La Isla de las Marias Quatro Mahaderas viudas de las Mujeres Vaklitahs-Jones, o Paano Nagbakasyon ang Tropa ni Eternal Wanderer sa Island of Desire 1

Dahil kaladkarin nga ang tropa ni Eternal Wanderer, sila ay mahilig maglalagalag kung saan-saan. This time naman, e naiisipan nila mag-beach sa kalagitnaan ng bagyo season. Pero okay lang, wala namang bagyo nun naglakwatsa sila. On the other hand, sila nga ang nagkalat ng unos ng ka-vekhihan sa isla na ito:

Cagbalete Island!

Ang taray ng tempation island, ano?

May pagka-epic adventure yung pagpunta nila dito. At ito ay nag-umpisa sa usap nila ni Totoy Mola sa YM.

Totoy Mola: Hoy, vehki!
Eternal Wanderer: Bakit, tuod?
TM: Gumawa ka nga ng schedule at costing ng lakad natin. Gusto ko maayos ang pagkagawa mo sa Excel a.
EW: Opo, kamahalang Ma'am Tuod.

Nakakalurkey si Totoy Mola, ever! E ano ba namang malay ni Eternal Wanderer sa Excel na yan? Ang alam lang nyang gawin sa computer e manood sa Lifeout at X-Tube at mag-torrent ng Randy Blue at Sean Cody. Pero dahil masipag at maabilidad naman si Eternal Wanderer, matapos ang limang oras e nakagawa naman sya ng costing at scheduling sa Excel.

Ito ang kinalabasan:

click peekchure to enlarge

Bonggang-bongga di ba? May scheduling at costing pa para sa hadahan!

To You

"You are my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song."

- with apologies to WH Auden

I do not think there are enough words to describe how I feel about you. For what are mere words in capturing something that is only tangible to the heart? But permit me to make a feeble attempt to encapsulate them, even if I know it is merely a pale reflection of what I truly feel inside of me.

It is but strange that there is no tumultuous emotions raging within me. All is quiet, all is peaceful. You are like a balm that soothes the aching wounds, a cool caress upon a fevered soul. But I should not be surprised, since you are always there in your constantness, a presence freely given with love and lovingly accepted in return.

And it is that constantness that I truly appreciate.

For it is like the sun softly dawning in the east.
For it is like the eternal stars that shine brightly in the night's firmament.
For it is like the gentle murmur of your heartbeat as I lay upon your strong chest.

And thus, all of my heart responds to you as it whispers:

"I am yours, my beloved."

Comics, or How I Indulge in a Childhood Habit 2

The New Teen Titans
Marv Wolfman and George Perez scores a hit!

There's something really kooky about the idea of sidekicks banding together and having adventures apart from their big brothers/sisters and father figures. This was how the idea of the original Teen Titans was present. Fast forward to 1980, throw in a bunch of new and edgy heroes, slightly edgy characterizations and storylines, and a fabulous creative team, and DC had a major hit in their hands. Wolfman-Perez's The New Teen Titans was DC response to to the Claremont-Byrne run on the X-Men. And boy, what a magnificent run it was! Who would not tear up with the "Who is Donna Troy?" issue, or be shocked with Terra's sociopath storyline? Wolfman and Perez had a wonderful first run on this comic, and this series remains as one of my comic reads even up to now.

The Defenders
A non-team, if such a thing is possible!

From the original quartet of Dr. Strange, Sub-Mariner, Silver Surfer, and the Hulk, this group of superheroes eventually grew into a loosely organized team of misfits. It may have been a weird concept, but somehow it worked! Personally though, I relished the idea of having the Valkyrie, Hellcat, and Moondragon in one group teehee.

The Mighty Avengers
The mother of all superhero teams in Marvel Comics!

Everyone who's anyone in the Marvel universe seems to have been a part of the Avengers at one point or another. From gods to mutants and robots to aliens - this team has it all! Nostalgic arcs for me includes the time when Patsy Walker dons the Cat's discarded costume and become Hellcat, as well as the demonic possession of the Scarlet Witch in Wundagore. I loved the relaunching of the title during the 90's with Busiek and Perez at the helm, but I hated how the Scarlet Witch character was eventually maltreated, leading to the events of M-Day. Crappy, crappy, crappy treatment to a fan (and personal) fave character. I really hope they bring her back fully restored and exonerated. In whatever case, all I can say is, "Avengers Assemble!"

