To all new registered voters...

Even if there are still 2 days left, I just want to thank everyone who REGISTERED TO VOTE!

I cannot stress how happy I am for all the newly registered voters. I was really afraid that people still don't care. But with the stories I've been getting, it really is so heartwarming to know that people registered.

I have friends who fell in line for hours. But I think some had it worse. Hats off to you guys!

My grandfather died for democracy, my grandmother lived for democracy. We really can't take it for granted. We really really can't!

So, those who devoted all their time and effort to register, thank you for preserving our democracy!!! You guys rock!!! Mabuhay kayong lahat!!!

Unexpected... But happy

The things that make you more happy when you don't expect them to happen.

For those who've seen 500 days of Summer, didn't you think the "Expectations vs. Reality" scene was awesome?

Expectations are one of the key reasons for major disappointments in life. The more you don't meet what you expected, the greater the hurt.

I've learned to accept a lot of things this year. I know it's only October but 2009 has been a difficult year. It was really a matter of accepting life as it is. It was the first time I've lost someone who I loved so much. My Lola meant the world to me. Though she's not here physically, she has been making her presence felt. Well, to me at least. I think she's helped me get stronger.

You win some and you lose some in life. There are twists and turns in life. In those turns, you won't know what you'll see. Just let go. Don't expect.

I've been happy lately because of pleasant surprises in life. Not expecting makes life more enjoyable actually. :)

Don't be afraid of tomorrow. You might like it!

Manix Abrera's "12"

I'll agree with Gerry Alanguilan when he said that one of the best things to have come out of KOMIKON 2009 was Manix Abrera's "12".

The book contains 12 short stories in comic book form. But it's a silent comic! No words at all!

But it'll make you laugh, cry, feel good, feel bad, puke, and so many other things. Manix did a heck of a job with 12. He's a comic book genius! This was one of THE BEST comic books I have ever read in my entire life. Being an avid comic book reader, this is top notch BEST IN CLASS!

The drawings are simple but totally effective. Telling a story without words is so hard to execute but Manix made it look a piece of cake for him. This book is out of this world brilliant!

It's in full color and it's worth every peso! I was fortunate to have my copy signed by Manix himself.

People, if there was one book I can really really really recommend, it would be this. You don't like words. Read this book!!!

I have to check where it's available first. But I would assume that it would be available in comic book shops by now.

I hope Manix reads this because I would like to thank him for creating this masterpiece!!! May he create many many more comics!!! Mabuhay si Manix Abrera!!!

Blue, Yellow, Gray

The tandem of Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale did a couple of books a few years back. These were the "colored" ones.

Namely, the books were Spider-Man: Blue, Daredevil: Yellow, and Hulk: Gray (Spidey is the only one who didn't have previous costume/look) All were mini-series.

Featured were Peter Parker, Matt Murdock, and Bruce Banner. In these stories, it dealt with them coping/reflecting on their first loves who passed away... Gwen Stacy, Karen Page, and Betty Ross.

Now I found these books good reads since these heroes were trying to forget about their first loves. They were trying to move on but just couldn't. The books showed a process of returning to the past to heal. All of them had different methods. Peter was talking to a tape recorder during Valentine's Day, Matt was writing a letter, and Bruce was talking to his shrink/friend Doctor Leonard Samson.

I got to see more and more of the human side of these characters. Here they were, grieving for losing their first loves. The sadness in the words they were saying, the special moments they were reflecting on. Simple but moving.



I think the whole concept of "first love" was tackled excellently by Jeph Loeb. Though they moved on, the firsts would always remain. I think these were the best ones written by Jeph Loeb for Marvel, since he came back, he hasn't really written anything that's at par with these. Sorry Mr. Loeb but I didn't like Ultimates 3 at all...

Going back to the 3 books, they are all equally brilliant! However, being not so much of a fan of the Hulk, the Gray storyline caught me by surprise. I actually loved Hulk: Gray. It was pretty good! Spider-Man: Blue and Daredevil: Yellow are classics but you have to read all 3 to appreciate the work done by Loeb and Sale. They're all awesome!


