I freakin' Prydain rule.

Of all the wonders of staying in the US, finding and ordering "rare books" on Amazon and eBay are definitely one of the best of them. Of course, for me, "rare books" are not first editions of Steinbeck or summat like that... "Rare books" are childhood books that have been lost or destroyed, or sequels to books I never read because I never found them on the shelves of National Bookstore. (Ah, how simple our lives were back then! Books were either stocked in the bookstore or not. End of story.)

A shining example of a "rare book" I've bought is a copy of Wrong Way Romance, arguably the best Sweet Dreams novel of all time. My sister used to own this book but she lent it out and it never got returned. Of course, we had our ways and she had a friend's copy photocopied and bound (in Ateneo's library of all places), and even had it inscribed with my name. But nothing beats the real thing, so I snapped up a used copy when I saw it being sold on Amazon for a reasonable price.

However, the crowning achievement out of all my collection is probably the omnibus edition of The Prydain Chronicles that I received this week. Published in the '70s and out-of-print, it has all five Prydain novels in one hardcover volume. It also includes The Foundling, a collection of short stories about Prydain.

Add to this The Prydain Companion, a reference guide that I purchased last year, and I believe I have a Prydain collection to rival anyone. :D


I know I've raved about this series before, but The Prydain Chronicles is probably my favorite childhood series of all time. Heck, they were one of the first few books I ever read. For me, The Prydain Chronicles has more action than Tolkien; and it has profound moral lessons while not bashing you over the head with religion like Narnia. In hindsight, I really think The Prydain Chronicles greatly influenced my life in terms of the principles I believe in and the values I stand by.

The Prydain Chronicles can be the I Ching of life if you let it. Take a look at some the pearls of wisdom from its pages (and these books are meant to be read by children!):

• There are times when the seeking counts more than the finding.
  
• It is not the trappings that make the prince, nor, indeed, the sword that makes the warrior.
  
• The destinies of men are woven one with the other, and you cannot turn aside from them no more than you can turn aside from your own.
  
• For each of us comes a time when we must be more than what we are.

(NOTE: I ended up lifting these from my previous entry. I was going to go search for new ones, pero tinamad ako bigla, hehe.)

Apparently this was written in New York Magazine in 2007 upon Lloyd Alexander's death:

The High King is everything we desperately hope Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will be: a sweeping epic, an emotional finale, a series-ender that carefully lets each and every character fulfill his destiny. Beloved characters die; flawed enemies are redeemed; and good triumphs over evil.

Reading this, it does make me realize that The Prydain Chronicles probably has more in common with the spirit of Harry Potter and Percy Jackson than Middle-Earth or Narnia. (Sorry if I'm being so hard on those two series!) It has the humor, the symmetry of plot, the fearlessness of having both good and bad characters die in a series aimed at children. This makes me want to ask J.K. Rowling and Rick Riordan if they ever read this series.

Whatever... Long live Lloyd Alexander, one of the most underrated authors of all time (in my humble opinion). He is sorely missed. (And with that thought, hmmm, I wonder how much an autographed copy of his books goes for nowadays...)

P.S. Oh, screw it. Just bought a signed bookplate from eBay. It's self-adhesive and I can attach it to the inside cover of the omnibus edition. Well, well... When I go all out, I go all out. :D

This song always makes me wistful for simpler times with friends. Or makes me wish we could have simpler times.


Swing Life Away
By Rise Against

Am I loud and clear or am I breaking up?
Am I still your charm or am I just bad luck?
Are we getting closer or are we just getting more lost?

I'll show you mine if you show me yours first
Let's compare scars I'll tell you whose is worse
Let's unwrite these pages and replace them with our own words

We live on front porches and swing life away
We get by just fine here on minimum wage
If love is a labor, I'll slave 'til the end
I won't cross these streets until you hold my hand

I've been here so long; think that it's time to move
The winter's so cold, summer's over too soon
So let's pack our bags and settle down where palm trees grow

I've got some friends some that I hardly know
We've had some times I wouldn't trade for the world
We chase these days down with talks of places that we will go

We live on front porches and swing life away
We get by just fine here on minimum wage
If love is a labor, I'll slave 'til the end
I won't cross these streets until you hold my hand

Swing life away
Swing life away
Swing life away
Swing life away

"Don't ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody." - The Catcher in the Rye

HE'S BACK! AND HE'S BACK WITH A VENGEANCE!!!


The "he" is, of course, Percy Jackson, who finally makes his reappearance in The Son of Neptune, the second book in Rick Riordan's sequel series Heroes of Olympus. But it could also refer to Rick Riordan himself, who I believe has been turning in at least slightly subpar books since The Last Olympian, the last book in the original Percy Jackson series. But with Percy back in this book, he seems to have rediscovered the fun and heart from the original series. The more cynical part of me does note how Riordan now seems to be have this formula of problem, deadline, cross-country quest, resolution-in-the-nick-of-time kind of thing, so that I think Heroes of Olympus will never feel as fresh as the original series. Still, this is good stuff. And I am counting down the days till the next book. (And I'll even pay for extra shipping to receive the book on the same day it's released! With this book, I waited the standard 3-5 business days, and I was gnashing my teeth by the end.)

