book seven spoiler...not!

just remembered the silly joke lessons from"Borat". this shirt is black...not! anyway just felt like posting an email excerpt i sent last night to the tomadores egroup regarding book seven:

here's the ending: megatron joined forces with voldemort because it was revealed that the source of the magical powers of the wizards and witches was the all-spark of cybertron. with the autobots destroyed, megatron knew these wizards and witches were a threat. it was also revealed that ron and hermione were actually harry potter's parents, james and lily. they were taking polyjuice potion all these years to guard harry. this angered harry so he killed everyone then committed suicide because he realized everything he knew was a lie (how did he kill everyone? well, i wont spoil that one, just read it yourself, you can buy it for P1305 on some bookstores, some sell it for P1450). but what harry didnt know was that voldemort watched dragonball while he was awaiting full recovery and learned how to produce a child by way of an egg and did so before harry killed everyone. so, the magic continues. this is why there wont be a book eight because all of them died. as for the egg, rowling might make a new series out of it. it wasnt revealed what the egg contains or whether voldemort was successful in this alien method of reproduction (since voldemort isnt an alien he used one of his nuts as an egg to bear his child. gross i know, but hey, rowling wanted to be bold on this last book. she's really vulgar this time. here, harry called bellatrix lestrange you-know-who's whore that sucks a lot of you-know-whats and get its in her you-know-where). it was also revealed that something was up Snape's ass thats why he's always grumpy and for some reason, harry's scar made him aware of it, hence Snape's mean attitude toward potter. i think snape had a lightning bolt scar in his ass that causes him great pain whenever he's near harry.

i wonder if potter fans would be offended with what i wrote? i mean, it is possible there are those fans who worship the books and the characters to the point anything written that's defamatory or slanderous would want to kill me on sight. im a fan too, obviously, based from the entries below but cmon, lighten up.

another one of them harry potter entries

ive finally completed the seven Harry Potter books! completed them last saturday but finished reading book seven this afternoon, sunday, 1:43pm. still having a bit of some kind of "withdrawal syndrome" since finishing book seven meant no more harry potter books to look forward to. that harry potter's story has come to an end. anyway, the past two weeks had been a bit interesting because i finished 3 potter books in this 2 weeks and watched the fifth movie twice. and thats not because of being some "potterhead". it just so happened that i had to read book 5 first before seeing the movie, so i finished it around 3am of july 11, hours before the movie was released (started reading it around july 9, but ive read the first half already months earlier so, technically, its 2 potter books and a half, since i was halfway through and i dont know why i stopped reading months before). and after seeing the movie last july 11 around 2:30pm, having an unread book 6 (a gift from college blockmates), i decided to read it just because my liking for the series was restored. it took me a couple of days to read it and finished it on july 15, 12:47am. after a week, went to see the fifth movie again with my siblings, which coincided with the day the seventh book was released. i was tempted to buy it, which i did and read it that night. finished the book the following day at 1:43pm. i usually read the books in one sitting (books 5 and 6 were exceptions and a bit of book 7 since i had to sleep a little...read until 4am, continued around 9am). if i was in my old and real "harry potter fan" mode, i would have indulged more (looked for potter merchandise and goodies in malls, spent hours on the net for harry potter stuff, probably rented DVDs of the earlier movies). but i cant do that now im in law school, there's really no time to waste. and i thought that i might have outgrown it. well, i have but only a little bit.

focusing on book seven, The Deathly Hallows is really brilliant. its a good final installment. its really filled with what most readers probably hoped for. though there are questions that remain unanswered, they're really minor stuff (really minor) and another book would never be needed to fill these things in (i dont even think the questions are enough to make a book out of it). i was hoping that the book could have been longer but its length is good enough that it doesnt appear to be something condensed. i would have wanted 300 pages more and a longer (because i didnt want it to end) and a more encompassing epilogue but thats asking too much and might ruin the fact that its the last book. i mean, JK Rowling cant answer everything for the readers or fill everything in. somehow, i think, that a sense of longing should remain to intensify the impact of the final installment but at the same time wont disappoint the readers for leaving out too much stuff that could make it insufficient to bring things to a close. book seven is much different from the first 6 because it really doesnt take place in Hogwarts and i think this is the most action-filled, also character-filled (in terms of significant roles), of all the books. the book doesnt also fail to take into consideration the necessary details. though there was a portion that got a bit monotonous, the book remained to be an enjoyable read all through out.

after finishing it, i sort of experienced some sort of "withdrawal syndrome" right after (still experiencing a bit of it now). after all these years, ive finally completed it. now what? its always been a problem when collecting stuff that are...well, easy to collect or something thats limited. it took years to finally get to book seven and now that im done reading it, and once the thought that the story has ended has sunk in and no more stories of potter and his friends to eagerly look forward to, its just a bit hard to really think that you finally need to say goodbye to the characters and their magical world. ive never been much of a "fanstasy" reader, always had been someone to go for "sci-fi" books, harry potter was one of the exceptions (i like Studio Ghibli films..but then again, thats not a book). back then, i didnt expect i was going to like such a book, and ive never really heard about it until i got book 2 of the series as a gift years ago, most likely christmas of 2000, if not the year earlier. and from there i got hooked and after all these years, its has come to an end. well, there's always reading all seven books again, but thats not the same as reading a new installment. there's two more movies but after the fifth one, i just hope David Yates makes a film close to the 3rd or 4th for The Half-Blood Prince (i know people liked what Yates did but unfortunately, im not a fan of the fifth movie or maybe i had high expectations after the 4th movie). and whoever is going to direct the seventh and final Harry Potter film, he or she better make it as the best of all the Potter films. demanding git aint i?

potter-filled saturday

it was saturday and i was planning to watch Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix...again. though i didnt really like it (compared to the other harry potter movies), i watched it again because ive always seen the harry potter movies with my siblings. and since i always accompany them to watch movies, i watched the fifth potter movie again. anyway, i woke up around 8am and told my siblings we were going to leave around 9am, thinking that there might still be long lines for movie tickets for such film so we had to be there early (also, recently, ive always watched movies on its early screenings for the day, if not the first). i know its been more than a week since the movie was released so there might be no lines but i based my assumption for the possibility of long lines after seeing the IMAX cinema on MoA has already sold out tickets for the second weekend. anyway, while waiting for my siblings to get ready, i picked up the Inquirer and read that the seventh book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was going to come out that same day, 7:01am. i was a bit surprised. i knew it was end of july but i didnt know the exact date and time. i realized i havent been much of a fan of the book lately. anyway, we reached Trinoma a little past 9:30am and since book seven was released hours earlier, Power Books was already open and there i had my first glimpse of the last installment of the Harry Potter series. at that time, i had no plans of buying one since i wasnt expecting it to be available already nor had i the money to buy it. the plan for the day was watch the movie.

