Dispatches from Nerdville

[nerdville]

2020 Weekend Report #11

Last week was super exhausting at work, no thanks to COVID-19. And on Thursday night the President dropped the bomb that the entire NCR will be on “community quarantine” -- lockdown, in other words. All sorts of speculations came and people, including me, panicked. Add to that the news that an aunt of mine, who is one of the most generous women I know, died of a lingering illness, and one might understand why I’d rather forget about the last five days or so. That, or crawl into a dark space and wait ‘til this shitstorm is over.

The weekend was no better, though I tried to lift myself up.

Attended my aunt’s wake (Friday night) and burial (Saturday). Heavy emotional shit there

Went to the PAL office in Ali Mall with the wifey to refund the tickets for our now-cancelled April trip to Taiwan (had to wait 5 fucking hours before we were accommodated)

Dropped by Treskul Records in Ali Mall where I scored two preloved records: REO Speedwagon’s High Infidelity and a compilation of heavy metal classics called Heavy Duty (feat. Iron Maiden, Whitesnake, Scorpions, etc.)

Watched Snowpiercer on Netflix

Started reading John Niven’s nihilistic Kill Your Friends book

Brooded on how difficult life would be in the coming days because of the lockdown and this COVID-19 thing

And so much for that. I am filled with so much fear now I feel like I’d burst any minute.

[nerdville]

2020 Weekend Report #10

Music took the place of Netflix on this particular weekend. See, last week, because I was feeling down and convinced a little retail therapy will do me good, I bought two speakers: a blue JBL Flip 5 and an LG XBoom LK72B. The trip started Friday night when I assembled the LG speakers. Sipping coffee afterward and listening to a Seals & Crofts greatest hits CD to celebrate, I was the happiest man alive in this godforsaken, virus-stricken world. Can’t blame me if I want to extend that joy for the next two days.

Meanwhile, the other stuff:

Another Saturday morning jog with the wifey

A (costly) shave and haircut

Drank beer with the wifey while listening to some tunes 

Read the latest John Constantine: Hellblazer issue

Realization: not yet broke, but going there fast

And so much for that.

[nerdville]

Sitcoms

So I’m juggling How I Met Your Mother and That 70′s Show these days. With all this shit going on in the world right now, I figure I badly need the laughs. And if I am to compare, I’ll say that as far as first seasons are concerned, the boys and girls from Point Place, Wisconsin have it over the yuppies of Manhattan. 

The problem with HIMYM is that they don’t have a Mr. and Mrs. Forman. I swear, those two are a barrel of laughs.

I’m also watching Friends, but I guess most will agree that it trumps over the other two. 

[nerdville]

2020 Weekend Report #9

Home chores consumed most of my weekend -- so much so that I wasn’t able to watch anything. Read a couple of new comics, but that was it. 

Went jogging with the wifey again at Hinulugang Taktak, this time with the father-in-law joining us

Read X-Force #8, X-Men #7, Punisher Soviet #4 and Jessica Jones: Blind Spot #4

Dropped by D____’s place and enjoyed a couple of beers over talks on comics, toys and a bit of politics

Unintended late-night biking (long weird story)

Laundry while listening to REM’s Automatic for the People album on my Motorino MK III (which made its social media debut)

Nanking beef Sunday night dinner with the wifey at North Park

And so much for a weekend that felt rather short. Wished there was a movie in it, or a new series (been planning to start on either Stumptown or The Stranger), but there was simply no time for it. What can I say, I’m a busy family man.

[nerdville]

2020 Weekend Report #8

This always happens: I’d make a big plan for my weekend, then come Sunday night I’d moan about how a big chunk of that plan didn’t come into fruition. It’s either I suck at executing plans or I don’t know how to make one that is actually doable within a two-day period. In any case: fuck!

Anyway:

Scored three old records: a Motley Crue, a Y&T, a Seals & Crofts

Listened to the new Ozzy Osbourne album, Ordinary Man, on Spotify

Watched two movies: The Lighthouse and In the Tall Grass

Started reading Wolverine: The Amazing Immortal Man and Other Bloody Tales. It’s more than 400 pages long so I wasn’t able to finish it

Morning jog with the wifey with a sidetrip to Hinulugang Taktak to check the place out amid the online buzz

RnR in the form of one-hour Swedish massage

Right! And on and on I go in this crazy train called life...

[nerdville]

2020 Weekend Report #7

So I took the plunge: last Saturday evening me and the wifey left Satchmi in Megamall carrying a Motorino MK III. It capped an eventful day spent jumping from one cool Cubao shop to another inquiring about vinyls and turntables and the intricacies of collecting vinyl. By scoring the item we practically ignored the advice given to us by the shop owners against buying “portables” and instead investing on decent turntables and speakers. I wasn’t actually new to that. Vinyl freaks on the Internet actually have blunt words against portables (”shitty sound,” “questionable durability,” “will only ruin your records,” “more a toy than turntable, etc etc.). Many of them sound like total jerks, actually.

But a guy has to start somewhere, I thought as I forked over my card to the quite bubbly Satchmi salesperson who graciously demonstrated the machine’s functions to us. And not all of us have money to burn for such a hobby. Hence: a Motorino. Fuck the naysayers!

