The Ambition or Inhibition?

Well my ambition has gotten me this far, far from my friends that I miss so, drinking and smoking out, having fun and exchanging stories here and there. Life is full of mysteries, and I still have to uncover them all, time heals all wounds, yet we begin to contemplate the what if's and the what nots. Only a man would know his comfort zone, and only a man would know if he cannot handle eating and studying in a crowd. We have to be merciful in all aspects I guess... Yeah i'm a guessing man, maybe that's why I rarely gamble, only with my friends over poker, hehe! Well, I guess I LOVE the simple lifestyle, I hate complaining... so I would rather read the newspaper. Getting married would give you more responsibility... are you ready to take this on? are you sure you can? Damn, once you have uncovered how to make a Starwars Death star... you might just get to make one... but is your quality of life so Megamind to comprehend? Well I guess all i want to say is that the further we dream, the better the world should get... but NO... that is not how the hierarchy and oligarchies gave it planned for the sustainability of the country. We should be afraid of the risks, yet be men to take them on... like the rest of things we have in our bucket lists. Development should be slow, and built on the dreams of engineers and astuteness and research of lawyers in the fields. I guess I should try looking for work for the MAN... yet the MAN who understands that he also has to help out the lower rungs of society, in a wellness haven of opportunities and capacities in which they can alleviate their current situation; hence only being a better part of the quality of society. I want to be a painter, a poet and a dreamer. I would like to take over my mom's business, it's small and we do furniture, sell antiques and melancholy new wave chic items while providing the flavor of history's past. I feel like an alien at times, too discreet to fit in, yet too obvious to the glories and love... I still love being myself, even if I have to find this body, and respect it like Jesus would. Am i the son of my father, should I reflect on my past indiscretions, of opportunities lost and capabilities which I could have been making lots and lots of money on... yeah fool yourself, you are only as good as your word... yet I am Ali Baba, the man with words and a mind that runs on people's fears and joy. I am indeed ignorant, yet I will try with my best living my simple lifestyle. Is that how man should feel, to feel his real actualization and act according to his vices... that which I shall remove step by step... Am i a leech, a vampire, a werewolf, a frankenstein and a mummy? All "bee"ing pollinated and imprinted on my devious mind.. not allowing me to be me in the presence of my greatest and most lovable company. Am I am still not sure I am allowed in their circle, yet I guess I will love them even more, because that is the love which I receive in my home. You will see the truth, and the greatest answers in the eyes of the youth, every touch and every breath you make and every movement you do will affect others around you in astounding ways, it's like they can read minds... yeah it's real crazy... Bob Ong being a person who empowers me to write this weirdness on a blog. Yeah... free material, a window to my imagination, yet you would need to walk in my shoes like Johnny Walker to imagine how difficult and exciting life is. Everything presented to me is not of my own doing, yet from my own effort and ghist, even if such effort is only B-... I am still me and I long to have a simple life and provide joy to who every I may meet.. yet be humble and shy not to reveal all my dark secrets and buried heart. Home is where the birds sing, it's where you get random calls on birthdays which are simple yet special events to reconnect in time. I feel like a long way home, yet I will never know the opportunities of back there again, I am shy of greatness, yet my mind is too expensive to grasp. I forget to give way, and I do not think critically in front of my closest friends. I am indeed a "TUS" and all my sins are revealed in an instant due to my open nature and enclosed heart... yet sometimes the jackal comes out pag may atraso... o may tangkaso o tang ina.. pero kaso - aso ka! lol! the weirdness spreads yet again.

I recently bought a book, its a great hardbound architecture book with minimal living spaces that show how wonderful simple life can be. It has many solutions that can be adopted in our country, for small upscal houses or from incremental housing which Intramuros is beginning... yet is it safe to build such buildings in areas is another question. We are slaves to our sins and we are abrupt to give in to them, yet we are driven to move them forward, the reward is sometimes more responsibility which your heart cannot take, or would cost you for much more service.

Getting ready for school

Hmm, cool day yesterday, watched Deadland... the movie sucked! and Wild Target... sobra hot ni emily blunt. Friday today so I guess i'll have to finish my report about "Overview on the problems of surface and groundwater contamination by agriculture impacts in Vietnam. Already finished it and would pass it to my group mates for updating. Now I have to answer the exercise that our professor Dr. Hans Voigt has us doing.

Damn, I need to think more critically. It's kinda hard to make friends, especially if you are not used to approaching other people. Were like talking guns.. damn! Sometimes you can't help but give it to the man or just be nice and have a cool chat. I find it corny starting a talk about family to a stranger, oh well!

