skinnyblogcladdink

it’s been a hectic but fun week.

quick recap:

saturday night, Elmer, my friend from Fu magazine who i may be getting into trouble for posting this entry,  got us into a wine-tasting thing, where we got to sample all sorts of wine i really could not tell apart except for separating the white from the red and for one particular wine, i think it was sauvignon, or was it cabernet? that smelt strangely beany, for free.

me and my friend Eman went on the pretense that we were part of the staff of Fu magazine, and one of the waiters seemed to enjoy pushing those little bitty food thingies i can’t spell, which were really quite good (yes, hors d’oeuvre, which is one of the few words i truly dislike).

Elmer also invited me to a karting gig their magazine covered earlier the same day, though it was too far off from the wine tasting venue for me to go to both, so i had to make a choice. i’d been writing at my favorite coffeeshop spot when i received the invite. Elmer, on the other hand, had come from a car show before proceeding to knock back some of that great vin.

i may lose my job for saying something like this, but i’m in the wrong magazine. Elmer and the rest of the Fu staff seem to have all the fun. oh well, have to start somewhere.

last night, sunday, me and a few friends from my old job went to see Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah. i keep meaning to read the comic, but haven’t gotten around to it. while the musical is delightfully unapologetic, mixing sentimentality with a humor that tries very hard to be unsentimental and yet manages to be warmer and more sincere than it ought to be, i’m uncertain about how well it translated the comic material. it felt very commercial to me when i’d expected it to be edgier. typically pinoy in its self-reference, with that post-modern slant which itself has become typical of modern pinoy art, filled with inside jokes from pinoy pop culture. none of this was as annoying as it could have been, or may well ought to have been. i absolutely loved the way they worked around stage limitations to portray the material in the book (i particularly enjoyed the ingenuity of the giant frog scene), and the music and lyrics were brilliant, with what sounded like an homage to Danny Elfman, i found, particularly delightful.

i should’ve asked Carlo Vergara about the adaptation when i got his autograph for Mabel’s collection, but my natural introversion got the better of me, and i collected his and Eula Valdez’s autographs with barely a word save the shyest of thanks, and slipped away as quietly and as unnoticeably as possible.

and, anyway, it would have been embarrassing to tell him i’d not read his comic book yet.

this morning, i opened my e-mail to find one from a close friend i’d not seen in a long time.

there are few things as annoying as finding messages cluttering up your e-mail with chain-letter crap. particularly when it’s easy enough to verify you data.

on this particular hoax, check-out http://www.breakthechain.org/exclusives/lifevirus.html:

SAMPLE CHAIN LETTER TEXT

plz send it to all friend…….

This information arrived this morning, from Microsoft and Norton.

Please send it to everybody you know who accesses the Internet. You may receive an apparently harmless email with a PowerPoint presentation called "Life is beautiful.pps" ("lifeisbeautiful.pps").If you receive it DO NOT OPEN THE FILE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, and delete it immediately. If you open this file, a message will appear on your screen saying: "It is too late now, your life is no longer beautiful", subsequently you will LOSE EVERYTHING IN YOUR PC and the person who sent it to you will gain access to your name, email and password.

This is a new virus which started to circulate on Saturday afternoon. WE NEED TO DO EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO STOP THIS VIRUS. UOL has already confirmed its dangerousness, and the antivirus Softs are not capable of destroying it. The virus has been created by a hacker who calls himself "life owner", and who aims to destroying domestic PCs and who also fights Microsoft in court! That’s why it comes disguised with extension pps. He fights in court for the Windows-XP patent. MAKE A COPY OF THIS EMAIL TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS.

END CHAIN LETTER TEXT

And here’s what breakthechain.org has to say:

First, the official denial from Symantec, makers of Norton Antivirus: "Symantec Security Response encourages you to ignore any messages regarding this hoax. It is harmless and is intended only to cause unwarranted concern."

