Friday, September 27, 2002

Whoo, what a day. Had lunch with Carlo and our Lola at California Pizza Kitchen. While there, we happened to catch a glimpse of the ultimate evil herself, Imelda Marcos, at a corner table, resplendent in shocking pink Filipinana dress and mile-high hairdo. I swear, the woman is a supervillain; no one else could dress and act so ostentatiously EVIL. And like all the great supervillains, she has her own sad childhood story, some of which Lola related to us, and most of which I had taken up in History 166 last year. Sad childhood stories may make supervillains more believable, but not really any more sympathetic.

Then I headed on home, stopping by CCHQ, our friendly neighborhood comic store, on the way. I'd been planning this visit since yesterday, when they told me they were getting League of Extraordinary Gentlemen #3 on Friday afternoon. So there I was, all excited, until they told me that their shipment of American comics had been lost in Canada, and that they were hoping to recover it by Monday or Tuesday. I "ah, I see"'d and nodded my head, although inwardly I was gnashing my teeth and pulling out my hair. "Damn those Canadians and their wily ways!" I fumed. "Right now they're probably enjoying MY copies of LoEG#3, along with their hockey games and their reruns of Degrassi Jr. High! DAMN THEM!" I was filled with a deep and abiding hatred for all of humanity, particulary those portions of it that already had their copies of LoEG#3. To console myself, I bought another volume of Bleach, and another of Plus Anima.

Then I went home and phoned CATS in Virra Mall and they said they had League #3 now. So I headed back out to Virra Mall and picked up the last precious copy, and everything was right and beautiful in the world. While there, I also located and purchased a copy of Kingdom Hearts, which is to be a belated birthday present to Carlo, except that I'll probably end up playing it as well.

So anyway, League #3. Just as with the last issue, I read it while in the back seat of a traffic-bound car; and just as with last issue, there was a point at which I could only with great difficulty force myself to turn the page. In the last issue, it was the page where Mina was about to go in and talk to Hyde; but that wasn't apprehension, it was more of "First Martian heat-rays and now character development? My poor little heart can't take the excitement! *__*" But this issue it was more like in really scary movies where you start yelling at the characters, as in "NO MINA DON'T GO IN THERE! Run away, Mina, run away! Don't go in there no don't say 'are you there Griffin' because that will be his cue to come out and AAAAH WHAT ARE YOU DOING I TOLD YOU..." But she wouldn't listen. Stupid ink-on-paper people.

So anyway, let's review.

League 3. Griffin is soooo DEAD. If Hyde doesn't hand him his guts on a platter, I will. Well I would, except for the whole being-a-fictional-person thing. Dammit. All in all, a pretty fruitful day. And it's not over.

Martians attacked at 07:52 p.m.! Where were you?

~

Thursday, September 26, 2002

Erk, fallen behind... belated happy birthdays to Kell and to Elaine, and to Rei... Lot of birthdays in September, it seems. ^^

Chamber of Secrets pictures! ^^ "You are a fool, Potter! You will never defeat the invincible Jade Serpent technique of which I am the master!" "Only a master... of EVIL, Malfoy. Prepare to taste my Striking Justice!" X___x Meanwhile, Snape thinks, "Where did the bottom three feet of my cloak go?" And gyaaa! Tom Riddle looks like Young Hitler! O___O

Martians attacked at 06:59 p.m.! Where were you?

~

Tuesday, September 24, 2002

*listens to English Kingdom Hearts theme remix* Erm... at least I think it's English. ^^;;; Weird...

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

~

Tuesday, September 24, 2002

I feel as if a great weight has been lifted from my shoulders, both literally and figuratively. Figuratively, because after several months of worrying and a couple of days of frantic work, the oral report part of my Phil Lit seminar paper is done with, and won't have to be picked up again for another couple of weeks or so. And literally, because I woke up this morning with a terrible pain around my neck and shoulders, presumably from lying down and resting my head (only for a few minutes!) on the side of the couch the night before. My left shoulder still aches, and I can't really turn my head, but at least it's not as bad as it was when I got up this morning. >__<

Martians attacked at 04:31 p.m.! Where were you?

