'Hush'

I almost completely stopped collecting comics after I got married; it was a conscious decision, as my budget would not accomodate the 7 or so titles I had previously been collecting. I satisfied myself with continuing on one title, JSA, and that was enough for me.

A huge chunk of my collection is made up of the Batman line of titles. Batman, Detective, Robin, Catwoman, Legends of the Dark Knight, Azrael, Shadow of the Bat, all of them I put to rest.

It was an easy decision. After all, after having gone through a broken back, a new Batman, a Ebola virus, an earthquake, and No Man's Land, what else could writers put Batman through?

Then, Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee came out with Hush, last year. And my fanaticism for the Batman is rekindled.
(Aside: I know, it's a little late to be commenting on this, considering Hush ended almost a year ago. But, since I rely on my brother to buy the tradebooks now that I don't collect anymore, it takes a while for the paperbacks to come out. Hence, I only got to read Hush over the long weekend.)

The Dark Knight Detective has always been my personal favorite in the pantheon of heroes. An extraordinary man, with emphasis on the 'man.' Unlike the other heroes, the Batman has always relied on his brilliant mind and physical prowess to win the day; of course, being fabulously rich was a big help. But it was still the skills and talents he possessed, rather than the wealth, which made him who he is. No wonder Superman, in the first storyline arc of the revitalized JLA, when the Martian Primus was ranting about how Batman was only a man, said, "The most dangerous man in the whole world." (or something like that. I'll probably recheck and edit this entry) No wonder this turned out to be prophetic, as Batman's greatest foe, Ra's al Ghul, used Batman's plans to take down the entire Justice League.

Hush recalls all of Loeb's skill as a writer. Having written The Long Halloween and Dark Victory, one has come to expect the very best from Loeb, and he doesn't disappoint. Hush is every bit as good as the previous books, and tantalizes the reader with who the main mastermind is.

It's also good to see Jim Lee back on a regular basis, if only for 12 issues. It was his art style that was in vogue when I came back to comics in the early 90s, and it's wonderful to see how his art has evolved since then. He's able to capture the grittiness of the Batman, and the wash style he adopted for the flashbacks is amazing.

There are several good passages from Hush, and if you haven't read the series, you can pass this part if you don't want spoilers.

From Volume One:

Batman's musing while he was in Metropolis:

Perry White is too good a reporter not to have uncovered Clark's secret. And yet he acts otherwise...reminding me how good a detective Jim Gordon is back in Gotham City...Maybe...Clark and I both have people in our lives we could trust more than we admit...

While fighting an Ivy-controlled Superman in the sewers of Metropolis:

If Clark wanted to, he could use his superspeed and squish me into the cement. But I know how he thinks. Even more than the Kryptonite, he's got one big weakness.

Deep down, Clark's essentially a good person...

And I'm not.

From Volume Two:

Coming close to killing the Joker:

There is nothing I can do to him that would cause him the agony that he has brought upon others.

But I can come close.

Jim Gordon, stopping the Batman:

"You and I have seen more than our fair share of trgedies and thirsted for revenge. If Batman wanted to be a killer, he could have started long ago. But it's a line. On one side we believe in the law. On the other...

"Sometimes, the law fails us. Maybe that's why I've understood you...allowed you to help protect this city.

"Batman, if you cross that line -- if you kill the Joker tonight -- I will lead the hunt to bring you to justice.

"In the eyes of the law ... in my eyes you'll be no different from him.

Batman: "How many more lives are we going to let him ruin?"

Gordon: "I don't care. I won't let him ruin yours."

'Sideways'

Just came back from Gateway watching 'Sideways.'

It's a poignant, funny film, and I liked it. Paul Giamatti (why didn't he get an Oscar nod?) and Thomas Haden Church (whom G remembers most as Lyle from "George of the Jungle) were spectacular as two best friends, Miles and Jack, who take a road trip to the California wine country a week before Jack's wedding.

What I liked was the utter simplicity of it. I can't explain it, but I liked it.

My good friend, T, commented on it on her blog here. The quote that I liked is also there. Another friend of mine, C has a short review on her blog.

