I think I am actually doing Neil (like close?) a favor. I am sure that most people there are spoiled rich kids who are not real fans, a bunch of people who just participated because they can just tell people that they were there. I deserve to be there; hence, I am broke. So, I decided that I should spend some money on comic books. I have most of his books already, darn! At least Fully Booked is stocked with a selection of items I still don’t have.

I decided to buy The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr. Punch, The Books of Magic and Odd and the Frost Giants (which I gave Meow in celebration of our 23rd month-sary).

I read the two earlier works as soon as I got home.

The Book of Magic, whose cover is reminiscent of Harry Potter, not really a spoof because it came out earlier than JK Rowling’s. The similarities ends with wizardry and the glasses. He is poised to be the greatest wizard of his generation. Assisted by four guys in trench coats, that includes the Phantom Stranger and John Constantine  (yes, Keannu Reeves in the movie) . He is brought to choose whether he wants science or magic, and good or evil. He travels in time to the past (right from creation, to the present where he meets the most powerful magicians in the DC universe, to Fairyland (Faerie) where Morpheus (The Sandman) has a bit role and Titania (think Queen from Midsummer Night’s Dream), and to the future (up to the part where the world ends).

It was good, not really focusing on his tutelage as a magic practitioner, but with what magic is all about. I guess I love magic too. Hehehe. This reminds me of a time while looking in Mentalism, I thought I was really gonna be taught of concentrating to read minds or bending things with the power of your mind, not thgat I think I have the persistence to pursue that. I ended up with an ebook on how to dupe people, a disappointment.

Moving on. Just thinking out loud.

Mr. Punch is a book of a different kind, not really something that I’d call fantasy or read to my kids younger than seven (or even thirteen). It is dark, it talked about death, insanity and the twisted things in life, unseen and interpreted from the eyes of a child. It is a story of one summer with a boy’s grandparents, with the Punch and Judy puppet show (apparently the puppet show did exist and takes roots from the 16th century) on the backdrop of it all. In the end, Mr. Punch for the boy represented many bad memories.

It’s at least good to know the purchases I made are worth it, I still think that the promotion was still bad. Paano naman ang mga mahihirap na fans na walang trabaho?

Today, I will be posting musicians that I like. Yes, musicians I like. Now, why I have to reiterate that, I don’t know. Maybe for dramatic effect.

Today, let’s start with Tori Amos.

I like her a lot! Ever since… I don’t know. I just did. I’ve known her from high school, Jackie’s Strength. I liked it even if it isn’t a very manly song. Then, I started to hear other songs. Very original and unlike anyone else’s. She sing songs that tell a story, sometimes sweet, surreal, tragic or dark, at times even disturbing.

I was just listening to her ’97 Bonnie and Clyde cover. I can’t believe how she transformed an Eminem song into a creepy, thriller-type song. I am dumbfounded.

***

Then, The Dresden Dolls, the duo of Brian Viglione and Amanda Palmer. They’re androgynous and spunky. I really like this photo below. Their music really speaks to me. I think these two are one of the more individualistic musicians out there, and they’re pretty beautiful.

Amanda has a fun blog and released a solo album that’s quite good.

***

Manowar! I was once looking for something to read about gods, and I was able to find their Gods of War album. Many weeks later, and many re-listens after, I’ve grown to love them. I love mythology, and they are using it in a lot of their music. I learned that they weren’t a really popular band, but  was enough to have one of their music in the 300 soundtrack.

Then, I was curious how they looked like.

Boy! I was not prepared for that!

They must really want to be vikings. They really remind me more of WWF wrestlers from my childhood. Then I thought, why not? I really like them. Parang ako lang, may sayad! Yes, I still like to listen music from them.

***

Going ahead, Ours. Ours reminds me of Muse and of Dishwalla, but they’re still different. Yeah! They are my favorite band yet!

This time I am out of words, I just listen to them and the rest of the world stops and I just get trapped inside their songs. Hehehe.

Now that’s enough for now. Maybe another batch next time.

After my Mom tuned into the evening news, I normally decide to just read in my room (I am gonna see all the Lozada stuff in the newspapers tomorrow, I don’t feel like seeing anything political). So I am catching again on my reading and today I was able to finally finish two! I have a lot of unfinished ones there.

It’s the graphic novel (I am on my way to completing My Sandman Library), Season of Mists and Hideyuki Kikuchi’s Vampire Hunter D: Tale of the Dead Town. Rebyu muna tayo ngayon.