I was reading a recent issue of Fantastic Four and Ben Grimm was supposed to get married. But he backed away because he saw Peter, Matt, and Bruce. In the background, the artist put the ladies. Gwen, Karen, and Betty. Ben Grimm thought that he didn't wanna go through what the 3 men went through. It was just plain difficult if the girl dies. Now note that Gwen and Karen were killed by deadly enemies of the heroes (Norman Osborn and Bullsye). I can't say arch nemesis because Bullseye isn't the primo against Daredevil. (It's Wilson Fisk, fyi :) )


So if you're a dude who wants to reflect/move-on. Try picking up these books. You actually may learn a thing or two. Start with Spidey and end with The Hulk.

It's good to see how human these super-powered people are. I think that's what separates them from the DC heroes.

Peter, Matt, and Bruce will forever be haunted by the sad memories of their first loves but they moved on. Although, they still have to put up with the baddies...

Check these books out guys! Top notch!

On Registering to Vote

I'm happy that most of my friends are registered voters. Though I have some who wanna vote but are just too busy... I hope they register.

But I'm happy that I have friends in the office who will be first time voters. I know that they wanna see change in the Philippines. They wanna see integrity back in Philippine politics.

We can always hope for the betterment of the country.

However, when someone wins the seat, we cannot leave it up to him/her. We have to play our part too...

That's why I'm happy that I have friends doing their part. They registered to vote.

After my countless kakulitan to them, they finally did :)

500 Days of Summer - my honest review

I'm not gonna post something inspirational. I'm here to talk about a fantastic movie that I just saw.

Spoilers ahead. Be warned.

500 Days of Summer was very well crafted, witty, fun, sad, and different all at the same time. The title alone will let you know that the 2 main characters won't end up with each other.

It was the perfect relationship set to end with an expiration date.

There will be things we will never understand on LOVE but that's the beauty of it. 500 Days made me see things that I could relate with. I was able to relate with the process of moving on.

Towards the end of the movie, Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), was told to look back at the past. But on a condition not to look at the happy memories. He had to look at the bad ones. I think that sometimes we ignore the simple bad things that happen in the relationship. You realize that when you look back at the past and see the flaws, you'll get to understand.

I think guys will have to go through their "Summers". I think it's something all, if not, most guys go through in life. You deal with heartbreaks. You get to live with it, forget about it, and finally move on with life.

What I believe in is that things happen for a reason. Whether it be good things or bad things, they happen for a reason. The reason, we may not understand but it's supposed to happen for the grander scheme of things.

To all the nice guys out there who got their hearts broken, watch this movie. You'll like it. I promise you that.

Early Christmas Ideas

My friend's girlfriend called me earlier asking for tips on what graphic novel to give for Christmas.

I thought that for the ladies who want to give their fanboy better halves a Christmas gift, here are my graphic novel suggestions.

I'm just gonna throw in the non-mainstream ones ok?

1. Invincible by Robert Kirkman (Image) - Spider-Man meets Superman.
2. The Sword by The Luna Brothers (Image) - just buy this, it rocks!
3. The Escapists by Brian K. Vaughan (Dark Horse) - Geek love!!!
4. Criminal by Ed Brubaker (Icon) - heavy reading but it's worth every page!
5. The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman (Image) - Not horror at all, it's character development at its finest!

Local ones rock too!

1. Elmer by Gerry Alanguilan
2. TRESE books 1, 2, and 3 by Budjette Tan
3. Martial Law Babies by Arnold Arre
4. 12 by Manix Abrera (ONE OF THE BEST I'VE READ... OF ALL TIME!)

You can get these books in the ff: if you're living in the Metro Manila Area

1. Druid's Keep - Gateway Center in Magallanes
2. Comic Odyssey - Robinsons Galleria, Ermita, Eastwood Cybermall
3. Fully Booked stores
4. Sputnik - Cubao Expo

The fun at weddings!

I love the photobooths at weddings! Panalo! I remember the neoprint days in the late 90's. Now that was fun!

