity, but close enough in this universe). Finally, after spending most of the first two movies comatose or captive, Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart)gets his chance to get into the frontlines and shine (literally).

Gladly, new faces take up the slack that opens up when old characters vacate. Kelsey Grammer makes for a perfect Beast/Hank McCoy, and in particular, Kitty Pryde (Ellen Page) is note-perfect and shows off the character that made her a favorite in the comics... what can I say, Kitty ROCKS. Which is a big bash against onscreen (but unintentional) rival Rogue (Anna Paquin) who loses out on looks and action (but she still gets the guy, who never really was in conflict anyway).

On my own personal fave, Mystique (Rebecca Romijin) gets lesser screentime here, but easily has her BEST scenes in the whole trilogy in X3, plus she gets a fitting resolution (that nicely leaves her open to a return someday...). As for Magneto, Ian McKellen predictably has some of the most impressive scenes in the film (including a jaw-dropping stunt with a bridge), and he just exudes power and class along with the villainy.
I would have liked to see more Colossus (Daniel Cudmore), but at least he gets to do the 'Fastball Special' twice in the movie. We finally get to see Iceman (Shawn Ashford) and Pyro (Aaron Stanford) get a decisive one-on-one, which is er, cool. Despite lacking the neck-less costume, Juggernaut (Vinnie Jones) was also well done.

Is it perfect? Well, a lot of characters show up, albeit briefly, and so it's inevitable that a lot just get cameos or quick do-aways. I felt brief nicks and pangs a seeing Arclight and Psylocke appear and disappear so fast, but what the heck. Then there's that scene with the never-seen Sentinel, which was kinda a cop-out but still pretty cool.

This stands as a grade-A superhero movie in my book, the best of the X-movie franchise. Thankfully, Brett Ratner kept the look and feel of the movie almost seamless from the previous two films, and at the same time doing away with the previous movies' tendency to keep the X-men inferior to Magneto. In this movie, finally, the X-men give Magneto his come-uppance deserving from X2.

If you're a fan of the characters who DIE, you may get a bit miffed, but in all, the movie is optimistic and forward-looking, with the X-men standing perfect to the way they are in the comics- never giving up and taking up the fight even when the chips are down, no matter how great the odds, as long as they feel they're doing the right thing. They made their stand, and they won.

Highly recommended.

Is it the last X-movie? Hopefully not. The movie DOES open the possibilities up for more chapters in the future, but we'll just have to see. Obviously, the more people who see this one will affect this franchise's future. So, what are you waiting for? GO SEE IT. I want my Mystique movie! Heh.

X-men: The Last Stand is now showing in Metro Manila theaters. Go, go, go! Now!!!

Up and Running

Thanks to my pals Andrew and Pot, my home PC's working again. Apparently all the trouble that's been plaguing it recently was due to the thing being underpowered. Well, after taking a couple of things off the plug and installing new software, the ol' computer's working again, and I can finally work and play with impunity. On the same vein, I was feeling quite under the weather earlier today but I'm feeling a lot better.
Darn, am I and my old PC linked in some way? Woooh.

X-Cited

X3: The Last Stand opens today in Metro Manila theaters. Despite all the negativity people online have been throwing at the sequel, there has been positive word on it from some reliable sources... plus, the trailers so far have been pretty cool. I'm actually looking forward to seeing this final chapter (supposedly) of the franchise. It's kinda foolish to suddenly end the X-movies, IMO, but that's Fox's decision... maybe keeping on the cast after all this time is too expensive. Oh well. Anyway, I hope to catch X3 over the weekend or so. Expect a review shortly after.

Overhyped

Yesterday me and my buddy Pot went off to Greenhills to watch The Da Vinci Code. Well, I went in without reading the book but I pretty much knew what it was all about.... which honestly KILLS a lot of the film's power. I mean, EVERYONE by now knows what the big hullaballoo is about, so when it's finally said in the movie there's no surprise.

The Da Vinci Code is in the same vein as past 'conspiracy' thriller movies like The Pelican Brief or The Firm- featuring a bookish, non-combative hero trying to piece together the truth while being pursued by an assassin or what not. In this case, it's symbolism expert Robert Langdon played by Tom Hanks, running all throughout Europe with French beauty Audrey Tatou, trying to solve the mystery of the death of the Louvre's curator. On the way, they get caught up in the ages old search for the Holy Grail and 'one of the greatest cover-ups in human history'. Paul Bettany plays the baddie- a creepy, self-flagellating monk and assassin, taking orders from a sinister bishop played by Alfred Molina. Stealing the show from the moment you first hear his voice to his last second onscreen is Sir Ian McKellen.

