The Walking Dead Season 3: Rick and Andrea have turned into idiots

I did my catching up on Season 3 and I just have to say Rick and Andrea are turning into real idiots. Especially Rick. I thought he'd see through that "deal" with Michonne. I initially thought he did when he addressed the group inside the prison right after his little meeting with the Governor. But in the next scene, we learn that he actually bought the Governor's lies. Remember back in Season 2 when Daryl told Dale the group was "broken" and how Rick ain't a fool about what Shane was up to? He certainly was a fool here, much like Andrea. I expected more from him.

As for Andrea, I did actually like her in Season 2, and her development from a grieving sister to a gritty husk of her former self was a fair indication that she just might be one of the last men standing in this whole series. But she's horribly written in Season 3. She went from being independent, willing to take her own life and let others decide on theirs (Beth) to practically being a gushing housewife and errand girl to the not-so-secretly-crazy-as-f** Governor. Despite the many warnings from Michonne, the crazy arena fights in Woodbury, the head aquariums in the Governor's office, Maggie's semi-rape, and the full disclosure late in the season of the fact that the Governor sent Merle to kill Michonne, she goes back, sleeps with him, yet still couldn't muster the strength to kill him while he sleeps soundly after one big orgasm, effectively putting everyone's lives at the prison at risk. She also carried little ass-kicker earlier, too. You'd think that would be motivation enough for her.

It's too bad. The show is gradually turning into one big soap opera populated with cliche characters thanks to some poor writing.

Surprisingly, Merle was well-written this season. He stuck to his principles - that is, being just the trigger-happy, crystal-meth-sniffing henchman of whoever's in charge at the moment, effectively grounding him, and being the central point of contention between the other main characters (Glenn, Rick, Daryl). And in my opinion, he had the best death this season (next is Lori's).

A trip to Sohoton, Siargao turns into a nightmare

Welcome to Siargao.

February 9th 2013

I'm never a fan of boat rides lasting more than an hour. This one lasted for two hours. So there I was, clutching my numb butt and deaf from the relentless roar of the 'twin' engines for the past two hours. We disembarked into this wooden reception 'cottage' at the Sohoton Lagoon in Siargao, Philippines. The scenery reminded me of Coron, Palawan, except this one had no rock spires. Just huge mounds of bush and trees sprinkled across the crystal clear waters. The sea water tasted like it was diluted enough to be drinkable, probably from the amount of vegetation surrounding the area. Nonetheless, despite the moderate drizzles every now and then, the place was a sight to behold.

The mounds of bush and trees at Sohoton Lagoon.

So, this reception cottage we were at served as the starting point for the tours in the lagoon. By my count, there were only two. We immediately dove into the first one, got on a small pump boat and went through a cave that could only be accessible during low tide. At the other end of which led to another area of the lagoon only accessible through the said cave. Our tour guide was talking about horseshoe-shaped stalactites, bats, and ironwood (allegedly the hardest wood in the world). I was busy admiring the scenery.

After a short ride, we arrived at another cave named Hagukan, which apparently made snoring noises as air rushes out of the cave during high tide. Because the inside of the cave was dark, the only source of light came from the water. This made human skin look like it was glowing underwater. At this point, someone in our group was already panicking from the dark of the cave and the deep water. We waited until he calmed down a bit and we moved on to the next area.

We were still on the small pump boat when we heard cheers and laughter from the other tourists around the corner. Apparently they were encouraging their friends to jump off a 12-foot ledge at the edge of a cliff. Most of those who did not have the nerve to jump were women, all of whom were on the verge of tears. One cried after the jump. Despite seeing the torture the others were subjecting themselves into, our group decided to do the same. But first, we had to get to the ledge. This involved having to pass through this pitch-black cave, do a bit of ridiculous spelunking to get to the top, and, since it was mildly raining, descend through mud and the roots from trees onto the aforementioned ledge. When I got to the ledge, everyone in my group had already jumped, except for my girlfriend. Yes, 12 feet isn't that deep and it did look like it wasn't that high when were still on the water, but being on that ledge made the drop look like it was 24 feet. My girlfriend was trying to muster up the will to shoot herself off the ledge, but her legs weren't cooperating. After a couple of (failed) words of encouragement, the tour guide suggested that I jumped first to show her that "it was okay". Once I readied myself on that ledge, I knew exactly what my girlfriend was talking about. My feet seemed like it had a mind of its own, trying to take control of my body and refusing the commands of my brain. I managed to jump anyway, and my girlfriend followed suit. She then declared it was one of the scarier things she had ever done. Little did we know what was in store for us later...