Oh yeah, will be going to Binh's wedding, cool vietnamese guy, his wedding is on the new year, can't wait!

New day New day New day!

Was thinking of making his own website, and maybe make some money... one day...
but for now I guess I will keep this site for me just to vent my mind off and stuff... for now...
So yeah, I began a TIME DIARY! Yes, I actually am trying to follow this routine of my day... Kinda sad being Baba Black Sheep and ali Baba at the same time. But cmon' I gotta start somewhere! So here we are mosley'ing along the day, I gotta study for my ground water management excercises today after public lecture, also I gotta clean my breakfast cup, i'm having coco pops and cina "fresh" milk. I also got some movies, but I should focus on my studies like a mofo if you know what I mean. Just watched Shrek Forever after... waa was soo scared of Rumpelstiltskin...sana hindi ako maging ganun... oh well, still miss my friends, still trying to know who I am since I don't know anything. All I know is i'm an architect who want to get into business / project management. Should look for a tutor for that. But my main concern today is my school exercises and my unknown thesis proposal... wa!

EQUALITY, let the MUSIC of our forefathers be FREE and give them their DUE FEES!

Hey tito, the thing that does not make sense is the income-differentials and the architects of the buck. We have to build people's dreams for them once we reach an age of awareness and global understanding of how this world works, we have e...xcellent standards in the field of education in the U.P. The children of the corn will come back to haunt us. We have to show mercy to the man, and offer charity as professionals, but how to live after that is called the mystery of LIFE. Stop the mafia-ish prirates and gray butterfly effects, they are all just part of daily mental defects. Till the twin towers again they erect, I shall burn bridges with my ill effects! Eminem gotta come to my stage again, if he knew how to cuss, it's all just because, the 2pac got his way right, making that buck every night, come here and sing for free, yeah! we all global wannabees! We promote GLOBAL CITIZENRY up in here! Where the world must be equal, I don't know, I don't have any money to show!

Ode to BTNH and the best star ever... our Joker, Heath Ledger... RIP brother...

Going Bizzy, getting Krazy, dying Lazy, and Wishing for that Flesh like the BTNH has it's perks; The end of the dayZ of our Lives wil begin through plastic, we need heroes like them in a world wide broadcast of the truth and awareness! And that my friends will set you free from the shackles of humanity and be at peace with the real O~"G"od! We are not the masters of our actions, yet we are privy to decide unless strapped like Jose Rizal to his post. We must look the other way and face our bullets, only then shall we see the truth of the glory which God presents us.

Media Policies on Language and Awareness

We need more Filipino movies with english subtitles. our local movies are rich in flavor, context and of course comedy.  We never fail to laugh off our mishaps and faults, yet we should promote our culture and our heritage to the fullest which in turn can spur tourism in our far flung regions and rural communities. We should make peace to Mindanao, let us begin the awareness program of language, dialects and business english.Through proper awareness of language and dialects, we can make smarter choices on the children we adopt from our rural provinces, we must help and keep contact with our lost mothers like APOL'd'AP who has ethnic background, yet grounded in developing our country through universal music and dance; this in turn is will be the necessary development for equality of speech, bringing a new awareness to accessible resources who plow our fields and suffer the hardships of rural life, the Philippine youth needs to be educated in our rural cities with the best education available, with the best resources available that is FREE; this is my understanding of what Clinton proclaimed and our president respects. We can begin by formally putting english subtitles to all our movies, be it ethnic or tagalog. We must learn our languages since they are the essence of our being global citizens. We must promote our rich culture; this in turn might finally give us all peace and pave a way to the development the Philippines deserves. The more these impoverished people die from on-comming multiplied disasters, we must rescue them, through our common language, yet also be sensitive to how we advertise our movies and shows. We must be professional on how we show media in our mega manila region, only then may be encapsulate the city and stop it's irreversible growth. 

Here is the current list of Ethnic Diversity and Dialects in our country:

There is a need to conserve our dying history, as most claim we do not even have culture. As an architect I cry at the fact that we do not have our own original housing typology, except for that which was made by our hero, Jose Rizal. We must be aware of the slavery in the Philippines, we must respect our brothers and sisters, we should be united and not fragmented in our thinking, we must believe in a brighter future for the Philippines, one with unity based on the blood of our sleepy hollows soaked in history's bliss in slavery. The next information is based on a great man from the USA, Cesar Lumba and Roal Cantada who has taught me more than I can handle on my own. Here are his words of wisdom I would like for my readers to delve into and analyze to be enlightened. Bringing back the three pm habit and the sign languages in the news, from co-hosts are a great way to respond to the 20th century.

