The House of Sisig

What immediately strikes a person when he enters at Trellis at their QC branch is the laid-back atmosphere of the restaurant. It has a very casual, almost a home-like feel to it. Very familiar, too, are the faces of the waiters. Some of them have been with the establishment for a good decade or more; seeing them again brings a sense of nostalgia that is etched in memories.

Sagot (Sa Ibang Tanong)

^Travis has a very interesting post over here. It's a fun geometric problem that calls for a two-part  proving - but let me just tackle the first part. It states that if given three sides of a right triangle with the expressions n²+ 1, n² – 1 and 2n (where n > 1), what expression represents the hypotenuse of the right triangle?

The Reason Why I Breathe Opera

Dame Joan Sutherland
1926-2010

Dramatic Coloratura assoluta
 La Stupenda è morta, viva La Stupenda!

-----

My belated tribute to the great soprano who died a few weeks ago. This was the very first aria of hers that I listened to, and it lead it eventually lead me to singing opera years later.  

Thank you, Dame Joan, for the wonderful introduction to opera.  You will be sorely missed.

Tagging Season

Urgh, and I thought tagging was so last year.  But no, I got tagged in Facebook, where else?  After giving it thought, I decided to share here what I listed down. Anyhoo, here's part of  the mechanics of the tag:

Don't take too long to think about it. Thirty books (providing you've read 30 or more than 30 books) you've read that will always stick with you. List the first 30 you can recall in no more than thirty minutes.

The Existentialism of Superman

Felicity Rose

After I buried my mom, I had stood there after everybody had left, and I thought...is this it? I mean, is this all that there is? Working in a cubicle six days a week until I'm too old to do it anymore, then I die? Is that it? Is that what we're here for? What's the point?

Ang Pangtapat Ko Kay Charice Pempengco

Ang Pilipino talaga ay likas na mahilig umawit.  Hindi unusual na may magyayaya na gumimik sa isang KTV, o kaya tumambay sa bahay kasama ang tropa't magngangangawa ng full volume sa Magic Sing.  Kaya naman hindi nakakagulat na maraming mga Pinoy na mang-aawit na tanyag sa iba't ibang lupalop ng mundo.  Pero ito ang sikreto: di mo na kailangang lumabas ng bansa para masaksihan kung gaano ka-talented ang mga Pinoy.

Infinite Limits

Since it seems that the season of geekzoidness is in the air, Eternal Wanderer has decided that's safe to take a peep out of his stuffy nerd-closet after all. But he doesn't want it to be an ordinary, run-of-the-mill coming-out-of-the-nerd-closet rite. He wants it fabulous and bonggang-bongga ever!

Height Is Might: The Russian Women's Volleyball Team 1

As I have written about my favorite Las Morena del Caribe here and here, let me now share another volleyball team that perhaps was the thorniest rival the of the Cubans at the turn of the century: the towering Russian women’s national volleyball team.

The iconic players of Russia: Lyubov Sokolova on the left, and Ekaterina Gamova on the right.  Both shift between the opposite and outside hitter positions.  Like I said before, Sokolova, 6'3.5", is perhaps the compleat player to have emerged from the Russian team. She was outstanding in all the volleyball fundamentals save probably in setting.  At 6'7.5", Gamova is probably the tallest woman player active in the international volleyball scene.  Her intimidating block is extremely effective when she is the opposite position directly in front of the outside hitter on the other side of the court.

Four Things I Learned While Doing Math

Lately, I've been tutoring math to a h.s. kid who's studying at the British School Manila. I was looking over the textbook they use and immediately noticed there was a huge difference between the way the subject was being taught. I've been used to handling curricula that covers a lot of topics, but only on the same subject for the whole year or the whole semester. The British School, on the other hand, covers a smattering of different math subjects over the entire school year, i.e. a little of algebra, geometry, statistics, trigonometry, etc.

Admittedly, it was jarring to me at first. I mean, it would be kind of confusing for me to juggle factoring polynomials for a week or two and then suddenly shifting to calculating the angles of a polygon. As I was discussing this situation with another educator, he pointed out that it may actually be beneficial to kids who have a short attention span. In this manner, there would be a variety of topics covered, and boredom due to monotony could be avoided.

The Story of My Art 3

The Story of my Art 2

On the day itself, I deliberately refrained from running through the two pieces.  Some of the members were asking expecting a full run.

I said no.