We got back to the reception cottage and discovered our lunch was ready, conveniently prepared by Charlito and Ivan - the father-and-son duo who drove the pump boat from our resort to Sohoton. (You're going to hear a lot about them as you read on.) Anyway, we had lunch, went on another tour to see harmless jellyfish that have been trapped in a lagoon. It was nice, but it wasn't as impressive as I thought. And there weren't as many jellyfish as I was led to believe. 15 minutes later, we were back at the reception cottage and we were ready to take the 2-hour trip back to our resort. It was 2:00 pm.

This was before everything went to hell.

BOSLOT

Around 2:30 pm we were at open sea. The group was still in good spirits, taking pictures and posing at the front hull of the "Jade Star Lodge" pump boat. The mood suddenly changed as the first wave hit the boat. Then it began to rain. We began to settle in our seats and switched to "alert mode", as each wave meant a slight ascent and an abrupt descent that gave us the "falling sensation" at the same time getting us wet from the resulting splash. This went on for a couple of minutes, and I could see the others had begun panicking. The look on their faces says it all, as they reached and wore the nearest life jackets. As for me, I was in a state of "it will be okay" and "would this bitch weather stop already!". I was horrified.

At around 3:00 pm, just as the waves had grown increasingly violent, Charlito motioned to his son, Ivan, to stop the engines since he noticed something was "off". He made his way to the front of the boat, opened a panel and slid inside. At this point, we were confused. A few seconds later he came out and shouted to Ivan in bisaya:

"NAAY DAKO KAAYO NGA BOSLOT!"

If you see this pump boat, run for your life.

I realize this doesn't happen regularly, but there was a HOLE in the BOAT I was riding in the MIDDLE OF A FREAKING STORM IN THE MIDDLE OF THE OCEAN. How unlucky could we get? The water in the boat had begun to rise and Charlito advised us to get to the back of the boat as quickly as possible so that the hole in the front won't let more water into the boat. We were scrambling for containers to use as makeshift pails to throw out the water that was already in the boat. At one point someone was using a water bottle, submerging it in the water and waiting until it got full, and emptied its contents outside. Repeat ad infinitum. All this while we were inhaling the smell of gasoline and while the boat was being thrown around by the violent waves.

167

While we were busy with keeping the boat afloat, one of us realized we weren't going to make it through this ordeal without any help - so he called the caretaker of the resort we stayed at and asked for help. The caretaker promised to immediately call the coast guard for a search and rescue operation after they hang up. Still not contented, he dialed "167" on both of his cellphones. The first cellphone gave an automated response "you do not have enough balance to make that call, please reload soon" (Globe Telecom). Luckily, the call on the other cellphone went through (Sun Cellular)*. He frantically tried to explain our situation to the person at the other end, saying we were near Socorro (an island beside Siargao), and that they should send speedboats and helicopters to save our asses.

Overhearing the phone conversation, I do not know why I was still able to smile at that point. Maybe it was the thought of being rescued by helicopter, or maybe I wasn't fully aware that this might just be my last stop. I honestly knew no one was going to die. We knew how to swim. We had life jackets. We knew the wooden boat wouldn't sink to the bottom of the ocean. But still, at that point, my life and the lives of those in the group felt volatile. Like at any moment we could lose it. What's jarring about it was the weird casualness of the whole situation, and nature in general. It's hard to explain. In hindsight, the loss of life is devastating, yes, but when you're actually in the situation where you could possibly see the loss of life, yours included, it kind of felt like it was "ok" to lose it, even when it's clearly NOT, again, in hindsight. We were nothing but vessels about to be emptied at any moment, and we wouldn't care or even be around to worry about it. I thought if only I could tell those who would mourn my death that I was "ok" with it, maybe they wouldn't be so saddened about it.

Charlito eventually spots another pump boat on the horizon. So he turned on the engines and made an intercept course towards the boat. It took a long time for us to arrive within hand signal distance, and once we did - they threw a rope and Charlito tied it to the front hull. Clear communication was non-existent. You'd think local seamen knew how to communicate using hand signals, but these people did not. The people on the other boat (it was a fishing boat) thought our engine died and we just wanted to be tugged along to the nearest port. We kept screaming "BUSLOT AMONG BANKA!". At one point we almost capsized since they were headed in the opposite direction, making our rear end take in a lot of water (remember - all the weight was at the rear to keep the front above sea level). Now I understand how tragedies occur when people act on wrong information. It was such a disgrace to see it in motion at a time like that.

