Toycon2007, day 1+ day2
June 16, 2007The first day of Toycon 2007 has ended for Artists Den and from the looks of it, the event is a major success once again.
I've just released the Jimmy plush toy, both large and small. The large is the more successful of the two, and I've obviously had under-produced it.
I also met some Beerkada forumites for the first time, such as Kuya Jot, as well as Beerkadet veterans like Kai, Ilenz, Oliver, and newcomers Avir, Yani and Pilandok.
Stay tuned for day 2 of Toycon!
———-
Day 2
Now that Toycon2007 is over, I'd like to extend my thanks to Az, who helped us in Artists Den get into Toycon every single year. I would also like to thank the staff of ToyCon for this year's big success. And I would like to thank Kai, Kevin, Oliver, Megara, Cleo, Jinky, Kuya Jot, Francis O., Ritchie, Ana Ng, Bxmania, Fraggle, Azaka, Deacon Frost, Yani, Avir, Pilandok and all the other Beerkadets who were able to make it to this year's Toycon.
Until next year!
Yilmaz’s hurtful words
June 8, 2007Yilmaz Bektas said hurtful words to his estranged wife Ruffa Gutierrez recently, calling her 'best actress', 'Brutus', and 'Traitor'. Ruffa did not respond in kind; she understood that he was speaking from an emotional state.
Sure enough, after a few days, Yilmaz apologized for disparaging her.
This reminded me of that scene in Happy Gilmore when Happy (Adam Sandler) cursed his girlfriend who was dumping him, only to take it back moments later. All of this while speaking into the intercom (5:39 into the film).
Yes, I'm getting involved in this family affair. Don't attack me, Annabelle Rama!
Plastic Ocean
June 6, 2007I read this article about an area in the ocean, twice the size of Texas, that is filling up with plastic.
A vast swath of the Pacific, twice the size of Texas, is full of a plastic stew that is entering the food chain. Scientists say these toxins are causing obesity, infertility…and worse.
It's an alarmist article, and I'm not worried about it for two reasons:
- It coincides with fears that we are running out of petroleum, a finite resource that is also an ingredient of plastic. We may run out of raw material to make the thing tat is slowly killing us;
- George Carlin speculated that human beings arose because the earth needed their ability to make plastic, and once getting it, the earth will eliminate human beings (ironically, using the same plastic they generated).
Mapua talk
June 2, 2007Ariel and I talked in front of a bunch of Mapuans last Friday. About surviving college.
Yeah, like what do we cartoonists know about surviving college?
Besides the fact that we graduated?
But being the attention whores that we are, we stood up and shared our thoughts on the matter.
The Mapuans were great; they listened intently and asked questions. I know how hard the Institute pushes you guys, so we appreciated the time you gave us.
Afterwards, our hosts gave us a tour around the school.
Thanks to Thinkers (the sponsoring org), Joanna (their president), and Mary Rose + Lorie (the organizers).
I ask you
May 31, 2007I ask you, how is porn surviving in the digital world? When you can get porn for free, why would anyone buy porn anymore? Did the porn industry take a blow (no pun intended) from piracy and peer-to-peer exchange?
6-2-06
I answer myself: porn survives because of its low production costs (minimal settings, wardrobe) and consistent following.
Porn is the alternative comics of the movie industry.
6-3-07
Updates:
An article appears which question whether the internet is killing the porn industry. How timely!
Globe Cinema
May 28, 20075-28-07
Chompy and I watched Pirates of the Carribean in Globe Cinema at Gateway Mall. It's the cinema with the Lazy-Boys and all the popcorn/drinks you can consume.
It was a much better experience than IMAX in SM Mall of Asia.
We reserved the 11am screening, and I was nervous because the Chomps takes her time waking up during the weekend. And she's coming from San Mateo.
Imagine my embarassment when I overslept. We entered the movie 15 minutes late (she arrived on time). She took my tardiness quite well: I am bound to make up for it by treating her to HPatOofP this July.
Blecch.
In the course of the 3-hr movie, I waited hand and foot to serve her popcorn and soda, while she soaked up Capt. Jack Sparrow in the reclined Lazy Boy. The only time she stood up was to go the rest room, after all the soda she drank. Revenge. 
This is contrast to IMAX, which just seemed to be a close-up of a regular theater. And SM somehow eliminated the combo snacks and served only P80 popcorn and P40 drinks. Which sucks.
We'll definitely try Globe Cinema again, before they raise prices due to inflation. After all, we're paying what Americans pay for their movies ($7), and we're getting premium treatment for it. Although I didn't expect having to fetch the food all the way from the lounge.
Economic bubbles are good?
May 27, 2007Slate.com pointed out the benefits of economic bubbles, namely the creation of infrastructure and the bargain prices of post-bubble assets. We directly benefit from the internet bubble: the laying of undersea telecom cables allowed the expansion of call center business here in the Philippines.
So what benefit happened during the comic book bubble of the 90's?
