Awful things

The truth was, comic bookstores scared me. First of all, there were so many different titles in one room, I always felt like an ignorant buffoon who didn’t know where to start. I was afraid I’d pick something up, and the guy behind the counter would roll his eyes at me and call me a geek wannabe. My experience with comic books had been limited to the Archie and G.I. Joe comics when I was a kid, and more recently, Neil Gaiman’s Sandman (which I bought only at regular bookstores) and Buffy season 8 (which a friend picks up for me during his regular trips to the comic bookstore). Of course there were the movie adaptations of Superman, etc., and the fantastic Zsazsa Zaturnnah musical (I skipped the movie, because people told me it was baaad), but those don’t really count. So in an attempt to add culture to my life, I made plans to attend Free Comic Book Day at Comic Odyssey at Robinson’s Galleria last May 5. I figured that if I got at ton of free comics, I didn’t have to worry about choosing the right titles — variety was the order of the day.

However, I was still scared. So I managed to convince some of my friends to show up too (CatInTheHat was a regular comic book reader, so he was the only other person who had plans to go), and in fact by eleven a.m., there were three of us waiting in the loooong queue outside C.O. The thing wasn’t even going to start till noon. Oddly enough, while waiting in line for our turn in the store, we had more fun than we expected. Some magazine even got a quote from one of us (I won’t say whom) for an article about the event. They wanted a picture too, so she agreed on the condition that she be allowed to hold up the Hulk/Iron Man promo poster up to cover half her face. We browsed though a ton of stuff we’ve never heard before. Martea held up one and asked, “What’s a Violator?” Solange replied, “It’s like ‘rapist’, only different.” My friends, ladies and gentlemen. Oh, there was also a question about why the bust of Spiderman had boobs, but it turned out to be Spiderwoman.

(If you missed FCBD, Fully Booked at the Fort is having a late event on the 24th. Go get your comics, my people.)

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It had become painfully obvious to me that I may have bitten more than I bargained for this time. Four subjects per term wasn’t much of a problem for me before, but this time, they’re all major subjects. Ow. Plus my lackluster performance the previous term has made me determine to get awesomer* grades this time, so I’m going all bibo-girl on all my groupmates (I should apologize for this, groupmates, but our last paper on Mechanics of Spellbinding was a 4, so I know you love me anyway).

This week I’ve a midterm exam and three reports, two of which we have to present in class. Bring it on.

Oh, by the way, did I mention how much amusement I get out of our cases? Those of you who have never taken Masters of Wizardry**, our cases usually start off like this: “Master Rounderbum swiveled his chair to the right and looked out the window of his tower. It was always like this on Mondays, everyone busy preparing their spells for the week. He sighed. It was hard for him …” Then it goes on to describe M. Rounderbum’s problems with spell quality control or how to get the junior wizards to check their mushrooms before gathering them. I wonder if there’s a class for writing these things

*Yes, I’m making that a word now.

**For those new to this blog, that’s a codeword for my actual graduate course.  We do not actually study spellcasting.

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This is the back of the driver’s seat of a jeepney. This ad is hilarious, really. I remember taking this particular boat around Mindanao when I was in college, and they always played the 3 o’clock prayer and the angelus over the PA system, the function rooms were named after saints, and they had religious images all over the place. All this religiosity on a public transportation (the boat, not the jeepney) may sound odd to foreigners, but this is the Philippines, where we believe in hypocrisy, not personal freedom. Think of it as a fascist state run by people who pretend to be Catholics.

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Richard Dawkins is appearing in an upcoming episode of Doctor Who. Whoohoo! If only we still had Chris Eccleston in the Doctor role, it would be an atheist orgy. Yum. (Not that I’m thinking of Russel, Chris and Richard together that way. What I mean is.. well, you know.)

Anyway, Dawkins will be playing himself. According to Davis: “People were falling at his feet. We’ve had Kylie Minogue on that set, but it was Dawkins people were worshipping.” Awww. I heart my fandom.

Oh, I did get to see the premier episode of DW season 4 (”Partners in Crime”). It started slow at first, but beginning from that sign language conversation between the Doctor and Donna which had me rolling on the floor, it started to pick up. Also, the aliens in this episode alternated between cute and creepy, which was awesome. I think I like this new companion.

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.. yes I was.

Yes, the New Kids on the Block are back together. It could be a disaster, but I don’t care. They will be on The Today Show on April 4, which means it’s showing here in the Philippines this Saturday on ETC Second Avenue at 7am, so be up early. C’mon, girls, you know you want to.
Thanks to Solange for the heads-up.

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Fresh off a long and restful (lazy) Holy Week, Solange and I are back. In this week’s show, we talk about the passing away of two luminaries: geek idol Arthur C. Clarke and “Storyteller” Anthony Minghella. Also, we discuss our expectations for the latest Terry Pratchett novel adaptation, “The Colour of Magic”. Then there’s the usual TV talk: the genius pairing of “Moving Wallpaper” and “Echo Beach”, the just cancelled “Jericho”, the renewed “Supernatural” (yey!) and the much anticipated “Dollhouse”. We also do film talk, mostly on the upcoming Indiana Jones movie, and Steve Carell’s “Get Smart”. Plus, I give my non-spoilery thoughts about season 1 of “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles”. And then we let you know who’s going to be singing in Joss Whedon’s “Doctor Horrible’s Sing-a-long Blog”.

Links:

• Arthur C. Clarke
• Anthony Minghella
• Terry Pratchett
• “The Colour of Magic”
• “Moving Wallpaper”
• “Echo Beach”
• “Jericho”
• “Supernatural”
• “Dollhouse”
• “Doctor Horrible’s Sing-a-long Blog”
• “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles”
• “The Big Bang Theory”
• “Get Smart”
• Indiana Jones

If you have any comments, suggestions or questions on any of the topics in this podcast, please do e-mail us at anansigirl[at]literature[dash]ph[dot]com or send an mp3 recording to anansi.girl[at]gmail[dot]com (keep it below 100kb please). Or leave us a voicemail through VOIP using Gizmo (geeksareevil).As per usual, you may subscribe to this podcast via or any podcast-grabbing software of your choice. The feed is http://feeds.feedburner.com/AwfulThings.

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Took the train today and saw this at the Shaw Blvd. station.

Then when I got to Boni station, this was what was waiting for me.

Hugh Laurie has a movie! As a cop in what I suppose is a noirish film (story by James Ellroy).  Finally, something in the theaters to watch. Because this week’s lineup of films is so .. blah.

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Jeremy Irons is playing Havelock Vetinari, the Patrician of Ankh-Morpork in “The Colour of Magic”.  I’m so happy I could cry.

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I was kinda tempted to get a copy. Then I realized that I didn’t want a life held hostage by TV schedules again. Anyway, I adore Summer Glau, so I took a picture. This was at National Bookstore in Shangri-la Mall, where I was buying notebooks and pens last Wednesday.

Summer’s featured on the cover, I suppose, because Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles premiered this week in the Philippines on the Crime/Suspense channel. It’s very cool, with lots of exploding things. Go watch.

And to those of you who have already seen all nine episodes of season 1, there’s no official word yet whether TSCC has been picked up for season 2, but everyone seems confident it will be.  Besides, I hear the two-episode finale got mad ratings.

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