Meanwhile, the weekend was not all turntables and vinyl and flashing invisible middle fingers to snobs. There’s also these:

Read the latest X-Men and X-Force issues and both are good as expected

New book alert: Tales of Ordinary Madness by Charles Bukowski

Read a couple of pages of Gun Machine by Warren Ellis

Went to PAL’s office in Ali Mall to ask if we can cancel our Taiwan trip in April (we can’t!)

Toy photography feat. the Taskmaster

Laundry

And so much for a weekend that felt like I’ve entered a new and exciting world. 

*photo not mine

[nerdville]

2020 Weekend Report #6

Such a weird weekend that by bedtime Sunday I didn’t know what to feel. I cranked out Neutral Milk Hotel on Spotify but realized I was not in the mood for music. Buried myself in Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Utopia instead and that somehow did the trick but only a little.

Anyhoo...

Watched Jojo Rabbit and loved it

Watched Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) and didn’t love it (cut the crap, it’s a Harley Quinn movie with a Birds of Prey cameo)

Read my comics backlog which included Criminals #12 (final issue)

Went to SM Masinag (for the first time) and met with an online seller for a loose Cyclops action figure. Wandered around the place afterward

Bonded with the girls

Laundry

And so much for that. Hoping for a good workweek ahead.

[nerdville]

Vinyl dreams

I’m seriously considering scoring a turntable. I know that in “want” vs. “need” it is definitely a “want” and therefore a financially unwise purchase, if ever. But in my mind I’m already making adjustments — cutting down on toys, comics, books, whatnot. Heck, even on food. I’ve no problem scrimping on meals as I am not really a food person.

I particularly have my eyes on the Motorino Mk III, described as a good entry level vinyl player. It looks slick for a portable turntable, and though it has a built-in amplifier it also has Bluetooth connectivity so it can be hooked up to external speakers for better sound quality. Not bad for its P8,490 tag price, methinks.

I’ve been daydreaming about this so much that I already have a vinyl collection in mind. Among them: Deafheaven’s Ordinary Corrupt Human Love, Planes Mistaken for Stars’ Prey, Ghost’s Infestissumam, and any album by Alcest, Maybeshewill, Explosions in the Sky, Nirvana and Mastodon, just to name a few. I may have to order some of them online, as I doubt local vinyl stores have them, which means additional expenditure for shipment and shit. In short, this will not come cheap.

I’ll see how this will pan out.

[nerdville]

2020 Weekend Report #5

So it’s life in the time of nCoV. The fear is real, all the way from China to Binondo, and the public has various ways on dealing with it. But there’s exercising caution and there’s succumbing to hysteria. In any case, it’s face mask nation out there. But life goes on. It may not be normal, but it’s still life. 

Went to Makati Med to have daughter checked (not nCoV, thank God, just your ordinary, garden variety cough)

Finished reading Dead Man Logan: Sins of the Father and Lex Luthor: Man of Steel, as well as Marvel’s Incoming

Watched Ford vs. Ferrari

Laundry while jamming on Deafheaven

Attended a wedding in faraway Malolos, Bulacan

Skipped work on Monday due to health reasons

And so much for a virus-haunted long weekend. Hoping we’ll be able to ride this one out, as always, and that mankind still has a future not fit for a sci-fi horror flick. 

[nerdville]

2020 Weekend Report #4

I like malls. I like wandering aimlessly inside them. I don’t even have to go shopping; I just love visiting stores and watching people and just soaking up the place. I especially love it when the mall has just opened up for the day and there are less people around. This was exactly how I found myself on Saturday morning, with my wife, after her early morning ultrasound schedule at St. Luke’s. It was a great way to kickstart the weekend. Lemme say this: Greenbelt on a weekend morning is paradise!

Other stuff:

Watched the first three episodes of Messiah (intriguing, and Michelle Monaghan is still a babe)

Bought tickets to Pulp Summer Slam this May (Iron Maiden, baby!)

Watched the Korean movie Parasite (it deserves all the hype)

Binged on Basketful of Heads (Joe Hill is a sick fuck)

Drank beer with my friend D___ and talked about Netflix and action figures

Unboxed my Nightcrawler action figure and did some toy photography

Toyed around the idea of scoring a turntable

And so much for weekend. I’m writing this on a cold Monday morning and right now the Internet is exploding with news of Kobe Bryant’s tragic death. Ah, life. Enjoy it while it lasts. 

[nerdville]

Robots, man

So today I picked a comics that I knew nothing about going in: Livio Ramondelli’s The Kill Lock. I thought the cover looks good, so why not? It’s a sci-fi series about a group of exiled robots. Though mismatched, the robots must do everything to keep each other alive as they are linked by a lethal programming, which means if one of them dies, they all will. It’s a fun plot, and I had a great time reading the first issue. Luckily, the second one drops this week, so I’m looking forward to checking it out.

