Into the Wild

In the best-selling book Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer extends the sad story of Christopher McCandless, who's body was found in an abandoned bus in the Alaskan wilderness.

Inspired by the article he wrote for the Outside, Krakauer retraces the travels of Chris McCandless (known early on under the moniker Alex Supertramp) and interprets what could have pushed this intelligent young man to give up his family, his huge savings, his car and what's left in his wallet to begin his misadventures in the snow-covered trails of Alaska. Imagine living only with roots, berries, (and a few game like moose) for food. Chris McCandless reportedly died of starvation, but you'll have to read the book to find out what happened, as described in detail by Krakauer.

I came across this book because of the movie soundtrack, a solo by Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam's front man). Yes, this has been adapted into a movie with the same title directed by Sean Penn, with Emile Hirsch getting an Oscar nomination this year for his performance as Chris McCandless.

This book gave me the melancholy I needed last Holy Week--it made me think that there are misadventures that are funny or stupid for most but are actually empowering for some.

The Deathly Hallows in two movies?

Having become a fan myself after reading 6 of the Harry Potter book series, I must agree with most fans saying that the movie adaptations lack details--confusing non-readers (making them less appreciative of the stories) and disappointing avid-readers (omitted parts turned out changing some important twists). I think that's the reason for splitting book 7, The Deathly Hallows, into two movies. If that's a treat (well, fans just can't get enough, I can't!), we'll see what happens when production starts rolling. In the meantime, my wife (who's on book 3 The Goblet of Fire) and I are looking forward to The Half-Blood Prince, which is due for release November this year.

Goodbye to Harry Potter's avuncular headmaster

It is today that I felt like I have been hit by the Avada Kedavra killing curse--Professor Albus Dumbledore, headmaster at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, is killed in The Half-Blood Prince, the 6th Harry Potter book. I knew this major character's gay (does it matter?) but I thought all along that he'll see through Harry until the last book. I don't know, but I don't have a copy of The Deathly Hallows yet and I ought to start reading Jon Krakauer's Into The Wild.

But can a more-adult book distract me from staying hooked? You should have seen my family's addiction last Sunday--Marcus on The Sorcerer's Stone, my wife on The Prisoner of Azkaban, Kurt on The Order of The Phoenix, I watching the movie.

Merlin's beard!

I-Must-Have #4 - Harry Potter Eyeglasses

Yes, I want that wire-rimmed eyeglasses worn by Harry Potter. But of course not the toy!

The pair I'm using right now is giving me afternoon headaches. It's also rounded, but kind of makes me look nerdy (it's made of titanium by Dior though). I need a new one that's 500-strong (former's 475).

Is this how addicted I have become of the wizard boy? Harry Potter has become some sort of the rekindled kid in me--reminds me of how I used to imagine myself having magical powers (like pretend-flying in my towel-cape, using a short bamboo stick as sword or wand, with friends battling in our own version of 'taya-tayaan' or 'patintero'). Besides the books, the movies got me (and my kids) hooked, only recently though.

Silly, I needn't look like Harry Potter.

Back to Harry's Fourth Year

Yep, I'm reading faster now I'm done with Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner in 3 days. Not that I have full days doing nothing but read, I just got faster (well, my son Kurt still beats me to 700-pagers).

I'm now back to the almost half unread Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I promised myself I'll be done with it before the week ends so I can see the movie with the kids.

Call me a late bloomer on Harry Potter fandom but the series brought me to a world that you'd think only a child can appreciate. But leafing through the pages I'm a child again--book after book--it's not the magic and charms that hooked me, it's the obvious simplicity, the exciting rhythm of scenes, words, characters, and conflicts--and ultimately its theme being of death.

The father in me is actually telling me--to appreciate what makes your kids smile, see it through the kid in you. And on I read...

Curiosity awakens the bookworm in us

What I initially thought as an easier way of inducing back my son's interest in books turned out to be more than curiosity and fascination--it became a race and an addiction for us thanks to J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series.

I'm desperately trying to catch up with my son Kurt's faster reading--he's now shuffling through the thicker Book 5 Order of the Phoenix while I'm two books behind him as I've only started with the first few chapters of the third book The Prisoner of Azkaban. We've only started reading the series last October already Kurt is an expert on Hogwarts stuff--from Diagon Alley shops and spells to magical potions, Quidditch rules and broomsticks--I actually appreciate Harry Potter now more than when the first book became popular and back when Kurt was just starting to learn to crawl.

I promised Kurt I'll buy him the movie version every time he finishes a book. This made the reading task more exciting and fulfilling--we get to see (compare and discuss) how each book is interpreted in the movie adaptation. I'd tell you to read the book/s first so you can fully appreciate the movie, which I did and am now a big fan my son and I can't wait to wrap up the race to the last book.

I hate to say it but I guess we've become mystified ourselves--bookworms are we--as they call it in the Muggle world.

On Harry Potter fever

We're (my eldest son Kurt and I) on it... though I did not really like the series (I miss Sydney Sheldon, bless his soul).

My intention was to make Kurt (and hopefully Marcus too) read books, that's all. While he is fond of kid-stuff magazines, science compilations, and dinosaur/outer space write-ups, I wanted him to start with mainstream books and later on introduce him to classics.

He initially found the first Harry Potter interesting, but not too interesting to keep him glued to a seat and read it chapter after chapter. Until I heard him talk about Hogwarts, Quidditch, and some magic spells. He asked us to buy the movies and that started it--he hardly puts the book down (even fakes sleep to take a peek).

I already bought the first four titles for him (here's wishing there's still enough paperback copies of the rest), already he's done with the two after only two weeks (in between reviews for his periodical exams!). Now, I'm doing my own reading and I hope I can catch up. Here's to knowing You-Know-Who!

Must-Read: Managing Employees from Hell

Yup, you read it right, this book "A Survival Guide to Managing Employees from Hell: Handling Idiots, Whiners, Slackers, and Other Workplace Demons" published in 2006, is a must-read for your day-to-day people management headaches.

In my experience as manager, I actually find problem employees (as tagged by most) to be special, in that, behind the sorely negative work attitude and offish personalities they're a very capable, talented bunch--only if you know how to make them be. It's a hit and miss though, there are those who've uncovered their special self and those that simply won't hack it, but you.

Don't forget to complement your reading with the book published earlier "A Survival Guide for Working with Bad Bosses: Dealing with Bullies, Idiots, Back-Stabbers, and Other Managers from Hell."

Bothered by A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon

Right about now, I've finished Mark Haddon's 'A Spot of Bother,' his follow-up to his first best-seller 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.'

Took me a week to finish the book as it has become a bother of sorts as I attempted to squeeze reading in between train and cab rides to and fro the office.

The novel centers on the Hall family--how they start losing control in dealing with a retired father going insane over eczema, the single-mom-daughter who's about to marry what everyone thought as the wrong guy, a perfectly-sane and gay son who seems to be the hero of the day, and the mother, who at her age, is sharing fairy tale nights (actually days) with another man. It's entertainingly funny, while at times I had a hard time picking up, what with the use of UK slang. But it's true to form (whatever that means) in that it depicts what the characters ought to be thinking (and saying) at each encounters.

Haddon wins here in giving you a taste of the London family life, though it would have been a different attack if it ever happened here.