Many decades after my journey through Philippine elementary and high school education, I now realize how inadequate my education has been about Philippine history. We who grew up in the Philippines learned world history and American history rather early in our lives, but we learned very little about our own history. The historian I grew up with was Gregorio Zaide, who in retrospect was a historian who wrote Philippine history with a decidedly western world view. Either that, or my history teachers were mere parrots owned by the West.

We were taught - in the 50s - that the Spaniards had burned books about the Philippines because those books allegedly were pagan books and were works of the devil. This was why there was very little historical information about the Philippines prior to the arrival of the Spanish cross and Eskrima.

Turns out there was a wealth of information about Philippine life, social and political structures. The scholar-historians had to do some digging, but this they did and all the juicy information about the Philippines in pre-Spanish colonial era burst into the surface. I was already in college - a full-time working student - when new research about pre-Spanish Philippines found their way into Philippine history textbooks.

The result is that there are gaping holes in my knowledge of Philippine history. I suspect that there are many in my generation who have this problem.

I was therefore very happy, in fact deliriously happy to discover the blog http://mananalaysay.blogspot.com where the excerpt below can be found.

CHANGES IN SOCIAL STRUCTURE IN 17TH CENTURY IN THE PHILIPPINES

by
Roel Cantada

"Take a look at the figure above and compare the 16th century social structure of the Philippines with that of the 17th century. What changed? What happened to the Datu? Timawa? Alipin? Who occupied the highest and lowest social statuses?

"These questions are what we will try to answer in this lesson. Notice that the highest social status is now occupied by the Spaniards and all the natives are below them. This means that wealth is not the only basis of the social classes but race as well. The implication is that no matter how wealthy a native gets he will never be equal or higher than a Spaniard in the colonial society. The racial barrier is something that will never be overcome unless the Spaniards are removed from the country.

"What if a native marry a Spaniard will their children be considered Spaniards? The answer is no, the Spaniards consider only pure blooded Spaniards, and half-breeds whom will be called mestizos later on (creoles in Latin America) will not be accepted equal to Spaniards. But in the 17th century there is not enough half-breeds to constitute a separate class.

"During this time the Spaniards coined three terms to refer to the natives of the Philippines. They called the natives who had converted to Catholicism indios, the muslim moros, and the pagans of the Cordilleras in Luzon, igorots. All three terms had bad connotations and should be avoided today. Both the datu’s family and the timawa are now called indios which when translated in the native languages would be equivalent to Tagalog, Visaya, Bikolano etc. The word indio is a word used by the Spaniards to refer to the natives of Latin America, wherein Columbus I think made a mistake when he thought that he was in India when in fact he was in another continent. In English it is the same as calling the natives of North America Indians. It is also related to the terms Indonesia, East Indies (Philippines and Indonesia) , and West Indies (Cuba, Haiti etc.).

"Returning to our figure, you would have noticed that the lowest class is now occupied by the timawas. What happened to the alipins? They were freed or natimawa by the Spaniards. The King of Spain issued a proclamation banning slavery (esclavitud in Spanish), and the Pope also issued a bull stating the same and even threatening excommunication for anyone keeping a native slave. But these proclamations where not automatically enforced because there was one curious thing about the implementation of Spanish laws in the Philippines: the governor general can decide which laws to implement and when given the current conditions and because of the distance from Spain. It takes months before communication with Spain arrives and consultation would have been impossible for emergencies. It probably took a hundred years before slavery disappeared. Until the 17th century some Pampangan datus were reported to have filed cases in Manila against their slaves who had escaped. The Spaniards being weak and under threat from Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch and muslims tribes from the south did not want to alienate their datu allies. Rather it was the next generation who had converted to Catholicism and integrated the values of Christianity taught by the church that had resulted in the freeing of slaves.

"Of course for the Timawa the implication was not good, they had become the lowest class and lost prestige. In fact by the 17th century the word timawa is no longer associated with being free or freedom, something positive, but with being destitute, poor, and always hungry. Today no one wants to be called timawa, because it has been equated with being a slave rather than being free. But as late as 1896 during the Philippine revolution Andres Bonifacio used it in his poem to mean free. Later on they would coin the new word malaya (free) to avoid the negative connotations of the word timawa.

"The datus did not go unscathed by the freeing of the slaves. The power of the datus in the 16th century was based on slavery. The slaves did the extra farm work that provided more crops and they served as rowers in the balangay boat for warfare. Without the slaves the datus lost prestige, wealth and military power. Later on we will talk about how the Spaniards substituted other institutions for datus to remain higher than the timawas."

