last night, i wanted someone to accost me and do something brazen to me. that thought started without any particular person in mind but eventually ended up with the image of one person. the stuff daydreams are of. wishful thinking at its purest.
--
days ago, i watched the foo fighters' video of walking after you. although in mini-screen mode only, i promptly fell in love with dave grohl. yes, joseph, he is hot. thanks for opening my eyes to that fact.
--
right now, i wish i had been a diligent student like kirth. that i study everyday when i get home and retain the pieces of knowledge i hear in class.
exams are raining down on my lap. the earliest one is the fourth long exam for biochem on saturday. although what is only covered is what was tackled after i recovered, there are still incorporations of previous lessons which my brain pointedly refused to retain at the time that i should have studied them.
yes, two weeks more. two most excruciating weeks. i hope i survive and emerge at least a bit triumphant.
start here...
Thursday, September 29, 2005
Thursday, September 22, 2005
i'll post this before it gets lost.. lessons in UP
1. Ang buhay ay parang IKOT jeep. Ang iyong patutunguhan ay siya ring iyong pinanggalingan.
2. U.P. lang ang may TOKI, sa buhay wala nito. Pero nasasaiyo na yon kung nais mong pabaligtad
ang takbo ng buhay mo.
3. Sa IKOT, pwede kang magkamali ng baba kahit ilang beses, sasakay ka lang uli. Sa buhay, kapag
paikot-ikot ka na at laging mali pa rin ang iyong baba, naku, may sayad ka.
4. Sa U.P., lahat tayo magaling. Aminin nating lahat na tayo'y magagaling. Ang problema dun,
lahat tayo magaling!
5. Kung sa U.P. ay sipsip ka na, siguradong paglabas mo, sipsip ka pa rin.
6. Sa U.P., tulad sa buhay, ang babae at ang lalake, at lahat ng nasa gitna, ay patas, walang
pinagkaiba sa dunong, sa talino, sa pagmamalasakit, sa kalawakan.
7. Sa U.P. tulad sa buhay, bawal ang overstaying.
*by Prof. Ryan Cayabyab
from Commencement speech given on April 24,
2005 before the Class of 2005, UP Diliman,
Quezon City
2. U.P. lang ang may TOKI, sa buhay wala nito. Pero nasasaiyo na yon kung nais mong pabaligtad
ang takbo ng buhay mo.
3. Sa IKOT, pwede kang magkamali ng baba kahit ilang beses, sasakay ka lang uli. Sa buhay, kapag
paikot-ikot ka na at laging mali pa rin ang iyong baba, naku, may sayad ka.
4. Sa U.P., lahat tayo magaling. Aminin nating lahat na tayo'y magagaling. Ang problema dun,
lahat tayo magaling!
5. Kung sa U.P. ay sipsip ka na, siguradong paglabas mo, sipsip ka pa rin.
6. Sa U.P., tulad sa buhay, ang babae at ang lalake, at lahat ng nasa gitna, ay patas, walang
pinagkaiba sa dunong, sa talino, sa pagmamalasakit, sa kalawakan.
7. Sa U.P. tulad sa buhay, bawal ang overstaying.
*by Prof. Ryan Cayabyab
from Commencement speech given on April 24,
2005 before the Class of 2005, UP Diliman,
Quezon City
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
surprise, surprise
words have eluded me for the past 5 minutes. it's now 9:44 pm. just when i was poised to relate the latest events concerning me, my mind drifts elsewhere, unable to concentrate on the sheet of paper in front of me.
[another 3 minutes have passed]
sometimes our own actions take us by surprise.
last night, i flipped to a channel showing an ongoing socceer match. i don't know who the teams were - couldn't understand a thing the commentators were saying or a jig written on the screen. but anyhoo, ronaldinho's team was there. now, if you've been observing those players awhile, you'll find they have one of the best bods around. i saw ronaldinho before remove his jersey after a game, and well, to put it simply, he took my breath away hehe :D he's also a good player, making an impressive goal on a penalty kick on that game. i've read his name way back 1998, the first time i heard of the world cup where france took an astounding win over brazil with 3-0, brazil who had the likes of ronaldo and pele among its ranks and who was seen to conquer the world cup one more time. imagine how old he is now.
if you must know, i am attracted by long-haired guys. a weakness probably, now that i think about it. and ronaldinho was that, plus one great bod of a great athlete. so i perked up when i saw him on the screen last night. my heart went a-fluttering for a moment. (goodness, i now rely on faraway guys lording it in the screens to wake up these feelings in me. what news, i have an infatuation!) karen and rj were there with me, trying to watch and asking questions. i told them what i could, not being very familiar with the game rules, and i also proceeded to tell them about the '98 world cup and ronaldinho. and as i did talk about the latter, i became teary-eyed. it's not a gradual one but a sudden one - in a moment, my eyes were flooded with lachrymal excreta. they weren't tears of sadness nor joyousness. i said at that time that i was too excited so that tears welled up in my eyes. but it doesn't seem to make sense to me now. excited? ture, i was perked up by his image gracing the screen. but the feeling doesn't relate to the fact that tears sprang from my eyes.
later on that same night, i was relating to my sister my initial feelings when i started reading her book (the shadow of the wind) and once more i was teary-eyed. i wasn't perked up like the previous incident. i just wanted to tell her to let her know how much a jewel of a find the book is.
but well, there you go. surprise, surprise.
