Samurai Sis


Samuraisis is a lover and a fighter.

Here are the first character designs for my new title, Samurai Sis, which will be coming out in our group's upcoming comic project. It's been awhile since I've drawn stuff, so I hope I still have it... Feh. Whatever. Anyway, Samuraisis, or 'Samurai Sis' as she will be known more, combines the classic 'Isis' look (from the old TV series and the new comic adaptation) with elements of a Japanese ronin, or shugenja (warrior monk). She's not only packing martial arts skills but demi-goddess-ish powers over the elements. That and she packs several magical weapons- her katanankh (shown held) and her longer naginatankh (not shown). She's a tough cookie, but of course deep inside she's just a teen who is struggling to keep it together even with problems like missing parents, high school angst, a bratty kid brother and a noodle-wrapped undead warlord trying to take over the world.


Ramen Hotep. A villain who can really use his noodle.


Part shadow, part ninja, part snake, part paper... all EVIL.

Look for our new heroes and heroines later this year. Heh.

Anticipation

It's August, and that means we're a lot nearer to the release of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, the long-awaited, much-drooled over CG movie that will hopefully fulfill the dreams of countless fans and wipe away the smudge that was the Spirits Within movie. Recently, several new trailers were supposedly premiered at some of Square-Enix's events promoting their upcoming games and products.

Aside from FFVII AC, there's a lot more adventure in Midgar to be had with Dirge of Cerebus, the shooter/action-adventure starring mysterious Vincent Valentine. The latest news on Dirge's front is that there will be many cameos and appearances from other characters in the FFVII world, such as Barret, Cid and Yuffie the ninja. Also appearing is Caet Sith, the mascot-type character who was originally controlled in FFVII by Shinra exec Reeve. Just what Sith's role in DC is remains a mystery, deepened even more so by Reeve's apparent death (or at least, being gunned down) in the latest trailer.
Also figuring prominently is FFVII Crisis Core, which will feature anime cut scenes including some never-before-seen visualizations of some of FFVII's most dramatic scenes- such as the first meeting of arch-villain Sephiroth and his alien mother Jenovah, and the battle between Seph and Zack, Cloud Strife's mentor.

Advent Children has already been confirmed for a September 8 theatrical release in Japan, and even now I can imagine the screams and gasps of countless otaku at seeing this fantasy epic come to life finally in complete form on the BIG screen. I hope that anime shops here will have the Advent Children DVD as soon as they can... if only AC would be shown here in Manila in theaters as well. Fat chance of that happening, but DAMN that would be cool. No, that would be AWESOME.

One more month to go...

Pocket Playstation

An addendum to the earlier post... I finally discovered how to get the sizes of the files down with another freeware app. Now I don't have to compromise space and having my PS fighters along for the ride. My favorite Dead or Alive is now at an itty-bitty 42.1 mb size, making it no longer a bother to put in my card (previously, it was a humongous 422mb, which is almost half of my 1 gig storage space). Also, I was able to rip the original PS Tekken and now the Iron Fist fighters are sitting alongside the DOA girls in my SD card (the Tekken rip came to about 101 mb). Still trying to find copies of PS games to convert, a priority being Time Crisis which should be a riot to play with a stylus. Heh.

Bouncy Brawling in my Pocket


Sexy 3D fighting just became portable.

Okay, I have finally validated my status as a Dead or Alive fanatic. I not only bring around videos of Tecmo’s flagship fighter around for anytime watching, or use wallpapers of the DOA girls from time to time… now I can actually play DOA on my phone. Yep, ON MY PHONE. The original game on the Playstation 1 (and my all-time favorite of the series, honestly). It’s all thanks to fpsece, a cool freeware Playstation emulator that’s available online. Install this baby on your pocket pc and you’re good to go. Well, not really… you also have to track down several things, like all the apps you’ll need to create your own ISOs (basically the actual PS1 game compressed into a readable format, which are not easily found), some files that will make the app usable, and of course the know-how to actually do these things.