The Justice League of America
The sattelite era of everybody's favorite Superfriends!

Needless to say, my love for the JLA stemmed from those Superfriends cartoons they used to show on the Saturday Fun Machine on channel 9 *wink* This is the premier team in the DC universe, with the Trinity (Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman) very much representative of what the team is, and what it stands for. Oh, did I mention that they had a crossover with the Avengers? Now that was one fun and gorgeous read! It was amusing to see how some of their powers got screwy as they moved from one earth to the other hehehe I do wish they'd have another crossover fast and soon!

Kanta ni Ara Mina

Hindi makatulog Si Eternal Wanderer.

Hindi rin sya makaisip ng matino.

At mas lalo syang di makasulat ng maayos....


























Kasi tumitibok puso nya.

-----
Leche ka. Kaw laman ng puso't isipan ko.

Pero mas leche ako. Kasi gusto ko naman ahihihihi

mwah

Comics, or How I Indulge in a Childhood Habit 1

There are some things you outgrow, and there some things you don't. Comics are one of those things that I still carry-over from my childhood. There's something about reading superpowered people zooming in the air, blasting ferocious supervillains, or just simply saving the world from a catastrophic event that fascinates the kid in me up to now. My mom can't get why I still read these things. But those who are into it, I'm sure you can relate with my love for them.

Lemme share some of my favorite Superhero teams:

The Legion of Super-Heroes
The Levitz-Giffen era is my favorite iteration of the group!

Who can resist a team with members with descriptuive names such as Karate Kid, Chameleon Boy, Matter-Eater Lad, Phantom Girl, Shadow Lass, etc? With Superboy and Supergirl (from different era’s) thrown in, it’s a hodge-podge of alien beings and assorted, if not literal powers. The post-Crisis editorial dictate to remove Superboy and Supergirl retroactively from the Legion’s history was extremely damaging, resulting in heavy retconning that eventually lead to two re-boots. But all is well as The Powers That Be in DC, as they’ve brought back the Pre-Crisis version of the Legion in the current continuity. I almost peed in my pants when I saw the splash page of the Legion statues in Superman’s Fortress of Solitude in the Lightning Saga that ran in the pages of the Justice Society of America/Justice League of America crossover. I say, Long Live the Legion!

The All New, All Different X-Men
They eat Magneto for breakfast!

Cyclops! Storm! Colossus! Nightcrawler! Phoenix! Wolverine! (plus Sunfire, Banshee, Thunderbird and later on, Ariel/Shadowcat). Who wouldn’t know these iconic X-men characters? They burst forth from the pages of Giant Size X-Men #1, replacing the original members of the group. I remember being heartbroken when I first read the Dark Phoenix saga. Jean’s suicide for the greater good of the universe teared my eyes up like anything. It remains my most favorite X-Men storyline. Members may have come and gone, the permutations may have changed, but this will always remain the definitive line-up for me!

The New Mutants
Prof. Charles Xavier must be one heck of a teacher!

A cannonball Kentucky hick, a hot-tempered Brazilian sun battery, an antiquarian Roman lava chick, a lesbo Vietnamese mind-controller, a ferral Scott redhead, a Russian witch bitch, a (de-powered) Cheyenne illusion-caster, a WASP-y blond nerd, and a stranded alien - a diverse group of students, indeed. These X-men trainees captured my heart when the moment I opened the oversized Marvel Graphic Novel #4. They may be all grown-up now, but with the recent revival of the New Mutants comics with the original people (weird name for a comic though, they're definitely no longer new hehehe), it's a nostalgic trip down to through memory lane again!

Of Icings and Cakes

A friend of mine brought over a chocolate cake he bought from a grocery bakeshop. It was reputedly one of the best undiscovered cakes in town. Supposedly very much under-rated.

I opened the box. It did look good. The ganache was all dark and glossy. I couldn’t resist but take a swipe at the icing. Not too sweet. Good. Yummy.

I sliced a piece of it. Wow, there’s even a fourth-inch custard filling in between the layers. Very, very promising, indeed.

I closed my eyes in anticipation as I lifted the fork towards my mouth. The icing slowly melted inside, exploding with a rich, and almost overwhelming taste of dark chocolate. Again, not too sweet. Perfect. Just the way I like it.

Then the crumb of the cake reached my tastebuds.

Urgh. Dry, tasteless. Not far from what a cardboard would taste, I imagine. Gawd, what the hell is this stuff?!