[another 3 minutes have passed]
sometimes our own actions take us by surprise.
last night, i flipped to a channel showing an ongoing socceer match. i don't know who the teams were - couldn't understand a thing the commentators were saying or a jig written on the screen. but anyhoo, ronaldinho's team was there. now, if you've been observing those players awhile, you'll find they have one of the best bods around. i saw ronaldinho before remove his jersey after a game, and well, to put it simply, he took my breath away hehe :D he's also a good player, making an impressive goal on a penalty kick on that game. i've read his name way back 1998, the first time i heard of the world cup where france took an astounding win over brazil with 3-0, brazil who had the likes of ronaldo and pele among its ranks and who was seen to conquer the world cup one more time. imagine how old he is now.
if you must know, i am attracted by long-haired guys. a weakness probably, now that i think about it. and ronaldinho was that, plus one great bod of a great athlete. so i perked up when i saw him on the screen last night. my heart went a-fluttering for a moment. (goodness, i now rely on faraway guys lording it in the screens to wake up these feelings in me. what news, i have an infatuation!) karen and rj were there with me, trying to watch and asking questions. i told them what i could, not being very familiar with the game rules, and i also proceeded to tell them about the '98 world cup and ronaldinho. and as i did talk about the latter, i became teary-eyed. it's not a gradual one but a sudden one - in a moment, my eyes were flooded with lachrymal excreta. they weren't tears of sadness nor joyousness. i said at that time that i was too excited so that tears welled up in my eyes. but it doesn't seem to make sense to me now. excited? ture, i was perked up by his image gracing the screen. but the feeling doesn't relate to the fact that tears sprang from my eyes.
later on that same night, i was relating to my sister my initial feelings when i started reading her book (the shadow of the wind) and once more i was teary-eyed. i wasn't perked up like the previous incident. i just wanted to tell her to let her know how much a jewel of a find the book is.
but well, there you go. surprise, surprise.
Monday, September 19, 2005
moi and those glorious pieces of...
the shadow of the wind
karen bought a second-hand book entitled shadow of the wind by carlos ruiz zafon for P175.00. it's already a translation. to my book-lover's eye, it was an extremely good find considering the price. the book is still mighty intact and there seems to be a very nice story waiting to be unraveled in its pages. she bought it last sunday, after her interview for the singapore asean scholarships, the undertaking of which only took 10 minutes. imagine waking up at 2 in the morning and traveling for 5 hours just to sit a spell with three singaporeans?
anyhow, just awhile ago, i started to read it, beginning with the praises splayed on the first two pages. and when i started with the story, it held me in its grip. it had that magic that makes it hard to put down. i thought i'd only read the first chapter but then i went on to the second, and many more paragraphs after the first sequence or part of the story was over. it held my attention, just like how the book in the story was doing to the soul of the main character. i know the book will be a very good one. i am looking forward to when i can finally read it without distractions. as of now, i cannot do that because i have plenty of things to attend to in my acad life. and even if i would, i can't bring it with me when i go back to up tomorrow because that's karen's book and she hasn't read it yet. but the magic of its pages hasn't left me yet. it feels like it's the same book the boy was reading, since they are of the same title though in the story, it is written by a certain Julian Carax. and even if i can't read a synopsis of the book, i feel like i would buy it from the cover itself. it's really something. it still leaves me awestruck, like it's a book that could change my life in a lot of ways. the soul of the main character is in ways akin to mine. we are serious book lovers. we would read anything, new or old. i wish i had my own cemetery of forgotten books.
books over anything
books are one of my greatest passions in life. along with it are music and movies. if i had to choose one among the three to be my only companion in life, i would choose books. there's the pleasure in taking journeys with another character and delving into a different state of mind. the power of the written word is truly far-reaching. it can take you any place and make you feel anything. the different sceneries provide for various enjoyment in a day of reading a book. this isn't much to convince anyone who doesn't feel the same as i do but as of now, words fail me to clearly express my most sublime feeling towards these great artifacts of culture.
language in books
books do use different language styles, from old english to hillbilly to british english to ghettospeak. there's been plenty of times when after reading a book i would write something, i try to write in the way that conversations in that book was written. yes, there's been plenty of times. although i'm not very successful at it and it wasn't really a conscious choice, they just come out like it's the natural way to say them. but they're very few and far between, at times occuring just in the first line. :D
like the expression "mighty intact" above. it's not really being used in the book i last read but it seems much the way the characters said things. making adverbs out of adjectives which should remain as such. the other one, "sit a spell" was used in that book. it's the new york times bestseller the songcatcher by sharyn mccrumb, another of karen's finds for P40.00. i realize now that most of the books i've read for the past week have been karen's - well, at least two that i've finished: the songcatcher and jane eyre. and i really want to start on the shadow of the wind. although i also got to finish one of stephen king's short stories in the skeleton crew, a second-hand find of mine back in cebu.
the language in itself is one main characteristic of the book. it sets the mood of the story. it tells you what may happen in the story and what may not. translating books must be really hard work. the writer has woven the spell in the original language and you have to recreate that same effect to those who'll be reading it in another language. it's not just the direct translation of the words. you can say a single sentence in a number of different ways but it takes a good sense of harmony with the words and an understanding of the book's cultural context to be able to transcribe the original effect to something very similar, albeit in another language.
that's why marquez's a hundred years of solitude, coelho's the alchemist, eleven minutes and others have considerably touched readers' souls. their translators must've incorporated the original writer's souls when they did them. hail to them for letting non-readers of the language enjoy these glorious works.
literature.
karen bought a second-hand book entitled shadow of the wind by carlos ruiz zafon for P175.00. it's already a translation. to my book-lover's eye, it was an extremely good find considering the price. the book is still mighty intact and there seems to be a very nice story waiting to be unraveled in its pages. she bought it last sunday, after her interview for the singapore asean scholarships, the undertaking of which only took 10 minutes. imagine waking up at 2 in the morning and traveling for 5 hours just to sit a spell with three singaporeans?
anyhow, just awhile ago, i started to read it, beginning with the praises splayed on the first two pages. and when i started with the story, it held me in its grip. it had that magic that makes it hard to put down. i thought i'd only read the first chapter but then i went on to the second, and many more paragraphs after the first sequence or part of the story was over. it held my attention, just like how the book in the story was doing to the soul of the main character. i know the book will be a very good one. i am looking forward to when i can finally read it without distractions. as of now, i cannot do that because i have plenty of things to attend to in my acad life. and even if i would, i can't bring it with me when i go back to up tomorrow because that's karen's book and she hasn't read it yet. but the magic of its pages hasn't left me yet. it feels like it's the same book the boy was reading, since they are of the same title though in the story, it is written by a certain Julian Carax. and even if i can't read a synopsis of the book, i feel like i would buy it from the cover itself. it's really something. it still leaves me awestruck, like it's a book that could change my life in a lot of ways. the soul of the main character is in ways akin to mine. we are serious book lovers. we would read anything, new or old. i wish i had my own cemetery of forgotten books.
