The Wheel and Axle

Kingsman: The Golden Circle finally opens today in the Philippines (along with the UK and other territories). Unfortunately, due to conflicting schedules, I might be able to watch it towards the end of next week. Bummer. Still, we may have some time tonight before we fly out for a vacay. We’ll see.

But regardless, Taron Egerton deserves all my patience. If not tonight, then I will definitely get to see you next week, babe.

In the meantime, here’s the second trailer to tide me (and anyone else) over.

Update: so we did manage to find time early Wednesday evening to watch it. Will post a review next time as there’s a lot going on as we prep for travel.

Because, like the creators of this Star Wars gem, some people really just have a whoe lot of free time on their hands.

And thank goodness for that, or else we wouldn’t have this other gem.

Something absolutely inspiring for the week ahead.

Happy Monday!

Because I enjoyed it so much, I watched Aurelio Sedisyo: A Rock Sarswela again. I basically book-ended the experience, having first seen it during opening night and now capping it with the closing show. And while opening night was great, the production has definitely found its footing and is even more polished.

I’ve spoken previously of the wonderful performance of the cast members, but this time I was able to watch Baron Geisler as Tikbalang. Just like the rest of the cast, he is excellent onstage. Despite the occasional difficulty of being heard (it might have been his mic), Baron has a powerful presence, perhaps more so than his alternate, that truly helps embody the personification of American Imperialism. His is an imposing antagonist, one that is disturbing, hilarious, and frightening all at the same time – a portrayal deserving of the character.

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Or, as we prefer it, the Pearl of the Orient.

But that’s semantics.

We are, after all, truly the shining treasure of this part of the world.

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Why skirts on men is even an issue is quite baffling, to be honest.

And this guy gets props for raising further awareness on why such gender normativity is ultimately meaningless.

And he’s cute, to boot. Mmm.

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Recently, I got stuck at home and was unable to go to work due to heavy rains. I was quietly having lunch while the two household helpers watched some reruns of Keeping Up With The Kardashians on TV. Our household help, ladies and gentlemen.

I had never watched the Kardashian show in full, but finally hearing it play in the background while I ate lunch made me wonder yet again: WTF is wrong with the public for having kept this show alive for a decade? Alright, Rob Kardashian may have been attractive at one point in time, but not any more. And his sisters? Not only are they not really attractive underneath all the make-up, just average at best, but I have never seen a more vacuous, self-absorbed group of “reality stars” who were (and still are) so tone deaf and out of touch with, well, reality.

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The 2017 SEA Games ended two weeks ago on 30 August 2017, and while the Philippines did not become over-all champion, we did get to have a fairly good showing in bagging 24 gold medals (not to mention 33 silvers and 64 bronzes).

Trenten Beram, for example, dashed his way into our hearts.

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Photo credit: Twitter @DCComics

Len Wein was a comic book legend.

I mean, he only co-created Swamp Thing and this little-known character called Wolverine.

He was an accomplished comic creator, both as writer and editor, and won multiple awards. He was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2008.

Over at Marvel, Len was instrumental in reviving the X-Men in the early 70s with artist Dave Cockrum, co-creating Storm, Nightcrawler, and Colossus. Without their work, the later Claremont run would have been nothing. The X-Men, as we know it now, would have never come to pass without Len. He also wrote for Daredevil, The Incredible Hulk, The Amazing Spider-Man, Thor, Fantastic Four, and Marvel Team-Up.

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Sixteen years ago, the world changed.

I was in Manila, of course. We were celebrating the birthday of a friend over dinner in the Katipunan area. There was a TV suddenly broadcasting the terrible news as it happened. We were in Manila, but we felt the terror half a world away. When I got home later after midnight, I got glued to the TV again, watching the horror of the aftermath further unfold.

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