tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65014572012-01-30T16:29:05.618+08:00THE GRIN WITHOUT A CATlibri quosdam ad sciéntiam, álios ad insaniam deduxérebanzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.comBlogger11521100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-64911279567234112342012-01-10T06:06:00.002+08:002012-01-30T06:13:08.755+08:00Reaching out to the futureAfter a much-delayed pronouncement, it's alive and kicking!Go read and find out what the future holds for us!banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-79099802968610326172012-01-07T07:41:00.002+08:002012-01-30T06:03:21.339+08:00Endings and BeginningsWow. Has it been seven years already?I remember when Dean Alfar made the announcement of the table of contents for the first volume of the Philippine Speculative Fiction collection. And now it's the other husband-and-wife team of Kate and Alex Osias who recently made their announcement of the 7th volume of PSF of those who made it for this year.To wit, PSF7's table of banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-8863372751262880442012-01-02T23:35:00.003+08:002012-01-19T07:40:24.597+08:00New stories for the New YearFrom kyu:PGS Online will be open to fiction submissions by Pinoy writers for reading and consideration from January 1, 2012 to April 30, 2012.Here are the guidelines:1. Word count: 1,500 up to 8,000 words.2. Preferred genres: Science fiction, fantasy, crime, mystery, horror, and all subgenres falling under these.3. Keep in mind that PGS caters not only to adult banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-35014232926888907332011-12-31T22:08:00.006+08:002012-01-06T20:06:14.972+08:00What I'd read to pass the time in 2011So another year is about to pass. I look at the number of books I've read for the year and there's a slight feel of self-disgust. Really? Finishing only 40 books in a year? That's terrible. And that includes a handful of books I started but I really couldn't finish for one reason or another. But more on that later.In any case, here's the list of books I read banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-69613563598746458532011-12-19T03:32:00.016+08:002012-01-02T09:04:11.547+08:00Random Shots of a Reluctant Traveler#4: Prague1. The Lord of Time and Space lives in Prague, hidden in plain sight. It ruled all the clocks in the world, and some in others.2. What is a memorial if people don't understand what is being remembered?3. The two agents walked away from the past and into the present, not knowing that the future was watching them carefully. In a three-way war that banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-21313507197438762422011-12-12T02:17:00.020+08:002011-12-29T18:18:59.426+08:00Random Shots of a Reluctant Traveler#3: PragueThey had warned me about losing my shadow on this trip. They said he would wander away. So I tied him down to me using my shoelaces.It broke my heart to set them free. But what could I do? The monsters were never meant to live in such a small cage. I think they would be happy living in the sewers of the city.The wedding was a simple affair and all thebanzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-16365244404619160692011-12-06T15:18:00.003+08:002011-12-29T03:10:05.541+08:00Random Shots of a Reluctant Traveler#2: ViennaSadly, the place they had met and had fallen in love looked even more beautiful in the daylight.So far, none of the giant moles that had made the secret tunnels that ran underneath the city had yet been sighted."Trust me, literary immortality is overrated," he ranted as he lit another cigarette. "Literary immortality is a statue sitting in the middle banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-8708130254869179142011-12-01T00:44:00.025+08:002011-12-29T03:10:41.986+08:00Random Shots of a Reluctant Traveler #1: BudapestSo the traveler sets forward, not knowing where the end lay but knowing at least that there is a beginning...The church glowed in the night, a sanctuary to the fearful vampires that hid from the burning torches of the lynch mobs.The boy sorcerer fell from the cliff and into history, the oppressed non-magic-using peoples setting up a hidden banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-79654384103401343612011-11-15T16:12:00.009+08:002011-11-17T01:46:57.864+08:00The Traveler Returns (in Chagrin, Again)(A barista at the airport teaches me about being proud of one's work, regardless of what you do for a living.)The prodigal blogger returns and it's been a strange journey indeed, both in terms of time and distance.Obviously, this blog has been radio-silent for more than a month now, ever since October. For that I apologize as at that time I was gallivantingbanzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-62686971418943914312011-09-26T10:11:00.003+08:002011-10-20T14:32:48.849+08:00Zombie Contingency Plan: Manila (Part 5)3. Know your enemy. If they're slow-moving, plan your moves. Panic will only kill you. If they're fast movers, run like hell. Fortify your Defense Ground. And pray to God they don't know how to climb walls.banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-11040505239712027152011-09-24T03:51:00.004+08:002011-10-12T07:05:33.842+08:00Zombie Contingency Plan: Manila (Part 4)III. UTILITIESYou may ask, why should you should concern yourself with utilities during the zombie apocalypse? In fact, utilities will play an important concern of your Defense Ground with regard to water, electricity (power generation and supply) and communication (including the Internet).Water may be present in the water pipes a few months after the banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-55074190402870159982011-09-20T07:21:00.006+08:002011-10-10T16:04:44.768+08:00Zombie Contingency Plan: Manila (Part 3)II. LOCATIONLocation of your Defense Ground-- or the areas around it-- is important because you will need materials and supply during a zombie apocalypse. Therefore, keep in mind where to find the important materiel. These include: easily-preserved food (like canned goods), water and liquids, weapons and ammunition, medicine, building supply, vehicles and banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-90396018870738469402011-09-17T15:33:00.003+08:002011-10-09T03:03:15.153+08:00Ex Libris: Jonathan Strahan and Lou Anders' Swords and Dark MagicA sharp sword is as reliable as a good friend.You have to hand it to upcoming editors Jonathan Strahan and Lou Anders, who've made separate names for themselves as anthologists, editors and publishers. Both had evinced great love for that darker subgenre of fantasy, sword and sorcery, and so had decided to see how today's S&S would banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-51333007185687109692011-09-13T07:51:00.001+08:002011-10-04T02:44:19.525+08:00
Ex Libris: George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois' Warriors
Warriors fight and die; sometimes they live.