It took me several weeks (I discovered it all some time ago), but I finally found everything and was able to put together a virtual PS1 in my O2 XDA II Mini. And of course, I also managed to get the damn program working properly (basically the hardest part was actually getting playable ISOs) so now, I’m dandy. The game actually looks incredible on the Mini’s screen, hi-res and pretty smooth- albeit pretty much in slow motion- but it’s actually pretty cool… like fighting in bullet time. Heh.

Not only that, but I actually have made three games portably playable- not just Dead or Alive but Final Fantasy Tactics and Capcom’s cutesy but cool Pocket Fighters. I created the ISOs myself, and now I can load them anytime I want. The only flaws being that DOA is pretty huge (at 471mb, compared to only 62.2mb for Final Fantasy Tactics and 38mb for Pocket Fighters) and the games tend to play verrrrryyyyyyy slooooooooowly…. But still playable.

Of course, I have to consider that the Mini doesn’t have too many buttons, which makes strategy games like FF Tactics easy to play. Also, games using overly complicated joypad motions will probably be too hard to appreciate.
Anyway, DOA is basically all forward-forward movements, plus a button or so. It’s not like Streetfighter that has diagonal directions (which are impossible to do on the PPC controls), so it’s also pretty good as a fighter; you have a wealth of moves you can do even if some of the more elaborate moves are unusable.

Now I’m raring to get my hands on as many PS1 games as I can to rip and turn them into the portable format. Final Fantasy VII? Suikoden II? Soul Edge? Mmmm. We’ll see.

It’s just so awesome. Who would ever have thought it possible? Playstation games on a damn phone!!!

WHO FRICKIN’ NEEDS A PSP?!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Taxi Talk

Last night, I got into a cab going home from work. I wasn't feeling particularly well and I had to come in early the next day so I decided to spend a bit for a relaxed, one-shot trip back to The Sanctum. Within the first minute inside the cab, the driver spoke to me three times, so I resigned myself to giving up on having a restful drive and instead having a conversational journey. Well, it turned out to be a quite interesting talk as the driver was pretty articulate.

In fact, he was apparently a former salesman before he became a cabbie (he also quoted the interesting mantra of the salesmen- "Salesmanship begins when the customer says no."), and he apparently uses the communication skills he got from his former profession as a cabbie. Particularly, he finds himself often educating passengers on how some cab drivers cheat through tampered meters (which also launched a long talk about the infamous Wallis taxi company). Apparently, these horn-swaggled devices have special switches attached which the cabbie triggers (to add pesos to the price) by pressing buttons either on the radio (seen this) or near the gas or brake pedals (hmm). He himself never used the things, though he confessed to driving cabs with the cheating devices installed.

He also told me the reason why I find it sometimes hard to get a taxi to drive me all the way to Makati to work from Quezon City. It all has something to do with taxi boundaries, gas and the distance... well, I didn't really bother to understand aside from the apparent fact that taxis often don't earn from long journeys if they have to drive back and use up gasoline in the process. Well, tough... I can't, as a passenger, change the places I have to go, so we all have our crosses to bear. We also talked about how some taxis try to get passengers to ride by contract, and how he usually just get by with asking for additional fare if the passenger is inclined to do so (if they refuse, no problem).

Anyway, in the end, I got off at home, paid the guy extra for the good service and the chat (and since I was inclined to- maybe the guy has Jedi powers?), and that was it for another one of those interesting taxi talks. If only there were more drivers like that guy. Like... a million more. Maybe this country would be getting somewhere.

Sexy Next Level Gaming

There was a recent Xbox Gaming Summit held recently in Japan, and it showcased a lot of the upcoming games and developers working on the upcoming Xbox 360 system. Of course, the games that matter for me are the sexy action games, and joy-oh-joy there are some tidbits.
Dead or Alive 4 isn't the only game coming from Tecmo of Japan. The DOA babes continue to be the company's breadwinners, with no less than at least three games coming within the franchise. The flagship fighting sequel DOA4 was shown in a slightly-tweaked trailer (disappointingly too similar to the original DOA4 E3 showing), while a sequel to the hilarious Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball has been confirmed. The sequel, titled presently Dead or Alive Xtreme 2, will feature more sports aside from volleyball. Just WHAT these other activities will be remains unknown. DOA Basketball? DOA Tennis? DOA Track and Field? Is there nothing the DOA girls can do?