Now, let’s look at the red flags that it’s a hoax:

This information arrived this morning, from Microsoft and Norton.
Arrived where? When was this morning? Microsoft is not in the anti-virus business and does not issue virus alerts. Norton is the brand name of an antivirus program by Symantec Corporation.

Please send it to everybody you know who accesses the Internet.
No antivirus company distributes information in this fashion.

You may receive an apparently harmless email with a PowerPoint presentation called "Life is beautiful.pps."
It is possible for a PowerPoint file to be infected with some types of viruses, but this vulnerability is easily patched with updates from Microsoft. Besides, what’s keeping someone along the line from changing the file name and sending it to you?

If you receive it DO NOT OPEN THE FILE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, and delete it immediately.
Real virus warnings tell you about patches and software updates that would provide real protection. They might also include instruction for cleaning the infection and steps to take to report the virus to the authorities. Deleting an infected attachment doesn’t protect you from future infections, nor would it remove any existing infections.

This is a new virus which started to circulate on Saturday afternoon.
When was Saturday? Virtually every virus warning hoax is about a "new" virus, even though some of them have been circulating for years. This lends credence to the following mistaken assertion that the antivirus wouldn’t yet be on top of it.

UOL has already confirmed its dangerousness, and the antivirus Softs are not capable of destroying it.
UOL is a Latin American e-mail provider and, as such, would be just as unlikely an expert source on this as Microsoft. But, if so much is known about this virus, why can’t the antivirus programs detect it and protect against it? In reality, most antivirus companies issue updates within hours of a new virus being detected.

The warning concludes with a description of the hacker’s motives in this attack, making it seem like you could be an innocent victim in the war between big business and the little hacker - a common theme in e-mail hoaxes.

Relying on anonymously authored and randomly forwarded e-mail warnings to protect you and your PC from virus infection is akin to hanging out in a hospital to protect yourself from the flu. It doesn’t provide any safeguards and, in fact, places you at increased risk. There is no substitute for antivirus software. It’s inexpensive and readily available (check our links for some of the more popular applications). Install it, keep it updated, and never forward another virus warning. Break this Chain.

i’d meant to link to Scott McCloud’s website a couple days ago but for some reason just hadn’t gotten around to it.

i remember first hearing of Scott McCloud a few years ago not long from when Neil first started his online journal while writing American Gods. at the time, i remember Mr Gaiman talking about his 24 hour comic. i’ll have to google that off his site sometime. i can’t remember if he successfully completed it or not.

the rules for the 24 hour comic, invented by Mr McCloud, can be found here.

but the main reason i wanted to put-up a link to his site are because of his webcomics.

like a lot of his readers, i particularly like this one, which, while not being as flashy as webcomics promise to be capable of being, makes perfect use of the loopiness available to the webcomic artist/writer.

it’s also wonderfully dark in a brilliantly subtle way.

check all the others out as well. they’re all pretty cool.

*

today, as my blood sugar started to drop having not yet had dinner, i found myself wandering around the mall. as a creature of habit, i went through all the bookstores, a couple record bars, ending with booksale, which, given time and patience, is a lovely place to find odd (and old) books. (the website fails to do the real thing justice as not all the books are listed on-line. and going on-line, you miss out on the fun of real-life bookhunting.)

being in that dull mood that often creeps over me during my Lone Walking Tours of Wherever,  i decided to forgo actual bookhunting and allow serendipity to guide my hand.

sure enough, within a couple minutes of entering the shop, she guided me right to the Eighth Book of Amber. it was Roger Zelazny’s name that first drew my attention to it. to be honest, i wasn’t really all that interested in getting a copy of an Amber book. i’ve had the collected edition of all ten Amber books for sometime now, but it has lingered somewhere around the lower half of my Must Be Read Eventually pile.

nonetheless, i acknowledge Mr. Zelazny as one of the masters of the field, so i picked it up. i flipped the book open and came immediately upon the title page.

