Saturday, June 08, 2002

I've also been tracking down Les/Rei for the past few days in an attempt to compile info regarding Pinoy Otaku's history. I'm making it official and I've already talked to the founder of the web ring, Uly. Now all I need is to talk to Les since I've already talked to her partner in crime, Sp.

Also, to Benj, I don't really fret about people reading my BLOG. I'm just curious (and insane by the way). Strangely enough, my own views are responsible for at least four hits. The rest goes to Benj, Garr, Mia, and strangely enough, people from New Zealand and Singapore. I wonder who they could be. And of course, it looks like Microsoft rules the world as I'm the only one using Netscape. Hmmmm...

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Saw the last episode of Hunter x Hunter today. The OAV was so cool!!! Well, it was finely balanced since neither the protagonists nor the antagonists were truly beaten. The Genei Ryodan still stands, although it lost half its members and its leaders may still exact a revenge. Kurapika has his agenda partially fulfilled. Hopefully they get to animate the next story arc.

Because I was so mesmerized by the show, spent the last few hours downloading the opening and ending theme of Hunter x Hunter. I browsed through five pages of Google until I finally found a site that had the mp3s. The site I ended up wasn't even English but oh well, it was complete. I even got the instrumentals to the opening theme and the ending themes of the TV series.

As I was waiting for the last episode of Hunter x Hunter to air, I was channel surfing until I saw Teknoman at Solar channel. The first time I saw the English dub of Tekkaman Blade was when I was in Canada six or seven years ago. The dubbing was decent although I miss the theme song of the Japanese original. What was bad though is that later, I found out they cut the show in midseason. It ended with a cliffhanger and believe me, when I say cliffhanger, it really leaves something hanging. It's like watching Back to the Future 2, or perhaps even Empire Strikes Back without seeing the third film of the trilogy.

Anyway, Tekkaman Blade was eventually shown on the Star Phoenix channel, albeit dubbed in Chinese so I did get to see it in its entirety. Seeing it earlier today reminded me how angsty the show really was. The main character, D-boy, always runs a risk of becoming "evil" when he dons his hi-tech armor to save Earth. As if that wasn't bad enough, he's fighting his surviving relatives. Add the fact that there's a general who merely wants to use you for military purposes and you've got a position no one would envy you.

D-boy's far from your ideal hero. In fact, he even refuses to fight since he might hurt his friends. Reminded me of Evangelion. But Shinji was much, much worse. But still, maybe this was where Eva drew its roots.

Overall, it wasn't bad for a remake, the original being Tekkaman, which was done by Tatsunoko. Interestingly enough, as I was reading an article from Animation World Network, Tatsunoko Production was responsible for the animation of Macross and the reason why Southern Cross and Mospeada got compiled into Robotech was because it was a package deal. Tatsunoko Pro also made those anime and Carl Macek bought them along with Macross so that he could air a "cartoon" that was at least 65 episodes long.

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Friday, June 07, 2002

Great. Kero's site just isn't Netscape compatible...

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Why do I have the strange feeling that Benj jumped ISP servers just to increase the number of unique hits on my BLOG...

Also, Kero's BLOG code is too damn annoying. It takes too long to load and wastes my time (i.e. I can't multitask). Makes me think he did that on purpose to discourage people from reading his BLOG...

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I read the Narnia Chronicles last year when I borrowed them from Elbert. As an avid reader of science fiction and fantasy, I thought it was best to read the authors acclaimed for their work in the genre. How did I find it?

I almost threw the book upon reading the last book, "The Final Battle". It was a good thing it wasn't my copy because if it was, I would have ripped the book to shreds. I exclaimed "what kind of an ending is that?". Also, the series was patriarchal and too Christian. Heroines had to wear dresses and all the heroes were naive. While the book was based on Christian mythology, even the Bible wasn't that hard pressed on religion.

When my friend Ela asked me how I found it, I said that it was too preachy and Christian. But why am I rambling about this just now?

Philip Pullman, writer of His Dark Matters trilogy, confirmed my beliefs. There's an article about it entitled Narnia books attacked as racis and sexist. Couldn't agree more. And somebody did point out at the Pinoy Exchange board that Narnia's villains were clearly Turks. There's children's literature for you.
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Verum Est: I know, let's do a show comdemning RPGs like Dungeons and Dragons as evil and Satanic!

~one week after the show~

Verum Est: Oh crap... D&D is owned by Hasbro...

