Bitter Pills, Breathing Spaces

When Authors Reply

2012-01-27T23:58:00.000+08:00

Chachic Fernandez once said... well, tweeted...

I think every book blogger friend that I know gets a thrill when authors respond to their tweets and/or book reviews. I mean, who doesn't? As I just started on my other blog, I wonder how would the people of whose works I review would feel. Then again, I hardly care. I still practice some measure of restraint though because I don't want to deal with this kind of drama. Seriously.

Of all the authors that I follow on Twitter, perhaps the most fan responsive is Michelle Zink (@MichelleZink). I've had a couple of occasions wherein I would tweet her about my reading progress for the Prophecy of the Sisters series and she replies as much as she can. Since then, she is on my "must-read, must-buy" list and I'm so excited to grab a copy of A Temptation of Angels this March. I'm quite sure, like the Prophecy of the Sisters, I would have a hard time putting it down. She is honestly that good.

As to the authors I've met in person -- like Lauren Kate, Samantha Sotto and Alexander Yates -- I haven't encountered a single one who's not fan responsive as well as level-headed when dealing with not-so-pleasant reviews about their books. The latter is not an easy feat if you consider the drama I just linked a few sentences ago. For that, I salute them.

Most recently, I have witnessed how YA authors are generally responsive and enthusiastic with each other and their fans. Last January 23, 2012 (22 in the US), the ALA Youth Media Awards -- Libba Bray calls it as "the Oscars for books" -- was held in Dallas, Texas. Tweets and re-tweets of congratulations and thank-yous from one YA author to another and to their fans were so fun to see on my feed; it felt like you're part of their conversation even if you're on the other side of the world. It also shows how closely knit and mutually supportive they are. The winners' list is quite impressive and I saw a couple of authors that I'm following won awards, which prompted me to congratulate them without any expectations. Imagine my surprise when I saw this:

(click to see image in full)

Why, you're welcome, Ms. Morgenstern! It's an honor to hear from you. Cheers!

2012 is starting out nicely. Here's wishing more fun encounters with authors here and overseas.

Nothing But Reviews

2012-01-23T19:17:00.000+08:00

After months of not knowing when my other blog would go up, I have finally managed to publish my first review post today. Woohoo! Thank goodness for long weekends. :D

I know you'd probably be wondering what will happen to this blog and to my other one in Tumblr. Well, I did say at some point that managing 2-3 blogs may be challenging... but, if anything, what would make each blog succeed depends largely on the material. I can say that all my 3 blogs feature unique posts thus I think I'm going to be fine. However, with this, comes the realization that I'm going to say hello to some more sleepless nights because if I do intend to keep all 3 blogs running, thinking about new material will keep me pre-occupied.

While I still have a lot to do with my new blog, I'm happy to join a gazillion other bloggers who have chosen WordPress. If you'd like to check out my new blog, which will feature mostly reviews, click here.

P.S. As I was about to finish this post, I noticed that two bloggers liked my first review. How's that for some encouragement? Nice indeed! :)

Pop Goes My Brain

2012-01-17T23:24:00.000+08:00

What I love the most about my current profession is how learning heavily figures in it. While majority of my time is spent facilitating the learning of other people, it feels good to learn new things as well. And that's saying a lot since attending courses is often pretty rare for me. I woe at the irony of it. My last formal training was almost a year and a half ago which I wrote about here.

I went through a new training at the start of this year; something specific to my current company. It was a huge eye-opener in a lot of ways. I appreciated my role more and I realized that we needed to go back to basics. There were keys tasks that are already ignored and mindsets that needed to be changed. In the end -- where I found myself drowning my exhaustion with several cans of Coke Zero, no longer caring about adding more pounds to what I gained from all the food I ate -- it made me wonder why people have succumbed to the pattern I came to experience. I knew my work was cut out for me when I signed the contract but I didn't realize that it would require a whole box of surgical gloves. I guess it's time to stretch the latex.

Your Love Is My Turning Page

2012-01-07T23:38:00.000+08:00

It's been a while since I made a post about a song I liked. The last one was about Madonna's Take A Bow. While I do have plans to feature music that I rave about on my still-in-production review blog, I couldn't resist writing a post about this one. The song is so compellingly beautiful that you find yourself wishing you're the one for whom it is being dedicated to. Well, at least, I knew I did.

Turning Page by Sleeping At Last is included in the original motion picture soundtrack of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1. While it wasn't launched with the same fanfare as It Will Rain by Bruno Mars or A Thousand Years by Christina Perri, the song became memorable because of a particular scene in the movie (which I'm not telling for spoiler reasons). It was short when I heard it for the first time (typical for a song used in a scene) but it was perhaps one of the most notable tracks among the movies I watched last year. The song catches you with its arrangement: the piano sounds achingly wonderful and the lyrics reads like an ode to true love.

About a month ago, Sleeping At Last shared a live performance of the song. Like fine wine, it just got better. Here's a video of the live performance and the full lyrics below. Hope you enjoy it. Happy weekend!

Turning Page by Sleeping At Last

I've waited a hundred years
But I'd wait a million more for you
Nothing prepared me for the privilege of being yours would do

If I had only felt the warmth within your touch
If I had only seen how you smile when you blush
Or how you curl your lip when you concentrate enough
I would have known what I was living for all along
What I've been living for

Your love is my turning page
Only the sweetest words remain
Every kiss is a cursive line
Every touch is a redefining phrase

I surrender who I've been for who you are
For nothing makes me stronger than your fragile heart
If I had only felt how it feels to be yours
Well, I would have known what I've been living for all along
What I've been living for

Though we're tethered to the story we must tell
When I saw you
Well, I knew we'd tell it well
With a whisper, we will tame the vicious seas
Like a feather bringing kingdoms to their knees

My Life In 2011 Through The Songs I Listened To

2012-01-03T00:13:00.002+08:00

Image Credit: ~Juu97 via deviantART

I guess by this time you'll know that I'm a girl with many hobbies/interests: taking photographs, watching movies (and even TV series although I somewhat neglected that lately), reading books among others. Listening to music is another hobby/interest that keeps me pre-occupied and something that I cannot live without.

My love for music started since I was a baby, if I were to believe my mother's story. While we were by no means musically-inclined, both my parents were your typical audiophiles: they listened to the radio, liked certain songs and often found themselves singing along with it. I remember growing up in a household that played a lot of 50s, 60s & 70s pop music. The first song I memorized was If I Should Love Again by Barry Manilow.

Since then, music defined my life in so many ways. It may surprise some but I used to be such an introvert and back then, music was my only outlet for my joys and pains. I would spend hard-saved lunch money on song books and sit by the radio just to hear my favorite song play. The first gadget that I bought when I was working was a portable CD player. Technology and the Internet helped shaped how I listen to songs lately as it allowed for more variety. In fact, when I purchased my first mobile phone, its music feature was a huge factor. While I still don't have an iPod to this day, my current mobile phone suffices my need to play music whenever and wherever I go. As I'm writing this, I'm listening to my latest downloaded track.

When I looked at my mobile phone playlist, I added at total of 78 new songs this year: most of which I discovered through movie and TV soundtracks. There were returning faves and new artists. And a good number of them were played at least 20 times (or until I get tired). I won't feature all 78 tracks -- that will be such a lengthy post -- but I will feature My Top 5 Most Played Songs and why I never got tired of them:

Just A Kiss by Lady Antebellum

Just a shot in the dark that you just might

Be the one I've been waiting for my whole life

So baby I'm alright, with a kiss goodnight

From the moment I heard those lyrics, I was gone. Literally. I remembered moments when I cried while listening to it. The arrangement was great. Perhaps, this song solidified how much I loved the band since the release of their other notable single, Need You Now.

Panic Switch by Silversun Pickups

If I go anywhere you'd want me to go,

How will I know if you'll still follow?

The trailer for Sucker Punch was perhaps one of my most watched in 2010. When I caught wind of this song's beat, I googled my way to finding and listening to the whole song. I wasn't disappointed. If I'm throwing myself into mindless but quick encoding or designing a PowerPoint presentation, this song would perhaps be on repeat alongside Clocks by Coldplay.

Future Starts Slow by The Kills

There's a time for the second best

And there's a time when the feeling's gone

But it's hard to be hard, I guess

When you're shaking like a dog

Since I discovered Sour Cherry on Gossip Girl, this duo has been on my music must-have list. I'm just annoyed that the only CD available in the market is Midnight Bloom; I still have to get my hands on their first two albums: Keep On Your Mean Side and No Wow. And with the release of their latest album, Blood Pressures, I'm getting frustrated. Come on record bars, stock those darn CDs please.

Moves Like Jagger by Maroon 5 featuring Christina Aguilera

Maybe it's hard

When you feel like you're broken and scarred

Nothing feels right

But when you're with me

I make you believe

That I've got the key

That whistling sound at the start is unmistakable. It's like a secret code that's captures your full attention and makes you suddenly tap your feet to its beat. And for less than four minutes, you entertain the notion that maybe you do have Mick's moves. Now that's how a song becomes memorable and, if you're a fan, it makes you happy that Maroon 5 hasn't lost its thunder.

Rolling In The Deep by Adele

See how I'll leave with every piece of you

Don't underestimate the things that I will do

There's a fire starting in my heart

Reaching a fever pitch and it's bringing me out the dark

Perhaps every local singer I know, good or bad, covered this song in every conceivable entertainment show since it was released. Word of advise: Stop it. Not only are you ruining the song, but you're equally destroying your street cred. Leave it to be sung by Adele. It was meant to be that way. Enough said.

I hope you enjoyed all of my recap posts and I'm looking forward to more of the good stuff this 2012. Cheers! :D

My Life In 2011 Through The Books I Read & Bought

2012-01-02T00:01:00.001+08:00

I did say in an earlier post that if get inspired, I'll make another blog. And so here it is. Luckily, it's not as taxing to make as my earlier post. However, in its own way, it did tax me... or my wallet.

I have a confession to make: I am a book hoarder. If I were to gauge by the number of books that I just sorted and cleaned up yesterday, they are a lot for my room to fit in. My book blogger friends -- you know who you are -- would argue that they're still by no means the same volume as theirs, to which I agree. As I'm surveying my room, I'm counting five plastic crates... Five. Plastic. Crates! And I remember seeing more than a handful of stray ones in our living room. Oh dear.

I remembered in 2010, I gave myself a goal: not to buy a lot of books because of my space dilemma. I made a list, which I kept, followed and succeed. So I thought 2011 would be a cinch. I knew this year would really put a dent in my pocket but I wanted to keep myself in check. So I made a list. I kept it. Unfortunately, I didn't follow it. In fact, I exceeded and got a total of 35 books (3 of which were gifts by the way)! Jeez, it sounds like I rebounded from rehab. Hahaha. Here's a snapshot of the books I owned (bought or given) in 2011 as seen in my Goodreads account:

(click to see the above image in full)

2011 marks the year wherein I've read the most number of books since I got caught in the corporate jungle. My day job hardly affords me any time to read so finishing any non-work related book is quite an achievement. I can still remember my 2006 dry spell and I don't want that to happen again. I gave myself a 15-book reading challenge at the start of 2011. My total read books: 20! Woohoo. I am so proud of myself. And I thought that was impossible since I switched jobs. Thank goodness for long commute rides. Here's a snapshot of the books I read as seen in my Goodreads account:

(click to see the above image in full)

In some ways, I found all this to be a good thing because I was introduced to a whole lot of authors and my reading palate became more diverse. 2011 also became the year where I met more authors and got my books signed; I loved seeing one again (Hello Lauren Kate!) and meeting two new authors who were such great individuals, very enthusiastic about their work (Hello Samantha Sotto & Alexander Yates!). I followed more authors this year on Twitter (Hello John Green, Gayle Forman, Scott Westerfeld, Erin Morgenstern and Laini Taylor!) and listed more books on my Goodreads wishlist.

Suffice to say, my love for reading is back in full force and I have no intentions of stopping any time soon. It helps that I'm actively part of a club with a few friends who meet regularly to discuss and recommend books. So I guess my target of 20 books for 2012 would be a cinch? I truly hope. And about my space problem? I'm thinking about donating, if not re-selling, some of my books. I'm thankful for my Kindle for PC app but since I can't bring Sydney while I commute, getting a Kindle soon is becoming a priority.

My Life In 2011 Through The Movies I Watched

2012-01-01T17:46:00.004+08:00

Happy New Year friends! Hope the smog hasn't gotten to you as much as I did. I've been in my room for perhaps the whole day and I'm not exactly looking forward to going to work tomorrow (because it's too soon). To distract me, I prepared this 2011 recap post. You may remember that I made a similar one last year. I liked doing it so much then that I want it to be a regular thing. This year though, I plan to amp it up by adding two recap posts but for books and music. Hopefully, these will be up in the next few days... or hours... depending on how inspired I get.

Without further ado, here's my life in 2011 through the movies I watched. Enjoy!

(click to see above image in full)

January 8 - The Tourist
(This movie kept me thinking until the end.)

January 22 - Tangled
(Perhaps the only movie musical that I've watched so far in ages. And yes, I didn't cringe! How could I when I am swooned by the voice of Zachary Levi. Teehee!)

March 5 - Just Go With It
(There wasn't any new movies showing that week. I remembered Meann and I choosing between this and I Am Number Four. Well, obviously, you know what we both chose and neither of us regretted it.)

March 13 - Red Riding Hood
(I wanted to read the book before watching this. After I watched it, I fell in love with Billy Burke more. And I liked Max Irons. I do have a copy of the book; unfortunately, it is still unread.)

March 19 - Rango
(This is for me the best animation movie I've seen. Story-wise, it was compelling.)

March 21 - Sucker Punch
March 26 - Sucker Punch
(Like in my post last year, I have the habit of watching movies more than once. This was no exception. And I'm a proud owner of this book and I won this shirt from New Worlds.)

April 19 - Arthur
(I will admit to not being a big Russell Brand fan but this made me laugh and cry. The geeky, movie cars were awesome.)

April 28 - Water For Elephants
(Thanks to our fairy godmother, I saw this in an advanced screening together with 4 other Robert Pattinson fans. My friends know that I'm a fan of his so anything he makes, I'll see. To this day, I regret not seeing Remember Me in the cinemas.)

April 30 - Thor
(If only because I wanted to see Chris Hemsworth in 3D, I made an exception to my Northern allergy and saw this. While this takes my favorite movie of the year award, my only wish: extra 20 feet for maximum ab exposure. =P)

May 31 - Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
(If anyone questions how much I love Johnny Depp, this should be proof that I do. It's the third movie of him that I've seen; that's like an average of 1 Johnny Depp fix every 2 months. Not bad at all.)

June 4 - Kung Fu Panda 2
(This was our company's family day offering. I joined the first screening. I laughed and cried all the way until the end. Keeping my fingers crossed for a 3rd installment.)

June 4 - X-Men First Class
(Since I wasn't contented with Kung Fu Panda 2, I watched this with a couple of friends who swear by Charles/Erik's or James McAvoy/Michael Fassbender's powerful chemistry. I was equally hooked. The duo takes the Best On-Screen Couple of the Year award for me. :D)

June 20 - Super 8
(I loved this movie but if there's one thing I learned, I shouldn't have watched this alone.)

July 9 - Temptation Island
(I loved the original; I loved this remake too. And the crowd that my friends and I were with in the cinema... tres chic!)

August 6 - Cowboys & Aliens
(Having seen Super 8 a few months before, my enthusiasm watered down a bit. Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig easily changed my mind.)

August 13 - Captain America, The First Avenger
(Chris Evans and Sebastian Stan. Need I say more? :D)

September 3 - Zombadings 1: Patayin Sa Shokot Si Remington
(My 2nd Filipino movie for the year! And that is awesome by my standards. It didn't hurt that Meann and I saw Martin Escudero at the end of our screening. Here's proof.)

September 8 - Contagion
(Kate Winslet. Jude Law. Gwyneth Paltrow. Marion Cotillard. Matt Damon. Laurence Fishburne. An all-star cast movie directed by Steven Soderbergh. I've seen similar kinds of movies but this works. So bravo!)

September 24 - Abduction
(Taylor Lautner's first starring role after shooting The Twilight Saga franchise. Not bad; not good either. More movies would do the trick.)

October 22 - The Three Musketeers
(Matthew Macfadyen + Logan Lerman + Orlando Bloom as a bad ass = MAJOR LEAGUE EYE CANDY! The chemistry between D'Artagnan/King Louis XIII is my runner-up for the Best On-Screen Couple of the Year award.)

November 17 - The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1
November 18 - The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1
(Breaking Dawn, the book, is my 2nd favorite in the series so you can imagine my anticipation. I think Bill Condon and Melissa Rosenberg did their best to adapt this. I was entertained. However, if I were to rank the four movies, this unfortunately takes the last slot for me.)

December 10 - Immortals
(Luke Evans. I sigh as I say your name. Not that I don't like Sean Bean but can you be Zeus in the next installment of Percy Jackson? Pretty please?)

December 17 - Mission Impossible 4: Ghost Protocol
(I love you, Simon Pegg! You were made to be seen in IMAX.)

When I reviewed my last year's post, I watched a total of 17 movies. This year? 23 movies! Woohoo! I hope to see more this 2012. And this nifty sequel below would be the first one on my list...

The Girl With The Untrained Eye

2011-12-30T12:30:00.004+08:00

A good number of my friends in my social networks fell in love with Tumblr. At the time I learned of it, I already have accounts on similar sites that I didn't find the need to create one. I didn't see any difference plus I couldn't think of a good use for it. I mean, I have Twitter, Plurk and Facebook for my fits of fangirling... and I have Blogger, LiveJournal and WordPress to serve my blogging needs... Why go on Tumblr?

Well, I stumbled upon Brittani Kline's Tumblr account (which seems to be deactivated now) while I was trying to put myself to sleep by doing some random googling (yes, it's my online version of channel surfing). I liked how she created her site: it had a mesh of photos and all things about her life after winning America's Next Top Model Cycle 16. Another random google search revealed that Katie Leung (a.k.a. Cho Chang from the Harry Potter movies) also has a Tumblr account in which she posts all the photos she has taken. I remembered that she pursued her interest in photography after filming the movies and I love what she posted so far. Then, it clicked: I felt the need to create an account and use it as my photo blog. Aside from reading books, I consider photography to be my other love. While I wouldn't call myself a professional, my photographer friends constantly tease me to get a DSLR because of the shots I've taken; some of which are featured on the banner for this site and they were not taken using a DSLR.

Armed with that resolve, it took me around 30 minutes to create everything -- from the blog title to the first post -- and I felt happy after. To date, I've posted around 9 photos and even changed the site's layout. This is what my Tumblr blog looks like:

I guess it is safe to say that I will constantly update my Tumblr as often as I could. I still have a good number of photos in my archives that I haven't shared and I don't think I'll ever stop taking them. So if you have a Tumblr account, you can follow me here. And if you're curious about my title for this blog post, click here.

