Daredevil Season 1

The Daredevil TV series is not the type of show you would want to watch with children. Netflix had the freedom to go darker. It is a show for the kids who grew up with the comics, who are now grown up. Expectations were high. Reviews by geeks on the Internet were favorable.

Charlie Cox (whose only movie I've seen was Stardust) is Matt Merdock, a blind attorney who lost his eyesight as a kid. His story is typical of comic books. I still loved it. Daredevil is one of my favorites as a kid. The Ben Affleck movie was panned years ago, but I kinda liked it too.

This Daredevil adaptation from Netflix is better. There was more time to explore and develop the characters. Foggy, Merdock's friend, keeps it balanced by giving us some good dose of comic relief. And Vincent D'Onofrio -- boy, he's good as Wilson Fisk (a.k.a. The Kingpin).

At first sight, we thought D'Onofrio was not fat enough. That's what I remembered. But from the head up, he was the Kingpin. There is a good deal of depth with his portrayal. I was expecting a more archetypal caricature of a villain.  Lately, there aren't any of them. But this version of Kingpin is miles better than the movie. It makes an amazing origin story. The socially awkward but brilliant criminal mind's meteoric rise and fall in this first season makes a compelling story. You may side with Wilson a little here.

Issues:

• Costume - I hated the final costume. I guess the evolution of the costumes from the start is interesting, but I liked Ben Affleck's costume more. Adaptations of comic books lack color. And the horns look a bit too ergonomic, not much like horns. I understand what they wanted, but I want devil horns! Dammit.
• Violence - There is plenty. There was a scene, where the typically calm Wilson Fisk loses it, then violently kills a Russian, by slamming a car door on him. It was gratuitous.

Despite my issues that will not be anything to most fans, the story was tight, the characters were interesting, and the fight scenes were pretty decent. I mean, compared to how fight scenes are choreographed these days, the dark theme was well-utilized to cut corners without being obvious.

A New Start

In the end of 2014, I left a high-paying job and found myself in a rut. I halfheartedly took a job that paid decently eight months later. The people were amazing; but being from where I was before and where I was then only made me feel dissatisfied.

I left the job that may have been a mistake, but I felt it was time to take a big risk. At age thirty-three, any later would be a bigger risk than it is now. So I threw all precaution to the wind, which is very uncharacteristic of me, and took the plunge -- knowing full well how it may jeopardize my way of living.

For two weeks since I resigned, I've been reevaluating my life. It only got me angry.

I became a stranger to my own self. I lost my identity.

I've been channeling all the anger on other stuff. I was able to make it to Level 13 on a mobile game because of that anger. I feel sorry for the people around me.

I decided to revisit American Gods by Neil Gaiman. I loved that book ten years ago. Reading it now, as an adult, although still fun and refreshing, is different than when I read it when I was younger. I'm happy to read a book and not be conscious of the things that bothered me before. I was an editor, and happily, I no longer so conscious about punctuation. Maybe that's one reason I stopped reading.

Tomorrow, I start work for a start-up company that pays. Hopefully, this is a good decision.

Awful Ending of Golden Time

Golden Time is this anime I casually saw on Animax. In the few instances I saw it, the story got more interesting. Skipping episodes did not work for me, so I watched all 24 episodes.

Golden Time is a story of Banri Tada, a college freshman, who enters a university with everything put behind him — because he has amnesia. There, he created a new life, while struggling to keep in terms with his past. It's a story about identity, peppered with a good amount of comedy and drama.

What I liked about the Golden Time is the developing characters. Kuoko ( the female love interest), for example, wasn't very likable in the beginning (she's a bit of a psychopath), but she evolved into an adult, episode after episode after episode. It's not only her, but almost everybody in the anime grew, except Banri.

A core part of the story is Banri's relationship with another female character, Linda, his high school sweetheart to whom he shared secrets and a deep understanding. She was easily likable, which in terms of how stories go makes an exciting love triangle.

I enjoyed every episode until episode 23. I hated the finale. Despite some foreshadowing, I was not prepared of the supernatural. I thought the other version of Banri who knew his past, who spoke to the viewers, was his repressed subconscious. Not a ghost of his former self, rather a part of his psyche. Maybe I wanted it to go my way.