written in ballpoint ink, in a loopy hand, was Mr. Zelazny’s name

i have no idea if this is really Mr. Zelazny’s signature, or if it’s someone else’s, someone who just so happens to have a similar name (it looks to me suspiciously like Boyer Zelazny), or perhaps a forgery by someone wishing to up the value of his library, or just someone wishing to see Mr. Zelazny’s name in his or her own handwriting.

whatever the case, and whoever’s signature it may be, i can now say i was fortunate enough to find a signed copy of a first paperback print of one of Mr. Zelazny’s books.

in the store, a rather largish woman was reading The Cat in the Hat out loud to herself, doing it rather well, with all the right inflections, even though she didn’t do the voices. she was standing with her back to one of the paperback book shelves, so i quietly "browsed" behind her, listening to her read for a bit. it was difficult to hear her from all the noise filtering in from the rest of the mall, but it made me smile nonetheless.

i left the store with the signed copy of a first paperback print of one of Mr. Zelazny’s books and a 1983 Ballantine edition of John Brunner’s Stand on Zanzibar.

it was all quite surreal.

then it was off to the grocery store for next week’s rations.

*

the crone was singing again. it seems she’s always singing the same song after all, regardless of who passes her by.

i don’t mind. there was still a faint, nicely surreal air to the world as i dropped some coins into her open palm and drifted on home.

http://www.medobserver.com/AFP/health/060425163710.sochdpyd.html

*

even though i’ve got a job, and it’s just about all i can handle on top of my writing at the moment, i still keep tabs on jobstreet.

today i received this this job match, for which, though i was by no means qualified, i just had to smile.

good to know there are career opportunities for those fellows out there.

*

the biggest smile so far today landed on my face when i saw this picture:

good to know Mabel’s keeping busy.

my favorite one so far has to be this one, though:

gotta love that cheshire grin.

oh, yeah, sure, the cat’s, too.

http://www.emcit.com/emcit128.php#Strange

over on Neil’s blog, you’ll find this link on the Stardust movie. i keep meaning to get a copy of Layer Cake to build my faith in the project, though i expect it will feel nothing like that at all.

it’s being filmed as a hollywood flick, and that worries me, despite all of Neil’s own faith in Mr Vaughn’s work so far. Stardust never fit as a movie in my head to begin with; it’s just too lovely as a book.

meanwhile, over at ain’t it cool news, there’s this little tidbit for the trekkies.

and finally, Jeff VanderMeer has posted these lists for our enlightenment. i’d post a similar list, but if Mr VanderMeer finds his list embarrassing, i cringe at posting my pitiful list of reads.

at least i’d have Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast Trilogy and M. John Harrison’s Viriconium sequence on it as well, and i’ve at least read Hope Mirrlees‘ Lud-in-the-Mist.

oh, yes. i’ve certainly shown Mr VanderMeer this time, haven’t i?

the masterminds behind banzai have a pretty cool job. or would have, if the show was still running.

brilliantly subversive and creative, despite being utterly and terminally inane, television entertainment at its purest.

it doesn’t look as if i’ll be visiting either Finland or Veil tonight, so i might as well post.

sometimes, you have to love this job.

today’s coverage was a media camp thing on multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune disease that targets the central nervous system, causing demyelinization of neuronal axons (sort of like what Lorenzo Odone got in Lorenzo’s Oil, only not), that, like many other diseases, isn’t getting enough attention in this part of the world.

i never paid much attention to these things when i was going through medical school, but, apparently, some knowledge did manage to filter through the white noise of my previous life, and it paid off. for the first time in my career as a journalist, i thoroughly understood the material, and even managed to ask some pretty nifty questions i’d thought up on the spot, leaving only 1 or 2 l’esprit d’escaliers (pardon my french, i don’t really know any).

i always have trouble with questions. they always come when it’s too late to ask them. which is why despite all the conventions i’ve covered, i’ve rarely conducted interviews.