~

Friday, September 20, 2002

Waow. Lots of big junk going on, not the least of which would be HP Book 5 news straight from the horse's mouth, if that horse were named J.K. Rowling. ^__^ And, a quote from same horse which I find terribly amusing: "For my own mental health it's best not to go onto the internet and type in Harry Potter too often because it's scary!" Amen to that, ma'am. XD

Martians attacked at 11:31 p.m.! Where were you?

~

Friday, September 20, 2002

Aheheh... I know Mina isn't a vampire, but she sure looks like she's been sleeping in a coffin. ^___^ And Griffin is STILL drinking. He was drinking all night in the previous issue and now he's drinking again! O_o;; Hey everybody, let's get piss-drunk and sell Earth out to the Martians! It's fun! Nemo says, "Someone approaches from the direction of the common." Someone coming! Thanks, Indian Companion! And, a graphic representation of my wrath should LoEG #3 fail to be at the comic store next Saturday.

Martians attacked at 10:31 p.m.! Where were you?

~

Friday, September 20, 2002

Mom just walked in with a boxful of pastries made at Assumption, a prominent girls' school. The box is labeled "Assumption Tarts". X___x;;; A... rather unfortunate name, as I couldn't help but remark. My mom was amused, however.

This afternoon I went on a journey to the past, or rather, to the Ateneo library, to do research for the damn paper I have to present on Tuesday and haven't written yet. Gah, I miss Ateneo. ;____; Everything is familiar and within walking distance!

After that, I stopped by the friendly neighborhood comic store and picked up Plus Anima vol. 2 and Bleach vol. 1, having read and enjoyed bits of both series via Toriyamaworld. (And I had purchased Plus Anima vol. 1 last week. ^^) Also picked up some new local graphic novel called After Eden, which looked pretty, and anyway one must support local comics.

So as I was checking out, I casually asked the comic girl whose name I still don't know when the next LoEG issue was coming. She said, probably next month. "Next month?" I said. "NEXT MONTH?!! ARRRR! You scurvy dogs! I'll keelhaul the lot of you!" Okay, so I didn't actually say that, but if I had I might've fulfilled the quota of pirate-talking that I failed to fill yesterday. Instead, I (as casually as possible) expressed surprise that the issue was arriving here so late when it's coming out next week in the States. She said she'd check.

...If it's not here by next Saturday, somebody's keel's gonna get hauled

Martians attacked at 08:29 p.m.! Where were you?

~

Thursday, September 19, 2002

Whoops, I totally forgot that today is Talk Like A Pirate Day. Um... I mean... ARRRR!

Martians attacked at 04:00 p.m.! Where were you?

~

Thursday, September 19, 2002

Ehhh? Is this movie really Conan the Barbarian? So how come Red Sonja is the one doing all the cool heroic stuff, and Ahnuld's character is basically a glorified sidekick? *checks IMDB* ...oh, okay. It's actually the Red Sonja movie. Ahnuld's character isn't Conan. Ha! That kid is Ernie Reyes Jr.! ^o^

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

~

Wednesday, September 18, 2002

*watches Hellsing ep. 3* Keheheh. "We don't need Rome telling us what to do!" <--Sealab 2021 quote that seemed somehow appropriate. XD So far I think I'm liking this series more with each episode. ^^

Martians attacked at 06:15 p.m.! Where were you?

~

Tuesday, September 17, 2002

"I will teach you how to spread mustard on fame, mayo on glory, and even stick an olive-topped toothpick through DEATH!" XD It also kills me that the Professor McGonagall character is a freaking CAT in a hat.

Yes, exactly! I think that would be the coolest thing ever. ^__^ Satsuki could have herself a great big hulking Difference Engine underneath the Houses of Parliament or wherever... Karen could be all lacy and glamorous working as a "woman of ill-repute"... Aoki could work for a penny dreadful publisher... and Seishirou could give the Ripper a run for his money as most infamous killer of all time. ^^ And of course, the coats and hats! *___* Though I don't know if European cherry trees have sakura-like blossoms. ^^;;

Martians attacked at 04:16 p.m.! Where were you?

~

Monday, September 16, 2002

Icarus Falls was actually updated last night with a bunch of art thingies.

And today was a big deal for my Lola's writings getting inducted into the Ateneo Library of Women's Writings. We'd been planning the program for several months now. Costumes and makeup were involved. My nails are still painted red as I type this. Let's just say I was terrible and beautiful as the dawn, and all loved me and despaired. Saki, Gloria, and Des helped too. And then there was food afterwards. So all in all the thing seems to have been a smashing success. ^___^

Martians attacked at 11:32 p.m.! Where were you?