One could say that it's been a pretty good year for single-title anthologies. First it was Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrantonio's Stories, which I reviewed earlier and found it be a pretty solid collection. Now there's George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois-- both with impeccable records as banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-26528651603046478082011-09-10T13:56:00.004+08:002011-09-23T01:49:23.365+08:00A different look at A Song of Fire and Ice: HBO's Game of ThronesI forgot to mention that I did a review of HBO's successful adaption of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Fire and Ice into a TV series, Game of Thrones, which came out in The Philippine Online Chronicles' Metakritiko section last month.The TV show is a pretty good, pretty faithful take on the books. Here's an excerpt:Admittedly, one banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-48367241766462214582011-09-06T01:02:00.005+08:002011-09-21T15:42:48.536+08:00Zombie Contingency Plan: Manila (Part 2)2. Determine your Defense Ground, Weapons Supply and Escape Routes.Once you verify that the reports are truthful despite going against all logic and science, look around and assess your situation, whether you're in the office, in school, at the mall, or at home. Keep these three things at the back of your head always in order to survive.A. Defense banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-80051293096004900002011-09-03T15:23:00.003+08:002011-09-21T13:45:05.626+08:00Zombie Contingency Plan: Manila (Part 1)1. The most important thing to remember is this: when in doubt, DO NOT. If you see TV news reports on ABS-CBN or GMA 7 and hear it on the radio like DzMM about a possible zombie uprising , don't be a dumb shmuck and ignore the signs. You seriously think that if the local or national government can't even tell you when the metro is flooded like during banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-64386532486247076932011-08-31T15:22:00.008+08:002011-10-05T03:54:36.870+08:00Ex Libris: Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrantonio's Stories: All-New TalesYou will know the best stories by heart. I find that any book and/or anthology that calls itself 'Stories' has a lot of guts. But then again, when you've got the very popular Neil Gaiman as your editor, I suppose you can go all-balls out, which is why we have Stories: All-New Tales as edited by Gaiman (natch) and Al banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-65765997822770548452011-08-26T17:36:00.002+08:002011-09-04T15:21:32.931+08:00Hanging out with the cool kids in cyberspace
Oh look! Excellent fictionists Carljoe Javier and Karl M.F. de Mesa's first works will be launched as ebooks courtesy of University of the Philippines Press and made available online! The launch will be on September 6 at the National Computer Center in UP Diliman.
The books here are Carljoe's first short story collection Geek Tragedies (first banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-70340793127136273752011-08-24T00:11:00.009+08:002011-09-03T01:58:48.238+08:00Ex Libris: Ekaterina Sedia's The Secret History of Moscow
The secrets of cities are buried underground.
If there's a slowly developing trope of speculative fiction of cities (read: urban fantasy?), it's that their underground hides a great number of secrets. Ranging from Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere to Christopher Golden and Tim Lebbon's Hidden Cities series (Mind the Gap) to China Mieville's YA banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-8084593091205621862011-08-21T06:52:00.012+08:002011-09-03T01:26:10.206+08:00Ex Libris: Jonathan Howard's Johannes Cabal the NecromancerEven the Devil will fear a man with nothing to lose.
Among my bookshelves is a special shelf that holds my favored books. Here are a handful books that I could actually say that I loved them from cover to cover, from concept to execution to prose to even that sense of wonder one gets when opening a book. One was Angelica Gorodischer's banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-21518873397284546382011-07-28T14:06:00.004+08:002011-08-05T17:23:32.335+08:00Back in the saddle (again)So after a semi-long radio silence again, I'm back before this blog craving for your pardon. There's something to be said about my current work schedule in that I can only accommodate one or two things in-between work, life and sleep.In this case, the past couple of weeks has been filled with trying to finish a story of (post) apocalyptic lengths as well as George R.R. banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-45692386715320517512011-07-05T10:19:00.009+08:002011-07-05T16:15:33.515+08:00All the books of the world (a retro book post)I remember an earlier comment by JP about how our book tastes have diverged since we've known each other since the Cretaceous Period (in internet time), from genre books to more far-ranging titles. Admittedly, my reading tastes still go with speculative fiction and specifically with the trio of fantasy, horror and science fiction. However, looking at banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-64558200845153809372011-06-25T23:23:00.000+08:002011-06-26T14:37:29.565+08:00Chasing the BooksThere's always a certain bibliophiliac joy in going into a bookstore and finding a particular book that you've been looking for, especially one that you've been anticipating heavily.However, though I've been getting a copy of Dean Alfar's Philippine Speculative Fiction religiously for the past five years, it hasn't been hard getting a copy as I had been getting myself published banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-75687190445858986472011-06-21T23:17:00.005+08:002011-06-22T02:18:27.627+08:00Top Things to Do #1 and #2 for This Week#1 Announce the roster of Diaspora Ad Astra e-anthology FINALLY:After more than half a year, I'm finally getting my act together to announce the line-up of the Diaspora Ad Astra online anthology, edited by Professor Emil Flores and yours truly. My deepest, sincerest apologies for the long-delay on this one.Alas, I'm man enough to say that the fault lies banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-31708715746577000602011-06-19T01:50:00.003+08:002011-06-19T02:30:05.339+08:00Bearing the Cross of Writing AgainSo I'm back, like the prodigal son drifting into a hostile hometown. Or maybe I'm just paranoid and it really makes no difference whether I update this blog or not after almost three months of absence. After all, the Internet is a tough crowd anyway.Ironically, between reading and writing, I'd rather be reading. It's not like I was born to write like others, whobanzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-88345500431784719802011-03-10T17:09:00.008+08:002011-09-03T01:59:37.977+08:00Ex Libris: Ari Marmell's The Conqueror's Shadow
"Nothing can stand in the way of a determined man."
