Daydreams of snow & winter

January 17, 2019January 22, 2019 KarlLeave a comment

kumiks

Got these as belated birthday gifts from an ex-workmate today. I’m not really comfortable receiving gifts, ditto giving them (not because I’m a selfish bastard but because I fear the recipient won’t like them), but that doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate such acts of generosity — especially if they’re in the form of cool back issues such as these.

Another highlight of the day: hanging out on our balcony in the gathering dusk, munching junk food and sipping canned pineapple juice. The cold weather made me embrace myself and brought to mind images of snow and winter in distant lands. Since the book I’m currently reading deals a lot about migration — the how’s and why’s and, more importantly, the how much — I thought, “Hmmm.” And it’s not only because of my curiosity about snow.

I was getting lonely, so I abandoned the fantasy, fixed myself 3-in-1 coffee, and watched the pilot episode of True Detective S03.

marvel · obit

I wish you would step back from that ledge, my friend

January 16, 2019January 17, 2019 KarlLeave a comment

In reading Punisher #218, in where Frank Castle dons the War Machine armor, I couldn’t help but wonder about an entertainment industry where exclusive rights, ego clashes and bureaucracy do not get in the way of filmmaking. Imagine an MCU movie where Jon Bernthal gets hold of Don Cheadle’s armor in the Avengers/Iron Man movies and moves to bring down the government of a rogue state. That’d be awesome, even though, seriously, Punisher in a hi-tech armor is kind of weird. Still, a film industry without much legal restrictions could make the world a happier place.

Brian Velasco of Razorback was not thinking about a happy place today. In fact, he was in a dark corner in his head. And he sought escape by jumping off the rooftop of the condominium building where he lives. Publicly blasting him for livestreaming his last moments on Facebook is something no netizen would dare do, lest he or she gets vilified by Velasco’s many fans, friends and relatives. Clearly he was not thinking straight. We’re all just going to leave it at that.

I saw the video. People shared it on Facebook despite well-meaning appeals not to. It was sad as it was chilling. Some murmured final words, a “here we go,” then the lethal plunge. It left me feeling cold.

Depression. It’s really a bitch.

comics · marvel

Post-long weekend Monday blues

January 14, 2019January 17, 2019 KarlLeave a comment

clean-1 Whoa. Five comics in a day! The last three issues that completed the Jessica Jones: The Pulse TPB, and the first two issues of Dead Man Logan — the latter I read online because of cost-cutting measures (triggered by the knowledge that I spent a whooping P27,000 on pre-orders last year). I can always score the TPB, anyway. More economical that way.

Monday again. The thing with enjoying a long weekend is Monday comes not like a sudden rainfall on a sun-splashed afternoon, but a nasty knee to the groin. You leave the house limping. I trudged to work today on leaden shoes, once again wondering if there’s more to life than dealing with lonesome Monday mornings. Then I realized I was just being stupid and immature, and decided to leave the whining to those Facebook freaks who seem to have a knack for it.

At the office the first of my shift was busy — dominated by news about a supposed breach in passport data (fuck!) as well as dead honeymooners in Maldives — but the second one was a breeze, and I punched out a little over 4 p.m. Commuting was likewise hassle-free. At least there was that.

Had dinner again at my mom’s place.

marvel · work

Of God & food

January 9, 2019January 17, 2019 KarlLeave a comment

005f441a9cc1899a77591ccf67fd8cf7_l Finished reading Thunderbolts: Violent Rejection today then quickly moved on to The Pulse featuring Jessica Jones. Finished the first story arc in bed before sleeping. Seems like I’m in one of my moods where all I want to do to de-stress and make sense of things is to read and read and read. Read until my eyeballs pop out of their sockets.

No invitations to morning drinks today. Instead the day was rich with all things Black Nazarene and heavy with Catholic dogma. Couldn’t look at footage of that seething mass of barefoot devotees in Quiapo without getting reminded of that creepy-ass Clive Barker story “In the Hills, In the Cities.” That day-long procession made every Pulp Summer Slam concert I attended look like book club meetings by comparison.

“Feeding program” at the office today courtesy of the January birthday celebrants, a bunch that includes moi. There was carbonara and lumpiang shanghai and chicken lollipops, among others. All were tasty. I punched out feeling grossly bloated.