It appeared that when Banri got into an accident, his former self departed his body as a spirit, and the one after the accident was a new soul.

I should have known better. Right in the middle, ghost Banri had powers that poltergeists would be envious of. His power bordered on cosmic abilities: weather control, probability manipulation and jinx enhancement.

You must understand, ghost Banri has god-like abilities, such as creating bad weather, putting people to sleep, and give you bad fortune.

In the end, instead of Banri remembering his past in addition to his present memory, he forgets his post-accident experiences. I thought they would merge together as one personality, then decide who he loves more, Linda or Kuoko. Either way would have been fine. I liked them both. 

It's a cop-out ending for Golden Time where Banri forgot his pre-accident self to be with Kuoko, and Linda says goodbye to Version-1 Banri as a ghost before going into oblivion. 

I read somewhere that the story is ongoing, Maybe the book is better, but I wouldn't bother knowing. An emotional investment and time put to waste.

* * *

When I was in college, back in 2002,  I had a classmate who asked a question about amnesia. She asked about a man found in the beach by a woman who had amnesia. They fell in love. The memories of the man returned and forgot all about the woman, until everything came back again like Banri did. It was a story she read on a cheap Tagalog pocketbook.

I told her it doesn't happen in real life, fairly annoyed by such silly plot.

Hopefully, she will never hear of Golden Time. I have not spoken to this classmate since graduation. But if she's seen Golden Time, hopefully, she does not remember me as the idiot.

No, I still stand by what I said. 

Email Salutations

I received an important email and replied to it. What I forgot was a salutation. You know, "Dear Mr. Doodledoo, " Forgetting that salutations are good manners, I messed up. It's a good thing they contacted me again.

Then I started thinking. How do we make a salutation in the digital age? In school (back when we still used pen and paper), we wrote:

 Dear Mr Doodledoo, 

This salutation has been kind of the standard. This is written neatly above the message body with an empty line before the message body. These days, it feels kinda weird. You don't say dear to just about anybody, and it comes across as too formal.

The True Cost: A Fashion Documentary

Coming from a third-world country, watching the documentary The True Cost is enlightening and traumatic. Imagine that. We all must have noticed that probably most of our clothes or much of what we use — everything — are imported from China or other developing country. We just don't pay attention to it.

The documentary The True Cost, directed by Andrew Morgan and co-produced by Livia Firth, is a look at the outcomes of fast fashion, the trend these days set by giant clothing companies. It is a documentary that is shocking at so many levels.


It tackles the effects of trends to the workers from poor countries, consumer mentality and the environment; and all of them aren't pretty. Like most documentaries where big issues are compacted for viewing purposes, The True Cost is still another simplified presentation of a big issue. The economics involved are complex and cannot be covered by even a two-hour video.

Ethical issues covered included harsh labor conditions, consumer behavior, farmer suicides and environmental hazards. It does not put the blame on a single entity or industry, but looked at the whole system, as it should be.

This made me feel guilty. It made me sad and angry. Toward the end, the video montage of American shoppers and video bloggers talking about their shopping haul, juxtaposed to victims of chromium poisoning in India, violent riots in Cambodia and suffering laborers in Bangladesh, makes an ending for this harrowing film climactic. It makes you feel bad for buying clothes.

*****

Now looking for sustainable clothes will be tough. Like the zippers, buttons and even the very thread used for most clothes comes from developing countries. Even if we try looking for good sources. It is difficult. I guess the only thing we can do is just wear clothes we like, and not treat them as disposables.

American Gods on TV

There has been talks on the Internet for quite some time, years, of an American Gods TV series based on the book of popular fantasy writer Neil Gaiman.

It's an amazing book I read seven years ago or so. I am a fan of Gaiman's writing, especially those  written before the year 2000. American Gods was the most recent story from him that I just loved. Now that it is to be made for television, it's scary that other people's interpretation of the book could wipe out the images created by your mind.

It will be co-produced by Gaiman himself, or so we are told, and produced by American network Starz (Spartacus), so we could expect some adult material, which we're not complaining about. Showrunners and writers would be Bryan Fuller (Heroes, Pushing Daisies) and Michael Green (Gotham).

There are a lot of stories in the book that I hope would be maintained and explored. The difficulty would be finding the right actors to play the part. We are talking about gods here, and screen presence is imperative. There's a lot of gods in here.