Seriously, I really tried to like Ari Marmell's The Conqueror's Shadow (Spectra).
I mean, what's not to like about this one? It's the story of an evil warlord, Corvis Rebaine, who has turned over a new leaf because of the love of a young woman. Unfortunately, when a new evil warlord threatens thebanzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-60539846311755432332011-03-07T21:07:00.007+08:002011-09-03T02:00:11.679+08:00Ex Libris: Mira Grant's Feed
"When zombies and bloggers meet."
There are zombie stories and there are zombie stories. And there is Mira Grant's Feed (Orbit).
Personally, I've never been much a reader of YA books. Call it a failure on my part, my blind spot of that part of literature that doesn't hold too much of my attention. I've read some YA books and loved them, like Garth Nix's Abhorsen banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-88635410468053760622011-03-04T02:03:00.006+08:002011-03-05T02:40:14.559+08:00Books around the worldOnce again, we're back with the latest list of interesting books I've found on the shelves. And what a fascinating bunch I've found.Nikolski, Nicolas Dickner:Intricately plotted and shimmering with originality, Nikolski charts the curious and unexpected courses of personal migration, and shows how they just might eventually lead us to home.In the spring of 1989, three young banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-6818804407921057672011-02-27T23:29:00.003+08:002011-03-03T00:19:13.684+08:00February BooksThis month's gleamings are a bit bare, appropriate enough as I seriously thought my book-buying had dried up for this month. Fortunately, the last two books came just under the wire and I thought they were certainly worth it.1. Corvus, Paul Kearney (a sequel to his action-packed The Ten Thousand)2. Hardcore, Andy Remic (I needed a little military SF hit)3. The Genizah at the House banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-6137953933776671182011-02-27T23:06:00.005+08:002011-03-03T00:24:30.078+08:00January BooksI didn't have the time to post last month's bookhaul so here they are in all their bound glory.Two points of interest:(a) Yes, I am pushing through with my John Le Carre phase.(b) Interesting enough, of the ten books I have here, only two are brand-new, which is the price of having a too-small salary.1. Drood, Dan Simmon2. The Gone-away World, Nick Harkaway3. Gears of the City, Felixbanzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-54395885420878845852011-02-27T22:30:00.002+08:002011-02-27T23:17:55.033+08:00Blogger's BlockI admit it: I'm suffering from blogger's block and it's a pain to deal with. But after a month of this, I've gotten tired this crap.Time to get back to work of writing. After all, writing is work and whoever said it was easy was obviously lying.banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-66301541038871160392011-01-29T22:47:00.002+08:002011-02-01T04:53:19.983+08:00A Gift for ReadingThe greatest gift I would like to give a person is a book.This is not surprising given how much I love books and I love reading them. As of my last estimate, I've got more than 4,000 books unread on my shelves and they keep growing as I trawl through bookstores every chance I get. Unfortunately, due to time and work, my reading speed has not only gotten slower, I sometimes don'tbanzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-18383991862047908182011-01-25T12:23:00.003+08:002011-01-28T00:13:42.759+08:00Welcome the new blood!Kate Osias and Nikki Alfar, the current editors of the annual Philippine Speculative Fiction anthology, have come out with the final line-up (and table of contents?) of the upcoming volume 6. Here's the list:Alternative Histories by Ian Rosales CasocotStrange Adventures in Procreation by Andrew DrilonLament of the Counselor by Jay AnyongThe Grim Malkin by Vincent Michael banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-6470261651934281352011-01-20T11:46:00.006+08:002011-01-24T13:01:12.594+08:00Books around the worldOnce again, I've trawled the bookshelves for some interesting books that caught my attention and may catch yours. And as the post says (and seen from my previous posts here, here, here and here), some of these books come from all over the world, providing us with some information what books the world is reading (and writing). Admittedly, most of the books in this batch seem banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-4471799670935902212011-01-17T03:48:00.010+08:002011-02-03T23:27:02.339+08:00Ex Libris: Amanda Downum's The Drowning City"Come for the city, stay for the revolution."There are fantasy books and there are fantasy books. There are big epic-sized door-stopper tales written by well-known authors: the late Jordan, Martin, Erikson, Bakker, Abercrombie, etc. And there are single, stand-alones (with possible sequels) that may or may not repay you your invested reading time back. banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-33569249751524379892011-01-14T03:46:00.005+08:002011-01-16T11:48:13.020+08:00Turning JapaneseLadies and Gentleman, I need to come out and say this: I realize I have a collection addiction for Japanese anime.For the past few years, I've been buying anime series with the intent of watching them eventually. (Hey, they're really cheap here.) Unfortunately, I've not yet had the chance to watch almost any of them such that-- like my books-- they're backing up like crazy.Now, asbanzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-12300316688987392322011-01-11T13:10:00.005+08:002011-01-16T05:31:09.906+08:00A Look at Tie-ins and Shared World writingIf there's anything that one can't escape when reading fantasy and science-fiction, it's commercial tie-in books wherein writers indulge (or start their career) in some shared world writing. I grew up reading a lot of tie-in genre books. These included a deluge of gaming tie-in fantasy books like then-TSR's Dragonlance (as graced by the rising powerhouse banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-64801605474469110822011-01-07T16:02:00.002+08:002011-01-11T20:32:27.585+08:00Why I BlogFrom my stats for the week: Total ....................... 26,966Average per Day .................. 1 Average Visit Length .......... 