~

Sunday, September 15, 2002

No more Cadfael on Saturday night, no more Star Trek on Sunday night... ;__; What is showing now is that damned annoying Sherlock Holmes they have on the Hallmark channel. >____< He's so... ANNOYING. I can't really explain it. And his voice and accent remind me of the Blue Rajah from that movie Mystery Men. This guy is so not Sherlock Holmes... give me the Jeremey Brett Holmes any day. And what is this episode, anyway? "The Case of the Whitechapel Vampire"? Is that an actual Conan Doyle story, or is that one of those things like "Sherlock Holmes versus Dracula"? @___@

I've just had a sudden vision. An alternate universe X story set in Victorian England. They could call it... X/1899. ^o^ The characters all wear waistcoats and hats and corsets and go around fighting over prominent London landmarks... ^_______^ Considering my glee at the thought of London being destroyed by Dragons, you'd think I'd be a lot more eager to see Reign of Fire, but surprisingly... I'm not.

Martians attacked at 09:10 p.m.! Where were you?

~

Thursday, September 12, 2002

Oh good, I wasn't imagining it ^^ Even before this, people have been writing fanfics where Draco is just like Spike (i.e. witty leather-wearing bad boy who can be redeemed by the Power of LOOOOVE... 9.9); so I thought perhaps he was morphing into Spike in my head. ^^;;;

We have... more than ONE moon? @____o;;;; ...since when? Why doesn't anybody ever tell me these things?

Martians attacked at 07:17 p.m.! Where were you?

~

Thursday, September 12, 2002

So yesterday while the TV and newspapers and everyone else was commemorating the 9-11 attacks, we were celebrating my brother's birthday. Poor Carlo; first he has to share a birthday with ex-dictator Ferdinand Marcos, and now his birthday is universally known as the date of a major catastrophe that killed thousands.

But anyway. He brought barbecue and chicken and foodstuff to work and celebrated there. They brought out a cake and everything. And then that evening he and Des and Mom and I went to Italianni's for dinner -- except that I had forgotten that we were going to do that, and so had eaten pancakes at Country Waffles with my Lola just prior. Oh well. Was fun.

Oh, and last Sunday at family lunch Carlo received a new phone from our Tito Kaiku. It's the kind with the big color screen and built-in camera. O_____O So he's very pleased with that, and in the meantime I get a "new" hand-me-down phone -- Carlo's old one. ^^ It's mostly an improvement over my former phone, except that the poor thing's a bit sickly and has a habit of dying in the middle of calls. ^^;;;;

Martians attacked at 05:56 p.m.! Where were you?

~

Sunday, September 8, 2002

The sorting! And the introduction of the Snape-like character! Yes, it's official, Sluggy is my favorite webcomic of all time. ^__^

Martians attacked at 05:24 p.m.! Where were you?

~

Saturday, September 7, 2002

More fun stuff from Neil Gaiman's blog -- Fake weblogs of famous writers! Edward Gorey considers changing his name to "Lemony Snicket", and seems to have some deep-set grudge against Richard Scarry. XD

Let me tell you a story. Last night or rather this morning around 4 AM, I was just getting ready for bed, when I entered my room and came face to face with a huge cockroach. Now, I'm aware that a lot of people have a particular kind of creature which terrifies them. Me, I love snakes, frogs, lizards, spiders, etc... but cockroaches turn my stomach and make my blood run cold. I'd never even killed one before, seeing as killing one would entail going near one. But there it was, defiling the sacred space of my room; if I left it alone, there was no telling what vile things it would do as I slept, before the cats got to it. X___x I had no choice; it had to be killed, and I had to be the one to do it.

I put on one of my old old sneakers -- the ones which were recently replaced by the pair I bought in Australia. I stared the creature down for several minutes, trying to work up the nerve to strike, before I finally stomped down. I stood there for several minutes more, terrified lest the bug was still alive and scrambling to escape. Finally, gingerly, I lifted my foot. All was still.

Then the cockroach went *twitch*.

With a bloodcurdling yell, I stomped back down on it with all my might. When I was done with it, the cockroach was quite decidedly dead, and was hurriedly flushed down the toilet with a large quantity of tissue. Then I washed my hands about five times.