Now, what to do with my WordPress account... Hmmm... =P

12 Days of Literary Christmas

2011-12-29T23:30:00.000+08:00

I know it's way past Christmas and about a few nights short of 2012 but I found this meme fun enough that I don't care. I'm still on my Holiday mode, that's my excuse. :P

Before I share my answers to the meme, I'd like to give a little background on how this started.

My friend, Meann Ortiz, started this on her blog after coming across this question on her Twitter feed:

What Christmas gift would you want to give your favorite literary character?

This inspired her to create the meme, which I came across during one of my out-of-work-mode moments. Her blog post, which I found creative and cool, contained characters and authors from her 2011 Read List on Goodreads. Since I'm also on Goodreads and having exceeded my 2011 Reading Challenge, I figured I had enough characters in my arsenal to give imaginary gifts... Hello, Beauty Queens! ;)

So, without further ado, here is my response to the 12 Days of Literary Christmas meme:

On the 1st day of Christmas,

I’ll give Petra West a.k.a. Miss Rhode Island from Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

An Emmy award for her late-night show, Go West.

On the 2nd day of Christmas,

I’ll give Zuzana from Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Two theatres in her name.

On the 3rd day of Christmas,

I’ll give Lindsey Lee Wells from An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

Three million dollars to keep her town afloat.

On the 4th day of Christmas,

I’ll give Dex from Before Ever After by Samantha Sotto

Four types of camera lenses.

On the 5th day of Christmas,

I’ll give Macon Ravenwood from Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Five castles with moats to decorate/re-decorate.

On the 6th day of Christmas,

I’ll give Sidhean from Ash by Malinda Lo

Six months to eat, love and live like any typical mortal.

On the 7th day of Christmas,

I’ll give Margo Roth Spiegelman from Paper Towns by John Green

Seven all-expense paid vacation packages to any destination of her choice.

On the 8th day of Christmas,

I’ll give Charlie from The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Eight VIP concert tickets to any artist of his choice.

On the 9th day of Christmas,

I’ll give Lia Milthorpe from Circle of Fire by Michelle Zink

Nine foolproof wishes.

On the 10th day of Christmas,

I’ll give Adam Wilde from Where She Went by Gayle Forman

Ten million downloads of his new single with Mia Hall.

On the 11th day of Christmas,

I’ll give Miles Fisher from Torment and Passion by Lauren Kate

Eleven romantic dates with Shelby.

On the 12th day of Christmas,

I’ll give Mia Featherstone from Zombicorns by John Green

Twelve cases of wine and fully-loaded AR-15 rifles.

Manila International Book Fair 2011: New Year, New Experiences

2011-09-19T02:02:00.011+08:00

Tata Francisco (Ex-Libris Philippines) pretty much summarized what the Manila International Book Fair (MIBF) is for me: "It's like Christmas in December." Well, at least in the last two years. While I admit to being a leisure/casual reader cum book hoarder, participating in book fairs/conventions was never my cup of tea. For one reason: I hate large crowds as I constantly feel the need to apologize/excuse myself every time I pass through. Perhaps, it's largely out of fear that I get Mad-Eye Moody-like stares for accidentally hitting someone or I'm the one getting hit. Not even the lure of discounts and books fresh out of the box would persuade me. However, as time would have it, my curiosity about the MIBF got the best of me and I've been going since 2009. Not that long ago but I guess we all start somewhere. :)

My first MIBF experience in 2009 was largely due to fandom-related activities as it pertains to The Hunger Games & The Twilight Saga. First, I was one of the participants in the Live Action Role Play (LARP), which was done as part of the launch activities for Catching Fire, Book 2 in the said trilogy. Afterwards, I was a panelist for the book-to-movie adaptation discussion of New Moon by Twilight Coven Philippines. Given the hectic schedule that day, I didn't have any time to browse/buy books but I did get an ARC of Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink from Meann.

A year later, I went to the MIBF for business reasons. I was excited at the prospect. I attended an English language conference with Claire, an ex-officemate/friend/fellow bibliophile. While we visited the book fair after our conference, unfortunately, there wasn't any book that caught my attention... or perhaps, I was tired. In a way, it somewhat reinforced my first impression of the book fair: that it seemed to cater more to educators/non-fiction readers given the huge spread of booths selling books for their market. I don't find anything wrong with that, truth be told, as it helps educators get updated on materials they can bring to their schools. I guess I was expecting a variety of books which would attract different markets/crowds to be in the fair.

Those experiences made me think twice about visiting this year. However, through stories of friends and social media networks, I learned about some key activities that even compelled me to file a leave in the middle of my work week. While I only visited for only two days out of five, I can definitely say that I came, I saw, I pimped... and bought... I lined up and listened... more than any of the years I went to the fair. I noted that there were a lot more authors invited to sign their books; there was even a web chat and signed books raffled off. The books available were more diverse and accessible, price-wise; even titles that weren't supposed to appear were sold already. Suffice to say, I had fun this year. My photo slideshow below covers some of my personal highlights, which include:

Attending the 1st Filipino Reader Conference;
Buying more books, of course, to add to my growing pile;
Meeting and having my books signed by two authors, namely Samantha Sotto and Alexander Yates, and listen to their experiences in a panel discussion sponsored by National Bookstore & Random House entitled "Life of a Novelist"; and
Sharing those experiences with good friends and fellow bibliophiles.

Note: All images uploaded in this slideshow were taken by me. Should you download
them and use in your site, please credit accordingly. Thanks!

On that note, I'll end this blog with a big kudos to the organizers of the MIBF! It's getting better each year. Keep it up! I'm looking forward to more books, more authors and more activities in the years to come. :D

ETA: Some photo captions in the slideshow were already edited in the full album prior to publishing this blog post. It seems like Photobucket is having some problems synchronizing my updates. I will try to fix this the soonest. My apologies.

A Meme & A Wish

2011-09-11T12:37:00.008+08:00

Only 3 nights to go before the 1st Filipino Reader Conference! I'm pretty excited. I'm all set and looking forward to meeting fellow Pinoy readers, especially those whom I've gotten to know through the Filipino Friday memes. Speaking of which, I still have to post my answer to the final installment wherein it asks about expectations during the event...

What do you hope will happen in the Filipino ReaderCon? What are you expecting from the event?

If I were to base it from the program, I'm definitely going to learn a lot from the event. I don't expect it to be perfect or anything given that this is going to be the first venture but I do hope it's not going to be the last. I look forward to meeting fellow bibliophiles and get/share book recommendations. I've been reading for as long and as much as I could so learning from the experiences of fellow Pinoy readers would be such a trip.

~*~*~*~*~

Since the BER months have ushered in, I've been wondering about what do I get myself this Christmas. While Sydney would've been my delayed birthday gift, I've been toying between a couple of gadgets and with my brother leaving for a business trip in Canada, it seems all the more plausible that I get this little thing for myself...

Kindle 3G, Free 3G + Wi-Fi, 3G Works Globally, Graphite, 6" Display with New E Ink Pearl Technology

(Image Credit: Amazon.com)

To be honest, buying a Kindle was the least of my gadget priorities... until recently. A new camera was supposed to be my next target gadget specifically this one...

Panasonic DMC-FZ150K 12.1 MP Digital Camera with CMOS Sensor and 24x Optical Zoom (Black)

(Image Credit: Panasonic.net)

However, since we got a new camera as a freebie for the package my brother and I got for our laptops, the thought of buying one suddenly became less of a priority. Plus, as my daily commute to & from the office averages about 3 hours, I need something to pass the time by minus the bulk of traditional books. This notion alone is quite odd because if you'd ask me a couple of years ago about my thoughts regarding a Kindle and I'd probably say that buying it is a luxury. Now, I feel that it's no longer the case.

I fear for my wallet, I really do, because it's going to do a whole lot of work for several months. Wish me luck! ;)

Another Blog In The Works

2011-09-04T02:12:00.000+08:00

Over the last few months, I've been secretly nurturing the desire to put up another blog. And no, it won't be similar to this blog, content-wise. This is time it's going to be a bit straightforward as to the type of posts that I plan to publish. As this will be hosted in a different site, I still need some time to design the look and feel of it, as well as study my options for this new blog.

When I put up one via LJ a few years back, I enjoyed its privacy options and the insurmountable amount of communities that it has. But it all became just that and nothing more after a while. I still access it but not for the original intent when I signed up for it. I think, despite the nature of this blog, I've managed to ensure that my posts would not generate that TMI effect. After all, there are still a lot of things about any person's life that's not meant for public consumption.

This only means that I'll be doing double-time for both blogs soon. I think I can handle it especially after getting some inspiration from a training summit I attended two months ago. And that alone fuels me, even if it takes me one widget at a time to build up this new blog. I do hope that you'll like it as much as you've supported this little one. I'll announce it when it's up and running. :)

Readercon Filipino Friday: Weeks 2-4

2011-09-02T08:46:00.010+08:00

I know this is 2 posts delayed but I feel that it's better that I did it than never. Having Sydney in my life is going to make a difference and making this post -- as well as others, in the near future -- would be one of the many changes.

Okay, done apologizing/rationalizing and on with my answers to Readercon Filipino Friday... ;)

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For Week 2's installment, it's about my story as a reader...

How did you become a reader? What factors influenced you to take it up as a hobby? For instance, was it your mom who read to you every night? Or was it a high school friend who started lending you books? Or maybe it was a really inspiring teacher whom you wanted to emulate. Whatever it was, we hope you tell us all the story of how you became a leisure reader and what it is about reading that you enjoy so much.

When I was young, I always see my dad and my mom read every morning in our living room, either holding on to that day's paper or a pocketbook. But I was never interested to pick up reading as a hobby until I was ostracized by my classmates during 1st grade for not being able to speak Filipino/Tagalog well. In my haste to get away from them, I found myself in our school library. I found the silence comforting thus, I stayed. One of my teachers, Mrs. Ferrer, who was checking papers, saw me and asked why I was there. I think I cried and told her about my situation thus, Mrs. Ferrer decided to let me stay and gave me some books to entertain myself. From then on, I became one of our school library's frequent patrons and that's when I picked up reading as a hobby.

What I like about reading as a hobby is its ability to stretch your imagination and appeal to your emotions through nothing but words. Reading fiction allows me to relax, momentarily forget about my worries and somewhat live vicariously through the characters.

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For Week 3's installment, it's about my challenges as a reader in our country...

How hard or easy is it to be a book lover in the Philippines? What are some of your frustrations as a Filipino reader (e.g. availability of books)? What are positive aspects of being a reader based in the Philippines (e.g. book prices are lower here than they are abroad)?

When I started reading leisurely as a kid, I didn't feel challenged at all because most of the books I wanted to read were available in our school library. I think I didn't find any challenge in reading because I didn't have a favorite genre and I hardly discriminated on books. To me, as long as the story seems good enough, I'll read it.

When I shop for a new book, I randomly pick it off the shelves: I look at the cover and the title, read the synopsis and a few pages just to get a feel of the writer's voice. If I like it, I buy it. If I don't, I put it back. I used to shy away from the bestseller shelves; that was pretty anti-mainstream of me. Thus, it took me years before I read, as an example, Harry Potter. But when I do like something that's considered mainstream, I overcompensate. I think I read all 6 Harry Potter books in a span of a month and bought all original DVDs of the movie adaptations afterwards.

The fun thing about being a reader in the Philippines, which I agree with the question above, is that the books are sold relatively cheaper than the posted USD/CAD SRP. I don't know how our country manages to do that but I'm grateful. However, it would take a while before new releases for specific genres to get to our shores. This can really test a reader's patience especially when you see reviews posted about the books you wanted to read but are not available. I don't know how the Powers-That-Be decide on what books to carry in their shelves but there has to be more variety to cater to a lot more Pinoy readers.

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And lastly, for this week's installment, it's all about Filipino Literature...

Do you read Filipino literature? If you do, tell us your favorite books by Filipino authors and name a few that you'd like to recommend to fellow readers. If you don't read much Filipino lit, then tell us why.

Honestly, I don't read much Filipino literature not because I think that the stories are bad but mostly because it feels like required reading. Most of the Filipino literature I've read were done as part of school work thus, it lost its appeal to me. I like seeing Filipino references though in the books that I read and it's a thrill to see such.

While I did say I don't read much Filipino literature, I do have books from the following Filipino authors -- Francis Kong, Arlene J. Chai, Bob Ong & Samantha Sotto. I would recommend that you read any of their works especially The Last Time I Saw Mother, Before Ever After and Stainless Longganisa.

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Whew! I did it. Thanks for reading my meme post and do check out The 1st Filipino Reader Conference on September 14 at SMX Mall of Asia.

Readercon Filipino Friday Meme 1: Introduce Yourself

2011-08-12T20:09:00.007+08:00

It's been a while since I've blogged here. Computer issues, something beyond my control for now. I don't normally do meme-type posts but I'm making an exception for this, simply because it's for something close to my heart: reading. So to kick this off, let me introduce you to...

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Filipino Friday is an initiative of the official Filipino Reader Conference site to promote the 1st Filipino Reader Con on the 14th of September during the 2011 Manila International Book Fair. For this meme's first installment...

Introduce Yourself: Let’s all get to know each other better. Tell us what kind of reader you are. What are your favorite genres and books? Who are your favorite authors? Do you have a comfort read? And what’s the best book you’ve read so far this year? You can also include links of where other readers can find you online, such as your book social networking sites, etc.

~*~*~*~*~

Okay... Where do I begin? ;)

As a reader, I'm pretty open to a lot of genres. I don't discriminate; as long as it is a story that piques my interest then I'm good. My love for reading started with Nancy Drew, back in first grade. Since then, I never stopped. I moved on to The Three Investigators, then Sweet Valley High. College reading was torn between course books and classic/chic lit. Now, most of the books that are on my to-read pile are either YA or classic/contemporary fiction. You would see books from some of my favorite authors like William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Libba Bray, Michelle Zink, Suzanne Collins, J.K. Rowling and Stephenie Meyer in an odd hodgepodge filling the corner of my room.

When I read books -- even if I liked them -- I would only read them around twice. I have my in-between-book reads: mostly Shakespeare's sonnets and a couple of his plays (Hamlet and A Midsummer Night's Dream) or Jewel's A Night Without Armor. To date, the book that I loved reading so far was Before Ever After by Samantha Sotto. It was a welcome break from the stream of YA fiction that I've been reading lately.

Most of my reading adventures can be seen via Goodreads and I like updating my reading status if and when time permits. Also, I've discovered the beauty of colored tabs. The last two books I've read have little colored tabs peeking on one side, indictating bits of the book that I loved as well as best quotes.

I guess that pretty much sums it up. Thanks for taking time to check out this blog post. Pinoy readers unite! :)

Sweet Pea's Monologue

2011-04-09T12:22:00.009+08:00

More than two weeks already passed since I watched Sucker Punch and much has been said about it, both good and bad. Personally, I loved and enjoyed it -- so much that I don't even care about its low ratings over at Rotten Tomatoes. To each his own. I think it's an interesting movie, one that is best seen inside the cinemas and not buying from your local... uh... I mean... by-the-corner-of-the-streets disc retailer. I might even venture into buying the original DVD, and that's saying something.

One of the things that I loved about it was Sweet Pea's monologue. I love well-written monologues; to date, my favorite is still the one by Kate Winslet in The Holiday. While my initial intention was to help a friend, I felt the need to capture the monologue itself. Maybe because there's so much in it that reflects certain parts of my life, not to mention that it's nicely written. Nonetheless, I think it should be shared. Perhaps, you may find something something about it that you can draw inspiration from.

"Everyone has an angel; a guardian who watches over us. We can't know what form they'll take: one day, old man; next day, little girl. But don't let appearances fool you -- they can be as fierce as any dragon. Yet they're not here to fight our battles, but to whisper from our hearts, reminding that it's us... it's everyone of us who holds the power over the worlds we create."

"We can deny our angels exist, convince ourselves they can't be real, but they show up anyway -- at strange places and at strange times. They can speak through any character we can imagine. They'll shout through demons if they have to... daring us... challenging us to fight."

"And finally this question, the mystery of who's story it will be... of who draws the curtain... who is it that chooses out steps in the dance... who drives us mad, lashes us with whips and crowns us with victory when we survive the impossible... who is it that tells all things?"

"Who honors those we love with the very life we live? Who sends monsters to kill us and at the same time, stay with it and we'll never die? Who teaches us what's real and how to laugh at lies? Who decides why we live and what we'll die to defend? Who chains us and who holds the key that could set us free? It's you. You have all the weapons you need. Now, fight!"

Credit: Featured images in this blog can be seen in this lin k.

My Movie Tie-In Love Affair

2011-03-31T20:23:00.009+08:00

One of my resolutions this year was to continue managing my book purchase list. I was successful in 2010, thus I figured it would be a walk in the park when 2011 started. Boy, I was wrong. I guess the lure of new books especially those that I've been curious to read and own was stronger than sticking to a list. To date, I already bought around 10 books and a good number of them are movie tie-ins.

There's a handful of them (i.e. The Fellowship of the Ring, The X-Files: Fight The Future, Star Wars, Stardust) that would've loved to make an appearance but they're shy. Kidding. Truth be told, I cannot find them.

From the picture above, my recent movie tie-in purchases were Jane Eyre, Red Riding Hood and Water For Elephants. I don't know why I like movie tie-ins -- sometimes it's a matter of how the cover looks better than the original one; others would be the extras included like the pull-out posters from the Twilight saga series or the timeline from the Chronicles of Narnia, which are often not part of the original releases. I know that on a marketing standpoint, movie tie-ins would help increase interest in the book, i.e. Water For Elephants. Sometimes, they're sold cheaper than the original editions. At one point, I wondered if Scholastic or Bloomsbury ever thought of releasing movie tie-in editions of the Harry Potter series. I would have bought them without any hesitation.

I don't think that my love affair would movie tie-in books would stop as I enjoy watching book-to-film adaptations. I'm even considering buying such editions of He's Just Not That Into You, Bridget Jones's Diary, The Devil Wears Prada (since I lost my original one) or Eat, Pray, Love. I'm just controlling the temptation to start picking up a copy given the sheer number of unread books -- 60++ so far -- that I have. The fact that I still see them on the shelves of my favorite bookstores along with other movie tie-in books is comforting. I don't feel the need to buy them immediately. However, not all movie tie-in books draw my attention, and there's a couple of them that I wouldn't even dare touch with a ten-foot pole.

Can you spot the common denominator?

I don't need to explain why. Most of my friends would know. =P

The Bennet Sisters Excitation

2011-02-28T17:00:00.003+08:00

Jane Austen in the den.
Jane Austen in the den.
Hi-ho, we're merry-o!
Jane Austen in the den.

And so the spoofed nursery rhyme speaks of a tale of five Austen soul sisters who were all Macfadyen-ed by the end of a 27-hour journey.

~*~

In my get-togethers with this circle of friends, the talk about having movie/TV series marathons was mentioned several times. And in one of those talks, Pride & Prejudice became one of the choices given its number of adaptations: from Laurence Olivier's version to this modern-day take.