We kept screaming for them to stop and they eventually realized what was happening. So they turned around, positioned their boat so that we could get on it, which was incredibly hard considering the waves, but we managed to pull it off. Thankfully, all of us got onto the fishing boat without injury. The last thing we wanted was to see someone's face slam against the hulls of the boats.

We began to settle inside this moderate-sized fishing boat. A few of us cried. Others were in full blown sea sickness - dizziness, puking - thanks to the waves and the smell of gasoline. I was busy tending to my girlfriend. About thirty minutes later, and what felt like forever, we finally arrived at Socorro. The coast guard was there, and the rescue speed boat had already spotted our boat through the markings on the side, "Jade Star Lodge", being tugged along by the bigger fishing boat. We logged our names on the coast guard manifest and the speed boat took us back to General Luna, Siargao, where we were staying.

On the way there, the driver took a safer route through a mangrove area - a decision we welcomed since the last thing we wanted was to deal with another journey through treacherous waters. Despite the circumstances, it was the first time I've ever ridden a speed boat, and I was beginning to enjoy the ride. It just sliced through water and waves like a boss. The scenery was beautiful, and the sun had just begun to set. The others were beginning to lighten up for the first time since the whole "boslot" ordeal. And once we absorbed the scenery and got back in good spirits, we managed to take a few snaps with huge smiles smeared across our faces.

With the rescue team on the speed boat bound for 

General Luna, Siargao. Big smiles after the ordeal.

Our island-hopping route. Click to enlarge.

Taken 2 - Review

My first thoughts while watching it was feeling pity over this Mills family - especially for the mother and daughter. They could not be any more unlucky with two consecutive kidnappings in just a span of 2-3 years (I'm guessing). As an action movie, it works. But you'll have a hard time believing this much bad luck can befall a family. So much that as an attempt to pacify this string of horrible events, they toned down the violence to its hostages. For one, I always thought the face of the mother should be covered in blood- but we only see red smudges that barely resemble blood. Overkill averted. I felt the producers made a conscious effort not to torture Mills' family too much since it would become too ridiculously far-fetched for anyone to believe considering what happened to them in the first movie. Not that it isn't "far-fetched" already- movies have always been about shoving realism aside, but this was almost unrealistic even for a movie. Almost.

That's pretty much my only complaint. The rest of the movie is exactly what I wanted the sequel to be. The title itself says "Taken" so what did you expect? Neeson is bad-ass as always, and seeing this lump of testosterone interact with his divorcee ex-wife and love-struck daughter is a delight in itself. He is the glue that ties everything together, and I can't think of anyone else who could remotely fill his shoes.

Did I mention the movie was incredibly entertaining? 8/10

Toilets

Comfort rooms, more commonly referred to as "CRs", are the Filipino version of "toilets" - so I've heard from a foreigner who recently pointed out the gaping irony that there's absolutely nothing comfortable about them. The guy has since abstained from disparaging the many oddities in Filipino rhetoric, thanks to a few angry politicians - who prefer other people believing that when Filipinos use the word "comfort", they mean just that. (And they don't take kindly to any criticisms)

Contrary to popular belief, toilets/CRs did not pop into existence for the sole purpose of purging bodily wastes in the most sanitary way, and most definitely not just for 'comfort'. It serves other purposes as well - a place to sleep during office hours for instance, albeit a musty and sweaty way to doze off with your pants down (depending on the air conditioning). It's a tricky way to sleep, but people pride themselves when they're able to pull off 2-3 second short bursts of dozing off without falling over. Apparently spending a few hours a day mastering this technique is far more fulfilling than actually doing your job.

Why does the internet hate Justin Bieber?

Any person who's been exposed to the internet longer than one of his songs will figure as much: the internet hates Justin Bieber.

This phenomenon first sprung into existence at the exact same time he released his music video for the song "Baby", and is probably best explained by that video alone. Since its release, it has amassed an astonishing 2 million dislikes - the first ever for a Youtube video. Anyone 'lucky' enough to have been involved in the song and video, namely Ludacris and Drake, must regret having anything to do with it (although they won't admit it). One could imagine Ludacris sitting on his sofa, being "hip-hop legit" and all, Cristal in one hand, a voluptuous babe on the other, then this music video comes on TV. He'll probably choke on his Cristal and have a heart-attack finding the remote to change the channel. As for Drake, nobody knows exactly what he's doing in a Justin Bieber music video, and he's probably wondering the same thing.