0:00This Week ........................ 5I know I don't blog as much as I used to do before due to my current workload, so I suppose I was expecting this. (No excuses!) Still, I like my little soapbox where I can tell whoever is out there banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-8398462800144949412011-01-05T11:53:00.007+08:002011-03-03T00:29:52.028+08:00Zombies, they freak me out(Pic from here.)... or so Dennis Hopper's character proclaims in the movie Land of the Dead. Which is why I had to write my own zombie story.Fortunately, after some fretful waiting, my story, "Remembering the Nameless Dead", is now out in Playboy (Ph) Magazine's November-December issue and in magazines racks. I was expecting this last November and then December. Yes, I banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-70549985895761929662011-01-03T12:07:00.015+08:002011-01-05T13:06:11.728+08:002011 Readerly Resolutionsa. Read the following because I have so little time already before I reach 40 and I figured, might as well fill up my hours that I don't eat, sleep and work. Oh wait, I don't have any time left? Damn.Patricia HighsmithIain BanksJose SaramagoMario Vargas LlosaJoe LansdaleKurt Vonnegut... let's see, who else have I missed? I did notice that I'm verging into crime fiction a banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-64705255419257159152011-01-01T12:33:00.003+08:002011-01-03T17:24:47.985+08:00A Good Start for 2011Here's to a happy new year of writing and reading, folks! Cheers!(Pic taken from here.) banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-49100928004594707772010-12-31T14:57:00.001+08:002011-01-03T12:02:28.739+08:00December BooksWell, like I said, December turned out a splurge of books as I took advantage of gift certificates and some extra cash to go on a buying spree. And what a load of books, around 26 books for this month. You can see why my to-read pile keeps getting bigger and bigger despite my efforts. For this pile, you can see the late Kage Baker's The Empress of Mars, Ian C. Esslemont's The Returnbanzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-63876880036442171812010-12-27T19:20:00.001+08:002010-12-30T19:39:42.245+08:00Ex Libris: A Review of 2010So here's documented proof that my reading speed has slowed or even that my reading had stopped for the year 2010. Imagine that, I've only read 26 books for this year and a couple of them not even thoroughly read because I threw them away half-through. Here's a list. The italicized books are those books I wasn't able to do a review for this year. 1. Jaida Jones and banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-88449061302576478572010-12-25T01:26:00.003+08:002010-12-25T01:46:36.041+08:00Happy Holidays from this Corner of the WorldMerry Christmas to one and all! Here's to a good book in your stocking or under your tree today!(Pic taken from here.)banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-22287079446298624812010-12-21T19:21:00.003+08:002011-01-04T02:19:39.457+08:00Another One DownWell, here's another marker for this year. After so long using one blog template, I decided to make some changes around here. Unfortunately, converting it to the new blogger format and template meant I lost the Haloscan commenting system and all the past comments there. I know, I know... it's all still there. I just don't know how to get it back at the moment. Give me a couple of banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-25202655042783648462010-12-17T22:18:00.001+08:002010-12-26T17:53:01.520+08:00Searching for Time to ReadI love reading books. But as the adage goes, there so many books and so little time to read them all. As of last count (oh, maybe 2-3 years ago), I had 3,000 unread books so I'm presuming that-- with my reading speed slowing down and reading time cut back-- this has gone up by 4,000 or more. Unfortunately, as I grow older, I have parallel growing fear that my book pile banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-70693284750500532092010-12-12T00:53:00.003+08:002010-12-27T02:43:55.391+08:00A Record EndsWell, it had to end sometime. After five years of being published in the yearly Philippine Speculative Fiction collections edited by the venerable Dean Alfar, I missed out in being selected in this year's anthology edited by Nikki Alfar and Kate Osias.Unfortunately, with the new job, my freelance stints in magazines and various odds and ends, my fiction writing has suffered a bit. banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-33665104652454758412010-12-09T23:47:00.005+08:002010-12-24T05:43:58.879+08:00Ex Libris: Chris Wooding's Retribution FallsIf ever there's a book I've found that embodies the spirit of pulp adventures and boy's tales, Chris Wooding's first book of the Tales of the Ketty Jay, Retribution Falls, would be a clear winner.But then again, what's not to like about this book? You have a rogue of a captain (Darian Frey) who's the leader of a crew (who all have something to hide) on banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-16393591930457650732010-12-05T22:23:00.006+08:002010-12-21T12:07:21.390+08:00Ex Libris: Adrian Tchaikovsky's Empire in Black and GoldAs I've gotten older, my pile of books yet-to-be-read has gotten older as well.Oh, I'm not saying that there are books in that pile whose pages have not yet been cracked open for some years now (okay, well, maybe there are). However, there is a slow progression of the type of fiction I read-- even if it is speculative fiction and even if it banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-51552276141092478552010-12-02T22:28:00.005+08:002010-12-07T20:35:12.610+08:00November BooksOnly a small load of books for this month, which is not surprising given that I usually splurge at the end of November. At the very least I managed to pick up the latest output in the Wheel of Time series, Towers of Midnight by the late Robert Jordan and currently written by Brandon Sanderson. Suffice to say, I immediately dug into the book and managed to come out a few days later.Ibanzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-89171295013792887692010-11-28T01:45:00.011+08:002010-12-26T23:21:20.044+08:00Books Around the WorldOne