Another title long in development limbo is Dead or Alive: Code Chronos which was formerly for Xbox but now firmly slated for Xbox 360. Aside from Team Ninja leader Tomonobu Itagaki himself, no one has an idea of what this non-fighting DOA game will be all about. All that is known is that it will star ninja babes Kasumi and Ayane, and will explain more of the DOA world.

Yet another Tecmo title is simply known as Project Progressive and is totally an enigma. Feh.

Finally, another rumored game being worked on by Team Ninja is Ninja Gaiden 2, the sequel to one of the best action games of last year (if not the most graphically striking).

On another company's sexy gaming offering, Konami showed off the first peek into the sequel to their raunchy all-female wrestling title, Rumble Roses. The sequel, known provocatively as Rumble Roses XX will apparently feature tag-team modes and the return of the cast of sexy grapplers. Hopefully better play mechanics and more modes, new femme fatales and next-gen graphics will make RRXX something to look forward to.

Well, DOA4 is supposedly on track for a holiday release as a launch title with the Xbox 360. Given Team Ninja's tendency to miss deadlines, I'm not too confident in this. Bah. As long as they load in a gazillion costumes along with all the bells and whistles ala DOA Ultimate times ten, I'll be happy. It all starts later this year, by end 2005. I

Why Nokia suddenly released the 6681 right after coming out with the 6680...

Culture Crash


Off to it's honored place in Comic Book Heaven.

The dream is over.

After months of speculation, the truth is finally revealed by Pasig artist/creator Taga-Ilog on his Deviantart Page.

After 16 issues and 2 great conventions, Culture Crash, the local manga zine that made a mark for itself has finally called it quits. Apparently struggling all this time to continue to operate totally on their profits and sales without the benefit of ad funding has taken its toll, and now Culture Crash is no more.

The zine has had its large number of supporters, and fair amount of detractors, but I have to say that I consider their achievements significant and a welcome thing in the local comic book field. I consider the Culture Crash Crew my friends and peers in the art of graphic storytelling, and I am myself a fan of their work. It's really sad to see that they stopped short of ever finishing any of the storylines they began, and even sadder to speculate what could have been if things had gone better with the country's economy. The saddest thing is the implications this has on comics as a business- that even Culture Crash, with good content and excellent production, could not be sustained indefinitely. Well, I don't treat comics as a business, so what the heck. Perhaps that's the way to go, ultimately. Anyway...

I'd like to think that in another world, Culture Crash would have continued, the stories would have been completed and moved on, and issues would come every month with great art and improving storytelling.

Perhaps Dante of Pasig will eventually make peace with his enemies and settle down happily with Mina.

The students of One Day, Isang Diwa will continue to have magical adventures with their fairy friends.

Airi of Cat's Trail will someday find the big score and maybe give Butler the time of day, finally.

The Kubori Kikiam things will finally get eaten. Whatever.

Of course, the guys at CCCom will probably still be in comics- I know a fair number of them have already moved on to work with Seven Seas Publishing (No Man's Land, Blade for Barter), and people like Taga-Ilog will without a doubt continue to work their magic in art and pages in other forms. Or perhaps, if things really do well, maybe we'll see a reunion or resurgence someday? We'll just have to see. But for now though, it's goodbye.

Well, I have 16 great issues to remember them by. It was great while it lasted, Taga-Ilog, James and the rest. I hope that you guys don't totally leave comics. Let's work on something again, someday.