10am came, and there wasnt much a line on the ticket booth (though the long line started after lunch, so my assumption is a bit correct and being early wasnt much of a waste). after watching it, my siblings had the same sentiment, it wasnt as good as the previous ones and probably their least favorite of the five harry potter films. they never read the books and they said they never really understood what was going on. this confirmed what i thought previously, that non-readers wont be able to digest what's happening. the scene transitions are a bit disjointed and its really hard to follow where the movie is going (like ive said before, its like a 2 hour extended trailer). but i did enjoy it more the second time i saw the movie. this is probably because of lowered expectations. so now, i could say, the movie wasnt that bad but its still my least favorite harry potter film. but book 5 is much better than book 1 and 2 (havent decided yet which i liked most among books 3, 4 and 5). after seeing the movie, we went to National Bookstore and saw more of them Harry Potter books. i just felt i had to buy it. i was thinking if not now, when? i didnt buy book 5 immediately and at that moment i still didnt have book 5 and there's book 7 right in front me which completes the Harry Potter series. i wont be able to stand hearing other people telling that they've read book 7. and i hate hearing and reading spoilers (though i am someone who writes and tells spoilers, but i do warn people). anyway, after minutes of contemplation, i decided im going to buy the book and since i didnt have money for it (because i didnt really plan on buying the book for i didnt know its exact release date so i wasnt able to save up for it), i borrowed some money from my sister. we bought the one being sold in National Bookstore Trinoma (because we found out that the prices werent the same: NBS Trinoma and Fully Booked: P1305; Power Books and NBS SM North: P1450...i think). Then when we got to NBS SM North, we found that Book 5 (Order of the Phoenix) was available, and there, again, i started to do some thinking whether to buy it too or not (its been very hard to buy one since whenever i had the money to buy it, it was always out of stock, and has always been, most of the time out of stock, so at the moment i was thinking its like a "now or never" situation). Eventually, i decided i had to buy it to complete my collection of the seven Harry Potter books. again, borrowed money from my sister and also my brother, because it was really an unplanned thing to buy the books. Book5 was only available in NBS SM North and Fully Booked and NBS was much cheaper (NBS SM North:P849, Fully Booked: P1300 plus). so thats my harry potter filled saturday.

what is beautiful?

what is beautiful? well, beautiful is defined as having qualities that delight the senses, especially the sense of sight. if that's the definition, then its something that is visually wonderful.

what then is gorgeous? Gorgeous is defined as "dazzlingly beautiful or magnificent".

so, why the crap am i defining these words? well, obviously because i want to post some pics which are good examples of such words. who then could be an example of these two words? well, im thinking of the "world's most beautiful news reporter" (as voted in 2006 in the Daily Express), Melissa Theuriau as the perfect example...at this moment. just look at her pic below to see an example of what is beautiful and gorgeous.

so, is this also good example of res ipsa loquitur as a literal translation, without referring to the doctrine to which its legal term connotes? i mean, the latin maxim is used in Tort law and obviously there is no negligence involved here, but only a picture of a very wonderful looking female of the human species. point is, the latin phrase means "the thing speaks for itself". why the hell did i resort to using the latin maxim when i could have just said the literal english translation? well, not because it has something to do with being a law student. its far from that. the reason is not even law related. its more of a "subliminal message" for future purposes. so if ever i read this entry again after lets say...ummm...3 years or 5 years, remember, res ipse loquitur.

anyway, the people in France (meaning those who get to watch her) are very goddamn lucky to have such a reporter that has the word "beautiful" as her perfect description. Watching the news must be a wonderful experience for them. unfortunately, there isnt much pics of her that's available for people who couldnt watch her on tv (like me!). well, there are vid caps of her while she's doing the news. and also there's YouTube. but that's not the same as seeing her on your own TV and knowing that she's the one reporting your news ( i mean, there's YouTube but you cant understand what she's saying. but French is a nice sounding language). from the word beautiful, lets move to the word "hot"? why? obviously, im not done yet with posting pics of beautiful girls. or pics of hot celebs. i mean, the words "beautiful" and "hot" are two separate and distinct words. the word "sexy" also has a different meaning. anyway, what is "hot"? do i still need to define it? lets just go directly to the pics that serve as good examples. at this moment, a good example of a sizzling hot celeb is Transformers movie hottie, Megan Fox. ive noticed her in the movie "Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen" and its nice to see she's hotter now than she was back then. and its nice that she didnt end up like lindsay lohan.

height is might. yeah right

being tall isnt always good. the stuff and environment we have isnt really "height friendly" or at least "tall friendly" (if there could be such a thing). i remembered this thought because i boarded a tricycle two days ago where i hit my left knee on the tricycles cd player (which is a cd-rom drive). and ive mentioned this in this blog before, its really uncomfortable to ride in a tricycle because i always hit my head while its running on bumpy roads. thats understandable because tricycles arent usually designed to accomodate 6 foot tall people. the same thing is true for jeepneys where ive learned to bow my head whenever there's a road hump. its become an automatic thing, a reflex of sorts. its also hard to ride in front because most of the time, my legs would fit perfectly, with no more room to really move my legs. sometimes, my legs wont even fit, so i have to lean a little to the side. and as for riding "sabit" on the jeepney's estribo, thats also hard because i have to bend more. its a "back-achin" experience. but even if that's the case i still like to commute. i enjoy it, and regard it as something like a science, where i calculate and approximate the time needed to reach the point of destination.

going back to a non-height friendly environment, back then, when i wasnt used to the height ive reached, i always hit my head. be it a sign post, a pipe, a doorway, etc. also, i felt a bit paranoid because whenever i go to malls or crowded places, people always look at me. why? because i stand out. not that they were amazed or watching me or something. its just that, its easy to see a tall guy among people of average heights. its like the "sticking out like a sore thumb" thing. good thing that through the years, the number of tall people have increased compared to the late 90s. i mean, people from lower batches in school are taller than the older batches. this isnt fact of couse but just mere observation where i noticed in school that more tall people come from the younger generations. so is this like an evolutionary thing? like, in the next few years the average height has increased? well, i dont care that much. im not one of those who really think tallness matters a lot. or tallness is some sort of superiority. to a certain and limited extent it is, but it does not follow its better to be tall. there are some perks and advantages but there are disadvantages as well, like what i said in this entry. the environment we have is not "height friendly". also, they say tall people have lower life spans. ok, add that to the fact that im left-handed which also lowers the life span and also is a problem because the environment is also not lefty friendly. going back to the height thing, sometimes i forget that im tall and what makes me realize it is the adjusting i have to do to the environment we live in. but some would probably say, the disadvantages are minor things, as opposed to the advantages. what exactly are the advantages? well, if that's true, maybe i just complain a lot.

alcohol...nuff said

To alcohol...the CAUSE...and SOLUTION...to all of life's problems
--- Homer Jay Simpson

Alcohol only causes problems if you dont know how to drink. anyway, a friend once said to me, what's the point of drinking if you wont get intoxicated. it runs against the purpose of drinking alcohol when you will not drink to the point of intoxication. another friend also said that one bottle of beer is bad for your health, implying that a person should drink at least two. others say that a person should not drink alone, unless one is watching tv or to quench a thirst while eating something. point is, alcohol is not meant to be drank alone or its meant to be enjoyed. if one drinks just to drown one's sorrows or problems, then at least have some company to enjoy it with.

