Cureless

I mentioned about watching X-Men (the animated series) some weeks ago, right? Or not?

Well, a major part of my time-killing activities during the Internet-deprived days was watching the same series I watched 13 years ago or so. I had never been so hooked on a cartoon series before X-Men came that during that time. And like any other shows I’ve watched, I share the fascination with my friends.

We actually have this habit of claiming the characters of every group-themed shows we’ve watched. Since we watch TV in my uncle’s house, my cousin is always given priority to choose first. She’d always go with the person in red - Red Mask (Mask Man) or Red Ranger (Power Rangers) for instance. The eldest in the group would choose next and I’ll just settle with who’s assigned to me.

When the first episode of X-Men came, I wanted to be Rogue. Everyone else wants to be Rogue. Who wouldn’t like a stereotypically good-looking character with super strength and flight abilities? But they assigned me to Wolverine. I should be Wolverine.

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Months ago, I heard the announcement the famed Filipino comics creator and film-director Carlo J. Caparas will be releasing a series of mass-produced newsprint-quality comics, and so I anticipated for it. Some two weeks ago, I passed by Buendia (Gil Puyat) MRT Station and wasn’t quite expecting to see some Caparas Komiks copies on a newsstand. I include circumstances like that to my “rare occasion” moments. That’s when I find something that I’ve been wanting to have but haven’t really planned or acted on getting it.

What I got were 3 Issue #2 prints namely the OFW Super Stories, Gwapo Komiks and Estudyante Komiks. On my way home inside the jeepney, I was excited to look through the pages because something in the cover reminds me of the things that fueled my reading habits and inspired me to appreciate the art that is comics.

The cover art was of Joey D. Celerio (for the Caparas’ story “Beauty Queen”). His and Louie Celerio’s character styles are so distinct that they attracted me more than the rest during the childhood years I spent reading the then regularly published komiks.

I was actually (in the recent times’ vocabulary) fangirling over again. When I opened the pages, familiar names came out of the editorial.

Hal Santiago, whom I remembered working for the now ceased Liwayway Magazine.

Rod Santiago, whose last story I could fuzzily recall was novel serialized by Liwayway. But I’m certain of this one series which he also illustrated that was replaced with the former. Perhaps it was “Anghel na Demoyo“. I’m not sure either if he also authored “Bandanang Itim”, which was illustrated by Mar Santana (one of my favorites).

I remember Karl Comendador and Al Cabral’s illustrations on horror comics. Cabral’s depiction of the horrifying blood suckers and underworld creatures totally terrified my childhood.

I’m still fixated on just admiring the art and feeling the nostalgia of my younger days, that I haven’t planned on purchasing the following issues.

After watching Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End at SM South Mall (Las Piñas) yesterday, I gleefully obliged to be dragged by Fluffy to National Bookstore. While he scouted for his dream unlosable marker pen, I began browsing through the books in the Filipino Fiction section, hoping to find reading items that could be of my interest. Two or three years ago, I found luck in a certain NBS outlet, when I found a copy of the double volume version of Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah (by Carlo Vergara).

I thought I was going through same old stocks of Filipino writings - Bulaklak ng Maynila, Maynila sa Kuko ng Liwanag, novels by Amado V. Hernandez, Liwayway Arceo, and other literature texts we have probably taken up in our 12-unit Filipino subject in college. There were the books by Bob Ong, one I’m familiar with, among the contemporary Filipino writers. I was expecting Pugad Baboy books by Pol Medina, Jr. (I don’t own any) but there was none. I no longer consider the Filipino romance novels (in pocketbooks) among my interests these days. (I used to read them in my high school days.) And so I overlooked the ones that seemed like romance pocketbooks displayed at the leftmost corner.

Little did I know that a little graphic novel called Fantasya: The Philippine Comic and Story Anthology has awaited there for almost 2 years. Heh, label me sabik (longing), but I really do miss getting my hands on material comics since my Culture Crash Comics addiction. (Let’s just say it’s not physically possible for me to go by places in search for Filipino comics.) What actually made me browse through the pages of the graphic novel were the names etched on its back page - Budjette Tan, Gilbert Monsato, Jac Ting Lim, and other big names in the local comic industry. I’ve always trusted their collective work and I knew I wouldn’t be disappointed with the book.

And of course, I wasn’t disappointed at all. Their works had always been inspiring as I am a sucker for fantasy themes, stories and artworks. (Though I had to be a bit more forgiving on the Taglish dialogue, which according to one of the authors, was done by the editor.) I also purchased a beautifully drawn (albeit quite off for my taste of a collectible) graphic novel called Basted: Tagos Hanggang Buto, which is also published by PSICOM.

I’d love to see more of these in the future. And I must help myself with the updates by subscribing to the local comic advocates’ blogs.

Sugoi! I’ll surely visit Manga Kissa 10, a manga café located along Pasong Tamo (Chino Roces Avenue), just in front of Makati Cinema Square. Did I mention that the testing center that saved me from the doomed voucher deadline is located in this area?

I’m sure some people I know will be overjoyed to experience being in the geeky ambiance it promises and surrounded with girls in maid outfits (hah, your fantasies).

I’m quite okie now, and all I have to worry about are the upcoming long exams in Electronics and Electromag. I finished the defense for the programming project… Whew!

It didn’t really take me 30 minutes since we started 10 minutes late. My groupmate who had the defense earlier (and who also did everything in the program) ~_~ forwarned me about our instructor’s questions. She of course asked the makulit questions… What’s this 3 doing here? I said of course to prevent the variable from retraversing it. She said my groupmate said another reason otherwise… something essential to the output/printout of the program. Then I said, its’ not really its main function since the program could’ve worked without it… It’s a superficial thing… ;_; Then she made me type a part of the code, one she supposes the part I had mastered… Instead of typing else if, I only typed if… ;_; But I think she’ll consider that… Kapal ko talaga!

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Buhu… one of the goldfish is sick so I relocated her in a quarantined area… I do hope she gets well… Bought her last year together with 2 other goldfish… ;_; Haven’t christened her yet… The the black noir is Nelly and the gold goldfish is Eminem…

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SD Yaoi…
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Konnichiwa watashi no blog!!! I miss you! Whee! just got something to keep myself busy… Yaoi manga scanlations!!! Thanks to Jenny-san for paying the cd for me. ^_^ I wanted to post some of the RuHana scans but there wasn’t anything shocking in the compilation so I’d keep the post for some other compilations/downloads… ^_^

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Today’s my defense for the CE Project (which isn’t my craft). All I have to do is to study the codes. I’ll be expecting FBI interrogation later.

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