Cloning on The Day of the Dead

My latest clone pix series was shot during our annual visit (today) to Manila Memorial Park in Dasmariñas. I kept the poses rather plain ('coz who wants to act like an ass in a cemetery), so I tried to make up in quantity what's lacking in quality.

Because Rad Took It, Too. :)

the Wit

(66% dark, 30% spontaneous, 21% vulgar)

your humor style:
CLEAN | COMPLEX | DARK
You like things edgy, subtle, and smart. I guess that means you're probably an intellectual, but don't take that to mean pretentious. You realize 'dumb' can be witty--after all isn't that the Simpsons' philosophy?--but rudeness for its own sake, 'gross-out' humor and most other things found in a fraternity leave you totally flat.

I guess you just have a more cerebral approach than most. You have the perfect mindset for a joke writer or staff writer.

Your sense of humor takes the most thought to appreciate, but it's also the best, in my opinion.

You probably loved the Office. If you don't know what I'm
talking about, check it out here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/theoffice/.

PEOPLE LIKE YOU: Jon Stewart - Woody Allen - Ricky Gervais

When a Stranger Calls

I like talking to friends on the phone. Even when YM, MSN, and IM came about I still preferred yakking it up til my ears became sore. And with ears like mine that could take a while.

Why? Maybe it's because my favorite people to converse with, while great to talk to, are notoriously bad with the "follow-up IM," which is when they'd reply to my first text message but not to any follow up IMs, or maybe they don't reply at all. Frankly that's a pain in the butt. You can also chalk it up to my being a cheapskate. I should say that I like talking to friends on a landline. It's old school, but free old school.

In a related subject, last night I was again scoring a zero batting average getting in touch w/ friends on the phone. Last night it was 5 straight calls, and with the 4 of 'em the party was not at home. The fifth one was busy (writing). If I believed in such things I'd think fate was telling me to give it up and head for the showers. But like a Deal or No Deal contestant on his last throes of the game (Hey, I could still win 50 bucks!), I made another call. Success! She was supposed to watch Sex and the City on DVD but we managed to chat for quite a while.

Our conversation was interrupted by an IM from one of the persons I tried to contact earlier. She apologized for her brusqueness earlier and asked that I call her at home. This was the girl my bank manager wanted to fix me up with. All I had was cell number, so I was surprised that she texted me her home number.

Afterwards I called her. All I knew was she's 26 and works at ChinaBank. The conversation quickly turned Small World After All when it turned out that she's a batchmate to a Beijinoy from ICA. Soon she was asking me what fellow ICAn's been doing ("School, I think...") and why I didn't make any moves on her ("I don't think I'm her type"). Well, that's one thing in common, I guess. And she watches House, w/c can't be a bad thing.

I asked if she'd like to meet up tomorrow (today), since it was a holiday and neither of us had any pressing matters to attend to. Yeah, yeah, too soon some might say, but I say life's short. She was of the former opinion, and politely declined the invite. Understandable. So, final assessement: English not her first language, likes to read, not a big TV person, likes going out w/ friends. Watches House and Grey's Anatomy. Nice enough, at least on the phone. Still awaiting a picture. ;)

Not Quite Like You've Got Mail...

So I get this Hello message outta the blue on my YM, see? Man, more porn spam? I thought. Turns out it was a girl from China, looking for a Beijinoy dude she hooked up w/ as a language partner and (I'm assuming) semestral fling. Hmm, intriguing... She also asked if dude was seeing another girl.

Chatted for almost 2 hours. She seems interesting, and a bit on the unintentionally flirtatious side (quick rebound). I missed The Daily Show, but I could download it later, anyway. At first I didn't believe her 'coz her English was too good. Turns out she's on her 3rd year of English studies at BLCU. Future conservations may follow.

UPDATE: In a bizarre twist, 2nd conversation with girl from China turns into a soap plot. Turns out she's not a girl from China, but the other girl she was supposedly asking about. Long story short: she's not Chinese, but at least (from her picture, anyway) it's an improvement. Viva Italia!

Hmm, girl I like just came back from working abroad. My bank manager wants to set me up w/ another client's daughter. Another friend's almost done w/ her "mourning period" and may soon be allowed to go out again. When it rains it pours. I have so much yet so little. Story of my social life.

Long Ally McBeal Quote

This speaks to my inner TV geek, but it's underlying message is a truism for me.

