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COMDDAP, the Philippines’s leading computer and technology trade association, holds its biggest IT sale yet, with prices on a wide range of products slashed by up to 70 percent.

More than 30 exhibitors will participate in Got I.T.!, the 28th edition of COMDDAP Expo Manila, to be held from December 9-11 2011 at SMX Convention Center at the Mall of Asia Complex in Pasay City. COMDDAP EXPO Manila 2011 is open to the public free of charge from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Hall 1.

“We are targeting technology-savvy individuals and forward-looking companies with a lineup of consumer and corporate products and services made more affordable for the gift-giving season,” says COMDDAP president and event director Juan G. Chua.

During the three-day event gadgets from top brands will be on sale at huge markdowns or as outright giveaways. These include personal computers, laptops, printers, monitors, consumer and home electronics, digital cameras, smartphones and tablets.

Visitors to the expo can attend free seminars on topics such as innovations on specialty retail and how social networks can threaten your business.

COMDDAP is a non-stock, non-profit IT trade association that promotes the sustainable development of the country’s information technology industry. Through the voluntary support of member-companies, it has funded IT-related advocacy projects over the past 25 years.

For inquiries contact the COMDDAP Expo Manila 2011 secretariat at 810-3814, 892-7947 and 815-6531 (fax), email exhibit@comddap.org or info@comddap.org, or visit www.comddap.org or its Facebook page.

Photo: Rooney Mara as The Girl With.

Yesterday we reported on graphic novelist Alan Moore (Watchmen, V for Vendetta) vs graphic novelist Frank Miller (Dark Knight, 300). Root of discord: Opposing views on the Occupy movement.

Today’s opponents: Scott Rudin, producer of the David Fincher movie The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, and film critic David Denby of the New Yorker. Root of discord: Denby’s review of Dragon Tattoo. Which was positive, except that he wasn’t supposed to publish it until December 13 and it’s out in this week’s New Yorker.

Read their email exchange here.

Not at all snarky considering Denby is the author of the book Snark. Rudin is being petulant; Denby disingenuous. The guys who write comic books are so much more grown-up.

It Only Hurts When I Pee by RJ Ledesma hits the stores soon.

Dear R.J. Ledesma,

Thank you for asking us to write the foreword to your new book. How many books is that in total? That’s amazing. Anyone who says that publishing is dead has clearly not seen your masterworks flying off bookstore shelves. Or seen them.

And surely there is no truth to the persistent rumor that you were lurking behind the shelves, tossing copies of your books into the bags of unsuspecting shoppers. Who soon found themselves having to explain why the security alarm went off as they attempted to exit the store (“But I’ve never seen that book before in my life!”).

Seeing your byline in the paper gives us a sense of historical vertigo, which is the pretentious way of saying that we cannot look upon you without thinking of orange-flavored carbonated beverage. Not that long ago you were insinuating yourself into our television habit; now you have insinuated yourself into our reading routine—and in the same newspaper our column appears in. Had we the slightest doubt in the integrity and good sense of your yaya, we would think that you were stalking us hahaha! No, really.

Which brings us to the real purpose of this letter. We regret to inform you that we must decline your request. We cannot write the foreword to your new book. To do so would be to admit culpability in your writing career.

It is distressing enough that you cite us in connection with your decision to write. Why must you mention us at all? Why can’t you blame Danton Remoto or Dr. Isagani Cruz, whose guilt is easy to establish since they were actually your teachers?…

Occupy fashion: The Guy Fawkes mask from V for Vendetta. Don’t even mention the movie to Alan Moore.

We read about the sniping in Pharyngula.

Frank Miller on the Occupy movement:

“Wake up, pond scum. America is at war against a ruthless enemy.

“Or better yet, enlist for the real thing. Maybe our military could whip some of you into shape.”

The whole rant is here.

Artwork from Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns.

Well Bruce Wayne IS the 1 percent. Much as we admired the Dark Knight movie its message was disturbing; we let it go because it’s a movie.

Would Miller be more receptive to the Occupy movement if the activists wore Batman cowls or the Spartan loincloths from 300?

Alan Moore replied in an interview:

“Well, Frank Miller is someone whose work I’ve barely looked at for the past twenty years. I thought the Sin City stuff was unreconstructed misogyny, 300 appeared to be wildly ahistoric, homophobic and just completely misguided. I think that there has probably been a rather unpleasant sensibility apparent in Frank Miller’s work for quite a long time. Since I don’t have anything to do with the comics industry, I don’t have anything to do with the people in it. I heard about the latest outpourings regarding the Occupy movement. It’s about what I’d expect from him…

“As far as I can see, the Occupy movement is just ordinary people reclaiming rights which should always have been theirs. I can’t think of any reason why as a population we should be expected to stand by and see a gross reduction in the living standards of ourselves and our kids, possibly for generations, when the people who have got us into this have been rewarded for it…”

Read the full response here.

