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.

janep.org

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.

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.

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.

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.

The Suit
Cost: $1,585

They say the suit makes the man, and Batman’s no exception. Without his outfit, it’d just be Bruce Wayne running around out there, and there’s nothing particularly scary about a billionaire playboy in his underpants.

Batman’s suit is a modified piece of infantry armor built by the applied sciences division of Wayne Enterprises. It’s waterproof, bulletproof, knife-proof and temperature-regulating. Paired with an impact-resistant, graphite-composite cowl and spiked ninja-style gauntlets, it allows Batman to protect himself against everything from swords to machine guns. Wayne Enterprises also supplies Batman with his cape, a specially designed nylon-derivative fabric that stiffens when hit with an electric charge, allowing Batman to use it as a glider. All this doesn’t come cheap. In the new movie, Wayne’s told that the armor alone costs $300,000.

Real-world superhero wanna-bes will have to go with a much more prosaic solution. We recommend a lightweight ProMAX OTV bulletproof jacket, which will cover your arms and torso for only $1,085. A decent Kevlar helmet will run about $500.

Of course, if you don’t want to lug around all that stuff, you could forgo the armor and just buy yourself a collectors-grade Batman movie costume for about $430. It won’t provide any protection, but at least you’ll look cool.

The Belt
Cost: $290

Batman’s utility belt was a recurring gag in the old 1960s TV show; every time the caped crusader got into a jam, he’d find the perfect deus ex machina right on his hip. Mister Freeze imprisoned him in an icy jail cell? Good thing he brought along the old Bat-defroster. Getting eaten by a giant carnivorous plant? Whip out the old Bat-defoliant.

Needless to say, that’s a source of never-ending angst for his enemies. In Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman movie, after Jack Nicholson’s Joker watches the Dark Knight fire wires out of a grappling gun and escape from his clutches by flying through the air, he asks the question on all our minds: “Where does he get all those wonderful toys?”

The answer, unfortunately, is from Wayne Enterprises. Batman’s utility belt is a one-of-a kind prototype climbing harness, paired with a magnetic grappling gun with a monofilament decelerator climbing line. Fortunately, you’ve got other options. A decent nylon utility belt can be procured for about $10 from any martial arts supply store. You can also equip yourself with:

Climbing spikes: $70 (Black Diamond Spectre Ice Beak Ice Piton)
Small digital cell phone: $150 (Motorola RAZR, with cellular contract)
Ninja spikes: $10 (Set of three)
Throwing stars: $30 (Set of four)
Medical kit: $20

The Car
Cost: $2,000,000

Forget sports utility vehicles–what you need is a “sports tank.”

That’s what the producers of Batman Begins call the Caped Crusader’s new ride, a repurposed military vehicle that can leap buildings and go from 0 to 60 in five seconds. Built by the Applied Sciences division of Wayne Enterprises, the “Tumbler” is meant to move soldiers through hostile territory–which explains the armor plating, jet engine and front-mounted dual .50-caliber machine guns.

Unfortunately, most aspiring crime fighters don’t have access to prototype military hardware, so you’ll have to armor up a Hummer. But don’t despair; Fred Khoroushi, president of Alpine Armoring, says there’s plenty you can do with a stock car.

For armor plating, you could use a composite material like silicon carbide, which will stop bullets but not weigh the vehicle down too much. Add all the electronics and gadgetry you want, including devices that will sense chemical, biological and radiological weapons. And the security system for this car won’t just chirp and annoy the neighbors–how about delivering an electric shock to anyone who tries to open the door?

Many of the coolest modifications–like oil slicks and built-in machine guns–are totally illegal in the U.S. But if you didn’t care about the law, a fully pimped-out gunboat could be obtained for around $2 million, says Khoroushi, though you might not get it past your first speed trap. Keeping the Batmobile street-legal would run you only about $200,000. But where’s the fun in that?

The Cave
Cost: $24,000 (for one year)

Now that you’ve got all the cool gear, you need somewhere to stash it. Bruce Wayne once again lucks out by advantage of his birth. Stately Wayne Manor just happens to be atop a huge network of caves, accessible to the outside world through a hidden entrance behind a waterfall.

Regular folks don’t have access to that sort of resource. Besides, according to the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, there are no natural caves or caverns of any size in New York City, the real-world “Gotham.”

So what’s a budget-minded vigilante to do? We recommend you find yourself a nice out-of-the-way warehouse. In the outer boroughs of New York City, a decent-sized ground-floor commercial space can be leased for as low as $2,000 a month, particularly in isolated, questionably safe neighborhoods, exactly the kind of place the Bat would fly.

The Alter Ego
Cost: $1,109,574

Bruce Wayne was born into money and the social elite, so he’s no stranger to huge homes, fancy cars, nice clothes and splashy parties.

But this conspicuous consumption serves a purpose, too. Wayne lives the high life as cover for his life as Batman. He goes to big parties, dates models and swigs champagne so people will think of him as a playboy, not as the kind of guy who hangs out in a cave, dresses like a bat and beats up muggers.

To pull off a Wayne-style alter ego, your expenses would include the following, based on the Forbes Cost of Living Extremely Well Index:

Clothing and accessories, including bespoke suits and shoes, Patek Phillippe watches and Tiffany platinum cuff links, would run $434,230. Food and dining, including regular doses of filet mignon, lobster and meals at the city’s finest restaurants, would clock in at $233,844 a year. Entertainment, including tickets to all the city’s best events, would run $144,000 a year. And count on forking over $297,000 a year on gifts, including Tiffany diamond earrings and necklaces for your lady friends.

The Butler
Cost: $200,000 a year

Batman’s secret weapon isn’t a gun, Bat-arang or even the car. It’s his faithful servant Alfred.

Born in England, Alfred Pennyworth was hired by Bruce Wayne’s parents to serve as Wayne Manor’s butler. Upon their death, he raised Bruce on his own and today remains his closest friend, confidant and ally. Sure, he cooks, cleans and keeps appointments. But he also maintains the Batcave, helps build and repair Batman’s gadgets and vehicles, and even tends to the crime fighter’s wounds.

So what would it cost to get help like this? “You can buy a Chevy Chevette or a Rolls-Royce, and either one will get you from A to B,” says Charles McPherson, vice chairman of the International Guild of Professional Butlers. “The cost depends on the lifestyle of the family.”

Inexperienced butlers just out of school earn annual salaries of around $50,000 to $60,000, says McPherson. But experienced help can easily pull in $125,000 to $150,000 a year, and a gentleman’s gentleman like Alfred might earn $200,000 or more.

The Bottom Line
Final Cost: $3,365,449

The Training: $30,000
The Suit: $1,585
The Belt: $290
The Car: $2,000,000
The Cave: $24,000
The Alter Ego: $1,109,574
The Butler: $200,000

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.

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.

I found FrancisM’s blog!

Idol ko yan simula grade6 pa!

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