books over anything
books are one of my greatest passions in life. along with it are music and movies. if i had to choose one among the three to be my only companion in life, i would choose books. there's the pleasure in taking journeys with another character and delving into a different state of mind. the power of the written word is truly far-reaching. it can take you any place and make you feel anything. the different sceneries provide for various enjoyment in a day of reading a book. this isn't much to convince anyone who doesn't feel the same as i do but as of now, words fail me to clearly express my most sublime feeling towards these great artifacts of culture.
language in books
books do use different language styles, from old english to hillbilly to british english to ghettospeak. there's been plenty of times when after reading a book i would write something, i try to write in the way that conversations in that book was written. yes, there's been plenty of times. although i'm not very successful at it and it wasn't really a conscious choice, they just come out like it's the natural way to say them. but they're very few and far between, at times occuring just in the first line. :D
like the expression "mighty intact" above. it's not really being used in the book i last read but it seems much the way the characters said things. making adverbs out of adjectives which should remain as such. the other one, "sit a spell" was used in that book. it's the new york times bestseller the songcatcher by sharyn mccrumb, another of karen's finds for P40.00. i realize now that most of the books i've read for the past week have been karen's - well, at least two that i've finished: the songcatcher and jane eyre. and i really want to start on the shadow of the wind. although i also got to finish one of stephen king's short stories in the skeleton crew, a second-hand find of mine back in cebu.
the language in itself is one main characteristic of the book. it sets the mood of the story. it tells you what may happen in the story and what may not. translating books must be really hard work. the writer has woven the spell in the original language and you have to recreate that same effect to those who'll be reading it in another language. it's not just the direct translation of the words. you can say a single sentence in a number of different ways but it takes a good sense of harmony with the words and an understanding of the book's cultural context to be able to transcribe the original effect to something very similar, albeit in another language.
that's why marquez's a hundred years of solitude, coelho's the alchemist, eleven minutes and others have considerably touched readers' souls. their translators must've incorporated the original writer's souls when they did them. hail to them for letting non-readers of the language enjoy these glorious works.
literature.
visual feast
here's a quick rundown of what i've been visually feasting on:
- comics history
one late-night channel surfing, i came across the history channel's take on comics. it takes us through the early dc comics and how marvel came up with its own line to challenge dc and other developments in the comics industry. comic covers, stories, notable personalities like stan lee, neil gaiman, story tactics like resurrecting the dead (e.g. robin) were featured.
the feature says x-men became such a hit because the characters weren't perfect. the readers could relate to them, unlike superman who was all steel that nothing can get him down. spiderman also became popular because peter parker was an ordinary high school boy who was just trying to get through high school. the power that he acquires all the more endears him to the readers because of the internal conflict brewing inside him. responsibility is a really heavy thing on one's shoulders, and deciding between being happy and doing something for the greater good will tear you apart many times. batman and robin weren't really accepted by the public, especially the elders because of the more-than-comrade treatment they seem to bestow each other. it's for that reason that robin was finally killed, i think, when batman comics sales were low. wonderwoman was also resurrected although i don't think it was very successful, after making her more like an image of modern times. there were also other moneymaking ventures like the hulk, the fantastic four, the punisher and daredevil.
frank miller, the author of the recently adapted sin city, was also an important figure in comics. his storytelling style was different. i believe his themes were usually dark but with really something good to say. the mention of gaiman's sandman is very short. it wasn't seen as a revolutionary piece, just one more comic joining in the fray which started being called graphic novels.
comics were tied to the social consciousness of their time. various issues like war and drugs were tackled. there were debates in the board room whether stories containing such themes will be published and eventually, they did after much grilling. the way the subjects were tackled should show that it's not cool to be doing such things. since much of young america was reading comics those days, it was really a very valuable medium to reach out to them.
i also found out that during the earlier years, writers and artists didn't have ownership of the works they were producing. the companies owned them. it was only around spiderman and the whole dc following suit that the creators got the credit for their work, i think, after another company started doing it.
- peter pan
yes, it's still the tale of the boy who never grew old. there's a bit of humor injected into it, and a few deviations from the original story, which i don't remember well anymore. anyhow, the - forgive the term - innocence that was inherent in the original story and various other adaptations of it, as well as in other elements of our childhood that had been abused and bastarded these times (e.g. bulaklak - why would they even think of putting double meanings in such harmless childhood games? the suggestive dance steps are the beginning of this. now every girl will enter school knowing that being sexy is an important thing.), was lost. peter was at first smitten with the 13-year-old wendy, who then starts to fall in love with him. yes, it did provide some focal points for this adaptation. yes, it's a new take on barrie's original story that captured the world. but i don't really agree with kids getting the idea that falling in love at a young age is such an important thing in the world. they are still kids. they should just enjoy their childhood, like what peter wanted to do. how could they exploit those young minds? crushes are all right, but love is another thing. pardon this outburst. i just wish things kids see nowadays are the same as what i used to watch before, untainted and full of good things. don't argue with my use of the words here.
- carnivale
i've been drawn to this ever since i first saw the advertisement on tv. i religiously watched the first few episodes while i could. it's still season one i think and i was able to watch four episodes this weekend. a pity that i only found out about it just recently. but i think the previous episodes were the ones i've watched already so no harm done. it's when i get back to up that i'll miss it again. sex has come up lately in the stories. i initially thought it would be something different since the beginning was really different from anything i've seen. i don't know what's been happening - the ratings are probably down or the creative minds behind it are not creative anymore - but yes, sex has been one of the key things that's making the story get on. even ben hawkins has been involved in it, and that's probably why he set out to save that woman's life. all of a sudden, life in the carnivale is no longer as it usually was. actually, it ceased to be when ben hawkins came along. however, i'm still stalled as to his connection with the priest Brother Justin who's situated in another part of the world and living in a perfectly normal environment. he, however, is not normal as the last episode has shown.
