i am the batman!

I remember that the first character I ever drew in my entire life is a whole-body image of Batman. Since I was just a little kid, Batman has been my hero, next to my dad of course. I didn’t like Superman and I definitely didn’t like Wonder Woman. Bob Kane and Bill Finger should really be in the list of my most favorite people in the world. Thanks to them, there’s Batman in this world!

I suppose everybody knows who Batman is. Who doesn’t right? But if you’re one of those aliens visiting the earth and don’t know a spec about the Dark Knight, I’ll tell you who he is. He’s the greatest superhero ever! Yaaaaay!

Bruce Wayne witnessed the horrible murder of his parents when he was very young. Traumatized by the unfortunate event, Bruce decides to train himself. He became master of martial arts. He’s a fluent speaker of a God knows how many languages. He’s also studied theatrics and other useful crafts to prepare himself to his self-proclaimed role as protector of the weak in all of Gotham City!

So by day he’s Bruce Wayne the philanthropist, playboy and owner of the prestigious Wayne Enterprises and by night he is the Caped Crusader Batman patrolling the streets of Gotham fighting crime and what not. What I like about Batman is that he’s not like the rest of the other superheroes. He’s not flashy and he’s not really gentle to look at. He’s headstrong, brooding and sometimes sinister. You’d actually feel that he’s one of the good villains, if there is such thing.

On my opinion, he’s the best member the Justice League ever has. He doesn’t have any powers but he’s actually better than the rest of them. Even Superman. Of course, it’s quite debatable but you don’t expect me taking it back. I’m a stubborn Batman fan!

is it really?

I don’t know why she calls it mysterious, I don’t really find anything mysterious about her blog really. What’s mysterious is when she suddenly pops out of my comment box asking for a review of her blog! Hah. But heck, why not eh? That’s basically why I’m here in the first place, to see and review things my way. In my eyes with my own opinions.

iron man’s biceps preview?

I recently watched Step Up 2 and it was such a blast! The story was a little so-so. Not as amazing as that of the first Step Up but it was quite nice. The dance steps however, was more than fantastic! They actually took it up the next level. Don’t worry, I won’t spoil anything on you. Believe me, it’s awfully great! I’d rather shut up than tell you what happens in the story. It’s better to see the movie in your own eyes than someone else’s. But if you want my opinion, I’m going to tell you to watch it! Catch it before it’s gone, then again, there’s always the DVDs.

the world is yours now

Being in the so-called “Cyber Age”, people from all over the world has started to cope up with the different innovation of modern technology. Let’s face it, the world is changing and if you want to make the best out of it, then you’ve got to get along with everyone else.

But like my dad used to say, “There’s always an opportunity!” and indeed, opportunity it is. A man is measured on how many opportunity he finds on every change. And heck! I actually need an opportunity to earn a few bucks. Who doesn’t need money anyway? Thanks to helpful sources and wonderful blogs such as The World Is Yours Now blog, we now actually have impressive gateways or shortcuts into earning money through the internet, be it petty cash or a huge fortune!

my pokerface

Bluff. It’s this game using a whole deck of playing cards (minus the two jokers). It’s actually more like poker with some differences. I’m not sure if it’s the same with the Bluff you already know but this perhaps is a version of it.

It’s a game where the phrase “the more, the merrier” is very applicable. I really am after the fun of it. I don’t exactly know why gambling and playing cards has its effect to people. Perhaps it’s the idea of getting to win and lose money in just a few seconds in playing the game. You win some, you lose some. Every decision is based on luck and a few tricks.

Maybe gambling and playing cards isn’t that far from real life. Actually, it’s really more like real life. You’ll never know what’s coming. All you have to do is to play the game and accept the consequences. Of course, I’m not saying you have to gamble and risk everything but in life it’s more or less like that.

I’m not really a gambling guy. I’ve been on a casino to see people bet on numbers and colors hanging on to dear old luck. There’s a lot of casinos even in the net. It’s best to read reviews to see how the different casinos are like. Try to be picky and choosy sometimes, you know.

huge crush on andrea corr

When it comes to music, I’ve got a gender preference. Haha. No, I don’t know why. No, I don’t mean to offend or anything. I don’t even know if it’s offending to some people.

