This post is being written in spurts, in between work, during those minutes when my gray-matter just doesn’t seem to be wired properly, when rambling thoughts intrude what should otherwise be a productive exercise for the 8-hour day shift.
* * * *
Forgive yours truly for being absent for quite a spell from this here corner of the cyber-world. While this digital corner has remained quiet, I’ve otherwise been “active” on Facebook, Foursquare, and Twitter. By active, I mean busy reading up on others’ posts, busy snooping on other people’s happening, posting or liking or tweeting random thoughts, occasionally revealing my then-current whereabouts, saving stuff to read about offline using a nifty app called Pocket, and generally keeping up-to-date as “up-to-date” is defined by FB, Twitter, and Foursquare.
Given the fast-paced changes in the social media landscape, it seems though that blogs are starting to lose their appeal as online diaries. Whereas before millions of people regularly post updates on their blogs and personal sites, now it seems as though only celebrities are keeping themselves up-to-date to their followers. Well, why update your blog when that can be done on FB, right? In any case, that’s where the real audience is right now – in the social networks. Even this post I’m writing, if I ever remember, will get posted later as a “note” on my own FB page linked of course to the Coffeehouse.
A lot of the blogs and personal sites I used to regularly read are now either sporadically updating or have become dormant (not extinct because their URLs are still active although no updates being done). The CHC itself goes on a sabbatical every now and then. What remains active outside of the social networks are actual websites of companies, businesses, organizations, groups – sites that are run by a group of people. But the personal sites (unless you’re a celebrity) are on a down-trend, in my opinion.
* * * *
After a decade living in Makati City, I am now back in Laguna.
For about a year, my family and I will be residents of San Pedro but come summer next year (if all things go as planned), we’ll once again be changing zip codes and moving one toll exit further to Biñan, Laguna. This’ll happen once our home is completed and made liveable. For now, we’re renting a house in one of the town’s older subdivisions and living with us temporarily are my folks whose house in Pacita (the one I grew up in) is currently undergoing a long overdue renovation.
Ikai is now going to Amazing Grace School, a big school in San Pedro, as a grade schooler while our little one, Issa, is starting her academic life as a nursery student in a smaller nearby pre-school.
Elvie and I are now daily commuters, slaves to departure and arrival times of buses and vans. What has made the commute much more easier is the availability of San Pedro-Ayala buses. In the mornings, on the way to work to Makati, you can just wait for the Ayala-bound bus along the national highway. In the afternoon, after work, you just need to queue up along Ayala Avenue to wait for the Pacita-bound bus that’ll pass by. What’s a big downer though is the ridiculous traffic jam that greets you when you reach the Muntinlupa-San Pedro boundary. The fast travel along SLEX-Skyway is wasted when you reach the boundary because by then traffic will crawl all the way up to the “tulay” and onto “bayan”. It takes just 30-40 minutes to reach Susana Heights from Magallanes, another 10 minutes along Tunasan, and then the 30-minute crawl begins for the 2 kilometer stretch from boundary to “bayan”. That’s why when I drive, I almost always exit via Southwoods. Even though it’ll cost more in terms of toll, in the long run it’ll save you on gas, energy, and most importantly, time.
The kids are adjusting well and what we’ve observed so far is that they’re generally healthier. Months before we moved Ikai and Issa were regularly beset by asthma, fever, coughs, and colds brought about by the construction of Circuit Makati which was just literally our backyard in our Makati apartment. Since we moved to Laguna last mid-May, both little girls are generally ok. The occasional sniffle or coughing fit is observed, but not brought about by the abundance of dust and debris, but more because their yaya forgot to put lampins on their backs after much playing.
And I’ve been waking up quite early especially during work days. On weekends, I extend my sleep for another hour or so to wake up around 6:30 or 7am unless we have to go to the wet market. If it’s palengke-day, we have to be there by around 6:30am or the fresh fish will all have been scooped up.
We’re all still adjusting, of course. We’re getting there.
* * * *
Yes, waking up early but the problem is actually sleeping early.
On average, I am running on average of just 5.5 hours of sleep. Yes, that may seem a luxury to some but at 37 years old, with an unhealthy, overweight body wracked by the Big D, that’s not enough sleep and rest. When I was younger and still a yuppie, running on 3 to 5 hours of sleep everyday was ok. I could even do an overnighter and still come to work the next day. These days, that’s not advised. I may just end up confined in the hospital for the very first time in my life.
5.5 hours? I manage and I’m thankful for days without work as that means I can catch up on some zzzz’s.
* * * *
I’m a late bloomer to Doctor Who.
I mean I am aware of Doctor Who but have never glimpsed an episode until recently. After reading a lot of praise for the series from prominent genre people (the likes of Neil Gaiman and Gerry Alanguilan are just two who have popped into my gray-matter just now) about Doctor Who, I managed to get my hands on Doctor Who Series 5, the series whereby Matt Smith makes his series debut.
