Just to fill in dead air between now and New Year's eve, I'd like to talk a bit about my recent geekery. My Satoshi Kon addiction aside, and that brief Kemonozume high, I've been watching - and in the case of I Am Legend, anticipating - several other geek-worthy programs that blow a hole right through my I-am-not-a-geek proclamation.
(Just to make sure nobody forgets, though: I still maintain that I am not a full geek.)
Although I like to stress that I am pretty much a self-made man, sometimes evidence that my geekery is something built up by my two sisters, Yeyey Cruz and Caridad Cruz-Salonga, pops up. The list is long and almost endless; from Fraggle Rock to Lord of the Rings (I read the entire trilogy by the time I was ten three times thanks to my sister), I owe most of my tastes to the years wherein my decade-older siblings sat me through films and shows like A Christmas Story (which I still, for the life of me, cannot remember), Ghostbusters, The A-Team, and the like.
Here're a few of the newer things they've tossed my way these past few years:
Evidence 1
Joss Whedon's Firefly has been somewhere in my download list for quite some time now, due to the mad, mad reviews I see about it on the Internets. The only thing that's been keeping me from starting is the fact that Whedon was the man responsible for Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, two shows that have failed to interest me whatsoever.
The other day, though, my Ate Yeyey forced me to sit down with her and watch the pilot episode of the series, and while the western motif still turns me off some, it makes for some very interesting lines ("That was one helluva shindig!") and situations (rustling cattle through space). Needless to say, I am hooked.
Evidence 2
Again, this involves my Ate Yeyey.
The other day, whilst I was out drinking with the usual suspects from the old boys' club, I received a text message from my sister telling me that the film I Am Legend was awesome condensed into a film.
Now, the last science fiction movie by Will Smith was, if I remember right, I, Robot, a movie I and the Isaac Asimov fanboy in me enjoyed immensely. Now here's another Will Smith sci-fi film, and its all I can do to keep myself from going giggly with anticipation. My sister, an impressive judge of popular media, only served to whet my appetite, and when that movie hits Manila theaters, I am getting front-row seats.
Evidence 3
Sometime last year, Ate Carina asked me if I was watching this show on Nickelodeon that looked a little bit like the Japs animated it. She couldn't remember the name at the time, only that it involved the manipulation of the elements, and of course I didn't know what she was talking about, because the only reasons I stop at Nickelodeon were Spongebob Squarepants and utter boredom.
Then I managed to catch one of the episodes of Avatar: the Legend of Aang, and it hits me that mebbe this was what she was talking about.
It took me a while to actually get hooked to Avatar, since I couldn't help but compare the immediate concept of the series with Xiaolin Showdown's own. It was impressively done, sure, but back at the time, I didn't know just how much research and preparation went into a single Avatar episode, and shrugged the show off as another one of them network things.
With the help of Mahal Adams' enthusiasm (and a lot of free time), though, I finally went and downloaded the first season of the series, since I wanted to know how the relationship between protagonist Aang and antihero Zuko would eventually play out.
And then I downloaded the second season.
And now, I am eagerly anticipating the moment the next episode of the third and final season hits the air. I am burning my sister the entire first half of season three just to thank her for introducing me to this amazing series.
And that's it for this edition of Such Geekery with Martin Cruz. Tune in next time for more geek-worthy moments in the life of a geek in denial.
(Just to make sure nobody forgets, though: I still maintain that I am not a full geek.)
Although I like to stress that I am pretty much a self-made man, sometimes evidence that my geekery is something built up by my two sisters, Yeyey Cruz and Caridad Cruz-Salonga, pops up. The list is long and almost endless; from Fraggle Rock to Lord of the Rings (I read the entire trilogy by the time I was ten three times thanks to my sister), I owe most of my tastes to the years wherein my decade-older siblings sat me through films and shows like A Christmas Story (which I still, for the life of me, cannot remember), Ghostbusters, The A-Team, and the like.
***
Here're a few of the newer things they've tossed my way these past few years:
Evidence 1
Joss Whedon's Firefly has been somewhere in my download list for quite some time now, due to the mad, mad reviews I see about it on the Internets. The only thing that's been keeping me from starting is the fact that Whedon was the man responsible for Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, two shows that have failed to interest me whatsoever.
The other day, though, my Ate Yeyey forced me to sit down with her and watch the pilot episode of the series, and while the western motif still turns me off some, it makes for some very interesting lines ("That was one helluva shindig!") and situations (rustling cattle through space). Needless to say, I am hooked.
Evidence 2
Again, this involves my Ate Yeyey.
The other day, whilst I was out drinking with the usual suspects from the old boys' club, I received a text message from my sister telling me that the film I Am Legend was awesome condensed into a film.
Now, the last science fiction movie by Will Smith was, if I remember right, I, Robot, a movie I and the Isaac Asimov fanboy in me enjoyed immensely. Now here's another Will Smith sci-fi film, and its all I can do to keep myself from going giggly with anticipation. My sister, an impressive judge of popular media, only served to whet my appetite, and when that movie hits Manila theaters, I am getting front-row seats.
Evidence 3
Sometime last year, Ate Carina asked me if I was watching this show on Nickelodeon that looked a little bit like the Japs animated it. She couldn't remember the name at the time, only that it involved the manipulation of the elements, and of course I didn't know what she was talking about, because the only reasons I stop at Nickelodeon were Spongebob Squarepants and utter boredom.
Then I managed to catch one of the episodes of Avatar: the Legend of Aang, and it hits me that mebbe this was what she was talking about.
It took me a while to actually get hooked to Avatar, since I couldn't help but compare the immediate concept of the series with Xiaolin Showdown's own. It was impressively done, sure, but back at the time, I didn't know just how much research and preparation went into a single Avatar episode, and shrugged the show off as another one of them network things.
With the help of Mahal Adams' enthusiasm (and a lot of free time), though, I finally went and downloaded the first season of the series, since I wanted to know how the relationship between protagonist Aang and antihero Zuko would eventually play out.
And then I downloaded the second season.
And now, I am eagerly anticipating the moment the next episode of the third and final season hits the air. I am burning my sister the entire first half of season three just to thank her for introducing me to this amazing series.
***
And that's it for this edition of Such Geekery with Martin Cruz. Tune in next time for more geek-worthy moments in the life of a geek in denial.