I love music. Who doesn’t right? I learned in one of my classes in criticism that music is regarded to be the best of all art forms. It could be debatable to a lot of artists out there but the reason given to me was quite satisfactory in my standards.

Music was considered the best of all art forms because of its nature. No medium was needed in comprehending music. Paintings needed to be interpreted from its canvas to be appreciated. Literary texts need to be analyzed from the paper. Music, however, is simply to be experienced. We no longer need to analyze or criticize music anymore. We simply let it flow into our ears. That’s it!

Going back to the gender issue at hand. Well, I don’t know if I’m offending anybody about my preference. Most likely not. I’m far from being a misogynist or a chauvinist, believe me. I like women of course. As a matter of fact, that’s the reason why I prefer women vocalist than men.

I mean it.

In my eighteen years of existence in this world, I have developed a “taste” towards female singers. Their different from male singers, of course. That alone could be reason why male and female are divided into alto, soprano, tenor and base. Don’t ask me any technicalities there, I’m not really good at Music back in my elementary years.

I just like the way women sing. The sound is just so beautiful to my hearing. I like the Corrs. They’re like the

baki: kick butt anime action

Whew!

I’ve just experienced a great avalanche of action-packed anime. I haven’t dropped a wink since last night because I just can’t get enough of Baki the Grappler. It’s an anime series focused on an underground fighting fair with fighters both with martial arts or/and rough toughness fight for the title: “The Strongest Man in the World!”

The series is actually an old one. I remember seeing Baki the Grappler back when I was in high school. I wasn’t that interested in it back then. Now, it’s being aired again in local TV, I’ve decided to watch it. And was I swooped out of my seat!

I decided to buy my own DVD copy of it. It’s pirated, of course. Sorry for breaking the piracy laws. Hehe. It claimed to be complete of all the series but it wasn’t so. The translation was so-so. Then again, I was focused with the story and the animation.

of redwall abbey and upside-down reading

It’s been quite some time since I last wrote a piece of literature. If literature it be. The point is I think I’m starting to slack from writing poems, short stories and flash fictions.

On the other hand, I still haven’t slacked in my favorite hobby–reading!

I’ve aquired some cheap paperbacks on Bookshop outlets in malls. I’ve noticed Brian Jacques work called the Redwall. I was quite fascinated of how he used ordinary animals as characters in his story. He used mice, badgers, voles, rats, etc. Jetcetera! hehe. It’s quite new to me though the work was copyrighted long ago.

Along with Redwall, there are other works of Jacques that are also connected as a sequel or prequel to the Redwall novel. Mossflower, Pearls of Lutra and Salamandastron were the title of the books I’ve bought along with the Redwall paperback. And I’ve only spent 65 pesos for each one of them.

I’m still searching for other books to add up to my starting collection. hehe. If you want to learn more the Redwall series, try visiting their website.

I also started reading one of Bob Ong’s books called “Bakit Baliktad Magbasa ng Libro ang mga Pilipino?” (”Why do Filipinos Read Books Upside-down?) As usual, it’s written in an informal manner. Ong writes as though he’s just talking. I’ve read some of his books and I genuinely like it. It’s straightforward and frank addressing the different issues of Filipinos. I guess he’s one of my inspiration in starting my other blog “simpleng pagong”.

At least I’m keeping myself busy. But I guess I’ll start writing later. And I do mean writing writing! I have to make a portfolio of my works. hehe.

ciao!

a glance

In two

seconds

I looked,

you saw.

Our eyes—

we met

like two

bubbles

combined.

In two

seconds

we were

just one

I give

myself

to you.

It then

ended—

pop!

pop!

In two

seconds

I lived

and died

with you.

a hades mistake

CONDEMNED!!! to roll,

                              rroll, ro-oll,

                                           rrrrOwll…

a BIG boulderrrrrr up-up-up

heaving and sweating

and breeeeeeathing deeeeeeeep and

e x h a l i n g sssllooowwlllyyy…

                                           until

                                you

                   reach

         the

top

of the hill on the underworld—

then the task of sweat and tears

falls down to waste as

you let the

            big fat

                     rock

                          go—

                               roll,

                                 rrowwling..