Depending on the viewer things like the Knights Templar, the Grail myths, supposed Vatican conspiracies and the Opus Dei may be of interest. The film doesn't really do action too well, with a horribly-shot 'car chase' scene early on and just a few tussles on the way. All suspense and tension disappears about a half hour before the film ends, which is kinda iffy. If you're not too much into these things, you may get bored... bored enough to sleep, honestly.

I myself watched the film from beginning to end without mishap, and the final revelation was kinda cool but not mind-blowing. I didn't find myself questioning my faith or even hankering to get a copy of the book. For something so talked about and hyped, this just doesn't measure up too much other than being a watchable flick. Oh well. Bring on X-men 3, I guess.

Avatar: The Last Airbender Book One - Water


High-flying Martial Arts Fantasy Epic.

I've been talking about Nickelodeon's Avatar a lot. Well, don't expect it to stop anytime soon. The series is simply one of the best, if not the best, cartoon shows I've ever had the pleasure to watch. From the story to the characters, the designs and the music, to the animation to the awesome martial arts fight scenes to the genuinely funny banter between the characters... this show ROCKS. It's perfect from head to toe. Except maybe for fan service, but this IS a family TV show, so that's excusable. But the lack of bouncy boobs or skimpy outfits aside, this show is IT.


12-year old Aang would rather have fun than fight fierce firebenders. But then, wouldn't anyone?

Avatar is about the adventures of Aang, the latest incarnation of the Avatar, a champion who has the power to master all four elements (fire, earth, air, water) in a world where most people can only master one. When the evil Fire Nation attacks, only the Avatar can keep the peace. Unfortunately, Aang's youth caused him to freak when he was told that he was the Avatar. This resulted in him running away and getting trapped in an iceberg for a hundred years. Finally awakened from his imprisonment, Aang now has to face up to his destiny. But can a child truly handle this immense burden? Well, if the world is to be saved, he has to.


Katara is an anime heroine if I ever saw one. Smart, beautiful and powerful (eventually), Katara supports Aang throughout the quest as his travelling companion, big sister figure, later teacher and perhaps... love interest?

The characters of Avatar are all excellently designed and realized, with wonderful dialogue in both dramatic and humorous moments. You'll surely find a favorite among the cast, whether it's main hero Aang, or companions Katara and Sokka, or even antagonists Prince Zuko and General Iroh. As the show goes on, more cool characters, both good and evil, join the drama and give this great show even more depth and layers.


While he doesn't have any bending talents, Katara's older brother Sokka is a capable warrior with surprising technical ability. He's also got a sarcastic streak that makes him the source for a lot of the show's comedy.

Every episode of Avatar is tightly written and excellently-paced, containing lots of action, humor, drama and plot development that continues the over-reaching saga. The first Season of Avatar, collectively titled Book One: Water, concerns Aang's quest to master the Waterbending arts, and has him being pursued relentlessly by the exiled Fire Nation Prince Zuko. There are GREAT plot twists, character development, riveting drama and surprises aplenty, and the show only gets better and deeper with every new installment.
What's great about Avatar's writing is that it doesn't really hold back anything or talk down. Things like love, death, war, duty and so forth are handled maturely but safely, and there are great positive values espoused in the episodes. Both kids and adults can easily find something to latch onto this show.


While initially a villain, Prince Zuko will easily become a favorite character thanks to his tragic and intriguing back story and a sense of honor. Truly a villain you actually root for even though he's hunting Aang and the gang.

Avatar was created by Bryan Konietzko and Michael DiMartino, whose previous credits include Family Guy, King of the Hill and Invader Zim. They were heavily influenced by anime and Asian culture for Avatar, and went as far as hiring a martial arts expert to keep the show's martial arts and bending arts authentic-looking. Each specific bending art is actually based on a real-world martial arts style: Firebending is based on Northern Shaolin Style, Airbending on Ba Gua, Earthbending on Hung Gar and Waterbending on Tai Chi.


Retired Fire Nation general Iroh is Prince Zuko's uncle and ally. Laidback and wise, Iroh may be on the bad guys' side (initially), but he's definitely a good guy. His genial exterior hides his awesomely powerful Firebending skills.

The Second Season of Avatar, Book Two: Earth, has already begun and is into the 7th episode as of this writing. The second season introduces new characters and continues Aang's quest to master the four elements as time grows shorter to the victory of the evil Fire Nation. So far, the quality of the show has remained flawless. The series will supposedly end with the third Season, the Book of Fire. You can catch episodes of Avatar on Nickelodeon on weekends in the morning and in the afternoon.
On other mediums, there are videogames and a card game based on the series coming later this year. It seems like Avatar is destined to be a classic. Well, for me it already is.
I recommend getting this show anyway you can, whether through online or on VCD or DVD, and watching episodes back to back. It's just that good.

Quirky

Vin tagged me to do this meme about '6 Weird things/habits about Myself', so here's some odd tidbits about the MADman...

