If you really want to help...

Do it with no conditions. Because Earth needs an immediate and direct solution now. No need for commercial gimmickry.

Catching a Good Fish

Searching the sea of used books and magazines, this May 2011 issue of Rolling Stone Magazine celebrating Bob Dylan's 70th birthday is a recent good catch. It's an insightful issue as we see music and history experts (and even the rock and film icons themselves) sharing their views on Bob Dylan's best 70 songs and what made "Like A Rolling Stone" a timeless freedom-loving anti-bourgeois anthem that became the best rock 'n roll song of all time.

The New York Times' chief pop music critic Jon Pareles describes well the songwriting and the impact in general: "The most powerful mystery of Dylan's songs is the way that, decade after decade, they shift with each new context. Every Dylan listener has had the illuminating, unsettling sensation of hearing a familiar song suddenly wrap itself around a new situation, with a well-known line suddenly revealing a whole new meaning."

How does it feel

To be on your own

With no direction home

Like a complete unknown

Like a rolling stone

Looking Forward to 2012

It's been a kick ass year of quality reading (as opposed to quantity reading) and what's also memorable and noteworthy with 2011 is the overall progression of my professional, social, and personal status. Nothing's left out and no commitment being sacrificed in the corner by reading books. I shall never forget real places like Bohol, Tagum City, and Davao City. It's still hard to believe that I finally quit smoking this year. Next year, it's going to be a tough year with all the games to be released, movies to watch, places to visit, friends and family to personally connect with (as opposed to this shitty online/virtual networking), the 2012 end of the world prognosis/delusion, Pacquiao-Mayweather rubbermatch, and more books to read. Most of the time I will stick with my preferred reading category next year, the genre where I belong---the Adult Genre.

They say that the World will end in 2012 based on a belief by the Mayan Civilization. Well, nobody in this planet gets out alive and all I can say is bring it on, Apocalypse!
 

Treat Yourself This Xmas for 1000+ TNL Points

FOR MATURE READING ONLY

Revisiting Reboot

Four to five years ago, we saw the birth of this trend in commercial film making (i.e. Hollywood) and now we can feel the effects in the world of literature. This can't be prevented, given that a lot of films base their stories from books and comics, and vice versa. Insiders would say it was justified given the success of reboot works like Nolan's Batman Trilogy (I already expect the upcoming Dark Knight Rises a success) and Rob Zombie's Halloween, while others remain skeptic after failed attempts of Superman Returns and Dukes of Hazard.

Those who fell in love with the original and classic works say there's no need for reinvention, we just need to create something new. But the problem with this is writers are running out of original idea these days. It's all becoming common, and it's all been done before. JK Rowling's Harry Potter is similar to Neil Gaiman's Tim Hunter, Suzanne Collin's Hunger Games is directly comparable to Koushun Takami's Battle Royale. Even in the narrative and the character structure, Joseph Campbell's "Monomyth" hypothesis or commonly known as The Hero's Journey/Cycle has been used and re-used (coincidentally or not) over and over again by writers of fiction. It can be seen in Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Neverwhere, American Gods, Stardust, The Earthsea Cycle, Enders Game, and other successful mythologies for both the young and old.

Others would just see "reboot" as primarily a financial move for producers and publishers due to global recession, while for authors it's just an experimental attempt, a tinkering of past creativity like a circus move, tiptoeing on a very sharp edge of a sword. But the people's verdict is still, out there. Producers must never count the consumers out since people are becoming smarter. We just have to wait if this trend will turn out good or until reaching a saturation period (3-5 years from now) when the need for a new trend is imminent. Waiting for a resolution, perhaps?

choose your own definition

Rock' n' Roll Pros Mind "Nevermind"

 

Finally, I got this special issue of SPIN Magazine (August 2011) commemorating the 20th anniversary of Nevermind---the album that "changed everything."

Rockers who know the band talk on their personal experiences at the moment this album hit the airwaves in September 1991 and how the album influenced the mainstream music in general for the coming years. Greg Gillis talked about how Nevermind was the "pivotal album" in his life and Ray Davies thought "it was the most significant American rock' n' roll  album since the Doors...twenty years on and it is still fresh." Henry Rollins saw Nevermind "that music sticks for a reason, it wasn't bullshit," while Edddie Vedder revealed how he listened to Nevermind album in walkman and watching a Nirvana gig, "seeing one of the first shows they played for the record."

All premium stuff in one issue. Only if you love Rock n Roll and know your music well.

"Just hearing that tape with the white label, it had an impact. It felt like a change." Eddie Vedder

Avengers OST

After viewing the official trailer of The Avengers I'm sure you want to hear again that soundtrack by Nine Inch Nails. The smell of the '90s air is in my head again...

Guess Who's Back on MTV?

MTV just realize that their current shows suck, so they are launching the new season this October 27.  This book-blog owed a lot to the "duo" and of course, to the creator Mike Judge. This generation of JUSTIN, EMO, and GAGA probably needed more endorsers or maybe critics from a realist point of view like that brave honest boy in the story of Emperor's New Clothes but what can I say, good luck to y'all.

Still, nothing beats the Grunge Generation of the 90's man! 

JUST SCREW IT, BUTT-HEAD!!!

all images ©MTV and Mike Judge.

Nevermind, 20 Years

For Kurt, Krist, and Dave, thank you for the kind of music you invented and harnessed that spawned a counterculture and an angry generation beyond Madonna and Michael Jackson's wildest dreams (and worst nightmares).

Pol Medina Jr and Politics

So far, PMJR is one of the well-known political jokers and satirists of the modern Pinoy era (the name Jess Abrera pops in my mind second). Pol was just unlucky to be too personal in his political cartoons as I remember one of my roommate in college days pointing to PMJR as a heretic and sacrilegious cartoonist in portraying the late Cardinal Sin in disdain, holding the Holy Cross with less enthusiasm in one of his editorial cartoons.  

But this one I think is not heretic (for a non-Villar supporter) and is surely unforgettable during the 2010 Presidential Elections.

Image ©Pol Medina JR. I got this strip here.

Unplug the Signal Now

Because the Truth will not be televised.

My friend, you must dig deeper or read a book instead.

LYCANTHROPY

Vampire stories are overrated and overused these days.
But looking at history, there are only 5 exceptions. Richard Matheson's I Am Legend, Anne Rice's Interview With the Vampire, Bram Stoker's Dracula, the classic film NOSFERATU, and the UNDERWORLD series (with ultra-hot Kate Beckinsale as the lead chick). That classic Vampire vs Werewolf Saga is better than this over hyped series by She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named-But-I-Still-Dare-To-Name-Her Stephenie Meyer.

Sorry folks, but that's how a Lycan see it. Because Wolves do not swim with the current. =P

see the whole picture