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Nothing quite spectacular today. Just went to school to get my picture taken for our IDs, played Warcraft... and more Warcraft! I did manage to meet Bart at 3:30 pm to get the CDs I ordered from her. Finally got the Yu Yu Hakusho OST!!! It doesn't have the BGM that I want though...

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Thursday, June 06, 2002

Check out this URL at Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0312864590/ref=br_b_ts_5/102-9683712-6570514

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Crossroads of Twilight. November 12, 2002. Five months and 6 days to go...

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Oh My God! Wheel of Time Book 10 is coming out in November!!!

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In other news, the show Verum Est is making claims that RPGs are satanic and the work of evil. In this day and age, the number of idiots never ceases to amaze me. Then again, there are people (and some are even friends of mine) who think Harry Potter is satanic. -.-

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Forgot to mention the nightmare I had today. We were wandering and traveling and I was given the task of guarding our luggage. However, they left it at a vehicle (which had ants at the bottom) and for some strange reason, no matter how much you use the hand brakes (or the brakes for that matter), the vehicle never stays put and I end up maneuvering it, avoiding cars, people, and other things that can be found on the road. Strangely enough, no roadkill.

After implementing that eXTReMe Tracking service, I find out that... no one else does read my BLOG. Oh joy. I guess these past few weeks I've been writing for no one else but myself then. Maybe someone in the future will find this "treasure trove"...

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Enrollment was hell!

Woke up at quarter to five so that I could arrive early at school. I did since I was at the "line" before six. Pops was already there and Niko arrived at around the time I did. Nobody else was lining up at the Fine Arts department. And then it hit me. I didn't have to come early since the morning part of the day was devoted to majors and electives. My only competition in choosing my majors would be my batchmates and the Creative Writing students from other year levels. Perhaps IS students as well but that's pushing it.

Kim dropped by since she was early as well. I then told her about my realization. She then copied where the waiting areas were for the lottery. After which, I left her as I went to the Fine Arts department since the gate barring us was already open. The time was 6:15 am.

I realized that my fiction class was in Filipino. I badly wanted to change it but that would mean getting a new advisement. I didn't really want to bother with that long process so I just stuck waiting for the department to open. By 6:30 am, Xander arrived and he was surprised to see us already there so early in the morning. He opened the office, turned on the aircon, and let us in. To make a long story short, we were done with out sign-ups by 7 am when the official start was at 8 am. I did manage to change my class from fiction to nonfiction.

Went around campus to look for Steph since I was lugging around the Dune books she wanted to buy from me. Couldn't find her though but I did see her blockmates, her English blockmates, and her batchmate. Everyone else except her.

By 9 am, I decided to line up for our lottery despite the fact that it would start at 1 pm. It was a long wait.

The first class I was supposed to sign up for was Theology. Unfortunately, my batch had the unfortunate circumstance to sign up last. Still, we made up for it since in the second class we were supposed to sign up, our batch went first.

The third class we were supposed to sign up for as Philosophy. The line was long and we ended up standing for an hour. People were complaining about the heat but as some might know, that doesn't exactly affect me. Still, my legs began to cramp and I needed a place to sit. I arrived at the waiting area at 2 pm but I only got to pick my class at 3:15. After that, the checkers and assessment was quick. However, the cashier closes at 4 pm. I arrived there in the nick of time.

"The cashier will end at that blue guy over there." I looked behind me and didn't see a guy in blue. Neither was one in front. I looked at my shirt. It was dark blue. "Oh, that's me!"

Hitched a ride with my friend Timothy since he was in front of me. I was supposed to drop by CCHQ but quite frankly, my legs were too tired to walk there and commute home. Oh yeah, I'll be returning there tomorrow to get my ID validated. If I'm not too lazy.

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Wednesday, June 05, 2002

I'm here posting my BLOG... early in the morning. Okay, I'm not yet sleepy, which means tomorrow will be hell.

In my boredom I did check the Ateneo homepage to see my class schedule. Well, it seems my Mondays and Thursdays are gone since I'll be having my majors from 4:30-7:30 pm on those days. Oh well.

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Tomororow's enrollment and it's not exactly something I'm looking forward to. Hopefully it won't take my until Friday to get things done. Strangely, I find myself lacking time. I have to sleep "early" today since I'll be waking up at 5 am.

Oh yeah, my birthday present for my crush went down the drain. I was supposed to get her an Arislan manga set and I asked my friend to obtain the first and last volume but she failed to follow it up so the shop owner sold the copies. Aaaargh!