I told them, "We have been practicing for the past five weeks.  What would another run though do except tire you out?  Everything that was needed to be learned was already covered.  I'm not asking you to be perfect, but what I'm asking for is that you give your best shot when you go onstage.  I'm doing this because I have to trust that I taught you well.  I have to trust that you will perform with all honesty and integrity.  I have faith that you will deliver, so you have to have faith in yourselves."

The Story of My Art 2

The Story of my Art 1

It was an uphill battle from the start for the choir and me.  Given the fact that the pool of auditionees was limited to members of the organization, to say that there were scant options is an understatement.  Nonetheless, I personally listened to those who auditioned, and handpicked people who had  sharp ears and good tonal memory.  The rehearsal period was very short, and I'd really rather have a group who  were fast learners rather than singers with beautiful voices.

My gamble paid off.  We finished off the piece of our choice in three days.  I was excited with the fact that I managed to secure the permit of the arranger of the score to have the group do the Philippine premiere.  It was actually a commissioned work for a foreign choir; another Filipino choir had sung it, but only performed it abroad.  Luckily, I was also able to ask the choirmaster of that ensemble to allow us to premiere the work here in the Philippines. With his blessings, he gave the go signal.

The Story of My Art 1

I spent the whole night tossing and turning because of all the mounting tension.  When I finally did,  sleep proved to be fitful and restless.  I was fully expecting to wake up filled with panic and anxiety. However, as I opened my eyes a few hours later, the sun was up and shining bright.  I surprisingly felt serene and composed.

A good omen, perhaps?

I assured myself, "Today is a good day to win."

Las Morenas del Caribe 2

One thing that distinguishes the Cuban team is their use of the the 6-2 system.  As opposed to the standard 5-1 system which uses one full-time setter and 5 hitters, the 6-2 employs two setters and 6 hitters.  Both setters are diagonal to each other; whoever is at the back acts as the primary setter, while the one in front acts as a hitter.  Once the setter at the back rotates upfront, he or she becomes the an attacker, and the opposite who has now rotated to the back becomes the primary setter.  What makes up for the stilted setting is the fact that at any given time, there will always be 3 attackers in front of the net.  It is this system that the Cuba has perfected, turning the setters into ferocious hitters at the expense of unimaginative and predictable setting decisions.

Lilian Izquierdo (lower right) and Marlenys Costa (upper right), along with Tanya Ortiz, Raisa O'Farill, were the setter-hitters of Cuba during the early to mid- 90's.  With the arrival of Taimarys Aguero post-Atlanta Olympics, she and Costa became the deadly duo opposite each other until the Sydney Olympics.  In 1997, Cuba experimented with running a 5-1 system with Aguero as the full-time setter. But after a year, it was dropped and they returned to the usual 6-2 formation.

Las Morenas del Caribe 1

I already introduced to you some of my favorite Cuban players, Mireya Luis and Taimarys Aguero, in this my previous post about volleyball 101.  But allow me to delve deeper into las Cubanas and their team that overwhelmingly dominated the international volleyball scene in the 90's.

Regla Bell, on the right, and Yumilka Ruiz, on the left, were the other starting outside hitters  (OH) for Cuba during the 90's.  Bell is unusual because she is a left-handed OH when most southpaws are assigned as opposite (utility) hitters.  Ruiz took over the starting position of Mireya Luis, and remained with the team until the Beijing Olympics.

My Favorite Comic Storylines: Kingdom Come

Totalitarian vision of a dystopic future

Imagine a future where a new generation of super-heroes conduct themselves no better than super-villains. Imagine a future where the line between good and evil is blurred beyond distinction. Imagine a future where the old guard is pushed aside, and chaos reigns supreme. Imagine a future where an aging preacher's prophetic visions can lead to the world's apocalyptic destruction or its ultimate salvation.

Mark Waid and Alex Ross' chef-d'oeuvre moves forward 20 years from the present, into the time where Superman and his colleagues have either turned their backs at the world or operate under the cloak of subterfuge. In their stead, a new generation of super-heroes emerge, more violent and heavy-handed than their predecessors ever were. Wonder Woman coaxes a tragedy-laden Superman out of retirement to lead the restoration of peace and order throughout the world. Slowly, with the help of their now-aged colleagues and protegees, they keep the new batch of super-heroes and super villains in line by literally muscling their way through.