State of Flux

I downloaded and watched a featurette on the upcoming Aeon Flux movie starring Oscar winner Charlize Theron (Yeah, that's the ticket... after winning the Academy Award, go for a cartoon adaptation!). The short piece shows some footage of Miss Theron still in the un-sexy black outfit doing various jumps and stunts. Yeah, she has the hair down but come on... there could have been a way to show off more skin without having to resort to the original cartoon's g-string and little scraps. But then again, stars have always been able to swing non-nudity clauses or alter designs based on their preferences. Take Jessica Alba in Sin City... she should have been nude in her dancing scene. Oh well. Anyway, Aeon Flux is still looking TV movie-ish, but I'll probably check it out, fan that I am of the old Peter Cheung Liquid Television series. Or maybe I'll be better off watching the AVI episodes I got from Buddha Boy. Whatever.

Long Weekend

YAY! Yeah, it's an appeal to our apathy of the current horrible state of affairs in our country, but darn... holidays are great. Now I can look forward to finishing Killer 7 over the break (easily one of the slickest mind-fuck games I've had the pleasure to experience... DARN the story's cool), watch some anime, rest and recharge as well as start work on some comic projects. Thank God it's Friday.

Sex, Lies and Videogames

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas from Rockstar Games has had it's share of controversy- of course, you'd expect that from the latest installment of a game series that puts you in control of a gangsta brother out to carve out an empire for himself in any bloody way he can. Well, aside from the ability to gun down civilians and car-jack anything on wheels in the streets, you can apparently woo ladies and have sexual intercourse in a hidden minigame.

The whole hullaballoo (love that word) started with the PC version of GTASA, apparently through a mod called Hot Coffee. In the regular version, all you'd get for hitching up with a girlfriend in the game was an invitation for some coffee, and then having imagination fill in the blanks afterwards. In the Hot Coffee mod, PC players are shown a full-on interactive sex scene, where they interact by pressing buttons in specific rhythm to get your girl into orgasm. Sorta like Dance Dance Revolution, except with no dancing and all sex.

The discovery of this hidden minigame of course caused a big stir among parents and politicians, as GTASA is a commonly-available game on both the PC and PS2. Rockstar then denied having the game in, alleging that the Hot Coffee mod was something put in the game by malicious hackers. But after some research, gaming site Gamespot revealed that the sex minigame was already IN the game even before any hacking- in fact, it even exists in the PS2 version (reachable only by hours of play and the use of special codes and a Gameshark peripheral).

Well, anyway, the game's now been given a new rating of Adults Only, and controversy in gaming rages on. Oh well. Hey... maybe there's a sex minigame in Final Fantasy VII too... I mean... getting close to Aeris has to yield more than just a crummy date on a carnival ride, right? Heh... just kidding.

Going Mexican


And these are just appetizers.

I am often told by my blogmates and friends to put up a food blog, since I seem to have a knack for posting about good eats. Well, I would love to blog more about the cool restos and meals I experience, but the fact is, I haven’t been able to go to new eateries lately- often, we just go to the tried-and-tested favorite haunts, as opposed to striking out to new territory and trying some new place. Anyway, I’ll try my best to post more about good eating, without having to put up a Starving Raving Mad blog.

Anyway, it was an out-of-the-ordinary event that actually got me and some friends at the office to dine at a new place. A day or two prior, the same group had to go through some torture of the eating kind- we had to endure going without dinner at the proper time while passing through Timog Ave- which is basically overflowing with cool restaurants. I actually saw it as a literal nightmare- seeing great places to eat pass and your starving self not able to do a single thing about it. Sigh.

So it was that earlier this week the group again came from a meeting which flowed into lunch. On our way back to the office, we decided to treat ourselves to a nice meal. But as we drove through Jupiter Avenue, we couldn’t seem to find any viable place to dine in. So it was perhaps an act of fate that we found ourselves selecting the Three Amigos Mexican restaurant for a meal.

Now, none of us had eaten here before, and really, I shouldn’t actually want to eat there since we did have a Mexican eatery at the office building (the more fast-foody Mexicali). But go in we did, and at first we thought we hit a bad one. The place was empty of any other customers, probably because the place specializes more in dinner or evening business. Anyway, we were welcomed in and got a nice spot near the window. As our eyes got accustomed to the light, I saw that it was a nice place- really well-furnished and actually quite posh, in a cozy Mexican-type way. Whatever that means.