When 2011 started, I thought that why not pursue a marathon and schedule it during one long holiday weekend. Given enough planning despite the surprising and odd holiday declaration, it happened and this became our line-up:

I came into this marathon knowing that I'm going to be absolutely sleep-deprived but throughly excited at the prospect of watching different adaptations with friends. As you may see from this twitter hashtag, we had tons of fun and fangirl squeals.

Among the three adaptations we watched, for me, the Colin Firth version stayed true to the book. It benefitted from the liberty of being presented as a 6-part mini-series thus every possible detail was covered and some new bits *coughthelakescenecough* were added. The most romantic was the Matthew Macfadyen version, hands-on, if only for the squeals we made for this particular scene in the movie, especially at the 3:45 mark:

That doesn't mean that the Laurence Olivier version didn't have any merits in my book, despite its WTF moment towards the end that sent the most hardcore Austen fans in the den screaming. I loved the campiness of its script! It was not short of wit but it managed to be funny and definitely quote-worthy. This is perhaps my favorite line from this version:

Towards the end of the marathon -- wherein we were re-watching P&P 2005 with commentary -- I mused of the fact that there were five of us in the den, much like there were five Bennet sisters. So I posed the thought as to who's who. I ended up being Jane Bennet since age became the main parameter. The longer I contemplate about the characteristics of each Bennet sister, I think it matched to a good extent as Jane was the one I could relate to the most.

~*~

Now that the Pride & Prejudice marathon was over, everyone in the den was excited for the prospect of a next one. There isn't a date yet but a line-up has been determined:

And we're attempting a feat greater than the previous one: the extended cuts of the movies perhaps even with commentary. So, let the journey to Middle Earth begin! ;)

The Show Is Over, Say Goodbye

2011-01-25T13:21:00.002+08:00

Last night, I went into a frenzy searching for a good movie that will ease my stress at work. In the middle of my hunt, I came across one of my old Madonna CDs, Something To Remember. It was one of my favorite compilations since it featured most of my favorite ballads. I stopped hunting, took out my old CD player, got my good pair of headphones and let the ol' gadget shuffle the tracks. Out came "Take A Bow" and a slow smile crept on my face.

The song reminded me of a lot of things, bitter and sweet. I remembered singing this to a college friend the night before she got married. I remembered hearing this on the radio while lending a shoulder to another friend who discovered that her boyfriend didn't love her anymore. If anything, the song reminds me about realization; that all things -- good and bad -- come to an end.

Nothing is meant to last forever... even something mundane like stress or something precious like free will. When the curtains fall, you have nothing left to do but say goodbye. As soon as the song ended, I did.

Take A Bow
Madonna

Take a bow, the night is over
This masquerade is getting older
Lights are low, the curtains down
There's no one here

Say your lines but do you feel them
Do you mean what you say when there's no one around
Watching you, watching me,
One lonely star

I've always been in love with you
I guess you've always known it's true
You took my love for granted
Why, oh why
The show is over, say goodbye

Say goodbye

Say goodbye

Make them laugh, it comes so easy
When you get to the part
Where you're breaking my heart
Hide behind your smile
All the world loves a clown

Wish you well, I cannot stay
You deserve an award for the role that you played
No more masquerade
You're one lonely star

I've always been in love with you
I guess you've always known it's true
You took my love for granted
Why, oh why
The show is over, say goodbye

Say goodbye

Say goodbye

All the world is a stage
And everyone has their part
But how was I to know which way the story'd go
How was I to know you'd break...
You'd break my heart

I've always been in love with you
Guess you've always known
You took my love for granted
Why, oh why
The show is over, say good-bye

Say goodbye

Say goodbye

Say goodbye

Driving Cars & Cutting Hair

2011-01-23T17:10:00.003+08:00

I am part of a indie band named Northsound Radio and I am proud to say that we are going to launch our first album, which is entitled Driving Cars & Cutting Hair.

Doesn't the album cover look cool? I'm really proud of it because I designed it. However, that's just about the only thing you'll see about my band. Nothing about what I said above is real. There's a part of me wishing that I were part of a band but all I can manage is creating that fake album cover.

I saw this fake album cover game over Facebook and decided to follow the rules. The friend, from whom I learned the game, shared that it was originally from Multiply. Regardless of its origin, I had fun with it. I even ended up creating an account with one of the sites below. The rules are a bit tedious but believe me, you will be amazed with the results. The picture above is a testament to the game's awesomeness. Ready to take a shot at it? Here are the rules:

Go to Wikipedia and hit random. The first random wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.
Go to quotationspage.com and hit random. The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.
Go to Flickr and click on “explore the last seven days”. Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.
Use photoshop or similar (picnik.com is a free online photo editor) to put it all together.
Post it with this text in the "caption" and tag the friends you want to join in.

I won't be tagging friends in this page but if you find game interesting enough, I dare you to do it and share your results with me. Post your blog links in the comments after you've made one of your own. I'm excited to see your own fake album covers. Cheers! :D

Mea Culpa, A Heartfelt One

2011-01-14T13:48:00.011+08:00

Most of my friends know that I'm a huge audiophile. I like music. For me, it's poetry in motion. Sometimes, I let certain songs express the way I feel. Most of those that I like have strong, solid lyrics. I don't have any bias when it comes to genres but I there are some that I would have a love/hate relationship with. One of them is country music.

I'm a little picky when it comes to country music songs. There's a handful of them in my playlist like Jesus Take The Wheel by Carrie Underwood and What Hurts The Most by Rascal Flatts. But I always admired country song lyrics: they're often personal and grounded. And Taylor Swift's latest single is no exception.

A good number of Taylor Swift's songs are autobiographical in nature, which she admitted once in an interview. The lyrics often chastised the men with whom she had really bad relationships with. However, Back To December is different. The song is a heartfelt apology; I could feel her regret, her longing all throughout. While I have yet to decide if this was really meant for the other Taylor, I am adding it to my playlist. Of all songs she has released, this will probably be my all-time favorite.

Back To December
Taylor Swift

I'm so glad you made time to see me.
How's life, tell me how's your family?
I haven't seen them in a while.
You've been good, busier than ever.
We small talk, work and the weather.
Your guard is up and I know why.

'Cause the last time you saw me
Is still burned in the back of your mind
You gave me roses and I left them there to die.

So this is me swallowing my pride,
Standing in front of you saying I'm sorry for that night
And I'd go back to December all the time.
It turns out freedom ain't nothing but missing you
Wishing that I'd realized what I had when you were mine.
I'd go back to December, turn around and make it alright.
I go back to December all the time.

These days I haven't been sleeping
Staying up playing back myself leaving,
When your birthday passed and I didn't call.
And I think about summer, all the beautiful times
I watched you laughing from the passenger side,
Realized I loved you in the fall.
And then the cold came, the dark days when fear crept into my mind.
You gave me all your love and all I gave you was goodbye.

So this is me swallowing my pride,
Standing in front of you saying I'm sorry for that night.
And I'd go back to December all the time.
It turns out freedom ain't nothing but missing you
Wishing that I'd realized what I had when you were mine
I'd go back to December, turn around and change my own mind.
I go back to December all the time.

I miss your tan skin, your sweet smile, so good to me, so right
And how you held me in your arms that September night,
The first time you ever saw me cry.
Maybe this is wishful thinking,
Probably mindless dreaming
If we loved again I swear I'd love you right.

I'd go back in time and change it but I can't
So if the chain is on your door, I understand.

But this is me swallowing my pride,
Standing in front of you saying I'm sorry for that night
And I'd go back to December...
It turns out freedom ain't nothing but missing you
Wishing that I'd realized what I had when you were mine.
I go back to december, turn around and make it alright.
I go back to december, turn around and change my own mind.
I go back to december all the time.

All the time.

Faith

2011-01-12T12:21:00.009+08:00

I came home today with an assignment: finish a 100-page book and note the lessons gained from reading it. The book was no stranger to me. I discovered it many years ago and I'm happy to say that I'm still able to live its principles, although a bit rough around the edges -- well, at least, for the last four years or so.

I always referred to Fish as the more down-to-earth version of The 7 Habits. However, the assignment has refreshed my memory about one poem entitled "Faith" by David Whyte. It is featured on page 44 of the said book. Hope you will indulge me as I share this and maybe you will find yourself loving it like I do.

Faith
by David Whyte

I want to write about faith
about the way the moon rises
over cold snow, night after night

faithful even as it fades from fullness
slowly becoming that last curving and impossible
sliver of light before the final darkness
but I have no faith myself
I refuse to give it to the smallest entry

Let this then, my small poem,
like a new moon, slender and barely open,
be the first prayer that opens me to faith

My Life In 2010 Through The Movies I Watched

2011-01-11T12:04:00.003+08:00

“I measure my life in terms of my relationship with Star Wars.”

Simon Pegg

I laughed my heart out the first time I came across that quote. I mused at how cool it was of Simon to make that comment. In a way, that inspired me to create this blog post.

I don’t normally buy planners but when I brought my Navi 2010 planner more than a year ago, I swore than one of the things I wanted to do with it was write down the movies I watched. As I took out my old planner to be replaced by a new one (still a Navi), I decided to look back on what movies I watched and I was surprised with what I saw. It’s not much but I’m proud to say that I’ve seen quite a number and I’ve got the ticket stubs stuck on my planner to prove it.

January 9 – Sherlock Holmes
January 14 – Sherlock Holmes
(With movies I like, I normally catch them at least twice in the cinema. Hope this doesn’t surprise you as you may see similar entries below.)

March 4 – Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief
(I remembered wanting to borrow the books after I watched this because I was amused despite that one musical segment. To date, I’ve read all 5 books and I felt really disappointed with the adaptation the moment I finished Book 1.)

April 17 – Date Night

April 29 – Kick Ass
(I became a fan of Chloe Moretz after seeing this movie. However, this hasn’t made me brave enough to watch Let Me In when it was released in Philippine cinemas several months after.)

May 1 – Iron Man 2
(I confess. I love Robert Downey Jr. since Chances Are, thus I hated it when I wasn’t able to see Due Date with Zach Galifianakis.)

June 5 – Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
(I remembered hedging to watch this because I’m not a Jake Gyllenhaal fan despite loving Brokeback Mountain. I came out enjoying it.)

June 29 – The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
June 30 – The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
July 2 – The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
July 3 – The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
(I’m a Twilighter so this is normal. I watched Twilight 11 times during its run in Metro Manila cinemas last 2008. Expect the same trend when Breaking Dawn Part 1 comes out late this year.)

July 6 – Toy Story 3

July 13 – Inception
(Inasmuch as I would’ve loved to catch it more than once inside a cinema, my head hurt after watching this in IMAX. It must’ve been all those mind-bending SFX and sequences.)

July 17 – The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

July 20 – The Last Airbender
(Jackson Rathbone was my saving grace in this movie. Enough said.)

July 21 – The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

July 24 – The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
(Another movie I hedged watching but I thoroughly enjoyed after exciting the cinema. Not exactly a Nic Cage fan; sorry folks. The movie, however, allowed me to rediscover my love for One Republic.)

July 26 – SALT

August 19 – Vampires Suck
(Any Twilighter worth his/her salt should be able to laugh at his/her own fandom once in a while. Besides, when a franchise is spoofed, it only means one thing -- you're already part of pop culture history.)

November 13 – Unstoppable
(This was one of those movies that I felt had the most compelling script, acting & direction. I was emotionally compromised… err… engaged all throughout.)

November 19 – Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows: Part 1
November 20 – Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows: Part 1
(While I am also a Potterhead, I didn’t watch this one more than twice because I had some issues with it -- specifically all the Harmonian themes of the movie. I’m just glad that my first screening was with a theater-full of Ron/Hermione shippers. I plan to change this when Part 2 comes out in the middle of this year.)

December 4 – The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
(This pains me. I wanted to watch it more than once because, of all the three movies in the franchise, this was the only one that made me cry a lot. And yes, it didn’t hurt to see Ben Barnes in 3D. No sir.)

December 27 – RPG Metanoia
(The lone Filipino movie I watched for the year… in years, to be honest. I hardly watch Filipino films even if the MMFF is an annual event. The last MMFF movie I watched was Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo. Too bad I only caught RPG Metanoia once and in regular format. To say that it was awesome would be an understatement. RPG Metanoia gave me something to be proud of -- that Filipino filmmakers haven’t lost its touch when it comes to telling stories. It doesn’t hurt that the quality was beyond satisfactory for a first 3D Pinoy animated film.)

Hopefully, 2011 would bring more movies for me. So far, the line-up is exciting. I kicked it off last Saturday, January 8, by watching The Tourist. And yes, the ticket stub is already stuck in the new planner.

Two Paragraphs

2011-01-03T10:21:00.002+08:00

2010 went by without so much a fanfare. It was typical yet assuring; cynical yet validating; comical yet disheartening. There was so much I wanted to say about 2010... so much I wanted to blog about... but I wasn't able to. Perhaps, it was meant to stay that way. 2010 would be another unspoken year, but still unforgettable despite its utter simplicity.

When 2011 stepped in, I welcomed it with no foresight. A first in over a decade. I still did my customary birthday song hum... I still marveled at the fireworks (and morosed at the smoke)... However, a certain degree of calm settled over me. As well as fear. I know for certain that there will be changes but I can hardly see anything. I can only act, hope and pray... for a better year, a better decade... because, heaven knows, I deserve something better for myself.

Mr. English, Where Do You Stand Now?

2010-09-20T13:20:00.010+08:00

Image by Prasert Sudjaipraparat

It's pretty much the question I'd ask if English were a real person, not a language. When I attend external training activities, I always love it when I take a lot of answers rather than questions. However, it was not the case after I attended a language conference about the state of Philippine English last week.

English, like any other language, is evolving. That is a fact. No matter how many people would like to dispel this phenomenon, it cannot be stopped. The new words being added to Merriam-Webster's coffers, even to Oxford's, is staggering proof. Nothing is indeed permanent in this world except change. And with so many events that shaped our world over the last generation, English as a language has evolved but more so now. The standards most linguists hold on to are starting to get, if not already, blurred to the point that they are almost begging to be thrown out of the window. For most people, we only know two main variants of English -- American and British -- by which we all mostly base our standards on. However, will you be prepared for a time when a Chinese English dictionary will hit the shelves of your favorite bookstore in 30 years or so, if I were to consider David Graddol's prediction? There is an Australian English Slang dictionary, which makes the prediction rather plausible than absurd.

What does Mr. English think about all of this? With every country speaking English as a lingua franca or a second language is introducing some innovations in its use, does he mind being having altered versions of himself walking in every part of the world? Spanglish (or even Taglish) used to be frowned on but is now gaining acceptance as a form of English unique to Spanish-speaking citizens. I felt the weight of the responsibility for Philippine educators of English. They have long subscribed to a standard -- something that majority are still struggling to live up to -- that is slowly collapsing under the pressures of economic and global trends. Where will they be in this shift?

While I dread the implications, I am cautiously optimistic. However, if I could name one thing the conference gave me, it was the comfort of validation -- knowing that what I've done so far as an educator and my beliefs in English as a language were sound, that I'm on the right track. But there's a part of me that still prefers the feel of strong pillar -- that there's something that I can hold on to or look up to -- when there's seems to be nothing else of merit. How strong that part is, I don't know.

Considering all intents and purposes, English was singled out as the language for global business communications several decades ago -- a means to unify rather than polarize. If I were to consider the challenges and ideas presented in the conference, it hardly seems to be the case.

Dear Mr. English, where do you stand now?

Back From The Grave?

2010-06-25T21:17:00.002+08:00

No words can describe how I seriously miss blogging. My life has been such a whirlwind since my last post that I'm either tired or pre-occupied to blog. Adding to this blogless existence is the death of our home PC, which served us for more than 5 years. While I'm able to do some of my net stuff lately, I feel it's not enough. I yearn to own a laptop but the timing and funds are my major issues. Add to the challenge is the rapid pace of technology that makes you think twice about what gadget to invest on. The ironic part is that I know what I want in a laptop, and it's definitely not going to be a mini-note, which would take some serious amount of Gs before I can get one.

Right now, I can't complain. I'll have to take full advantage whenever I can even if it's for around 2-3 times a week, if my own schedule permits. I need a long vacation where I do nothing but sleep, binge, watch shows and read books. For now, I'm just going to enjoy updating myself about all things Twilight.

Here's hoping this post won't be the last within the next few days. Perhaps, I can write something more substantial. Until then.

"I dissected a frog once."

2009-12-27T16:21:00.012+08:00

I had to chuckle at this quip by Jake Sully when he was asked by Dr. Grace Augustine about the amount of training that he had for the mission on Pandora. It reminded me of a similar dialogue in The Big Bang Theory when Sheldon asked Penny about her knowledge of science. While dissecting frogs can be messy enough to make you feel like you gutted a deer, reviewing Avatar won't be. In fact, this is going to be a swift one since I'm generally impressed by the movie.

I watched it in IMAX yesterday with a friend. When I found out that it was available in 3D format, I knew that was the only way to watch it. I'm pleased by that decision despite shelling out a few hundred pesos for a ticket. Absolutely no regrets.

The moment I put on the 3D glasses, I knew I was in for a visual treat and James Cameron didn't disappoint. The level of detail was astonishing -- from the base of the RDA corporation to Pandora's flora and fauna. While there were some bits that were seen in other movies, say for example the mech suit used by Col. Quaritch, these seem to blend well with the movie's overall environment.

Despite its sensory brilliance, Avatar was one of those movies I wouldn't pay to watch again. For one reason: the simplicity of the plot. Don't get my wrong. The plot is good. I easily understood it and had no questions. However, it didn't have a lingering effect, the elusive IT factor, that would make me watch it over and over again until I'm sated. Only three movies did that for me this year -- Star Trek XI, Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince, and The Twilight Saga: New Moon. Avatar didn't move me emotionally as well; Up and District 9 filled those shoes quite nicely.

Aside from the plot's simple nature, the acting may have contributed to it as well. To be honest, I like the cast (Hello Giovanni Ribisi! And Sigourney Weaver!) but their performances were a bit off or somewhat needed a little push in the right direction. Those who stood out for me were Joel David Moore (Norm Spellman) and Zoë Saldaña (Neytiri). Seeing CCH Pounder's name in the end credits was a welcome surprise to me. Sam Worthington had the right look for the part but there were instances when I was expecting more emotion, more depth from his face which looked blank at times. Michelle Rodriguez was being... well... Michelle Rodriguez.

Overall, I still recommend that you watch this. If you love movies, Avatar is something you should never pass up. I will suggest though that you watch it right, especially if you just plan to see it once. Check it out in IMAX 3D, no less. Don the glasses because if you're going to see it in regular format, you will miss a lot.

Rating: 4 out of 5 kilos of unobtanium

Cinema 2009

2009-12-25T11:25:00.006+08:00

Happy Christmas everyone! Hope you're having a good one.

