About A Girl (Part 1)

A short story I did way back... Reading it now raise hairs on my neck. Sharing you the fun.

Serialized in 3 parts.

PART ONE

I didn't know how it happened. It came to pass so fast. Some call it luck. Some call it providence. But I think it was destiny. I used to see her passing the school quadrangle just adjacent to our college department every afternoon. She's this beautiful, fair skinned girl who has a long flowing locks and the best one I know who gives justice to her school uniform, which she wears the way models scuffed those expensive designer clothes.

Her "china eyes" seem to sparkle with the sun. I've seen her smile and laugh a couple of times when she was talking with whoever it was she was walking with (probably her classmates) and seeing those always gave my afternoon a good mood. I knew that she's also a student there, but I always thought she was just too beautiful for me. At least my inferiority complex told me. It has become a habit for me to go to my afternoon class an hour early so I can watch the splendor of this girl go bye my department corridor every 3:00 pm in the afternoon. Of course, I was not the only one who was smitten by this willowy lady. I can judge by the way other architecture students pose during this time that they too, had been waiting for the amiable lass to pass by--and has been looking forward to it everyday.

Weekdays for me has always comedown to this routine everyday. You can call me a jerk but that's how I used to make my day. Until one day I saw her walking with a muscular (not really the ones you found in bodybuilding magazines, just "sporty" built) man by her side. By the look of it, it was very obvious that this man was already a boyfriend. Well, I maybe meek but I'm not that dumb to read how bodies show emotions. I didn't know why I felt hurt. I was brokenhearted--to say the least--and to think I don't even have the slightest of right to feel that way! There I was, Lamenting for someone who even in her wildest dreams did not even knew I exist. I was a real loser… Big time. All I can do was pity myself and it was not doing any good for my morale either.

Two months passed by since I haven't done my afternoon routine. I convinced myself there's no use on barking for the wrong tree. Fantasizing for someone who doesn't even knew me is a loser's game. And I was tired of being one. So I set myself to just continue with my life and hope to pass all my subjects. Who needs a girl anyway when I have all my design plates filed up and I was not even halfway through them (well of course I was sourgraping!.. Silly me).

... to be continued

The Beautiful Game

This is a clip that shows why I love Football. The resolution is quite pixelated (as what is expeced for free-uploaded videos in youtube) but is a very nice collection of beutiful moves. As what they say in Spanish, "Joga Bonito".

Note: For slower connection, you can pause the player first after you pushed play and wait for the whole thing to load before playing it to enjoy the whole length without interventions. :)



Clip made by Arsenal1987.

Revisiting a hero's death

I have just bought last Saturday the Bounded version of "Death of Superman" (picture above), originally published in 1992. It contained the 7 comic series that engulfed the whole saga of Superman's destruction by the hands of Doomsday.

Back then, I was sophomore college student and have nothing much to shell out for a 200 pesos (which was really costly back then!) per copy of the paperback series. Good thing that I have a well-off boardmate who is like me, a comics freak and a Superman lover. He was the one who bought the copies, all seven of them and lent them to me afterwards. I remembered being teary-eyed after reading it and swore I would buy my very own copy in the future.

After graduation I heard that it was made into a compilation graphic novel so i searched for it but never found a copy. Years passed by and I just forgot about it... Until I saw a copy last Saturday in ComicsMart. To give you a glimpse of how I feel seeing it, you can imagine how you feel seeing someone you really like before, a secret crush or a former lover(a girl or a boy, whatever your preference is). And the most bizarre thing is that it's their LAST copy. I bought it right away.

That night I read it again, and the feeling was still the same as if i was transported back to 1992. Reading it to the last panel, it still has that warm painful feeling. I did not cry this time but the sentimental reaction was never less.

After reading it I carefully put it back to its plastic case and tuck it away for my son to enjoy when he's older, and feel what I felt-- witnessing comics' greatest hero fall.

------------------------------------------------------------


I also want to say thank you to that former boardmate and friend of mine, Mr. Norman Alino, for being so generous back then. We haven't seen each other since 1994 but I hope to bump into you in the near future... Wherever life lead us.

Dayjob images 2

A typical one-day job by yours truly.

Back to Black

Haaa... I'm back. After the long weekend I've been so busy with my dayjob that I didn't have time to update this blog for days. At least now I have some time to do so after two successive days of staying late in the office. Belated happy Easter, everyone! I've enjoyed playing with my son in the East Coast Beach last Sunday. it's been a while since we went there because of so many things I'd have to do on weekends. I've just finished the latest comics I'm working (though two more is on the pipeline) and my 'tabi' (architectural sideline i have from other offices-- yeah, shhhh!!!!) is not that urgent so we decided to spend easter in the beach and did some barbecue and beer with some Filipino friends here. It's fun. And I'm glad we did. :)