Reflections

As I left my last class for the day, a feeling of elation struck me: only one more teaching day to go! Although I will miss my classes for this school year, I am looking forward to summer vacation; I really need the rest.

At the same time, there was some poignance for the day.

The whole day I was listening to my students' speeches. Some were so-so, a few were good, but one touched me. One of my students asked to deliver his reflection earlier, as he was going to be absent tomorrow to attend his lola's funeral. He incorporated his grief into his reflection, talking about how important it was not to take anyone close to us for granted. He broke down in the middle, and I gave him the time he needed to compose himself. He managed to recover a bit and finish his reflection pretty well, and I was a little teary-eyed myself, having gone through losses in the past. After his speech, I let him go out and rest and let it all out.

After class, he was feeling a little better, and I talked to him about his lola, trying to find out more about his relative. It was good for him to come to terms with the loss, and there's no real easy way to deal with this situation. I felt a little inadequate, feeling I could have done more but didn't.

'Constantine'

My first run-in with John Constantine was during his very first appearance, in the pages of Swamp Thing #37. There, he appeared to a slowly-regenerating Swamp Thing to arouse its curiosity about its origins. He then proceeded to take the Swamp Thing in a journey of horror in the classic "American Gothic" storyline. Since then, John Constantine has taken an active role in the DC Universe, and in the 90s, was given his own title, Hellblazer.

Then came the movie starring Keanu Reeves and Rachel Weisz. At first, I was critical of the choice of Reeves; I mean, John Constantine's British, to begin with. I was hesitant to watch it, as I thought the movie would not respect the comic book roots, the way Catwoman did last year.

H and I watched it yesterday at SM City, and I wish the sound was better, because I'm pretty certain that I missed some key lines.

However, the movie wasn't as bad as I feared. It was actually pretty good.

Spoilers may follow

Random thoughts:

1. Sure, the crossbow/shotgun and the cross-engraved brass knucks were a bit cheesy and out-of-character for John, but the movie succeeded in giving us, the viewers, a relatively clear picture of John Constantine.

2. There were some Matrix moments, but I guess that, with the inclusion of Reeves, what can one expect?

3. I'm glad I didn't follow the Hellblazer series; that way, I don't have any preconceptions about the character, so I can just sit back and enjoy the film. I will try to read some of it now, though, so I can compare the two.

4. Two things which are consistent with the comic book character: one, both smoke like chimneys; two, John's associates have a way of dying on him, often in a nasty way.

5. Rachel Weisz always gives a good performance; I really like this actress.

6. I liked the parallels between Hell and Earth, as shown whenever John or Angela crossed over.

7. I'm not too clear about the Dragon's Breath; what exactly is it?

Whew!

Well, I've finished working on my final long test draft for the year, and all I have to do now is to check the burgeoning pile of paperwork that has obliterated most of my desk. With luck, I'll be able to get rid of everything before exam week, although I'm not setting any strict deadlines for myself. However, I do hope to finish my checking sooner, so that at least I can determine whether any of my students deserve to be exempted from the exams; I'm not keeping my fingers crossed, though.

Another school year is coming to an end, and I'll have completed my 13th tour of duty. It doesn't feel any different from other school years, although I'll admit that this year was a tad stressful. Still, many memories from this year have been stored away for future reference. Maybe I'll share a few of them along the way.

Well, end of interlude.

Back to real life.

"Phantom of the Opera"

One of my co-teachers warned me against watching 'Phantom'; in fact, she said it was her personal crusade to discourage people from watching it (or something like that).

I don't think it was as bad as she put it. However, I am willing to concede that I like the musical enough that I probably ignored whatever weaknesses the film had.

One problem I had, though, was the facial expression of the actress who played Christine. Most of the time, it was utterly blank, with her mouth agape. Nothing wrong with her voice, though.

I think I would have liked to have seen Michael Crawford in the movie, but, since he's in his 60s, I guess it would have been too difficult. But, for me, his voice remains the archetypical Phantom.