                                     rolled down

fast(ittooklesstimethanwhenyourolledit)

beautifully and gracefully it

looked like a

drop

of the nectar in the

                       highest mountain

where gods live and bask

in immortality and you

live your sentence in hell

as a reward in punishment

as you

                         see

Persephone’s sad face

                        brighten up

smiling and laughing at the foolish wise you.

 

Note: Here’s one of my poems. It’s based on a Greek Myth. I’ve tried to experiment a lot here. I don’t know, it’s also some kind of legendizing the myth of Sisyphus. The man condemned to roll a rock to a hill in the underworld only to let it roll back down again.

not laughing yet

Gary Lising wrote in one of his books once, “Blessed are those who urinate on the ground because they spread piss on earth!”

Haha.

But seriously, I really am not in a mood of laughing at the moment. Actually, I’m really pissed. Call it being pig-headed and overreacting but it’s basically an issue–my issue–of being an obnoxious person with a superiority complex and a very resentive manner towards rejection. Yes, I was rejected. Damn it. But I’d rather not discuss more about it. It would just show how much of a sore loser I really am.

On the brighter side, I’ve created a new blog! Still in WordPress. I’m already comfortable with its system. My new blog is a humor blog. I’m actually inspired to do it because of the comical and amazing other humor blogs I’ve been encountering in the net. I call my new blog “simpleng pagong“.

In this blog I claim to be a simple turtle looking at the complexities of life and though I claim to be a very simple turtle, I tend to make things a bit complicated. Kind of ironic huh? I’ve already written about the sexual interpretation of the nursery rhyme Jack and Jill. I’ve even wrote something about my say on the overpricing of commodities and just recently, my list of dream jobs. I’ve also made my own interpretation of the Philippine folk story “Ang Pagong at Ang Matsing” (”The Turtle and The Monkey”). Click here to learn more about the blog.

The posts in the blog are written informally. With no capital letters, take note. Most of the times, I didn’t bother editing the post. It’s more like a “stream of conciousness”. It’s written in pure tagalog and I’ve obsessively tagalized English terms. I decided to write anything I want to write about in my own manner of writing. I did this blog just for fun. I’ve always wanted to have a humor blog. I also want to expand my identity in the cyber space.

Try visiting it sometimes. It’s still new and I’ve planned a lot of things for it. Since I really enjoy drawing, I may illustrate some drawings to place there. Hmm.. Yeah. I guess I would one of these days.

Have fun.

i am a lord of the rings fan

Elen síla lumenn’ omentielvo!

I’ve got four reasons why J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings is one of my favorites:

1 The story, of course. The work is told in an omniscient point of view that centralizes on the plot of the whole story. The focus shifts from character to character and situation to situation. In one chapter, the hobbits are being featured then the mighty people Gondor. The different twists and turns keeps you on the edge of your seats! It’s a real page-turner.

2 Characters. As we all know, LOTR is under the fantasy genre of literature. Tolkien perhaps took the characters’ nature from him. He made Hobbits from Tolkien’s attitude towards simplicity and tobacco. Elves are probably derived from his wisdom and experiences. Men, of course, from the human nature within him and Dwarves from his interest in crafts. If you cross read with Tolkien’s Silmarillion which is a prologue of the LOTR, you’ll learn more of the origin of Gandalf and Saruman. Their order of wizards is actually called the Istari. Sauron isn’t originally evil. You’d understand more about the poems’ origins in the Silmarillion.

3 History. In Middle-Earth, Tolkien is god! He made everything there. It’s wonderful how he pieced things together in such a way that everything there fits! He even bothered making a timeline and history of events after the book! The different locations are accurately mapped and the different family trees particularly of the hobbits were expertly illustrated with everybody accounted for.

4 Language. Being a linguist, Tolkien was actually capable enough to make his own language. Languages, actually. He made Quenya, Sindarin, Adunaic, etc. along with dialects! Beautiful, beautiful words springs out of the pages!