Who were the datus and what were their perks and privileges? In much of the Philippines, the datus were the political leaders and the owners of vast farms, called the bukid or kabukiran. They owned many slaves, which were differentiated according to whether they lived in their own houses (namamahay) or lived in makeshift shelters on the grounds of the datus' houses (sagigilids).

Because the Catholic Church forbade slavery in the 17th century, the slaves were technically freed from bondage and ascended to the status of timawas, free men who were mostly poor but who counted among them some rich families who excelled in commerce. The datus technically no longer had slaves (alipins) but in practice still had them because the people who owed them money had to repay them through involuntary servitude.

The Spaniards were not willing to cross the datus because they needed those datus as allies against foreign invaders such as the notorious Chinese bandit, Limahong. This was the reason slavery persisted even after the Catholic Church mandated the abolition of slavery in the Philippines and other Spanish colonies.

The alipins, as an institution in the Philippines' social structure, have been formally absent since the 17th century, but in reality many Filipinos functioned as alipins until the the Land Reform Act in the 1960s was passed. Prior to Land Reform, many tenants of the biggest landlords were virtual slaves, working off debts to the landlords - for medicines, for rice seeds (palay), for operating capital for their small farms.

Until political correctness became fashionable, the treatment of housemaids and houseboys in the Philippines hearkened back to that earlier period in the country's history, when whole generations of pre-Spanish "Filipinos" were functioning as slaves.

The Spaniards as a ruling class have of course disappeared. They have been absorbed into the great mass of educated elites. Economically, the rich Chinese have replaced the Spaniards. Unlike the Spaniards, the Chinese tend to be as pliant and adaptable as the bamboo and have blended seamlessly into Philippine society. The Chinese are rich and powerful, but they are decidedly Filipino. They have never once hinted that they are superior to the local population the way the Spaniards saw themselves as being.

Going back to Philippine slaves. Slavery in the Philippines still exists today in the Filipino people's psyche. Many of the dirt poor people in the provinces behave as though their rich, landed patrons owned them.

The quality of Philippine democracy rests on the backs of people who have never known true independence and freedom. The masses who vote in Philippine elections - most Filpinos who are of voting age vote - are not voting their consciences but are voting choices dictated by their patrons and virtual masters.

This is how the powerful in the country retain power. The rich and influential people align themselves with their chosen candidates and generally deliver the votes in their spheres of influence.

The leftists in the 60s referred to Philippine democracy as de-mock-cracy. It was and still is a mockery, since most people in the provinces who cast their votes are not casting votes for their choices. They are mere clones of their patrons at the voting booths.

People talk about the utang na loob institution. Add to that the slave complex as a social institution.

The few who rule over the local economies and the local corridors of power are allowed to choose their candidates, while the great mass of the people echo those choices. This is why there are so many political dynasties in the Philippines. It is an important reason why the same people keep running and winning political offices in the Philippines, regardless of their abysmal records of service. Known jueteng and drug lords continue to be re-elected. It's always the same families, the same political groups, the same corrupt politicians that keep winning political offices there.

The rich and powerful decide who should retain or ascend to political power, while the great mass of political slaves make sure that the will of the rich and powerful is enforced in the ballot box.

The obvious question from all this discussion is this: if the great mass of voters in the Philippines act as ideological slaves of their padrinos (patrons) and not as independent agents who vote their consciences and according to their own ideologies and convictions, is true democracy possible in the Philippines?

Would the Philippines not be better off under the rule of a benevolent dictator? True, we tried this with Marcos and were greatly disappointed. Marcos was, in the language of today's youth, a bad, mean dude, but not every man or woman in the Philippines is a potential Marcos. Absolute power need not corrupt absolutely.

If Noynoy does what he promised to do in the campaign and the Philippines becomes a much better place and country, Filipinos should start thinking of keeping Noynoy as president for the long-term. He cannot be a Lee Kwan Yew if his term is limited to six years. The constitution would have to be amended to allow Noynoy to succeed himself for another term and after that for still another term, so don't hold your breath.

So far, Noynoy despite his glaring mistakes in judgment and execution is following through on his promises. The country is becoming stronger economically and slowly gaining admirers as a modern state. The world, especially the U.S., is eating out of Noynoy's hands. If he keeps this up, the country may find itself in its first golden age.

It is beginning to look like the masters and the slaves found someone who would lead the Philippines for the benefit of all, not just the masters. We will watch the developments in the Philippines in the coming months and years while keeping our fingers crossed.

http://nykos2.blogspot.com/2010/10/slavery-in-philippines.html

Here are current figures from 2000, based on the Central Intelligence Agency website.