I have several friends who are now engaged and I was asking them how they were feeling attending weddings. One of them wasn't feeling anything at all. She said that it hasn't sunk in yet. Hahaha. Wala lang daw.

But I can only imagine how much preparation is needed in weddings. Geez. At least I'm not getting married anytime soon!

KOMIKON 2009

It's been a year since I was in KOMIKON!!!

But 2009 is rather different. Venue wise that is... KOMIKON was held in Megamall at the Megatrade Hall 1. Not a bad venue at all!


First booth I saw was Budjette Tan's booth and I was able to get TRESE Book 3 signed by Budjette himself and Kajo Baldisimo! I also couldn't pass up on the Trese magnets!!! Trese and the Kambal!!! I'll probably put them on my cube at work.



There were also customized Mighty Mugg versions of the Kambal. Too bad they were only for display...


My main goal was to get a copy of Gerry Alanguilan's "Where Bold Stars Go To Die". So I found his booth and since there was a line, I chatted with his lovely wife Ilyn first. She's the better half of Mr. Komikero :) Hahahaha. Gerry's partner in crime for this book is the very talented Arlanzandro Esmena.

Komikero with the artist fanboys :)

Gerry was also selling a new version of ELMER! This one's a collected version :)


I met up with the Ninoy Art and Essay contributors too. Besides Gerry, Harvey Tolibao, Carlo Pagulayan, Jason Paz, and Stephen Segovia were there at the kon.



I got Francisco Coching's El Indio too. I was talking too Heubert Khan Michael and we agreed that El Indio was a must get!!! It was only fitting to get that in KOMIKON 2009!!!

The last book I got was Manix Abrera's "12". It's fully colored!!! Plus the guy is awesome!!! He sold his Pulp Hope book to me!!! Hahahaha!!!


Cosplayers this year were on the down-low. Not so much of them... It was weird. Cosplayers are a must for comic conventions in the Philippines!!! But I was glad that a lot of people were there to support the local creators!!! :) Loved this year's KOMIKON!!! A lot of awesome buys!!!

Anyway, here are scenes from this year's KOMIKON.

Big Blue Eagle Back-to-Back Bonfire

To the non-Ateneo fans, sorry, I'm still on the Back-to-Back high. To the haters, pls don't hate... Appreciate! :)

================================

Being the die-hard fan that I am, I did not dare miss the Bonfire! It was an excuse to visit my 2nd home, to celebrate, see friends, batchmates, and the Ateneo community.

I dropped by after hearing mass with the family so the parking space I got was on the other end of the campus. =| That's the problem with the Bonfire, EVERYONE goes!!! So traffic also did not dare miss to be in the Bonfire.

Ateneo changed it this year. No mud since the venue was set in the Grade School campus and not in Bellarmine field.

Ever wonder why they called it Bonfire? Back in 2002, I was a senior in High School and it was the first championship in 14 long years! My theory here is that they all wanted B's to be in the celebration. So it was called the BIG Blue Eagle Bonfire! Well... that's what I think.

That year was just crazy! People were just too happy. Traffic was terrible! I think it was more than 2008. Plus I remember that it was the time Pepsi launched Pepsi Blue. Hahaha.

The 2009 Bonfire wasn't bad at all. The temperature was just too hot... Yun lang. Pero masaya naman!

I feel bad for my friend and batchmate, Lia Cruz. Parati na lang siya niloloko ng mga Players... On stage, there was a High School player who asked her oif she could be his Grad Ball date... The crowd cheered for the guy... Lia, had to say Yes. Hahahaha. I expect her to tweet during the Grad Ball :)

Plus Wesley Gonzales is just hillarious! I read his tweets and I keep laughing! Panalo siya!

My favorite quote was from Eman "The Pocket Rocket" Monfort. Sabi niya "Mike (Baldos)! Thank you!" (Eman got his slot in the roster since Mike couldn't play...) Hahahaha.

This was the Bonfire in which I stayed the longest! Last year, I just dropped by because there were just too many Ateneans!!!

