Back into the Labyrinth

Way back in high school, I fell in love with Jareth. I would stare at the moon and imagine a snowy white owl swooping onto my window ledge, transforming into this mysterious, gorgeously garbed and breathtakingly handsome king who would offer me the world if only I loved him. *Swoon*

What girl could resist? Of course, he was the Goblin King with frightful looking minions, but that was just a trifling matter to me then.

Needless to say, Jim Henson' LABYRINTH became the pixie dust that transformed my mundane life into something so much more exciting. My friends and I obsessed about getting the Sarah look: long straight hair with the bangs clipped to the side, a long flowing shirt, vest, slim jeans, flat brown shoes, and a fancy charm bracelet. A trip to the National Library near Intramuros became a make-believe trek through the labyrinth facing "dangers unknown and hardships unnumbered". Did I mention that we memorized the movie lines and song lyrics? We also became die-hard David Bowie fans because to us he was and will forever be Jareth.

LABYRINTH really meant --mean-- so much to me that when I found the manga, BACK INTO THE LABYRINTH, continuing the story, I had no compunctions at all (maybe a little; I am, after all, an OC person) about buying it, budget be damned.

However, it was a purchase that I am now regretting. The storyline is too derivative, and too obviously that. It was liberally laced with Harry Potter devices; the main character, Toby -- the baby in the movie -- is now inexplicably the Goblin King's heir in the story. He is weakly written and so unlikeable. I also just absolutely hated it that they worked certain scenes and narrative devices from the movie into it. I didn't need to be reminded every page or so that this was the sequel to the movie! For instance, they showed the statue of Hoggle taking a leak at the entrance of the labyrinth, echoing the movie. There are also repeated lines of "through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, etc." Thing is, this isn't Sarah' story anymore. I wish it were.

The beauty of LABYRINTH for me was its imagination and the world of what-ifs it opened. This manga showed me nothing but been-there, done-that scenes instead.

One saving grace, though, is that it reminded me of why Howl's character (Howl's Moving Castle) completely enchanted me. Howl could have been a younger Jareth, or his younger brother.

It just occured to me, though, right now that they have turned Jareth in the manga into a flamboyant, and unscrupulous version of Howl in this manga. Grrr.

I wish that this could've been written better if only to do justice to Jim Henson's vision and genius.

Lazy Day-sies

As the title implies, I'm somewhat at a loss at what to do. Make that, too lethargic to do anything. Plus, a slight migraine has completely ruined any appetite to gallivant outside.

It's a holiday today, a welcome treat following so closely on the heels of the Holy Week. I've been looking forward to this day for some R&R, but you know what they say about all the best-laid plans, and all that.

Howl's Moving Castle (Dianna Wynne Jones) beckons but I'm adamantly searching online for re-upholsters in the neighborhood. We are woefully out of chairs. B has managed to maul all but 2 of our dining chairs (further proof of a need to diet :-) ). The one he didn't wreck, my cousin C took the honor of doing it in on his first visit to the house. I'm using the remaining chair in my study area.

I had wanted to have two storage benches customized for the dining area, but the price quotation of the furniture maker we asked last week had me gaping in incredulity. So right now I'm weighing the relative merits of just having my poor dining chairs re-upholstered.

Later, maybe I'll have time to travel with Sophie in her adventures with Howl. Much later, I'll go back to reading Fruits Basket online, the first manga I will ever read. I was tempted to read the Inuyasha manga, but then the anime is so much fun. I'm in withdrawal though because the series ended just last week.

I'll be having a book fair at the office come Monday and I can't wait to get my hands on Hunger Games and Catching Fire (Suzanne Collins). I've read both in B's iPod but I am a confessed book fetishist: I'd rather be holding a book than reading the story from an eBook gadget. B said, though, that our local bookstore has an ongoing promotion, and why not just check it out if all I wanted were discounts? Speaking of Hunger Games, both of us are doing a countdown to the release date of Mockingjay, which is coming out this August. Proof of our excitement: B was insisting last week that the books were in the local warehouses already because how then could our bookstore have a price for it already when it's just April?

Might try to read Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver next. I'm dragging my feet though because I've had my fill already of werewolves and vampires. But Shiver's list of awards is making me curious about it.

That's it for now.