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/docs/notesanddefs.html

¢Ethnic Diversity:

¢Multiple ethnicities, and cultures are found throughout the islands.

¢Ecologically, the Philippines is one of the most diverse countries in the world.

¢Languages:

¢Filipino (official; based on Tagalog) and English (official);

¢ 8 major dialects –

¢Tagalog (28.1%),

¢Cebuano (13.1%)

¢Ilocano (9%)

¢Hiligaynon or Ilonggo (7.5%)

¢Bicol (6%

¢Waray (3.4%)

¢Bisaya/Binisaya 7.6%

¢Others such as Pampango, and Pangasinan (25.3%)

¢(2000 census, CIA)

NEO meets Germany and Vietnam

Doing the MAtrix action again... looking for signs, not omens, He will take my life if he wills it. Will watch Harry Potter, and then go to a furniture store, C something, yet make before we leave... pupu, hehe! :D Holly Jolly times!
Shutterflies should come before me!

COP16 | CMP6 - Special Climate Change Program - Mexico's Actions

COP16 | CMP6 - Special Climate Change Program - Mexico's Actions

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

NIPSEY HUSSLE-THE HUSTLE WAY 2009

Mission Vision

I am trying to make my utopia theory possible, I will post random links and sites that may support my models and maybe even post some pictures of my sketches. Also, most of the things posted here maybe already found in other sites, I do hope these people let me post their ideas here... Anyways, no1 really reads my blogs so I will just put things here, from weird stuff, music that keep me running and intense technologies that make me crazy and excited to battle climate change... it may even be a portfolio where I can find links for my up coming thesis, so... why am I writing to myself... It's a blog dammit! hehe!
To anybody hurt by my words and actions, hear my humble apologies, i'm still a boy trying to be a man.

It maybe hard to follow my mission, since we are all soldiers who will march on as we plan our days,
Follow this and let go of the dead, the pain and the revenge in their words might sting...
Quality
Service
and
Commitment...
is what we can depend on.

Eminem - Where I'm At (Solo) - You buzzin Man, lets all do our Jobs and move on...! The raven speaks!

Crazy times in my crazy mind :D

War is upon us if you let it, who likes war, id rather have dance offs instead. Our youth is the only way to ensure the global sustainability. I pray for the new leader of N.Korea to be as childish as I am, I hope he has dreams and aspirations to develop his country and looking into the eyes of the beholder, to walk like the rest of his country men in their shoes. They must trust him like I trust my president, we are both small countries, what can we do, create more land? I hope he uses his nuke reserves for good,  I don't really see any good in nuke power sources, externalities from emissions will still deplete our ozone layer. Renewable sources are the way of the future. We have to think green, not green as in marijuana, but green as in trees, life giving trees. I do hope that we do not come to the day that the trees start eating us like the Venus Fly traps and zombies vs plants... Go plants! yey! oh well, Lessons are learned through experiences, and I feel like I want to believe in everything this world has to offer. Damn that movie inception... Gotta love it!


I'm too lax for my own good so i'll just write it down here for some random dude to appreciate it, hehe!


I will wait for the day, like North Korea, to see peace and order in this world, to believe what I see on TV is real, and know that my dreams can come true. There is a cycle of hate that surround the world, the optimists have to use guns that do not kill to get the message, positivity has a straight shot to the heart... pwede din "headshot"... as more zombies walk this earth of ours, let us all reduce the zombies within us... like 2pac said.. let me live!


I see the third industrial revolution as a spark for global peace and unity. Once we are at one with the globe, maybe we can all use swords again to stop the ill effects of weapons to the environment. Damn these "weapons of mass destruction." Even Albert Einstein had it better, he knew that we relatively have to change in order to evolve. How can we evolve if we do not even consider ourselves equals. The world is still upsy-turby and yeah, it gets crazy at times. Listen to your loved ones, and believe that there is a greater mystery to life (it's called faith in the real, now and beyond). I may read this one day again, damn blogging, gets me scared since I might get hooked... thanks Francis for the journal idea. Anyways, we will be urban rivals until we speak our minds and battle our fears. 


My life is a bit chaotic right now, being a roman catholic does have its perks yet seeing the priests regard the issue about "responsible" sex has gotten me perked up. It is nice to see how my faith will considers my sexual adventures since I never really took it into consideration before, there are many sacred laws out there which we will have to be mature enough to see and recognize... It usually comes of age I think, what age... uhm, depends since I can still remember 2 uber young kids having babies (where the hell did they get that idea.. I suppose they should get married, lol! Too young to explore the possibilities, oh well! True love does exist!


