Pics of the small salu-salo with veteran komiks creators last January 6...


Ang mga barako.


Bong Leal makes his dramatic entrance


Erwin Cruz smiles for the camera


Steve Gan


Jun Lofamia


Noli Zamora with Vic J. Poblete in the background


Hal Santiago and JoeMari Mongcal


Mel Capital, Rudy Villanueva, Hal Santiago


JoeMari Mongcal and Al Cabral


Detail of Hal Santiago's original art


Another detail of Hal Santiago's original art (can't show it whole, it's FOR ADULTS ONLY!!)


Yet another original Hal Santiago piece

Photos provided by Bong Leal and Erwin Cruz. Special thanks to Randy Valiente!

"I AM CHRONOS... MASTER OF ALL TIME!"

Kuki used to jokingly call me Chronos, Master of All Time. It was from an episode of Johnny Bravo where he encountered a hibernating bear who called himself by the same name.

Why did she call me that?

Simply put, I'm a time-watcher. I'm a bit obsessed with time. I can go a whole day without a cellphone, but I feel lost without a watch. If I forget my watch at home, I feel uneasy throughout the day.

I even synchronize all my watches. Even the clocks at home. I know when a clock is running early or late. Even my office computer and home computer are on the same time.

When I travel to another country with a different time zone, I carry two watches. One, for the time here in the Philippines, the other, for the time in whatever timezone I'm currently occupying.

I remember this one time, I had to go to this ice cream factory. They made us leave our watches. Any kind of timepiece was forbidden inside the factory! If I had to work there, I'd go crazy in a few days!!!!

I really don't know why I watch the time. Maybe I don't like to waste it. Maybe that explains why I walk faster than other people. I don't want to waste my time travelling, so I try to get from point A to point B in the fastest way possible.

And, as you can see, I've installed a clock in my blog. The good folks at worldtimeserver.com made it possible.

Does anyone find this weird?

Real-life vigilante superhero. From BBC NEWS...

POLICE HUNTING MYSTERY SWORDSMAN

Police on Tyneside are seeking a man carrying a sword who came to the aid of plain clothes officers during a burglary attempt.

The officers were threatened by a man with a knife after they discovered armed men trying to break into a house in Laygate, South Shields.

Another man armed with a samurai sword appeared and attacked the man with the
knife, before leaving the scene.

Three men have been charged with aggravated burglary.

One faces an additional charge of attempted wounding with intent to resist arrest.

Saturday, January 6, I was invited to a little salu-salo at Hal Santiago's house. It was great! There was no real occasion, just a gathering of some komiks veterans.

Bong Leal tagged along with me. Dodo Dayao was supposed to go, too, but he was finishing up a painting or something.

I got there a bit early, and Jun Lofamia and Rudy Villanueva were there, along with Mang Hal. Rudy Villanueva is Hal's brother-in-law, and he lives next door. It was great that Mang Jun still recognized me since we met only briefly at the Komikon. Mang Hal and Mang Jun showed some original stuff, and they were amazing (and huge). They auction off original art on ebay, with Steve Gan being their sort of online agent. If you see the original pieces upclose, you'd be amazed at the craftsmanship that went into them. The brushstrokes really flow across the paper. And the sense of composition is flawless.

Others in attendance were Steve Gan, Freddie Fernandez, Florie Medina, Vic Poblete, Noli Zamora, Mel Capital, JoeMari Mongcal, and several others that I can't remember. Komiks collector, historian and all-around fanatic Erwin Cruz was also there. It was especially exciting for me and Bong to be able to meet Noli Zamora, who we both admire greatly.

One thing that I admire about these men is that even though they've all gone to different things and different jobs, they still hold a special place in their hearts for komiks. We all talked about different stuff, but every now and then the topic would go back to komiks.

I forgot to bring a camera (d'oh!), but Bong did. I hope he e-mails me the pics so I can post them here soon.