Anyway, sharing scenes from the Bonfire :)

Late dinner with my blockmates :)

With Moe and Joni

Our view of the stage

With my favorite high school teacher and her husband, Coach Sandy

With my Philo classmate and the best Blue Eagle to wear the number 4 (in my opinion),
Yuri Escueta!!!

With Ateneo Atheltics' Ceres Lina

With my favorite Juniors player of my batch, Mr. Merrill Lazo!

Merchandise!

Back-2-Back =)

I wasn't fortunate enough to experience a championship as a college student. I had 2 chances. 2003 and 2006. We lost to FEU in 03, and I was one of the many in Araneta who experienced the heartbreaking loss of 06 to UST.

But hey, things happen for a reason. I think 2006 was a learning experience for Coach Norman and the players who were there. If I'm not mistaken, Rabeh, Eric, Emman, and Jai were part of that 2006 team.

So, Ateneans can add October 8, 2009 as the date of BACK TO BACK!

October 4 ng gabi pa lang, I was just so damn nervous about the Thursday game. Insane! That's how much of a die-hard fan I am!

It was a good thing that I filed for half-day leave October 8 even before Game 2. It was because I wanted to visit my Lola's tomb. I couldn't go on my birthday and on the 7th because of things to finish at work. So before heading to the game, I went to Manila Memorial Park. I prayed the rosary and thanked my Lola for everything. I told her how much I missed watching basketball with her. And... I asked if she could help Ateneo. =)

So this is what it feels like to win Back to Back. What made it sweeter is that the Juniors also won Back to Back! It was the 1st time in UAAP history that both Seniors and Juniors teams won!!! So Ateneo is the first school to accomplish that! (Well that's according to the people)

But I think it'll be hard to beat the 7-peat of UE and the 4-peats of La Salle and UST.

Ateneo played an awesome game last Thursday. It was a nervous 1st quarter for us. 4 point lead lang but once Eric shot that trey, I had a good feeling we'd get the win. I thought that the turning point was when Ryan had that "holy cow" shot plus the foul! I thought that Ateneo was just dominating the game. I thought that UE had poor shot selections. Val Acuna had bad shots and Pari Llagas was just out of it. I felt bad for those guys. Elmer was trying his best but his shots weren't going down either. Rabeh just had a monster game and Jai got his rhythm in the 2nd half.

The only time I was sure that we won was below the 1:30 mark in the 4th. Why? Because ANYTHING can happen in the UAAP!!! You can never be too sure!!!

It was the first time I wore Blue this season. All the rest I wore black and 1 yellow. I had a 7-1 for the LIVE games I watched. 2 against DLSU, 2 against UST, 1 against UP, 1 against AdU and 2 against UE. Game 2 was my only loss...

But I also wanted to put a bit of yellow in my blue :)



Season 72 was awesome for me! We got back to back for Seniors and Juniors! Not to mention 1st runner up sa Cheerdance!!! :)

I don't think that the experience of 2006 will ever leave... It was a painful loss. But the experience of 2009 is a great experience you can add to the awesome UAAP memories.

Of all the seasons, I think 2002 would be my favorite. It was the dream season! But sadly, we didn't get the back to back the following year...

After this, you can put Norman Black and the rest of the coaching staff in the Hall of Fame. Also the 3 vets - Nonoy, Rabeh, and Jai! (Jai is one of the few True Blue Seniors to win in Grade School, High School, and College)

Oh, for the Ateneo fans, correct me if I'm wrong, but to be King Eagle, you have to come from the Grade School right? Because Enrico was King Eagle and Rich wasn't the year after. Larry was and LA wasn't...

And for the Courtside Hall of Fame, I think that Jessica Mendoza now belongs with Pia Arcangel, Lia Cruz, and Patty Laurel.

Props to UE for giving an awesome series! I'm expecting Elmer Espiritu to get in the PBA. I'll be cheering for that guy! He's just awesome on the court. Walang yabang whatsoever! Just like Nonoy!

OK, before I blab some more, CONGRATS TO THE ATENEO COMMUNITY! :) Woohoo!!! ONE BIG FIGHT!!! Thanks for the awesome belated birthday gift!!!