Instead of talking about my recent hauls or the fun stuff I received from friends and loved ones, I'd rather blog about something really COOL and AWESOME. The witty folks over at Film School Rejects tweeted this year-end mashup by Kees van Dijkhuizen. For a person who loves watching movies, it's an fab recap to the year that was. Enjoy, share and don't forget to credit!

Above & Beyond The Franchise

2009-12-17T20:55:00.006+08:00

Apologies for the gap in between blog posts: it's part work-imposed, part lazy bones. All I could afford now is to share the things I look forward to. And these two movie trailers I'm sharing are definitely going to be on my watch list this 2010.

Most of my friends know that I'm a fan of Kristen and Robert long before they found themselves connected to the Twilight franchise. Don't get me wrong, I love that they're Bella and Edward incarnate. But I'm looking forward to seeing them in movies outside of the franchise. While each have films shown between Twilight and New Moon -- namely: Little Ashes, Adventureland, The Cake Eaters, What Just Happened, The Yellow Handkerchief -- these were shot before they became Hollywood's stars on the rise. I've been itching to see them shoot other films in between and boy, I got my wish. So far, these teaser trailers featuring the duo are awesome in my book. Let's start with...

REMEMBER ME

I have seen this for quite sometime now. Still never fails to elicit that cheeky smile and warm feeling. Rob and Emilie de Ravin (Lost) have great chemistry. Not much is known about the movie except that it tells a tale of two lovers, Tyler and Ally, whose relationship is in danger because of their respective family tragedies. Pierce Brosnan, Chris Cooper and Lena Olin also star.

THE RUNAWAYS

Now this one, I have been itching to see any teasers the moment I found out that both Kristen and Dakota were signed on to this movie. And thanks to a good friend, here's the teaser. Suffice to say, I'm blown away. Rock on girls!

Looks like 2010 is shaping up to be another excellent year for movies. Bring on the popcorn! :D

My 75mph Playlist

2009-11-28T09:11:00.008+08:00

Hey there! I haven't really blogged in a while. Partly because of work and writer's block. I was thinking about making a movie review but I needed some more time before I put in on paper. And lately, all I could manage to squeeze in while working would be listening to music. It was then that I realized that it's been a while since I shared a playlist. Inspired by my recent dream where I was driving a bright yellow Porsche turbo in France's beautiful countryside, I now present to you...

My 75mph Playlist

A quick confession though before I continue: I don't drive. I haven't touched a stick shift and closest experience I'd have to driving would be in a bumper car (which I'm actually good at, both offensive and defensive). But I frequently find myself being the designated navigator during road trips with friends, with an added responsibility of picking out the music to keep the driver awake. Every single time we hit the expressways, I find myself playing certain songs and start to wonder what it feels like behind the wheel. And these songs... well... some of them are not exactly for the faint of heart...

Song 2 by Blur
Nice To Know You by Incubus
Low Rider by War
Tick, Tick, Boom by The Hives
Midnight Show by The Killers
Twenty-Twenty Surgery by Taking Back Sunday
Typical by MuteMath
Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is by Jet
Push It by Garbage
The Shock of the Lightning by Oasis
Massive Crush by The Barbs
Dropped by Phantom Planet
Great DJ by The Ting Tings
Is It Any Wonder by Keane
One Week of Danger by The Virgins
Sugar, We're Going Down by Fall Out Boy
Last Day of Magic by The Kills
New Again by Taking Back Sunday

Whew! I could add a few more songs but if the car only had audio disc player, I think 18 tracks will cut it. LOL. Hmm... What if I had a car and knew how to drive? That list would probably be longer than EDSA. By a mile. Hehe.

This Post Speaks For Itself

2009-10-03T15:47:00.006+08:00

Credit: Mark Gosingtian

Ten Minutes Of Solitude

2009-09-18T21:49:00.007+08:00

I noticed that since Wednesday, it's always raining during the end of my shift. Not sure if it was the weather telling me to extend my time at the office or my workload but Libis can be pretty shitty traffic-wise especially when it rains. It didn't help when I found out something bad about my timekeeping. I raised my sarcasm sign last Tuesday. It always went up a notch every single hour, moreso around yesterday afternoon. The last time I felt this much sarcasm was in 2001. A part of me wanted to find something to balance it out. Never realized that it would come from Mother Nature (or Metro Manila pollution?).

As I was getting some spare change to pay for my tricycle ride home, I thought I needed glasses because the streets leading to our place looked a bit hazy. It was only when I got out the tricycle when I noticed the air's biting chill. Did I mention that I went home late because I rendered OT? Anyway, I started to rub my eyes to check if I really need glasses. It was then that I realized that there's a soft blanket of fog looming above our subdivision. I got reminded that it was already September but I still wasn't convinced until I felt a small part of the walkway leading to our home. It was moist, dewy. So I stayed out for a while, staring at the dark sky, marvelling at the fog, enjoying the solitude. No vehicles passed for about ten minutes along our street, which is quite rare at nine in the evening. Then I felt a few warm tears. I closed my eyes and breathed. I wiped my tears and walked towards the house.

On our dark, hazy street, I was just me. I didn't have any labels, roles and even titles to fulfill or live up to. I felt bare, emotionally raw yet peaceful, still. The sarcasm sign was withdrawn even for a short time. And it felt good. Just when you think you start to feel numbed by life's curveballs, something inspires you. I sneezed a lot before I slept but it was worth it. Thank goodness, the moment presented itself when I needed it the most. For that, I'm grateful.

Tales Out Of Left Field

2009-08-31T20:01:00.003+08:00

Last Friday afternoon, I got a text message from a very good friend, telling me that I won a pair of advance screening tickets to Land of the Lost! Thank goodness my shift would end early enough for me to do something else before the movie starts. Well, that is, if my work doesn't get too trigger happy with overtime. Even so, I'm confident I'll be there with enough time to spare. Glad to take along another friend with me. While I'm not exactly a Will Ferrell fan, the movie seems interesting enough. It'll be the first time I see Anna Friel on screen post-Pushing Daisies and A Midsummer Night's Dream. One dose of laughter, here I come.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

During that same Friday, I got shocked in a not-so-good way. It was so bad I think I was either gnashing my teeth or biting my tongue in order to hide my disbelief. Talk about literally being left behind. Even if I felt my new ATM in my pocket, it couldn't reduce that feeling of reckless abandonment. This is coming from the heels of an orientation wherein I was reassured that I will be asked to put out fires without seeing someone else demonstrate it first. Oh well, so much for great expectations. It's now becoming more obvious to me that it's how things are in that group. Oh, the irony of it all. Being greeted by that supposed seal of quality every time I exit the lifts exacerbates the irony further.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Last Saturday, my very good friend and I watched District 9. Having watched UP with her a week before that, she asked me to choose from either watching the same movie in 3D format or another movie. While I wanted to stick to our original plan, I was planning on watching The Time Traveler's Wife and District 9. I thought a new movie would be fun. Between the two movies, I was leaning more towards District 9 since I've been hearing a lot of great feedback from the movie critics I follow on Twitter. When I found out that she hasn't watched it too, I think that helped me seal the deal. Besides, I'd prefer watching a movie with a Sci-Fi/Thriller label with someone. For some reason, it helps lessen the chances of me having nightmares about such kind of movies.

Two hours after, not only were my fears unfounded, I was completely amazed by the whole movie. Gore notwithstanding, what caught me off-guard was the movie's unique brand of storytelling and direction. I think it helped that the movie featured mostly unknown actors (like Cloverfield) as it allowed moviegoers to zero in on the story. It was fluid, simple yet heartbreaking in spots. The special effects were amazing despite the movie's relatively low budget. The rough-around-the-edges look may suggest such but it only adds more depth to the movie. Neill Blomkamp proved a lot of things, enough for me to say that I'll be looking forward to his future endeavors. No wonder Peter Jackson stands behind him. I won't mind watching the movie again. For now, I'll immerse myself with the movie's virals which would definitely enrich my District 9 experience.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The past few months have offered a lot of unexpected twists and turns for me, even more in the last few weeks. It's all part of my life now, I guess.

Work Hard, Play Hard

2009-08-31T18:14:00.002+08:00

Come this Wednesday, I'll be on my third week with my new job. Same field but different industry. And surprisingly so. I never imagined I'd be able to work for such an organization despite my lack of industry-related experience. But I guess my communication skills won them over. After my three-day honeymoon, I was thrust headlong onto what could be one of the most stressful jobs I've ever had in my life.

Not that I hate stress enough to banish it from my existence. Stress is somewhat Work's bitter, evil twin sister. I remembered when I started working. I took it as hard as I could. I wanted to excel at what I'm doing, make a career out of it. Wondering what has changed since then? Oh well, I just had to deal with a little thing called quarter-life crisis plus a good dose of Stephen Covey and I declared war against my own workaholic self. Balance became my goal. It's a constant struggle to this day but I think I'm able to manage it already.

Despite the odd hours of my new job, my calendar is still filled with a good dose of non-work stuff. Name it -- watching movies or TV series, attending to fandom stuff, reading a book (although a little slowly, I admit), meeting friends for dinner -- I find myself making time for it. A bit more vigilantly, I suppose. Maybe that's my way of restoring balance. Even if there were instances wherein I'd loose precious hours of sleep, it's okay. Being able to do non-work stuff brings back some of that lost energy. Quite frankly, my life hasn't been... well... normal for the last few months. So why stop now? ;)

The Purist In Me Is Not Happy

2009-08-22T00:39:00.026+08:00

Most of my friends know, especially those who share my passion for The Twilight Saga, that among all the four books, New Moon happens to be my favorite. Breaking Dawn is a close second. So when all sorts of controversies erupted within weeks after Twilight was released -- from Catherine Hardwicke being replaced to possibly re-casting someone else for the role of Jacob Black -- I was particularly worried for New Moon. Despite Stephenie's reassurance that Chris Weitz will do a good job, I maintained a healthy amount of skepticism and detachment so as to not set any great expectations. However, my EQ couldn't stand not knowing anything because spoilers don't really wash away the excitement for me. And from what was known so far about New Moon's production, I noticed certain adaptation problems that made the meticulous ab lover... err... purist in me, a very unhappy girl. Let's start of with...

Adding more Edward in the movie

The same group of friends I mentioned above also know that I'm a fan of Robert Pattinson circa Vanity Fair days. I'm not a full-on Rob fan girl. If I see him in person, I'd probably not faint. I think I'll even manage to shake his hand, get an autograph and our picture taken, and ask how his day was. When rumors about incorporating a "force ghost" Edward to heighten Bella's hallucinations further, I was really worried. New Moon is a Bella/Jacob book. The relationship between both characters developed in this part of the series which will pave way for the love triangle in Eclipse. I find it odd that they had to resort to that tactic in order to keep the fans in. After seeing what the "force ghost" look like in one of the promotional trailers made for New Moon, it made me remember what was discussed during the lastest episode of the Danag Podcast: that scene really looked like a race game, e.g. Gran Turismo, and you get points for every marker crossed or completed. Oh well. Next on my hit list is...

The Bella/Edward Liplock in Volterra

Since fans have helped transform the Twilight franchise into Hollywood's shiny new toy, you know what comes next: paparrazi! When principal photography started last March 2009 in Vancouver, Twilighters were getting their fill of all possible gossip and spoiler-filled pictures. Therefore, you can just imagine the fandom explosion when this picture on the left appeared.

Was it hot? Scorching! Was it romantic? Kilig factor up! Was it accurate? A big flat NO! Why, you might ask?

This liplock should happen when both Bella and Edward have returned to Forks. Sure, Edward kissed Bella in Volterra but never on the lips! Both characters were uncertain what would happen to them, if and when they manage to walk away alive from the Volturi -- which they did after Alice allowed Aro to read her thoughts. The separation killed them, put them in too much pain. Both characters were gauging each other on their trip back to Forks. It was during the conversation in Bella's room -- in which their feelings for each other were reinforced despite the separation -- when Edward passionately kissed Bella on the lips. I'd like to think that this change is necessary for the adaptation. Therefore, I decided to look at other aspects of the production and I saw this...

Edward's Eyes Are Supposed To Be Black, Not Golden

Every Twilighter knows that the Cullen's eyes turn golden when they've fed, black when they're hungry. Bella noticed that Edward's eyes were black and had dark circles when they, as well as Alice, were sent to the reception area to wait for further instructions after their freedom has been granted by the Volturi. Bella even suggested to Edward that he should go and eat despite her own feelings of not wanting him out of her sight/reach.

Apparently, this bit got lost in adapation. The picture on the left is a screenshot of the latest promotional installment for the movie: the Meet Jacob Back featurette that was shown before Bandslam in the U.S., which is another Summit Entertainment production. Now, if you'll look closely, Edward's eyes are golden! Does that mean he was able to feed himself before he was tortured by Jane? Canon-wise, I don't think so.

I could cite a few more reasons that scare me about New Moon's adapation, such as Chris Weitz's vision of the Volturi or the insertion of about two or three scenes that weren't in the book. The latter makes me weary. More weary than Chris Weitz's version of the Volturi. Still, it doesn't lessen the frustration that I feel.

Since New Moon will be released in a few months from now, all I can do is to start lowering my expectations. I sincerely hope that I won't nit-pick the movie when it hits the cinemas.

A Filipina Like No Other

2009-08-01T16:28:00.007+08:00

A wife who bared the injustice and the death of her husband. A leader of the famed bloodless revolution. A president who governed over a time of transition. A mother, not only to her children, but to all. A loyal servant of God. A woman of grace and substance. A Filipina like no other.

Maria Corazon Cojuangco Aquino (January 25, 1933 - August 1, 2009)

You braved a great yet arduous fight. You lived a life worth emulating. May you rest in peace. Our prayers are with you and your family. You will be missed.

Ground Zero, Square One

2009-07-28T23:31:00.004+08:00

In about 7 days, I've been a bum for 3 months. Well, not exactly. A professional job hunter. Yeah, that's sounds better. You'd probably be wondering why it's taking me this long to get a job? I'm wondering about it too. It's not as if I haven't looked for opportunities. I did some interviews already. However, the turnaround is as slow as a sure-footed turtle. I find myself often contemplating where did I go wrong or if I haven't exhausted all possible avenues. Now, at this juncture, I'm starting to flirt again with an industry that I've somehow managed to, consciously or not, avoid for as long as I can remember.

The first time I've flirted with this industry was when I was fresh out of college. The company, one of the most prestigious banking & finance organizations in the country, was in the middle of setting up their first 24x7 customer support facility. I was going to be one of the pilot members of that facility. Now, lo and behold, that miniscule pilot team has become this massive business group which by far is one of the best places to work in, if you were to consider the C&B package of a typical banking and finance organization. If I pursued that, I may be either one of the group's senior executives/managers today.

The second time I've flirted was two years after I started working. I was merely doing it as an exercise to test my marketability. The company's industry is similar to where I was working for at the time: telecommunciations. For some strange reason, I was probably one of the few candidates who were subjected to a panel interview by none other than 3 of the senior executives/managers of that business group. They were impressed by my qualifications and candor during the panel that they immediately considered me for a senior agent post with the promise of becoming a senior trainer upon regularization. It probably would've happened if I pursued it and eventually be one of those in the panel today. Like the previous one, the company is also a best place to work in.

You might wonder why I didn't pursue those opportunities. At the time, customer service wasn't really my cup of tea. I knew I wanted to be in training. My ideals got the better of me, I guess. To a certain extent, those choices served me well because of what I know and can do now. No regrets really. I made the decisions I needed to make at the time. It was all worth it.

Now, I'm flirting with the industry for the third time but with a clearer mindset and a more assertive heart. Maybe it's time to plunge into those waters, maybe not. All I know at this moment is that I need a job. I'm tired of being a bum. I want to feel the stress that comes with work. I want to feel useful again.

Three months ago, I hit ground zero. Three months later, I feel like I'm back at square one.

Like a phoenix, will I be able to rise from my ashes soon enough? Before I come undone?

I hope so. I really, really hope so.

In A Standstill

2009-06-21T22:44:00.002+08:00

I haven't really blogged in a while. Maybe because my life has been in a complete standstill for the last month or so. I've been such a workhorse for as long as I can remember. For me to be given an abrupt and unexpected vacation is like crashing head first onto a water dam at 100 miles per hour. While I've tried to get the most out of this transition period, as if to compensate for all the lost hours of sleep and relaxation, I'm feeling really angsty and damn itching to get back into the grind. In a few weeks, this gap will mark the longest one in all my corporate transitions. The shortest? One weekend.

I can identify far too many reasons for this unjust occurrence. Global recession, ill-conceived top management actions, cost-efficiency measures, billable versus non-billable resources... Name it, it's all there and you can read it in any daily newspaper. It is easy to cast the blame on something you never wanted to happen for yourself. There's anger, for sure. Who wouldn't be especially if you were treated as if you had a deadly, communicable virus like swine flu and needed to be eradicated? Take note, eradicated and not quarantined. I didn't like it. I was actually belligerent when I was being read the contents of the crisp, cream letter which sounded like an arrest warrant: overused, impersonal and non-negotiable. Pardon the scathing metaphor but I couldn't help but be cynical every time I remember it. However, since I don't have any choice in the matter, at least never had anyway, I'd rather deal with it and move on.

This for me is a first. A misstep of sorts. And one that I do hope would be the last. While my options appear a lot considering the amount of opportunities for people like me, it still seems dim. My need is simple: a day job that allows me to exercise my capabilities while pays me enough to do the things I want to do. If the universe conspires to give me something as good as my last job with a greater assurance that I can last for years even if it takes more effort, I'm all for it. I haven't hit the panic button yet. I don't want to. But when push comes to shove, you can't really do anything else about it, right? Thus, I don't want to get at that point. I want to release the parachute at the right time so that I can land firmly, on two feet, and not flailing to my own death because I undervalued the target. Life has worked far too mysteriously for me sometimes. With God's grace, I hope I can see through this. All I need is for someone, somebody, to believe that I'm the right person. And I promise that I'll make it worth their while. That's how I've been, that's how I'll forever be.

Nothing But A Whole Lot Of Videos

2009-06-01T21:37:00.005+08:00

Since I haven't created a new blog in days, I figured I should crank up the ol' embed feature again and share a good number of videos that were uploaded today on the MySpace Trailer Park and MTV.

First up is the New Moon trailer. The 15-second version released a few days ago sent every impatient Twilighter into a frenzy. This new one? It's worth the wait.

THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON trailer

Next are a series of videos from the recently concluded MTV Movie Awards 2009 where Twilight won five (5) golden popcorns for Best Breakthrough Male, Best Female Performance, Best Fight, Best Kiss and Best Movie! Most of these are Twilight-related except for the last few ones at the end of this post.

Back-To-Back Best Fight Awardee: Cam Gigandet, a.k.a. The Man Who Never Disappoints

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

Rob's Reaction To Winning Best Fight: "It made me feel really tough!"

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

Best Female Performance... Or Kristen Stewart's Very Own Bella Moment...

MTV Shows

Best Kiss... Almost...