[nerdville]

2020 Weekend Report #3

Attended my first toy convention for the year/decade. Scored a Nightcrawler action figure (Marvel Legends) in line with my goal to assemble my X-team this year — thanks to Jonathan Hickman’s amazing House of X/Powers of X runs last year. The wifey, who accompanied me to the event together with our daughter, scored a bunch of anime figures. All in all, it was a fruitful visit, if not costly, but what the hell.

Other stuff that went down this weekend:

Binged on You Season 2 (Joe Goldberg has turned from cool misanthrope to pathetic love struck loser. I guess not everybody can be an Elliot Alderson)

Watched Zombieland: Double Tap (not as good as the first one, but Emma Stone is still a knockout)

Laundry, housecleaning, paint job — boring domestic shit, all

Dined on crispy Lechon Macao at North Park with the wifey

Jammed on some Planes Mistaken for Stars tunes

And so much for a blissful and yet expensive weekend.

[nerdville]

2020 Weekend Report #2

This particular weekend didn’t turn out the way I wanted it to be. Because instead of finally checking out You or The Witcher or Messiah on Netflix, I was helping a bunch of dudes replace our termite-infested doorframe, buying materials for it, and, at one point, arguing with our subdivision’s security guard who said any sort of construction work on a Sunday is against the subdivision’s rules and regulations. Fucking nitwit relented eventually, but it was such a hassle that it drained all my energy for the day. By afternoon I was feeling feverish.

Anyway, at least there’s these:

Finished Jack Ryan Season 2 (actually, this was late Friday night, but who’s complaining)

1 1/2 hours of morning brisk walk (during which I learned that Neil Peart of Rush has died)

Listened to “Bravado,” my most favorite Rush song, several times on Spotify

Read a bunch of new comics

Enjoyed an hour of Swedish massage with my family (weekend highlight!)

Slept through an ashfall

And so much for this fun-less weekend. I see a busy workweek ahead. That ashfall is just the start.

[nerdville]

New books alert!

These arrived from Book Depository today. They arrived just as I was starting to get worried about what the hell happened to them. I ordered them late November and according to the website they should be in my doorstep after 7 to 10 days. But it still took them over a month! I guess the delay had something to do with the chaos associated with the Christmas season. Anyway, stoked for these babies here. 

I seemed to have accumulated a bunch of Mick Wall books. Not surprising, since I thoroughly enjoyed his book on Metallica. And Mindhunter? The interest to gobble it up has been there since Season 1 of its Netflix adaptation. And after the brilliant Season 2 I just couldn’t leave it to local bookstores to have a copy of the book. So I took a shortcut: I ordered online.

[nerdville]

2020 Weekend Report #1

Celebrated something on the first weekend of the year/decade by having a party. Tall, leggy models came in bearing gifts. By 3 a.m. on Sunday we were all drunk and maudlin, and decided to light candles and hold hands naked while listening to Enya... Actually, none of that shit happened. Instead, these:

Read a bunch of comics, including X-Men #4 and X-Force #4 (both fucking awesome issues!)

Watched Gemini Man

Went biking

Stuffed myself with food

Went to church

Turned 41

And so much for aging. I still feel 21 inside. 

[nerdville]

About Gerry

December 21 was supposed to be a fun day. It was a Saturday in the middle of the holiday season, and my wife and I were about to do some Christmas shopping in Megamall. But I woke up to sad news: Gerry Alanguilan, noted Filipino comics artist, had quietly passed away in a San Pablo, Laguna hospital.

I remember Wasted, Gerry’s eight-issue comics series in the mid-90s. I bought the collected edition in college, and it blew me away. It was angry and profane and very unlike any other comics, both local and foreign, I’d read at that time. I remember how I nearly cried reading the “love letter” that closed the story. It was all heart, all pain, all love. Right after the hail of bullets, that is. No wonder Warren Ellis is impressed.

I also have some of Gerry’s works. I even got some of them signed by him, in those crowded comic events where I got the chance to see how frail he had become due to his sickness. In one, the lady beside him, presumably his wife IIyn, apologized to us because Gerry could not shake our hands for health reasons. I remember feeling really sad and sorry for the man.

And now I regret skipping Komikon Grande last November. Gerry wrote on his blog that it would be his last Komikon. How eerily prophetic.

[nerdville]

Dr. Manhattan on a Monday

It’s a cool Monday morning and I sit here at work thinking those who scoff at Ep8 of HBO Watchmen series just aren’t getting it. I sit here thinking those who fixate on Dr. Manhattan’s looks in the series (as compared to the graphic novel) are sadly overlooking the series’ brilliant story. I sit here and wonder why some viewers watch Watchmen and still obsess about superficial things. To them I say, WTF, dude.

I agree Watchmen the graphic novel is unfilmable. Zack Snyder tried in 2009 but it lacked the depth so it came across as just your typical superhero film. HBO’s approach was different: a sequel to the original material. A bold move, if I must say. And although it still can’t hold a candle to the Alan Moore comics, it has it own charm and depth, and as I sit here pondering on Ep8, I am convinced it is one of the best new series to come out in 2019.

Indeed, I sit here, at the office on a cool Monday morning, nine days before Christmas, and I can’t help but get super excited about Watchmen’s season finale.