In this episode of Ally McBeal Ling, as owner of a mud-wrestling club, is being sued by MOPE (Mothers Opposed to Pornographic Entertainment), who are trying to shut the club down. Nelle is defence attorney:

Ling: The idea that it degrades women is ridiculous. Every woman wants to be thought of as desirable. Imagine, they can go home at night and say "Even in mud, I look good!"
Nelle: You have to admit this activity does objectify them?
Ling: So?
Nelle: Ling, how can it not be a little degrading, women stranding around in bathing suits ? Guys whooping?
Ling: First, the women there make nearly a hundred thousand dollars a year. How? These drunken Neanderthals hurl money at them. Go into that club. You come out with a lower opinion of men, trust me.
Nelle: That could be true, but these girls do make that money with their bodies.
Ling: They make it, by teasing men with something they'll never get their hands on. That goes to the very essence of a woman.
Nelle: Excuse me?
Ling: Sex is a weapon. We all use it, we tease, we tantalize, we withhold it, something we do in almost every walk of life, be it marriage, business... God gave us that advantage by giving men the dumb stick.

Attorney: So as a woman you see nothing wrong with putting out naked girls in a ring, rubbing mud on their breasts for the sole purpose of titillating men?
Ling: No!
Attorney: Nothing at all ?
Ling: Suppose we put them in a ring as boxers, and cheer for one to knock the other unconscious, would that be better?
Attorney: You're comparing boxing to mud-wrestling ?
Ling: Of course not. Boxing is worse, talk about reducing people, let's pay two men to beat on each other, how rich!
Attorney: Have you ever met any women in your club ?
Ling: Why should I?
Attorney: Never bothered to check out their backgrounds, find out why it is their living is based on sexual desires?
Ling: It would be hypocritical for me to ask, it would suggest I care.
Attorney: Maybe a few of them feel like they have little choice. Perhaps for some it represents their only choice.
Ling: Well, then how lucky they are to have you to take that choice away! With feminists like you, who needs chauvinism?

Departed Weekend

My personal cash savings were wiped out from comics shopping at both Comic Odyssey branches of the Robinson's malls during their weekend sale. (See ya soon, ATM.) Ah, the things we do for bigger discounts... Most of the books I got were to fill up holes in my collection (Supreme, Black Panther, The Demon, Planetary, JLA Confidential) and for eventual resale (Superman, New and Young Avengers, Ultimate Spider-Man).

Also caught The Departed at Galleria w/ Lola. We first drove to the Promenade, yakking away at the queue only to find out that it wasn't showing in their theaters! (That'll teach us to pay more attention to the Now Showing posters.) In the end it was back to Galleria, where we ordered takeout dinner for the movie: Party-sized stuffed crust Super Supreme Pan Pizza and two 22-ounce glasses of ice tea. For my first experience of eating pizza in the dark, let's just say it was an effort, as toppings kept falling off the pizza slice with each bite. Here's an idea, Pizza Hut: instead of filling up the crust w/ mozzarella why not place the cheese on top of the toppings so they won't fall off?

Yeah, she's probably had better belated birthday parties.

My 10 thoughts on The Departed, w/ spoilers:

1. It must be nice for Jack Nicholson to get to play a role that allows him to look like a slob. He could just wake up, neither shave nor shower and, voila, it's Frank Costello on the job.
2. If you're not a fan of being drowning in a cacophany of fake Bostonian accents, then this film is not for you. Wicked re-tah-ded.
3. I thought Mark Wahlberg's Sergeant Dignam and Vera Farmiga's Dr. Madolyn wassername could've been played by David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, respectively. Mebbe it might've been too distacting a visual to have both Mulder and Scully in a project not related the The X Files, though not as distracting a scene as Scully doing the dirty deed with Leo DiCaprio's Billy Costigan.
4. Couple of plot points came outta nowhere for me, w/c is both good as bad. Frank Costello as FBI snitch? Oohh. cool. Dr. Madolyn falling for Leo while seeing Matt Damon? Where'd that come from? They coulda at least provided some backstory to justify her falling for the damaged psyche that was Leo's character.
5. What a star-studded cast. DiCaprio, Nicholson, Damon, Baldwin. I half expected Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci to just pop up and yell "Surprise! Where Marty goes, we go!"
   
6. Speaking of Alec Baldwin, the man can just chew up the freakin' scenery. It's like everyone else was given a script while he just got an outline and improvised his lines. Brilliant! And, boy, was he fat in this film.
7. Plot question: If the Chinese gangster/goverment rep was from the Mainland why was he speaking Cantonese? That's the main language of Hong Kong.
   