Le hannon a tholel!

cooking 101

I love food.

I envy people that can cook really really well. For me they are living legends! My father and two of my brothers are excellent cooks. Give them the right ingredients and materials and they would serve you the best dishes that would make your mouth water.

I want to learn! I’ve tried. Don’t get me wrong, I can cook. Just not that well. I can follow the recipe but the outcome seems to be not good enough. I even plan on enrolling on a culinary school. Just a few quick courses might help me improve.

Speaking of culinary schools, I’ve stumbled to this site that’s made for those who really plan on finding great chef schools. They’ve got bio-sketches of chefs and they feature the best schools for culinary! It’s the perfect site for interested people (like me) who plans to learn a trick or two in cooking.

how i read a poem

There’s no definite way of reading a poem. There are a lot of critical approaches but the way to read the poem is always subjective. In my AH4, our instructor JC managed to simplify things in her own way. On my CL121 with Sir John and CL122 with Sir Nino, things got a little complicated.

Let’s not complicate ourselves. Here’s what I’ve learned in reading poetry. Here are some rough tips in reading poetry. If you see it defective, I would be more than glad to hear from you.

In reading poetry I…

…better be in a good mood. It’s hard reading poems when you’re distracted.

…read it first. I don’t try to understand it all at once. I just read it and let the words flow. Then, I read it again. And again. And again. I guarantee on your second reading, you’ll see a different poem.

…concentrate on the text first. It is important to look at the poem in a literary basis. Do not jump to conclusions or derive meaning just yet. If the poem said “the rose was torn and ravished”, don’t think of an abused woman just yet. Instead try focusing on the image of the flower torn into pieces.

…take note of the how the poem was written. Look at the line breaking, they actually mean something. Is there a rhyming scheme? Is there a meter followed? How many stanzas or how many lines? Is it a sonnet or an epic?

…depict a setting or a scene. The poem should have one. Feed on images. Where are they? What are they doing. What are the things around them that’s telling you that they’re in a cemetery, hospital, school, cabaret, house or hell? Try to figure out who is the speaker. On verbal address poems, try to figure out the addressee.

…check the symbols. What do they stand for? What could a flower, necklace, wolf, clock, elevator, angel, monster or drop of water mean? Try not restricting yourself to one line of thinking.

…capture the emotions. You’ll get it through the poem’s tone and the way the speaker is talking. Most importantly, try to relate that emotion with yourself. Did you also lose your mother? Did you also skin your cat alive? Did you manage to cut yourself into pieces? Did you ever talked with an alien? Something like that.

…learn more about the theme of the poem. Is it about drugs, sex and rock & roll? Is it about death or time? Is it about rejection or loss? What do you think the author is trying to tell you?

…understand the author and the time. Who is the author? Where did he live? What century did he live on? Why do you think he wrote the poem? Was he inspired by his one night stand with a complete stranger? Did he lose his wife? Or did he really make a poem for his books to sell?

…know if there are other poems like it? Then I compare and contrast them.

Those are some of my tips for now. I really have this feeling that I missed some important points. But generally that’s it! I’ll post another post like this if I remember some points.

I hope this helps!

purple pad craze!

I just realize something. For the past few months, I’ve been discussing a lot about Creative Writing and other related and/or unrelated stuff. But I still haven’t even given you a chance to see some of my works. Well, to make it up to you, I’ve got great news!

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to PurplePad!

PurplePad is our Creative Writing Blogsite featuring our works for the past semesters. Yes, it’s a requirement but I would have done one like it anyway. It’s all Professor Jhoanna’s idea to publish our works online.

On that site we’ve got collections of poems (narrative poems, mytho-poems and tankas), flash fictions and memoirs! It’s a one-stop amateur literary site.

Authors or my classmates and I have our own page with direct links to their works. You’ll definitely see their faces there! Learn more about them and get aquainted to the budding writers of the century (hehe..)!

Our teachers and mentors are also listed there. We couldn’t have done it without them.

We’d really want comments and criticisms from anyone who can spare some. Writers actually love them. They hurt sometimes but we like it! It helps us in our writing if people read and critique our works.

Check it out! PurplePad!