One Big Fight - 2009

So tomorrow is the final game of the 2009 UAAP Season.

Lots of exciting games!!!

I am very very nervous... what more the players???

Anyway, basta, faith!!! GO ATENEO!!! ONE BIG FIGHT!!!

2009 has been a difficult year for me, so I hope the sadness ends tomorrow!!!

Ateneo fans, let's all pray we get the back2back both SRS and JRS!!!!! :)

On to the fray!!! March on to victory!!!

Not a bad day at all :)

Got a lot of surprises!

Jonty was the first.

My team in the office. - BIG SURPRISE!!!

Ospret and his antics...

Dinner with my loved ones :)

Plus Lola's making her presence felt... :) Still miss her very much

Turning 24

In less than 2 hours, I say goodbye to being 23.

I really don't feel like celebrating my birthday since Lola's not with us anymore. :(

I was talking to Ninang last night and she noticed it too. Mom was the first one to experience a birthday without Lola. Among the apos, I'll be the first one to experience a birthday without Lola.

Lola gave us all one last birthday. She completed everyone's birthday before she left to a better place. Ninang noticed it. Whenever she'd implement a new rule on Birthdays, she'd start with the eldest...

The past week, I woke up crying. Twice. Why? It's funny really. I dream that I'm crying and I wake up crying. Dreams can seem so real right? Why did I cry? I dreamt about my Lola.

Yes, I still miss her very much each and everyday. I was really close to her...

It pains me writing this entry but it's my way of venting out and sharing it with you.

I thought that she'd give me an early birthday present with an Ateneo Championship but I'm hoping that she's just delaying it for a bit so I can pray some more :)

I didn't take a leave from work because of important things to do. Plus you get to see your friends at work who'll greet you. Hahaha.

2009 hasn't been a good year... Hopefully, it'll change on Thursday... I want the title that bad :( sigh... (Sorry UE... die hard talaga ako.)

Now, I'm looking back at the previous years and birthdays. They were awesome. Felt the love! Although it's a bit different because next year, dang! I'm a quarter century old!!!

Time's flying by way too fast... You have to live everyday to the fullest. Make your loved ones know how much they mean to you!!!

Anyway, I know that God has His plans. May His will be done.

On the upcoming game...

I have this uneasy feeling... I didn't like how Ateneo played yesterday. They were just off plus I thought Coach Norman had bad luck with the rotation of his players.

I couldn't sleep last night because I was thinking about the game.

Why is that? My friend Dino confirmed it earlier this evening. I texted him, "why am I having this nervous feeling for Thursday?"

He simply answered "Because we went through 06"

He's right. October 4, 2006 still remains as my worst UAAP game. It was the most heartbreaking loss of all time. It was UST's Cinderella story ending. It just wasn't our year. I still remember it vividly. JC Intal had 2 chances of sealing the game for us. But the 2 shots just didn't go down the rim. :(

So I don't know about Thursday. Too much of history repeating itself? Milenyo was there in 06 together with a rookie coach. Now it's Ondoy and there's also a rookie coach.

Difference is, I think that Coach Norman can hack this one. He's been with Ateneo since 2005.

He knows what to do already. He's a veteran coach.

Plus I think Jai will play big this coming Thursday. It's his last game as a Blue Eagle and he's a homegrown player. He will come out BIG! That's my fearless forecast.

And it will be DEFENSE that will bring Ateneo to the championship! It's what brought us to the Finals in the first place.

I'm hoping for a back-to-back...

ONE BIG FIGHT! :)

God Bless Efren Penaflorida!

I was browsing through the Twitter feed and I checked on this guy named Efren Penaflorida. He happens to be one of the 10 CNN Heroes of 2009.

Efren teaches kids in the slums to read. He has a pushcart classroom and he and his volunteers go to the slums on Saturdays to teach kids. Now that's a hero!



I am truly inspired by this man's mission to educate the less fortunate. He's my hero.

You have to check his story.

I voted for him several times already. I'll continue to vote!

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/wayoflife/03/05/heroes.efren.penaflorida/index.html