Regarding crushes, I'm now rethinking my schema. I was dead set on someone who shared similar interests to me. Likes anime, likes reading science fiction and fantasy, kind... Right now, I'm wondering if that still remains true for me. Don't worry, I didn't meet anyone. It's just something you ponder. You get your heart broken twice and still continue to pursue them and you start having doubts. Still, is that all I'm looking for? Maybe I should change my criteria. *sigh* Everything's confusing. But life was never easy.

Oh yeah, I also have a new pet project. It's my third BLOG, Charles' Twisted Guide to Anime in the Philippines. It's basically a BLOG that has articles on anime and manga in the Philippines. The first article I put there was a review on the book "Adult Manga". I wanted the site to be a place where people could turn for info and serve as a resource guide. It's not like my fanzines since this is something spontaneous. I write when I want to write and I don't have to bother with pictures and all the other snazzy stuff. It's basically just a resource site, a guide where you can obtain other information regarding anime and manga. For a country such as the Philippines which has little documentation, hopefully it'll help people. I was actually inspired by Budjette Tan who put up articles regarding the Filipino comic industry on his BLOG. I wanted to do the same... except if I post articles blatantly, people will start suing me. Can't have that can we?

Apparently, if it's not my brother who's on the phone, it's my mom, spreading intrigue and gossip among her friends.

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Just got back from a two and a half hour stroll. Bought a book on XHTML and I was looking for Golden Compass to give to a friend since I'll probably meet her tomorrow but alas, it was nowhere to be found. I tried Powerbooks and National Bookstore in Megamall and when that didn't work, walked all the way to Shangri-la in case it was there. Unfortunately, it wasn't. Oh well.

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Tuesday, June 04, 2002

Just had my lunch. Now I remember why I hate eating. It makes me lethargic, among other things.

Oh yeah, I got a crazy idea to make a new BLOG that has articles on the anime and manga industry here. Yes, I'm that bored...

Now if you'll excuse me, I'll go back to finish reading "Soul Music".

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Just woke up an hour ago. Sorry but I don't have any insights. Just wanted to type something "early" in the morning. =)

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Oh God. Just read a spoiler for the Dragonlance series in one of the forums. Nooooooooo!!! =)

Anyway, brother's home. No more Internet for me. Bye!!!

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I wonder when Benj will give me the code that lets you track visitors to your webpage. I'm really interested to know who reads this stuff (if any) aside from Benj and Garrick.

Oh wow. Actually found a forum I might enjoy in the Literature and Arts section of Pinoy Exchange. But the connection is so slooooooooow.

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Actually, it seems I could have done better than joining PEx. Oh well.

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In my extreme boredom, I registered myself to Pinoy Exchange. I wonder how things will turn out...

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Just finished watching The Pretender. Great show, interesting premise. I remember a conspiracy show I used to watch but didn't get to see the ending: Nowhere Man. Now that was a scary series.

Also switched TV stations to watch Angel. The ending really surprised me. "Angel, don't you understand. There's only the three of us that stands before you and total darkness." "I understand... you're all fired."

Yes, I am still bored. ^_^

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I was looking at the pics from Saturday's We Are Anime con. Lea and Pau's pic of Obi-wan and Jango Fett didn't come out right but aside from that, the rest looks good. Can't help but admire all the cute cosplayers. *sigh*

I'm wondering what the rest are up to. It's an ordinary evening full of possibilities. Yet here I am at home with nothing else to do. Read a book? That's all I've been doing for the past few weeks. Watch TV? Don't even get me started.

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It just dawned on me that most of my good friends are either leaving the country or quite preoccupied. Jobert and Franco are leaving for the US in a couple of days. Athene's busy with her customer service job. Mia's residing in Indonesia. As for the rest, I haven't heard from them in a long long time.

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Something's missing in my life. I could always allude it to boredom but I know there's more to it than just that. *sigh*

Not much happened today. Woke up late, ate an early lunch, read a book, played Warcraft 3. I did manage a stroll around Glorietta at around 7:30 pm but nothing really caught my attention. No new book, no new CD... and Glorietta isn't exactly the place to buy anime.

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Monday, June 03, 2002

Oh lookie. My email addy at yahoogroups is bouncing. And I can't seem to connect to yahoo efficiently...

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Lalalalala. Yes, I'm that bored.

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I would have written "earlier" if my brother wasn't using the phone. I hate it when that happens. A lot of creativity goes down the drain.

Guess what, my camera's film as only twenty four. I just needed to waste one shot before I sent it to have the pictures developed. Now if only I had a scanner...