- fabulous life on vh1
yes, who else's life would be more interesting than ours? none other than the stars. though i don't really understand why some people would care to know everything that has been happening to everyone in tinseltown - local or foreign - i am grateful for those fansites being put up by faithful fans. a latest obsession over something or someone would find me scouring the net for anything and everything about him/her/it. most notable are the pictures so i say just keep them coming. but mind you, my obsessions don't last for long. eventually, i'd be content with what i have. i don't fixate on that obsession for long stretches of time. they usually come to an end, as soon as i've finally collected everything about it - a task i still have to accomplish with my manga scans and translations of rurouni kenshin. so i come back to my initial wonder at why people want to be always updated on everything that celebrities are doing at the moment. there's even a ridiculous kapamilya sim being sold in the country just so the ordinary citizen can stay in touch and in the know on what abs-cbn's stars are doing. they're feeding useless knowledge and promoting inappropriate priorities. the ordinary person would rather see claudine barreto cry on tv than understand the current political situation.
anyway, i've strayed far from my topic. another late night channel surfing chanced upon vh1's feature on the fabulous life of j. lo. she's rich. i was amazed, aghast at the extravagance that she indulges in to live her life. at least pam anderson doesn't keep her money all to herself. she's even got 3 kids. j. lo., i mean jennifer, has all the rocks that she's got. no longer jenny or j. lo. - a change of name ought to change people's perceptions about her - but she's got being rich and a star out strong.
- korean movies
of course, who can discount the comic relief provided by these? not to mention the touching endings that usually come with the laugh. i've only laid my eyes on windstruck and my little bride during this sick leave. but i still can't forget the images from my sassy girl. my 14-year-old brother even watched it with me and my sister and he wants to watch it again. of course, their flawless skin and their different nature provide a refreshing new view on these love stories. oh yeah, have you watched my tutor friend? cholo from stairway to heaven is there. i only saw him crying his heart out on tv before and it's great to see him playing it tough here. i do love chinitos, yeah nika? he's also got this killer smile and this killer bod. i could go with him right now if he wanted me hehe :D
- chocolat
i had the impression that this was a very sensational movie when it was shown in theaters. i stumbled upon it being shown on studio 23 after another late-night meditation in front of the tv. i wonder what i'd do without the remote. the wonders of technology hehe :D doesn't really take much to keep me happy. Ü anyway, i knew johnny depp was starring here. and being the fan that i am, i watched it to indulge in his acting prowess and downright charm; the images of luscious chocolate i remembered from years past also drew me to this. however, a boring pace soon got me surfing again but i did get the gist of the story. i wasn't able to start it so i didn't know the history of the women there. but they were considered outcasts in that society where religion keeps a strong hold on the people. the chocolate they make somehow induces people to commit sins because of the sheer enjoyment they get. that's really sad. once more, women are placed in categories which shouldn't be there. these outcasts are expected to conform to what they were used to. stubbornness led to a boycott on immorality which was fixated on them. never mind their happiness, their sense of self. i'm not aware of the turning point but eventually, the town's main man understood these women's side and the whole town no longer sees them as a threat. johnny depp's character is subdued but comical in his own way. this is the first movie i've seen him kissing another woman. heartbreak anyone?
- the tailor of panama
brosnan plays the kontrabida here and he gets away with it. imagine stirring up trouble in panama over a fake story of the intended sale of the panama canal, a very important trade port. all that trouble and shame - the us army, after getting info from the british, once again suits up to become the hero of any conflict - for 15 million US dollars. just for money once more, folks.
- desperate housewives
the wives of wisteria lane are unique in their own ways. all have their own concerns - from the ridiculously outrageous to the genuine simple ones. i don't know what's all the fuss about these women, but theirs is an interesting story in their own right. sex and getting back is not everything in the world. i guess i'm still tied up by conventional beliefs. anyhoo, i think i'd be happier in what i believe to be right than what's happening over there in the studios.
- metropolis
i just watched this animation awhile ago. i read that there's also a vintage movie titled metropolis but i'm not sure if they're the same thing. after months of putting it off, i finally put it in the player and surprisigly, the story took me from the very start when other chances didn't before. i guess it was just waiting for the right moment. it's based on the comics of osamu tezuka so the story must've been really old. metropolis is like any ordinary city of the future. the people have a characteristic appearance here different from the usual drawings. they did look strange the first time i saw them. two looked quite normal, resembling astroboy's round face but not his hair - kenichi and rock, two of the main characters. one looked americanish in appearance (he's supposed to be a japanese) - this is kenichi's uncle - and one looks like the normal anime drawing, the robot fashioned from the rich man's late daughter. it's robot fiction. robots are now in use to do more work. the downside is many people, mostly from the impoverished sector are staying that way with no jobs and no means to succeed. so there's growing interest in the elimination of these robots. there's also the rich sector who try to stay in power, and who want to take control of the world. the latter is being accomplished with the help of a special robot. but the rich man's adopted son wouldn't hear of it and tries to thwart his plans even if his father would disown him. in the end, the structure built for that purpose, the ziggurat, is destroyed by that robot he tries to use after she realizes what she can do. but total world doom is prevented by a human, the first person the robot meets who knows her enough to stop her and try to reach to that being he once knew. an interesting facet of this animation is the musical score. it's different from the previous ones - or is it the trend in some animation nowadays? - because jazz music is featured here. i do not know the artists but they do keep you up on your toes. instead of the sound of a big explosion when the ziggurat was getting destroyed, what i heard was silence from the main explosion, the one that should've been the biggest, and then the entry of a jazz ballad with the lyrics sung by a man. the music was quite at home with the colors of the film. the bright colors seem to bring you back to the lively scene that i imagine new orleans once was, before that devastating hurricane.