( SPOILERS if you haven't read the book )

So, in short, I could just recap this book with two (three?) words: PERCY!!! BAD-ASS!!!

One thing that makes this book kind of special is that most of it is set in the Bay Area. I live near Berkeley and the Oakland Hills, where Camp Jupiter is supposed to be located. I even know of one inaccuracy: BART's transfer station is at 19th Street Oakland and not on 12th Street as Riordan noted. :P As a Filipino, it's the first time for me to actually be familiar with the setting of a novel, and it tickles me to no end. I also loved that tongue-in-cheek thing with the Amazons being based in Seattle and having Amazon.com as their front. LOLLLLLLL, I love Amazon! I'm a loyal customer! (Case in point: I ordered The Son of Neptune from there!) So I got all the in-jokes. Niiiiiiice.

I watch a lot of TV.

This comes as no surprise to people who know me, but living in the US and owning my own DVR have only exacerbated this sickness. Now it's fall TV season once again and I have committed to this schedule:

( Let's hope both me and my DVR can cope. *gulp* )

But the topic I really wanted to discuss is my new favorite show, Revenge. The show is only three episodes in and I'm a little trepidatious about raving about it too highly since I could end up with some lovely egg on my face. Still, the signs so far are really trending toward this being a great show.


When I was first mapping out my fall TV schedule (yes, I actually got out a MARKER and encircled shows on my EW issue), I really didn't foresee Revenge as being one of them since I really hated Emily Van Camp with a passion when she was on Everwood and Brothers & Sisters. And I didn't even watch those shows! I just saw her smug face on those shows for snippets at a time and she already irked me. Contrast this to today and I can't wait to watch Revenge every Wednesday night, and I believe she was perfectly cast.

What made the difference, you might ask? Again, I never really watched her previous shows so I might have it all wrong, but I believe she used to play these good-girl-but-snarky types (a la Joey from Dawson's Creek) that guys found oh-so-irresistable. On Revenge, she plays a cruel, manipulative girl who pretends to be a sweetheart in order to exact her dish-best-served-cold. For some reason, I find the latter role more believable for her...and a lot more intriguing.

If I had to describe Revenge in one word, I would say "delicious." It's that guilty pleasure kind of show, but then again that might not be fair as I think it's smart, too. It feels very literary and traditional (i.e. in the whole dramatic arc; exposition, climax, dénouement kind of way), and that should be no surprise since it's actually based on Alexandre Dumas's The Count of Monte Cristo. Delicious, I tell you!

And I kinda like how "traditional" it feels, like it's in the vein of Dynasty and Dallas but less campy and more intelligent than those shows. I think the plots of TV dramas were starting to get a little too complex because they wanted to be the new Lost, but Lost was kind of the exception to the rule and not the rule. Besides Lost might have a convoluted storyline but it was rooted in its characters (who had a flashback in each episode). Revenge feels like it's a great character drama, too.

And of course, there's the allure of the classic love triangle... What with Emily Thorn (protagonist) torn between Daniel, the son of her arch-enemy, and Jack, her childhood sweetheart who does not know who she really is. Plus, I love the character of eccentric genius Nolan. I'll have him if Emily won't! :D Plus, there is a yellow lab in the series who will break your heart. Hachiko has nothing on this guy. ;)

The only weak link for me is the "teenage" plotline headed by Connor Paolo of Gossip Girl fame. It's just eyeroll-worthy and vomit-inducing at this point. Still, Revenge is the show for me this fall (so far!), and I eagerly await the fifth episode which Emily Van Camp said in an interview was going to be "insane." WOOOT.

My other new show recommendations:
- 2 Broke Girls - 'Nuff said. Just watch!
- Ringer - Evil twin primetime soap opera. Lost a little steam in the latest episode (fourth), but I'm still watching it.

I'm also watching Person of Interest but I'm not 100% sold on the series yet. It still feels kind of cold and impersonal to me (although there's no denying that both Jim Caviezel and the guy who will always be Benjamin Linus are bad-ass). I catch X-Factor here and there, but it's ho-hum. I watch it if I'm free, but I don't waste any DVR space on it.

Last weekend, I read Entertainment Weekly's cover story on The Avengers...



I admit... I may not be the most knowledgeable comic books nerd out there, but I'm really intrigued and curious over how well The Avengers is going to do next summer. So many stars and so many millions sunk in just setting up the basic premise of the story... It has the potential to either be the biggest movie of all time...or the biggest flop.

Time to place your bets. :D

But first, let's have a poll. (Yes, an excuse to use this LJ feature!)

Poll #1785230 The Avengers
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 1

Which superhero are you most looking forward to see back on the big screen?