MTV Shows

Cast Reactions To Best Movie Win. Peter Facinelli: "We're going to Disneyland!"

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

Rob Confirms His New Movie

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

Okay, to relieve you of Twilight-related videos, here are some more from MTV Movie Awards 2009, starting with...

Dan, Rupert & Emma Present HBP Sneak Peak. Makes Me Go Accio July!

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

The Opener... Of Course...

MTV Shows

Reserving The Best For Last... J.J. "The Man" Abrams On Keyboards!!! FTW!!! XD

MTV Shows

Okay, my blog title did say a whole lot of videos. I know these are tough to load but they're worth watching. Hope to do a full blog next time. Adios!

When All You Can Do Is Gape

2009-05-18T23:23:00.006+08:00

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

From L-R: John Cho, Chris Pine, Zoe Saldana, Zachary Quinto & J.J. Abrams. Photo taken by Andrew Eccles.

From L-R: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson & Rupert Grint. Photo taken by Matt Holyoak.

Oh, to be behind the lens...

P.S. Click on the pictures above to view MQ/HQ versions. Don't forget to credit the photographers if you post the pictures on your site. Peace!

From Days Of Long Ago...

2009-05-12T01:29:00.011+08:00

Okay, before you go kill me with a phaser, I have a confession to make: my knowledge of Star Trek is about little to none at all. I wasn't even planning on watching it in the cinemas. Heck, I didn't even bother to watch all the online trailers. Perhaps, the reason behind it is my lack of interest for anything sci-fi. While I was curious about other life forms beyond our galaxy, I never fulfilled that wonder zealously. Which would probably lead you folks to ask me this question: why chose this rebooted version to be my baptism of fire?

Well, why not? I could cite many factors that piqued my interest. However, I'm zeroing in on no one else but J.J. Abrams.

I've been a fan of J.J. Abrams since Felicity. I make sure I give my due diligence by checking out his creations, small or big screen. The most recent of which is Fringe. While I admit to missing out on some of his works like Cloverfield, I felt the need to support him in his latest feature film endeavor like what I did for Mission: Impossible III, especially after reading the speculations and fears of hardcore fans on his vision. After seeing it twice on IMAX, first with the press and second with friends, I can say with great certainty that movie goers -- Star Trek fans or not -- will enjoy this delight of a film.

In true J.J. Abrams' fashion, the opening credits came several minutes after showing scenes that help build toward some crucial plot points in the movie (i.e. a Romulan spaceship appearing from a black hole, the birth of the future Captain James T. Kirk). Despite my limited knowledge of the Star Trek universe, I somehow knew by the scenes that this wasn't just a plain homage. It is indeed a reboot. And a gratifying one indeed. That particular brand of storytelling was apparent until the very end, all without disappointing the hardcore fans who happily cheered as much as I did. Bob Orci and Alex Kurtzman, along with J.J., deserve several high fives for this. The script was fresh and fantastic, that even incorporating famous lines such as "I'm a doctor, not a physicist!" didn't feel contrived or self-serving.

Along with the story and direction, I am very pleased with the actors selected to bring the beloved characters to life. Despite the pressures imposed upon them, I felt that the actors translated that energy into riveting performances worthy of their own merits. Chris Pine as Kirk was engaging, cocky yet cool, and tough as nails without being burly. Zachary Quinto fits Spock to a tee, with his eerie but gripping portrayal and sharp delivery of those lengthy, jargon-ridden lines. I'm quite sure that he has definitely lived up to Mr. Nimoy's expectations. Zoe Saldana's Uhura was strong yet feminine, sexy and smart without being over the top. Karl Urban's somewhat harried McCoy is a treat to watch, as were John Cho's deadpan but wry Sulu and Anton Yelchin's enthusiastic Chekov. Bruce Greenwood's Captain Pike and Eric Bana's Nero were formidable, their screen presence commanding. Leonard Nimoy as Spock Prime is enigmatic and unquestionable. However, the one actor that gets my two-thumbs up is Simon Pegg. I may be a bit biased here but casting him as Scotty is genius to the nth degree. That line -- "Can I get a towel?" -- never fails to crack me up. Aside from that, a major delight for me was recognizing some cast members as J.J. Abrams' regular crop of actors -- those who've appeared in at least one of his productions -- like Amanda Foreman, Rachel Nichols, Faran Tahir, Oz Perkins, to name a few. For a moment, I thought that I wouldn't feel Greg Grunberg's presence. While all I got is his voice, he could give John Forsythe a run for his money. And that made it all well in the Abramsverse.

While the story, the direction and the acting ensemble carry a good amount of weight to ensure a film's success, the undeniably talented and hardworking crew contributed a lot to making Star Trek into the multi-sensory experience that it is. Most notable for me is Michael Giacchino who set the tone of the movie with his powerful yet elegant score. Other production elements -- Cinematography, Art Direction, Costume Design, Makeup, Set Decoration, Special and Visual Effects, Sound Editing and Mixing -- made final product into a well-polished diamond, which I feel made it tricky for nitpickers to spot any goofs or continuity errors. I couldn't spot or find anything odd after seeing it twice on an 80-foot screen. Even if I plan to see it for a third time soon, I doubt I'd find something wrong about this movie.

By now, it'll be quite obvious to say that I was won over. However, does this mean I'll be a Trekkie? Perhaps but not immediately. Not anytime soon, to be honest, given the intimidating volume of material surrounding the Star Trek universe which is about four decades worth. Nonetheless, considering a $72.5M opening weekend and a sequel already in the works, I will definitely return to the cinemas a few years from now to satisfy that newfound franchise fan in me. Every Trekkie starts somewhere. Baby Vulcan steps are all I can muster. For now. =)

The verdict: Warp 4.5

Star Trek is now showing in Philippine cinemas. Special thanks to New Worlds Alliance and to Solar-UIP for the Press Screening invitation!

The Great Book Blockade Of 2009

2009-05-04T12:45:00.003+08:00

If ever you're wondering why books in local store shelves have become more expensive lately, read on, be enlightened and spread word.

THE GREAT BOOK BLOCKADE OF 2009
by Robin Hemley

Occasionally, my daughter Shoshie announces that she's going to be the richest person in the world when she grows up—this is what living in a poor country like the Philippines will do to a kid. She recently made this remark as we passed a girl about 9 years old, dressed in an odd kind of caftan many sizes too big and holding a limp infant as she begged.

"You should just want to have enough money," I said. "Why have too much?"

"I'm going to give a lot of it to the poor," she said.

"Then you won't be the richest person in the world," I told her.

"But I'm going to have a lot of jobs."

"Then you won't be the richest person in the world." I explained that typically people are rich or poor in inverse proportion to how many jobs they have or how hard they work.

"You only need one job," I told her. "You're a dual citizen, so when you are old enough come back here and be a customs official. Then you'll make a lot of money and won't have to do a thing for it." I'm not sure she got it. It's hard to explain to a 6-year-old. Hell, I don't even understand it.

Few countries can compete with the Philippines when it comes to corruption—it's always near the top of the list of most-corrupt nations and the G20 nations recently blacklisted it, along with only three other countries, for its banking practices. In polls, Filipinos tag customs as the most corrupt department. And for good reason.

Over coffee one afternoon, a book-industry professional (whom I can't identify) told me that for the past two months virtually no imported books had entered the country, in part because of the success of one book, Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. The book, an international best seller, had apparently attracted the attention of customs officials. When an examiner named Rene Agulan opened a shipment of books, he demanded that duty be paid on it.

"Ah, you can't be too successful in this country," I said. "If you are, then people start demanding a cut."

"Even before you are successful," she said. "But, yes, I'm a Filipino, but I have to admit this is true. Have you heard of 'crab mentality'?"

I'd been hearing of this so-called crab mentality since I first arrived in the country 10 years earlier. It's the notion that crabs will climb on top of one another to escape the pot in which they are to be cooked, but, instead of letting one crab escape, the remaining crabs pull the other one back.

But most crabs I've encountered in the Philippines are small-time little hermit crabs or dashing sand crabs. The crabs in government are the kind you'd find in an old Japanese horror film, with an entire city's population running in fear as the crabs snip away public works, entire highway projects, intangibles, such as hope and justice, and, now, books.

"Yes," I told her. "I've heard of crab mentality."

The importer of Twilight made a mistake and paid the duty requested. A mistake because such duty flies in the face of the Florence Agreement, a U.N. treaty that was signed by the Philippines in 1952, guaranteeing the free flow of "educational, scientific, and cultural materials" between countries and declaring that imported books should be duty-free. Mr. Agulan told the importer that because the books were not educational (i.e., textbooks) they were subject to duty. Perhaps they aren't educational, I might have argued, but aren't they "cultural"?

No matter. With this one success under their belt, customs curtailed all air shipments of books entering the country. Weeks went by as booksellers tried to get their books out of storage and started intense negotiations with various government officials.

What doubly frustrated booksellers and importers was that the explanations they received from various officials made no sense. It was clear that, for whatever reason—perhaps the 30-billion-peso ($625 million) shortfall in projected customs revenue—customs would go through the motions of having a reasonable argument while in fact having none at all.

Customs Undersecretary Espele Sales explained the government's position to a group of frustrated booksellers and importers in an Orwellian PowerPoint presentation, at which she reinterpreted the Florence Agreement as well as Philippine law RA 8047, providing for "the tax and duty-free importation of books or raw materials to be used in book publishing." For lack of a comma after the word "books," the undersecretary argued that only books "used in book publishing" (her underlining) were tax-exempt.

"What kind of book is that?" one publisher asked me afterward. "A book used in book publishing." And she laughed ruefully.

I thought about it. Maybe I should start writing a few. Harry the Cultural and Educational Potter and His Fondness for Baskerville Type.

Likewise, with the Florence Agreement, she argued that only educational books could be considered protected by the U.N. treaty. Customs would henceforth be the arbiter of what was and wasn't educational.

"For 50 years, everyone has misinterpreted the treaty and now you alone have interpreted it correctly?" she was asked.

"Yes," she told the stunned booksellers.

The writer David Torrey Peters, who once spent a year in Cameroon (which is even more corrupt than the Philippines), wrote of being pulled out of a taxi by a policeman who demanded that he produce his immunization card. David did this, but the cop told him that he was missing an AIDS vaccination. When David told the man that there was no such thing as an AIDS vaccine, the policeman was indignant.

"You think just because there isn't an AIDS vaccine I can't arrest you for not having one?"

This is the I-will-say-everything-with-a-straight-face-no-matter-how-absurd hallmark of corruption. It's what Orwell wrote about in his classic essay "Politics and the English Language" when he warns of the ways in which bureaucrats defend "the indefensible" by twisting words to suit their purposes. Though he singled out English, corruption happens in every language. However, he did make special mention of undersecretaries as being among the worst purveyors of actual meaning. Not that that has any relevance here (cough, cough), Undersecretary Sales.

Moving on.

During this time, the only bright spot for book lovers in Manila, or at least those who wanted to read foreign as well as local authors, came in March with the sailing into Manila Bay of the M.V. Doulos, the oldest operating passenger ship in the world, built only a couple of years after the Titanic. Destined to be scrapped within the next couple of years, the ship chugged into town, laden with books. The Doulos is run by a religious group and sails around the world as a kind of floating bookstore/library with an international crew of volunteers.

What?!! Volunteers?! Have they no shame?

The sheer shock of a boatload of selfless individuals sailing into Manila Bay must have given customs officials a brain freeze, dazing them long enough for the old ship to make it past the Great Book Blockade of 2009.

I visited the Doulos on one bright Sunday afternoon with Shoshie, Margie, Naomi, and two of Shoshie's friends. We walked up the gangplank into a scene of sheer chaos—a frenzy of book-hungry Manileños. A heartening sight, but not unexpected—the Philippines is one of the largest markets for books written in English in the world and new bookstores with such names as Power Books and Fully Booked have been cropping up all over metro Manila in recent years to compete with the ubiquitous and aptly named National Bookstore.

Throughout February and March, bookstores seemed on the verge of getting their books released—all their documents were in order, but the rules kept changing. Now they were told that all books would be taxed: 1 percent for educational books and 5 percent for noneducational books. A nightmare scenario for the distributors; they imagined each shipment being held for months as an examiner sorted through the books. Obviously, most would simply pay the higher tax to avoid the hassle.

Distributors told me they weren't "capitulating" but merely paying under protest. After all, customs was violating an international treaty that had been abided by for over 50 years. Meanwhile, booksellers had to pay enormous storage fees. Those couldn't be waived, they were told, because the storage facilities were privately owned (by customs officials, a bookstore owner suggested ruefully). One bookstore had to pay $4,000 on a $10,000 shipment.

The day after the first shipment of books was released, an internal memo circulated in customs congratulating themselves for finally levying a duty on books, though no mention was made of their pride in breaking an international treaty.

As the narrator of Aravind Adiga's 2008 Man Booker Prize–winning novel, The White Tiger, says, "Stories of rottenness and corruption are always the best stories, aren't they?"

Now, once again, Filipinos can read those words from a foreign author and customs can reap the benefits. And Shoshie? We were just reading a Filipino folktale the other night about a certain King Crab and his war with the mosquitoes. She only laughed when I suggested she might like to grow up to be Queen Crab.

The Many Roads I Dream Of Taking

2009-05-04T00:14:00.014+08:00

Clockwise from Top Left: Alex Patsavas, Liz Phair, J.K. Rowling, Annie Leibovitz, Libba Bray & Stephenie Meyer

On several occasions, especially on dull afternoons, I daydream about having a different career. However, the careers I dream about are often those that would make you wish that money wasn't an issue. Being the eldest of two kids from a middle-class family, expectations of being the next breadwinner is often resting on your shoulders. I think I'm able to fulfill those expectations already. While I enjoy my profession, it never erases those little "what-if" thoughts. And sometimes coming across bios of the women I featured above make me believe that those little dreams, while a bit far-fetched, can be possible.

To start off my dream career list, I remember wanting to be a photo-journalist for National Geographic. While I loved browsing through fashion magazines, I'd prefer to take pictures of anything else but people. Until I encountered Vanity Fair and Annie Leibovitz. I started having by-line and contributor dreams. I don't know how Annie does it but her photo spreads are always unbelievable. She captures her subjects well and has a great eye for detail and light. The moment Annie becomes your photographer makes you feel like you've made it, especially for those who are pretty much under the limelight. I've been meaning to purchase my first digital SLR camera because of her. That and perhaps, the encouragement of friends who've seen my shots to take photography as a habit.

The journalist bit of my first dream career inspired me to consider another one: fiction writer. Writing is another love of mine. I think I write better than I speak. I was such a wallflower when I was younger that most of my thoughts often go to my diaries, which I burned after I discovered Microsoft Word and transcribed them. Most of my writing were short stories and poems until I started working on my own full-length fiction. I haven't added much to what I've written so far but I'm hoping that I'll be able to finish it sooner or later. As I started writing, I got reminded of some best-selling authors who are my personal idols: J.K. Rowling, Stephenie Meyer and Libba Bray. The series of fiction they've written (Harry Potter, The Twilight Saga, The Gemma Doyle Trilogy) will be always on my frequently re-read shelf. To be able to achieve a small bit of the success they have, it'll be really cool. There's a certain creative freedom you can afford by writing fiction. It's your story: you set the rules. And perhaps, that's what inspires me to go through with what I'm writing: the opportunity to lay my own groundwork.

However, the main fuel behind what keeps me going with my fiction writing, more importantly in my daily grind, is music. While I sing nicely, I'm not as musical as I would hope to be (or at least, didn't get enough training and resources for it). I don't have the creativity to make an arrangement or think of lyrics to match it. But I didn't realize that you can build a career in music without have to plot a note or a lyric. All you need is a pair of good ears like those of Alex Patsavas and Liz Phair, musical supervisors to two of my favorite TV guilty pleasures: Gossip Girl and 90210. While Liz forayed into the business as an artist before transitioning into the world of music supervision with 90210, Alex has been the go-to girl of a lot of popular US TV shows and movies: she's probably on Josh Schwartz's speed dial and has recently put her stamp on Twilight. As I reviewed Alex's IMDB page, I realized that we almost havethe same taste in music. I'm a soundtrack junkie for as long as I can remember. I made a lot of mix CDs for my friends whenever I felt like it. If I had an iPod, I'd probably make tons of track lists to cover my every mood. Heck, I don't know how to drive but I have a driving mix list in my head. Watching Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist made me yearn to have my own recording studio. Perhaps, that's one other thing my brother would also like to have as well.

While I do realize that these dreams are a bit far off my radar, it's nice to know that there are certain other things that I liked to do and can be possible if I can put my head and heart into it. All I need are some tools of trade to get me going full throttle: a digital SLR with a great set of lenses, a uber chic laptop and a recording studio. Oh, and throw in a baby grand in the mix. Might as well dream big. Never hurts to do so. =)

Me? A Dedicated Reader?

2009-05-03T17:50:00.003+08:00

Yeah. I may to agree with that. =)

What Kind of Reader Are You? Your Result: Dedicated Reader You are always trying to find the time to get back to your book. You are convinced that the world would be a much better place if only everyone read more.
Literate Good Citizen
Obsessive-Compulsive Bookworm
Book Snob
Fad Reader
Non-Reader
What Kind of Reader Are You? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

I Never Imagined

2009-05-01T22:43:00.008+08:00

Last Monday, I ate with a friend of mine at Teriyaki Boy. As I was munching on my order of Katsudon, Salmon Sashimi and a can of Coke Light, I got reminded of the fact that perhaps more than three years ago, I never ate a single Japanese dish. It was one of the things that me and my mother argued about: my so-called lack of variety in the things I eat. I am picky with my food. She thinks that the reason for it was that I was Gerber-fed when I was little (unlike my brother who was a Cerelac boy). It was a self-fulfilling prophecy that hounded me for years. What made the situation worse was it being coupled with a childhood sickness which eliminated aggravating food items on my options list. I was in that state for a good 10 years of my life until I turned sixteen and have had enough. I waged a battle against my own body's reaction to certain foods. While I'm still far away from achieving gastronomic nirvana, I think I've progressed well with the variety in food I eat. And that childhood sickness? Gone with God's grace, and hopefully it'll be so for a long, long time. Or else, I wouldn't be able to enjoy a good serving of Salmon Sashimi dipped in wasabi-infused soy sauce. Imagine that.

~~~~~~~

In a couple of the training sessions I have attended, several of my client team members -- mostly men or boys -- were with me. While most of them have been in the company longer than I am, I'm quite impressed of the fact that they'd still participate in those sessions to refresh their knowledge. In the course of those activities, I got to know them a bit more and share little puns already. Because of those instances, I felt I was channeling my inner P.J. Franklin: being one of the boys. Over the course of my existence, I noticed that I have a good set of guy friends and sometimes, the best of them were always in threes. I had three best guy friends in high school, college and even my first job. Now, maybe I have twenty? It's too early to tell but at least, they're more confident to include me in a joke or two. Imagine that.