- comics history
one late-night channel surfing, i came across the history channel's take on comics. it takes us through the early dc comics and how marvel came up with its own line to challenge dc and other developments in the comics industry. comic covers, stories, notable personalities like stan lee, neil gaiman, story tactics like resurrecting the dead (e.g. robin) were featured.
the feature says x-men became such a hit because the characters weren't perfect. the readers could relate to them, unlike superman who was all steel that nothing can get him down. spiderman also became popular because peter parker was an ordinary high school boy who was just trying to get through high school. the power that he acquires all the more endears him to the readers because of the internal conflict brewing inside him. responsibility is a really heavy thing on one's shoulders, and deciding between being happy and doing something for the greater good will tear you apart many times. batman and robin weren't really accepted by the public, especially the elders because of the more-than-comrade treatment they seem to bestow each other. it's for that reason that robin was finally killed, i think, when batman comics sales were low. wonderwoman was also resurrected although i don't think it was very successful, after making her more like an image of modern times. there were also other moneymaking ventures like the hulk, the fantastic four, the punisher and daredevil.
frank miller, the author of the recently adapted sin city, was also an important figure in comics. his storytelling style was different. i believe his themes were usually dark but with really something good to say. the mention of gaiman's sandman is very short. it wasn't seen as a revolutionary piece, just one more comic joining in the fray which started being called graphic novels.
comics were tied to the social consciousness of their time. various issues like war and drugs were tackled. there were debates in the board room whether stories containing such themes will be published and eventually, they did after much grilling. the way the subjects were tackled should show that it's not cool to be doing such things. since much of young america was reading comics those days, it was really a very valuable medium to reach out to them.
i also found out that during the earlier years, writers and artists didn't have ownership of the works they were producing. the companies owned them. it was only around spiderman and the whole dc following suit that the creators got the credit for their work, i think, after another company started doing it.
- peter pan
yes, it's still the tale of the boy who never grew old. there's a bit of humor injected into it, and a few deviations from the original story, which i don't remember well anymore. anyhow, the - forgive the term - innocence that was inherent in the original story and various other adaptations of it, as well as in other elements of our childhood that had been abused and bastarded these times (e.g. bulaklak - why would they even think of putting double meanings in such harmless childhood games? the suggestive dance steps are the beginning of this. now every girl will enter school knowing that being sexy is an important thing.), was lost. peter was at first smitten with the 13-year-old wendy, who then starts to fall in love with him. yes, it did provide some focal points for this adaptation. yes, it's a new take on barrie's original story that captured the world. but i don't really agree with kids getting the idea that falling in love at a young age is such an important thing in the world. they are still kids. they should just enjoy their childhood, like what peter wanted to do. how could they exploit those young minds? crushes are all right, but love is another thing. pardon this outburst. i just wish things kids see nowadays are the same as what i used to watch before, untainted and full of good things. don't argue with my use of the words here.
- carnivale
i've been drawn to this ever since i first saw the advertisement on tv. i religiously watched the first few episodes while i could. it's still season one i think and i was able to watch four episodes this weekend. a pity that i only found out about it just recently. but i think the previous episodes were the ones i've watched already so no harm done. it's when i get back to up that i'll miss it again. sex has come up lately in the stories. i initially thought it would be something different since the beginning was really different from anything i've seen. i don't know what's been happening - the ratings are probably down or the creative minds behind it are not creative anymore - but yes, sex has been one of the key things that's making the story get on. even ben hawkins has been involved in it, and that's probably why he set out to save that woman's life. all of a sudden, life in the carnivale is no longer as it usually was. actually, it ceased to be when ben hawkins came along. however, i'm still stalled as to his connection with the priest Brother Justin who's situated in another part of the world and living in a perfectly normal environment. he, however, is not normal as the last episode has shown.
- fabulous life on vh1
yes, who else's life would be more interesting than ours? none other than the stars. though i don't really understand why some people would care to know everything that has been happening to everyone in tinseltown - local or foreign - i am grateful for those fansites being put up by faithful fans. a latest obsession over something or someone would find me scouring the net for anything and everything about him/her/it. most notable are the pictures so i say just keep them coming. but mind you, my obsessions don't last for long. eventually, i'd be content with what i have. i don't fixate on that obsession for long stretches of time. they usually come to an end, as soon as i've finally collected everything about it - a task i still have to accomplish with my manga scans and translations of rurouni kenshin. so i come back to my initial wonder at why people want to be always updated on everything that celebrities are doing at the moment. there's even a ridiculous kapamilya sim being sold in the country just so the ordinary citizen can stay in touch and in the know on what abs-cbn's stars are doing. they're feeding useless knowledge and promoting inappropriate priorities. the ordinary person would rather see claudine barreto cry on tv than understand the current political situation.
anyway, i've strayed far from my topic. another late night channel surfing chanced upon vh1's feature on the fabulous life of j. lo. she's rich. i was amazed, aghast at the extravagance that she indulges in to live her life. at least pam anderson doesn't keep her money all to herself. she's even got 3 kids. j. lo., i mean jennifer, has all the rocks that she's got. no longer jenny or j. lo. - a change of name ought to change people's perceptions about her - but she's got being rich and a star out strong.
- korean movies
of course, who can discount the comic relief provided by these? not to mention the touching endings that usually come with the laugh. i've only laid my eyes on windstruck and my little bride during this sick leave. but i still can't forget the images from my sassy girl. my 14-year-old brother even watched it with me and my sister and he wants to watch it again. of course, their flawless skin and their different nature provide a refreshing new view on these love stories. oh yeah, have you watched my tutor friend? cholo from stairway to heaven is there. i only saw him crying his heart out on tv before and it's great to see him playing it tough here. i do love chinitos, yeah nika? he's also got this killer smile and this killer bod. i could go with him right now if he wanted me hehe :D
- chocolat
i had the impression that this was a very sensational movie when it was shown in theaters. i stumbled upon it being shown on studio 23 after another late-night meditation in front of the tv. i wonder what i'd do without the remote. the wonders of technology hehe :D doesn't really take much to keep me happy. Ü anyway, i knew johnny depp was starring here. and being the fan that i am, i watched it to indulge in his acting prowess and downright charm; the images of luscious chocolate i remembered from years past also drew me to this. however, a boring pace soon got me surfing again but i did get the gist of the story. i wasn't able to start it so i didn't know the history of the women there. but they were considered outcasts in that society where religion keeps a strong hold on the people. the chocolate they make somehow induces people to commit sins because of the sheer enjoyment they get. that's really sad. once more, women are placed in categories which shouldn't be there. these outcasts are expected to conform to what they were used to. stubbornness led to a boycott on immorality which was fixated on them. never mind their happiness, their sense of self. i'm not aware of the turning point but eventually, the town's main man understood these women's side and the whole town no longer sees them as a threat. johnny depp's character is subdued but comical in his own way. this is the first movie i've seen him kissing another woman. heartbreak anyone?