What I liked about the movie is that, now, I have some visuals to complement the soundtrack. With my imagination, I can gloss over the film's flaws and see the musical in my mind's eye.

Ma'm LDR

(I know I wanted to sum up the week in one entry, but , since the previous entry took longer than I thought, I think that this deserves a separate entry.)

I was invited today to listen to the valedictory of one of my former professors in UP, Dr. Lina Diaz-De Rivera, affectionately known as LDR. During my Reading Education graduate studies, she and my other teachers in Reading helped make an impact on my own teaching.

LDR's been more than a teacher to me; she's been a friend. During my long stay in Reading Education (read: went past MMR), LDR shared and infected me with her love of books. When she and I had free time, we would talk about books that we enjoyed, and would sometimes exchange books (her Ambeth Ocampo interview of Teodoro Agoncillo is still with me, in fact. Note to self: return book.).

Earlier in the week, I had received an invitation to a book-launching in UP, which was followed by a note from our secretary that my professor, Ma'm LDR, was requesting a return call to her cell phone. Upon calling her, I learned that, after 45 years of teaching, she was retiring from UP service, and that I was one of the few students she had invited. Our conversation clinched it; I had to be there for her valedictory.

While LDR's talk would begin at 10, my class would end at 10:10, and, as soon as my class was over, I hied myself to UP. I made it to UP at about 10:25, and when I got to Benitez Hall, and I was able to catch most of LDR's speech.

The lecture was a personal odyssey, taking us through her many years of teaching, from public schools to Feati to Manila Science and, finally, to UP. Using pebbles as her metaphor (I'm guessing here; I think I came in at the 6th pebble, and I have no idea what her explanation about the pebbles was.), she painted a picture of a person truly immersed in teaching, whose passion has kept her going for 45 years, and whose influence has had a ripple effect, much like dropping a pebble into a pool of water. And the effect of those ripples can be long-lasting, indeed.

I had to go back to the Ateneo for my next class, but I brought with me several of the books LDR and Ma'm Nemah had written, to share with my daughter.

I am glad that I was able to study under LDR, for my experiences with her has made me a better reader, and a better teacher.

Ash Wednesday

Why is it that, even though there was a holiday last Monday, the week still feels a little long?

Not that it was a totally bad week. Some memorable events occurred, some good, some bad.

Last Wednesday was Ash Wednesday, and there was a school-wide mass in the High School. Being one of the communion ministers, I, along with my fellow ministers, was tasked with applying the ashes to the congregation. And Fr. RB was right; he had said that applying the ashes was a spiritual experience. As I made the sign of the cross on each forehead, I felt truly a part of the Mass.

However, during the Mass, I got into a bit of an altercation with one of my co-teachers. When I got back to my class, I saw that the some of the students in the class beside my homeroom class were reading the magazines that they had brought to use as fans. I immediately went and confiscated the magazines. The moderator of the class quickly approached me and told me that he had allowed his students to do what they were doing (to read? no, to use the magazines as fans), to which I responded that they were reading the magazines. The teacher, who was apparently having a bad day, told me, in front of the students to mind my own class, because they were noisy.

I felt a little bad about the incident, considering that I got dressed down by a colleague in front of the students. How embarassing!

I was able to talk to the teacher the next day, and apparently, he had realized that, while he had a point in telling me to mind my class, he shouldn't have done it in front of the students. He was profuse in his apologies, and I promised to simply inform him about his students' misbehavior next time, instead of simply wading in and calling the students' attention.

A little misunderstanding, and fortunately, it didn't get out of control.

Busy Week

I know it's been a while since my last post (the UAAP results notwithstanding), but it was a busy week last week. School work, choir practices, household chores, all piled up to combine and make things hectic.

Some of the memories from last week:

- H wanted to treat me out to Brothers' Burgers in the ABS-CBN area last Wednesday, but since we couldn't find any parking, we wound up at A Venetto's at the Tomas Morato circle instead.

- Our choir presentation at the University Service Awards last Thursday was a success, and it looks like we'll be singing again in the near future.

- Friday was a sea of meetings, one after the other.

