Last Gaiman Post

The Zenned-Out Cat Speaks: Well, some tidbits I got a kick out of gathered from Neil Gaiman's journal.

When a Brazilian asked what the comparison was between them and Filipinos during his Philippines visit, Neil said:

I'm glad you're not offended, for I love Brazil, and I love the Brazilians, and what I was trying to say was that until I got to the Philippines, the Brazilians were the most enthusiastic audiences I've encountered...

So what I was trying to get across was that in terms of enthusiasm and sheer volume, the Filipinos pulled into the number one spot, forcing Brazil (which previously occupied the World's Most Enthusiastic Country spot in my head) to number two. It's perfectly possible that the next time I go back to Brazil it will reclaim its title.

Us, enthusiastic? Oh definitely. We gather for anything with enthusiasm. Look at our current political situation: we're enthusiastically trying to get a president to resign. Now that's enthusiasm!

Second, on questions on his nom du plume:

Some Frequently Asked Questions from the Philippines that I'm going to answer in haste.1) The assumed name that Fully Booked registered me at the hotel under was...Mister Punch.

Heh. Shouldn't have been surprised by that. If local stalkers/fans were quick enough, hotel phones would be ringing from Quezon City to Makati City with queries like "Do you have Mr. Punch in your hotel?" Surreality, meet my tenuous grip on reality.

To quote Neil, "Identity can be so gelatinous sometimes".

Third, on local tastes:

PS. I think I'm now addicted to calamansi juice.

I think calamansi translate to lime though I'm not sure. It's the same plant family as the lemon though definitely better tasting than lemon IMHO. 'Twas my favorite drink when I was a kid, when I would slice up 12-15 pieces to make a big pitcher of juice. Of course, I also tossed in 6 tablespoons of sugar to sweeten the deal.

And no, I'm still not a geek. Jim once mentioned that though he wasn't able to check out the Gaiman signings, he did get Whilce Portacio's autograph the first time he came here. That's nice, I thought.

See? It's not the comic-book geekery that impresses me, it's the writer's geekery. There's a whole lot of difference there...

--o0o--

And just to move out of Gaiman territory altogether, fantasist Jeff Vandermeer says there is 'heaven on earth' and snaps a picture of it:

As bookseller Joe Gordon sez about it:

...a book shop the way book shops are supposed to be, crammed with as many books as it possibly can be. None of this chain store mentality of arranging things just so according to retail psychologist's notions. A book shop that looks like the kind of book shops where real readers go to happily explore the stacks and rumamge around, pause to leaf through books in musty corners and don't think about 3 for 3 offers of the week...