~~~~~~~

Since I reviewed Watchmen, I haven't seen another movie in the Gateway Cineplex. For close to two months already. And here I was thinking that when I transferred last August, I'd probably be checking out a new movie at least once a week. I've got no excuse, right? I'm near a mall with good cinemas. I guess I was wrong. The irony of your workplace being located beside a mall: so close yet so far. Imagine that.

~~~~~~~

During this week, I got two e-mails that landed me free tickets to two of 2009's US Summer Blockbusters hitting Philippine cinemas -- X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Star Trek. Yay me! I'll be watching them on two consecutive nights. Some anniversary I'll be having: eye-candy with around 10 hot Hollywood actors. Imagine that.

How Do You Want Your Eggs?

2009-04-08T17:46:00.003+08:00

There are so many ways you can prepare and serve an egg. I always preferred mine to be scrambled with a little golden brown on the edges. When I make my scrambled eggs, I put a little bit of evaporated milk, salt, white pepper and McCormick's Italian seasoning to taste. It was only about a few years ago when sunny side-up or poached eggs became alternatives to my regular breakfast staple. However, I'm not here to talk about eggs altogether. I'm using eggs as a slight metaphor for intent or context behind the words we say.

For nearly half of my undergraduate degree and a good portion of my professional life, playing with words was my pre-occupation. When I was browsing for a home dictionary, I was astounded by the size and sheer volume of some units on the shelves. Each year, the dictionaries get thicker and you suddenly start to wonder what new words have been added... which among them you can use in your daily lingo...

Because of that acquired skill, like a cook and his dozens of eggs, I am able to present my intention or meaning in so many different ways. I remember when my good friends ask me for their opinion about their new haircut, purchase or predicament, my standard reply (or retort) is: how would you want me to tell you?

Those who have been my friends the longest always ask for the knife-in-the-heart version: straight-up and bites like a bitch on steroids. Some friends ask for the melts-in-your-mouth version: saccharine sweet yet hits you slowly without knowing like tequila. Others and more often, the opaque-as-mist version: not too hard, not too soft.

I have recently exercised a version that marries all three: something I have never tried before. My feelings are quite mixed by it. However, I got my intended effect. I do hope whoever he/she is would make amends to the people I care about because I don't plan to hide my whip anytime soon.

I Hauled Away... Again!

2009-04-06T16:49:00.006+08:00

Goodness, I missed blogging. I think I've been pretty much out of it for a few days, especially since I was pre-occupied with stuff like Ben Barnes Movies and Big Bang Theories among others. But despite all that and work, one thing is never missed on my daily activities: shopping. Okay, sue me for being a girl. I like shopping but not for the typical girl stuff. If you remember my last haul post, you hardly find any girly things in it. It still applies if you consider what I've hauled since 2009 started. And to be honest, they're quite a mass. Let's start with...

BOOKS

For the last 3 months, there were hardly any Twilight-related books in my hauls since I've pretty much completed all the book merchandise in the saga. And here they are:

The Gemma Doyle Trilogy (A Great And Terrible Beauty, Rebel Angels & The Sweet Far Thing) - one of, if not, the best YA book series I've read so far...
No Fear Shakespeare - I just love the guy!
East Of Eden by John Steinbeck - thanks for this, Paw! you're such a doll.
Ophelia by Lisa Klein
Money by Martin Amis
The City Of Dreaming Books by Walter Moers
Beauty's Punishment & Beauty's Release by A. N. Roquelaure
The Princess Diaries: Diaries Collection by Meg Cabot
Prom Nights From Hell by Cabot, Harrison, Jaffe, Meyer and Myracle
Twilight Director's Notebook by Catherine Hardwicke
Ransom My Heart by Mia Thermopolis and Meg Cabot
The Reader by Bernhard Schlink
The Picture Of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Stardust by Neil Gaiman

MAGAZINES & GRAPHIC NOVELS

Or comics if you prefer the simple term for it... Haha. This is nothing really new for me since I'm in the middle of collecting the 10-volume Sandman series (if money were not an issue, I would love to collect the huge 4-volume set). But this is the first time I've discussed this set of hauls in my blog along with some magazine purchases since they're quite a few. However my comic purchases are surprisingly inspired by some TV shows. Here's what I have so far:

Watchmen
Fringe, Issue No. 1 & 3
Chuck, Issue No. 2-6
Entertainment Weekly with R/K on the cover & some Twilight Director's Notebook previews
Vanity Fair's annual Hollywood issue
Vogue US March 2009 with a feature on Stephenie Meyer
GQ April 2009 with Rob on the cover

CDs & DVDs

Over the last 3 months, this would probably be the set where there's a lot more Twilight-related merchandise.

Twilight DVD (both released locally and from Target, the latter one I love)
Twilight Deluxe Edition Soundtrack
David Foster & Friends CD/DVD set which features Charisse Pempengco as one of singers in the show
Charlie's Angels and Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle DVDs - on sale!
Stardust DVD - sale too!!
Cloverfield DVD - sale three!!! XD

OTHERS

Last on my haul bit are two (2) Twilight-related merchandise that I'm really proud to have: The Cullen Crest Jewelry Set from Amazon and the ALA Twilight Celebrity READ poster. I had the latter framed (it looks stunning) and I gave the signed Peter Facinelli card which I put in a glass frame to a friend of mine. Yesterday, she showed me a picture of where she hung it on her wall. It looked like it's found its real owner, that it was at home. And it made me happy seeing it.

It's already April. While I'm sporting a big grin doing this post, I think that I need to put my wallet to rest for a while. It helps that I still have books and magazines to read, DVDs to view, CDs to listen to, and a framed poster to hang. I hope you enjoyed my latest haul post because I look forward to NOT doing this again within the next few months. Haha. XD

Ultrasonic Imploding Excitation

2009-03-28T02:19:00.007+08:00

Watching Monsters vs. Aliens (reviewed in my previous post) allowed me to take a little trip down music memory lane. The moment I got home, I ransacked through my old CD cabinet to search for an album that I haven't played in a long time. It took me a while to locate it, but when I did, I was rockin' to it like there's no tomorrow.

The album in question is Time Capsule: Songs For A Future Generation by The B-52's (pictured above). It's a compilation of their hits from the late 70's to the 80's, as well as a few new tracks. My blog title is a lyric from one of my favorite songs in the compilation entitled Debbie.

I was exposed to B-52's music around late 80's/early 90's with tracks like Love Shack, Roam, Rock Lobster, Private Idaho and especially Planet Claire -- the source for this wave back trip. Given that I was still in school and couldn't afford to buy even a cassette album, I was merely content on catching them on the radio. Their sound is an eclectic mix of new wave, punk and alternative rock. Their song lyrics are so crazy and cool especially the close-encounters-of-the-third-kind-themed ones. This is largely due to the founder's belief (Ricky Wilson, R.I.P.) that he was abducted by aliens at one point of his life. While I cannot confirm nor deny the story's truth, it makes for an entertaining explanation for the absurd yet funky blend of words. Case in point...

Planet Claire has pink air
All the trees are red
No ever dies there
No one has a head

Despite that, you tend to ignore it, enjoy the beat and have a laugh -- which I earnestly did. I'm now on my 3rd play and I don't think I'll probably hit stop anytime soon. =P

Set The Terror Level At Code Brown...

2009-03-28T01:26:00.011+08:00

or Blue if, like me, you positively fell in love with B.O.B.

B.O.B. and the rest of his merry band became my dates last March 26 (Thursday) as I was one of those lucky ducks who were invited to a press screening of Monsters vs. Aliens at the San Miguel Coca-Cola IMAX Theater in SM Mall of Asia. As I was handed my 3-D glasses, I knew that the picture and sound quality would be outstanding. After 94 minutes, I wasn't only impressed and satisfied with the picture and sound quality but the whole movie as well. I left the IMAX Theater sporting a big grin and carrying a barrel of laughs.

Monsters vs. Aliens is a typical spoof movie despite having a somewhat ominous title. If you're a fan of sci-fi/thriller movies released from the 50's to the 70's, then this is a good movie to reminisce about them -- in a lighthearted manner, that is. The references are quite obvious in the movie's cast and characters. An example would be Susan Murphy/Ginormica, the movie's main protagonist, is really a parody for "Attack Of The 50 Ft. Woman." The same goes with the plot. The themes were relatively familiar and presented in a very simple manner. Despite this, it never ceased to be entertaining and it felt fresh. Kudos goes to the 7-man writing team behind this animation gem for producing a script that is pure genius. I especially liked how they inserted some geek humor with expressions like "By Hawking's chair!" -- something that me and my friend found thoroughly funny that we couldn't stifle our laughter the moment we heard it.

Big love goes to the casting director for selecting a great ensemble of actors as the voices behind these characters. It felt like an cohesive, fluid performance; not one voice really stood out. It's almost as if the actors blended well with their animated counterparts, although some voices became recognizable at certain points in the movie, specifically that of Reese Witherspoon, Rainn Wilson and Seth Rogen. Big surprise for me was seeing the names of Kiefer Sutherland, Hugh Laurie and Renee Zellweger in the opening and end credits.

Last, but not the least, cheers to DreamWorks for producing this computer animated movie in real 3-D! It must've been an enormous task but the end product is definitely worth it. I'm earnestly looking forward to your succeeding animation releases.

Monsters vs. Aliens is definitely a treat for the family and best experienced in full 3-D glory. Truly worth every bit of Quantonium that Gallaxhar's tentacles can get on.

The verdict: 4.5 out of 5 Green Jell-Os!

Monsters vs. Aliens is now showing in Philippine cinemas. Special thanks to New Worlds Alliance and to Solar-UIP for the Press Screening invitation! =)

Oh Gravity, Thou Art A Heartless Bitch

2009-03-14T09:41:00.004+08:00

(From L-R: Jim Parsons as Sheldon Cooper, Johnny Galecki as Leonard Hofstadter, Kaley Cuoco as Penny, Simon Helberg as Howard Wolowitz and Kunal Nayyar as Rajesh Koothrappali)

There are no words to describe how genius this show is. Literally. Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, the team behind Dharma & Greg, are at again.

For potential neophytes, The Big Bang Theory is a show detailing the lives of four highly smart but socially-awkward men (Leonard, Sheldon, Howard & Raj), their beautiful but not-so-smart next-door neighbor (Penny) and the complications of their dynamics. Over the last few weeks, I've seen the main characters go through ridiculous eBay purchases, online gaming addictions, alcoholic experiments, cosplay debates, food ordering quirks, satellite-aided house-tracking escapades, laundry wars, and yes, even romantic woes among many other things. While the jargon-ridden language used can get you stumped at times with its break-neck speed delivery, most notably by Jim Parsons who plays my favorite geek of the four, it was very easy to get by it to enjoy the comedy. I was warned initially that it was a show for geeks. How come I got it? Am I really that geeky? Well, if that's the case, bring it on. LOL. The show's tagline after all is "Smart Is The New Sexy."

The show has been on air since 2007. While I discovered it late, with great thanks to two friends (you know who you are), it is worth it. Currently, the show is on its second season and has a total of thirty-four episodes in. Every single installment is a blast. Definitely worth recommending to geeks, and perhaps non-geeks too, who will benefit from getting a 20-minute dose of nature's best medical relief -- laughter!

Little China Girl

2009-03-13T16:03:00.003+08:00

In my daily grind, I have one major dilemma: language barrier. I cannot understand a single Pinyin and I can only speak two words in Mandarin: Ni Hao and Xie Xie. Aside from that, nada.

I like learning new languages but I often struggle with the daily usage. I've had six units of Spanish in college (where otra ves often resonates in my head) and recently beginner's French. While the advantages are obvious (I can already read some words and understand their meaning), I think I'll be better if I talk to someone. Or perhaps, do more intense studies if and when I have the time.

What brought this frustration about? Unplanned/Urgent requests do that to me. My work requires me to support three countries in the Asia-Pacific region. The challenge, although apparent, was never really a big deal -- I'm used to time zone differences -- except when I'm asked to search for local options. As China is one of my client countries, I often deal with Pinyin-written webpages and Mandarin-speaking operators. While I do appreciate that quality, it makes my work harder. Then, all of a sudden, you're reminded about your professional development activities. Now, should I think about learning Mandarin than doing another course that I want so badly to take and would benefit me and my team in the long-term? Facing an urgency vs. importance dilemma is not an easy thing. How does one justify and prioritize one need over another especially when the resources are scarce?

Maybe it's good that these thoughts fell on a weekend. I have at least 48 hours before I face the music again. Time to think things through.

You're Locked In Here With Me!

2009-03-07T12:15:00.008+08:00

I arrived at Cinema 5 of Gateway Cineplex last March 5, 2009 knowing very little about Watchmen except for the hype about the comic series being one of Time Magazine's 100 best English-language novels of the century. I was prepared to be amazed, to have my socks blown off. After 2.5 hours, I find myself leaving the cinema shaking my head and half-entertained.

On an adaptation standpoint, the movie is faithful. In fact, too faithful to a fault. One can never go wrong making an adaptation from a comic series since the story is pretty much laid out. However, if you haven't read it, you might find the flow a bit disjointed. It ultimately resolved itself in the end but it could leave you feeling a bit stretched. For some reason, it had the same storytelling vibe as Lost for me.

The cinematography and visual effects lived up to my expectations but it offered nothing new to the senses. I found myself suppressing a giggle when a few 80's music, such as Nena's 99 Luftballons and Tears For Fears' Everybody Wants To Rule The World, were used as part of the sound mix even though they were appropriate for the movie's theme. The movie didn't fall short of its action, gore, violence and sexual parts -- where the latter often involved Malin Akerman -- although there was one violent scene in Rorschach's back story that was obviously censored or tempered to a certain extent. Among the actors, Matthew Goode (Adrian Veidt / Ozymandias) and Jackie Earle Haley (Walter Kovacs / Rorschach) stood out for me. Perhaps my favorite moment in the entire film was when Rorschach's uttered these words with such compelling fierceness and anger: "I'm not locked in here with you! You're locked in here with ME!"

That line, while I enjoyed it in context, somewhat seemed to me as a metaphor for Alan Moore versus every conceivable movie or TV show that would now appear to have borrowed some themes from it. This leaves me wondering why they waited this long to adapt this critically-acclaimed series when the technology and the creativity needed for it has been present in movies shown over the last five years.

As I ponder on that question, the movie did one good thing -- I bought the comics and I'm currently in the middle of reading it. While I earlier thought of giving the movie another go, reading Chapter 1 made me decide otherwise yet understood the adoration for it even after a few pages. I'm quite certain that fans of this series will be satisfied that Zac Synder and company delivered a pretty faithful adaptation. However, for me, it was one that was released a little too late.

My Rating: 3.5 out 5 smileys

Watchmen is now showing in Philippine cinemas. Thanks to New Worlds Alliance and to Solar-UIP for the Press Screening invitation! =)

That'll Do, Pig. That'll Do.

2009-03-07T01:57:00.004+08:00

At last, finally. The end (almost) to nearly a month-long journey of deciphering which HTML codes to customize. My new blog theme is up. How do I look? XD

I find that I'm happy with the finished product despite having to download a packaged theme as my jump off point (credits can be found at the end of the page). Customizing it -- changing the banner, removing the navigation tabs, adding more gadgets, expanding the main page -- was the hard part. Among all the things I customized, the banner is what I'm most proud of since it features some of my favorite photos that I've taken using my trusty 5-year old digital camera, Sue. I didn't create it in Photoshop; ol' PowerPoint was there to lend me a hand. Good thing that my layout skills are still intact. Several years on working on presentations became helpful when I took this task. The current layout will serve me for quite a long time -- unless I decide to change it again. However, I need to take my HTML studying down a notch. It's time I laid it to rest for a while. It's not my bread and butter anyway but hopefully, the rest won't be too long. I just need to work on the other facets of my life.

Anyway, here's hoping you'll get used to the new face of my blog. While I admit that it still requires a bit of tinkering, it is intact nonetheless. I'm happy that I've accomplished something. A little goes a long, long way.

Where I Fan Girl About This Guy

2009-02-27T22:30:00.006+08:00

While it's somewhat of a given that Rob Pattinson has a place in every Twilighter's hearts, there's only one actor that I fan girl about from the cast. And that would be Jackson Rathbone.

The beautiful photo above was recently taken from a convention where he, Ashley, Rachelle, Kellan, Peter among several other cast members of Twilight appeared (minus the trio, of course). I've viewed tons of fan captured videos during the convention and they pretty much validated what I adore most about this guy: humble, funny and sweet. His work ethic is unquestionable as he's trying to squeeze in as much as he can: recording new tracks for his band 100monkeys, appearing in an episode of Criminal Minds, possibly promoting s.Darko in the future, and shooting The Last Airbender and New Moon. In all the interviews I watched (and downloaded) of him, he's always grateful and pleasant. He does have little quirks but they're hardly noticeable. I remember the question that was asked of TCP's resident Twilight Gay about who among the characters will be his date of choice. Flipping the question a little to change into choosing among the actors, Jackson Rathbone will be my pick. No doubt about it.

Now that's from Twilight. Well, if you're going to talk about 90210 and Fringe, I think me and a friend of mine have settled our eyes on the same guys. And they're both quite a catch. ;-)

I Did This On Amazon? Silly Me.

2009-02-27T01:47:00.007+08:00

Remember when I made my first book review here in my blog and named it Quill Quips? I hope you do because I'm now two book reviews behind for that segment and I'm itching to work on them. Really and truly.

However, I didn't realize that there's a lost Quill Quip and I did it over Amazon?! I couldn't believe it myself to the point of having to remember if I really wrote the review in the first place. But there it was, the review page staring after me after I tried googling my name. Not because I wanted to test how famous I was (which to my adorable nephew, it's not a question but rather a fact), but more to see if my boys (officemates) can find me in cyberspace. They teased me about it over a merienda to celebrate the birthdays of three of my client team's members. I've made my social networking accounts as incognito as possible therefore I'm confident they couldn't find me. Work is work. I'm not too open for them to cross into certain territories of my life yet.

Anyway, look around this post to see the link to my review. Sort of an easter egg. It's for the book, The Feng Shui Junkie by Brian Gallagher. Enjoy!

How Do I Love Thee, Oscars 2009...

2009-02-26T22:30:00.020+08:00

Let me count the ways! Hahaha. One note before you proceed to reading my post: easter egg/s alert! XD

It has been three days since I watched the Oscars and I still couldn't get off my happy train. This year's Oscars is the best, in my opinion, in more ways than one. Perhaps, even the coolest. The secrecy surrounding the ceremonies was worth it, although one segment leaked out to the delight of Twilighters here and abroad. But that is not the only reason why I love this year's Oscars.

Watching the Oscars (among many other award shows like the Golden Globes, SAG, Emmys, etc.) has been a tradition of mine as long as we had cable at home. Before, I was really into beauty pageants like Miss Universe. However, as I started working and can already afford to watch movies out of my own pocket, watching award shows became a must for me. The beauty pageants went to the sidelines of my watch list. Far too away from the sidelines to be honest about it.

Award shows in general, especially those that are voted for by an academy or guild, are really boring. Year in and year out, they always follow the same pattern: short production numbers and montages interspersed with awarding segments, which became predictable. What makes the Oscars a bit special than the other award shows is being the culmination of all guild award ceremonies. Consider it like Wimbledon for the showbiz community: if you are on that show, nominee or presenter, it solidifies your place in the industry, wherever that is. If you win, you will always have that "Oscar Winner" tag in every movie you make. Heck, even the tag "Oscar Nominee" is used too. Another thing would be the selected host, as you're expected to provide the entertainment and ease of transition for each segments. But this year, the production team behind the Oscars wanted to bring some new life into the show. And boy, they've done it.

Let's start with the most obvious of all changes: the presence of young, pop Hollywood. Finally, the big cheese is starting to recognize the presence of a stronger force outside of their high-calibre bubble that could give the show the life it needs. Why would they invite Robert Pattinson (I have to mention this guy first. It's a sacrilege if I don't. =P), Tina Fey, Miley Cyrus (who didn't do anything in the awards ceremony but was on the red carpet pre-shows), Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Dominic Cooper and Amanda Seyfried if not to make that statement? I'm glad that the Academy is now recognizing the power of young Hollywood, as it's where the fans are. If the Academy want to get some more love/interest for their highly-acclaimed movies, then they were able to do so. Mentioning the movie titles in every category can elicit memory recall. I wouldn't be surprised if there are teens and tweens who will positively respond when they hear the words "Slumdog Millionaire."