I'm bored bored bored and Steph hasn't replied to my email. Hmmmm...

Oh yeah, was browsing through my Wheel of Time D20 RPG and I saw this interesting weapon: Thunderlance. 4d10 points of damage, has a range of 150 feet, has a critical threat range of 16-20 and has a critical multiplier of x4. =)

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Sunday, June 02, 2002

It's Monday and I just finished reading Tehanu, the fourth book of the Earthsea Cycle. Now I'm bored. I don't know what to read next.

Lately (that means one day), I've been lonely. There's no place to go or if there is, I don't have anyone to go with. Second, I want to watch videos like anime and the like but I don't have the money to buy them or know anyone who's loaning. I want to see the entire Initial D first season but alas, I can't get it for free.

Oh yeah, I still have to waste some film since I thought the camera I brought last Saturday had only twenty four shots. Hmmm, where to waste it on? I guess I also miss the OAV cosplayers. Things haven't been as lively. =)

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It's finally June... guess have to update the page soon.

Anyway, spent the day recuperating from yesterday's convention. So how'd it go?

Well, I was at Cyclone Arts and Technologies Asia Campus at 11:30 am. It's actually my third visit to an animation school/studio, the first two being Imaginasia and Artfarm. After signing my name with the guard, saw the computer room where they were showing the second episode of Rurouni Kenshin OAV 2. After that, they showed the demo for their computer program and even an amateur-made Star Wars scene.

I thought the cosplayers would come in early but they didn't. The earliest was Tanix who came at around quarter to one with her friend. Later came Hazel and Krizelda and I helped (watched) them put on their make up. Krizelda was dressed up as Kamatari from Rurouni Kenshin while Hazel was Michael from Angel Sanctuary. Later on, Ellaine finally came but I didn't have my costume yet since Vincent and JM hadn't arrived.

After hours of waiting, Vincent arrived to give me my costume only to leave since he had a migraine. I was still missing a cape which I was going to borrow from JM but I made do with the materials. In the meantime, I saw some familiar faces like Sheila playing Vash the Stampede and Robert and co. in Cyclones.

The actual event started at around 4:30 pm and Ais came in time to complete Ellaine's group. As the first batch of cosplayings were making the catwalk, JM arrived just in time to don his Nicholas Wolfwood costume, complete with matching (and working) crucifix gun.

As we waited for our turn, the people took pics all over the place. Lea and Pau appeared with Lea dressed up as Obi-Wan and Pau as Jango Fett. Only Pau though was registered and Lea was there just to sideline. Also heard from her that she wasn't mad at me anymore, just didn't have the time to reply to my text. Gem was missing since she wasn't allowed to attend the con.

The first batch of cosplayers were asked to repeat their catwalk since they didn't have a lot of time on stage so the rest of us continued to talk and wait. Later, it was finally our turn. I was dressed up as Mosquiton and Ellaine even had a doll of him. Ellaine was Inaho, her friend was Yuki, and Ais was Hono. It was difficult for me since hair from the wig kept on brushing my mouth.

After us, the Trigun cast made a catwalk which was quite impressive. Then, the Angel Sanctuary group and a break followed after that. People had their Spaghetti dinner and then the cosplay resumed at 7 pm. The last batch of cosplayers made their rounds and there was an intermission entitled "Sakurella". You can guess what's the main plot by the title.

The winners were announced at 8:30 pm and instead of ten finalists, there were eleven since one left and the ones having the next highest score were tied. In no particular order, here were the finalists: Krizelle in her Battle Angel Alita costume, Choi in his Hitmonlee getup, Robert, Tobie and Ria in their Robotech Cyclones, a girl in a Cobra Commander uniform, JM as Wolfwood, Sheila as Vash, Pau in her Mandolarean armor as Jango Fett, Hazel as Michael and another girl in another Angel Sanctuary costume (forget her name).

Third place went to "Cheche" who played the other Angel Sanctuary character. Second place went to Krizelle. The first place winner who also won P2,000 was Hazel. That ended the cosplay and We Are Anime started to show Gatekeepers 21. During this time, most of the cosplayers were changing clothes. And then, it began to rain...

Later, the cosplayers went to Burger King, which was a street away. Forgot to mention that Vincent had arrived in the evening to watch the latter part of the cosplay and he was with us at Burger King. The people talked and I was planning to hitch a ride with Hazel since they'd be passing by EDSA. I got home by 12:30 am and naturally, checked my email. I was too lazy though to write.

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