Well, any doubts we had were quashed when the appetizers plate arrived, brimming with quesadillas, mini-tacos, nachos, flautas (cheese-filled rolls) and taco pizzas, with salsa and hot sauces on the side.

For me, how good a Mexican resto is rests on the basics- the nachos and tortillas. In that, Three Amigos simply delivered, and then some. We found our taste buds pleased by the hot salsa, the savoury meat and the crunchy but not too brittle or too hard taco shells and tortillas. When the set meals we ordered individually came, we were even more pleased by large portions and tasty helpings. Yum!


Tacos, cheese, beans, salsa and more. Oh, my!

So if you’ve got a Mexican craving and pass by Jupiter in Makati, don’t hesitate the visit the hombres over at The Three Amigos. Great stuff. And hot!

Seven in One Blow


Killer game for the PS2.

I’ve got my hands on one of my most-anticipated games here in the golden years of the PS2, the wildly artistic, unusual and mature post-modern action-adventure shooter, Killer 7. I fell in love with this game after seeing the wild character designs, read about the complex, twisted storyline and the mature, artistic presentation. Well, it’s been quite a wait but I have it and I’ve already gotten my hands bloody in the first hour or so. There’s still quite a bit of killing to do but I guess I can write about this unique game.
The first thing you’ll notice about Killer 7 is the graphic presentation- it has a cel-shaded look which may lead you to believe it’s an earlier-generation game, but this visual style goes a long way in giving the game it’s own mood and comic book style-feel (something like a colored Sin City). The second thing will be the control scheme and gameplay.
Basically put, Killer 7 can be considered an ‘on-rails shooter’. This means you don’t have full, unfettered control of your onscreen character. After you start a mission and gain control of your assassin, you either press a button or a directional to make him/her move forward. Pressing down will turn your character around. When you reach places where there are branching paths- to various rooms or to talk to certain characters, you choose the option you want with the left or right directionals.
Combat, which takes more than half of the game, is in first-person mode. Your primary enemies are the weird, walking mutated time bombs known as Heaven Smiles. Invisible at first, their presence can be sensed by their eerie laughter. Once Smiles are known to be in the area, a presson the R trigger puts you in first-person combat mode- a tap on the L trigger scans the area, showing the Smiles before you. From then on, it’s a matter of you bringing down these monsters with your character’s firearm before they reach you and explode.

Variation is attained through your characters’ different weapons, speed, special moves and attacks, and the different types of Heaven Smiles. Like zombies in Resident Evil, Smiles can take quite a few hits before reaching you, so if you want to bring them down instantly you’re going to have to aim for their weak spots (signified by a yellow glow on their bodies). Killing Heaven Smiles gains you blood (ew) which you can use to either cure your injuries or transmute into serum which can be used to ‘level up’ your assassins’ abilities and powers.

And that’s pretty much the gameplay. Oh, and there are the occasional puzzles that come your way, from incredibly simple ‘light the candles in the order of which they are numbered’ to some more esoteric stuff in the vein of Resident Evil (well, they’re both Capcom games anyway). And you’ll need to pick up and use some crucial items every now and then.

If this sounds boring and repetitive, perhaps Killer 7 may not be the game for you. Granted, there’s not much more than what I just wrote but there will be many, including me, who will most probably be driven to finish this odd game to the bitter, bloody end. And that’s because of the story and the eye candy.

Killer 7 is set in a world on the verge of peace- airline travel has been outlawed, nuclear weapons have been disarmed. But in the midst of this flawed utopia-in-the-making comes a new threat. The Heaven Smiles appear and start spreading death and destruction. With the police and armed forces powerless, the governments of the world turn to an unusual source of aid- the seemingly unstoppable, omniscient and implacable force of assassins known as the Smith Syndicate, AKA The Killer 7.