thing I like about certain days-- like birthdays and Christmas-- is that I get to dream about going on a book-buying spree finally. At the very least, I can expect to get book gift certificates!In this case, lists like these become my source for inspiration of what books to get (aside from the usual speculative fiction/genre books I can find on the shelves). For this banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-52035919826383012672010-11-22T17:14:00.004+08:002010-11-23T21:09:05.199+08:00A Non-Geek's Introduction to SmartphonesRemember the Nokia N8 I got? Well, I finally managed to post a review of it on my CNet Asia blog. My assessment? Here's the conclusion:So, is it a good phone? Overall, it's a definite yes, though I would say it's not perfect. I've read one non-review online about the N8 and I do think in terms of geek cred, it may not cut the butter. But for those non-tech banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-86216270476334053422010-11-20T15:28:00.005+08:002010-11-22T19:14:58.246+08:00Missing out in LifeI suppose I should offer an apology to those who're still following this blog (the few that are still wont to). Currently, I've been busy with work such that I've not had time to make updates. What makes it worse is that I've also been unable to cite such excellent events like Karl de Mesa's relaunch of his book, News of the Shaman, which was recently held over the weekend at banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-800429644444202392010-11-11T16:20:00.006+08:002010-12-21T12:09:41.450+08:00Books around the worldRiffing off my previous post about zombie movies, I've noticed that the current trend of zombie books has finally reached these shores with a handful of books on the bookshelves. I suppose it's time for it, coming after Quirk Books' retroactive play of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith). After all, among the various monsters of pop banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-44506785691953937092010-11-05T19:37:00.003+08:002010-11-22T16:16:01.556+08:00October BooksFinally, my book-buying drought had ended for October such that I've managed to get quite a pile for the past month. And quite a selection too, ranging from new books bought from Fully-Booked to the recent National Bookstore warehouse sale to Jasper's online bookshop Avalon. The pile includes: Thomas Disch's The SubSteven Hall's The Raw Shark TextsAvram Davidson's Adventure in banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-62631794612256911652010-10-28T11:01:00.005+08:002010-11-22T22:05:20.133+08:00Zombie FeverThe people who know me know of my fear of zombies. Blame it on a childhood trauma involving the cartoon series Felix the Cat, pirated betamax tapes, and overtaping old material. Suffice to say, I will never think of Felix the Cat again without thinking of Dawn of the Dead. Because of this, I grew up watching all kinds of horror movies-- but I could never sit still watching zombie banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-31877709476844571862010-10-24T07:22:00.010+08:002010-12-21T12:11:06.139+08:00Books around the world(Coming back a second time is my post on books around the world. This is actually a cathartic experience for me because I usually don't get to buy whatever book I find interesting-- much more read it. As such, I'll just talk about it in posts like these. After all, that's what blogging is for, right?)Wandering around Fully Booked is always an interesting experience for me banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-81039190213760734972010-10-14T18:19:00.002+08:002010-10-28T19:06:06.012+08:00Nokia Phone Home!Look what showed up yesterday with the delivery man: a Nokia N8.You can also check it out here and here. Will give it a whirl, the phone review to follow. banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-6774405225270685782010-10-12T22:10:00.001+08:002010-10-27T18:42:31.768+08:00Ex Libris: Wild Cards: Inside Straight & Busted FlushIf there's one shared worlds series that's still going strong and is not a media tie-in like Star Wars or Dragonlance, it's the Wild Cards series.In this alternate history of the world, an alien virus falls into the hands of an evil genius at the end of the World War 2. Unfortunately, the world's only hero, Jet Boy, fails to thwart his plan andbanzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-21205962042462697272010-10-07T22:20:00.003+08:002010-10-25T00:46:41.363+08:00Ex Libris: James Lovegrove's The Age of RaI've not had prior experience reading James Lovegrove though some of his works had drawn my interest before. Unfortunately, being a UK writer, it was hard to find his books locally.So it's a good thing that US publisher Solaris had managed to sign him on for a military-SF series that combines high-tech soldiers with different pantheons of gods: The Age ofbanzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-33252908389298569862010-10-04T09:24:00.006+08:002010-10-25T00:49:42.108+08:00September Books For the past month of September, my reading had slowed down to zero. However, some book purchases came in by way of my dad who went to the US.Mostly anthologies, these books had just come out in US bookshelves so I was able to request for these. These range from: The Secret History of Fantasy (edited by Peter S. Beagle), the companion book to Tachyon Publication's The Secret banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-56390859163115650912010-10-01T22:18:00.003+08:002010-10-24T19:50:41.311+08:00Ex Libris: Jedediah Berry's The Manual of DetectionIf I could be glib, I could say that Jedediah Berry's The Manual of Detection is the Inception of surrealism/magic realism novels. But then I'd just be joking since I never got a chance to watch the movie. (Yes, alas.)And really, it would be unfair to compare the Christopher Nolan-helmed movie to Berry's work as it would give mismatched banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-72849119943405818662010-09-30T23:25:00.010+08:002010-10-24T18:50:43.382+08:00Ex Libris: Conrad Williams' The UnblemishedI've always been wary with Conrad Williams as his reputation precedes him. Similar to Clive Barker's early works in Books of Blood, I've