I buy clothes about as often as I see my friends Arnold and Cynthia. That means if I buy articles of clothing more than once or twice a year, that's unusual. Clothing would consist of less than 1 percent of my yearly spending.

I have a Salt Tooth. I cannot do without patis or fish sauce at the table when I eat rice. I do so with pretty much any kind of viand.

I apparently snore like a motor running full tilt when I sleep on my back. As a result, if I have any roommates I must make sure I sleep on my side and stay that way (since that posture seems to negate the problem).

I cannot eat any seafood that requires shelling or removal of carapaces. I can only eat shrimp if it's served as tempura. I guess I'm just too lazy.

I have a favorite pillow. I don't consider it a security pillow, since I can sleep without it (I don't pack it in my bag on trips, at least), but I just have a combination of sentimental value and the genuine belief that no other pillow has the right balance of softness and firmness than my old pillow so I keep it even after years and years. How old exactly is my favorite pillow? I've had it since I was in elementary school.

I hate crowds, and this is something I realized only recently. I hate people who walk too slowly or try to overtake me. I hate people who block the way walking side by side or walk erratically like they have a broken gyroscope. In another world, I'd probably go wild with a machine gun in Cubao or Megamall on a random crowd. That's why I take taxis a LOT these days. The cost is worth the peace of mind... and the safety of the populace.

The last part of this meme requires that I tag it to 6 other people. I therefore tag El, Camy, Cams, Jamie, Jeremy and Cynthia. That's that.

Son of a Beach

I'll be heading off with the rest of the Salt Mines crew to enjoy a cloudy day at the beach from tomorrow until Friday. It's a bit of a reward I guess for all the salt production and elbow grease all these months, so that's good. The most worrying thing on my mind is that I tend to overpack for any trip, so I should make it a point not to stuff in four pairs of pants, ten t-shirts and the five pairs of socks into a valice. All I need I guess is a change of clothing from what I'll be wearing going there, underwear for sleeping and swimming gear... then pad it out with one extra article. Then there's the usual toileteries, toothbrush, toothpaste, soap and towel. Just wear sandals coming and going. That should all fit in a small bag.

As for gadgets, I'll be bringing along my mini, of course, so I'll keep in touch and have my media in hand. I'll also be bringing along my new digicam hopefully to snap a lot of pics and hopefully catch a ghost or two (the resort we're going to may have a spirit or two). Anyway, the best thing about the outing is that it ends going into the weekend. Coolness. I need this break. I need it a lot. Here's to a not-so-sunny but very funny (and safe) outing.

Avatar


Toph the Earthbender is just the latest face to join the Avatar cast.

I've probably posted about this animated series on Nickelodeon before, but really, I haven't posted enough. Avatar: The Last Airbender is just an awesome series. Mixing anime with western animation like never before, Avatar is a refreshing quest adventure starring a party of young heroes battling to save their world from evil.
While outwardly looking a bit kiddy and liberally laced with humor, Avatar is actually a series as deep and powerful as a lot of the best anime out there. There are complex characters, plot twists and themes that are more mature than you'd think, and the characters are brilliantly conceived and designed. Best of all, while not as violent as the usual anime tends to be, Avatar boasts of a lot of awesome, super powered action thanks to it's magical, martial arts-based fight scenes.

I'm pretty sure local cable hasn't shown the Second Season episodes yet (thankfully there are other places to get your Avatar fix), but suffice to say that the series gets a LOT better into the second season, if only by expanding the number of characters to follow even more than your simple good guys-bad guy mechanic. The series gets a kick-ass trio of female villains while Aang's party gets a butt-kicking and cute new member in the form of Toph, a spunky and powerful earthbender girl. Awesome stuff!

With one season down and the second season only about a third of the way through, there's a lot more Avatar to enjoy. I wholeheartedly say that this show is one of my favorite anime right now. Simply awesome!

EDIT: Had me an Avatar marathon last night, and it just made me appreciate this wonderful series even more. The action, humor, story and characters are simply sublime. A perfect series? Well, as perfect as a kid-friendly fantasy action title can be (fan service would have made this an instant anime classic), I guess. Avatar ROCKS. Can't wait to get the new episodes as they appear. WOOHOO!

Codebreaking

The Da Vinci Code movie is showing in a week or so, and I have to say that I am interested. I haven't read the actual book but I've seen so many specials on all the Knowledge Channels that all that's missing from my actual experience are the action scenes that will inevitably be part of a movie about bookish heroes dodging ordained assassins trying to uncover a scandalous 'secret' about the Christian faith. I'm not sure that I'll be moved to read the book after watching the film- that usually happens for me with the Harry Potter films (I'll probably read Order of the Phoenix right before the actual movie), but who knows. How can several million pageturners be wrong? We'll see soon enough.