points of inflection

Yes. Finally, it’s official.

I’ll be moving to janep from here onwards.

I’m gonna miss this points of inflections blog of mine. I already have this archived over at silverh.janep.org in case ePinoy cannot sustain it’s free service.

JANEP will be a collaborative blog from me and pen.

Have your bookmarks changed and point it to http://www.janep.org instead.

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Please take a quick look.

janep.org

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Hey Anthony, have a safe trip on your way back home.

Nice to see you again in person after 4 years (or was is 3?). Too bad di kayo nag-abot ni Maan. Ang galing kasi ng schedule nyo eh. Sabi nga sa Set Theory at Venn Diagram, null ang intersection nyo.

Sabi sa huling text mo sa akin:
“…sa blog na lang uli magbabalitaan.” Do keep us updated with your life there in LA.

At sana rin makabalik ka dito sa pinas kapag tan-tan-ta-nan na.

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I’m riding the wave of gravatar fad today.
I haven’t fully implemented the gravatar in my comments posts and I still have to customize much of it. Check it out later when you leave a comment.

So what is a gravatar? Gravatar is Globally Recognized Avatar.
Simply put: When you leave a comment on a weblog and provide your email address, the weblog can use your email address to look up your avatar. Since the collection is available to anyone, a single avatar image can represent you across many different weblogs.

Register an account today. All you need is an email address and a small square picture.

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I know, I know, it is supposed to be Batman’s time this month.

BUT I finally found and bought the much raved re-telling of Superman’s origin - Smallville style! Jeph Loeb writes the book, the same person who conceptualized Smallville and written the first few episodes of the show. I have been looking for this book since September 2004 (it was first printed on 1999). I didn’t know that this is a huge book about Superman so I just shrugged it off when I saw a copy at Bibliarch in Glorietta. When I came back at Bibliarch to buy it, alas, it was already sold.

And now, I am a proud owner of Superman For All Seasons by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale.

Here’s a short review:

SUPERMAN FOR ALL SEASONS is one of the finest Superman stories ever told.

Appearing in 1998 as a four-issue prestige format mini-series, SUPERMAN FOR ALL SEASONS was produced by the team of writer Jeph Loeb and artist Tim Sale — also responsible for BATMAN: THE LONG HALLOWEEN and the Marvel “colors” graphic novels (e.g. DAREDEVIL: YELLOW), among others.

The story’s most influential portion is its first, beautifully depicting Clark Kent’s life on the farm in Kansas, growing up with good old-fashioned Midwestern American values under the tutelage of Ma and Pa Kent. Here is his perception of his difference from others while still very much the human being. Here is his simply joy at his powers, flying with Lana Lang in a scene reminiscent of his flight with Lois Lane in the classic 1978 movie Superman. An idyllic pastoral more than a traditional Superman story, this chapter would go on to exercise great influence on SMALLVILLE, the TV series featuring a super-powered Clark Kent growing up in Smallville without a costume.

Worth reading, and mandatory for Superman fans.

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This whole entry is shameless ripped from Forbes.com

Here goes…

NEW YORK - Dark clouds have gathered over Gotham. Crime is rampant, despair is widespread and no one is safe. Who will rescue the metropolis from itself, fight the forces of evil and save the good people of the city?

Why don’t you do it?

AJ: So you want to be a Batman? Here’s your expenses…

The Training
Cost: $30,000

You’d better be ready to defend yourself if you plan to take on all the thugs and super-villains that call Gotham home.

In the new movie, young Bruce Wayne goes to Tibet on the mother of all study-abroad trips and ends up learning the martial arts from a group of vigilante ninjas called the League of Shadows. But similar training is available to those not lucky enough to get plucked out of obscurity by Liam Neeson.

A good place to start would be an internship at the birthplace of kung fu, the Shaolin Temple in Henan, China. One month of training at the prestigious Tagou school costs about $740, including a private room and training with a personal coach. It’ll take a while to get good enough to stop the Joker’s worst thugs, though, so count on spending at least three years and about 30 grand for the trip.

read more…

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I hate it when people are bashing the movie “Batman Begins” after watching it. They have no idea how good the movie was. It’s great. Hardcore comic book geeks are giving the movie a 2-thumbs up. The movie captured the essence of Batman as a person and as a hero (note that ‘as a hero’ not ‘as a superhero”). ‘Minor’ Batman characters are given life - Thomas Wayne, Lucius Fox, Henry Ducard, Alfred Pennyworth, Jim Gordon and even Rachel Dawes.

One important part of the movie played perfectly is the character development of Batman. From a bat-phobia child, to being a part of the criminal world, trained by the League of Shadows, and finally assuming the Batman identity. Gotham City is an eyecandy. Especially the scene where Batman is atop of a columnar post beside a building, the camera panning from his right to left. Great scene.

I guess one flaw of the movie is not making Ra’s Al Ghul a formidable foe. In comics, Ra’s Al Ghul can give Batman a good fight. Being both swordsmen, the big fight could have been better. As it is, still, the movie is well worth it. Watched it twice - one with the boys at Gateway and the other with Pen in G4.

There will be lots of comicbook characters turned movie to watch out for- FantasticFour is sometime this year, GhostRider is up next, and of course I can’t wait for Superman Returns.

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(this is a sticky post, continue reading after this entry for the newer posts)

Might as well post it here rather than in the comments section from the previous blog post…

I finally put up my own site. Bought a domain name and (semi) launched the site. It was just a matter of timing and an apt domain name. I really wanted to launch the site today as it is a special day for us.

Give your initial impressions here folks.

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Look what I found…

I found FrancisM’s blog!

Idol ko yan simula grade6 pa!

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I do not like to put up an entry regarding the country’s state these days. There’s the jueteng scandal of GMA, the alleged cheating that occurred last elections recorded via an illegal wiretap, the mounting of ‘people power EDSA 4′ - led by rez cortez (yes, the permed villain), etc., etc.

Let me just point you to other blogs that mention these things:

• Philippine Center for Investigative Jounalism
• Conrado de Quiros’ articles
• Jaemark’s blog
• Jie’s take on the issues

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