And there you have the rousing account of my first cockroach kill! H.R. Haggard, eat your heart out! Say, if they make elephant guns, why not cockroach guns? I'd buy one.

Martians attacked at 03:56 p.m.! Where were you?

~

Saturday, September 7, 2002

So I find myself surfing Harry Potter fanart sites again, and... WOOHOO! Fight! Fight! Fight! Okay, that was completely pointless, sorry.

Martians attacked at 01:46 a.m.! Where were you?

~

Friday, September 6, 2002

Good gravy! Pictures pictures pictures! Ron is actually taller than Harry, yay! Hermione will kill you all in your sleep! Malfoy the Younger is looking more and more like Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer! Malfoy the Elder still looks like a nitwit! Ginny is a cute, gawky little thing. And just as I imagined him, Tom Riddle has a dork-boy haircut! (Cool bishounenized Japanese fanart be damned -- a guy with blood-red eyes and hair like that could never fool anyone into believing he was anything BUT an evil overlord in the making. ^^)

Uh... so where are all the cool new pictures of Snape, then?

Martians attacked at 09:15 p.m.! Where were you?

~

Friday, September 6, 2002

Ooh! Pages from LoEG #3!
Nemo: "Haha! English people suck! And have I mentioned that English people suck?"
Quatermain: "I think you may have mentioned it, yeah."

And you know that Jekyll won't be seen much in this volume when Hyde gets fitted with his own plus-size suit. @__@

Martians attacked at 07:35 p.m.! Where were you?

~

Friday, September 6, 2002

Last night I went along to pick Mom up at the airport. It was kinda fun having the house to ourselves the past two weeks, but I just wish Mom didn't have to go places like Afghanistan. She said there were bombs while she was there. X____x

And then today all three of us went on a Duty-Free shopping orgy. Bought mass quantities of various chocolates and wines and groceries, and you don't even want to imagine how much Spam we bought. @____@ Also, I found EASY MAC! I haven't had Easy Mac since we were in the States. Whoever had the idea of packaging Macaroni and Cheese in microwaveable individual servings was a genius! How come they don't have that kind of stuff around here? (Of course, while we were living in the States I never stopped complaining that they didn't have instant cup yakisoba. ^^;;)

By the time we were done with that, it was almost 3 and we hadn't had lunch. We gorged ourselves with salad, pasta and pizza at California Pizza Kitchen. And now I have no idea how I'm going to eat dinner. _o_

Martians attacked at 07:05 p.m.! Where were you?

~

Thursday, September 5, 2002

*watches Saiyuki 2nd OP* ...I like it, but it does resemble a boy band video in parts, and that seems wrong somehow. ^^;;

Martians attacked at 06:46 p.m.! Where were you?

~

Thursday, September 5, 2002

I think I may be losing my ability to distinguish between bizarre reality and brilliant parody. For instance, here is the STOP Alien Abductions website. O__o This looks like the kind of thing that would be put together by someone named "Dr. Bimbu". (<--Signs movie reference) They even mention that earlier versions of the "thought-screening helmets" were made from aluminum foil.

For another instance, from Neil Gaiman's weblog: The Nimbus 2000 on Amazon.com. Read the customer reviews carefully. T____T Once again, I ask: is this for real?

Martians attacked at 03:22 p.m.! Where were you?

~

Wednesday, September 4, 2002

Thanks ^_^ And yes, it does look as if those pesky Nazis are attacking 40 years early. -_-;; I haven't seen La Femme Nikita or anything with Peta Wilson, but I can only hope that she does okay.

This looks nice enough, but I have to wonder if anyone could actually wear it in real life without looking like a complete idiot. ^^;;

Last night we went and saw Ring 1 & 2 back-to-back at the Greenbelt theater. It was certainly creepy, with a huge number of plot elements and complications that weren't explained by the end. Too bad it was the last night for the showings, or we could have caught Ring 0 to see if it cleared anything up. Can't imagine what Dreamworks is going to do with the American remake. O__o

Martians attacked at 09:40 p.m.! Where were you?

~

Monday, September 2, 2002

Farscape is not on. Instead, it is Earth: Final Conflict. Farscape ended (the season) last week. Farscape will not be on again for a long, long time.

...and even when it comes back, the pretty blue lady will still be DEAD!

