Sunday, July 21, 2002

So Carlo and I did manage to see Men In Black II last Thursday, by the way, and heartily entertaining movie it was too. The plot was quite incomprehensible, but it was funny as hell and had a talking dog, so no-one's complaining.

Before the movie, several trailers were shown, including the one for "Spirit". And somehow this led to Carlo and I, on the way home, discussing why it is that young girls love horses. When I was 8-10, I was obsessed with horses, and couldn't get enough of those My Little Ponies. I am of the impression -- and several of Carlo's female friends have backed this up -- that having a pony is a very common little girl's fantasy. Carlo was convinced that it was some sort of psychosexual thing; I thought it might be because of the romantic associations e.g. knights, Prince Charming -- heck, the word "chivalry" comes from the word "cheval" or "horse".

I then brought up the whole thing with unicorns and virgins; and Carlo remembered that in ancient Christian art unicorns often represented Jesus Christ. And then I remembered that in Harry Potter, drinking the blood of a unicorn can give you an immortal cursed life. X____x Horrors! Better not let the Harry Potter book-burners get a wind of that one. -_-;;;

What was the point of all that? I don't know. But! I have by now managed to read the text section of this new LOEG issue. (I think all comics by Alan Moore are required by law to have a supplemental text section.) It's actually quite meaty, and gives some interesting information about the two Leagues that existed prior to the one that was formed in 1898. And as can be expected, it contains another billion or so obscure literary references, including the shocking and unfortunate story of a certain young girl who fell through a mysterious hole into a disturbing alternate world. XD It also cements my suspicions that apart from Quatermain and Murray, the League are ALL GOING TO DIE VERY SOON. ;____; The only question is how, and in which issue?

It also gives me a better grasp of the world set-up of LOEG. In an England where fictional events are actual events, it makes a lot of sense that King Arthur would be a historical personage rather than a mythical figure. Makes you wonder, though -- if for them literature is real life, what's their literature like? Probably very boring.

Martians attacked at 11:03 p.m.! Where were you?

~

Sunday, July 21, 2002

Lalala...

Ah, thanks! I neglected to mention before, but I think Evil Kotori may be the coolest thing ever. ^_^

Saki, it occurs to me that I can't link to your journal what with the frames and the disabling of the right click on your page. Would you send me the URL or something? Why am I writing this here instead of e-mailing you? Why do we crucify ourselves everyday? Why won't cats look at themselves in the mirror? WHY, dammit?!!

In an unrelated story, I still hate this comic, and someday I will figure out why I keep reading it.

Martians attacked at 9:17 p.m.! Where were you?

~

Sunday, July 21, 2002

So we went out to lunch with the family today, as we do pretty much every Sunday. Afterwards, a short leisurely stroll around Virra Mall and environs. I stopped by the comic store there, as I always do just to look around; although I never buy anything, as they never have anything particularly interesting to me that I could afford or that I couldn't get at our nice friendly neighborhood comic store anyway. And then, an unexpected turn of events: at the back of the store, I happened to glance down. And there, under the glass, they had The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen vol. 2 issue 1.

...Which is pretty weird, you know, since it's not even supposed to be out in the States until the 24th. But there it was. And even though I had already reserved it at our friendly neighborhood comic store, I shelled out the money and bought this one then and there. And as for the comic itself, well...

...AAGH DAMN YOU I HATE YOU ALAN MOORE

The whole issue is basically the comic book equivalent of the little five-minute teaser sequence of a movie, before they show the title and opening credits. And let me just say, thank God I did my "research" and read War of the Worlds and those darn Burroughs books beforehand; otherwise I would have had no clue who all these silly Martians and weird Americans were. And even at that, I still have no idea as to the identity of that blond guy and those five hundred or so rejected extras from the set of Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind. It was so full of those weirdos and their big-scale action shots, by the time the League actually make their cool dramatic entrance the issue is OVER! >__<

Ah well. Not a bad issue, just damned frustrating to have to wait another month for stuff to start happening. I get the impression from all the gratuitous Mars action that Moore and O'Neill were sort of getting it out of their system, which means the League probably won't actually be visiting Mars after all. Too bad -- I so would have liked to see Miss Murray trudging across the red landscape in her poofy skirt and stylish but terribly impractical boots. XD

Martians attacked at 04:04 p.m.! Where were you?