- the tailor of panama
brosnan plays the kontrabida here and he gets away with it. imagine stirring up trouble in panama over a fake story of the intended sale of the panama canal, a very important trade port. all that trouble and shame - the us army, after getting info from the british, once again suits up to become the hero of any conflict - for 15 million US dollars. just for money once more, folks.
- desperate housewives
the wives of wisteria lane are unique in their own ways. all have their own concerns - from the ridiculously outrageous to the genuine simple ones. i don't know what's all the fuss about these women, but theirs is an interesting story in their own right. sex and getting back is not everything in the world. i guess i'm still tied up by conventional beliefs. anyhoo, i think i'd be happier in what i believe to be right than what's happening over there in the studios.
- metropolis
i just watched this animation awhile ago. i read that there's also a vintage movie titled metropolis but i'm not sure if they're the same thing. after months of putting it off, i finally put it in the player and surprisigly, the story took me from the very start when other chances didn't before. i guess it was just waiting for the right moment. it's based on the comics of osamu tezuka so the story must've been really old. metropolis is like any ordinary city of the future. the people have a characteristic appearance here different from the usual drawings. they did look strange the first time i saw them. two looked quite normal, resembling astroboy's round face but not his hair - kenichi and rock, two of the main characters. one looked americanish in appearance (he's supposed to be a japanese) - this is kenichi's uncle - and one looks like the normal anime drawing, the robot fashioned from the rich man's late daughter. it's robot fiction. robots are now in use to do more work. the downside is many people, mostly from the impoverished sector are staying that way with no jobs and no means to succeed. so there's growing interest in the elimination of these robots. there's also the rich sector who try to stay in power, and who want to take control of the world. the latter is being accomplished with the help of a special robot. but the rich man's adopted son wouldn't hear of it and tries to thwart his plans even if his father would disown him. in the end, the structure built for that purpose, the ziggurat, is destroyed by that robot he tries to use after she realizes what she can do. but total world doom is prevented by a human, the first person the robot meets who knows her enough to stop her and try to reach to that being he once knew. an interesting facet of this animation is the musical score. it's different from the previous ones - or is it the trend in some animation nowadays? - because jazz music is featured here. i do not know the artists but they do keep you up on your toes. instead of the sound of a big explosion when the ziggurat was getting destroyed, what i heard was silence from the main explosion, the one that should've been the biggest, and then the entry of a jazz ballad with the lyrics sung by a man. the music was quite at home with the colors of the film. the bright colors seem to bring you back to the lively scene that i imagine new orleans once was, before that devastating hurricane.
Sunday, September 18, 2005
yay, me!
being sick offers a lot of pleasures i don't usually enjoy, i lately realized. there's the fact that i get to recuperate at home and have access to cable tv. it's a fact of much of my life that i don't watch, or hunker for, the shows on the two warring networks. i watch a bit of this, a bit of that but never for long stretches of time. without mtv and studio 23, and occasionally abc 5, my college life so far would have been confined to books and music, at least at the boarding house. those are the only channels i can really stay glued to for quite awhile. the news is another thing, but many times, i'm not really that interested in it.
anyway, the past week has been quite a visual pleasure. well, it's not as if i'm happy all the way but at least i got a little bit more. plus the screen is colored!
anyway, the past week has been quite a visual pleasure. well, it's not as if i'm happy all the way but at least i got a little bit more. plus the screen is colored!
Friday, September 16, 2005
childish bliss
this song just started playing in my head one recent day. it is quite reminiscent of my younger years. so here are the lyrics. why so? well, my crush - first serious crush, that is (if there was such a thing :D) - used to sing it when he was my seatmate. nothing much there... just childish bliss. yeah!
O pare ko, o pare ko
Ang kwento ko'y pakinggan mo
Baka sakali ako ay 'yong matulungan sa problema ko
Sino sa tatlo ang iso-syota ko
Parang awa mo na, pare
Si Aida o si Lorna o si Fe
Lahat sila'y magaganda
Mayaman na at seksi pa
Barkada ko'y naiingit na nga sa akin, ako raw ay pabling
Hindi nila alam, napakahirap dalhin
Tulungan mo ko, pare
Si Aida o si Lorna o si Fe
Kawawang puso ko, dumudugo
Nalilito kung sino kaya
Sino kaya ang pipiliin
At gagawin kong aking
Pag-ibig na tunay
O kay gulo, o kay gulo
Naiinis na nga ako
Sa dinami-dami ba naman ng babae sa buong mundo
Bakit ba ako nababaliw sa tatlo
Sabihin mo na, pare
Si Aida o si Lorna o si Fe
Sa dinami-dami ba naman ng babae sa buong mundo
Bakit ba ako nababaliw sa tatlo
Sabihin mo na, pare
Si Aida o si Lorna o si Fe
O pare ko, o pare ko
Ang kwento ko'y pakinggan mo
Baka sakali ako ay 'yong matulungan sa problema ko
Sino sa tatlo ang iso-syota ko
Parang awa mo na, pare
Si Aida o si Lorna o si Fe
Lahat sila'y magaganda
Mayaman na at seksi pa
Barkada ko'y naiingit na nga sa akin, ako raw ay pabling
Hindi nila alam, napakahirap dalhin
Tulungan mo ko, pare
Si Aida o si Lorna o si Fe
Kawawang puso ko, dumudugo
Nalilito kung sino kaya
Sino kaya ang pipiliin
At gagawin kong aking
Pag-ibig na tunay
O kay gulo, o kay gulo
Naiinis na nga ako
Sa dinami-dami ba naman ng babae sa buong mundo
Bakit ba ako nababaliw sa tatlo
Sabihin mo na, pare
Si Aida o si Lorna o si Fe
Sa dinami-dami ba naman ng babae sa buong mundo
Bakit ba ako nababaliw sa tatlo
Sabihin mo na, pare
Si Aida o si Lorna o si Fe
Thursday, September 15, 2005
camownst!