Unfortunately, their totalitarian approach is viewed with much suspicion by both non-powered colleagues and villains. The faction led by Batman insists that the methodology of Superman's Justice League is no different than what he is battling against. Luthor and his cohorts, on the other hand, prepare to counter the Justice League with their most formidable weapon: a Mr. Mind-controlled Captain Marvel.

The great battle meets head-on as Luthor unleashes Captain Marvel on the Gulag, the fort where the Justice League has incarcerated the super-villains. In the escalating melee, the head of the United Nations decides to aim a nuclear warhead to obliterate the meta-humans --- heroes and villains alike --- once and for all. It is only through the valiant self-sacrifice of Captain Marvel that some meta-humans survive the outcome of the great holocaust.

An enraged Superman returns to the United Nations, followed the surviving meta-humans. He is then made to realize the complex situation of masked crusading: that they cannot live in the world and live above and apart from it. In the ensuing epilogue, poignant scenes are depicted on how they fully integrate themselves as members of a kinder and better human/meta-human society.

The Kingdom Come whole saga  is complex, rich, and multi-layered in its approach to narration. Waid frames it within the perspective of Norman McCay, an aging minister plagued with prophetic visions of a catastrophic future. He is guided through the story by the Specter, who acts both as a commentator and judge to the unfolding events. But the Biblical allusions do not stop with the avenging angel imagery. The entire narrative is replete with Biblical references, specifically to those of the Book of Revelations. It's hard press to miss the symbolism of Superman as the militant Messiah, the savior who shall bring war in order to make peace.

Equally stupendous is Ross' contribution to the series.  His painted artwork gives a stunning feel to the series' visual design. Each panel was of photo-realistic quality; reading through series is akin to viewing a very gorgeous album.  It was my first encounter with Alex Ross' work, and I've been a fan ever since.

All in all, the series is certainly a worthwhile read, both  as a comic book series and as a literary work of fiction.  It most surely will stand the test of time because of the relevant themes and situations presented.  Perhaps this what really classic comic story lines are: they still remain pertinent to the reader's experience years after they were written.

My Favorite Comic Storylines: Crisis on Infinite Earths

 

Iconoclastic image: the death of Supergirl

 "Worlds live! Worlds die!"

By 1985, the continuity of DC was a convoluted mess. Multiple and alternative earths were established to explain continuity lapses, but even then, editorial feared that the whole multiverse concept was already too complicated. Therefore, they decreed that a major revision of some sort had to be made.  This monumental task of house-cleaning was handed over to then-hot New Teen Titans creative team of Marv Wolfman and George Perez. Thus, the complex saga spanning over 12 issues was born.

The whole narrative hinges on intrinsic duality of nature: for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. The Monitor has his own antithesis blatantly and unimaginatively named the Anti-Monitor, and their machinations causes catastrophic repercussions across the multiverse. The Monitor is killed in the middle of the series, but the superheroes from the remaining 5 Earths take up the cudgels against the Anti-Monitor. In one clean sweep, the battle between the Specter and the Anti-Monitor at the dawn of time unleashes unimaginable energies that cause the remaining Earths to be recreated into a single Earth. On this new Earth, various histories, locations, and elements were incorporated from the previously surviving Earths. Fittingly, Superman of the now non-existent Earth-2 then delivers the coup de grâce on the Anti-Monitor. Kal-L (emphasis on the L, not El), along with his wife Lois Lane and the Superboy of Earth-Prime, go off to live happily ever after in the paradise provided by Alexander Luthor of Earth-3.

Muddy mess all tidied up, ey?

Not quite.

The resulting cannon-fodder notwithstanding (including major characters from Earth-1 such as Supergirl, the Flash, and Wonder Woman), the aftermath of the Crisis provided a fresh start for DC. They cashed on heavily on the opportunity to launch new titles and to update various storylines.

In some aspects, they were very successful. Case in point was with the character of Wonder Woman. She didn't die after all, but was de-evolved into clay, and the time table re-set on her along with the Amazons. George Perez headed the creative team that launched her into the new (and single) DC-verse, strengthened the ties of her Greek mythological origins, and provided a very plausible insight into her ironic characterization as the warrior-princess seeking peace in a man's world.

On the other hand, while John Byrne's re-imagining of the Man of Steel was initially received with unanimous praise, it spawned massive continuity glitches in its wake. This time, there are no Kryptonian survivors from the barren and sterile planet save for a lone baby space-warped to Earth in a birthing matrix. He grows up with the Kents somewhere in Middle America as a normal kid and teenager. No superheroic capers for Clark Kent, and he only dons the Superman costume in his adulthood.