The main character, Shadow, is a hard find. Some fans suggested Jason Mamoa or Kit Harrington on comments and forums. Then the character of Shadow's wife Laura is a tough find. [SPOILER ALERT] I envisioned a charismatic actress who can pull off being a walking corpse.

So, I am torn. Am I excited or not?  Anxious, more like it. I just loved American Gods. But I would still watch out for the series. Hopefully, they don't stray too much from the source material. It's a good book about gods from all over the world stuck in the United States, written by a British writer.

One Month After

It has been quite some time since I made my last post, the last of which was about bitterness. Bitterness. I think I am in the process of healing now, and there is definitely progress.

From Pixabay

Letting go

 I felt a resurgence of positive energy. After all the awful things of the past year, it's time to let go of them all and move on. As much as I'd like to, I am held back by anger.

I held this anger for the people I cared for but betrayed me in the end. Now that they're out of my life, I can only move forward if I am not held back by hatred.

They may have disappointed me, but it was a learning experience. I could only wish them good luck and stop caring, for the world will keep on turning and the universe keep on existing.

All of us are insignificant. Me. Them. You.

I say, letting go made me feel good. It felt like I can do anything. I felt the nice positive energy flowing immediately.

The only thing to complain about: As with most things in my life, there is a song for every milestone. And as much as I hate it, the Frozen theme song played, Let it Go. Somebody suggest something!

Then, I had to meet me girlfriend. I stayed outside the building, where the old office was housed.

Then I saw them. A wave of anger and hatred flooded me. I stormed off, the memories of the things they've done flashed backin my memory. The sabotage, the trash talk, the backstabbing.

I ain't over it. I probably ever won't. I came to the realization that I can't forgive easily. So, here's what we're gonna do. I have let go — or at least pretend to let go. Since I can't tell the difference if I really did, let's just say that I did let go and will never be in a situation that could remind me of the vile things those wonderful people have done.

Send me a "letting go" song. It might help.

Alvin and Freaky Lalaloopsy

It was a lazy Friday night. Browsing through channels with boring shows, tired movies and reality shows, I ran across Nickelodeon and saw the made-for-TV ALVINNN and the Chipmunks.

The 3D animation was not very good, compared to how sophisticated some shows are, and the people were leaning a bit at the edge of the uncanny valley; but was still fairly amusing. In the end, I have a soft spot for those anthropomorphic rodents. And I still love the classic cartoon better.

Then the commercial of Lalaloopsy with stretchy hair.It's like a chant that played and lingered in my freaking head.

She is there with that artificial smile, waiting for the silly children to be ready, and when the adults are asleep...

Shit. I really freaked myself out this time.

***

Lalaloopsy is available in all major toy stores everywhere. So, you be prepared with some blowtorch.

Just Watch Anna Wintour be Funny on Late Night with Seth Meyers

Like the documentary "September Issue," on this sketch with Seth Meyers, Anna Wintour is acting like her "known" brutal cold self.

She can be funny. If not funny, we can admit she is amusing.

* * *

Then you can watch what she thinks of the people at the recent Met ball.




There should have been pictures of the three almost naked women, but I guess she's nice now.

Anna Wintour is a shrewd businesswoman. She knows how to capitalize on her brand. If not for Meryl Streep, she would have only been a scary figure in the fashion industry. She should have dinner with Lauren Weisberger and thank her. As powerful as she is, the writer did make her a household name.

Death by Treadmill

Sometimes you run across some news that if happened to someone else, it would have lesser impact. It might even be a joke.

SurveyMonkey CEO, Dave Goldberg, husband of Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, died on a treadmill. His skull was "cracked open." Filthy-rich people can also die of really silly things. 

It is a serious matter, of course. Even if the above-mentioned description, skull cracked open, pops up in some violent cartoon, it's something we need to take seriously. Running on treadmills can be dangerous.

We have seen countless videos on Youtube of people being thrown off treadmills. Often, we call them idiots. I mean, you can always be careful. And why run on a speed you can't handle? But what if something goes wrong? What if you have a stroke in the middle of things? What if you trip while running in maximum speed?