heard that Williams' stories veer toward the grotesque.However, I've never been able to verify this as his work has always been limited to small or indie presses. As such, I'd have to order his books online as they banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-31455199541105613022010-09-26T21:01:00.002+08:002010-09-27T10:21:59.063+08:00Benwa!I finally finished my one and only book for the month of September! Woot! Boy, talk about reading slow.Ironically, Hitomi Nakano's Train Man isn't a hard book to read. In fact, it's the reverse: the forum thread style of narration is pretty easy to read. Purportedly based on a true story on an alleged densha otoko (or a train geek) , I found myself quite taken with this book in that I felt banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-40644503580803084202010-09-24T10:33:00.004+08:002010-09-26T05:24:47.592+08:00Quote for the DayA day will come when hate-'em or love-'em legends will die. But until then, we'll have Harlan Ellison:On his unfinished work"My wife has instructions that the instant I die, she has to burn all the unfinished stories. And there may be a hundred unfinished stories in this house, maybe more than that. There's three quarters of a novel. No, these things are not to be finished by banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-67367056315794965102010-09-22T16:23:00.013+08:002010-09-26T06:00:02.138+08:00Ex Libris: Warren Ellis' Crooked Little VeinThere's a war going on for the mainstream culture and it's happening right in front of you.I've always been a fan of comic book scribe Warren Ellis, having read his initial run on The Authority (post-Storm Watch) as well as his Global Frequency and Planetary comic books. (Alas, I haven't read his other cool stuff like Transmetropolitan... yet!) Reading banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-80671596752423064362010-09-20T12:22:00.006+08:002010-09-24T11:26:29.290+08:00The Return of the Word-EaterWell, it looks like my story Logovore is finally up at Fantasy Magazine. As some of you may know, this story is the one that won me first place in the Neil Gaiman/Fully Booked-sponsored Philippine Graphic/Fiction Award in 2007. It took me a while to decide to find it a new home online-- especially after it was finally printed in book form only last year. Here's a banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-62861810252876376402010-09-15T01:02:00.003+08:002010-10-24T07:42:34.875+08:00Books around the worldThere are lot of interesting stuff coming out in bookstores lately that aren't shelved in the science-fiction/fantasy shelves. For instance, a recent trip to Fully-Booked in Rockwell (before they closed for renovation) led me to discover a handful of books that I wished I could purchase if I had the money at that time.What's more interesting is that a couple of these books banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-56908148166243997162010-09-12T22:03:00.003+08:002010-09-12T22:08:00.711+08:00Scratchings in the sand, part 6we are not a hat-wearing culture.for our agricultural origins, a hat is something we wore when our forefathers would go to the fields to work on our crops: a thatch hat to protect our head from the heat of the sun and our vision from the brightness of the day.today’s culture means that the hat is a fashion-item. and it takes a certain mindset, an arrogance to bring banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-6496120399267301442010-09-11T14:30:00.005+08:002010-09-13T12:32:52.055+08:00DeadlinesDeadlinesDeadlinesAnd just like that, all my problems have come to a head-- for my head! Work hasn't completely swamped me but-- as a sign of age probably-- I've completely forgotten that I have a number of fiction writing deadlines.First of all is Pao Chikiamco's Alternative Alamat online anthology for RocketKapre, with a deadline that had been set for August 30 but extended until banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-73067395886224411032010-09-09T22:06:00.003+08:002010-10-08T11:08:39.487+08:00Scratchings in the sand, part 5 (or the dead girlfriends post)when i was younger, my brother in his new wave days used to play a song by the smiths called "girlfriend in a coma".when i heard that song and read the lyrics, i didn't understand why it drew such resonance in me. at that time, i was still a young boy in shorts and i had never loved someone that was not family. why did it bother me banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-55487148072431609422010-09-07T23:25:00.002+08:002010-09-09T00:48:30.224+08:00Too Much Writing?Hmmm... maybe I'm spreading myself too thin with my writing. Three blogs, several freelance plus my work too? Too much of a good thing, I say. As it is, if I don't have my book reviews-- I feel like I don't have anything to say in this blog.But I can imagine shutting down my livejournal and do my political writing here-- but should I also transfer my 15-minute fics? Bears some banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-14383574945820245452010-09-04T08:02:00.001+08:002010-09-06T17:33:53.499+08:00August BooksOkay, now this is very getting very weird. For this month of book purchases, I managed to find some very good finds, ranging from some hard-to-find (the Yellin, which I had to settle for an advanced reading copy which I normally don't buy) to the realization of some long-sought-for books (the Yamamoto).The weird thing about this is that my reading pace has almost glacially slowed downbanzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-59306590279215732762010-09-01T10:19:00.009+08:002010-09-27T10:37:50.826+08:00Ex Libris: Junot Diaz's The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar WaoThe foreign is truly a separate country from us, one that needs travel documents like a passport and visa. It has its own language and culture, as well as its own mindset that may be totally alien to ours.In Junot Diaz's Pulitzer-prize winning novel, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, he gives us a guide to a number of foreign shores.banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-31595187227272860162010-08-30T10:36:00.000+08:002010-08-30T10:37:40.576+08:00Scratchings in the sand, part 4close