~

Saturday, July 20, 2002

So anyway, I've been reading some stuff. A Princess of Mars and The Gods of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs. They're exactly like watching cheesy old-fashioned sci-fi movies, only in written form. The hero is a good ol' American boy from Virginia named John Carter, and the Mars natives always address him by his full name -- "Greetings, John Carter!" "I love you, John Carter!", and so on. When he goes to Mars, he's like superman or something, because Mars' lighter gravity gives him amazing strength and the ability to leap tall buildings in a single bound. And he practically has to fight off all the hot scantily-clad Martian babes! They're scantily-clad, by the way, because on Mars everybody dresses like He-Man -- capes, and not much else. XDDDDD

Anyway, as you might gather, the books are very entertaining and quick reads. There are, however, a few truly moronic moments, not to mention the infuriating way the author has of stringing the readers along. Both books ended on a gratuitous cliffhanger in a blatant attempt to get you to read the next book. And they STILL haven't explained certain mystifying facts, like just how he got to Mars in the first place, and why it is he doesn't age! Pweh.

Also read The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells. Seems a lot like a dark comedy at times. And even though he is a psycho, I find myself feeling very sorry for Griffin. Not for LOEG's Griffin, though, because that guy's a bastard. :P

Martians attacked at 06:25 p.m.! Where were you?

~

Saturday, July 20, 2002

Geh. I slept until 4. X____x I certainly didn't intend to. But it was raining the whole time, and the sun never came out appreciably. Before I knew it, whoops, it's 4 in the afternoon! Geh.

Martians attacked at 04:34 p.m.! Where were you?

~

Wednesday, July 17, 2002

Hm, haven't blogged for a few days. Let's see... last Sunday, I drew this on oekaki. Yes, too much Futurama for me. Monday I went to the comic store and stayed for a long time talking to a friend I hadn't seen in ages (hi Mahala! ^_^) Also purchased Princess Knight bilingual version vol. 2, and Toraware no Mi no Ue vol. 4. Also convinced Comic Store Girl to let me have another look at that Previews with the page from the upcoming LOEG. Was highly disturbed by a line in the blurb describing the characters which read "some will live, some will die". X___x

Tuesday, I got up early in the morning and went with Mom and Carlo to meet with the staff of the magazine my family runs. In the afternoon, I had to go to class. That night, I made two attempts at drawing Sandman on oekaki, but both were cruelly aborted by the fickle computer gods.

This morning, I had a bugger of a time trying to stay awake in class. I don't suppose dozing off is allowed in a class about dreams? Got home at eleven, changed, flomped onto the bed and slept until 3 in the afternoon. And then I ate lunch. XD MIB2 opened here today, but Carlo was too busy to go see it with me. He told me to go see it with Saki; but I was too sleepy, and figured we could just as well see it tomorrow. ^^ Instead of going to the movies, I stayed home and succeeded at drawing Dream on oekaki, hurray! And I just saw the last ten minutes or so of Gladiator on HBO, which is the best part of the movie really. And, uh... here I am. Time is linear, whee!

Martians attacked at 11:45 p.m.! Where were you?

~

Saturday, July 13, 2002

Well, finished War of the Worlds. Yeah, it's just like Independence Day in the sense that aliens are taking over the world, and the world seems to consist of only one country. I mean, the Martians crashed about seven of those big cylinder things into England, and nowhere else! And England's a teeny little island! They must have very good aim. XD

Seriously, though, it's a bit more realistic and introspective than Independence Day; but it seemed rather anticlimactic in the end. I mean, if the Martians were so vulnerable to common bacteria, then it's like they were never a real threat to humanity at all! One can only suppose that Alan Moore will make some twists in the plot when integrating it into League of Extraordinary Gentlemen v.2; otherwise, I can imagine something like the following happening around issue 6:
Quatermain: Damn it! These Martians are unstoppable! Jekyll, hurry up and turn into Hyde already.
Jekyll: I would do, except I've got this terrible cold... ah... HATCHOO!
(the Martians all drop dead)
Ms. Murray: Well done, Dr. Jekyll! You've just single-handedly saved England! Oh, and some other countries too, I suppose.
Jekyll: er... Hurray?

Martians attacked at 08:53 p.m.! Where were you?