First line: Ka-pow! Aray!

We have not been as supportive of the Occupy movement as we could be; our reactions have been “Nakatikim din kayo, ano?” and “Been there, done that”. But we respect the idea, we understand their rage, and above all We Don’t Like Bullies.

Reminder: Drop by bookstore on the way home and pick up some Alan Moore books. (V for Vendetta is on our list of favorite books of the year.)

Comic books: today’s political arena.

* * * * *

Got a couple of collections of Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing issues from the 1980s. Mat loves them.

Tech/travel news

– Heard about the 2 BlackBerry executives who were so unruly on a Toronto-Beijing flight, the pilot had to turn the plane around? Lost 18 hours. They should’ve tasered the two.

– Company is in trouble. Probably explains the drinking.

– And we’re having this conversation on BBM.

Sports via text

David Beckham visited a shelter for street children in Manila. Photo from Unicef. Sweet of him. We’re still not into the tattoos or the hair product.

– Pogi ba talaga si Becks?

– Tangkad. Pero kaya pala laging long sleeves, puro tats. Kadiri. Eurotrash.

Entertainment via email

– Why are there two Snow White movies? One with Julia Roberts and the other with Charlize Theron. Oscar winners playing the evil stepmother. Oh dear, Kristin Stewart’s mono-expression is in the Charlize Theron version. Waaaaaahhhhhh!

– Nagkopyahan. Hindi naman siya ang titingnan natin kundi si Chris Hemsworth. Thor vs Winklevii!

– Sa bagay. Ang ganda ni Winklevii hahaha. Makikita ko na naman ang abs ni Chris Hemsworth!

This is the painful/hilarious intervention scene from Breaking Bad.

We asked brewhuh23 and Momelia to serve as the jury for this week’s LitWit Challenge.

# 15 scientist
brewhuh23: Short, straight to the point, awaaard!
Momelia: Needs salt.

# 14 scientist
Momelia: It’s Reverse Psychology with a minty fresh scent.

# 13 Ligayaparaiso
Momelia: I do believe, as a homosexual, ladies and gentlemen and city councilors, that the realism in this letter is just too adorable! It’s the gayspeak, however, that turns me off. It’s not spontaneous enough. It’s too planned. But I still like this letter because it’s very real.

# 12 january jam
Momelia: It’s an easy read, but the sentences aren’t “fun” enough. He can try to loosen up.

# 11 samutsari
Momelia: It’s the kind of comedy in the truly comic Tagalog films of the 80s and 90s that I miss today. The way this letter was written brings that kind of funny to mind, for some reason.

# 10 Evan
Momelia: I don’t see how it can intervene if it’s too insecure to be taken seriously. Pogi points because he’s Pogi, but that’s not a valid currency.
Us: P.S. Girls don’t have penises.

# 9 illiterati
Momelia: Vanilla.

# 7 MewMew
Momelia: I will not meddle with this entry, just so we’re clear. Wahaha!

# 6 kidnapmeimrich
Momelia: The friend’s no longer in a relationship, the writer’s sour graping on her friend’s behalf, this could be a winner, but I don’t think this is an intervention, so no.
brewhuh23: Parang similar kami ng sasabihin sa mga friends naming shunga in love.

# 5 stellalehua
Momelia: Now this is the kind of no holds barred shit that I expect to hear from my offline friends. This is an intervention.

# 4 overhyped
Momelia: Somebody’s been applying too much black eyeliner.

# 3 BolgaTheTranny
Momelia: The line “your boyfriend’s armpit smells like a labia in full bloom” was a real turnoff.

# 2 johnbristol6
Momelia: This letter’s a killer! I love it because it’s got the right measures of sense and silliness. The silly might have overflowed some, but that’s just the way I like it.
Us: Clever but over-written. Suma-Star Cinema.

# 1 fromdavaowithpimples
Momelia: The rules asked for an intervention. He submitted a proposal. No points, sir, see you next season.
brewhuh23: I thought the ending was sweet. I’m a sucker for people in love with their best friends.

As the jury could not agree on a winner, we had to pick the winner ourselves (so much for outsourcing). It’s samutsari. Her story feels like real life, and it’s funny without trying too much.

Congratulations, samutsari. You can pick up your prize (under your real name, thanks for the quick response) at the Customer Service Counter of National Bookstore at Power Plant Mall, Rockwell, Makati.

The Weekly LitWit Challenge is brought to you by our friends at National Bookstore.