In 2009, Mike Tyson's four-year-old daughter died after being strangled on a treadmill. We may look at a treadmill as an easy and simple exercise machine. In concept, it really is, just like a stove. There needs to be more precaution.

Maybe we should not use treadmills alone, or just never be cocky. And be self-conscious. Sometimes we like pushing ourselves. Exercise comes with discomfort; but don't neglect the signs that may be telling you're pushing it.

You could die, you know,

Some Met Gala pictures

The Metropolitan Museum in New York is on my checklist of places to go to when in New York, if I'll ever go to New York. They have this gala annually, organized by the iconic Anna Wintour. So we expect it to be this fashionable event.

Until you see the people who attended.

View image | gettyimages.com

View image | gettyimages.com

Won't they feel cold? I am all in for sexy women in sexy clothes, but they look like honeymoon wear.  Expensive but something you should not wear on a formal event. OR why not just wear glitters and pasties, then hang a curtain on them. Rather than have famous designers paid, give more money to charity or something.

This is a scary trend though. If people go out to formal events wearing these in 2015, what would our daughters wear  to the prom in 2030?

We shudder.

There are some interesting looks out there. Some really good ones that are unfortunately overshadowed by a few attention-grabbing personalities. It almost made us think that the Met gala is tacky.

Speaking of attention whores, Justin Bieber looked good in that embroidered dragon jacket that I want so badly to snatch.

View image | gettyimages.com

It was on-theme, "China: Through the Looking Glass," which so many people did not follow. It was refreshing and cool. We hate the person, but we're starting to like him until three days ago. No, we still don't like him. We like what he has on.

There are people who made an impression, not by how they look, but who they are with.

View image | gettyimages.com

Preponderance of Zombies

Zombies do not interest me so much. I mean, the modern depiction of zombies. It's not to say stories with zombies do not interest me, as there are some movies that I have seen that are fairly good; but on a creature-creation aspect, they are not as interesting as vampires and witches.

Besides, there's just too many of them on TV right now. There are very few people who has never watched The Walking Dead. That's us.

from top clockwise: The Walking Dead,  Resident Evil, 28 Days Later, iZombie, Shaun of the Dead, Zombieland

Although I've enjoyed Resident Evil, 28 Days Later and World War Z, the interest lied mostly on the psychology and effects on the human condition, and of course, the fight scenes that ensued later.

Unlike romantic vampires and majestic witches, modern zombies lacked individuality which earns them no empathy. Most often, zombies are represented as mindless human shells with nothing in their heads but the instinct to eat.

One of the more surprising zombie movies I liked was Warm Bodies, another post-apocalyptic movie, that had sentient zombies. If it was marketed better, I would have seen it earlier. The posters and trailers felt Twilight-y.

In two weeks, iZombie will premiere in the Philippines. It's about a gorgeous but intelligent zombie that works in forensics, who helps solve crime by eating human innards (or was it brains) to see visions from the dead. It borrowed some elements of so many stories that it's ridiculous and brilliant.

Would I watch that? Probably not, even if it's based on an Eisner-nominated graphic novel. The title alone ruined it almost immediately. As much as I hate zombies, we like ours to be traditional.

The Job I did not Have

The interview was the best I had in months. I did well, I think. It was for a brokerage company in the Philippines that will mostly work with ForEx.

The interview we had, I was seated with three other kids in their twenties who made me feel old. They seem like smart kids, a bit inexperienced with presenting themselves, though. With a little bit of work, I think they'll be good. 

Two of them came from top universities in the Philippines. It almost made me feel bad about myself, but like what I learned when dealing with situations like these: just swallow it up and be confident. I did not carefully  trim my beard only to choke and crash miserably. 

I did get a job offer. The job promises us to learn from experts. It would have been nice if I was younger; but we were only gonna get an allowance for food and transportation. I have bills to pay. If you've seen the place, the closest eateries there are coffee shops with fancy food. There's a McDonald's nearby, but you have to cross a busy highway with fast-driving cars.

I was the only guy who asked about client sourcing, and it seems like we have to grow our portfolio on our own. Networking is a recurring theme then.

I am gonna die working there. Will Smith can inspire people via his movie In Pursuit of Happyness; but I can get no high yields, because I have nothing to give, darn it.