The custard wasn’t much of a help, either. Very, very stale. Very, very nasty.

I looked up to my friend. He had the same reaction, too.

We shared a laugh and a half agreeing how the cake tasted really awful. Off it went to the trash bin: two unconsumed slices, and the rest of the cake.

Drat. Drat. Drat.

A food tripping exercise that ended up in futility.

-----
Trust me, no amount of good icing can mask an awfully made cake.
At the end of the day, it’s the cake itself that matters.

Island of Desire

Talaga namang lagalag si Eternal Wanderer at ang tropa nya. Mahilig sila magsususuot kung saan-saan. Kaya nung weekeend, sila ay napadpad sa isang isla sa may Pacific Ocean.

Bonnga ng rampahan, di ba?

Full post coming up soon!

Some Volleyball 101 1

It's weird that I love playing and watching volleyball, but I've never really written much about it in my blog, save for this post. Someone asked me a few days ago to explain the game in an in-depth manner, so I thought, why not write about it instead?

I'm assuming most of us have played volleyball in our elementary and h.s. P.E. classes at least once, right? Some may even have been part of the varsity team. So I guess most are familiar with the basic mechanics of the game - serve, receive, 3 touches on the ball, counterclockwise-rotation, etc. But most casual volleyball enthusiasts aren't aware that there are specialized positions in the game. That's probably a good jumping point (pun intended) for this post ;)

2 Outside Hitters - also know as openers. They are the ones who usually hit from the left side of the court. The flashiest of them all, since a lot of times, they get the set, especially if the reception of the serve if particularly bad. Also the most pressured of hitting positions, since they are expected to put the ball down, no matter how bad the set is, or how many blockers are in front of them. In most 3-person reception pattern, they are the ones expected to receive the serve along with the libero.
















On the left is the Cuban Mireya Luis, one (if not the MOST) of the most spectacular women outside hitters I've ever seen. I was star struck when I came up to her to chat briefly in Spanish and have my Grand Prix ticket autographed when she was here in Manila as Cuban team manager. She can't be more than 5'8-5'9, but her spike reach was about 10 ft.! Her arm swing was huge and untiring, and every ball was as good as a point. Whether it was a down the line or a cross court kill, she was always magnificent to watch!

On the right is Brazilian outside hitter Giba. Relatively small compared to his Brazilian team mates (relative meaning he's around 6'3-6'4, so you could just imagine the others!). He's the heart and soul of the Brazilian squad, pumping them with his incredible spikes from the left, right, and middle back. Of course, it doesn't help that he's hot, hot, hot, in a dirty-i'm-such-a-bad-boy way wahahahahaha


2 Middle Blockers - they patrol the center of the net, and move side to side to seal the blocks on the right or the left side. Probably the most tiring position for the legs since they have to constantly jump to block. In the hitting department, they are the ones who are mostly given the low and quick sets, and they always have to go in to feign an attack whether they're really given the ball or not. This is to ensure that the opposing blockers are fooled, thus, one less blocker for either the left, right, or back row attackers to worry about.

Andre Heller, on the left, is the smaller middle blocker of Brazil. Even if the taller Gustavo may be the better blocker, I love seeing Andre attacking from the middle because he's relatively faster to swing at the ball. Did I also mention he's hot? lolz

On the right is Simona Gioli, the bad, kick-ass hot mama middle blocker of Italy. The attitude, swagger, and stare-downs on court is really cute to watch. Just like the Russian Tistchencko, she may not be that tall for a middle blocker, but her running (slide) attack is deadly, and almost always converts into a kill.

1 setter - the general inside the court. Just like a point guard or a quarter back, the setter is responsible for calling out and delivering a play in a given sequence. A setter needs to be smart, creative, and devious, accurately giving the balls to the attackers facing the weakest blocks, and making sure that the balls are distributed well to confuse the opposing blockers.


















On the left is is the Feng Kuhn, China's setter. The Japanese setter Takeshita may be more creative and accurate, but her height is simply a liability when she rotates upfront. Feng is a more complete setter in the sense that she's both great at setting and and blocking, plus she can also spike a ball in the rare times it's set to her.

Ricardo, on the right, is my personal favorite guy setter. He was the brains that lead the Brazilian squad through it's very successful phase from 2003-2007. With the amazing hitters he had in his disposal, it was amazing to watch his unerring sense of whom to give the ball to when the team needed a kill. Too bad he was kicked out of the team before the 2008 Olympics supposedly because of attitude problems.