it seems like a long holiday. but somewhere, there's a time that's swiftly coming near, and when that time comes, i know i would regret a lot for treating what free time i have right now as holiday. sick leave is what you might call it. but of course, there's plenty i have missed already.
cruel trick. only three weeks more before the end of classes and i'm struck down by that virulence known as chicken pox. i didn't have an inkling i'd be having it - i've had almost two weeks of exposure to a friend who had it and no sign or symbol of it coming. i wasn't feeling very well on wednesday afternoon and thursday comes bringing a murderous headache and a very unfriendly feeling so that i had to skip my last class so as not to make things worse. and lo and behold, friday rolls around to find me sprouting vesicles in my face and in my hand. after much hoping that it won't end up that way, there's the confirmation and it's the dreaded thing alright.
so quickly as i could, i hie off to cubao to board a bus back home. there were a number of familiar faces boarding the bus with me - ate anne, a fellow subolite, retchelle, a fellow dagupeño and iska - in the same year as i am and extremely intelligent - although we pretend we don't know each other since we haven't really talked during those competitions we were participating in together back in high school (at least i do, i don't know about her :), lorra sayson, kim's cousin (kim is my classmate in elementary), with her parents, i believe. i couldn't tell kim's mom from her sister so i just assumed since she's with lorra, she's the mother of that girl who i know is out to impress the world, just like her cousins. we were all there on the same line buying a ticket when i saw them all. the last three people just probably realized it when we were on the bus already. lorra's mom recognized me since i was going to sit beside lorra, based on the seat numbers assigned to us.
i don't know if my seatmate noticed but when i got home, the vesicles in my face increased. i just hope she's had chicken pox already or else, i'm to blame if she got one right after she got home. and her mom was so warm to me. she even bought me a cup of hot choco when they bought one for lorra. unfortunately, i was pre-disposed not to accept it since i just had one myself when i went down the bus. the air-conditioning was really cold so that i stayed long outside the bus, until the time when boarding time came. it's probably got something to do with my condition, or the fact that i easily get cold. but whatever it was, i was so glad to get off that bus.
a movie was also shown during the trip although it's one i've never heard of before, the illuminator my seatmate said, although she might be mistaken. it's supposed to belong to the group of blockbuster action films but it's a big disappointment. there's nothing brilliant or new in the story. the prejudices make it all the more a sucker. it's a formula movie, a complete waste of time. i just wish they showed a more interesting film than that one. it's a good thing there wasn't any famous name there that would get destroyed because of the outcome of the film.
since i didn't get to sleep during the whole five hours to get home, lots of ideas ran freely through my mind and i did entertain a lot of them. one thing would be the many lessons, reports and exam i'd miss and one i think i would flunk since i'm absent during the days leading to it and i have no notes with me. i thought those things would be a blessing since i realized i do want to pursue filmmaking. and flunking grades in subjects needed for my major would be an added push if i told my mom about it. of course, i think i'll only be flunking one 3-unit subject, but i didn't think of it that way that time. my heart was really set on finally shifting to another course. i'm really drawn to doing it. i did not entertain any thought of economic or financial gain and i believed the only thing that mattered was where i was happy. i wasn't enjoying much examining the efficacy of the heat process and what-nots. i want to make films. of course i planned out a course of action. i'd ask the film students i know about what it takes to be a film major, inquire at the college of mass communication for the requirements and tell my parents in time before the second semester starts. i thought i'd probably get away with it, that my parents and my aunt, who's giving me financial assistance, would readily approve. it's probably not that very easy, seeing as i'm already on my third year and have had plenty of lab classes along the way. and my mom told me during my second year that my course was final already - i told her so that time - and i'm not going to shift anymore.
anyway, just in case, i'm posting these questions for anyone to answer. pitch in a thought and you might help me.
- do you have to be creative to be in film school? what's your standard of creativity in a person? cite qualities and personalities we both know.
- can you go to film school without much money? do you have to have your own camera and pc to do all your requirements? will you survive if you just borrow stuff from people you know?
- what's the mortality rate in the UP cmc-film institute? (for film students in UP diliman)
- will the teachers kill you for want of better film proposals?
- will a soft-spoken person thrive in such a course?
- do you have to know how to operate a video camera when i get there or will there be a prof who's willing to teach you the basics of videocam operation? (since in this family, i don't think anyone has operated one yet)
- will you do well if you don't have a critical eye, if you just see on the surface or a little below it and not all the way down?
these are some of the questions that's been bothering me. i couldn't think of the others, but these are my main concerns. well, adieux!
cruel trick. only three weeks more before the end of classes and i'm struck down by that virulence known as chicken pox. i didn't have an inkling i'd be having it - i've had almost two weeks of exposure to a friend who had it and no sign or symbol of it coming. i wasn't feeling very well on wednesday afternoon and thursday comes bringing a murderous headache and a very unfriendly feeling so that i had to skip my last class so as not to make things worse. and lo and behold, friday rolls around to find me sprouting vesicles in my face and in my hand. after much hoping that it won't end up that way, there's the confirmation and it's the dreaded thing alright.