And I was blown away.
The show, despite being obviously sci-fi and full of technobabble (in a Brit-English POV, of course) is quite intelligent and fun. Matt Smith as the quirky Eleventh Doctor is fantastic in his performance and Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill as Amy and Rory, respectively -- the Doctor’s Companions – were great complements to the Doctor. Like I said two sentences earlier, this show was fun. The producers made sure that even newbies like me will be able to catch on and immerse myself in the Doctor’s time traveling ways even without the benefit of Doctor Who’s long history. Of course, there were a lot of references to the past but these were not hindrances to understanding where the show was headed. These references however made one such as me (as sucker for history and for details) scour the web for information.
In no time, I finished the entire Series 5, including the Christmas Special with the flying fishies. I already have Series 6 on hand. Will just have to wait until Series 7 becomes available on the disk.
Meanwhile, I’m holding off on Series 6 because I’ve now started watching Doctor Who Series 1, which marked the return of Doctor Who to the tube after a 16-year hiatus. This series stars Christopher Eccleston as the Ninth Doctor with Billie Piper as his Companion, Rose. I’m just into my second episode but I’m already seeing the stark difference between Eccleston’s Doctor from that of Smith’s. Whereby Smith is quirky, childish, foppish, and funny, Eccleston’s Doctor is more serious and dark. They both do the technobabble required of a man from the future but you can sense foreboding in Eccleston while Smith was more unexpected.
Which for me is the better Doctor? Let me finish Series 1 first then I’ll let you know. Afterwards, let’s see how I feel when it’s David Tennant’s turn to be the Doctor. Anyone can lend me Series 2 to Series 4?
If you’re curious why I prefix each Doctor with a number, that number refers to the number of times the Doctor has regenerated his body in the series after undergoing a life-threatening ordeal. Of course, the regeneration is the way the show changes its lead star conveniently and smoothly explains the sudden changes in the Doctor’s appearance and temperament. Read more about Doctor Who from Wikipedia.
* * * *
And since I’ve been busy with Doctor Who during my free time, I’ve rather been neglect in reading. Hence, the three “Now Reading” books on the right column of this blog.
I’ll get back to them one of these days.
* * * *
There was a massive reaction heard across the globe when Superman snapped General Zod’s neck in the final minutes of Man of Steel. Such was the outcry on this one event that many actually expressed that this Superman was not their Superman.
I have to agree. This is not your Superman.
This Superman is the Superman for a new audience, probably an audience that hasn’t picked up a copy of a Superman comics be it Action Comics or another Superman-line comics. This audience being targeted by MoS most likely wasn’t even born yet when Christopher Reeve donned the blue and red for the four Superman movies in the 70s and 80s. This audience only had fleeting memories of that 90’s TV series Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman during childhood and most likely saw Brandon Routh as their first Superman in the 2006 Superman Returns. But this new audience for which Henry Cavill was chosen to portray Kal-El is a younger audience that has no strings attached to past Superman versions. For them, Superman was born in 2013 and wears his underwear under his costume, not outside of it.
Personally, I had no problems with Man of Steel’s development of Superman.
I mean, I had my share of reading all Superman comics that came my way, II went through the four Christopher Reeve movies, watched many episodes of the Dean Cain TV version (mostly because I ogled Teri Hatcher before her Desperate Housewives days), and even liked Brandon Routh in his Supes version even though Warner didn’t (ticket returns didn’t reach as expected) so you could say I am not biased.
I thought the development of the character – what made Superman what he is, and what makes him tick – was tackled adequately. We were presented with the longish background that laid the foundation for why Superman would do what he did as the movie progressed. There were deviations from what we know of Superman – like Jonathan Kent wanting Clark to remain a wimp all his life and not show his powers – but I felt they were necessary to propel the movie forward. Again, this is not the Superman we grew up with.
What was problematic for me was the amount of destruction in the movie. It was simply too much that I grew tired of it. In this aspect, I agree with many of the film’s dissers that Zach Snyder lost fact of the idea that Superman, despite being a newbie at the hero-business, should’ve had the sense to lead Dru-Zod and his horde away from Metropolis to save lives and property at the earliest possible instance. That’s common sense. If you’ll be logical about it, millions died in that few minutes of wanton destruction – just imagine how many buildings were destroyed! For the sake of a big splash on the screen (equivalent to a splash centerspread on a comics), Snyder and scriptwriter David Goyer let common sense fly out along with their hero. Where was Christopher Nolan in this here sequence?
Except for that guffaw, I think Man of Steel was ok for a beginning. Not at that standard as Nolan’s Batman Begins but one is hopeful the sequel will be more satisfying for both the new audience, and hopefully for the old audience.