8. When the beatdown scences were first shown I thought maybe Scorcese was losing his touch in the Brutal Violence departmart. Thankfully he more than makes up for it near the end of the film. I was chuckling at the movie audience's reactions to the lead actors being offed one by one in a short span of time.
   
9. Oh, HA-ha w/ the rat walking across the balcony beam at the end. In terms of subtlety the movie title was more cryptic as to what the movie was about.
   
10. After seeing this film I'm now more psyched to watched Infernal Affairs I and II.

My Mantras

"Don't dwell on it."
It being the Past.

And

"Get over her."
Her being... oh, right. Over her. Got it.

Saturday Morning (Comic) Odyssey

While browsing at Comic Odyssey w/ Eileen at Robinson's Ermita (after a great pizza and lasagna dinner) I came across the announcement of their new store opening at Robinson's Galleria the next day. What caught my attention was the part saying comic artists Leinil Yu and Gerry Alanguilan doing a store appearance to sign autographs. My inner fanboy was thinking of going, if only to make up for my failure to get Neil Gaiman's autograph last year.

And go I did. When I got there (2 hours before the scheduled signing, since after Gaimain I was trying to abvoid a mob), the store was already up and running, mob-free. They even had a buffet for (I'm assuming) the officially invited guests, so I was surprised when they invited me to partake of it. Cool, I was gonna get autographs, BBQ and chicken pie!

Gerry singing my Superman: Birthright hardcover.

Then the artists finally came: Gerry of Superman: Birthright and Wasted fame; Wilson Tortosa of Battle of the Planets (G Force to the older crowd), Carlo Pagulayan and Jeff Huet of Hulk, and Edgar Tadeo... but no Leinil in sight. sigh.

Tortosa was the chattiest (not that the others were wallflowers, mind you), sharing inside stories w/ fans. I first got Tadeo's autograph on my Warren Ellis penned Wolverine issues (Not Dead Yet), as he was Leinil's inker that time. After I got Alanguilan to sign the New X-Men annual and Superman: Birthright he told me Leinil was already on his way. Whew! Don't wanna sound crass but it woulda been a bummer if I only got the John Hancocks of the supporting cast but not the lead star.

When Leinil did finally arrive I was amazed at... his resemblance to my kinakapatid Emark. I always told Emark that if he really wanted to he could've pursued a career as a comics artist, seeing as how they share similar backgrounds as architectual graduates and both draw very well. But he didn't, as is currently an illegal alien in the US. But I digress.

I managed to be the third guy in line (luckily the guy w/ the huge stack of books wandered off). A Tsinoy guy, Wilmark Yu, was acting kinda pushy (I'm guessing he's loaded) asking to buy Leinil's art and sorta demanding sketches. Still, it was when Leinil offered to do a sketch for the guy in front of me did I muster up the nerve to ask for one myself.

So done and done. Got my lost issues of Supreme (finally completing my Alan Moore Supreme collection), Leinil and Co.'s autographs, and a free lunch!

Leinil Yu's Clark Kent sketch for yours truly. But we're not a couple.

Holy Crap, I'm Lisa Simpson

You Are An ISFJ

The Nurturer You have a strong need to belong, and you very loyal. A good listener, you excell at helping others in practical ways. In your spare time, you enjoy engaging your senses through art, cooking, and music. You find it easy to be devoted to one person, who you do special things for. You would make a good interior designer, chef, or child psychologist.

What's Your Personality Type?

Deja View

Once upon a time Pixar was the only studio making full-length CGI animated films, like Toy Story. Then Dreamworks Animation got into the game, and all semblence of original story ideas started to deteriorate. Pixar had A Bug's Life, DW had Antz. (insects) Pixar: Monsters, Inc. DW: Shrek. (imaginary creatures) Pixar: Finding Nemo. DW: Shark Tale. (fish) Pixar: Cars. DW: Robots. (metal objects)

Get the picture? Either one production company has a mole in the other, or someone's writing down the basic premise on 2 Post It notes, giving one to each company, and whoever crafts a better story wins. So far IMO Pixar's ahead, since --w/ the exception of Toy Story 2 (w/c they were under contract from Disney to make)-- they haven'tt double-dipped in the story idea bowl.

Now everybody wants in on the game. There's Disney's The Wild vs DW's Madagascar (jungle animals). Future flicks include Pixar's Ratatouille vs DW's Flushed Away (rats) and Warner Brother's Happy Feet vs Sony Pictures Animation's Surf's Up (penguins, despite the fact that the titles have nothing to do with them, as penguins neither dance nor surf).