While Ludacris and Drake have got it worse, the rest of the world definitely got it better. For one, two strangers on the internet now have one thing in common by default, making it easier for them to connect:

Person A: "I hate Justin Bieber."
Person B: "Me too! Let's be e-friends!"
Person A: (likes Person B's comment)
Person B: (likes Person A's like on his comment)

...and so on and so forth. It's akin to patting the backs of seemingly like-minded strangers on the internet, immediately forming rapport. Many have gone on to establish fruitful friendships while others go as far as marrying each other, thanks to that one little thing that started it all- mutual hate for Bieber.

My point is this - with the exception of probably 10 percent of the Bieber-hating population, nobody really hates him. "Hate" is such a strong word and nobody in his right mind would ever do such a cruel thing to a teenage boy who just wants to make music. What people do though, is they pretend to hate him. This almost always guarantees an immediate connection with the Bieber-hating populace, hence improving their chances of nurturing new friendships over the internet.

The internet has become more and more of a big social gathering through the years and the last thing anyone wants to do is wave a Bieber flag as they go on Youtube or Facebook. It's first-impression suicide. One has to go in, all smiles, sip a cheap version of Cristal, and start a conversation with someone and slowly work "Bieber Hatred" into the conversation. Once you do, and once the other guy concurs, you will have made a friend. You can then proceed to discuss how great Green Day is.

A new way to listen to music

The other day I was stuck listening to the soundtrack of a movie and thought maybe every song we brush aside can be conveyed in a way we're oblivious about- like these songs fortunate to have appropriate imagery plastered along with them. Not much is left for the imagination as a result, but sometimes lazy minds just need that extra push.

I used to sit and listen to music with eyes closed, trying to construct images in my head - images I deem appropriate for a song. You have no idea how many cerebral music videos have passed through my head and vanished, it's a shame. But I'm pretty sure most of them were cliche. You know... like playing to the most obvious emotional response to a song: Joy. Sadness. Pity. Adventure. Sun.

So when I came upon these soundtracks and re-watched the movies that featured them, not just in a casual way, but really watched them, I intended to find the little nuances that make great visuals for a particular piece of music - or great music for a particular set of visuals - focusing on visuals that I would otherwise never think of. I'm hoping it makes me remember images better, and at the same time rid my head of this bland mesh of cliche. And perhaps by doing it repeatedly, I get better at it.

What I think about the Tulfo-Santiago incident in NAIA 3

The much celebrated celebrity death match between 80-yr-old Tulfo and the Santiagos has generated more hits than the recently concluded Cotto-Mayweather boxing match. That's an achievement. Perhaps people prefer a more informal type of fight - held at the prestigious Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA-3), an airport-slash-grandstand (the first of its kind) oozing with awesomeness it apparently has no need for security or any type of surveillance.

Security guards are also really just untrained civilians with company-issued security guard uniforms. Armed with nothing but their bare hands, their vast numbers are at least competent enough to physically restrain an 80-yr-old Aikido/Taekwondo black belt, who must have looked like he was clearly on the way to a lopsided victory over the 2 or 3 people who were intent on giving him a beauty makeover- until his face was glowing a nice shade of mestizo-like red. Later in the police station, you could see the frustration in Tulfo's face after realizing he was duped by the Santiagos, seeing his newly acquired boyishly-handsome skin-tone go on to look like the sky at night.

Still, back in the fight, you have to give it up for Tulfo, who was skillful and creative enough to give Claudine Barretto the worst beating of her life - leaving smudges of what I think could only be Hershey's Chocolate on her thigh. Much respect to her for harnessing her long-dormant acting abilities by demonstrating how said Hershey's Chocolate can be bad for your health with a convincing limp.

Also, kudos to the airline, who many believe to be the chief organizers of the fight. They're the only airline kind enough to withhold bad news from their passengers, at least letting them 'enjoy their flights' while it lasted (there's some truth to the pablum they spew over the intercom after all). This proved beneficial to other passengers as well. I imagine anyone lucky enough to sit beside an irate Claudine Barretto would be pretty grateful.