~

Saturday, July 13, 2002

Ooh, I do like! *_* For some reason I find his hair especially cool, even though I usually think of Snape with longer hair. And as a matter of fact, fanartists pretending Peter never existed, or replacing him in the Marauders with Lily or even Snape(!), is one of my pet peeves. >_< It seems to me that the whole point and tragedy of Sirius, James, et. al was that they were betrayed by someone who was a close friend, not by some random acquaintance who they never really hung out with anyway.

And in other news, Carlo went to Virra Mall and bought himself a Lord of the Rings DVD. Even though the Lord of the Rings DVD isn't out yet. O__O Carlo's usually not the type to buy cheap bootleg DVDs, but this one apparently has Dolby Digital sound and menus and junk from the actual upcoming DVD. Too bad the picture's rather pixely. And it doesn't have the extra scenes! I wanted to see Gimli mooning over Galadriel. XD

Martians attacked at 05:59 p.m.! Where were you?

~

Thursday, July 11, 2002

This oekaki was inspired by my too-rapidly fading memory of that LOEG page in Previews. Started it late last night; spent the better part of this afternoon and early evening finishing it. Maybe I need a hobby. Oh wait; being an obsessive no-life dweeb is my hobby. XD

So I am currently reading War of the Worlds (at the same time as well as that thick-ass Philippine Centennial novel I have to read for class). It's kind of neat so far. And it's a lot like the Victorian England version of the movie Independence Day. XD

Martians attacked at 09:42 p.m.! Where were you?

~

Wednesday, July 10, 2002

Well, went to see the Powerpuff Girls movie today with Carlo and Saki and her two younger nieces. The verdict: it rocked. ^_^ The animation was sweet, the three girls were as darling as ever, and dammit, Professor Utonium was frigging adorable! It was a bit strange that they seemed to play up the X-Men-ish shunned superhero angst factor; but I thought the more "dramatic" bits were handled pretty well, without going against the spirit of the characters or becoming like a bad fanfic. I would go into my spiel here about how Mojo Jojo is motivated by the internal struggle between his craving for the acceptance of others and his drive to be superior to others... But I just remembered that this is the movie where a city is in mortal peril from hundreds of megalomaniacal, alliterative monkeys and "damn dirty apes". ^^;; And remember kids, the moral of the story is that when all else fails, violence is usually the best solution! And it will make you popular! ^__^

(As I have said before, the usual modus operandi of the Powerpuff Girls can be summed up in these immortal words from The Young Ones: "This calls for a strategic plan, of psychology and EXTREME VIOLENCE." Only, er, not so much the psychology. ^^)

On the way home after the movie (Saki came with us, her nieces went home) we stopped by the comic store. I bought God Child #3, because they didn't have #2. And the girl in the store (why don't I know their names yet?) showed me an issue of Previews which had a page from League of Extraordinary Gentlemen vol. 2 #1. ;______; Gah, it was gorgeous! It was a scene from chapters 3-5 of War of the Worlds, with the League standing around the crater just before the Martians come out and start zapping people. Miss Murray had a HAT and a WALKING STICK. Want this comic NOW! Must... travel... forward... in... time! @____@ Also, the store-girl-whose-name-I-don't-know showed me a great big LOEG promotional poster, which they'll hang up once the issue arrives. ...I wonder if I can buy it off them once they're done with it? XD

Martians attacked at 11:02 p.m.! Where were you?

~

Wednesday, July 10, 2002

Our poor dog Tochi died. It was a kidney problem, like her mother Sophia. But Tochi wasn't even old like Sophia. Sigh.

Martians attacked at 08:06 a.m.! Where were you?

~

Sunday, July 7, 2002

Hm. I think I liked Unbreakable even better the second time around. It's a much weirder movie, to be sure, than The Sixth Sense, and not nearly as accessible -- my Mom said it was confusing! I guess only geeks (like me) who think about things like hero/villain archetypes would really appreciate it. ^_^

Martians attacked at 11:03 p.m.! Where were you?

~

Sunday, July 7, 2002

Icarus Falls is updated! THE HORROR!

Gosh, it's been pouring rain practically non-stop all day and all night since Friday. And do you want to know where Carlo's been since Friday? That's right, the BEACH! The perfect place to wait out the monsoon. X___x

Martians attacked at 06:04 p.m.! Where were you?