( My answer behind the cut )

Before this summer, I'd probably have rolled my eyes and bet on The Avengers being a glossy but ultimately disappointing production, simply because no movie could possibly live up to the kind of hype that's being built around it. However, Marvel's success this summer is making me think again...and hope against hope. (They are really kicking DC's ass! Admittedly, DC still has Batman going for them, but that's all. And the idea that the market is already superhero-saturated is a whole other kettle of fish.)

What do you think? Will they or won't they? (Fail, I mean.) Summer 2012 is going be to very, very interesting. *rubs hands in anticipation*

This has occurred to me in the past, but today I'm just kinda bored and amused enough to write a full entry about this. Hear me out!

In a marriage of two of my favorite fandoms (tennis and Ranma 1/2), I propose that Roger Federer is like Ranma Saotome, and that Rafael Nadal is like Ryoga Hibiki. LOLOLOLOLOL. (Until I started typing this out, I didn't even realize that they all have "R" in their first names! It's destiny!)

Just to recap: Ranma and Ryoga are the main rivals in Ranma 1/2, while Roger and Rafa have been the main rivals in the ATP for the past decade.

Ranma Saotome is a happy-go-lucky kind of guy, but tends toward arrogance. In the "From the Depth of Despair" episodes, where Ryoga has a technique that is fuelled by depression (e.g. whoever is most depressed can produce the most powerful energy blast), he couldn't out-depress Ryoga. He could only counter the technique with feelings of self-confidence, which is his natural disposition. (When talking to a group of business people, Roger said he works on his strengths instead of his weaknesses.) He's stubborn and persistent. He wins against Ryoga due to speed and technique. He's a natural in the martial arts, and commonly regarded as the best in his community. He doesn't accept defeat gracefully, and will try again and again until redemption is his.

Ryoga Hibiki is a humble but angsty guy. He's genuinely nice and sincere (kind of clueless about girls), but tends to focus on "woe is me" and "where in the world am I now???" kind of thoughts. He channels his misery and depression (literally in the "From the Depth of Despair" episodes) to focus his talents and beat his opponents. He wins against Ranma due to greater physical strength and stamina. Although he's not the natural talent Ranma is, he makes up for it with discipline and training. He never gives up and grits things out. He has amazing tolerance to physical pain, but is fragile emotionally.

Ranma wins due to offense, Ryoga wins due to defense. Ranma is a genius, while Ryoga is a beast. Says Stephen Tignor of their tennis player counterparts, "Federer wants to win because he thinks he should. Nadal wants to win because he suffers with every defeat."

Seriously, can my analogy be any more perfect??? Well, OK, so it isn't perfect. Yes, Rafa beats Roger more than the other way around, which is not the case between Ryoga and Ranma. In the manga and anime series, Ranma is not above using sneaky tricks against Ryoga, when sometimes Federer is too stubborn to use simple gamesmanship tactics or call others on it. (I don't think that they're necessarily malicious, but I think Rafa's game-delaying tactics fall into this category.) This is admirable and I love him for it, but seriously...HOW'S THAT WORKING FOR YOU, ROGER???

I don't know how to fit Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray (the rest of the tennis big four) into this analogy. Is Djokovic supposed to be Kuno and Murray, Mousse??? Hahahahahaha. Basta I love this analogy. I'm now going to imagine Roger busting out a "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire" technique or "Moko Takabisha" during a tennis match. Wahahahahahaha.

P.S. This is just a light, little post amidst serious angst over the latest Federer loss. I will post more about tennis (and why I like writing about it) later.

My eldest sister says this book is a "beach read," but I think it's harder to categorize than that. Sure, it's got romance, is aimed at chicks, and is set in an exotic location (what she claims to be the requirements for such a book), but it's also got history, mystery, suspense, and an intricate plot going for it a la The Da Vinci Code.

I claimed to read this book in 2010 (it's on my list of 50 books read that year), but in reality I only properly finished it this week. For those unfamiliar with my reading style, I usually read books twice - once to quickly skim through good parts when I'm impatient to find out how things turn out, and the second time to read it properly, savoring the language and details. (I think I read somewhere that a famous author or book expert agreed with me. He said you should find out the plot of a book right away to remove it from the equation; that way you can focus on the actual writing.)

I loved the book when I first read it, and considered it my favorite book of 2010. Reading it now for a second time does make me realize that some of the twists and turns are hard to believe, even with the latitude of fiction, but what the hey... I've always enjoyed beach reads, and this one is better written, smarter, and more charming than the rest, with likeable, sexy characters. It's got the epic romance (Romeo and Juliet, anyone?) but with enough action that you can already imagine the chase scenes on the big screen, led by a hot, Italian actor of your choice. Someone like this:



Overanalyzing this book might take away from my enjoyment of it, so all I will say is this: Five stars. Two thumbs up. A must-read. You won't regret it.

I missed posting my annual Christmas entry, but the sentiment is still the same.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone!

May 2011 bring us all good luck, good wealth, and good health. :)



( From my barkada to yours )

Form is temporary, class is permanent.

I think I'll take it as my personal motto. (I hope it means what I think it does.)