Oh well, I pray to the Lord to bring peace and love to the world, let it be platonic with your peers or sexual with your wife. The future is the only destination we will never see, so live futuristic now and know how to deal with your future sins like i'm currently trying to do. I always regret what I hear, say and speak since it may remind me of a past sin of mine, but i'm glad since its an opportunity foe me to confess my sins to the Lord and hope he never puts those thoughts into my head again since I will have to pay for it in the afterlife, be it heaven or hell. Only God can judge me.

Yosef.P.I. R.I.P.

Ok let the prophet speak...
Let it be whoever whatever a raven or a bald eagle that's got to open it's beak,
maybe just another hypnotized damn geek,
who is lost in a world of confusion trying to seek,
Oh Lord please make me meek...
I hate venting to the world but damn...
how hard does it have to be if you think you can;
you dream, you sleep, but then in the day,
Bone Thugs all you can do is pray,
when you see your zombies and nightmares astray,
damn this world's going down,
burning towns like your own personal ash tray.
Damn you made me think it's the end of days,
I see judgment as I walk this valley,
of life or death, black or white, maybe even gray;
we don't see the banner signs since they upside down rallies,
down time hustlers still know how to pray,
makes them all crazy doin' it everyday,
Damn the priests who gotta make the tallies.

Count your sins or count your blessings,
listen more to the chorus and the melodies they singin',
I hope and pray you got your new beginnings,
Since it makes a fool like me... try to stop from the sinnin'.
Damn the joker and two-face got me on a vice,
he keeps givin' me the wrong looks and advice,
You look one, twice ever thrice,
Yeah it's me your playing with, the devil with the dice,
gamble all you want keep it good,
coz' we all believe in the good, the bad, the what should.
Coz' i may not be from the streets, but I know the hunger,
trying to provide this great divide,
damn shit why did you commit suicide,
another lyrical onslaught of a shrieking he-ban-shee,

If we start thinking global, try spreading the love,
that's what I friend said, keep spreading that one love,
I wish I was forgiven for my soul to rest,
I hope this ain't temptation yet just another test.
This rap ain't for the money nor a glory from the beast,
It's just a simple cry which all my demons will love to feast,
I'm just a lover not a fighter, I believed even in defeat.
That's how they go black, how my rivers run deep.
I wish I could start to revive what I began when I was a boy,
Thinking everything was just a simple toy,
My childish mind can't help but enjoy,
These are my dreams, of just a boy...

balikwazs,blingzy one,newcklid,abaddon (SINO BA?).

Bone Thugs - Pay What You Owe(New Rap Song 2010)

Bizzy Bone - Cheaters - Official Video

Batman and Robin = When greed became good, Chaos did too... Such masterful beautiful pestilence

"You can reach out of this cell and kill at will.  And I can’t stop you.  You proved your point.  Let her go."

Batman is racing to find a little girl who has been tied up, thrown in the trunk of a submerged car and hooked up to an oxygen tank that’s about to run out.  The story jumps back and forth from that battle to get the girl to mere minutes beforehand when Batman breaks into the Joker’s cell at Arkham Asylum.  Batman has it in his head that the Joker is somehow involved though he’s been locked safely away for some time. 

The two have a back and forth that feels very much like Silence of the Lambs.  The Joker wants to play and Batman, seeing there’s nothing he can do to force Joker to talk, must begrudgingly agree.  As the two continue to talk, Batman begins to unravel how the Joker did it.  The man responsible for the girl’s kidnapping and possible murder was in the cell next to the Joker’s.  Through a very clever form of communication, Joker manages to infect the man’s mind.  Upon his release, the man hides his daughter in the trunk, sinks the car and kills himself but not before alerting the police, and thereby Batman, to the situation. 

Eventually, the Joker gets bored and divulges the location of the girl, telling Batman:

"This isn’t fun anymore."

Of course Batman finds and rescues the girl in time but it is when he returns to ask Joker why he just offered up the information that we discover the Joker’s evil intent.  He explains that he knows Batman very well and knows that he’ll always approach a hostage situation assuming the victim is dead.  He knows Batman never allows himself to hope. 

"Oh, sure you do everything you can to save them because that’s you.  But you don’t really dare hope, do you?  After tonight though…you’ll never be able to do that again.  Will you?"

So, Joker wins that one.  Chuck Dixon wrote this issue and his veteran status in the industry is apparent.  He manages to add a new layer to a hero/villain scenario that so few have been able to do.  Balancing the conversation set piece in the cell to the action sequences of Batman fighting to get to the girl by jumping back and forth creates a real sense of urgency.