why do i drink? well, because i enjoy it. and i only drink when im not worried or bothered by something. but if i am burdened by something, i make sure i drink not because of such. why? because i might get used to the idea that i should drink whenever i have problems, and knowing myself, i have the tendency to abuse or indulge in stuff, like alcohol. so, i always make sure that whenever i drink, its because i want to enjoy its intoxicating effect, and most of the time, i enjoy it in the company of good friends.

focusing on the intoxication part, aside from the fact that it loosens up a person, it has this "mind clearing" effect on me. usually, my mind is cluttered with stuff and thats why i easily get confused. im always thinking of a lot of a things, including non-sensical ones (or maybe usually non-sensical ones). but once i get intoxicated, i start to think only of what's right in front of me and nothing else. i dont worry or think about anything else except what im doing at the moment. i more focused on the conversations and interactions i have during drinking sessions. my mind isnt elsewhere as it usually is, its right where it should be, attention focused on the people im drinking with. so, some people might say im a "better" person when drinking. i worry less, my mind doesnt fly to some other place and well, i talk. actually, thats why i talk, my mind isnt occupied.

wallpaper addict

one thing i like to do on my spare time is collect desktop wallpapers. why? i dont know, i just like to collect them. i even remember my very first desktop wallpaper. the moment we had our very own PC (which was back in 1998), i knew what my desktop background would be. it was the skull picture i saw on my cousin's PC. it was just a small skull image probably not more than 25kb. so i grabbed a diskette, copied it, and loaded it on my PC. then i tiled it as my desktop background. anyway, that's not the reason why i started collecting desktop wallpapers. i dont recall when i exactly started but it was sometime during college. and the wallpaper software i use is webshots. i think this has been the wallpaper software ive used way back in highschool (cant recall exactly). i think it was because of webshots i started collecting desktop wallpapers because its website offers a lot of good nature and scenic wallpapers. these were the wallpapers i started collecting. over time, i started to look for other wallpapers, based on my varying interest. and over time, i focused less on nature and scenic wallpapers (ive lost the early ones because my PC crashed) and moved to movie wallpapers, and then moved to hot celebrities (females of course). and at this moment, i have 7286 wallpapers and counting! ok. what the crap am i going to do with thousands of wallpapers? nothing except look at it (the desktop wallpaper automatically changes every 15 mins and could be used as a screensaver). i mean, its a wallpaper after all. maybe start a wallpaper site or something? i dont know. maybe i just have this thing for collecting stuff. when i was a kid, i used to collect cards and comic books. why did i stop collecting comic books? tragic thing actually. lost the entire collection, sometime during my sophomore year in highschool. its really something that pisses me off until now. from comic books, i started collecting skull figurines and other merchandise. it wasnt much of a collection compared to my comic books but its still a form of collecting. from there, i tried collecting pins, but that didnt kick off. so i settled with collecting wallpapers. aside from its free and easy, i really like to look at desktop wallpapers sometimes. its like appreciating a nice picture, especially when its a picture of a sizzling hot and uber sexy celebrity.

7286 wallpapers:

5209 sexy celeb wallpapers (giselle bundchen - 99, jennifer lamiraqui - 110, jessica alba - 105, kelly brook - 105, liv tyler - 108, monica belluci - 95)
1117 movie wallpapers (ghost rider - 30, xmen - 35, LOTR - 38, underworld - 37, spiderman - 32
255 3D wallpapers
249 anime wallpapers (Full Metal Alchemist - 51, Samurai X - 65)
176 music wallpapers (beatles - 16, metallica - 17
97 nature wallpapers
36 automobile wallpapers
32 tv show wallpapers

the future of movies/film?

now that they can make a transformers movie that's so realistic with such amazing special effects and sound effects, what's next for the movie/film industry? i mean, it started with silent films, then moved to films with sound, then from black and white, then came films in color.

animation now comes in 3D format. and with the recent transformers movie, the level of special effects was astonishing. but that made me think, what could be the next best thing? i mean, what more do cinemas have to offer aside from what it has accomplished right now. not that im not happy with it, im actually excited what kind of movies they could do under the same level of entertainment the transformers movie was able to bring. of course a good plot/story will never go out of fashion or something like that, but a movie shown in cinemas must have something so people would prefer to watch them on cinemas and not in the comfort of their homes with their big screen LCD TVs or HDTVs (not that we have one, but it seems eventually, these television screen types will replace the CRT ones. point is, if you have a home theater, a movie should be able to have something aside from release date so people would rather watch them in cinemas). over time, a transformers type of movie would eventually become a norm like 3D animation (that's why its amusing The Simpsons movie proudly states its shown in 2D, and its like an acknowledgement that 3D animation has become the standard or at least the next step in animated movies and going for 2D is like reverting back or taking one step backward in the progression of movies/films). so, what's next for the movie/film industry? not that the special effects cant go any further or that we have seen everything film has to offer but im just wondering if IMAX 3D would be the next step. im not sure about it if film is heading that way but as of now, having movie in 3D is very appealing. the quality of IMAX film is better but having it on IMAX 3D is a step further. let me clarify, im not saying IMAX 3D is the next best thing, what im trying to say is having a movie in 3D is a probable step and only IMAX, as far as i know, offers that. maybe 3D could be taken a step further than what IMAX 3D currently offers. i dont know. i watch movies often, sometimes as often as every week. and sometimes the only reason i watch them is because they're not available on video. that's why i started to ask what could be the film industry's next step so people would still watch movies in movie theatres or cinemas.

Best Summer Movie You Haven't Seen Yet

june 28 was a good day. i was supposed to have three classes that day but the two were cancelled. so it left me with one class. not bad. but that's not the best part. the best part is, i was able to watch Transformers on its release date! i thought i had to wait til friday before i could watch the supposed Best Summer Movie You Havent' Seen Yet. good thing mam avena didnt have class that day because if she did, i would have stayed in school until around 630pm. i could still watch the last full show but since i had no idea if the movie was good or not, i would rather watch it the following day. but that wasnt the case, i was free to go to the mall by 430pm! but i was still unsure if i should watch it since i always watch movies on its first screening for the day. but jump was already ready to watch it and somehow he infected me with his anticipation and excitement for the movie. so, i tagged along and watched it. and after seeing it, holy shit, its fucking good. no, its fucking awesome! there's really more than meets the eye. they did a good job in promoting the movie, because not only did they arouse the interest of the would-be watchers (they made sure we dont get a good look on how the autobots and decepticons look like), they didnt show the best parts in the trailers. the trailer wont even give you an idea how good the movie is. after stepping out of the cinema, i mentioned to jump, "kaya na nila gumawa ng ganitong transformers movie?". i never thought they could pull-off a transformers movie this good. i cant imagine at this moment what they can do with this level of special effects.

when i got home, i just felt i needed to replace the background picture on my multiply site. my former picture was composed of wolverine, ghost rider and venom and i did that after watching spiderman 3 which reminded me of my love for marvel comics and its characters. but after seeing Transformers, shit, i wished marvel movies were this good. also, i just had to make a Transformers background picture. so i started looking for pics the autobots and decepticons of the live-action film.