Season of Mistsis volume 4 from Gaiman’s super-duper wonderful series (I am a fan, I am sorry). It grieves me I am unable to read all of them in order. We have my favorite antihero Morpheus who tries save his former love from hell (which he, himself, threw there after she rejected him). Turns out, Lucifer wants to retire and gives Morpheus the key the place and our reluctant protagonist accepts the key and wants to get rid of it. Morpheus meets Nada (the girl thrown to Hell) again, a really nice confrontation and a really nice ending of who receives the key. It has a lot of my favorite mythological characters, demons, faeries and other creatures on the side. It also has a part there with 2 kids making a really nice reflection on what Hell is. I just love the Sandman!

And Vampire Hunter Dis somewhat like a dystopian world where vampires abound and Hunters are out there to get them for a fee. D is not an ordinary hunter, he’s  part-vampire.  Reads well even if you haven’t read the previous volumes but I don’t find it that exciting. the English translation is beautiful, I am not sure though how much is lost in translation.

I still have Middlesex (still unfinished) there and I just started reading Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream that I borrowed from a friend. The last time I read something like this under my own volition would be in High School: Goethe’s Faust. It took me sometime before I got used to the prose, I think if you talk to me while reading it, I fear I speaketh in tongue far from modern fancy!

So many books to read, most of them boring.

So, I will be recommending stuff that I really like. Little thinking required in writing the post.

Books

• Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. One of the best Murakami books I have read and all Murakami books I have read, I really like. This is something I’d recommend if you’re not into the whole whiny feel (that I happen to like a lot, thank you) that is well-known in his books. Part-fantasy and part-postmodern (I am not really sure if the world scifi applies to this really cool book), it made me almost cry. The last part was breath-taking. I have no words to describe how cool it is. Go ahead, read it, relish it and spread his awesomeness. If you hate the book, you are stupid and you don’t have taste.
• The Sandman Vol. 2 The Doll’s House. It is the first from the volumes I have read and while browsing through a forum it said to be one of the best. And with little knowledge of the whole story arc at that time, I was immediately hooked. Some people don’t like the illustrations but I really did, it grows in you. It is the book that Gaiman says he has found his voice. It makes reference the bzou (if you are familiar with my online activity, you’ll get it). There’s a convention for serial killer and so much more. There are character’s here that you won’t easily forget.Costs around Php 900.00 though.

Anime

• Death Note. It’s good just plain good. The story was excellent and the animation was exceptional. The antihero (named Light) is immediately likable but I started to despise him when he started going megalomaniac, then like him again during the middle part, then loathed him again after he killed his arch nemesis. Basta ang galing! If you like the same characters that I do in fiction you are gonna go crazy over L (it doesn’t stand for Light) . His early departure made me want to cry.
• Basilisk. A story of 2 rival Ninja Clans. Two fall in love. It’s like Romeo and Juliet gone violent. A lot of killing that I really like, the action sequences were breathtaking. Episode 1 pa lang panalo na! And it does make a good observation about hate, prejudice and other aspects of being human. Did I mention? There was a lot of violence.

Movies

• Gattaca. I don’t know why I have just seen this only recently, may have missed it for reasons I don’t know. It’s just how I like my futuristic movies to be like. Sends an interesting message about on how our reliability on science let’s us overlook other stuff. It’s really nice. Not that I am anti-science, sometimes there are things like faith. Not that I now believe in you know what, I don’t think the movie also sends that message. It’s inspiring. Really.

Internet

• esnips. It’s a great means to do some file-sharing. E-books, pictures, music, etc. But you can make public or private.
• Utrackmovies. I have my librarything for my books and I have Utrack for my movies. I still haven’t finished updating my collection but you can visit it, click here and enter jeeper for password. By the way, my movies wouldn’t really be considered inside some of the categories it’s in kasi nga marami sa kanila nabili ko lang sa mga gilid-gilid ng St. Francis Square. Dapat natin bawasan ang pagbili ng pirated DVDs. Hehehe.

Music

I don’t listen much to modern music these days. I am listening to a lot of old songs right now, Stone Temple Pilot and The Carpenters. I am really amused by Karen Carpenter’s voice. Let me listen right now. Man! I can’t get over listening to Superstar.

PS

I am still working on my new domain, there were some problems with the SSL of my registrar. They said they’ll manually make some changes on it. So, yeah. I am still waiting for their email. I should have sent them a word earlier. And I was thinking,I may have done something stupid.