Early Edition

I have a silly nerve for newspapers. When they are fresh and neatly pressed on my library table, I never get my hands scanning them. Fresh newspapers have this strong scent my nose cannot tolerate. A flip of the page makes my nose complain much that I cannot even finish a whole Young Blood article. And so I’ll just have to set the papers aside for mercy, and then not get updated with the news they bring about everyday. As a result, you’d end up seeing me read yesterday’s, or worse but still good, last week’s issue.

Talking about newspapers and timelines makes me remember Gary Hobson and his life with his grey cat and tomorrow’s newspapers. Yep, it’s “tomorrow’s” not today’s. Which means, yes, you’re thinking right --the future. The movie was a series me and my brother never missed to watch. It would usually alternate the family oriented Seventh Heaven during movie marathons on Holy Week. And Early Edition marathons would always make our Holy Week glorious.

The story of the series revolves around Hobson’s life as he is, more often than not, forced to save people from their untimely and even violent death as they are published in the early edition newspaper (which reports events that would happen on that day). The newspaper is mysteriously delivered at his apartment’s doorstep every 6:00 a.m. with a grey, Garfield-like, fat cat endearingly laying, or if not, sitting on it.

The series would show different stories, different cases everyday and the thrill would always be on how Hobson would succeed in saving their lives, or much more, convince the stubborn clients that if they don’t move- off of whatever the circumstance is, they will die.

Early Edition really crazed us siblings until the last time it was shown. We made it to follow through Hobson’s adventures from saving a plane, and thousands more people, from its crashing, to the time he finally saw his own news in the paper having been declared dead for saving a girl from a burning building. More than that, we sympathized Gary Hobson in each episode. Aside from him being so handsome, and real nice and hot (especially when he gets off his bed every morning), his struggles in making choices between life and death, and saving the humanity from unwanted conditions, was tougher than being Superman saving a man from a free-fall.

Now I wish we had an Early Edition newspaper today. I wouldn’t give a damn if there would be a Gary Hobson, (or so I think I won’t! this would be quite hypocrisy here, see…) atleast we will know if the prices of commodities will go high, if there even will be scarcity of rice and oil, or if there will be higher level of crisis all over the world. At least at this state, we could be just like Gary. We would easily spot the cause of each condition, and so solving the case would be much easier and life in the Philippines would be a little brighter.

I’m not really much aware of our state today, though. I could only relay the hearsays about our economy going so down, our PSP (Presidente sa Palasyo) diagnosed having Class A corruption virus which is even contagious, and the resent comment of a dear friend, that if there’s ever going to be a fourth world, we’d be part of it. They’re all I can get. Told you I read late news.

But this could be one twisted fact. If we’d have one Early Edition newspaper today, what do you think would be the first page you’d look on to?

Well, let's see...Obituaries? Try to figure out who among the big pips are going to die next? Headlines? Drug lords and politicians watch out if they’d ever get baited after dirty tricks fail? Or maybe just see who’s to pull down next in the race? Or maybe entertainment! Sports! We could have known if Marky Ceilo was ever going to die, and that Pacqiuao’s idol is Dela Hoya and not Arroyo.

Things might not turn out to be that sparkling and shiny. Think about what people might do if we’d have an early edition newspaper. We might just look on the news if Pacquiao is ever going to be the next Tyson after defeating Dela Hoya, if another senator is ever going to make another break- away in public after Mar Roxas, or if Bush is ever going to throw back his socks to the man who threw him shoes. And all will still be the same. Now I just wish to be mistaken.

But well, as I could always say, other than saying “as usual”, it’s all it is. People as we are, there are weaknesses. The series even shows it, and it is when Hobson has to struggle convincing victims off their feet. He delivers salvation right before their noses, but they deny it like rotten flesh.

Rickety, feeble, real weak weaknesses. But vulnerable and evitable enough for any man. Problem is, any man is just frail, silly, and lazy enough to build the will and the mentality to obliterate the rickety and feeble weaknesses.

Of course. Maybe we’re just as rickety and feeble as it is. Yes, maybe. But we can always choose not to...

So! If there’s ever going to be one Early Edition newspaper right at your doorstep today, what would you do? Well as for me, I think it would be the only newspaper my nose would tolerate to read on. So, what else would I do? Read it! How about you?