so quickly as i could, i hie off to cubao to board a bus back home. there were a number of familiar faces boarding the bus with me - ate anne, a fellow subolite, retchelle, a fellow dagupeño and iska - in the same year as i am and extremely intelligent - although we pretend we don't know each other since we haven't really talked during those competitions we were participating in together back in high school (at least i do, i don't know about her :), lorra sayson, kim's cousin (kim is my classmate in elementary), with her parents, i believe. i couldn't tell kim's mom from her sister so i just assumed since she's with lorra, she's the mother of that girl who i know is out to impress the world, just like her cousins. we were all there on the same line buying a ticket when i saw them all. the last three people just probably realized it when we were on the bus already. lorra's mom recognized me since i was going to sit beside lorra, based on the seat numbers assigned to us.
i don't know if my seatmate noticed but when i got home, the vesicles in my face increased. i just hope she's had chicken pox already or else, i'm to blame if she got one right after she got home. and her mom was so warm to me. she even bought me a cup of hot choco when they bought one for lorra. unfortunately, i was pre-disposed not to accept it since i just had one myself when i went down the bus. the air-conditioning was really cold so that i stayed long outside the bus, until the time when boarding time came. it's probably got something to do with my condition, or the fact that i easily get cold. but whatever it was, i was so glad to get off that bus.
a movie was also shown during the trip although it's one i've never heard of before, the illuminator my seatmate said, although she might be mistaken. it's supposed to belong to the group of blockbuster action films but it's a big disappointment. there's nothing brilliant or new in the story. the prejudices make it all the more a sucker. it's a formula movie, a complete waste of time. i just wish they showed a more interesting film than that one. it's a good thing there wasn't any famous name there that would get destroyed because of the outcome of the film.
since i didn't get to sleep during the whole five hours to get home, lots of ideas ran freely through my mind and i did entertain a lot of them. one thing would be the many lessons, reports and exam i'd miss and one i think i would flunk since i'm absent during the days leading to it and i have no notes with me. i thought those things would be a blessing since i realized i do want to pursue filmmaking. and flunking grades in subjects needed for my major would be an added push if i told my mom about it. of course, i think i'll only be flunking one 3-unit subject, but i didn't think of it that way that time. my heart was really set on finally shifting to another course. i'm really drawn to doing it. i did not entertain any thought of economic or financial gain and i believed the only thing that mattered was where i was happy. i wasn't enjoying much examining the efficacy of the heat process and what-nots. i want to make films. of course i planned out a course of action. i'd ask the film students i know about what it takes to be a film major, inquire at the college of mass communication for the requirements and tell my parents in time before the second semester starts. i thought i'd probably get away with it, that my parents and my aunt, who's giving me financial assistance, would readily approve. it's probably not that very easy, seeing as i'm already on my third year and have had plenty of lab classes along the way. and my mom told me during my second year that my course was final already - i told her so that time - and i'm not going to shift anymore.
anyway, just in case, i'm posting these questions for anyone to answer. pitch in a thought and you might help me.
- do you have to be creative to be in film school? what's your standard of creativity in a person? cite qualities and personalities we both know.
- can you go to film school without much money? do you have to have your own camera and pc to do all your requirements? will you survive if you just borrow stuff from people you know?
- what's the mortality rate in the UP cmc-film institute? (for film students in UP diliman)
- will the teachers kill you for want of better film proposals?
- will a soft-spoken person thrive in such a course?
- do you have to know how to operate a video camera when i get there or will there be a prof who's willing to teach you the basics of videocam operation? (since in this family, i don't think anyone has operated one yet)
- will you do well if you don't have a critical eye, if you just see on the surface or a little below it and not all the way down?
these are some of the questions that's been bothering me. i couldn't think of the others, but these are my main concerns. well, adieux!
Sunday, September 4, 2005
i'm not sad; just tired
it's been a long time since my last post. a very long one...
i just finished reading the 6th book of Rowling's famous series. and the dominant emotion... sadness. it wasn't very overwhelming for me since i had expected dumbledore to die (somebody shouted it out loud at the tambayan as early as july so there goes my reading pleasure). and i guess at rowling's hand, it didn't seem easy to squeeze out those tears. but yeah, i did shed some, at the end, after coming to terms with the reality that the main character is facing.
sadness is such a glamourized emotion. it's so played up in movies. there'd be long sequences showing the character feeling gloomy, walking about in a really sunshiny, happy place but not noticing any of those, glimpsing scenes where the people are happy making him/her feel sadder, and of course, with a background music to accompany that emotion. the music is essential to the scene, as well as the actor. it wouldn't be complete.
after seeing many of those, and feeling sadder many times, i do contemplate scenes like those with me as the character. however, these are times when i'm not really down. i just wanted to glamourize myself that's why i wanted to do them. i want to be able to impart that same emotion, but as an actress onscreen. however, i haven't thought of any soundtrack that would accompany it. it's usually my face that i just imagine but not the reason behind it.
and then after imagining me sad, my mind drifts to the things that do make sad. and there i am, sad again. in reality this time.
i just finished reading the 6th book of Rowling's famous series. and the dominant emotion... sadness. it wasn't very overwhelming for me since i had expected dumbledore to die (somebody shouted it out loud at the tambayan as early as july so there goes my reading pleasure). and i guess at rowling's hand, it didn't seem easy to squeeze out those tears. but yeah, i did shed some, at the end, after coming to terms with the reality that the main character is facing.
sadness is such a glamourized emotion. it's so played up in movies. there'd be long sequences showing the character feeling gloomy, walking about in a really sunshiny, happy place but not noticing any of those, glimpsing scenes where the people are happy making him/her feel sadder, and of course, with a background music to accompany that emotion. the music is essential to the scene, as well as the actor. it wouldn't be complete.
after seeing many of those, and feeling sadder many times, i do contemplate scenes like those with me as the character. however, these are times when i'm not really down. i just wanted to glamourize myself that's why i wanted to do them. i want to be able to impart that same emotion, but as an actress onscreen. however, i haven't thought of any soundtrack that would accompany it. it's usually my face that i just imagine but not the reason behind it.
and then after imagining me sad, my mind drifts to the things that do make sad. and there i am, sad again. in reality this time.