The second obvious change, and one of my favorite parts of the show, is the montages. They didn't just stick with the regular In Memoriam and Best Picture film montages. For this year's Oscars, they added new montages to the previous two I mentioned, around six if I'm not mistaken, that gave a good snapshot on the year that was in all movie genres: romance, comedy, documentary, animation, musical and action. The great thing about this montages is that they were conceptualized by Hollywood's brightest and creative minds. Case in point, the musical montage was created by Baz Luhrmann (Moulin Rouge, Australia) while the comedy was done by Judd Apatow (Knocked Up, Superbad). The show's collaborative effort was apparent and it resonated in every segment.

The last change that I love was that they invited twenty previous Oscar winners to help acknowledge the nominees in the four acting categories. For the first time, being just a nominee didn't feel bad at all especially with the accolades and terms of endearment that you get from previous winners. I can empathize with Anne Hathaway's near-to-tears reaction: to be acknowledged beautifully by Shirley MacLaine (who I dearly admire), oh what joy can that be!

Now, hope you'll indulge me as I dish my fan girl faves during the show...

Allow me to begin with the one and only Robert Pattinson. I cannot stress how much I admire him for being there unlike some actress, although I love very much, who kind of acted like she's high and mighty when technically, by Hollywood standards, she's still a starlet. Doesn't matter if it was a rumor or not, she still wasn't there despite the invitation. Rob was gracious, self-effacing and humbled by the opportunity. Plus he looked absolutely gorgeous in his Dolce & Gabbana tux. And how strategic was his seating arrangement? He was in full view behind Mickey Rourke! Rob presented the romance montage with Amanda Seyfried; both looked really cute together. The montage featured the best romantic cuts from 2008 movies: I saw bits of Definitely, Maybe and Twilight among others. The man is such an eye-candy that I'm distracted by the pic I chose to add to this portion. And if reports or rumours circling were true, Rob enjoyed himself as well and was quite awestruck. He had a fan boy moment with Ron Howard. How's that for pre-departure endorphins before you go to Japan and Canada? Sweet!

Next up are the nominee addresses and the speeches. My personal faves for the nominee addresses are those by Robert De Niro, Shirley MacLaine, Whoopi Goldberg, and Cuba Gooding Jr. while for the speeches are those of Kate Winslet (more of that in a while), Sean Penn, Resul Pookutty, Dustin Lance Black, Penelope Cruz, Danny Boyle and Heath Ledger's family.

Speaking of Kate Winslet, her win is perhaps the only moment when I watched live that I jumped off of my seat and cried like hell. I want that woman to win, no offense to Meryl Streep whom I've love as well. But this has got to be Kate's time. I was already expecting Slumdog Millionaire to win big at the Oscars. However, it was the Best Actress category that scared me to death. When Meryl Streep won in the Screen Actors Guild awards for Doubt, the race for that category was now between her and Kate. I'm so happy Kate won. It's a nice cap to being acknowledged as the youngest actress ever to receive 6 career nominations, and now a win. Finally! That reminds me, I've got to read the book that I have on my shelf. Here's hoping The Reader would hit the cinemas; I can't wait to watch Revolutionary Road as well.

Finally, although mentioned already, are the montages. Again, I don't know why but I shed tears (as always) during the In Memoriam segment. Queen Latifah was singing beautifully while the faces of those departed showed up on the screens. I was surprised to find out that Anthony Minghella and Sydney Pollack were already dead. Capping it off with Paul Newman was heart-warming. However the montage that takes top spot for me would be the action. While I adored seeing some Twilight cuts, the music they used as a back drop to action montage was totally unexpected yet ultra-cool and unbelievable. That music is not the kind you'd expect to hear during the Oscars. What am I referring to? That would be Tick Tick Boom by The Hives! It is like one of my all-time favorite songs. Seriously. It's part of their Black And White Album which, for me, is a must-have for garage rock/punk revival enthusiasts.

Honorable mention, before I end this lengthy post, is the end credits montage of the show for a couple of reasons. First, it gave you a brief look into your must-see movies for 2009. Seeing Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince there (with very revealing scenes) made me wish for July to come sooner! Last and not the least, which kept my audiophile's heart fluttering, is that they featured another surprising track as the back drop music. Here's the cool part: the song hasn't been released in local stores upon the airing of the show! Wow. Further research allowed me to discover that it is a cover of one of Bob Dylan's songs released in 1967 entitled Leopard-Skin Pill Box Hat. Who covered it? None other than Beck! Geez, I miss that guy! Loser is one of my favorite songs. This cover, among many others, is part of the War Child presents Heroes compilation album which is targeted to benefit the kids who are victims of war. The concept for the compilation album is even better. The producers asked several music/rock icons to select one song from their entire discography and choose the band who will cover it. The original song had a bluesy feel to it so for Bob Dylan to select Beck among all music acts is a risky but wise choice, given that their musical styles are almost on the opposite sides of the spectre. But I believe that Beck did justice to the song. I love listening to it, so much that I may have played it over fifty times already. I had moments where I almost did an air guitar with a bit of dance while I was listening to it. It's such a cool, cool song.

Whew! This is what happens when you haven't blogged in days. Overcompensation. LOL. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the post and the easter egg/s I shared. Cheers!

First Development: Easter Eggs!

2009-02-18T22:11:00.008+08:00

I previously shared that I plan to do some changes for my blog. And I did one just right now: putting an Easter Egg in one of my previous entries.

I learned about the concept of virtual Easter Eggs from a friend of mine, Jacke, who at one point commissioned my services during an online game within another community she's part of. The online game was like an Easter Egg hunt: you need to find clues within a stage of the game, solve the riddle presented to move on to the next round. There weren't any points for winning: you only get dibs for solving the whole riddle first. When I was helping her out, we were both scrambling for the answer to the riddle. Although her team didn't win (sad), the experience was a fun thing and that became one of the major inspirations for the developments I plan for this blog. Even for my LJ blog, although my current layout is a keeper.

There are times that I recommend certain things when I blog. The most recent is about my entry regarding Sara Bareilles. Now, I've decided that if and when I rave about something -- whether it's music, books or movies -- I'll put out a download link within the post. Files will be random: I will not say what it is. To add to the challenge, I will not make the link too obvious. Like an Easter Egg, you need to search for it. My only clue: watch out for my post labels. If the phrase "Easter Egg" appears, that's your cue to search for the download link within the post and enjoy what I shared. As my first gift, perhaps you should look a few posts down to my Sara Bareilles entry. If you find the link, lucky you. It may take a bit but I hope that when you get the Easter Egg, it will be worth it. Cheers and happy hunting! =]

A Change Will Do This Blog Good

2009-02-17T22:50:00.004+08:00

Or so I think... Hopefully, maybe...

Like the turning of the new year, you stock yourself with new things: clothes, shoes, bags, books, etc. Sometimes, you fix or alter stuff like an ill-fitting office ensemble (which reminds me, I need to have some of those brought to the shop). Even your hair-do and kikay kit would need to be updated.

Having this in mind, I'm thinking I'd go be a girl on my blog and change its layout. The task alone is not going to be easy for me, as I plan to make/experiment some minor edits with the template(s) that I plan to download. The aim: to make it a bit more personal. Good thing, I have a brother who's a programmer. He taught me a tool that I would need to understand and make the necessary customizations: Firebug! The tool may be passe for some but not for me. Goodness, that's how late in the game I am. Why? Ridiculously long story. I was under a rock for quite sometime that I lost a good portion of my cyberlife. Anyway, moving on...

Amidst my excitement, I am actually daunted by my own aspirations on how my blog should look like. Now, after understanding the benefits of Firebug, not so much. So if you start seeing something strange on my blog, I'm sorry. My bad. Think of it as my fumbling attempts to bring out the mad scientist in me. I just hope my blog won't look as bad as Frankenstein once I'm done. And I promise to post once I'm out of my laboratory. XD

I Got Tagged... Again!

2009-02-17T18:20:00.003+08:00

Since I was tagged by Echo, I might as well go ahead with it. I'm not really the type to back out of a challenge, especially one I can handle. =P

RULES: It's harder than it looks! Copy to your own note, erase my answers, enter yours, and tag 10 people. Use the first letter of your name to answer each of the following questions. They have to be real. Nothing made up! If the person before you had the same first initial, you must use different answers. You cannot use any word twice and you can't use your name for the boy/girl name question.

What is your name: Leia
A four Letter Word: Live
A boy's Name: Lance
A girl's Name: Liana
An occupation: Lawyer
A color: Lilac
Something you wear: Lace underwear? LOL. Sorry, random answer.
A food: Lasagna
Something found in the bathroom: Loofa
A place: Luxembourg
A reason for being late: Last-minute stuff
Something you shout: Langya!
A movie title: Legally Blonde
Something you drink: Lemonade
A musical group: Lifehouse
An animal: Lion
A street name: Lakandula
A type of car: Lamborghini Diablo
A song title: Let Me Sign (not intentional. it was the first thing that came to mind. hehe.)
A verb: Laugh

That was fun. I was caught off -guard by own my answer in No. 7 but I couldn't think of anything else. That's my excuse. So fellow bloggers and other folks, wait for my tag. Looking forward to your answers. Enjoy! =]

Next Stop, Vegas Please

2009-02-17T11:41:00.007+08:00

I just finished transcribing the lyrics of, what I feel is, one of the sexiest sounding songs I've ever heard in my life. Vegas by Sara Bareilles. I can't get tired of it. It has that rhythmic, beautiful, bluesy groove for me. Reminds me of Sade's No Ordinary Love.

Sometimes in my musical adventures, certain songs throw me off-guard with the brillance of its lyrics and arrangement. I'm glad that last weekend I devoted my complete attention to Sara Bareilles. Now, I understand why people gravitate toward her. She deserves all the love for her music. Without further ado, here's the full lyrics to the song. If you like reading it, it's better when you listen to it. Trust me. Enjoy!

Gonna sell my car and go to Vegas
'Cause somebody told me
That's where dreams would be
Gonna sell my car and go to Vegas
Finally see my name upon the Palace marquis

Gonna quit my job and move to New York
'Cause somebody told me that's where
Dreamers should go
I’m gonna quit my job and move to New York
Tattoo my body with every Broadway show

Listen up now honey
You're gonna be sorry
Can't get out from under a sky that is falling
And you say
No fame
No money
I'm nobody
The way I'm running has sure got me down on my knees
Next stop
Vegas please

I gotta get to Vegas
Can you take me to Vegas?

Gonna sell my house and cross the border
'Cause somebody told me dreams live in Mexico
I’m gonna sell my house
I got to lose ten pounds
And cross the border
Make sweet love upon the white sandy shore

Listen up now honey
You're gonna be sorry
Can't get out from under a sky that is falling
And you say
No fame
No money
I'm nobody
The way I'm running has sure got me down on my knees
But next stop
Vegas please

It's always just around the corner
Or you're on your way to somewhere
That is bigger
Better
If you could only get there

It's never your fault
You can't start your own winning streak
But I'd hate to lose you
To the fortune you seek

I'm wanna lose my mind and sail the ocean
'Cause somebody told me
There were cherry blue skies
I'm gonna fix my mind with a final destination
And have a deep sleep upon a sweet dream
I'll never realize
No

Listen up now honey
You're gonna be sorry
Can't get out from under a sky that is falling
And you say
No fame
No money
I'm nobody
The way I'm running has sure got me down on my knees
But next stop
Vegas please

Can you take me to Vegas?
I need to see Vegas
Can you take me to Vegas?

25 Random Things About Me

2009-02-13T12:38:00.009+08:00

I'm joining the bandwagon as a TCP friend shared this in our forums. According to her, this has been going around in Facebook. I haven't created an account there; totally thinking about it. Even with Plurk (where I have a valid reason). However, identifying 25 random things about me can be a stretch. Are there 25 random things about me? Let's find out. ;)

I am afraid of cockroaches. Big or small. Dead or alive. Crawling or flying. In whatever shape or form it is, I am freaking afraid.
My all-time comfort food is dipping sour cream and onion Pringles in a pint of semi-soft Double Dutch ice cream. Yum!
When I like a song, I play it continuously for at least 15 times or until my ears get tired of it.
I like staring at a full moon. Thus, when I buy calendars or planners, I make sure it lists the date for the month when the moon is full.
Window shopping is both a pasttime and an exercise for me.
When I feel stressed, I walk to clear my head off.
I'm an impulsive buyer when it comes to books. Other items, not so much except for basic necessities.
I prefer to drink kapeng barako from Batangas anytime of the day and I can prepare a good cup of it using a traditional method. We don't have a coffee maker or coffee press at home.
The accessory I cannot live without is a watch as I always need to check the time. The accessory I cannot wear for an entire day is a necklace.
I like using a big bag because I want for it to fit a chunky book among with the rest of my girly stuff.
I like watching award shows live especially the Golden Globes, SAG Awards, Oscars and Emmys. And I always shed a tear or two during their In Memoriam segments. Don't know why.
I'm an anti-mainstream person. I don't like the idea or the pressure of following trends. However, once I get into it even if it's late, I overcompensate. This happened with Harry Potter and Twilight: was late in the game but boy, I have truly overcompensated. Especially with Twilight. However, the overcompensating sentiment doesn't apply to my fashion choices since I purely invest on the basics.
I own two (2) portable HDDs which I named Silver and Selene. If I buy a laptop in the future, I plan to name it Hayley.
I am a couch potato and an RT/RX enthusiast until about eight months ago. I hardly turn on the TV in my room nor listen to the radio except when I have nothing else to do.
I have a 20/20 vision. This despite being a voracious reader and a couch potato since 5.
The bookstore is the only place I can stand/stay in for hours without getting hungry or minding the time. My favorites are the ones located in Bonifacio High Street and Araneta Center, Cubao.
I prefer flats than heels and feel more comfortable wearing a pair of pants than a dress. Very Katharine Hepburn of me.
I have recently mastered the art of laughing heartily without a single sound escaping from my lips.
I am not an athletic person. The only athletic thing I do is cycling and chess. Although I loved playing softball/baseball in highschool. I had a mean swing then. I was proud of my homerun record.
I prefer cocktails than beer, although I can drink both on a social basis.
I'm a realist. I firmly believe in the phrase: hope for the best, expect the worst.
I love to cook, especially anything that involves pasta. I would like to learn how to bake though.
I visit the National Museum occasionally just to stare at Juan Luna's Spolarium. I see something new every time I look at the painting. I move to Intramuros afterwards.
The farthest province I've visited in the country is Davao while the farthest place outside the country is India.
I keep a password-protected Word document diary which is about 8-9 years old already. The entries are still growing despite having blogs here and in LJ. Some thoughts are just meant to be kept private.

Whew! That was a lot. And I thought I couldn't reach 25. Congratulations to me! =]

When In Rome...

2009-02-11T19:28:00.007+08:00

Do as the Romans do.

This quote was made famous by St. Ambrose in 387 A.D. The trivia behind it is a cool thing to note:

When St. Augustine arrived in Milan, he observed that the Church did not fast on Saturday as did the Church at Rome. He consulted St. Ambrose, bishop of Milan, who replied: "When I am at Rome, I fast on a Saturday; when I am at Milan, I do not. Follow the custom of the Church where you are." The comment was changed to "When they are at Rome, they do there as they see done" by Robert Burton in his Anatomy of Melancholy. Eventually it became "When in Rome, do as the Romans do."

However, in today's globalized world, does it still apply?

I came to question this quote upon watching a news bulletin about a Filipino OCW in Australia who was terminated from his work because he brought his personal water bottle in the bathroom which he uses to wash himself after heeding to Mother Nature's call. This Filipino OCW was terminated because he wasn't comfortable using toilet paper to clean himself up. A legal battle ensued where eventually the Filipino OCW won. He was able to demonstrate his cleanliness upon inspection of his household and bathroom behaviors (I couldn't believe that the investigation went to that point).

Pinoys are known for being hygienically conscious. We take a bath or wash ourselves at least twice a day. I remember that my TCP friends almost found the rumour (or not) that Rob Pattinson was not washing his hair for six weeks, an absurd, if not gross, idea -- even though they were laughing during their podcast discussion.

On a related note, I remember a similar story where a Pinoy kid in Canada refused to go back to school after being teased by his classmates for using a spoon when he eats. The school's principal even told off the kid's parents to teach their son to use a knife and fork when eating because he was in Canada.

Hmm... Slightly off-the-mark stories... But I have a point, I promise! Very Elle Woods of me...

Back to the quote and the question. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Does this apply still now in the world we live in? When we live in a different country due to work or migration, are we supposed to shed off what makes us distinct as a person, as a culture, to adapt new behavioral patterns simply because we are in Rome, Australia or Canada?

When I visited India and Singapore a couple of years back, I tried immersing myself in those countries' cultures as a sign of respect for the locals. I sampled their food, even participated in their local dance. I understood what makes them unique as a country and as a race. In doing so, they became equally curious as to how certain things are being done in our country and was open enough to allow me to do things as I please during my stay. Even if it means eating my meals using a spoon and fork despite using my hands or being given a pair of chopsticks on several ocassions. Not to worry though, I did use my hands and my handy pair of chopsticks more than half the time.

For me, the quote above is applicable when you travel to a different place as a tourist, whether it's within our country or out. Even within the Philippines, there's a rich diversity that's waiting to be explored. However, when you start living in a different country, this rule should apply sparingly. Being in a more globalized time should allow for things like this. I have yet to hear of a story wherein we, Pinoys, have insisted to an American or European living in our country to use a spoon when they eat. Why can't the same courtesy be extended to our fellow Pinoys or even other races who are working their butts off and living in other countries?

I find it irritating/unbelievable that simple things like have the ability to cause a lot of trauma and unnecessary effort just to force "being a Roman." Where's the sense of respect and common decency in all this?

I don't mean to sound frustrated. Yet, I can't help but feel sad when I hear stories like these. It somehow casts a small shadow on my aspirations to work abroad. Are we, humans in general, so narrow-minded and clouded by what we have come to know and grow up with that it is a struggle to see things differently and understand that we don't have to think the same way? I believe that synergy can exist in diversity and the key ingredient: RESPECT.

Rockin' Away With Taking Back Sunday

2009-01-19T22:36:00.009+08:00

Last Saturday, I got a gift: a CD of Taking Back Sunday's Louder Now. It was neat surprise, much thanks to an angel from Warner Music for being kind enough to share this cool and amazing album. Same overflowing gratitude goes out to my friends at TCP for making this possible.

Cool and amazing? Well, I say that in the sense that I couldn't find myself skipping any track in the CD. That's a rare thing for me since there would be songs in my collection of CDs and digital compilations that I wouldn't like. For me, this CD holds the same distinction as that of The Corrs' Talk On Corners and Sarah McLachlan's Surfacing. Also, it's another addition to my eclectic mix of artists that I listen to.

Taking Back Sunday has been in the music scene since 1999 (where was I then? oh, getting jaded with work. =P). I may have heard a song of theirs but never associated it with them. So when I sought for an album that I'd wish to receive, I diligently studied Warner Music's artist line-up. It was then that my eyes fell on the said artist and their Louder Now album. The reviews were outstanding on every music critic page I looked at. That did it for me. Since I was having some apprehensions on the CD's availability (not knowing whether there are Taking Back Sunday followers in the Philippines), I selected another CD just in case. My second choice was Damien Rice's O since I've seen one on the shelves. I think, either of the two CDs would've have the same effect on me. However, this I like because if I needed a quick energy boost for my dreary office day, this was the "it" CD.

Currently, my most played tracks are Up Against (Blackout) and Twenty-Twenty Surgery. The album is straight-up alternative rock. However, the recording is very fluid. One song easily transitions to the other that you hardly notice that you've already moved on to another song. For me, that was also impressive.

For those who dig alternative rock, I suggest you check out this album. It was worth it for me and would buy any day. I'm just lucky I got it as a gift.

c,')

xoxo, l.p.

Fictional High Schools

2009-01-17T23:54:00.012+08:00

In one of my entries in my other blog, I got into the bandwagon of the Writer's Block, a feature that posts daily questions aimed at eliciting some responses from the Live Journal community. This is one of the many things I'm impressed about LJ. I've answered about a couple of Writer's Block questions wherein one was quite intriguing enough for me to decide to share it to my friends here in Blogger. Hopefully, it'll inspire you to think about your own responses especially if I tag you. =)

Without further ado, I give you the featured Writer's Block question and my (erm, lengthy) response. Enjoy!