then came the day after. i had a 9am class. i found it hard to concentrate because i was singing the transformers tv theme in my head and my mind kept thinking of the nice scenes in the movie. i just have to watch it again. so i did, this time with my brother. its not as awesome as the first time but still its nice to watch the eye-popping scenes again.

like i said in my reply on sheryl's multiply site, its hard not to love a movie this good. but i know some people who wouldnt like it. so what would make a person not like this movie? well, if he or she is someone who hates cars and robots and cars transforming into robots and vice versa and do not appreciate special effects and sound effects, and not interested in kick-ass fight scenes, then this movie would be a very big bore. some people find it idiotic to watch a movie that's not realistic or not grounded on reality. they prefer to watch something that happens in real life. well, that's his or her opinion and its hard for me to understand that (but i tried to understand it nonetheless) because ive always thought the reason people watch movies was because they wanted to take a break from reality. if i wanted to watch something real or something that happens in the real world, i would watch a documentary. anyway, going back to transformers, its great, its awesome, its (ive said this so many times) mind blowing! but its not perfect, almost, but not quite.

first, the megatron live-action film look is ok, but i would have loved it if they used the G1 Megatron look. also, i was expecting the old starscream voice but, like i said, what they did in the movie is ok.

second, they didnt introduce the decepticons that well. its fine they had "surprise" decepticons like brawl and bonecrusher but it could, probably, have been better if they gave more information on starscream's and another decepticon's personalities (barricade perhaps?). starscream didnt seem like megatron's second in command or showed his ambitious side (maybe they intend to show this on the sequel). correct me if im wrong but i think scorponok didnt report when frenzy alerted the decepticons. he wasnt in the final battle. i thought he was with blackout, but blackout came and well, scorponok was not in sight. also, when bumblee had his legs crushed, i think jazz remained in his car form and didnt even react or do something to help bumblebee.

third, its hard to tell who's who on the fight scenes. or at least try to see what's happening. sometimes its just looks like two big heaps of metal rolling around. the slow motions were helpful but of course they cant use it in every fight scene.

fourth, it would have been better if they started with a face-off type of battle where all of them arriving on the battle scene on their alternate forms then transforming into their robot forms. i mean, by the final battle, it was already five on five. optimus prime, jazz, ratchett, ironhide, and bumblebee vs. megatron, brawl, barricade, blackout and starscream. bonecrusher was out of the equation since optimus prime decapitated him even before they reached the "battlezone". frenzy remained in the hoover dam headquarters and scorponok didnt go with the other decepticons. ok, maybe this was what i was expecting, the autobots squaring off with the decepticons, before they do the fight scenes they did in the movie. but what they did wasnt that bad.

dont get me wrong, i love this movie. its more than what i expected. it had a good balance of staying true to the 80s cartoon and adapting it to modern times. the special effects were amazing, the sound effects, and the soundtrack as well (but i think the 50 First Dates soundtrack is better). from time to time there were scenes in the movie where i cant stop myself from reacting and saying "shit! that's nice!" (referring to starscream's mid-air fight scenes), "whoa" (when bumblebee switched from the 1974 or 1975 camaro into the 2008 model; when barricade transformed back into a police car in mid-air to follow bumblebee), "nice!" (first look on how they transform, this is when blackout transformed at the beginning of the movie. actually, it was more of because of the sound effects; when i first heard optimus prime's voice; when optimus prime used his energy axe).

induced to reminisce

today wasnt just another ordinary day. not that it was extraordinary but just not too ordinary. it was like people from my past, distant and recent, made themselves felt or at least some things made me remind of people from my past (its like something that you read from a horoscope).

sometime this morning, got a phone call from someone saying she's from the office of alumni affairs of claret school (or something to that effect). she was updating the contact details so it would be easier to inform us if there's a homecoming or something like that. she also mentioned that she just called a highschool batchmate of mine, frederick tolentino, who is also in law school. she then asked whether i could give her the contact details of some of my highschool batchmates. unfortunately, the only way i keep in touch with my highschool friends is through yahoo messenger (like ordz/patrick and orland/oj) so that would be no use to her. orland gave me their new landline but he's in japan. so that wont count either. so i really cant refer her to anyone. she also mentioned my previous cellphone number, asking if it was still my number. it was 09195519424. i only used that number for a few months. i remember switching to 09193643380 by april 2000. and by june 06, 2006, i switched to my current globe number.

as the day went by, the focus went from highschool to gradeschool when carmin texted a nice forwarded message (i was in the library studying when i got the message, wow, im studying! just wanted to insert that...intentional digression). classmates from SVS are the only ones i get in touch with recently. ive lost contact with my SSA classmates (although ive received friendster messages from them, the last one was already months ago). actually, carmin is the one left that i have constant contact with, through exchanges of forwarded messages. speaking of forwarded messages, i remember i had textmates. and when i say textmates, i mean, real textmates. people i have never met but only thru text (i still remember some of them, one is jocelyn from zamboanga, teresa who says she's from miriam college, and this girl from OLGM. im not sure if the first two were being honest about their personal info, and i just hope they really were females and not some gay dude (no offense to those who might get offended) but the third one was really from OLGM, a highschool batchmate knows her and i have no idea how we became textmates). i stopped having textmates around 2nd year college. since then, i stopped being a textmate type of guy. i still forward...ummm..forwarded messages from time to time, especially when im doing nothing and a lot of load credits.

from gradeschool, we shift to college. nikki was in UP to do her thesis research. it was nice to see a college blockmate again, and i havent seen my college blockmates for quite some time now. also, mark texted me regarding chris benoit's death. tragic thing happened to the guy. anyway, going back to my college blockmates, it seems that things have changed since we graduated 3 years ago. there are good things as well as bad things. also, those in ateneo law will graduate next year. of course they will say its not a sure thing because, like mark said in his text message, its still a rough road ahead but i really hope all of them makes it and eventually pass the bar. they deserve it, they've worked their asses off just to get to where they are right now.

so there. that's the not so ordinary day. i wonder if im going to meet people from my future. how can that be possible? i dont know. gut feel? usually when i have a gut feel, it happens or its true. i havent had them gut feels for about a year now.

stupidity is the best policy

have i reached my limit? it seems like im no longer improving on anything, like i stopped evolving or something. i feel like im no longer learning anything substantial. when i read my blog entries, i say to myself, "im like de-evolving! these entries could be written by a high school student!" when i read the papers, i tell myself, "how come i cant write like them! i should be writing stuff near their level!" that's one reason i started blogging, thinking i was just rusty. i thought i needed some constant practice. but i dont seem to be improving. now, when i write a paper and compare it the ones i wrote in college, what i usually do after writing it is swear and mutter some profanities. why? its like im having some kind of retardation! my college papers were better, and i found them easier to write back then. now, its a struggle to merely think of an idea that i could write about. i think i took mediocrity too much. im even having trouble with my grammar and from time to time with my spelling. that wasnt the case three to four years ago. back then it was very easy to study. i dont even need highlighters or notes. i dont use notebooks back in college, if someone saw me with a notebook, it was merely a prop, pretending that im listening or i use it to make some doodles to keep me awake (so when i say that the stuff i carry are merely props, im not joking, until know, i carry lots of stuff but i really dont use them...some of them anyway). i absorbed easily what i read back in college. i even did some extra reading in the library on Marx and Nietzsche and other books that weren't assigned by any of the subjects i was taking. now, im just this stupid, absentminded, careless, loser, psycho loner! i dont mind looking like that as long as i have the same intellectual capability i had before. i mean, i dont need to appear intelligent as long as i am intelligent. unfortunately, the case has turned into what you see is what you get! i dont know what happened, its like my brain cells are dying at an accelerated speed. i would like to think maybe its because of my blood illness which is said to affect higher brain functions (i dont even recall where i got that, whether i read it in an internet article or whether it was my doctor that informed me of that. although im sure it was my doctor who said that if my condition is in its aggravated stage or phase or whatever its called, i would feel like im floating or doing a man on the moon type of moonwalk). but, i dont want to think that's the reason for this sort of retardation im experiencing. with the kind of thinking i already have, i might abuse the idea that my illness makes me dumb. so i guess i will try to just study harder, triple the effort. not sure if that will work. if im no longer absorbing stuff, its like a waste of time and energy. but still, i should try right? i just feel so stupid.