- Saturday morning I drove H to Seedling Bank to discover that there was a big sale, so parking was a little difficult. By then, I was feeling worn down, so when we got home, I promptly fell asleep. When I woke up, it was rather dark, and since H's sister was arriving, we decided to forego cooking, and simply ordered Yellow Cab's Four Season pizza, and discovered that 10" was not enough.

- Sunday was the tournament I described in the previous post.

- Today, like T in her blog, I have no idea what I'll be doing today. There's a meeting which I'm not sure of, as I haven't gotten any confirmation about it. I might go to Greenhills and check out Nova Fontana to see if they've finally placed the old RPG stuff they have on sale. Hmmm...or I could (ugh) check papers and get rid of my backlog. Decisions, decisions.

UAAP Judo Tournament

It all came down to the last minute of the last match.

Yesterday, at the UP CHK Gym, the Ateneo men's team and the UP women's team wrested their respective titles from reigning champion UST.

It began with a bang, when the UP men's team stunned UST, beating them, 3-2 (with two tied matches); the women's team followed suit. After that, it was anybody's game, as Ateneo and La Salle were also considered favorites to end UST's 6-year dominance of the men's division; UP would go on to sweep the women's division, gaining back the crown they lost to UST the year before.

Then, Ateneo beat UE, La Salle and UP in succession, UP beat UE and La Salle, and UST, recovering from the UP shocker, beat La Salle and UE. By the time, Ateneo faced UST, the last team match of the day, the records were: Ateneo 3-0, UP 3-1, UST 2-1, La Salle 2-2, and UE 0-4. If Ateneo beat UST, it would sweep and clinch the title; if UST won, there would be a three-way logjam, which would have to be broken by comparing the wins and points gained by each team.

At first, it seemed that UST would manage to tie Ateneo and UP, winning the first two matches of the best-of-seven rather handily. Then, Ateneo won the next two matches, tying the score. UST won the fifth match, needing only one win to make their dominance of the team competition complete; this year was the last year there would be a team competition.

Then, Raffy Garcia, a rookie and a former student of mine, though he was not a club member in high school, used his jiujitsu skills to soundly defeat his opponent. 3-3.

The seventh and deciding match I was not able to see, because I was busy refereeing the individual match on the adjoining playing area. I could only base it on the cheering results of previous matches: if the crowd started shouting, "UST! UST!" then UST won. If general screaming broke out, then Ateneo won.

I was able to glance at the scoreboard during a lull on my side, and I saw that less than a minute remained, with no score for either side. I turned back to the match I was officiating.

Then screaming broke out, and I could see through the corner of my eye that the Ateneo fans were ecstatic. I learned later that the Ateneo player managed to pin his opponent at the last second.

I'm happy for the Ateneo players, considering that this would be the last time that there would be team competition in the UAAP. After this season, the judo competition will revert to individual competition, perhaps to allow more players to participate.

But, people will probably remember the winners of the last team competition, and that it was a "Katipunan connection." Ateneo (men) and UP (women).

Vignettes:

- During one match, a cellphone slid across the mat. It turned out that one player had apparently forgotten to take it out of the folds of her uniform, and she attempted to get rid of it, to no avail. As per the rules, which disallow any foreign hard object found on the player during competition, the hapless player was disqualified.

- During the lunch break, I was mobbed by a group of girls. It turned out that they were UP Judo Club applicants, and were looking for me to sign their applicants' sign-up sheets.

'Elektra'

The movie, to say the least, was a lot better than 'Daredevil.'

Which, my brother says, isn't saying much.

However, except for a few plot holes here and there, the movie was okay. Jennifer Garner is superb as the ninja assassin Elektra, rounding out the character a littler more from the previous stint.

The effects were also better, and well planned out. I wish more attention was given to Kirigi's set of thugs, but they wound up like Darth Maul: intimidating, without much substance.

What I liked was the slew of trailers that were shown before the movie, and it looks like H and I will be busy in the next few months. 'Constantine' (I know, I know, it should be a Brit playing John, but I'm intrigued), 'Robots,' 'Batman Begins' (drool), and 'Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.' Oh joy, oh joy.