Madonna - Ghosttown video with Terrence Howard

It was another day. Much of the week was spent looking for a job and looking at porn. Today, I was listening to Sia's old tracks and off to other songs and ran into Madonna's Frozen video on Youtube that I've always liked. Then there is this video from her new album.

We really don't like Madonna's recent songs, and her videos were a touch bit too trashy. It's refreshing to see a video that I liked. It does not has too much electronica, simple lyrics and more tasteful but still over-the-top feel. I mean, Ghosttown has a post-apocalyptic-themed video.

And then there is Lucious, I mean Terrence Howard. Not bad, and the dance bit was beautiful. Smart Madonna.

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The story of the lost phone and Brother Orange

There are times fact can be stranger than fiction. The story of the lost iPhone on Buzzfeed and how its owner was able to go from the United States to China, meet the person who got his phone, and become a celebrity is too incredible to make up.

This amazing narrative is immediately funny and very weird; and at the same time, touching. 

It gives us hope that despite all the cultural differences, we are all human after all — or something like that.

Backward Tech

When I did technical support, I was competent enough at doing computer work with minimal supervision. We do it for a living; so we try to learn as much as we could. It would be embarrassing if we didn't. But that was 2006.

2015. Three operating systems later, despite XP still being used by many people, I am turning into one of those customers I spoke with on the phone, who have very minimal knowledge of how computers work, that make representatives cry on their desks. I understand now. I don't get these all that much now.

My laptop runs Windows 8.1, and it's running very slow probably due to the malware I accidentally downloaded when I was installing a software that won't ever be used anyway. 

I asked the girlfriend about Windows components, which she also forgot. I was also looking for hidden files to manually remove the malware.

Editing has made my troubleshooting skills rusty, and so I had to do research about how to do something that was very intuitive ten years ago.

Maybe if I was using XP, it would have been easier; plus I am getting a bit older and more impatient to learn new programs.

Another sign of aging: recalcitrance.

Versace Rip Off Kesh?

The Versace rip-off accusation is making it rounds on the Internet. Kesh accuses The house of Versace of ripping off a t-shirt she designed for American Apparel. 

On her Instagram account she says, "Versace rip off. Sold out in three sizes. What is this madness?  From huge designer labels to small boutiques, to giant pop stars, to fame-hungry former friends. What is this? Why can't these companies, these brands, these people create their own work? What happened? Why do these people think that everything that they lay their eyes on instantly belongs to them?" 

She even brutally goes on to say, "At least make it better than the $30 original" and "This looks like a first draft."

Left: Kesh; Right: Versace 

To be fair, Versace's design isn't that bad. There is completion on there, but the better version would be a matter of preference.

Looking closely at Kesh's original drawings, we could easily conclude it was a rip-off. It had the same color scheme, similar concept and the details especially in the eyes is striking.

But however, as much as we would like to be on Kesh's side, art ownership and inspiration has a fine line. There are still differences.

Geometric design has already been in use by many ethnic cultures around the world and us a staple in contemporary art since the early 20th century.

The most that Kesh could do is tarnish the reputation of the billion-dollar company, which they're doing a good job of.

That said, I wouldn't buy the Versace shirt. Too expensive, IMO. Versace is selling it for $650. That's more than 200% what Kesh did.

Zayn Malik leaves One Direction

So One Direction has one member leaving. I learned about it when a classmate from high school on her Facebook status read "This is insane!" with a link that has Zayn Malik leaving 1D (One Direction).

Since the rather ridiculous pronouncement of fans in tears and the big fanfare on media, I was able to finally know the boy group that I only know because of their popularity with mostly young girls.

Because of this, Zayn Malik is a name I now know; and the rest, I at least know by their first names. The reason he left, he wanted to have a life. Good for him. I am baffled myself by the devotion and reaction of these kids.

Selecta Moo x Adventure Time

It was a typical day at the supermarket. I was about to grab a couple of cartons of milk, when girlfriend gushed at the sight of Selecta Moo's package with Jake of Adventure time.

We loved the show. We're crazy about it. If only they have more episodes shown on Cartoon Network, we could watch it over and over again.

As I was grabbing one, it was replaced by Finn. Who would choose Finn over Jake? She did. Finn looked sad, she said.

Selecta Moo has smaller snack sizes, too.