Brian Stelfreeze’s art is, as always, awesome.  I wish he’d draw ten books a month.  All of his compositions seem to contain nothing but triangles and hard lines.  His take on Batman is one of my favorites, it’s almost as if you could prick your finger on one of his "ears".  It’s a fantastic issue, almost always overlooked.

This story consists, almost entirely, of nothing but Batman kicking the living shit out of Joker.  It takes place within a larger story, a mystery that has Batman at his wit’s end.  It appears that the Joker has murdered a childhood friend of Bruce Wayne’s and it’s the last straw.  In an alley way, during a storm, Batman mercilessly pummels the Joker, as Joker insists he is innocent.


There is very little dialogue in this issue, most of the talking is Batman’s internal monologue.  Good thing then, that the issue (and entire run of the larger arc) was written by Jeph Loeb, a master of the "thought bubble".  Loeb takes us into Batman’s head as he convinces himself to finally kill the Joker.  In Batman’s linear, logical way he goes through each event for which the Joker should have already died.  You find yourself reading and beginning to agree, there is no other answer but death.  You almost begin to worry about the Joker.


Uber-artist Jim Lee penciled the issue gorgeously and reminds us why he’s the industry’s best.  The cross-hatching, the deep shadows, the impossibly-thin line work is electric. But in this issue it’s Batman’s flashbacks of the Joker’s most horrid crimes that Lee painted in watercolor which are most effective.  The memories are so vivid that we feel how much they must eat away at Bruce.


"There is nothing I can do to him that would cause him the agony that he has brought upon others.  But I can come close." 
At a certain point, Catwoman shows up to stop Batman from doing something she knows he’ll regret.  So determined is he that he exploits a gunshot wound in Catwoman’s shoulder and knocks her out.  He assures himself that she’ll understand later.  Ultimately, Joker find salvation at the hands of the one man he took the most from, one of Batman’s oldest friends.  This friend insists, by firing a gun at Batman no less, that killing Joker would make Batman no better.  He explains that sometimes the law fails us but there’s a line that cannot be crossed.


"How many more lives are we going to let him ruin?"
"I don’t care.  I won’t let him ruin yours."
So while the Joker definitely doesn’t win this one, he still manages to cheat death until another day.  What makes this issue so important to the two characters is the reminder of how inextricably linked they are, chaos and order, black and white, good and evil.  Theirs is a dance until the end.




"The Joker will yet have the last laugh!"
The title says it all, their first confrontation in the first issue of Batman’s own ongoing book.  The Joker started here and would keep appearing in incarnation after incarnation with his nemesis Batman until this day.  When we first meet the Joker, there is no backstory given whatsoever, adding to his mystique and the overall frightening nature of the demented clown.  Right off the bat, the Joker is announcing a murder he will commit at midnight that night, with little care for the police or the strange figure of the night "Bat-Man".


The Joker makes good on his promise and murders the man.  He announces another daring murder and is successful in that endeavor as well.  By the end of the issue, the Joker has managed to kill four prominent members of Gotham society.  Three of the four die with a smile involuntarily stretched across their faces.  That’s exceedingly creepy now; think of how bad it must have been before the second World War.  It’s not until he kidnaps a snooping Robin that Batman is able to track him down.  After holding his own against the Dynamic Duo, the Joker is overcome by their fighting prowess and thrown in jail but he vows to escape.


This story was drawn by Batman’s credited creator Bob Kane and the Joker’s credited creator Jerry Robinson, the art was at its peak for comics in that day.  We wouldn’t think much of it now, but for two guys churning these stories out in a week, it’s damn good.  The tale was written by Bill Finger, a man many feel had a very large role is the development of Batman and his rouges gallery but never really got the credit he deserves.  His story is grim, violent and deliciously melodramatic.
I like to think about these three men and what they were thinking while putting this together.  Did they have any inkling of the impact they’d have on history, of the billions of dollars that would be made, of the legions of die-hard fans that would follow their odd creation their whole lives?  "Little did they know…" is the appropriate phrase I suppose.
On a side note, this is a page from the story.  In the middle row look at the panel on the right.

"Why does everyone keep talking to me about stamps?"
This is one of my favorite comics to read over and over again.  The premise is simple; The U.S. Postal Service releases a series of stamps depicting the great comedians of all time, the Joker is not included among them.  This sends the Joker, obviously, into a homicidal rage.  He takes a post office hostage and demands appropriate recognition for all the smiles he’s given the world.  In no time, Batman and Robin arrive and stop his spree.  He is arrested and the Gotham legal system prepares to send the Joker on another trip to Arkham.


