The Complete Substitute for All Forms of Sociability

It's like...Avatar the Last Airbender had coitus with Studio Ghibli and begot a child, and the child is a millennial -- fierce, fantastic, and just a wee bit gay. I have been looking for something entertaining to read. I don't often read high fantasy. Correction. I do not read high fantasy. I prefer to watch movies of them. But I have been reading non-fiction lately and needed something light and easy. The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon was recommended as something to fill the void left when HBO's Game of Thrones ended. Uhm. Game of Thrones, this is not. But the world is rich. The characters are interesting. The stakes are high. But I never once felt that any of the main characters are in danger. And that's the problem. Still, it's a good read. I impulsively ordered a hardbound copy of it from Amazon. It's a pretty-looking tome though with just over 900 pages. It's gonna look humongous but pretty on my coffee table. I think this ...

This was a gift for a friend on her birthday. She's a psych major so I thought I'd give it a psychology theme. Her favourite colour is green, so there's that, too. The quote is by Emily Dickinson but I substituted "mind" for "brain." My first time in a while trying water colour. I have no technique obviously. My brush work needs practice. A lot of practice. But I like how this turned out.

I have recently re-watched Black Sails , a show on Starz that serves as the prequel to Treasure Island  by Robert Louis Stevenson . It follows the lives of pirates in Nassau or New Providence Island as they carve out a life for themselves free form the yoke and tyranny of England. Back when this first aired, I didn't really expect much from it. The show was promoted as a sexy pirate romp with blood and gore and some girl-on-girl action designed to titillate. I watched it for fun, for the entertainment, for Toby Stephens. In all of those, the show delivered, and more. So much more. But it wasn't until I decided to re-watch it years after its first airing that I truly appreciate the show for what it does. The material is quite rich and dramatic. But what makes the story compelling is the characters. Their consistency and development all through the whole 4-season series is fascinating to see. And it's not all men, too. The women have agency and their own agenda. The...

Last March, I went with my parents to Mindanao to deal with some land matters. While there, I took the opportunity to check out our properties in Siparok and in Bitoon, all in Jose Dalman, Zamboanga del Norte. I've been to both places before but I've never actually been to our properties. Pictured here is our Bitoon properties. There are two (2) lots: a 6-hectare spot on top of a mountain and a 5-hectare lot a bit lower on the mountain. It used to be part of a 24-hectare ranch owned by my great grandparents. Now, it's basically idle land except for the occasional  copra yield. After seeing it, the vastness of it, its location, I want to build a mountain resort community there. It will be a "green" community that uses only sustainable energy and is self-sufficient. I want to build a hut there with a sari-sari store. Eventually, I want to plant crops there, maybe coffee. I want to introduce developments there to help the community. Maybe a school? At this ...

Back in October last year, I tried to do the Inktober drawing challenge but was only able to keep it up for a few days. This one for the "poison" prompt. This is Achlys, the Greek goddess of the death-mist, drawn using a panda ballpoint pen on Oslo. Basically, the concept is a woman, who is half-skeletal. She embodies death. I incorporated the poisonous rosary pea to fit the "poison" theme. First posted on my instagram.

I have recently been checking out some new movies. I found this list by The Film School Rejects and decided to choose my next viewing from there. My first pick is Aniara , a Swedish-Danish high-concept sci-fi film that is based on a poem of the same name by the Nobel laureate, Harry Martinson. I don't know what it is about Swedish productions but I've never been wrong with the ones I do pick. What water do they drink over there? lol Anywhoo -- THE STORY Aniara  follows a group of immigrants on their way to a colony in Mars. Leaving behind an Earth devastated by natural disasters as brought on by climate change, the passengers travel through space onboard the eponymous ship, Aniara , a floating luxury hotel and mall that comes equipped with all the best in entertainment and tech. One of these techs is a semi-sentient A.I. known as MIMA programmed to provide a realistic simulation of life on Earth before its destruction.  MIMA is operated by a technician kn...