just another day in the life...

the last 24 hours really sucked. 24 hours ago, more or less (around midnight or close to midnight), i was starting to study for my wednesday classes. after finishing 3 pages of a pile of cases im supposed to read, the lights went out. why? power outage! and my PC was running! ok, that would just worsen my PCs hard drive. so, i started to wait for the power to kick back in. about an hour later, i learned from my uncle (he called meralco minutes after the power went out) the power outage was due to a scheduled maintenance or repair being conducted by the electric company. how come we didnt know about it? apparently, we dont know where they announce it. well, since it was scheduled, they also knew when the power will be back, and well, they said it will be back by 6am. ok, that's a lot of time lost for me to study (yeah right...actually i was really in the mood to study that night...so was it a sign from God that i shouldnt study?...no, it was not) and it also meant a sleepless night because, well, even if its supposed to be the rainy season, its still soooo hot!

anywany, electricity was back by 6am (on my cellphone clock, i was four minutes behind, so when i checked the time, it was 5:56am). since i barely slept, i decided to take a two hour sleep. then, a few minutes before my two hour sleep ended, jason called, asking me to print a PIL assigned article. no problem, if its important, i dont mind. so i switched on the PC after hanging up. and since the PC was running when the power went out, it had to do its scan disk to check the hard drive for errors. and since i knew it was going to take some time, i decided to take a quick nap while waiting. and since i didnt have much sleep, the quick nap turned into another two hour sleep. good thing my mother asked why im still sleeping. thats when i realized that ive lost more time...again. so, i got out of bed, printed the article which was 57 pages long. minutes later, the printer for some reason stopped printing after around 20 pages. thats the first time it did that. it just switched itself off for no reason at all. i had no idea what was wrong with it. so for a few minutes, i tried figuring out what was wrong with it. i could use the other printer, since we have two printers, but unfortunately, i was out of black ink. and it doesnt print in black with its colored ink. anyway, while trying to figure out, i noticed the pages i printed were 20 pages of footnotes! crap! so i had to check the article and found out that it was only 25 pages long without the footnotes! ok, that was stupid. and it was a good thing the printer had its weird malfunction or i would have wasted ink on the damn footnotes! when i got the printer working again, printed the article and off i went...to school. thats one obstacle down, a few more to go.

my class, i thought was at 5pm. as usual, i was wrong, it was at 4! i was in malcolm hall, law library, by 1230, with a pile of cases (about more than an inch of readings, i think). how the crap am i supposed to finish all of it by 4pm? well, i cant, so i had to read it quickly and finish as many as i could, without really absorbing what im reading. what's the point of doing that, right? well, i do it hoping that i might pick up something along the way (its like the more the better, quantity over quality). i did pick up things along the way but it wasnt enough to save my ass on my recitation for my second class (wasnt called to recite on my first class). so i was called , and was asked "what's the importance of making a distinction between a public utility and a non-public utility?" i dont even know what a public utility means! i havent read a single codal provision, all i read were the cases. that sucked. so, i had a problem putting into words what i think the reason a distinction should be made because it was like trying to define a public utility and a non-piublic utility based from how i personally know it. which of course is not the correct answer because it must have its basis, or at least emanating, from codal provisions. so i looked like an idiot, again, for the nth time. good thing im already used to looking like an idiot, and i dont mind because i am an idiot (like that adam sandler line from billy madison: "Sometimes I feel like an idiot. But I am an idiot, so it kinda works out. ") . anyway, while i was doing this blog, my clothes rack behind my door where i hang my pants just broke. nice. cant fix it tonight. what a way to end the day. and this is just an average day. not an everyday thing but it happens very often. actually this day is considered good compared to days that fall under august, my worst month of the year, where nothing goes right no matter what, where every turn has an unpleasant surprise.

tagablog...tagalog blog...ok, its not funny

what the? the have blogger in tagalog now? not that i have anything against my national language...wait its not called tagalog anymore right? if i remember correctly back in grade school its Pilipino is the dialect, and Filipino is the person. doesnt seem right. or is it tagalog again? anyway, i dont like opening my blog dashboard and reading it in tagalog. not that its awkward, i just dont like it. except for one of my blogs which is my tagalog blog (which i rarely use and update...should really work on that). not that i dont love my country or my language but seeing the blog in tagalog...its something i have to adjust to.

unfair!

got pissed last friday. my mother told me that my brother had a classmate or schoolmate whose dreams were crushed by their own school. my brother is in his fourth year so he's already applying to get into a good university or college. anyway, last friday, my family were talking about the UPCAT. and then my mother told me about my brother's schoolmate or classmate, not sure which one, for sure batchmate. this schoolmate of his already had an UPCAT application form since this recent summer (obviously). and what pissed me off is that their school, their highschool, rejected my brother's schoolmate's application! why? the schoolmate had a line of 7 in his or her grades (not sure, again obviously, whether the schoolmate's a guy or girl). that's absurd! the highschool cant do that! can they? as far as i know, nothing is indicated in the UPCAT application form prohibiting a student with a line of 7 from applying. what matters is that the student is a highschool graduate. that's it! what right did the high school have to reject the student's application? if its the school's rule, then it shouldn't be valid! cmon, the school is limiting the student's options just because of a line of 7! its infringes the right of the student to education, quality education. the highschool was in no position to dictate to the student which schools to apply in. the student was even excited to have the UPCAT application form, it was probably his or her dream to be a UP student (not sure if i can relate, ive applied to study in UP since kinder and i always failed, so when UPCAT came and i failed, i was disappointed but i didnt feel that my dreams were crushed. why? i dont have a dream, highschool made me a cold and heartless individualist with no ambition). i guess he or she wasnt expecting that his or her own high school would turn down his or her application. what the fuck is wrong with that school. ok, they may think the student is a mediocre student of sorts, because the kid has a line of 7 but dont these kind of students deserve to be given a chance? besides, its not like the kid cant improve himself or herself. if a school is doing that for the purpose of not tarnishing its reputation, well, that would be pointless because it doesnt have a good reputation to maintain in the first place. its just fooling itself on how good their school is. this is what i hate about schools nowadays, this accreditation and reputation thing is taken wrongly and abused by some schools. they're no longer student-friendly. schools should keep in mind their purpose, which is to teach and educate.

