Frustrated, Inc.
There are the good days, and there are bad days. But most of the time, there are days that are just damn annoying.Up the Electronic Stream without a Paddle
Obviously, if you work in an online news company, then having 24-hour Internet is an absolute necessity. In the morning, this is quite true. However, for the past few days, as the sun proceeds to climb across the sky and the clock rushes to noon and past it, the office Internet drops sloooooooooowly to almost-nil.
Then when I get home, I find out that the PLDT MyDSL connection is almost bad.
Gaaah. Might as well grab a pencil and paper, write and then send it flying across the room as an paper airplane.
Driving Me Crazy One Lightbulb at a Time
I have a car. I like driving. Obviously, that means I have to take care of the maintenance of my car. Some of the few things that need repair right now include: the misalignment of the car window on the driver's side, new windshield wipers, a flooded spare tire compartment, etc. You know the drill.
Still, before leaving for Bicol last week, I managed to replace the right headlight bulb of my car which burn-out some months ago. Finally, one thing on my to-do list done! Moreover, the car mechanic managed to find a single lightbulb so that I wouldn't have to buy a pair.
You know what happened next? After coming back from Bicol, the left headlight bulb burns out. Sheesh.
Writing in Circles and Circles and Circles...
*sigh* I recently read dean's post in the writing front and this made me think how much a slacker I've become. Right now I'm trying to wrestle four or five stories all trying to get out my head at the same time but I know that's just an excuse and that I'm just a lazy-assed bugger.
On my plate right now is: a pirate story at the end of the world, a story about a master writer who's run out of words, a story of an unconventional romance between two monsters, and a first contact story. Of course this gets a little or a lot of spin on the weird side, depending on my mood. Obviously, I don't want to give away too much of the story.
But between reading, blogging, and writing-- guess which gets prioritized?
37 comments:
hoymayged. may Speculative Fiction bit yung bagong Manila Envelope.
Hmn....bibili kaya ako? Hehehe
Talaga? Which one?
What's "Manila Envelope"?
banzai: the new one
eldritch: it's a magazine (I think) anuuwaly published chronicling different bits of Manila life. Or something like that.
Der Fuhrer: Where does one pick up copies? What's the cover like? I'm completely clueless about this! And it's an annual?
eldritch: It's a magazine and I think it's realeased annually. You can get one at Fully Booked. I got one yesterday.
If you can just borrow one then good. It's like another Jessica Zafra vehicle.
It isn't worth P395. Good design though.
It's like half of a mag and the cover features half the face of Kris Aquino in bus with a man looking out of the window.
You can find at the counter at FB Gateway
my blog is back na. haha
I remember Soul Asylum. I could never decide whether I liked them or found them kinda annoying, though.
fuhrer: Jessica Zafra, eh? At least we know what's she's been doing nowadays. And 395 bucks? Wow, that's expensive.
Btw, we await your review of the SF-nal story.
eldritch: Heh you're not the only one clueless on this one. Though damn it I remember reading a mention on this one in a blog somewhere but for the life of me I can't remember where...
jp: Ten virtual points to you as you're the only one who picked up on the post title. :-)
As for Soul Asylum, they're okay but I particularly liked that song because it's good for a depressed moment. (And then you slap yourself silly for being so.) :-D
Btw, where have you been?
I think I now know what Manila Envelope is, now that Der Fuhrer has described it. I probably will just flip through it the next time I go to Fully Booked. PhP 395 is already costlier than a brand-new paperback!
As for Soul Asylum, I somewhat like "Somebody to Shove," but that's about it. I heard some of the earlier stuff, but nah, it wasn't really up my alley.
crapness. got my Manila Envelope for 295. Still not worth it.
Should've bought an Orion masterwork book.
Found a bootleg VCD of A Scanner Darkly. Will buy this weekend then review it.
arg blasphemy!!! couldn't you wait till after the movie comes out locally before you subscribe to piracy?
given me financial sit, i fall into it quite regularly meself, but for "important" works such as ASD, i feel i must make a stand.
or at least, voice it weakly first, then slink away and hope you enjoy it...
eldritch: Now that you've put it that way, yeah will just buy a paperback instead! :-)
As for Soul Asylum, it's interesting how they get such luke-warm feelings.
fuhrer: Yes, the usual problem of a bookseller. :-) Is what I'm buying (food, clothing, etc.) worth over a single book?
skinny: Come over to the Dark Side of DVD piracy...! ;-)
Man, I really hope they show A Scanner Darkly here, even if it ends up not making money. I wanna see it BIG! That said, I still hope Der Fuhrer didn't end up with a crap copy of it.
