Thursday, March 30, 2006

[Blog Entry] Family Dinner

Family Dinner

Every Sunday, we go to our grandparent’s home and have dinner with relatives. Usually, conversation would start at the dinner table, discussing everything from showbiz to politics. My brother told this story though about some would-be kidnappers (although me not reading the news, couldn’t verify if all the facts were right; but still, it’s a nice story, even if I get all the facts wrong).

Since it’s my brother who’s telling the story, the main characters should be Filipino-Chinese. There was this boy, somewhere in his twenties, who came from a rich family, studied in a prestigious school, and lived in a secure village. He also had a girlfriend who was in a similar position as he. Now one day, the boy lost a bet in a basketball game, and ended up owing a debt of 3 million. His girlfriend, supportive of the boy, helped him concoct a plan to gain that money quickly. A kidnapping would happen, and the two would be involved.

One of the boy’s neighbors jogged around the village consistently at a particular hour. The boy noticed this and decided that this person would be his target for the kidnapping. When all was set, the man was abducted and taken into captivity. Now the boy being amateurs, made two mistakes in the act of the kidnapping. First, when they tied the man, they did not do it from his back (which is the standard procedure in kidnappings). They tied his hands in front of him, so even if the man was blindfolded, he was able to take a peek at his captors. The second mistake was the location of their hiding place. It was an abandoned home directly across the street of the mark’s home. So when the man managed to escape from where they were holding him, I can just imagine his surprise. Hey, my house is right in front of me.

Boy was captured, girlfriend is currently in hiding. Hopefully not in a house right across her home.

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Wednesday, March 29, 2006

[Blog Entry] No Life

No Life


I don’t go out much, sticking with my regiment of eat, sleep, and work, not necessarily in that order. Thankfully, my inhuman metabolism keeps me at the same weight and figure, no matter how much I eat or sleep.

Anyway, Saturday was a deviation from my norm. I was struck by wanderlust and ended up wandering around the malls in the Ortigas area, all by myself. Ended up seeing (but not necessarily meeting, because meeting implies that the other person saw you and said hello) a lot of familiar faces: former teachers, batchmates, friends, and even enemies.

Interestingly enough, the two themes that are constant among my acquaintances are death and marriage. It’s either I have to express my condolences to them, or they invite me to their wedding. 2006: Death and Marriages. That would be the title of this year. Hopefully, no wedding is scheduled on the same day as a funeral. But the year’s not yet over. I might be late for my own funeral if Fate has a say in things. And I’m sure some people are planning to get married, they just haven’t announced it yet.

In the meantime, see you on Saturday at Dean’s book launch. Fully Booked Greenhills, 4 pm to 6 pm.

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[Blog Entry] Robert Jordan Musings

Robert Jordan Musings


The author Robert Jordan will probably immortalize himself in fantasy by publishing his twelve-book serial series Wheel of Time. Currently the book count is at eleven, and there's one more book to go.

I started reading his work back in high school, which was some time in 1998. It's almost a decade, and thankfully the end is near, although not necessarily what I might have wished. Throughout the time period waiting for the next book to come out, my joke to fellow Jordan friends was that he'll die before he finishes his last book, much like what happened to Frank Herbert and his Dune series.

I was talking to Banzai earlier today and sadly, that joke might come true. While not dead, Robert Jordan has amyloidosis. And my concern for Banzai is that while Jordan still has a few years to live, if we follow his publishing pattern, it'll take him one year (assuming there are no delays) to write his next prequel novel, and then another year for the final book.

Hopefully, Jordan manages to finish his opus. After that, it's intenseful prayers to God that George R. R. Martin lives to be a hundred.

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