Which reminds me, somebody e-mailed me awhile back asking me to draw a fanart of that blue lady. I'd better get cracking on it already. Damn, I think the internet has well and truly sucked my brain dry. I haven't drawn anything for ages. I haven't even CG'd or oekaki'd. Maybe tonight I should turn off the damn computer and draw something, eh?

...Well, it sounds good in theory, anyway.

Martians attacked at 09:10 p.m.! Where were you?

~

Monday, September 2, 2002

*watches Ayashi no Ceres on TV* That was the Shuro episode? That had to be the most abysmally paced anime episode ever, outside of Dragon Ball Z. I thought I was going to fall asleep for all the awkward pauses and three-frame animation. Their budget must have really gone down the drain towards the end of the series. -___-;; Poor old Shuro, anyhow. Relegated to being an interminably minor character in the anime, only appearing in a totally crappy episode.

Martians attacked at 07:52 p.m.! Where were you?

~

Monday, September 2, 2002

My LoEG page is updated. And...

...The depths of my evil cannot be measured. >:D

Martians attacked at 06:47 p.m.! Where were you?

~

Monday, September 2, 2002

I knew I shouldn't have spoken so soon about it being a good day. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, a.k.a. STREET FIGHTER: THE MOVIE!!! X___x

Must reassure self that candid photos of costumed actors not indicative of look of final movie. Must reassure self that actual movie will look better. Hey, I bet the Lord of the Rings people looked like complete idiots on the set! (...it's not working... -__-)

Well, okay, Quatermain looks good. But he's Sean freaking Connery, so duh.

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

~

Monday, September 2, 2002

Holy poop! Elaine Fair's new page is up! *_____* Art... bewitching... mind... ensnaring... senses... go! Go now! GO, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, BEFORE IT'S TOO LAAAAATE~

...Oh yeah, and Saki updated a couple of days ago with a Black Jack picture which she drew for ME ME ME. *_____*

Hm, this is a pretty good day so far.

Martians attacked at 02:34 p.m.! Where were you?

~

Monday, September 2, 2002

EEEEE! Harry Potter parody at Sluggy Freelance! If he's really going to do a whole story arc of this, I am officially declaring Sluggy my favorite webcomic of all time. *___*

Martians attacked at 02:15 p.m.! Where were you?

~

Sunday, September 1, 2002

Yes, I finally got the new LoEG issue! And I was so paralyzed by glee that I had to wait almost twelve hours before I could put together a coherent enough sentence to post about it here! Or, perhaps I was waiting 'till after midnight so that my diseased ravings on the subject would not be archived away with the August entries. You decide. >:D

As with last issue, very little by way of actual plot-moving events. The League spend pretty much the entire issue sitting around having heart-to-heart chats, and God help me, I love it. ^o^ Miss Murray calls Bond a "vile jelly" (O___o?), Quatermain and Nemo play dumb matchstick games, Hyde goes all mooshy, and Griffin draws helpful diagrams! I was a bit iffy before about Griffin turning out to be the big traitor of this volume, since it seemed so... predictable. But the way it happened in this issue made me laugh out loud like a lunatic, so I guess they pulled it off. ^^;;

The text Almanac part was good too. Lots of fairy tale and Greek mythology references which I got; and the much-anticipated (by me, anyway) account of Mina revisiting Dracula's castle. Plus, Mina versus the League of Extraordinary Frenchmen! That I have got to see. XD

Martians attacked at 01:26 a.m.! Where were you?

~

E-mail: daedalus@icarusfalls.com

Website: Icarus Falls

Age: 21

Location: Manila, Philippines

Material Desires: see here

How Many Roads Must A Man Walk Down?: 42

FAQ:

Q: What the heck is that?

A: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is a cool steampunk-ish comic series by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill which has several prominent literary characters banding together to form a Victorian-era superhero team. Aside from the principal characters, the series also contains cameos and references to just about every bit of fiction ever written in the Victorian era. This layout features the cover from Volume 2, issue 3 of the series. And now that I've finally read the issue in question... LOOK OUT, MINA! Don't run into any invisible and brutally violent psycopaths plotting to sell England out to the Martians! Oh God... X____x

Q: No, I mean this thing. What is it?

A: Oh. Well, it's my weblog. I write junk in it.

Q: No, THIS thing!

A: What, that? That's a walrus. Careful, they're very territorial.

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