The Avengers was great (a really short review) + Captain America lifting Thor's hammer

Just came from the cinema watching the highly anticipated movie adaptation of The Avengers. I thought it was great. At first I doubted how they could possibly make this movie work, considering its scale, but they pulled it off with flying colors.

The film is still fresh in my mind and I'm thinking about stand-out scenes right now, but couldn't - because there's just far too many memorable scenes in this thing. Definitely a delight to watch, especially for long time fans. There's this one scene though that tickled the nerd in me. It's the scene where the Hulk and Thor are fighting and Hulk tries to lift Thor's hammer but couldn't. After watching that, I immediately thought whoever wrote this movie knew exactly what he was doing.

There were a few things that bothered me- one had to do with the green behemoth, Hulk. In a scene aboard Nick Fury's ridiculous carrier-slash-hovercraft, Bruce Banner loses his temper and with it, his ability to control himself as he made it his personal goal to squash little ol' Black Widow as she desperately scampers from one corridor to another, trying to hide in hopes of draining out Hulk's attention span.

Hi. I'm the incredible Hulk. I'm amazing and inconsistent.

This will be the last scene you'll see Banner completely lose control over himself. The next time you see him transform into the Hulk, almost miraculously, he's in total control of the green lump of muscle, able to identify enemies and allies accurately, whereas a few minutes ago he was intent on pounding Black Widow's ass to the mezzanine floor. Talk about blatant inconsistencies. I felt the crowd (and myself) let that one slip, convincing ourselves there must have been something we missed that justified this 'turn of events'. "Meh, it's just a movie." Surprisingly, this kind of looking-the-other-way-when-something-is-definitely-wrong-here worked for this movie, since I came out of the theater feeling a bit stupid, but fully entertained.


Interesting facts

In the Marvel universe, it is well known that Thor's hammer, Mjolnir, can only be lifted by those deemed 'worthy' to harness its powers. So it's never a matter of strength (Hulk). The interesting thing is Captain America, considered one of the less powerful Avengers, actually was able to lift the hammer at some point  (specifically Steve Rogers, in US Agent costume). There were a bunch of other people that lifted the hammer, but thought Cap was the most interesting out of all of them.

The meaning of life?

We say we are but a tiny spec in the vastness of the universe. I say, why do we put too much emphasis on size? It's overrated. It's an illusion with no other purpose but to entertain our otherwise unremarkable minds. Unremarkable they may be, but you can argue that your measly self-consciousness is far more valuable than the entire universe, for any kind of 'meaning' or 'purpose' could only be borne out of consciousness.

I suggest that the meaning of life is subjective. It could never be objective. Ever.

Diablo 3 Beta - First impressions / Review

I've been playing the beta ever since it was made open to the public. Honestly, I got bored a bit, but hopefully the rest of Act 1 (and the rest of the game) is interesting enough to keep me playing.

I do not really like the "no stat points" "no skill points" thing. Without those, I felt the game lost its role-playing aspect. They say taking out those aspects prevents players from ever making a mistake with stats and skill points ever again. Well, in my opinion, I want to make those mistakes. It's part of the thrill and excitement in RPGs, you know, to actually make decisions for your character and be rewarded or punished for those decisions. Removing those basically promotes carelessness while playing because, hey, I can always 'change skills' later anyway without consequences.

Also, role-playing games are supposed to be about making unique characters or avatars in a virtual environment. Stat and skill point distribution, and actual items made your Diablo 2 character unique. However, in Diablo 3 only the items make your character unique. That's pretty depressing if you ask me. What exactly is unique to your Barbarian and the Barbarian that's hacking monsters alongside you? Items(TM). Utterly depressing.

And I also prefer the idea of making different characters with different builds, instead of making only one Barbarian that can cater all builds. I mean, what exactly is the point of making another Barbarian? There isn't. They say a level 1 character is basically an empty canvass, but you see, in D3 a fully-leveled character is still pretty much an empty canvass, the only difference being, again, the Items(TM).

It's becoming quite obvious what the main focus is here. You guessed it. Add the fact that Blizzard is adding the shiny new Auction House where you can pawn these Items(TM) off for real-world money... makes it such an easy target for someone like me who finds the game's intense focus on items questionable- ever more so than the previous games.

Well, those are my first thoughts. That and the cool blood spatters when you hack 'em zombies dead. Bloodied zombies lose this time though. Hopefully after finishing the full game my opinions will change.