That would've worked out fine, except for one, not so-slight problem: the Legion of Superheroes. A huge fan-favorite title enjoying brisk sales, the whole concept hinged on the idea of teenagers, 1,000 years in the future, forming a band of heroes with the exploits of Superboy as their inspiration. But wait, Byrne said that there was no Boy of Steel anymore, right? The resultant explanation of Byrne involving pocket Earths and dimension hopping proved too much of a headache to handle for both the editorial staff and the readers. Sales quickly plummeted, and several years later the title had to completely re-booted from scratch to provide new origins for the group.

But taking the opus as it is, Crisis on Infinite Earths stands the test of time in its majestic breadth of story-telling. True, Wolfman's dialogue may sound awkward and clunky at times, but that can be attributed to the writing style of the period. The George Perez look may also be anachronistic from the modern point of view, but for my money's worth, no artist approaches him in terms of detailing something even as minute as the background. And with literally cast of thousands, he makes a breath-taking and magnificent job in each panel and spread of the comic book. His artwork is even more spruced up by the inks of the veterans Dick Giordano, Jerry Ordway, and Mike DeCarlo, formidable artists on their own right.

Scatch My Itch

Eternal Wanderer is having an itch lately. It bothers him so much that he keeps on tossing and turning at night. He's seeking a way to relieve himself because the insatiable craving is building up big, big time. He fears he might lose control any moment.

You see, Eternal Wanderer is having a severe case of techie gadget itch.

hahahahahaha

He's thinking of junking his white Macbook for a new 15 inch Macbook Pro. He's actually been salivating at the thought of acquiring the unibody model ever since it came out last year. The battery life longer, about 7 hrs or so compared to the paltry 2.5 hours of the older Macbooks. Plus the new Macbooks have a dvd writer and SD card-reader already built in, as opposed to the older model.

The downside? It's gonna set him back by roughly 113 grand. Throw in about 40K, and he can already buy a decent second-hand car. Or at 113K, he can get a cool Windows-based laptop, and rig up 3 powerful desktops, as well.

Speaking of desktops, Eternal Wanderer is also thinking of doing an upgrade with his desktop. He loves his desktop since he works it like there's no tomorrow. He learned the hard (and expensive) way of not abusing a laptop by leaving it powered-on for weeks at a time. A year and P14,ooo bucks later, he realized that desktops are still the way to go for everyday, heavy duty usage. His current, more than two years old desktop is respectable enough: a 2.66 Core2Duo with 2 GB RAM and a 500 GB HD running on an XP SP3 operating system. But now, he's down to prolly the last 15 GB of HD space, so a new 1.5 TB HD is in order (am I a hard dicks disk slut or what?). And since Eternal Wanderer is a coke-sniffing, speed-lovin' junkie, he's thinking of jacking off up his RAM to 3 GB, maybe even 4 GB if he shifts into a 64-bit o.s. He might also change processors to either a Core i5 or i7, so he can have a good, if not unnecessary, reason to shift into the new Windows 7 o.s.

Of course, that's roughly gonna cost him 25K.

Crap.

Maybe EB is right. Eternal Wanderer, at the very least, should change the battery of his trusty old N73. For just a thousand bucks , he can enjoy hours of talking dirty and nasteeh pleasure with his friends without having to plug in the cell in EW's Grand Canyon the charger every time lolz!

P.S. Eternal Wanderer wants to strangle the love spear of Cubao Boy for buying the new Snow Leopard o.s. of Mac. Grrrrrr!

My Favorite Comic Storylines: Dark Phoenix Saga

 Jean Grey: redemption through ultimate sacrifice

The story is simple enough: Jean Grey, a young telepathic/telekenetic mutant, literally rises from the ashes and finds her psionic abilities magnified beyond belief. Though her powers are held back by a series of psychic circuit-breakers, the dam is slowly being chipped away at. She is manipulated and pushed over the edge by the Hellfire Club, until she finally bursts in raptor-shaped flames to become a dark god-like being, voracious in thirst for raw energy.

In order to satiate her quench, she consumes a far-flung star system populated with inhabited worlds. Consequently, the Shi-Ar empire seeks retribution and hounds her futilely through the vast expanse of space. She returns to Earth, and in a battle of the highest psychic order, Professor Xavier manages to re-bind the mental circuit breakers. She is eventually put on trial by the Shi-Ar, to which Xavier counters with a rebuttal via a battle-challenge.