Soul Asylum, in some circles, has a hardcore following, especially the early albums. I don't quite get what the big deal is, to be honest.
And yes, obsessed book buyers like us tend to use books for currency conversion. "Should I have Pizza Hut or a brand-new paperback? I know, I'll have Burger Machine and several paperbacks from BookSale!"
skinny: I doubt that ASD will be shown here in Olongapo. If it will be, I'll still see it on the big screen.
I'm not shelling out money just to see ASD on Manila.
We only have one theatre here so that should give you the idead on how fucking sad I am.
I'm a big movie fan but the theatre here only show mainstream flicks. That's why I end up resorting to pirated copies of the movies I want to watch. But most of the time, I wait for it on original video.
bc: actually, i'm a closet pirate, heh...
df: well, i don't think it'll be a big-screen-necessary type film anyway, although the visuals ought to be pretty.
arg. u just brought up an issue for me. should i save and wait for ASD on video since i only watch big-screen-necessary type films now to save, or splurge since it's bound to be an awesome film (if it's really as faithful to the book as they say it is?)
skinny: read the reviews then decide.
df: thanks for the advice, but i've read them, and frankly, they don't help.
having read the book puts me in a position in which i know what to expect, and yet can't wait to see how Linklater has translated the material to the bigscreen.
i'm a big fan of rotoscoping, though, so i might splurge just to see a major rotoscoped work on the big screen.
Sometimes, given a choice between craptacular production values in Region 3 DVDs, it's almost a better purchase to pick it up on a pirated DVD, at least economically speaking.
For A Scanner Darkly, I'm definitely seeing it in the theatres if it opens here. I'll probably buy a pirated DVD to tide me over if it's as good as I expect it to be, and then pick up an R3 if the DVD is well-made, too.
Skinny: Have you read the Slant Magazine review?
I was going to buy the ASD book at FB but it costs 800+.
Eldritch: Yeah, and there are hard to find titles in pirated DVDs
*looks in, is embarrassed to interrupt since he hasn't read the book, sneaks out*
bc: ako din di ko pa nababasa. hehe
I haven't read A Scanner Darkly either, and have yet to buy a copy. What edition did you see, der fuhrer, that it costs PhP 800? Some branches of FB still have the cheap SF Masterworks edition from Orion.
Ngek. The copy I saw was (I think) a graphic novel adaptation. The Philip K. Dick masterwork I saw was Flow my Tears..which I have already read.
Der Fuhrer, the one with stills from the film, I guess? Like those old Star Trek fotonovels! I wouldn't recommend that though, and not just for the cost--might as well watch the film!
I can let you know if there are still copies of the SF Masterworks A Scanner Darkly if you want...before all the editions become replaced by the movie cover.
That's true. I can't stand books like meself.
eld: would love too but it's going to be a long time before I'll go to Manila. Plus, I don't have money right now. hehe
Der Fuhrer: Okay, I didn't realize you lived outside Manila. Best of luck whenever you finally are ready to go hunting for it!
Hehe if we bookhunts, fuhrer virtually has quests akin to Lord of the Rings. ;-)
Which makes Der Fuhrer a better hero. BTW, speaking of LOTR, two copies of one of the trade paperback omnibus editions were available in BookSale-Greenhills for quite some time. Now they're both gone--looks like someone took advantage of their good condition at BookSale prices!
LOTR? Hmn..maybe. But I'll be the troll. Haha.
I already have the trilogy na. Luv it.
Geez, I wish I live in Manila.
BTW, you guys seen any Film Snob's dictionary? I'm kind of a film snob meself. Heheh
How strange, Der Fuhrer. I just saw a copy of The Film Snob's Dictionary last night at Bibliarch in Glorietta. It sells for around PhP 547, if I remember exactly. I'm trying very hard not to be a film snob and have somewhat succeeded without my standards being watered down. Still a struggle though!
NYYARKKK!! Me likey!
Seriously, I'll forgete extra lunches and cut down on all those luxuries. Me want that book!!
Will probably ask Daryl to snag one for me.
So goodbye to NBS's Cut Price Book Sale!!!
And yes, it's really hard not to be one.
Don't fuhrer, I find the NBS Cut-Price booksale as seriously overrated. You're still better off with Booksale. ;-)
bc: kaya nga eh. hehe. me says goodbye to that NBS cut price book sale.
I'm saving my money for the Film Snob's dictionary. hehe
plus some Mary Hoffman books.
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