~

Sunday, July 7, 2002

*downloads ten billion PPG movie promos from toonamiarsenal.com* Hey! That "in a world" promo has bits from Cream Puff Shuffle playing in the background -- the 2nd Japanese Powerpuff Girls OP! Hm.

To reiterate: I want to see the Powerpuff Girls movie NOW NOW NOW NOW. I probably shouldn't be downloading all these trailers beforehand, but... well, I am. Can't be helped. >:)

Martians attacked at 02:20 a.m.! Where were you?

~

Saturday, July 6, 2002

*glee-filled shriek* JILL freaking THOMPSON is doing a 192-page manga-style black and white Sandman book! Set during "Season of Mists", no less! *_____* (Go here and scroll down a bit to "DC's Vertigo Panel")

Martians attacked at 09:23 p.m.! Where were you?

~

Saturday, July 6, 2002

...I want to see the Powerpuff Girls movie NOW NOW NOW NOW. >__<

Martians attacked at 07:55 p.m.! Where were you?

~

Friday, July 5, 2002

Harry Potter and Leopard Walk Up to Dragon -- and I thought those mixed-up pirated Hong Kong LOTR DVDs were weird. O___o

Martians attacked at 04:26 p.m.! Where were you?

~

Friday, July 5, 2002

Ha! Yeah, the samurai guy -- how can one not love a samurai guy? ^_^ Enrique or Fernando, huh? I once saw an obscure English-dubbed version where all the characters' names were changed, and Goemon was just called "Samurai". ^^;;

Martians attacked at 02:48 p.m.! Where were you?

~

Thursday, July 4, 2002

Have been spending several hours reading through this Bad Astronomy site, which is really pretty interesting and IMO better written that the Bad Movie Physics site I visited a couple of weeks ago. The latter site, while it made some interesting observations, most of the time took the tone of snotty science geeks bitching about stuff in order to show how much smarter they are than the average moviegoer/maker. The Bad Astronomy site, on the other hand, seemed much less mean-spirited and more inclined to make allowances for artistic or dramatic license. Plus, stars and planets and stuff are always interesting, whereas for me high school Physics class was pretty much Free Doodle Time. :P (The links were found here and here, both from Mark Sachs. ^^)

Martians attacked at 11:05 p.m.! Where were you?

~

Thursday, July 4, 2002

Gyarr! Within the first nine pages of this thick-ass novel I have to read for class, I have already come across three words which I didn't know. This is quite an unusual occurrence. I flatter myself that I have a pretty good vocabulary, but I swear that never before in my life have I encountered the words "contrapuntal" or "coruscation". And "diluvial" isn't even in the damn dictionary! X____x

Martians attacked at 03:16 p.m.! Where were you?

~

Thursday, July 4, 2002

Hm. It's raining. I like the rain.

I wonder if I'm shallow for liking Goemon best in Lupin III? He is, after all, the prettiest one. Heck, from the way he's drawn in this Lupin III Y manga, I'd say he's practically fangirlbait, in the same capacity that Fujiko is fanboybait. It's not like I don't adore Lupin and Jigen; but Goemon is... *_*

Well. Those were two completely random thoughts.

Martians attacked at 02:52 p.m.! Where were you?

~

Monday, July 1, 2002

Well, I did it. I finally changed my blog layout. The new one isn't exactly the prettiest or most sophisticated layouting ever; but it's what I managed with my meager skills, and damn it, I like the colors and the image. (Well, I'd better, because knowing me they're going to be up here for another ten thousand years or so before I change the layout again. -_-)

In an unrelated story, this evening Mom and Carlo and I were having dinner at Italianni's, and at the table next to ours was a large family. Among their number was a middle-aged lady with short hair that had clearly once been a very bright shade of purple, but was now a sort of dusty lavender. Obviously an aging superheroine or magical girl. ^_^

Martians attacked at 11:34 p.m.! Where were you?

~

Monday, July 1, 2002

MUHUHAHAHAHAHA! MUHUHAHAHAHAHA! MUHUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! You didn't think I'd do it, did you? Thought I'd never change my blog layout, not in a million billion years? Well GUESS AGAIN! I'm a wild card, baby! A loose cannon! There's no telling what I'll do next!

...I think I'll go upstairs and take a bath! MUHUHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Martians attacked at 10:30 p.m.! Where were you?

~

Monday, July 1, 2002

La la la la la... Please stand by.

Martians attacked at 08:45 p.m.! Where were you?

~