On the moon, Jean Grey and the X-men make their last stand. When she sees Cyclops struck down, the rebound psychic barriers crumble apart, and she slowly transforms into the dark godling once again. But she realizes that the duality of her persona would haunt her for all eternity, and riddled with the guilt of having taken billions of lives, she chooses to annihilate herself while still in a vulnerable phase of transition.

The theme of redemption through self-sacrifice and the idea that absolute power corrupts were huge concepts for me as a kid. It held, and still holds, a fascinating sway over me. I can remember buying the trade paperback when I was around 11 or 12 yrs old, and patiently reading it through in one sitting. Revisiting it as an adult, the dialogue seems to be a tad bit stilted and dated in style and flow. However, the basic narrative remains intact, and ultimately, powerfully moving. Whatever his writing faults are, Chris Claremont remains the definitive writer of the X-men for me. John Byrne, inked over by Terry Austin, is at his classic best. I will always associate his artwork with his early impressive runs on the Avengers, X-Men, Fantastic Four, and Alpha Flight.

Yes, Believe It or Not, I Actually Read Books

Eternal Wanderer loves to read. He loves to read newspapers. He loves to read comics. He loves to read books. He loves to read so much that he can't even poop without bringing a reading material.

Oooops. TMI.

Here's some of the books Eternal Wanderer has recently tried out:

A friend of his in college was gushing about Ayn Rand. She told Eternal Wanderer to check out Rand's novels. Being the dumb blond that he is, he innocently asked if it had anything to do with beautiful parks and fountains. She gave him what-an-airhead stare and walked out on him.

Years later, Eternal Wanderer is still a dumb blond. But now, he thanks to the book reader Stanza, he's been downloading e-books like crazy. One of the books he downloaded was Fountainhead. He picked up to courage to read it, and found himself thoroughly enjoying the novel. It practically read like good soap-opera stuff, albeit of the wordy kind. But in the last 1/3 of the book, he was got a migraine. The courtroom monologue of Howard Roark, the main character, was a little bit too much for Eternal Wanderer. It was major word puke. Eternal Wanderer wondered, "Why didn't Howard Roark simply say 'Fuck y'all. I'm an individual, so stuff it!'"

Of course, that line of reasoning would've put Howard Roark in jail for the rest of his life.

Eternal Wanderer is tickled pink at his own dumb blondness.

Eternal Wanderer is a sword slut. He goes into ecstatic throes whenever swords are concerned. He considers himself an expert handling swords of all lengths, widths, thicknesses, and sizes. He opines the bigger swords are, the better to play with. Nothing would please Eternal Wanderer more than if somebody dangles a sword before him.

With an enticing title "Dark Sword," how could Eternal Wanderer refuse to read such a book?

It was an enjoyable romp in the hay. Joram's sword very much delighted Eternal Wanderer. He even spent nights of torrid fantasy with the thoughts of caressing Joram's long and turgid sword. But it was the idea of the Technomancers (people who derived their magic through death) that gave him pause. He thought, "If I kill all roaches in the house, can it make my lashes magically curl up permanently? Do I have to do it myself, or can I just call in pest control? No, wait, if I call in pest control, it's their lashes that might be magically curled up permanently! We wouldn't want that, would we?"

Eternal Wanderer is amazed with the dumb blond ideas he can think of.

Eternal Wanderer digs magic realism. He has devoured a lot of those South American novelists which features interactive ghosts, seductive cooking, love potions, and their ilk. He thinks that the idea of magic treated as an everyday occurrence is such a fascinating idea.

Since he really adored the lush narrative of Gabriel Garcia-Marquez's Love in Time of Cholera, he decided to give 100 Years of Solitude a go. It was going on fine maybe until about the fourth generation. By that time, he almost completely lost it. The characters' names were all the same, and it was confusing the heck out of him. Eternal Wanderer even had to whip out a paper and write down who was who just so that he could keep track with all the characters.

It was then he realized that Garcia-Marquez was trying to emphasize the cyclical nature of of life. The flaws and sins of the (fore)fathers continue to haunt the children, generation after generation. Because of this, the past, present, and future are bound with one another in an inevitable spiraling towards an uncertain fate.

Whoa.

Eternal Wanderer just had a verbal and philosophical fart!

My, my, my. There may still be hope for the dumb blond Eternal Wanderer, after all.

Heehee

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!