Anyway, I just want to clarify things that one of the visitor of this blog commented. I don't do cartoons. I do comics with realistic style. They're not the same. Not manga either. I do comics even though in my dayjob I'm an architect/ landscape architect. I do it simply because of passion. I grew up loving it and dreamed of becoming one of the artists that I used and still look up. This guy, who evidently has no knowledge whatsoever in making comics even commented that working comics is a dinosaur-like effort since you do it manually with pentel pen, and I just trace somebody else's pencil works. Forgive my manners but I have to say this: What an ignorant guy! I mean, PENTEL PEN??? C'mon, he should have researched first before commenting so he won't shame himself. But problem is, some people can't help but talk tacklessly with things, expressing their opinions who are in no way backed with knowledge on the subject. First, comics people don't use Pentel Pen. We use quills, rapidograph pens and brush with ink. Then he say I trace other people's pencils. Ahk! You can only trace somebody's pencils and be credited for it if you're a professional inker. (In most comics, there's a penciller, an inker, a colorist and a letterer. In my case, I do both pencils and inks). If I ink other people's pencils without any association with them, I'd be sued! Especially if i show off the work as mine, don't you think? And how will I acquire those pencilworks anyway? Geezz... And dinosaur work?even though I do enjoy working manually (there still nothing beats the scent of ink in paper and producing original tangible work of arts), I currently do some of my drawings directly on computer using my genius tablet and PAINTER software. I bet this guy will never know the difference. Below is an example. These two panels are blow-up panels taken from my recently concluded comics work. One is done manually using pen & ink, the other using Painter and genius tablet. Can you tell which is which? :)

Blame it on the love of Rock N' Roll

I love Rock Music. Eversince I heard my uncle and his drinking buddies strum "SandMan" by the band America and wailed their voices with it, I've known my musical preference would never be the same again.

Growing up in a little- known city in nothern Mindanao, all the songs injected to me by my mother and grandmother were songs of praise, catholic hymns and visayan folk songs. This changed when my uncle came to live with us. Instead of the Matt Monro vinyls my father used to play in our AKAI turntable stereo, he played records of America, Eric Clapton and KISS, which have really upbeat rhythyms and squeeling guitar riffs. My mother called it "Adis-adis"(stoned people's music). But I didn't care. I have found something I like and never looked back.

By 6th grade, I've already collected around a dozen cassette tapes of rock artists like The Beatles and The WHO, to the more contemporary ones like Bruce Sprinstein and POLICE. Back then i earn money by drawing things for elementary teachers (and there's a lot to do) for their bulletins and classroom stuff. I used this money to but comics and cassette tapes and saved almost nothing.

In high school, my appetite for rock music only increased as much as my inclination to arts. I found other revenues for money (printing t-shirts, making posters, etc. and still continue making artworks for teachers) and went on to buy more records. This time was mid to late eightees, time of Bon Jovi, Guns N' Roses, Poison, Metallica and Motley Crue.

But I guess it was in college where my love for Rock music peaked. I was eating my dinner in a restaurant with a friend when a very unfamiliar sound blasted from the radio. The sound was so intense, the beat very different, no riffing solo guitars, but the sound was so original with a raging lyrics to boot and a unique voice to match. It just hit me in the soul and it sends chilling after-effects into my spine and tingles in my ear. The song i heard was "Alive" by Pearl Jam, a song who went on to become one of the greatest rock classics of all time. The singer was Eddie Vedder.

Pearl Jam is one of the Big four (along with Nirvana, Alice in Chains and Soundgarden) who started the Seattle grunge movement, but is the most emitated, most successful and most influencial. They were instrumental on changing the mainstream rock music from the glam- looking leather-clad rockers to the current don't care much look. Back then you can never hear someone sing like Eddie Vedder. His deep harsh baritone and almost chewed syllables are only by him. Of course, many following acts has been so influenced by Vedder's voice that they just have to sing like him. Among them are current hitmakers Alex Band (The Calling), Scott Stapp (former vocalist of Creed), Chad Kroeger (Nickelback) and Jason Wade (Lifehouse), to name a few.

Pearl Jam's Eight studio album (self- titled) will be released this May of 2006. Man, I can't wait. At least there's something to look forward to aside from the World Cup.

Kids' Central

Pictures of the "Kid's Central Fair" I was talking about in my last post.


Fergus is all smile when we bought tickets for "Disney on Ice".



This mascot suddenly joined in when I snapped the camera.


Pirates!!! run for your life! (He's sad... I guess life is hard nowadays. Anti- piracy is everywhere. lol.)


Fergus and dad(your truly) watching the Power Rangers live.



Err... this is after. He already knew how to turn on the computer and play the kid's tunes MP3.



...And played X-box after bathing.

It's Morphin Time!!!

I used to hate the Power Rangers. But when you have a 2-1/2 yr old kid who adores them, you just can't help but go with it. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em, right?

So 5 weeks after watching Batman in a mall, we went again to the KIDS' CENTRAL (a kid's channel in Singapore) fair day in Orchard to watch, what else-- the POWER RANGERS!

The fair was flocked with kids and kids at heart and has many attractions like Disney characters to Pokemons to Pirates to Crazy Frog (damn, he can dance!), but the Rangers is the main show. And boy did my son enjoy it... so much that I regret not liking Power Rangers before. He shouted the name of every characters each time they appear on stage and do their gong fu routine.

One thing I like about Singapore is that they have shows like this everytime, for kids to enjoy, and the best part of it is that it's always FREE.

Below is a short clip of the show.