Christmas 2005

 

Can hardly wait!

A Date with C.S. Lewis

Funny how pundits once warned parents not to expose their kids to too much "T.V." as a way of preventing the erosion of morality and good reading habits.

If I may stretch it far enough, that covers movies as well. An industry that has been, admittedly, responsible for the erosion of morality in most instances. But reading habits?

Last time I was in a theatre, I saw the trailer for that upcoming fantasy flick Narnia based on the (and I quote) "beloved fantasy novel by C.S.Lewis". Hmm... The footage was exciting enough, definitely a grade A movie, and I found myself wishing it was now showing.

But back to the main thread, that is, movies≠books. Of course, the fact that the trend has been (for the past few scores of months or so) to project black&white text into the big screen proves that while film has made reading a very boring past time, it remains a prevalent past time nevertheless and in some cases, instilled a hunger for written works in both young and old alike.

After seeing the Narnia trailer, I hurriedly turned to my pirated stash of e-books and to my joy and surprise it's actually there, to be particular: C.S.Lewis' The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe.

Wicked! And surprisingly, the work above seems to have been a miniLOTR in itself, part of a collection of books entitled The Chronicles of Narnia (although I have yet to research whether LOTR predated The Chronicles or vice-versa). A word of caution though for fantasy lit enthusiasts, Narnia is more of a children's book than anything, and everyone looking for hidden meanings, conspiracy theories and much heavier stuff are better off snooping someplace else.

In closing, Narnia is a sufficiently imaginative world for most people to get lost in. It may not have the depth and scholastica of J.R.R.Tolkien or say, the humor of J.K.Rowling, but it does satisfy, on a funny, childish way, err, the childish quality of fantasy one does crave for once in a blue moon.

So if I were you, I'd read the book first before having that movie engagement with the author.

A Treatise on why the Figure Four™ beats a PerfectPlex™ anytime

Just capped a six-day stay in Cebu, where I spent the whole week stressed more than a lastiko on a sixth-grader’s fingers.

Touched down on Cebu Sunday morning, then bunked in with my counterpart in Cebu and a colleague from Mindanao. Slept early, the only chance I’d get to, as I soon found out.

Monday. Opening ceremonies for our PSS training program. A total head-drain. Tons of theories and hours of lecture. Team decided to socialize with trainer after class. Probably drank eight bottles of SMBlight. I lost count. Really bad sign.

Tuesday. Started with a very competitive activity. It was UP vs Ateneo, with two TLs on my team. Very typical game, if you watch UAAP. Led most of the match, only to lose the margin in the end game. Score tied at the buzzer. No overtime though. Surprising twist: wager points for a tie-breaker question. Both teams decide to go all-or-nothing. Pressure, pressure! Fortunately, this was a head game, so UP wins. Jesuits yet to show proof they can teach.
Final Score: 32-0. Wooo!!!
Post game: Everybody goes out for isaw and BBQs to celebrate (how fitting). Team ends up over-the-budget, but it’s okay. Team then watched a very entertaining live act until 1am. Too bad their stand-up comedy was in Cebuano. Had to fake laughing too. Only had two SMBice, but bunked down in the wee hours to review for the Finals.

Wednesday. Last day of training. Mastery test at end of day: no theories and very situational. Philippine record for this test was -5, which meant incurring only five mistakes for the entire exam (Segue: the PSS was administered to the whole region, so RP scores are benchmarked versus Singapore and Australia).
Pressure, pressure (Part Two)!! Took the longest time to finish, but disappointingly had two mistakes. Must be a new record, but couldn’t care less. I felt so embarrassed, actually. Everyone thought I could notch it. Oh well…
Post-It. The blue eagle got a perfect score, but everyone knows she cheated.
Post game: Team in a partying mood, and did we par-tei! Free-flowing colt45s and infinite turns at the videoke machine made it a night to remember. Our last party in Cebu for the year. Wooo!!!

The rest of the week was uneventful but just as straining. Boss flew in and congratulated me for getting a high mark. Nothing was mentioned about “The Perfect Score,” and the blue eagle had the grace to keep it to herself. One of the guys noticed my pallor and was concerned about my health (Why, thank you. I’ll be just fine.). Lost a lot of appetite though. Must be those two mistakes. A big chunk also from the late nights and the booze. Anybody got a charger? Hit me.

I think I’ll watch a movie on Sunday. Wonder if Narnia’s on already.

Come to think of it, my feet are pretty itchy too...

Right about the time when I and my friends were all considered literary, the group agreed on a name for the writer’s circle; Buckfutter. It’s supposed to be an obscene reference, but few (not even the girls) saw the linkage. That perhaps all thought the term was novel all too well lead to its wholehearted adoption (by “wholehearted,” I am referring to the complete lack of inflammatory emails regarding this topic). Anyhow, the name stuck and has even outlived the purpose that justified its creation.

Of course, my recollection of history can be fuzzy sometimes, so feel free to correct me. And then I’ll flame you. Hehe.

The stories then were ala-Justice League, sort of, ‘coz everybody were using alter egos on their works. Some were technocratic, while others were sporting mutant superpowers. I preferred wealth over health, and settled on a somebody that is both filthy rich and insanely wily, stopping quite short of naming him Bruce Wayne.

Unlike its role model though, our characters seldom worked together, much less meet at all. For some sort of connectivity however, many attempted cross-overs, but that often resulted in angry, flaming emails over alleged “misuse” of personal property, as members at times take artistic “liberties” during cross-overs. The hoopla over these failed attempts at realizing our common universe would stretch over days as arguments, logic, stupidity and insults (civility being conveniently forgotten after the first few replies) would fly back and forth. Buckfutter becomes polarized, members sidle next to one of two opposing camps, and the bush fire spreads. In the end, everyone is so busy thinking of a nasty rebuttal that no work gets done and our literary universe becomes frozen in time.

I think in the end everything got resolved by all parties (fence sitters included) agreeing that the offending story be stricken officially from the records. It was as though the story never existed, and the events therein pulled out of reality. And it was in this manner that the Olympians of Buckfutter played dice with the universe, with a flourish of the pen and the subtle click of the SEND button.

I’ll share my storylines and some thoughts on my colleagues’ works next post.