Better on a Birthday

Today is the 7th death anniversary of my father in law, and former comic book illustrator Rudy Florese. Ilyn and I went to SPC Memorial to visit his grave. To those who have been to SPC Memorial, the place is absolutely HUGE. But in the acres and acres of land area, and hundreds upon hundreds of graves, we were the only two people there, aside from the tricycle driver who volunteered to wait for us.

It was a very nice visit. Very quiet. Very solemn. It allowed us to really reflect on the person whose resting place we visited.

More and more I think it's better to visit relatives who have passed away on the anniversary of their death, or even much better, on their birthday. Me, I would like that. If I died, I really would like it if people visited my grave on my birthday rather than on November 1 or 2 when every single freakin' denizen of the city would be there, turning the entire place into a circus.



That video was taken 4 years ago. It was one of the last times we visited SPC Memorial on November 1. As you can see, the crowd is insane. How can one quietly reflect in a circus like that?

That said I already have a small plot of land reserved for me at SPC Memorial when I die. All four of us in my family do. My mom, my dad, my brother and I. Some people think it's a morbid idea to purchase the plot of land you're going to be buried in well in advance (my dad bought the 4 lots for us sometime in the early 1980's), but I believe it's only practical.

I mean all those 4 lots we bought for only 4000 pesos at the time. Today? I can't even imagine. Today each lot may well be more than P20,000. Lots more I'm sure as I'm only basing this price on how much it was in 2003.

Back to birthdays. Yeah, I would love it if people come to visit my grave on my birthday. And if you can bring a Batman and Robin birthday cake, complete with a Batcave, I believe I would be extremely happy.

April Fool

There you go. I just unleashed another April Fool's gag at my main blog. I do this every year and have done so for as long as I remember. For the most part it's not that effective anymore because people expect it from me. But someway, somehow, there is that one or two guys who just get conned. It never fails!

Last year's gag got a lot of people because the gag was grounded in reality. It was a little too real for some people. It was me trying to make an April Fool's gag that people didn't expect. Somehow, me quitting comics to become an actor for economic reasons didn't seem all that far fetched.

This year I take it up a notch, but at the same time, made the gag much more obvious. It's an elaborate gag that I put into motion weeks ago. I disappeared from most online sites I haunt like Twitter, Facebook, Plurk and most importantly, my main blog for around 10 days preceding April 1.

A few people started to notice that I was gone. One was worried enough to get in touch via the phone. One suspected that I was up to something foolish this April.

It's still early so it's hard to gauge what reaction I get this year. But it's the most elaborate gag I've pulled, and it's probably the farthest I will ever go. Most likely none will get conned, but it's nevertheless fun to have done it!