As usual, a Saturday visit to my grandparents turned out to be really fun.

Grandfather and I went to the biggest mall in town and toured nearly the whole place except for the cinema on the topmost floor. We spent quite some time at the bookstore looking for certain business textbooks but none of the titles in my list was available. I ended up buying a paperback compilation of short stories by English, American and Continental authors the likes of Edgar Allan Poe *worships*, Mark Twain and Katherine Mansfield, among others.

We also went to Toy Kingdom and I bought a stuffed dog that I fell in love with at first sight. Grandfather offered to carry the shopping bag with the stuffed doggy and suggested that I feed my new pet so he would get bigger.

On Sunday night, the entire family watched Rocky IV (1985) over GMA-7. The movie was feel-good, superhero-ish stuff.

I believe that Rocky IV was more or less the template for Filipino actor Robin Padilla’s current hit Buhay Kamao (Life of Fists), which highlights the emotional, physical and psychological struggles of a boxer in his pursuit for victory.

I really love Dolph Lundgren’s character Ivan Drago – so stone-hard, icy-cold and emotionless that he defies humanity. It would be awesome to have a bodyguard like him!

Just finished watching Rocky III (1982) on GMA-7. The “villain” role of Clubber Lang, portrayed by Mr. T, was a little too two-dimensional and you could not really appreciate it because you never really got to know his character. It was like Rocky (Sylvester Stallone) was the embodiment of Good, and he was the exact antithesis.

I think I am growing a scary fascination on The Powerpuff Girls. Darn GMA-7, Neopets and our local stationery store for causing it. Do you know that I’m even contemplating them for a webpage layout – or even a whole fansite? Heaven help me.

Speaking of Neopets, I cannot believe what some members are doing to their virtual babies. As in some of them ABANDON their pets at the Neopian Pound for others to adopt. How dare they? They create a pet, and then just leave them when they get tired of them? Is that being fair to that helpless little creature?

I have now maxed out my pet limit of four. I have created two blue Acaras and a yellow Kacheek. And I had just blown 85 Neopoints to adopt a poor red Chia. I was browsing through the Neopian Pound when I saw this baby crying into his palms, thus my heart went out to him and I adopted right on the spot.

Just got done with a shopping spree for books and an omelette feeding session for all of them. I think all of them like sweets, too, just like real children do.

It’s been a fun Saturday. I spent the morning hunting for notes to lend to some people at school and found some interesting stuff, including a couple of pieces that we had performed for various classroom skits.

Afterwards, I went across town to my paternal grandparents’ house and had lunch consisting of delectable lechon (complete with the crispy, golden skin) and hot, hot, hot rice.

I also contributed crispy-fried lumpia that I picked up from a Chinese-delicacy store, much to the delight of my grandfather who LOVES the stuff.

I went home around sundown and had pizza for dinner. Sinful nourishment all throughout the day, what can I say?

GMA-7 aired Dolores Claiborne earlier this evening. I heard of it a few years or so ago, but I never got around to seeing it until tonight.

Dolores Claiborne is basically the story of Dolores (Kathy Bates) who is being accused of murdering Vira, the rather bitchy, but ultimately sympathetic woman whom she had served for 20 years. The mailman caught Dolores holding a rolling pin over a bloodied Vira, moments after the latter had fallen down the staircase. Dolores’ daughter Selena (Jennifer Jason Leigh), a black-clad New Yorker with more emotional baggage than you could shake a stick at, goes back to town to help her mother out of the unjust accusation.

Kathy Bates is one awesome actress. Her performance in the film absolutely crept me out, especially when she was carrying out her plan to kill her incestuous husband.

Overall, Dolores Claiborne is very good, a slow-but-sure psychological shot that left me feeling not depressed but not happy either. Just settled or something. A neutral sensation, kinda like being suspended between everything real.

No special effects, explosions, computers, big hair, heavy makeup and what-not. Just simple, elegant, good old acting. Wish they would make more movies like this one.

Bite me.

I have been an avid watcher of the series Roswell ever since it made its debut at the Philippine network RPN-9. I kinda liked it because of the cool aliens, especially the rad Isabel (portrayed by Katherine Heigl) and the disturbed bad boy Michael (Brendan Fehr, my suggestion for Tasuki if ever they make Fushigi Yuugi a movie). The reason I found these, achem, aliens to be kickin’ is the WAY they could be so human just like everybody else.

I mean, the first time I watched ET I cried. I think I was around three years old or something. And I totally loved the somewhat cheesy Mac and Me. Of course, I was with Sigourney Weaver a.k.a. Rambolina when she fought those nasty salivating thingies in the Aliens saga. All in all, I liked aliens when they were nice and hated them when they were, well, nasty. They way I would react to people, in kind.

So I have more or less, well, interfaced with aliens for the better part of my life. But I never expected to be so besotted with one.

Until Piccolo.

Why Piccolo?

Simple. He’s one of a kind. When I first got into Fushigi Yuugi a year or so ago, I came to like the Miko idea and vowed that I would make myself someone’s miko if and only if that someone is “godly” enough to deserve a miko.

When I first saw the Raditz arc of the Dragonball Z series, I thought, Hey, why not Piccolo? He’s strong, bad-assed, confident, the silent-type. Aoshi Shinomori with green skin and antennae. Add to that he is actually the “darker side” of Earth’s sort-of guardian/god, Kami.

Of course I got fully convinced of his “divine-ness” when he had mustered enough strength and purity of heart to merge with Kami in the later episodes of DBZ to become earth’s champion.

So I became Piccolo no Miko.