A Pinoy Blog About Nothing

First on the day’s agenda was to pick up Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix at Powerbooks. Yes I admit it - I’ve read all Potter books and I’ve been waiting for this book like a wizard about to take his Apparating tests.

The people lining up at Powerbooks to get the new Harry Potter book.

I see no problem with reading Harry Potter books if only it’s the only book I’m reading. Problem is I’m also in deep with Gracia Burnham’s In The Presence of my Enemies. So if you hear me talk about Harry Potter going head-to-head with the Abu Sayyaf then you’d know why.

Then later in the afternoon we watched Ang Lee’s the Hulk. I absolutely loved the movie. It’s definitely better than Daredevil. Hulk, at the very least, has a story.

My very own crossover: my Hulk action figure with Cyclops circa X-Factor in the background.

I love how Lee tried to mimic the panelling of a comic book and other creative transitions to show different things happening at the same time. Lee at least understands that though his movie might be melodramatic at times, he reminds us that his source material is also guilty of the same sin, sometimes a hundred times moreso.

The Incredible Hulk in particular was a “heavy” book - none of the smart-aleck asides of Spider-Man or the warm, family feeling of the X-men and the other X-books. At least the X-Men had other mutants to turn to or comfort when they get angst-ridden for being different from the rest of humanity. The Hulk is one of a kind. (She Hulk doesn’t count as she usually doesn’t want anything to do with the Hulk - even if he’s intelligible.)

Like most comic books being adapted to the screen, Hulk’s comic book continuity had to be tweaked in order to make sense. While in the comic book he was just some bloke in the 60s caught in the desert during an a-bomb test, the movie updates that a bit by putting his father in the mix with a healthy dose of nano-technology mumbo-jumbo and turning it to an Oedipal drama. That said, the production pretty much kept the Hulk from the comic book intact: the running leaps, the mindless, monosyllabic monster on the run from the military and down to the purple shorts. They even had an explanation why the Hulk would often appear in different sizes, which was a problem when different artists would work on the comic book. I was prepared to hate the computer generated Hulk but it wasn’t so bad. It could’ve been much worse. (Can you say Jar Jar?)

Lee is accused of being heavy handed in tackling what should be a pop-corn movie for the comic book fanboy. I say he’s just being true to himself and his sensibilities as an artist. There are patches of his humor surfacing every now and then: the Hulk biting a dog with much savagery (you know what they say…when a dog bites a man that’s not news, but when a man bites a dog - that’s news!) and the nod to its TV roots by the mention of the line made famous by Bill Bixby spoken in Spanish, of all things and Lou Ferrigno’s cameo as one of those pitiful creatures which was constantly thrashed by his TV Hulk - a security guard.

Oh and Jennifer Connelly is absolutely gorgeous.

And then we checked out Fete de la Musique over at El Pueblo. We had a blast last year so I was hoping to have a repeat. Not so. The place was packed. It was wall to wall people and it was hot and smoky as hell. There isn’t enough elbow room to drink beer!

Kharma chameleon: The blues had a child and they called it Rock and Roll!
(At least that’s what the host said.)

Got to check out a bit of Cynthia Alexander on the main stage, Session Road and Kharma in Tequila Joe’s. For a blues band, Kharma rocked! I wasn’t able to check out Bluesviminda with Cooky Chua and Binky Lampano because I had to leave early. I hate to admit it but the crowd got to me. Way too many people to wade through to get from Point A to Point B to take in more bands.

In any case, I’m happy to note that there are more bands out there doing their thing. Don’t believe the news that the local music scene is dead.

Lots of puny humans!

* pics were taken by Inga the P800 so pardon me if they’re grainy