anyway, i asked my mother, what did the parents do? she said she didnt know, and when i asked my brother, he also didnt know but his schoolmate just said he or she is just going to improve his or her grades this schoolyear. well, if that's the case, it would be too late for him or her to apply (i think Aug 5 is UPCAT entrance exam day). the school might have argued that, if the student can perform well, he or she should have done so in first place. he or she wouldnt have a line of 7 and he or she could have applied. that's stupid! i had a line of 7 in highschool, i was able to apply in UP, i didnt pass but i ended up in a good university, the one in Katipunan with a blue eagle gym, and graduated there, in four years. and grades dont mean a fucking thing! ok sorry, that's an exaggeration, it means something, but its not everything. my grades in college could have been better. my grades in law school could also have been better, but i didnt believe in grades. i have nothing to prove to anyone, im there to learn. so what i do is just give my professors what would satisfy them so i could continue studying (well, that applies from gradeschool to college, not much with law school where mastery of the law is needed, unfortunately, there is this thing called force of habit). not because a student's grades are low automatically means he or she is not intelligent. there are some people i know who are brilliant, but their brilliance dont reflect in their grades. they are probably even smarter than the ones with good-looking grades (i think grades should be called as good-looking than be labeled to be just good, because that's what grades really are to some people, high grades look good, it doesnt always follow that the person that owns those grades is in reality "good). point is, grades are not a perfect way of measuring a student's capability and intelligence. it never was and never will. the only reason we use this grading system is because there is no other alternative.

not that fantastic

ive seen fantastic four: rise of the silver surfer twice! the first was on june 13, 10:15am (if i remember correctly). it was the second day of classes, i thought i had a 1pm class so i made sure i got there by 10am. so the moment the movie was done, i rushed to the jeepney terminal so i would be just in time for the 1pm class. i think the movie ended around 12. well, i found out that my class was really 5pm! i should have checked my form5! that sucked. anyway, im digressing. i watched the movie again on saturday because my brother wanted to see it. so the question is, was it a good movie? like i said it wasnt fantastic. i think its better than the first movie. i would give it a 7 out of 10. the good thing and unfortunately also the bad thing about the movie is that they really portrayed the comic book team correctly (or at least that's how i remembered fantastic four when i was still a comic book collector 10 years ago). fantastic four is really a bunch of nice guys, a family friendly, very wholesome team of superheroes (unlike the xmen which is composed of a more diverse set of individuals, ranging from rebellious mutants, to average joes with powers, to those who are just plain weird). this is why i liked the x-men more than the fantastic four. for me, the fantastic four is just too nice for my taste, too noble, too heroic. at least the x-men are composed of individuals who starts out as having no direction in life, still adjusting to who they are. well, fantastic four also did some adjusting to their acquired powers but they dealt with it with maturity. that's it, fantastic four is composed of mature individuals who are thrust into greatness because they use their powers for good. they felt it was an obligation they had to take, done with, well, mature deliberation.

anyway, about the movie. for me, its much better than the xmen movies, all of the xmen movies. although the xmen characters are cooler, they just werent able to bring that to the big screen. fantastic four on the other hand did, to a certain extent. what made the sequel better, i think, is due to the fact that silver surfer is in it. im not a fan of the character, but the guy looks so cool in the movie. the CGI was great. sound effects? good enough. another reason is that you get to see jessica alba! isnt that a good reason to see the movie? ok, maybe not very much (almost but not in all instances...yeah right, even if the movie is about jessica alba talking to a cardboard box for two hours, i would still go see it...on video, hehehe), but its a marvel film, so i cant be that bad, right? well, as long as its not like the daredevil movie. anyway, the reason its only a 7 is because of the ending. where the fuck is galactus! the cloud! that sucked! what's the point of saying the destroyer is here, i.e., galactus when they will just show a planet-size cloud formation! the beginning of the movie was ok, the middle part was ok, then the ending just ruined everything. having galactus as a cloud is not a good teaser for a 3rd movie. if they will not do galactus correctly, then leave galactus out of it. namedropping galactus would have been better. worse part? the surfer confronting galactus! ok, that was just lame. but i saw the movie twice, right? well, like i said, i love marvel, so i do have a bias in favor of marvel movies (except daredevil). up to now, i havent watched the superman movie. the only DC character i like it batman.

i love garbage!

i miss Garbage and of course the band's lovely vocalist, Shirley Manson. i think that's why i love garbage. i love Shirley's voice, her style and i like the band's sound. so i decided to post some music videos which i got from YouTube, where else.



WHY DO YOU LOVE ME lyrics:

I'm no Barbie doll
I'm not your baby girl
So I've done ugly things and I have made mistakes
And I am not as pretty as those girls in magazines
I am rotten to my core if they're to be believed
So what if I'm no baby bird hanging upon your every word?
Nothing ever smells of roses that rises out of mud

Why do you love me
Why do you love me
Why do you love me it's driving me crazy
Why do you love me
Why do you love me
Why do you love me it's driving me crazy
Why do you love me
Why do you love me
Why do you love me it's driving me crazy
Why do you love me
Why do you love me

You're not some baby boy
Why you acting so surprised
You're sick of all the rules
Well I'm sick of all your lies
Now I've held back a wealth of shit I think I'm gonna choke
I'm standing in the shadows with the words stuck in my throat
Does it really come as a surprise when I tell you I don't feel good?
That nothing ever came from nothing man
Oh man ain't that the truth

Why do you love me
Why do you love me
Why do you love me it's driving me crazy
Why do you love me
Why do you love me
Why do you love me it's driving me crazy
Why do you love me
Why do you love me
Why do you love me it's driving me crazy
Why do you love me
Why do you love me
I get back up and I do it again
I get back up and I do it again
I get back up and I do it again
I get back up and I do it, I do it again

I think you're sleeping with a friend of mine
I have no proof but I think that I'm right
And you've still got the most beautiful face
It just makes me sad most of the time

I get back up and I do it again
I get back up and I do it again
I get back up and I do it again
I get back up and I do it, I do it again
I do it again
I do it again
I do it again

Why do you love me
Why do you love me
Why do you love me it's driving me crazy
Why do you love me
Why do you love me
Why do you love me it's driving me crazy
Why do you love me
Why do you love me
Why do you love me
Why do you love me



WHEN I GROW UP lyrics:

Cut my tongue out
I've been caught out
Like a giant juggernaut
Happy hours
Golden showers
On a cruise to freak you out

We could fly a helicopter
Nothing left to talk about
Entertain you
Celebrate you
I'll be back to frame you

Chorus:
When I grow up
I'll be stable
When I grow up
I'll turn the tables

Trying hard to fit among you
Floating out to wonderland
Unprotected
God I'm pregnant
Damn the consequences

Chorus

Blood and blisters
On my fingers
Chaos rules when we're apart
Watch my temper
I go mental
I'll try to be gentle

Chorus

When I grow up
When I grow up
When I grow up
I'll turn the tables

Bridge:
Don't take offense
Better make amends
Rip it all to shreds and let it go X2

