Where Old Nerds Flock and Gather

Just in case you were wondering where all your teachers were yesterday morning, nerds of all persuasions hied over to the 11th Philippine Academic Bookfair, Megatrade Hall 1, 5th level, Building B, SM Megamall, Pasig City.

I could tell of the heroic effort that my loving, nerdy wife and I went through in order to procure our precious tomes on developing critical thinking, qualitative research methodologies, and the the limits of exploring objectivist epistemology in Ayn Rand. I could recall the headlong rush into the hall after being subjected to long, incoherent speeches that raised the hackles of the assembled intelligentsia, not because they were inchoate, but simply because they were long. I could sing of the berserker booklust that came upon me as I hacked my way through the throng, stepping over and crushing the backs of lesser nerds.

But I will not. Rather, allow me to extend an invitation. If you love books, please drop by the Bookfair. Don't forget to bring the claymore, just in case you need to persuade the crowds to thin.

Photo Credits:

Artwork by Frank Frazetta comes courtesy of Jose Carlos Neves.

Anger be now your song, immortal one...

Happily, despite my oftentimes interminably busy schedule, I've found time to do quite a lot of leisure reading. In lieu of my usual rambling posts on Life, the Universe, and Everything (with all due respect to one of my childhood favorites, Douglas Adams), let me recommend a wonderfully re-imagined classic, the Iliad, by way of Dan Simmons' almost unclassifiable duology, Ilium and Olympos.

Heavily intertextual, with consistently appropriate references to Homer, Shakespeare, and Proust (among other literary giants), the Trojan War comes alive through the skillful exploration of a technological singularity that allows quantum theory, and nanotechnology to bring to life a gripping, and action-filled drama between men and gods.

What if Achilles didn't kill Hector? What if the Achaeans and Trojans set aside their differences and, instead, take charge of their destinies? What if, instead of warring with one another, they declare war on the gods?

Pantheistic solipsism has never been more fun, or as cool. Even if you have no idea, or intention, to get into the science behind the fiction, this duology is a fantastic read. Try it.

Photo Credits:

Picture of Ilium comes courtesy of Amazon.

Happiness

For some, happiness is εὐδαιμονία or eudaimonia, "the virtuous activity of the soul in accordance with reason"; the repeated practice of such an activity develops virtue.

For some, happiness is a warm gun, either a raucous celebration of incidental humor and intentional drug use, or a grim celebration of life, that somehow, despite tragedy, goes on.

But for myself, as I suspect would be true of many people of my generation, happiness will always be associated with Lea Salonga and the musical You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown.


Lea:
Happiness is two kinds of ice cream
Finding your skate key, telling the time
Happiness is learning to whistle
Tying your shoe for the very first time
Happiness is playing the drum in your own school band
And happiness is walking hand in hand

Gerard:
Happiness is five different crayons
Knowing a secret, climbing a tree
Happiness is finding a nickel
Catching a firefly, setting him free
Happiness is being alone every now and then
And happiness is coming home again

Lea:
Happiness is morning and evening

Gerard:
Daytime and nighttime, too

Both:
For happiness is anyone and anything at all
That's loved by you

Gerard:
Happiness is having a sister

Lea:
Sharing a sandwich

Both:
Getting along
Happiness is singing together when day is through
And happiness is those who sing with you

Happiness is morning and evening
Daytime and nighttime, too
For happiness is anyone and anything at all
That's loved by you

Credits:
Song lyrics appear courtesy of Sing365.com
You may hear the music (sadly, not by Lea) here.
Happiness, though said to come in bright, colored bottles, comes courtesy of bright, colored people.

The Original Transformers: More than meets the Eye?

It's been some while since I posted anything in this blog, largely due to fatigue. I'm so tired right now that I don't even have the time to snarkily apologize to the dozen or so loyal readers not compelled by blood ties or need to read this blog.

At any rate, let me share an interesting article by Slate writer John Swansburg on Why the original Transformers movie is better than Michael Bay's, a title that will live on in my short term memory as one of the most artlessly, but laudably blunt feature articles ever to come from Slate writer John Swansburg on the original Transformers movie. While Swansburg has, as of this writing, yet to construct, even upon revision, a coherent argument regarding the merits of the original Transformers movie with the one by Michael Bay, I appreciate his insights on how the death of Optimus Prime in the former was a significant event for teenagers of all stripes:

Only in our wildest dreams did we think that the show might celebrate its liberation from network television by letting loose with a curse word. And only in our scariest nightmares would we have imagined that a mere 20 minutes into the movie, Optimus Prime, the most beloved of Autobots, would be killed by Megatron.

To use a phrase I learned the day I saw Transformers, "Oh, shit!" No one ever died in these shows. Even in G.I. Joe, a cartoon about a special U.S. Army strike force, no Rattler was ever shot down without the pilot first safely ejecting. But in the Transformers movie, the death toll was jaw-dropping. More than a dozen marquee characters are dispatched in the film, among them one of my personal favorites, Starscream, the Decepticon malcontent always scheming to relieve Megatron of his command.

Despite my poor understanding, at the time, of the even more gruesome reality of a media-generated wave of crass consumerism, I was genuinely touched by Prime's sacrifice, and was drawn in eagerly to the rather quaint storyline that detailed the Autobots' quest for a successor. Swansburg goes on:

It's funny to listen to the filmmakers on the DVD talk sheepishly about killing off all of those characters, Prime in particular. They genuinely regret it. But in watching the movie again as a grown-up, you realize that Hasbro's profit motive had the unintended consequence of forcing the movie to tell a much more sophisticated story than might otherwise have been possible. With Prime off to the great scrapheap in the sky by the end of the first act, the movie becomes one about finding a leader who can take on Prime's mantle and defeat not just Megatron, but also Orson Welles' Unicron, eating his way through the galaxy. And in a nice mythic twist, Prime's successor turns out to be an Autobot no one—not even Prime—thought it would be.

Despite the technological innovations that allow the spectacle that is Michael Bay's Transformers to become a reality, some people still prefer the mythic permanence of the water and ink stained cels in, funny enough, Orson Welles' Transformers.

Photo Credits:
Poster of The Transformers - The Movie (20th Anniversary Special Edition) (1986) comes courtesy of Amazon.