What makes the Killer 7 so odd is that they aren’t a gang of simple mercenaries. From all appearances, the group is actually composed of just one person- Harman Smith, a 60-year old man confined to the use of a wheelchair. The rest of the seven-man (well, six men and one woman) syndicate seem to be the different sides Harman’s psyche. In short, Harman’s a schizo but he also has the ability to materialize his various personalities into physical form.
They’re a varied lot- Garcian is ‘The Cleaner’ and is the group’s front man- the only member of the group who actually meets and interacts with other people, and with Harman himself. His main role is that of body retrieval- should any of the other Killers die, it’s his duty to move in, grab the corpse (which strangely enough appears as a brown paper bag) and resurrect them. Should Garcian die though, it’s game over. Next up is Dan Smith, also known as “The Hellion”. He’s a loose cannon- a truly cold-blooded killer who is pretty well-balanced and deadly with his rapid-fire revolver. Coyote Smith was a former thief and his special ability is unlocking things and super-high leaping ability. Con Smith, a youngster who’s perennially wearing a helmet and headphones, can run at mach speeds. Kevin Smith can’t write comic books, but the silent albino is the fastest attacker with his deadly knives (since he doesn’t reload). Then there’s Mask de Smith, the big bruiser in the luchadore mask who can take out obstacles (and Smiles) with his twin grenade launchers. And last but not least, there’s Kaede, a lovely young woman and the only female playable character. Never mind that she carries around a huge pistol equipped with a sniper scope, wears a blood-spattered white dress or runs around everywhere barefoot. What makes her truly odd is her special barrier-breaking power- activated by slitting her wrists and showering the whole area in her own blood. Ouch.


Kaede loves the smell of blood in the morning.

Since you are able to switch between these seven (once you unlock them) during gameplay, part of the challenge is telling which of the Seven you should need in order to solve a situation, whether it’s finding a way around or through an obstacle, or to defeat a particular enemy or boss.

With all this, the cream on the top of Killer 7 is the twisted, mature plot. From the simple goal of defeating the Heaven Smiles, the player is taken on a truly twisted and twisting tale involving cloning, body-snatching and high-level conspiracy. It which will probably mystify, baffle and confuse. But it’s also sure to intrigue and keep players glued to the screen- thanks to awesome anime cinematics that the game has an abundance of.
Is this all real? Or is it all taking place in Harman’s mind? Who are the Killer 7, really? Why the odd TV interface? What is the link between the Syndicate and the Heaven Smiles? Who is Kun Lan? Is there a way to get Kaede in a bikini?
I don’t have any illusions that I can make heads or tails ot the story, at least the first time- but we’ll see.

Of course, it has to be said that Killer 7 is rated mature, and this is for a reason. There is violence (the bloody headshot kind), sex and mature situations aplenty. Not for kids, really… but perfect for the mature gamer. Well, for the mature, open-minded gamer. Not everyone will like this game, but for those willing to look beyond the odd mechanics and the wild story, this is a gem and perhaps one of the last great games for the ol’ PS2. Sony’s blue box is going out with a bang, ain’t it?

Ninja Flick


Ninja on Ice!

I finally got to watch a new anime! Yay! Anyway, it's Naruto the Movie, the first theatrical release of this wildly popular Ninja-themed anime. I can't really consider myself a Naruto fan, though I have to say I do like the series. I don't find myself collecting the loads of paraphernalia now available (like ninja headbands, shuriken keychains and whatnot), but I do own a VCD set of over 100 episodes of the show. However, I haven't gone past episode 20 yet- just hadn't had the time or the mood to watch. Oh well. Story of my life.

Anyhoo, luckily anime movies are generally placed in a limbo place when it comes in relation to the running series- which means that movies are either totally separate entities from the TV show continuity, or can be placed anywhere. In Naruto the Movie, we have the core characters onstage: fearless never-say-die Naruto, cool-headed Sasuke, winsome Sakura and their teacher Kakashi. As the story goes, Naruto and his team are assigned to escort a star actress named Yukie as she goes on location to the isolated Snow Country in order to shoot the final scenes of her latest film. Naruto is of course totally infatuated with the star, who turns out to be far different from her onscreen persona. In short, she's a bit of a bitch and a brat. But what can a ninja do but carry out their mission? But as they enter the frozen wastes of the ever-cold Snow Country, they soon find themselves locked in a struggle between rebels and the evil ruler, Dotou. Soon it's jutsu versus jutsu as Naruto and pals strive to save the Ice Princess and her country!

