We’re leaving on Sunday night! It’s getting exciting, and getting panicky. We went shopping for some warmer clothes yesterday, and it tired us out so much that we weren’t able to catch the Insiang screening at UP. I did however get new sneakers since we will be doing lots of walking there, and a nice new bag that has pockets that seem perfect for cameras. There is only an unfortunately ugly logo that I tried hard to remove but can’t; it’ll damage the bag.

Caught The Village last night. It’s a farce. Shyamalan’s definition of cinema seems to have exhausted itself, reached its limit, because this feels less like a film than a stunt. Personally, I wanted dinosaurs to be the creatures, and for Zatoichi to show up and teach the blind girl how to fight, but that’s just me. Unfortunately, I was able to guess almost every “surprise” and “twist,” mostly by telling Neva ridiculous jokes to pass the time. My favorite may have been “I hope Joaquin goes into the forest and then catches Shyamalan’s film crew and they all go ‘Shit! One got out!’ and strafe him with tranquilizer darts.”

-

“I don’t have to shave every morning or go to the barber so I’ve got all this extra time to spend in the endless delight of being me.” – Alan Moore

Though he is a personal hero of mine and my favorite writer, I still find myself surprised at how funny he is. Check out the interview, which also has this choice excerpt: “I used to think that I was writing poetry when I was a teenager but that is a common delusion amongst teenagers. Poetry is the easiest thing to write and it’s the hardest thing to actually write well.”

-

I’m excited about the new William Shatner CD, Has Been. Produced and co-written by Ben Folds. Their previous collaborations, “In Love” & “Still In Love,” from Fear of Pop’s Volume 1, are, no joke, some of my favorite songs ever (and I dearly wish for there to be further volumes of Fear of Pop, Folds’s solo side project, even if he’s effectively a solo artist already). The cover of “Common People” I linked to is from the new album. Not only is Aimee Mann one of the guest singers, but one of the songs was co-written by Nick Hornby.

-

Rommel Joson has a website. Check it out.