we (i.e., mediafolk) were all treated to spa things after the business was concluded. i’ve never been the spa-going type of person, and even after having that experience, i still probably wouldn’t spend a day at one of those places, and certainly wouldn’t pay for it. my idea of R&R is coffee and a good book with Mabel or, if she isn’t around, Audrey (my laptop). though there were times when i found myself cringing at the things that were being done to me, i honestly can’t put the experience down.

i liked the bit where they tried to scalp us with their fingers (leaving those of us with enough hair for it to look like we’d just gotten out of bed, which, in a manner of speaking, we had), and when they tried (unsuccessfuly) to pull our heads off.

on top of which, i met some people who, while i will probably never get to know the "real" them that other people might know in their "real" lives, are all capital fellows and, er, fellowesses, as i know them now, and were a real blast to be with.

you ought to know who y’all are. cheers.

of course, tomorrow it’s back to the grind, and from what our editorial assistant tells me, it’ll be at least twice as grindy as usual.

*

one of the people i met i actually re-met. Denise Haak was a batchmate from elementary school; her name was (well, is) rather unique around these parts, and people tend to remember her even if only for that name. i was one such person, as i remember no real interaction with her at that age, and she disappeared from the school not long after that.

before today, i found i couldn’t remember what she looked like, but it all came back when i saw her. i didn’t think i’d recognize her, but i did.

she didn’t recognize me, though. not until i clued her in. then she seemed to remember me better than i’d remembered her.

soon enough, we were talking like we never did back in grade school.

she told me that back in grade school i’d looked older than my age; now i look younger. it seemed to her as though my face from that age had been transplanted onto me now, which, i realized, accounts for everything.

it occurred to me how i never felt like i was living my own life. this face is a mask.

the obvious conclusion, then, is that, if i’m finally living the life of the real me, i will soon enough be unmasked, and will finally start to age at a normal rate.

i believe i’d stated before that writing is my mask. if the above speculation does, in fact, take place, then i’ve had it the other way around:

writing is my face.

thanks for the insight, Denise.

still getting the feel for sbd and zen in darkness. i’ve yet to figure out which way the blogs will go when they finally part ways. i’m sure i’ll figure it out eventually.

soon, i hope.

*

i know i’d meant to keep this blog going as often as possible for Mabel, but i think i need to switch gears for a few nights. i haven’t been to Veil in a while, and my last trip to Finland was a bit of a flop.

i need to get my rhythm back.

in the meantime, check out some other blogs from folks who are more than just hacks like me; they’re hacks who can actually write.

www.neilgaiman.com

http://vanderworld.blogspot.com/

http://cyberlaundry.blogspot.com/

http://www.mjohnharrison.com/

and any of the other places i may have mentioned on this blog, or linked to in zen in darkness.

the old woman sat on the sidewalk, in a pool of orange light amidst a spackling of shadows. as i approached she looked briefly up. did she see then the heavy trod of my feet as i watched them take me one step at a time, away from the World of Others to the loneliness of my home?

she began to sing, letting her voice ring clear in the quiet street; her voice was steady and unwavering, and unembarrassed by the haphazard arrangement of the improvised melody:

Wag kang malungkot, anak, wag kang malungkot…

that brought a smile to my soul, one that briefly brushed my lips. i thought that was worth a coin or two from my pocket.

as i walked past her, she sang her gratitude as well.

*

my grandmother will not eat, and she will not listen.

she scratches at her skin, as though tormented by it. her skin turns red with the frequent passage of her nails, and begs for medicine that will not take the itch away.

she lies on her side and refuses to rise, curses her children for the concern she does not see they are feeling, and only briefly finds respite in sleep.

she was asleep when we left the hospital. my mother wept in the elevator on our way out.

i still do not know how i feel about it all. not exactly. she is my last living grandparent. i’ve only recently started to get to know her, and already her sickness has taken her mind away from me.

when i think of her, i prefer to remember her as Mabel met her, and miss her smiles and laughter at everything.

but the image of her lying there in that hospital bed looms not far behind.