I do ego searches of my name when I’m bored, and usually the results show websites I’ve worked on or guestbooks I’ve signed. When I used Google’s Blog Search, however, I found something I hadn’t been aware of at all.

Some of you may be aware of a post I wrote concerning my past exploits in the Philippine cosplay world, particularly with regard to creating and naming the Pinoy Cosplay Mailing List and the use of the name “Pinoy Cosplay” by an unrelated forum website owned by a certain Mike Abundo. I resolved the issue by stating that Pinoy Cosplay ML would remain a separate and unrelated entity from PinoyCosplay.com. I thought the matter was settled; little did I know that my own name would become further embroiled in this issue.

Google’s Blog Search alerted me to posts on other blogs (particularly LiveJournals) that reproduced the text written by LJ user keiohwai warning Philippine-based fandom groups about the name-stealing activities of Mike Abundo, the guy who coopted the name “Pinoy Cosplay” for his forum website. I’m not really involved in the fandoms concerned here, but I was disturbed by the use of my name without my knowledge in what has become a forwarded email propagated to God-knows-where. I’ll quote part of the text below:

When NOELLE DE GUZMAN, founder of the pinoycosplay ML, spoke with Mike Abundo, he admitted that he did not, in fact, make a google search for the keyword term “pinoycosplay” before buying the .com domain and creating the forum.

Mike Abundo, in the latter part of the conversation with Noelle de Guzman, proposed that the pinoycosplay ML merge with his pinoycosplay.com forum, saying the mailing list would benefit from the boost of traffic that would soon visit his pinoycosplay.com site, claiming that his .com site was far more accessible to people everywhere.

Noelle De Guzman rejected the offer and said the Pinoycosplay ML will not be affiliated with Pinoycosplay.com under any circumstance. Mike Abundo chose to keep the name of his .com site, saying that he has already invested his monetary resources into the creation of his forums which, in reality, uses the format given by the invision.net service providers on the creation of an online bulletin board/forum. (emphasis mine)

This was posted to the Pinoy Cosplay ML as well earlier this month, but since I don’t regularly read the messages from there, I was unable to voice an objection to the use of my name in this context. Since then it appears to have been spread all over the Internet.

The released “Warning to Philippine-based fandom groups” is supposed to be about the activities of Mike Abundo. The gravity of his actions as described in the text speaks to what kind of person he is; I see no need to use my proper name (and use it repeatedly) when the term “the founder of the Pinoy Cosplay ML” would have been sufficient in describing who the person interacting with Abundo is.

Well-intentioned the warning may be, I feel that I need to say that I have nothing to do with the “Warning to Philippine-based fandom groups.” Next time, folks, do what the journalists do and ask first before using someone’s name in something you write. Thanks.

One of the main concerns people have when one of their favorite books gets turned into a movie is, “Will it still be essentially the same?” There’s a general trend of thought that in order to adapt a book to screen, you have to make certain changes or certain compromises to make the movie version flow better.

I’ve rarely been one of those people who’d read the book years ago and then went to see its adaptation. For me it’s mostly been the other way around: the Lord of the Rings trilogy of films, the Legends of Earthsea miniseries–I watched them before I picked up the original books. This could probably explain why I never felt strongly against the Lothlorien Elves coming to Helm’s Deep or red-skinned Ged being played by fair-skinned actor Shawn Ashmore.

I’d read the Chronicles of Narnia books back in my rosy youth, however (AKA when I was seven years old). I wondered how I’d react upon watching the 2005 film adaptation of the Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Would I be a purist, arguing that this or that wasn’t in the book, that this or that was contrary to the spirit of the book? I didn’t want to be disappointed.

Thankfully, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was an enjoyable experience. Its portrayal of Aslan was particularly powerful; I absolutely had goosebumps when Aslan was revealed for the first time halfway through the film and almost cried when he gave himself up as Edmund’s ransom. The child actors did well as the Pevensies; Edmund’s treachery and bewitching didn’t seem contrived, Peter grew from harsh older brother to noble king, Susan developed from unbeliever to faithful supporter.

The weak link in this film’s performance was the acting of the actress who played Lucy; her facial expression for wonderment was equally her expression for sorrow, or surprise, or happiness… The character of Lucy being a pivotal part in how readers experienced the wonder of Narnia, this was the only thing that nagged at me throughout the film.

Overall, though, it did bring the world of Narnia to life, though I’m not sure how people who had never read the book could have kept up with the story. (I think this is the reason why the bookstores say “Read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe before watching the movie!”)

My family loves dogs. In fact, I don’t remember a single year of my life when we didn’t have a dog in the household. Now, they weren’t always pedigreed, but they were always loved.

For the past few years, we’ve had the Dalmatian named Shaolin guarding our perimeter and warding off intruders whether big or small. (He’s also very handy when you’re feeling low and need someone who accepts you even if you have eyebags the depth of the Marianas Trench…) Now, in a development that seems all too sudden, we have a Labrador Retriever puppy we’ve named Ashton. Yes, Ashton like the actor–but I’m quite positive he’ll grow up to be better-looking. Ü

It feels like we’ve had him for a while, but we only took him home with us yesterday. Glossy black from nose to tail, bigger than his siblings, Ashton was the dominant pup in his litter. He pooped and threw up in the car as we drove home, but I’d already fallen for him and didn’t faint from disgust. Marielle is sitting outside with him right now; she absolutely adores him. Despite his barking and howling every time we leave him, he’s a gift from God. I hope we train him well.