I'll rip it up to shreds and let it go
I'll rip it up to shreds and let it go
I'll rip it up to shreds and let it go



IM ONLY HAPPY WHEN IT RAINS lyrics:

I’m only happy when it rains
I’m only happy when it’s complicated
And though I know you can’t appreciate it
I’m only happy when it rains
You know I love it when the news is bad
Why it feels so good to feel so sad
I’m only happy when it rains

Pour your misery down
Pour your misery down on me
Pour your misery down
Pour your misery down on me

I’m only happy when it rains
I feel good when things are going wrong
I only listen to the sad, sad songs
I’m only happy when it rains

I only smile in the dark
My only comfort is the night gone black
I didn’t accidentally tell you that
I’m only happy when it rains
You’ll get the message by the time I’m through
When I complain about me and you
I’m only happy when it rains

Pour your misery down...pour your misery down
Pour your misery down on me...pour your misery down
Pour your misery down...pour your misery down
Pour your misery down on me...pour your misery down
Pour your misery down...pour your misery down
Pour your misery down on me...pour your misery down
Pour your misery down...pour
You can keep me company
As long as you don’t care

I’m only happy when it rains
You want to hear about my new obsession
I’m riding high upon a deep depression
I’m only happy when it rains...pour some misery down on me
I’m only happy when it rains....pour some misery down on me
I’m only happy when it rains...pour some misery down on me
I’m only happy when it rains...pour some misery down on me
I’m only happy when it rains...pour some misery down on me...pour some misery down on me...pour some misery down on me...pour some misery down on me



CHERRY LIPS lyrics:

She gave you everything she had
But she was young and dumb
She'd just turned twenty-one
She didn't care to hang around
So when the shit came down
Why she was nowhere to be found
This life can turn a good girl bad
She was the sweetest thing
That you had ever seen

You're such a delicate boy
In the hysterical realm
Of an emotional landslide
In physical terms

With your cherry lips and golden curls
You could make grown men gasp
When you'd go walking past them
In your hot pants and high heels
They could not believe
That such a body was for real
It seemed like rainbows would appear
Whenever you came near the clouds would disappear
Because you looked just like a girl
Your baby blues would flash
And suddenly a spell was cast

You hold a candle in your heart
You shine the light on hidden parts
You make the whole world wanna dance
You bought yourself a second chance

Go Baby Go Go
We're right behind you
Go baby Go Go
Yeah we're looking at you
Go baby Go Go
Aw we're right behind you
Go Baby
Go Baby
Yeah we're looking at you
Go

The Times They Are a-Changin!

just found out about this great song by Bob Dylan! my cousin asked me to get a copy of the song because they need it for an event. when i listened to it and read the lyrics, it reminded me of the country's situation (the libel suits, impeachment cases, the protests on the streets, etc.). this should be the younger generation's theme song...or something like that. this song also reminded me of the 2007 Philippine election results, where it seemed to me that the voting population has matured politically and more critical in choosing which candidate to vote for. the citizens appear to have learned from the mistakes of the past. unfortunately, even if there is a better voting population, that isnt enough to counter election fraud and other similar election offenses.



lyrics:
Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside
And it is ragin'.
It'll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin'.
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'.

The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin'.
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'.

election day

its may 14! i would have said go out and vote, but its too late now. they're already counting the ballots! i woke up around 730 am to vote with my family and got home around 9am. not that the precinct was far, the ones manning my precinct were inefficient or maybe, was inefficient. not that there's only one teacher, in fact there were three but one of them wants things centralized. everything had to pass through him. so it appeared that the two other teachers were just idling around. that's why early in the morning i was reminded of the value of teamwork and trust (which i need to learn because i always go solo). i mean, there's three of them, they should share the workload. try to work as a team to make things more efficient and trust each other. the guy shouldn't have to check everything that's going on. its not an easy task to be a teacher during election day! that's why it took some time for me to cast my vote and why our precinct appeared to have a large voter turnout because of the long line. one even commented that it is as if the teacher was intentionally making it inconvenient to vote.

focusing on election day itself, well, it's really nice to see people going out to vote. its my second time to vote, and like before, we try to get there as early possible to avoid long lines. so, when i woke up, i went directly to my precinct to vote without eating breakfast nor taking a bath (ok...at least im honest). i thought it would be quick like the last time but it wasnt as mentioned above. that's why i thought i didnt need to dress up or take a bath, i mean, the precinct's just nearby, its like going out to buy something from a sari-sari store. i wasnt expecting that i would fall in line for quite some time.

anyway, i went there with my parents, my sister, my aunt and my grandmother. my grandmother even had a greeting of "have an honest elections". when we reached the school, its really good to see a lot of people, hustling and bustling around the school grounds, looking for their precincts. its like a form of social event. well it is, but what i mean is that, people residing in an area get to see and talk with each other, congregate to update each other with neighborly stuff. so, people just dont vote here, some linger and chat with neighbors, talk about politics and their candidates aside from asking what's new. i didnt notice that the last time i voted. i guess i wasnt observant enough the last time. i also noticed that some looked fresh from the shower and were dressed as if they were going to a mall (unlike me). i guess they were more prepared than me. but i wasnt intending to stay long and chat with people anyway. so i think that makes it ok.

Austin, Taker and Sports entertainment

who doesn't love sports entertainment, specifically WWE wrestling? well, a lot. ok, a lot of women to be more specific. they see it to be pointless and just brutal. but what can i say, it is entertainment and i enjoy it. as a kid, i remember being a fan of Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior, well, more of the Ultimate Warrior. Hogan was just popular. Next to The Ultimate Warrior, is The Undertaker, and incredibly, not only is he still around, he recently became world heavyweight champion (too bad its a shortlived title reign but he is a five time champ). then came Stone Cold Steve Austin and the Attitude Era. i didnt like this wrestler at first because i remember him as The Ringmaster, Ted DiBiase's puppet, but his bad-ass personality really rocks. and he really is good in playing his role as the lawless Texas Rattlesnake. i never get tired of his rowdy antics. unfortunately, he's no longer wrestling like the Undertaker. that's why its really nice that he comes visit WWE from time to time, doing a couple of Stone Cold stunners to anyone any time he feels like to do some ass-kicking. he even "stunned" Donald Trump. now that's classic Stone Cold Steve Austin (watch it on YouTube, click here. its a lame stunner but hey, that's still Donald Trump receiving a stunner, and besides, Trump cant act or fake a stunner's impact). after Austin, i never really liked the wrestlers. ok, they're still good, they do riskier stunts, more of them bleed and they still get the crowd pumped. John Cena is ok, and so is Batista but they really aren't like the Phenom or Stone Cold or the wrestlers of the 90s. maybe im just old and miss the Federation and Attitude Era. i mean, when Cena started, i thought his rapping was crappy and his character wont sell (maybe im just not into the hiphop culture...do people even call it hiphop?). look at Cena now, still throwing rhymes and already a WWE superstar. Batista had potential when he was a part of Evolution. He did become a superstar eventually but im not sure for how long compared to Austin and Taker who are now legends/likely hall of famers. anyway, all wrestlers dont start out as superstars and it takes time before they reach that level. and unfortunately only a handful reach the superstar level and be on the same league as HBK, Bret Hart (ok, putting their names together just reminds people of the Montreal Screw Job), Hogan, Warrior, The Rock, Triple H, Austin, Undertaker, etc. Even Austin and Taker started out as "loser", crappy wrestlers. here's a video of the two of them, wrestling with each other way before they reached the superstar status they have now. who would have thought back then that Austin and Taker would be very big WWE superstars.