your eyes. remember when you were a child. you were trying to sleep in your parents' bed but failing. you did not want to be scolded for not being asleep so your eyes were closed. you could see nothing.except you would hear the sounds around you. you would hear the sound of footsteps on the floor. a cabinet door swinging open. the weight of someone on the sidebanzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-92018572328658663802010-08-27T15:05:00.002+08:002010-08-28T15:48:57.272+08:00Scratching in the Sand, part 3there is much to be said about the subject. as much as we can, we have tried to classify the three distinct personalities within the subject. in that we are relying too much on sigmund freud's much out-dated classifications, it is still an apt categorization.the first personality based on the concept of id can only be vaguely desribed as extreme desire. it calls banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-87792898115734088102010-08-27T09:49:00.008+08:002010-08-28T15:53:26.866+08:005, 4, 3, 2, 1... Book Launches!Well, even as life is passing me by, a couple of friends are launching their new books in the next few weeks.First up is this Saturday with Karl "MF" de Mesa kicking off his new second book of horror stories, News of the Shaman (Visprint) at Bookay-ukay in Quezon City. Expect bands, good people and weirdness to follow in his footsteps.Afterwards, Carljoe Javier banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-60924415111547216102010-08-26T13:14:00.004+08:002010-08-28T15:49:39.776+08:00Scratchings in the Sand, part 2here's something to do when you're riding an elevator. it's called 'low-hand draw'.mind, you can only do this when you're going up from the ground floor. if there's like a handful of you waiting for the elevator, it's better but just as long there's you and one other person, it'll work out fine.when you step inside the elevator, obviously, the first thing you're banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-49839877653377411922010-08-23T11:13:00.004+08:002010-08-28T15:51:57.827+08:00Scratchings in the Sand, Part 1(While I try to crawl my way out of my current workload, here are a few posts I'll be doing on a whim so I can pace my poor-neglected blog. In this particular topic... trust me, it sounds crazy and it probably is. But it was fun to write. As for the matter of truth... well, take comfort in the ancient words of the Romans when dealing with these things: caveat emptorbanzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-72253389186118774162010-08-09T10:03:00.000+08:002010-08-13T10:05:11.211+08:00Gone Fishing... Be Right Back!banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-11191797574575817882010-08-08T22:56:00.000+08:002010-08-09T00:07:06.754+08:00July BooksWhatever's afflicting me and causing my current disinterest in bookhunting is still at it. Fortunately, my book purchases have picked up a bit such that I've bought three books in the previous month.As I mentioned last month, I was aiming to get three particular books: Cherie Priest's Boneshaker, the Neil Gaiman-edited Stories, and Hiroshi Yamamoto's The Stories of Ibis. Alas, by the banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-64115566348871935532010-08-05T02:43:00.005+08:002010-08-05T11:15:14.982+08:00Kicking and Screaming at 35Over the weekend I attended a reunion with my high schoolmates. After the Ateneo basketball team had managed a squeaker against National University, those who attended the game went out for dinner at Berting's at the Home Depot compound in Ortigas.Suffice to say, looking at the growing paunches and lack of hair (especially on my part), I thought that we had definitely banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-13116613327778317422010-07-29T18:53:00.001+08:002010-08-02T00:29:08.847+08:00Ex Libris: Hogan & Del Toro's The StrainAvoid Chuck Hogan and Guillermo del Toro's The Strain like the plague.Okay, that's kind of harsh-- but hey, at least you immediately know what I thought about the book. Consider this the biohazard sign attached to hazardous materials. The fact that I dropped-kicked the book a quarter of the way in says a lot given that I'm usually forgiving about bad banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-59524739690563351112010-07-27T16:28:00.003+08:002010-07-27T17:54:18.788+08:00The Challenge of StrangenessHere's a good review by don of Philippine Speculative Fiction Volume 5, posted at POC's Pinoy Pop. As he notes here:Although it doesn’t claim to collect the best stories of the year, it does provide us with a glimpse of the shape of things to come. That doesn’t mean it gets better every year though. While it’s good to see the old guard make way for new and younger banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-48289917911375375822010-07-24T19:34:00.002+08:002010-07-26T19:42:30.166+08:00Ex Libris (Retro): George R. R. Martin's A Game of ThronesReally, this book's old. But I had to do an article on George R. R. Martin's A Game of Thrones, the first book of A Song of Fire and Ice series, for Metakritiko. (It's in preparation for the upcoming TV series in HBO, which a partner article takes up here.)As I put it here:What’s more, Martin depicted a world that wasn’t as clear-cut: goodbanzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-54071887091699841242010-07-22T12:53:00.003+08:002010-07-22T13:07:25.183+08:00Quote for the DayFrom Rochita Loenen-Ruiz (expatriate Filipina writer in the Netherlands who's been to the Clarion workshop) guest-blogging at Jeff Vandermeer's site, "Finding our stories":I think then of how speculative fiction is the perfect genre for people like me who exist in the interstitial spaces. I wonder to what extent the diaspora and the experience of being in the diaspora has banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-59576874631036177972010-07-20T22:15:00.004+08:002010-07-30T16:26:08.411+08:00Spreading the Word of the Diaspora(Pic from here. And yes, I know the astronaut's American!)Hey folks, here's a reminder that the deadline for Diaspora Ad Astra: Science Fiction from the Philippines is coming up by July 31. So if you've got an SF story, go submit!Here are the guidelines for the call for submissions again:Our upcoming next anthology will look into the future (near or far). Will webanzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-79720257302751569412010-07-18T23:45:00.001+08:002010-07-19T00:53:12.172+08:00Fore!