The infrastructure laid out was the proliferation of the comic book store, which allowed independent titles to flourish. However, I can't see the positive side of the bubble. Comic book stores are closing everywhere in the US. Publishers closed shop, but there was no bargain sale purchases which allowed sustainable growth afterwards.
I first thought its still too early to detect the positive fallout, but the internet burst happen later and we already perceive the benefits.
Sigue Sigue Sputnik was originally a British cyberpunk band?!
May 11, 2007http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigue_Sigue_Sputnik
But…But…Sigue is a Tagalog word!
Local gangs just lost their street cred.
I made it to Scans Daily?!
May 7, 2007Scans Daily began as a slash - i.e. homoeroticism - community. Liking slash certainly isn't a requirement to membership, but what *is* required is acceptance of it. All sorts of comic book content is eagerly welcomed, but we do require that you not make disparaging remarks about the people who brought you this community.
I read Scans Daily regularly for selected pages of the latest comic books.
Imagine my surprise of getting mentioned there for my Gaiman-Moore strip.
Galores!
Link: http://community.livejournal.com/scans_daily/3423967.html#cutid1
The Wii and local comics
April 21, 2007Local comics need to be more like Wii. A lot of comics publisher today want the glossy paper, the foil cover, and the grim and gritty storylines. This is akin to the PS3 vs. xBox360 war over processor speed and graphics resolution, catering to the fanboy minority. Albeit the fanboys are the most loyal demographic, the also exist a market for the casual audience.
The life cycle of industries
April 20, 2007I just realized that even though some industries are dead or dying, it will take a long time for it to do so. In that time of decline, companies can still profit from it.
An example would be compact disks.
Ricky S., In Memoriam
April 19, 2007A friend of mine, Ricky S., died of subdural hematoma last Wednesday, at the age of 48. During the whole time I knew him as a co-member in Via-Astris, I was able to get a few comic strips out of him.
Here is a tribute to a fellow pop culture fan (He's the guy with glasses.)
A Package
February 15, 2007Last night, I got a package claim stub from the post office. It didn’t say who sent the package.
So this morning I went to the post office to collect. Unfortunately, I found out that the package was addressed to Lyndon Gregorio and I had no IDs with my pen name on it. I asked the clerk if I could just see who sent it.
She showed me this.
Japan!
The clerk advised me to get a guarantee from my mail carrier, who was working at the back of the office at that moment. After finding him, getting his signature and paying the P35 fee, I finally got the package. I opened it to reveal this.
Newsletters for Filipinos living in Japan.
At that moment, I thought the Filipino community in Tokyo sent all kababayan travellers there a copy of their newsletter. So I browsed through it.
I found an article about me seven pages in.
I finally understood what was going on. Satoshi-San, the Japanese journalist who interviewed me during the Asian Cartoon Exhibit, sent me copies of the printed article.
Thanks, Satoshi-San!
Search Engines and Valentines Logos
February 14, 2007Konnichiwa mina-san! Chompy desu. (Hello everyone! Chompy here.)
–> Practicing my Nihonggo.
(repost from my Multiply blog)
Today is February 14 and it’s that time of the year again… Happy Valentines to everyone! 
This celebration is not just for couples but for everyone: your family, your friends, your officemates, your classmates, your acquaintaces, etc (I think you get my drift) So share the love. <3
Search engines are my life, and my job.. 
This Valentine’s Day, let’s take a look at the makeovers they did to their logos in time for today’s special occasion. (more…)
Book 7 teaser
February 7, 2007I got the book 7 cover art by Taga-Ilog and I’m telling you it looks spectacular. I have a mind to share it with the world at this point (and boost hype) but Chompy says it will ruin the surprise. So, as a compromise, I’m releasing this teaser image in avatar form.
Abangan!
Water short-rage?
February 3, 2007Newspapers nowadays are crying about the looming water shortage as the levels in La Mesa Dam goes ever lower.
My experience with this was over a decade ago. The same fears about water shortage loomed then. I waited for the monsoon season, when the dailies would rejoice over the replenishing rains.
But you know what? The rains came, the dam levels rose, but the broadsheets never rejoiced. I suppose they printed the news back in page 40.
Thus came my earliest lesson in mass media : print what sells. Fear. Crises.
Mom vs. Temporal Paradoxes
February 2, 2007I took my mother to see Deja Vu, starring Denzel Washington. It turned out to be a (spoilers ahead) time-travel film. Now after years of watching Star Trek, I am well-versed in temporal paradoxes and the headaches involved with it.
Not my mom, though.
As we walked out the theater, mom commented, ''It's a good movie, but it's not logical.''
She remained silent for a while. Now I KNOW she's trying to reconcile the seemingly contradictory events in the film. I think she finally decided life's too short for this bullshit.
''It's entertaining.''
She repeated her words in comfirmation.
''Yes, it's entertaining.''
''Mom, the past Denzel finally met up with the present–''
''It's ENTERTAINING.''
''Yes, mother.''
———-
Update 5-31-07
I bought a copy of Deja Vu so Dad can watch it at home.
Dad invites mom to watch Deja Vu along with him.
Mom: 'Parang napanood ko na 'yan.'