Listened to Nirvana’s Nevermind on my way home. That album started it all, for me.

books · marvel · tv series · work

An invitation

January 8, 2019January 21, 2019 KarlLeave a comment

Read me some Thunderbolts today, starting with issue #152, the issue that kicked off the Violent Rejection TPB. I ended the day with two issues short of finishing the collected edition. What can I say? Life interfered.

A friend just off her graveyard shift invited me through Facebook to an early morning drink today. She may only be half serious — indeed, one can’t, or shouldn’t, take anything they read on social media lock, stock and barrel — but I had this feeling we could’ve made it happen. Anyway, I didn’t press for it, and she went home to catch some zzzz’s. Still, I nursed the beautiful thought until it died a natural death, and then got busy with work, and that was that. Morning drinks can wait for another day.

Down to the last 100 pages of Bill Bryson’s brilliant Neither Here nor There: Travels in Europe now. Hopefully I can finish this before the week ends so that I can move on to the year’s Book No. 2, which I haven’t quite figure out yet (Neil Strauss’ Emergency: This Book Will Save Your Life is a strong candidate). Indeed, between the Thunderbolts TPB and Bill Bryson’s travelogue, I’m on a roll!

Also watched first episodes of Gotham S05 and Deadly Class S01.

life · marvel

Moral lessons

January 7, 2019January 9, 2019 KarlLeave a comment

X-Man_All_Saints_Day_Vol_1_1 Today’s comic book was a random pick. And an old one at that. How old? How about the-last-few-frames-were-still-dedicated-to-the-story’s-moral lesson old? (This one’s about how you live your life, not how long). Not sure, but I think they stopped doing comics like that after 1999. Anyway, this may be dated, but not actually bad. It was, in fact, kind of fun.

Back to the normal scheme of things today. Anyone who woke up moaning about post-holiday blues was just prolonging the agony. Despite this, though, commuting to and from work was surprisingly not as bad as I had anticipated. I reached Antipolo early and therefore had time to visit my mother for dinner and conversation.

Saw someone today who reminded that, once upon a time, I was holding something precious in my hand, only to turn it into shit because of my stupidity. (No wonder I get emotional when I hear Weezer’s “Butterfly.”) Ah, well. That’s life I guess. Talk about moral lessons.

Perhaps it was the cold weather, but today, for the first time in a long while, I listened to a black metal album: Deathspell Omega’s Paracletus. Listened to it from first song to last.

comics · feelz · marvel

A day of disconnect

January 3, 2019January 11, 2019 KarlLeave a comment

clean Not even comic gods are infallible: Eight issues in and Skottie Young’s 2018 Deadpool run hits the proverbial bump in the road. Not a major one, but a bump nevertheless. I guess what I’m saying is I didn’t enjoy issue 8 as much as I enjoyed issues 1-7. Here’s hoping that issue 9 will be a rebound.

Or perhaps I was just too downhearted today to appreciate dear ‘ol Wade’s wisecracks.

Indeed, some days I feel like there’s a big gulf between me and the rest of humanity. I’d be in a room full of people — the office, for example — but I’d feel miles away from the nearest person. It’s an uncomfortable, if not sad feeling. And it makes the long hours seem longer.

So it’s no wonder that on my way home I blasted my ears with old-school metal. Grave, Dismember, Bolt Thrower — one can never go wrong with these death-obsessed gore freaks on days when you just want to smash rocks, if not faces.

marvel · work

First day

January 1, 2019January 9, 2019 KarlLeave a comment

X-Force_Vol_1_48 Read only one comic book today — an old X-Force issue from 1995 scored on sale from Comic Quest last year. It’s Boomer getting chided by her teammates for her closeness with Sabretooth. Interesting. Glad to have finished it before sleep overpowered me.

It’s been a weird and dismal first day of the year. My first memory of it was standing on the deserted ML Quezon Avenue at 5 a.m. waiting for an available tricycle. It was dark and drizzly, and passing tricycles were few and far between, and already occupied by passengers. I smoked, I grumbled, I cursed having to work early on a holiday.

But just as when I was about to lose hope a tricycle with no passenger magically appeared in front of me. I nearly hugged the driver. I was then off to my first working day of the year. Listened to Dire Straits’ Brothers in Arms on Spotify and allowed my brain to go blank inside the dark belly of a Cubao-bound UV Express.

At the office, things were hectic to the point of migraine.