Naruto the Movie is a surprisingly watchable feature. The story is pretty simple, and a bit predictable of course, but it's nicely executed thanks to really lovely and colorful visuals, nice animation and some pretty awesome ninja magic action. I'm really more of a hands-on person- I prefer fighting hand to hand instead of with giant magical beasts and super energy blasts, but the special attacks and jutsus were so well-animated here, I was having a ball.

In the end, what makes this pretty cool is seeing the characters kick butt, and have Underdog Naruto eventually get his just desserts at the end of the movie. At about an hour and a half, this movie doesn't wear out it's welcome, with a good amount of action, some drama and a few laughs. Naruto fans of course have eaten this up, but anyone who wants a good action anime movie can do a lot worse than watch this ninja flick. Get it at your local anime dealers in the Metro.

Of Saving, Bangus, Taxis and Go Go Yubari

I usually go through payday cycles pretty comfortably, single guy that I am… eat meals pretty much anytime, pretty much anywhere non-five star. Splurge on comics or any odd thing or toy that piques my interest, take taxi cabs to work in the morning, the works. But when unusual purchases hit, it jars me. So it was that I had just spent a bundle on my PC, right after I splurged on quite a few DVDs and comics at the Blood Bank. Suddenly I had an uncomfortably small amount of resources compared to time till next payday. No problem, I thought. I still had more than enough to get through.

I made plans. No more cab rides to work. Comic purchases limited to bare essential titles. Meals to economical and dinners eaten at home if possible. Tightening belts was the order of the day. I had done this before, in order to get K.I.A. moving, albeit to a lesser degree. It seemed to work for the first few days.

Then, in the middle of the week, I got an email from a local anime shop that they got a copy of Azumi 2, the samurai/ninja sword-slashing sequel starring Aya Ueto and featuring Chiaki ‘Go Go’ Kuriyama. Hey… something to get next payday.

Of course, I couldn’t wait till pay day.

That same afternoon, I got off work relatively early so I did what my desires told me to. I got into a cab and made my way to Greenhills.

Of course, it was in rush hour traffic from Makati to San Juan, which took about an hour and about 120 pesos. I raced against the light, knowing that the shop closed at about seven-ish. But I was confident I’d make it. My cab got into Greenhills just after seven.

Goddamn shop was closed.

GYAH. Disappointed and angry that I wasted the cab ride, I just wanted to go home and save the day with rest. But then, I was hungry, so I decided to eat out. Somewhere economical and delicious. My hunger led me to Bangus, a new resto in one of the many new mini-malls in the GH area. I ordered sizzling bangus (milkfish) fillet, rice and a drink. Good meal. But it cost almost three hundred pesos.

ARGH!!! Economical!!! Must… save… money… must…

Aaah. What the heck. Defeated, I hailed ANOTHER cab (another hundred off there) to get me home.

And so it was that during my time of scrimping and saving, I spent an extra day’s worth of money for pretty much nothing.

Oh well, in the end, the meal was good and you really shouldn’t regret food. And anyway, payday finally came and I reached it with some cash left over. Things didn’t work out totally as I planned, but they worked out anyway. Sometimes you just have to let things flow, let things go, let stress off and just live a little. Or, you can just avoid situations like what I just related to you and be better off. Your pick. Heh.

Inhuman Torture

Well, actually, I went to see a dentist today.

I have had a toothache which grew from a negligible spot to a radiating source of excruciating, gum-irradiating torment night after night for the past week or so. Since my cash flow was kinda dead, I had to endure till I was back in the black before I could have my teeth looked at- apparently my darn medical card doesn't have dental in mind. FEH.

Anyway, I had my teeth cleaned and the main problem area capped with a temporary cover... but I will probably have to come back for a root canal in the near future. Guh.

