One fine day, I found a website that has a downloadable copy of the comic book for free. I loved it. I'm not a comic book junkie. Heck, the only comic books I've read are Archie comics and Berke Breathed's Bloom County, and the funnies section in broadsheets. But I found a new resource - Image Comics online.

Truth, Justin and the American Way is about a goofy main character (Justin) who accidentally finds a super suit that makes him super, as Federal agents do every way possible to retrieve it. It's set in the 80s when people grew up watching "years and years of bad TV," said 1/2 creator Aaron Williams in a CBR news interview. The other 1/2 is Scott Kurtz. "We're looking to fix that with Justin. This is everyone's dream show that was never made," Williams said.

I love it mostly for the visuals and the presentation by Italian cartoonist Giuseppe Ferrario who takes on a comic book for the first time. Check out Justin's hairstyle and his fiancée Bailey's facial expressions. Truly, it is like watching TV - in the 80s.

I was born only in the late 80s so and the only TV imagery available in my mind about that time, aside from documentaries on the People Power Revolution, is Saved by the Bell. But I do appreciate the selection in "Justin." How Ferrario chooses every panel to imitate a TV show succeeds in every way. And it's amazing how an Italian brilliantly captures something so American. One heck of a memory he has, considering he bases his art on American TV shows that populated Italian television when he was young.

Grievance on me, 'cause the only part of the series I could read is the preview available online. I don't have a way to look for the rest, especially that Image Comics are not readily available as DC or Marvel or Archie. I guess I just have to guess. #

I have Bublé's concert and Mom liked it. When my friend Lynne and I temporarily assembled a home entertainment system in the center one day, the residents watched it for a get-together. We liked Michael. He's an entertainer. With the antics and surprises and all. Of course his music too. And it doesn't hurt that he's good-looking. He puts jazz back into the mainstream. Call me ignorant but I never knew jazz before him.

I'm sorry but I really think it was a good move Kristine Hermosa rejected him. Imagine! Michael Bublé and Kristine Hermosa. That doesn't sound, uhm, it doesn't sound at all. #

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The haven for film enthusiasts:
Quiapo!

This is one of those times when I'm thankful this is not China and I won't get censored for whatever I say in a quote-unquote personal blog.

So I like bootlegs. I know it wreaks havoc to the film industry which, in an ideal setting, I would most probably support in a legal way. But video rentals and shops are so, so limited! If a film enthusiast would limit him/herself to watching vids within the bounds of legality, s/he won't get too far in this country. Where could we find the beautiful classics and time-tested foreign films but in pirated DVD stalls? Astrovision and Video City won't have them for sure. Man oh man. I never want anyone to be against the law but when it comes to piracy, even the highbrow academe and those who can afford all the DVDs resort to bootlegs. What choice do they have anyway? If they want films - the good ones mostly but even the bad - piracy offers them way cheaper, definitely easier to find, and with the widest variety.

Trace Quentin Tarantino's footsteps - some of which recently landed in the Philippines to receive a lifetime achievement award. We all know he educated himself by watching all kinds of vids as a video shop employee. Now everyone can do that with the bootlegs.

Plus, it's a whole industry out there. Many people rely on their pirated DVD sales for a living. It's illegal, yes, and it's stealing. But hobbies, information and education, as much as possible, should be cheap and available.

I was sitting yesterday in front of my doctor's clinic in Capitol Medical Center. She's a pediatrician though I'm over 18. What the heck? She knows my sickness record too well. Like when I arrived, she asked right away, "How is your allergic rhinitis?" I answered, "Uhh, really, I have that?" I do not even know what the term means, and I'm not even sure if I got it correctly.

So anyway, I was sitting outside the clinic and a young boy with his mother sat on the bench across the corridor. I peered to see the cover of the book he was reading. There's a name tag. His name is Miguel Tan and he studies in Ateneo. Forgive me, but I'm a journalist in training. I'm supposed to find out those things. He was reading Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Such a thick book for a 9 or 10 years old boy to read. If it was a girl, I wouldn't be surprised. I'm not being a sexist but I guess girls in my elementary-high school batch read books as a hobby (aside from feeding on pop culture, of course) while all boys in my batch developed their computer skills or athleticism or artistic talents. Rare does a boy spend lots of time reading nowadays. Not that I take that against them.

I never had a brother, and I always wanted a younger one. I guess I could see a brother in every younger boy I put my attention to, and for a minute that boy reading a timeless classic caught my attention. Jules Verne, eh? How come haven't read any of his books? I thought he's the guy who wrote The Invisible Man and The Time Machine, those two I read, then I remembered it was H.G. Wells who did it. I'm dumb, and I'm already in college.

My only regret is I should have read more books when I was younger. I read more than most people, I guess, but I should have devoured more. Childhood and I spent my time studying Greek mythology that I read an abridged version of The Odyssey in 5th grade. I was also fascinated with animals, plants, Charles Dickens' literature, Edgar Allan Poe shorts, King Arthur tales, Boyzone, Backstreet Boys, Spice Girls, Chyna, Degeneration X. I guess I was pretty well rounded. But I should've read more! As much as I want to read more books now, I barely have time to.

Anyway, I'm reading a rare copy of Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited that I borrowed from Daniw's library. Pray that I would finish it fast! 'Cause I'm such a slow reader, plus I don't have much time.

Finally, an opportunity for a statement: JK Rowling could never replace Charles Dickens for me. Not for me to judge 'cause I haven't read a single Harry Potter book but I have gone through almost all Dickens pieces. But c'mon, do they really mean that? (refer: "Move over, Dickens, JKR wants your seat") It doesn't sound fair.

I think a good Christmas tale should be produced again. The last worthy Christmas flick was The Santa Clause with Tim Allen in 1994. Numerous tales about Christmas have been told, but I'm looking for something different, a film that would show the root and center of Christmas - the Nativity. Last year's The Nativity Story almost hit it, but I want something that would show the continuity of Christianity since the birth of Christ till the present. There is a whole, wide genre of Jesus movies, but not one focusing on the Nativity and modern times' celebration of the season interspersed with one another. 'Cause the thing is, every time Christmas arrives, we tend to forget what's it's all about. Isn't it the celebration of Christianity? To remember the past and look forward to the future and take hold of the present.

And there's this certain book I'd like to see on film - God Has Made a Bethlehem by Enrique Monasterio.

It's August, a month away from the ~ber months, and here we celebrate Christmas not only in the last ~ber month (December), but from September to February. That's one thing I love about this country. Just a few more months and we'll be putting up decors and stuffing stockings once again. Such joy!

If I had money (but even if I don't, I can resort to online shopping) , I think I'd give gifts to the following through CouponChief.com, a one stop coupon deal and discount resource for Web site visitors.
For Mom, some great-looking bed covers and linens courtesy of Linens and Things deals and for Dad a travel tent through Sports Authority generosity that he really, really needs. For Gail who loves reading, maybe another Roald Dahl title and for Kim a design handbook.