Steve Williams (Stone Cold) vs. The Punisher (The Undertaker)

spiderman 3 and marvel films by a 1997 comic book guy

After 2 weeks, I finally got to see Spiderman 3. Was it good? Well, I would give it a 7.5 out of 10 but because I like Marvel characters and I like Spiderman, I would upgrade it to 8. I dont know about other people's ratings (or if there's a standard movie rating) but here's mine:

1-2: its not worth watching, go wash your eyes if you see it!
3-4: sucks! not worth my money unless its a gift for someone i dont like
5-6: good enough to watch on video and kill time or beat boredom
7-8: good enough to watch on cinemas
9-10: its great! its perfect! its mind blowing!

Now, I haven’t been a comic book guy for 10 years (I think the last comic book I bought was in 1997, Marvel vs. DC or DC vs. Marvel, and the reason I stopped collecting was because I lost my entire comic book collection, which I started back in grade school) so I really don’t have much authority on this subject, but having a bit of knowledge of the characters (the way I remember them 10 years ago), I really cant stop myself from saying something about the movie Spiderman 3 and other Marvel films.

Review...sort of: Spiderman 3 was great when it comes to special effects (that was expected). I also liked the fight scenes. As for the acting, can’t really complain. What matters to me more is that they bring the comic book to life and that the actors don’t suck (umm...Daredevil? sorry, not a Ben Affleck fan). So I guess they were ok (besides, it’s already the third installment, so i wont even try to dicuss the way Tobey Maguire cried...wait, is revealing that Tobey Maguire cried in the movie a spoiler? i dont think so, no one would probably notice where he cried in the movie...ouch!).
Thomas Haden Church was good. I don’t mind Topher Grace either as Eddie Brock. As for the movie's story, well, it really revolved on Peter Parker and not on Spider-man. it was like, the first two movies introduced Peter Parker and his alter ego Spiderman. The third movie gave me the impression of showing Spiderman's alter ego Peter Parker. i mean, now that Spiderman's famous, Peter Parker has become the secret identity. It was a good ending for the spidey trilogy and in a way, allows a fourth but fresh installment. in case there is a spidey 4, i hope there's a new set of villains (meaning, no need to bring back Sandman and dont settle with one villain unless its Carnage) plus a better, badder and funnier Venom (Venom need not be a villain, for me, he's not really a bad guy because the only reason he's spidey's arch enemy is because he hates Parker, that's it). or try to use Ben Reilly for a change.

Spidey Spoilers and i mean SPOILERS!: I had a problem with the Spidey 3 villains (Green Goblin, Venom and Sandman...ok, maybe not Sandman). of all the villains in the spidey trilogy, Doc Ock appeared to me to be the best one. In spidey 3, it looked like the best villain among the three was Sandman. Ok, I have a bias against Green Goblin, since I’m not really a fan of all the goblin villains, but Venom is supposed to be the best villain in the movie (well, in my opinion). Eddie Brock was ok as Eddie Brock, but as Venom? Not really. I was expecting a more kick-ass type of villain from Venom with a lot of taunting and trash-talking. That’s why I liked Venom as spider-man's arch-enemy, insults fly as they fight, mocking each other until one of them is knocked unconscious or defeated (that's the way I saw it). There wasn’t much of that in the movie. And whenever Venom talks as Eddie Brock, it just doesn’t work. Venom just looked like an arrogant jerk in a costume. And where's Venom's tongue? Ok, maybe they were just introducing Venom but still, why put Venom in the movie without playing the major villain? Anyway, I'm just disappointed with the way Venom was made in the movie, i mean, Venom could have been much better.

Another thing I didn’t like is the ending, the one where green goblin 2/green goblin junior showed up. Ok, like I said, I really don’t like the goblin villains. I would have preferred a cameo from any superhero and team up with Spiderman. It would still be good if Daredevil showed up (but not as Ben Affleck, Matt Murdock should just keep the mask on) or the Ironman (pic on the right is supposed to be the ironman armor for the movie. i hope the ironman costume really looks great and not just some great image editing). If it was ironman, it could help promote the upcoming ironman movie. but that's just called shameless plugging (like the number of times i mentioned ironman in this paragraph. is it really shameless plugging? its a good way to promote an upcoming marvel film). i would rather have Venom doing the team-up (but that would just ruin the story for spidey 3 but they do team up in the comic books...i think). i would rather see Stan Lee turn into the Incredible Hulk! ok, maybe not.

Marvel movies: Now that Spidey 3 is out, what's next? Well, there's Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. Not much of a Fantastic Four fan, but the trailer looks good (and Jessica Alba's there! a movie hottie is always a must! but she looks different this time, i wonder why?). There have been rumors about Galactus being part of the movie but not really "in" the movie (so some are saying why bother having Galactus when they arent going to do it right...like Venom perhaps?). There’s also an Incredible Hulk sequel and a Punisher sequel. There's also the Ironman movie. Again, not a fan of Ironman and any member of The Avengers because im more of a fan of the X-books (X-men, X-Force, X-Factor, Excalibur). But if I had to pick my favorite Avengers member, I would pick Thor, and i think there are also plans of creating a Thor movie.
Ghost Rider wasn’t a disappointment but it wasn’t really that good. I think there's also a plan to make a Doctor Strange movie, a Wolverine movie, and a sequel to the Ghost Rider(got my info here). When I saw this line-up of marvel characters, I thought, why not make a Secret Defenders movie? I would really like to see Wolverine, Ghost Rider (with Daniel Ketch as alter ego, my favorite Ghost Rider version; that's why I didn’t complain much about Nicolas Cage as Ghost Rider, he can be Johnny Blaze anytime he wants), Spiderman, The Incredible Hulk and Silver Surfer teaming up in one movie. I would like to add Venom to the line up but I don’t think he ever became a Secret Defender member. I would like to see Wolverine and Ghost Rider working alongside Venom. Now as for the villains, well that would be a problem. which supervillain or group of supervillains could fit in a story fighting Doc Strange and his team and at the same time, plausible enough to be be capable of at least matching the strength of this group of superheroes? well, how about a Galactus infected by the Carnage symbiote with a minion of Doc Ock clones? ok maybe not. maybe a team up of Thanos, Loki and Mephisto and minion of Carnage infected Doc Ock clones. That won't work (and what's up with the Carnage symbiote and Doc Ock clones? i dont know, i think it would be a good villain). Anyway, they can’t even pull off a good x-men movie. So I guess a team composed of the "major" superheroes of marvel comics wont work. and even if it does, the question is how much will the budget be for this kind of movie.

After writing this blog, I realized, I miss collecting marvel comics! And some batman comics (I'm not a DC fan, Batman is the only exception).