That is, until, a fearless, young, assistant D.A. convinces the department to reject the usual incompetency plea and try and nail him with multiple murder one counts and go for the death penalty.  It seems that there are poisoned stamps all over the country.  People licking them are dying instantly with the Joker’s trademark rictus grin.  It has the Clown Prince of Crime’s signature all over it.  The only problem is, he may not be responsible for the stamps.  The trial moves forward and there is a media frenzy.  The Joker attempts to intimidate everyone in the courtroom while the A.D.A. makes the trial more about all of the Joker’s past crimes and his utter pride in them, rather than the stamp murders for which he is on trial.  All the while, Batman’s unquenchable thirst for truth goes unabated.  He and Robin begin their own investigation into the murders and it becomes more and more apparent that the Joker is innocent…not that he cares.


Eventually the Joker is found guilty and sentenced to death.  As Batman gets closer and closer to being able to prove the Joker’s innocence he has to ask himself if he should.  The question of law vs. justice is put under the microscope as well as Batman’s possible responsibility for everything the Joker has done.


"Justice cuts both ways sometimes.  Everyone pays for their crimes.  One way or another."


Chuck Dixon makes his second appearance on this list and it’s even better than the first.  This story is like Batman meets Law and Order.  Add to that it’s very funny.  He does a wonderful job of making the Joker hilarious and in the next heartbeat, terrifyingly deranged.  Graham Nolan’s pencils are streamlined and his panel arrangement flows seamlessly.  That says nothing of his compelling facial expressions which are perfect throughout the whole book.  So does he die?  Escape?  It’s worth the read.


Our final piece is the final chapter in a giant, year long crossover story.  Gotham City has been ravaged by an earthquake.  Deemed uninhabitable, the city is cut off by the U.S. government, giving its residents a deadline to leave.  Anyone left behind would be trapped in a No Man’s Land.  Of course both the angels and demons stay behind, staking claims and dividing up what’s left of Gotham while reigning over the citizens left there.  Batman, his team of vigilantes, Commissioner Gordon, and every good cop left in Gotham attempt to bring the city back from hell while Two-Face, The Joker, Penguin and others attempt to take the ruined city for themselves.

The end of the story takes place on Christmas Eve.  Having learned that the government’s No Man’s Land policy may be ending with the start of the new year, the Joker makes his move.  He eliminates the competition and nearly kills Batman’s ally the Huntress.  His ultimate plan is to kill every infant born in Gotham City since No Man’s Land began.
Ultimately, he plans to murder hope.  Announcing his intentions to the last of Gotham’s heroes, they fan out around the ruins searching for the babies and the Joker himself.  But the Joker is one step ahead of everyone and waits for the time to be right.  While the manic search continues, Gordon’s wife (also a cop) informs her husband that her walkie-talkie is broken.  Not wanting a breakdown in communication to occur, Gordon tells his wife Sarah to head back to police headquarters to get a new one.  Guess who is waiting there with thirty-six infants?

When Sarah gets there, she finds the Joker standing amongst the children, cradling one infant in his arms.  Sarah draws her gun and demands Joker put the child down.  Joker then draws his own pistol and holds it to the baby’s head.  Sarah continues to attempt to force the Joker to let go of the infant.  He begins to talk, trying to scare her, confuse her and then he tosses the crying baby at Sarah.  She drops her gun and rushes to catch it, she does.  As she kneels on the floor and cradles the baby safely, the Joker puts his gun to her head says "Merry Christmas." and pulls the trigger.  He leaves her body amongst the children, walks out and simply surrenders.

So does it work?  Does the Joker win?  Well, again I feel the ultimate ending is too good to spoil.  But I can tell you, either way it’s up to you to decide.


"We’ve all gone too far.  Look at them.  Look at us.  They can’t take anymore.  It’s time to bring our people back Jim."
Both the writing and artistic duties were split.  Greg Rucka and Devin Grayson scripted it and Damion Scott and Dale Eaglesham provided the interiors.  There isn’t much to say about the story itself other than how perfect it is.  The pacing is perfect, the urgency is palpable and the ultimate payoff is ambiguous.  While Dale Eaglesham’s art has become much better and more sought after these days, it feels rushed and sloppy here.

Scott’s on the other hand is an odd fit.  I call it odd because his style could be described as cartoony but the subject matter he tackles here is still shocking and vibrant.  Flipping from one artist to another within the same book can be very jarring but Rucka and Grayson’s story is strong enough to look beyond that.  They give us one of the Joker’s most evil moments and show us an emotionally exhausted Batman, reminding us of the human being under the cape and cowl.

Mike Swift & J-Hon - Sold Us A Dream [Music Video]

Indian Thriller with English Lyrics!