1 opposite - also known as the utility. They are diagonal to the setter and mostly hits from the right side of the court. In international standards, this is purely the hitting position. Most of the time, they are not expected to receive, but just attack, and attack, and attack. Used a lot in combination with the middle blocker decoy, and also for back row attacking. Should be a good blocker, since they are the main block facing the opposing outside hitter. They should also be ready to be the back-up setter on court if the setter digs the ball.


















On the right is Lioubov Sokolova/Sashkova/Kilic, the most complete players to have come out of the old-school Russian volleyball. Though she also plays as an outside hitter, by function, she does what an opposite is expected to do. For a relatively tall (6'3) player like her, she digs and plays defense really well, plus she's one of the main service receivers of her squad. Her jump serves have also created a lot of problems for opposing teams. She, along with Godina, and Gamova, propelled Russia to a gold medal in the 2006 World Championships.

Just like Sokolova, the Cuban-Italian Taismarys Aguero (on the right) is another complete player in every sense of the word. What she can do is amazing: spike hard, block intelligently, and serve accurately, to dig and receive well, and thanks to her Cuban background, even set! Along with Mireya Luis, she was part of the Cuban squad that dominated the whole of the 90's but to the Sydney Olympics. Her defection from Cuba is Italy's gain, as she elevated the Italian team's level to greater heights as they got the gold medal in the 2007 World Cup.


1 libero - the player with the different jersey. A purely back row defensive and receiving player. Cannot serve, attack, and rotate upfront, and can only set with restrictions (overhead from behind the 3-meter line, underhand if in front of the 3 meter line). Replaces the player with the weakest defense and receiving skills (usually the middle blocker since they are tall and slow to dig the ball) without having to ask permission from the second referee.

Brazil's Sergio is very small compared to his team mates, but he's almost 6 ft! Here, he's seen receiving the ball along with Giba at the Athens Olympics. Does it shoe that I love the Men's Brazilian team? teehee





The Japanese team is known for their spectacular floor defense, and they would do anything just to keep the ball in play. Here is their libero Yuko Sano diving on the floor to dig a hard driven ball. Libero = floor's best friend.

Five Minutes

With One Glimpse

I have a confession to make.

I met up with Spice a few days ago.

He texted out of the blue. He was in the city for personal reasons, and asked if I wanted to meet up with him.

I had no reason not to. I said yes.

The rains were lashing intermittently while was I was driving though the metropolis. When I got there, every slot in the concrete parking lot was full. I had to park the car in some muddy spot, and walk several meters through the mire.

But it didn't matter because Spice was already there, waiting for me.

-----

I saw him first. He was in the crowd, his back towards me, looking out to the rainy lamp-lit street. Even if I haven't seen him in months, there was no mistaking him.

It was Spice. It was definitely him.

I approached him, pinched his lower back, and whispered in his ear, "Spice."

(My heart was not fluttering anymore. Strange)

"Eternal Wanderer!!!," he almost shouted as he turned around to face me.

He was grinning widely.

(His dimples. I couldn't help but look at his dimples. I fondly remember how cute they were. They still are.)

I smiled back broadly, and at the same time, I picked up the whiff of his scent. A new one, unlike the ones imprinted in my memories of the times he slept on my bed.

(And they are pleasant memories.)

I didn't stay long because he was with his cousin. We hurriedly kept tabs about what was happening in our lives. He asked me to join him for a beer with them. I politely refused since I wasn't in the mood to socialize with other people. He promised to come back to the city soon so we can spend more time with each other. I said, "Sure, that sounds great." And with that, I told him to go back to his cousin and enjoy the rest of his night.

-----

As I made my way home, it dawned on me that all of these transpired in a span of one cigarette.

Five minutes.

All it took was five minutes to realize that everything is fine. Finally.

No more recriminations, no more awkwardness, no more hard feelings. It was a good run, and now I can savor the good times that we shared without the nostalgic heartache that used to accompany them.

Unsurprisingly, the heavy downpour stopped. It can't rain forever, after all.

I opened the window to catch the breath of the cool air as I drove on the brightly-lit night city.

How the Sun Shines

It's a Viral Thing!

I'm sorry, but this is pure cuteness!!!

Pero it yung killer sa lahat:

Vehkla kung vekhla!!!