Non-Fiction Books
Gentle blog readers... What kind of non-fiction books do you read?

I like reading books on the mind & learning. Of course, I like to pick up intriguing scientific theories, books on writing, art books (usually related to my SF/Fantasy tendencies). I used to buy computer books, but there's so much stuff out on the net these days that I tend to surf for my daily tech fix. I occasionally buy military books; I must admit I don't have the military mindset. History! I like history.

And books on philosophy, though I've really only gone through Ayn Rand's stuff.

And conspiracy-type books. Occult books.
The Death Penalty
There's a billboard along EDSA that questions the logic of executing criminals in order to prove that killing is wrong.

Well, that's not necessarily the reason why these folks are being executed.

The possible justifications that come to mind include:
1) they are a danger to society, and cannot be rehabilitated - closest thing to "self-defense";
2) it is a form of justice - the punishment fits the crime;
3) it is a deterrent - the consequence for a heinous crime.

None of these stem from the "to prove killing is wrong" argument. We know that killing is wrong (in general) though sometimes necessary (IMHO). The billboard argument annoys me because of the gross over-simplification of the arguments both for and against capital punishment.
Check It Out!
GOOGLE PHILIPPINES!
WARREN ELLIS' 'GLOBAL FREQUENCY' GREENLIT BY THE WB
by Jonah Weiland, Executive Producer
Posted: February 3, 2004

Today Warren Ellis confirmed via his Bad Signal Mailing List that a television series based on "Global Frequency" has been greenlit by the WB in the United States. As previously mentioned, the series was optioned in 2003 with a script being worked on by John Rogers. Ellis said of Rogers' work, "There will, of course, be necessary adaptations to the TV medium -- that's just the nature of the beast -- but John is nailing the tone of the series admirably."

The following text came from Variety and was reprinted in Ellis' newsletter.

Over at the WB, greenlit dramas include... Mark Burnett's take on the DC Comics title "Global Frequency"...

...which Burnett will exec produce along with John Rogers ("The Core"), who's writing the pilot (Daily Variety, Oct. 21).

Actioner revolves around a shadowy figure named Miranda Zero, who starts a top-secret worldwide independent defense intelligence organization.

Warren Ellis created the comic book, which comes from the DC Comics imprint Wildstorm. "Global Frequency" reps the first Wildstorm title to be developed into a feature or TV project since DC acquired the company five years ago.


Taken from www.comicbookresources.com.
On Racism and Prejudice
I used to be somewhat active in this area. I was once part of the Multi-Cultural Center of my college and we dealt with issues of racial prejudice... we constantly argued against stereotypes and tried to break many of them by increasing the awareness of the "common folk" on campus.

For the Filipino club, this largely dealt with telling people where the Philippines was, how to spell Philippines and Filipino, explain that we don't live in the jungle ("Most of us don't, really! Not that there's anything wrong with that..."), and serve them food.

Filipinos tend to be an invisible minority in the U.S. How often have I gotten the "what ARE you again?" because after a few years I had a fairly decent American accent and command of slang... and was well-versed on American pop culture? So often that I took it for granted.

To be honest, I never really went too much into the "Pinoy Pride" bit. I was Filipino and... so what? When I grew up here in the Philippines... so was everyone else.

And perhaps that's why I never understood racism. Coming from the Philippines, the skin color thing never made sense because I saw the whole range of pigmentation and it never made that much difference. People could be angels or @$$holes regardless of the skin color.

It's about culture. It's about mores and norms that you value and how they greatly they differ with the guy (or gal) next to you. Are those differences big enough to hate for? To fight for? To kill for?

It's about protectionism. Us against them. They're taking our jobs. They're destroying our way of life. They're evil, and we're good. Inherently good. We deserve this.

Sound familiar? You've heard similar phrases here in the taxi cabs and streets of Metro Manila. Only in the Philippines, it's not really about race... is it? It's a tribal mentality... but tribes are defined by political and financial allegiances, by social classes, by ideology, by survival...
Fantasy Fiction Essay
Now fiction... and in particular fantasy... is used as a grand escape from the world. A way to visit realms of the imagination... blah blah blah.

Now while you COULD make up everything in Fantasy... there are a few things that you'd have to consider to make it plausible. For all you aspiring Fantasy authors (and current ones) I give you the immortal essay on the subject.

On Thud and Blunder by Poul Anderson.

My personal favorite part: If armor is not involved, then ordinarily in fiction, a single blow, thrust, or arrow suffices to drop a man or a horse dead on the spot. Actually, so large an animal is quite hard to kill. The .45 caliber pistol was developed specifically as a man-stopper, and still men hit from one have been known to keep on coming.

Mabuhay ang Pinoy!
Rush Rush Plan Plan
I've finally gotten back into the habit of planning and scheduling everything I do. Including spending and all that goes with it (sorry Vin, I'm delaying some purchases). It's debatable that I'll be able to do everything - but I guess I'm more aware now of just how much can be achieved in a day... so I'm surviving. I hope to clear up my timetable and delegate more soon.

New Virus Strains
"Boss Dave" just told me there are next generation antibiotics that are being prescribed now because a batch of stubborn respiratory diseases that have been going around in recent years have been quite resistant to the old antibiotics. Yes, those stubborn flu attacks that last for weeks up to a month... are a new breed.

Taxi Ride
Taxi driver today was very pro-Lacson. Vehemently against GMA. Very Estrada too, which is odd given the stance of Lacson against Estrada and visa-versa. He believed FPJ should've been Lacson's VP.

GMA Everywhere
T-shirts. Billboards. Sidewalk signs. All thanking her for her work. An article by Alex Magno stating that she's got the right political machinery behind her, and marginalizing Roco...and FPJ. And all these "polls" showing her in the lead.

*Taas kilay* Right...

MAZINGO MAZINGO... MAZINGA Z!
I... have just listened to a CD with 18 tracks... all different versions of the theme song to Mazinger Z. Including a Las Vegas version, a jazzy version, and the piano and trumpet version. Cool, but a bit grating by the last one...