(Pic taken from here.)For those who like hitting little balls with metal sticks, I'm helping a friend out set up a golf-related blog-- as well as other stuff like music and life in general.His name's Popoy and he's pretty good with golf. He also has a lot of interesting stories to tell. You can find his stuff here.Personally, I've never tried it though if I did, I probably wouldn't have had banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-35772549659004137302010-07-16T14:00:00.004+08:002010-07-19T00:37:44.322+08:00The Writing Life(Pic from here.)I never meant to write for a living. Or be a writer. But life works funny that way.I transferred out from my college course of AB Creative Writing in first year because I thought there was no money to made in writing.Ironically, a couple of years after I graduated from college, I made the decision to write for a living after a horrible year-long stint at SGV banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-17536096486635369992010-07-12T16:19:00.003+08:002010-07-12T16:35:03.930+08:00Plugging Holes in My RealityWhile I'm trying to finish several articles for work (including my day-job), here's some interesting things that are out in the Internets:A. Nikki Alfar, together with Kate Aton-Osias, is calling out for submissions for the yearly Philippine Speculative Fiction Volume 6. Wow, is it that time of the year already?Editors Nikki Alfar and Kate Aton-Osias invite you to banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-7596325130104219122010-07-10T15:24:00.000+08:002010-07-12T16:18:41.444+08:00Blank Saturday...Is so busy writing other stuff for work, he doesn't have anything interesting to say here. BRB.banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-41796148930180207502010-07-06T10:30:00.008+08:002010-07-06T18:01:18.945+08:00Ex Libris: Richard Kadrey's Sandman Slim*a shadowy figure lights up a cigarette, revealing a pair of cat's-eyes that glimmer even after the fire's match dies*So you wanna know about Richard Kadrey's Sandman Slim? You're a braver human than I.But then again, Kadrey is a tough punk, being around the writing world long enough. He wrote an early cyberpunk novel in the '80s, Metrophage (online here), banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-59846545429153428062010-07-02T14:42:00.005+08:002010-07-02T14:49:24.850+08:00June BooksGood grief, I bought only one book in the past month?Will wonders never cease?Though this is not exactly surprising given the haul I brought in the month prior. Likewise, I can proudly state that my Will-fu is strong in the face of selections on the bookshelves locally.These include the lovely white hardbound Neil Gaiman's Stories or Cherie Priest's Boneshaker (which I had to forgo banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-61283411895325118652010-07-01T11:11:00.007+08:002010-07-01T14:43:09.195+08:00Ex Libris: China Mieville's The City & The City (and other stuff)Okay, my review is technically not here. It's actually here, which I wrote for carljoe's Metacritiko section of the Philippine Online Chronicles.Here's an excerpt:But it is in his book The City and The City that he opens up a new chapter—as well as new paths to explore—of how we view our cities. He does this by introducing the banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-32243394340927344572010-06-28T08:15:00.004+08:002010-06-30T14:12:46.125+08:00Arrivals and Departures(Manila International Airport, picture taken from here)I like airports despite not liking to fly.With regard to airplanes, I can't help it: the idea that there is nothing between me and the clear blue sky except for some sheets of steel and a rug that raises my hackles every time I'm in the air.But airports-- airports are a different story. There's something about the day banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-13976707779528355332010-06-19T11:36:00.000+08:002010-06-19T11:36:00.162+08:00The Return of Your Friendly Neighborhood DemonsI keep forgetting to mention this. Maybe it's because I have partitioned my brain of a regular banzai cat on one side, and Estranghero Press publisher on the other? Whatever, one of my reminders finally took so here's some nice publicity for the Demons of the New Year online anthology.First of all, Fidelis Tan reviewed the horror anthology at banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-80473417301236205082010-06-18T16:07:00.005+08:002010-07-02T14:41:10.190+08:00A Look in the Past, A View of the FutureTalk about a blast from the past. I was cruising the highways of the Internet when I saw an article about the later incarnation of Tom Swift and one of my childhood heroes, Tom Swift, Jr. , inventor extraordinaire.I remember reading these books penned by Victor Appleton (a house pseudonym by the publishing firm). I would usually borrow these books from the banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-35576973548265481342010-06-14T19:00:00.002+08:002010-06-15T12:33:06.164+08:00That We Know But Have Never SeenOne, I just want to give a shout-out to my online buddy Jayaprakash Satyamurthy of India (or JP as people call him) who's put all his fiction online for free up at the blog Empty Dreams. I've known JP-- who's even more of a bookhound than me-- ever since the now-dissipated forum days with the infamous rabble-rouser Gabe Chouinard. Moreover, JP 's erudite and banzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501457.post-72332063021108034302010-06-11T22:20:00.004+08:002010-06-16T15:09:11.543+08:00Ex Libris: Charles Stross' The Jennifer MorgueWarning: Top Secret DocumentFor Your Eyes OnlyFile Code: 03-xx-CS-xxxx-411Field Agent: Charles StrossFile Name: The Jennifer MorgueSummary: This pertains to Project Codename: The Jennifer Morgue, which is under the purview of Agent Charles Stross and is part of The Laundy series of operations. Stross' operative, one Bob Howard, is part of the Britishbanzai cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11163422172627686782noreply@blogger.com0