I can't tell you how terrifying it is... the scraping of drills on teeth, the horrid smell of burnt bone, the sensation of probing metal going dangerously near sensitive nerves... it sends shivers up my spine whenever I think of it. Anyway, it's not unbearable but it's also not something I am looking forward to. But then, the pain has subsided, thankfully enough. Now it's just a matter of taking the problem out completely when I can. Sigh.

My kingdom for some adamantium choppers.

Political Storm Signal No. 3

Didn't go to work today since the admin called the day off on account of political rallies at Makati. Ayala Avenue's closed off and rallyists will be all over the place.

Still, some jobs don't care whether or not there's a work day. Have some stuff to write and send out within the day. Still, I'm glad to avoid heavy traffic and spending any more of my mostly-depleted cash. I'll be staying home and doing some writing, some reading and a bit of fooling around with the PC and the TV. We'll see.

Deadly Dress

Just saw a CSI New York episode where a bride-to-be dies on her wedding day from mysterious causes. An interesting case, but I saw the solution a mile away. Nah, I’m no sleuth… I just watch Discovery Channel a lot.
It is eventually revealed that the young victim succumbed to chemical poisoning from formaldehyde in the lining of her wedding dress, which was apparently taken off from a corpse by an unscrupulous mortician.
This “deadly dress” story is actually an urban legend, which was shown on one of my fave shows on Discovery Channel, Urban Legends Revealed: Not-so-true Stories.
Anyway, from what I remember, the story wasn’t really true and formaldehyde traces on clothing shouldn’t really be lethal enough to kill… though on the CSI episode you’d think there was a biological weapon on the clothing. It’s cool to be able to see the connection between shows… but then I always think that the CSI shows originated from Discovery Channel’s forensic detective shows that went on long before Grissom, Horatio and Taylor ever showed up. Ah, those were the real CSI shows. But then, none of the detectives were babes like Sara Sidle or Calleigh Duquesne, so whatever. Heh.

Dead Tired

I just spent the whole of Sunday at a TV shoot, from early in the AM to just past midnight, Monday morning. Needless to say, I'm tired as heck (though not tired enough to not blog... heh). The whole day was spent watching and waiting as the Production Crew worked their trade, setting cameras and equipment in place to capture shots in various angles, as a chosen model tried her best to bring a storyboard to life. It was an outdoor shoot, so we prayed for sunlight (especially since recent days have been sodden with rain)... and our prayers seem to have worked too well, since it was positively sweltering and I had to keep my liquid up or risk getting sunstroke. Really, I was guzzling glass after glass of cold drinks all day and I only went to the toilet to pee ONCE. Darn.

Anyway, the worst part was of course standing and standing and standing around and waiting and just getting tired waiting for your sweat to dry and just imagining the pleasures of a cold shower and a soft bed. Well, I'm taking the day off today and enjoying these things... even for a while as work will still intrude for a bit. But only after I get enough sleep, dammit.

Ah. You gotta love this bizness. Heh.

Sword Raving Mad

Is Soul Calibur III going to KICK ARSE or what? Not only will it feature a totally out-of-this-world Character Creation mode, but according to the latest video released by the official site, SCIII's Story Mode is set to blow every other fighting game's namby-pamby excuse for this primary gameplay mode.

According to the Soul Calibur III developers, SCIII's Tale of Souls mode will be unique to each character. Each fighter will have a story that he or she will play through, and the mode will have them going through not only through the usual duels but interactive cinematics where they will be able to either make friends or enemies out of various supporting characters. There will also be paths to choose, so you can create your own tale and follow your warrior's adventures one way or the other. This non-linear, interactive and story-intensive way of doing the Story Mode is revolutionary considering that every other fighter so far basically just has a line of fights broken up by short, non-interactive cinemas as staple fare.

Darn. It's official... Soul Calibur III is the PS2's last, greatest fighting game. Let's hope every other fighter from now on follows its bloody magnificent trail. The slashing starts later in 2005, exclusively for the PS2.