~~~~~~~

What fictional high school -- from TV, film, or a book -- would you most like to attend? Or would you rather never go near high school again, fictional or otherwise?

~~~~~~~

My high school experience was generally fine (or perhaps I was immune to/didn't care about peer pressure). I have my friends and dealt with cliques while managing to leave school unscathed except for some teensy crushes here and there. The only thing I'd rather not go back to in high school was Physics. I dreaded my teacher at that time. He's horrible on the practical side of the science. Chemistry and Biology, I enjoyed them the most. Filipino, I dreaded like hell simply because I sound like a crazy Fil-Am on helium when asked to recite a lengthy text. The only time I enjoyed it was when we ventured into Noli & El Fili. My love affair for the classics began from there since my Filipino teachers were really well-read. They often catch me in the library while I'm waiting for my service to pick me up. They were the ones who introduced me to Nancy Drew. I loved reading before but that's where it really intensified: high school.

Since I've encountered a lot of fictional schools in my reading and watching TV/movies, here are the ones I'm curious to be a part of:

SPENCE ACADEMY: A bit biased since I'm currently reading Book 2 of The Gemma Doyle Trilogy. However, I've attended the same co-ed school since kindergarten until I graduated in high school. I never knew the feeling of being in an exclusive school for girls and a boarding school at that. Although my parents would've loved to send me to St. Scholastica's College, they couldn't afford it then. Oh well. I did fine, right Ma? Ma?

HOGWART'S SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY: I'm a late-bloomed Harry Potter fan having read the series only in December 2005. But I read all six books in a span of three weeks, thanks to generous office mates who lent me their copies. My high school experience is much like Hermione's given my library time and wise-cracks during classes (but never to the point of overzealousness, if I may add). If I were to choose a house, I'd probably want to be in Ravenclaw. I love that house. On a whim, I asked to be sorted by a friend who's part of PHP. My house: Ravenclaw! How appropriate can it get? =]

WEST BEVERLY HILLS HIGH SCHOOL: Having watched this high school undergo through two generations of TV shows, I'm curious enough just to see the drama and the glitz of it all. If I had the same background as Navid, I'd probably be cruising through school in a yellow Porsche Turbo and still ace my classes.

FORKS HIGH SCHOOL: Since I did mention the yellow Porsche Turbo, I don't see any reason why I should leave out this fictional high school. If only to be the one to tell Edward through my piercing stares... You, Me, Forest, NOW!

CONSTANCE BILLARD SCHOOL FOR GIRLS: Think modern-day Spence Academy with tons of West Beverly Hills High School drama, only a tad more sophisticated and richer since it's in the Upper East side of Manhattan.

PROFESSOR XAVIER'S SCHOOL FOR THE GIFTED: I've always loved to have a mutant ability, something like that of Storm or Jean Grey. It also doesn't hurt to be under the tutelage of Professor Charles Xavier. Another yearning for a boarding school experience.

SWEET VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL: I feel the need not to leave this out since I was into Elizabeth, Jessica, Todd, Lila, Enid, Bruce and the rest of the gang for most of my high school. It doesn't have the same angsty drama like that of West Beverly Hills or Constance. I related a lot ot Enid until she became Alex once she attended college. I didn't do a 180 the same way she did.

This now leads me to my last answer and it holds the distinction of being the first fictional school I wished to be part of:

RIVERDALE HIGH SCHOOL: I've wanted to be part of Betty and Veronica's circle but I'll probably be in the middle class. I won't be sharing their affection for Archie although I get it. I'd probably be nurturing a secret crush on Dilton Doiley. Ahahahaha.

~~~~~~~

Wow, that was fun to share although a bit embarrassing. Thinking about what I posted, I just realized that I started to become a fan girl at an early age. I was reading Archie comics when I was in Grade 3! I sadly don't have them anymore given that I didn't know how to preserve them at the time. After learning how to do 5S and training that to my clients, purging old things became an acquired habit and it even applied to my books. I've donated about 70% of my Sweet Valley High books (which are in tip-top condition) to an office outreach program aiming to enrich a chosen public school library with some reading material. The only ones left are the diary editions. I even plant to donate my paperback copies of Books 1-6 of Harry Potter once I get my hands on the Bloomsbury Adult Hard Cover editions. If it helps to spread the love for reading, why not?

Speaking of reading, it's high time I create my account on one of the more popular online social cataloging sites in cyberspace today. For bonafide book worms like me, it's a cool thing to have. I'll blog about it soon enough once I've already created my account. Several people have already shared their praises for this site. I'm staring at my unread book stack and they're begging to be known at the expense of my own embarrassment. Lol. That's my next project and my January hauls. It's just mid-January and my hauls are... erm... at lot again.

Looking forward to your own thoughts about this post and do wait for my tag. *wink*

c,')

xoxo, l.p.

Quill Quips: A Great And Terrible Beauty

2009-01-14T22:55:00.012+08:00

I've been looking forward to this moment. The day that I can publish my first book review. And what a start it is indeed as it'll be my review of Book 1 in The Gemma Doyle Trilogy penned by Libba Bray entitled A Great And Terrible Beauty. Before I proceed, which I'll brand as Quill Quips from this day forth (although, the quip part being an understatement of sorts. lol.), allow me to share my journey into discovering this gem of a series.

The date was January 2. I had many things to do that day: meet someone to pick up a batch of new pin orders, pay my credit card bill and buy a new portable HDD. Since most of these errands involves a mall as a meeting place, a bookstore will always be in it. Whenever I see a bookstore, I always pass through inside like a religion of sorts. I thrill at the sight of new releases on the shelf and read the synopsis at the back to see if it's a good read. Before I went home feeling accomplished at completing my tasks, I passed through Fully Booked in Gateway since that's where I often get my ride home. When I saw a paperback version of Lisa Klein's Ophelia and slightly cheaper version of Ken Follett's The Pillars Of The Earth, I didn't think twice about grabbing them even though I had quite a number of unread books on my night table. Since the line to the cashier was a bit long, I scanned through their bestseller shelf and saw a lone brown paperback with a woman dressed in a lace inner garment and corset. I've always been fascinated by period books or movies thus I grabbed it and read its synopsis at the back. The principal character was 16-year-old Gemma Doyle. Was this another young adult fiction, I thought? I dismissed it given that I liked what I read. I proceeded to the cashier and paid for my books. I got home, started to wrap the rest of my unread books using a new method and lined them up. The only one in my unread stack that wasn't recommended to me was the last book I picked out. That became my deciding factor to crack it open. I haven't turned my back since. I was hooked to say the least enough to do a man-hunt on January 5 for the rest of the books in the series which I discovered ended on December 2007. I wasn't disappointed since I got all three. And now, it's time to share it. For those who haven't read the series, this review will be slightly spoilerish so proceed at your own risk. Now, on to my review...

~~~~~~~

I'll hold on to that fragile slice of hope and keep it close, remembering that in each of us lie good and bad, light and dark, art and pain, choice and regret, cruelty and sacrifice. We're each of us our own chiaroscuro, our own bit of illusion fighting to emerge into something solid, something real. We've got to forgive ourselves that. I must remember to forgive myself. Because there's an awful lot of gray to work with. No one can live in the light all the time.

The wind shifts, bringing with it the smell of roses, strong and sweet. Across the ravine, I see her in the dry crackle of leaves. A deer. She spies me and bolts through the trees. I run after her, not really giving chase. I'm running because I can, because I must.

Because I want to see how far I can go before I have to stop.

An excerpt from "A Great And Terrible Beauty"

Despite being categorized as Young Adult fiction, the except I just quoted above hardly sounds like it at all. The series is told through the eyes of Gemma Doyle, a 16-year old English woman. The story begins in rural India where Gemma was being dragged through the humid marketplace by her mother, Virginia, and their housekeeper, Sarita, to celebrate her 16th birthday in a family friend's house. Gemma, who has hated her existence in India, was belligerent through their march towards the train station, irritated in the manner by which her mother ignores her wishes of a simple yet fascinating life in London, a yearning brought about by her paternal grandmother's tales. Along their journey, someone breathed a name to Virginia. Circe, he said. For some strange reason, it sent Virginia into a panic and asked her Gemma to go back home instead, but not without giving her amulet to wear as protection. Upset and drenched in sweat, Gemma spat at her mother and ran as far away as she could. She didn't care where her feet would lead her. All of a sudden, she stopped dead on her tracks. She felt she was sucked into a portal where she saw, all too clearly, her mother running into an herb shop and stabbing herself to death. Gemma couldn't believe her eyes but she ran back, never caring if her feet hurt, just to have the reassurance that her mother wasn't dead, that it didn't happen. The only thing she remembered was seeing her mother's pale face and her blood drenching the edges of her gown.

This tragedy led her to return back to London and was sent to in Spence Academy, a finishing school for women in society where the objective was to produce the graceful and beautiful wives any proper Englishmen would take. Gemma was accepted into the academy, more out of charity given the death of her mother resulting from "cholera." Murder was a scandalous news for any respectable family. Cholera was the script. Gemma is roomed with Ann Bradshaw, a orphaned scholar, groomed to be a governess since that was her place in the world. She encounters the most popular and beautiful girls of the school, Felicity and Pippa, and manages to earn their scorn. She was going to be the most ostracized girl in the academy. The idea comforted her until the visions plague her at the most unfortunate times, forcing her to be more recluse, attempting to hide it from everyone else. Soon enough, with her sarcastic wit, compassionate heart and her knack for being at the right place at the right time, she eventually becomes good friends with Ann, Felicity and Pippa. The four of them shared something in common: they were all broken young women, all pained by the expectations and aspirations of their families and the society at large. They all wished for something different and Gemma allowed them to discover the realms of the Order. It was magic and the supernatural that brought them closer. However, their yearnings of a life most different have led them to discover that the realms of the Order had its dark side too. Will the four friends succumb to the draws of the realms or turn their backs on it? And what about Kartik who is a member the Rakshana, the opposing forces that saw to the closure of the realms and the destruction of the Order? Will Gemma be able to resist her feelings towards him in order to face her destiny, her path?

It's a riveting story to say the least, and quite a page-turner. A Great And Terrible Beauty is 39 chapters long but the gaps between chapters are surprisingly short; none ever exceeding 15 page leaves. It reads like a typical Victorian-era novel even though the writer is American and hasn't lived in Europe. The detail by which she describes the scenery, the characters and their journeys were just right: not too succinct, not too meticulous. And the nitpicker in me would happily praise her editor as I hardly saw or noticed, if not none, a glaring grammatical error. Two thumbs up for that and everything else!

Whenever I see "The New York Times Bestseller" label splashed on top of any novel's cover, I hardly believe it. My journey through books has always been an anti-mainstream one: never getting the first book in the series until it's too late but overcompensating for the time missed. And boy, do I regret missing this series when it first began. Never mind, I have all three books and it's gravy from there. The label is truly deserved: Libba Bray is perhaps one of the best storytellers/authors I've ever encountered in my life. After browsing her official website, it further strengthen my wish to meet her, have all my books signed, chat over coffee or beer and muse on a strategy to get into The Oprah Winfrey Show. So cheers to you Libba as I continue on my journey to the other two books in the series because like Gemma...

I want to see how far I can go

But, in this case, I will never find a reason to stop loving anything she writes. Case closed.

~~~~~~~

My verdict: 5 out of 5 quills! =]

c,')

xoxo, l.p.

Starting Another One At LiveJournal

2009-01-07T22:26:00.007+08:00

I created an account for the sake of reading a Twilight fanfic at first. I wasn't seriously thinking of using it for any other purpose than that -- befriending people who have written good Twilight fanfics. Until a friend convinced me to have a closer look and try it out. I never regretted it although I'm still somewhat fumbling my way through.

Does this mean that I'll abandon this blog? Nope, I wouldn't. I love it here. However, my all-too cryptic style of writing (if you haven't guessed it from the way I write my entries) can pose a challenge to my composition skills. This is after all a public blog. For all intents and purposes, whatever I say here can and may be used in court... Okay, off-topic and ridiculous thought but I'm guessing you got my drift. =]

Well, for those who are not familiar with LiveJournal, the thing that I love the most is the freedom to choose who you share your post with. It can be made public (Google-worthy), limited to your LJ friends or completely kept private like a diary. Another thing that I love is that you can upload up to 15 avatars so that you have the freedom to choose one to suit your journal mood. It has the same features like any typical blogsite thus, the transition for me was easy in terms of posting entries. It's the customizations that can get tricky especially if you're used to, like me, in blogger.

For now, I've posted a couple of friend-only entries and I've shared some comments in the communities I watch. It's been fun. If you're thinking about expanding your blogging universe, I highly recommend that you try LiveJournal.

c,')

xoxo, l.p.

A Smoke-Filled But Dazzling Sky

2009-01-01T00:12:00.004+08:00

This is the first time, for as long as I can remember, that I ushered in a wet New Year. The unending drizzle may have dampened the roads but never my spirit as I went out and gazed at the colorful skies in our neighborhood in that same child-like glee. Never mind getting soaked in the process.

I think about my life in 2008 and relieve the roller-coaster moments that happened. I resigned from a couple of jobs, I lost a dear relative, I rediscovered my passion for writing, I raved at another book and television series, I gained a new set of friends, and I found solace and renewed appreciation in the power of prayers.

I am hopeful and excited for 2009. It'll be another one for the books. So fellow bloggers and readers, raise your glasses, hug your family and friends beside you, and say hello to a new chapter in your lives filled with blessings.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

c,')

xoxo, l.p.

I Am... Not Yet...

2008-12-29T17:37:00.004+08:00

I was in the middle of cleaning up my files when I saw Meredith Brooks' Bitch. In the song, she enumerated her many facets as a woman/lover. So that got me to thinking.

Every human being has multiple facets resulting from roles played or choices made. Some lingering, some disappearing - but an accomplishment nonetheless that's forever cherished/kept. Thus inspiring this little listing game: I Am... Not Yet...

The rules are very simple. List down all the things that represent who you are (I Am...) and will be soon (Not Yet...) because despite differing paths, we cross at the same roles. Enjoy the list and wait for my tag. Looking forward to your posts. I hope you'll enjoy reading my list as much as I posted them. =]

I AM...

A woman
A daughter
A sister
A sister-in-law
A friend
A niece
An aunt
A cousin
A cousin-in-law
A godmother
A goddaughter
A student
A trainor
A bridesmaid
A consultant
A bookworm
A movie buff
An audiophile
A couch potato
A choir member
A closet dancer
A cook
A foodie
A fan girl
A branch head
A manager
A shoulder to cry on
A good listener
A communicator
A writer
A chess player
A cyclist
A traveler
A hopeless romantic
A photographer
An activist
A thrift shopaholic
A school play actress
A fighter
A one-man cheering squad
A handy helper
A poker player
A blogger
A planner
An interviewer
An accidental joker
A chatter
A team player
An unrequited lover
A researcher
An organizer
An employee
A mall rat
A medical patient
A class treasurer
A registered voter
A cocktail drinker
A gadget freak
A proud Pinay

NOT YET...

A girlfriend
A fiancee
A bride
A wife
A mother
A grandmother

c,')

xoxo, l.p.

The Tip Of My "Haul" Iceberg

2008-12-27T17:00:00.010+08:00

To say this post is long overdue is an understatement. I've been debating on how to approach this post: do multiple installments, classify posts according to type of hauls. However, my need for brevity overrules sometimes so here's my attempt to keep this post simple but jampacked. So here goes the tip of my haul iceberg...

Some tip of the iceberg, huh? Actually my entire haul stash can hardly fit one big storage keeper box. I cleaned up my room yesterday and you can just imagine the shopping bags I had to throw out. Even my mother had a fit.

If you'll look at the picture carefully, most of my hauls are Twilight-related. If my previous posts don't hint to that, I am a full-fledged and, may I say, damn proud Twilighter. Combined with my collector attitude, it's a match made in heaven even if my wallet says otherwise. However, even with my need for Twilight, it didn't stop me from purchasing other items as well. Like shoes, CDs and DVDs for instance.

Here comes the juicy part (I hope): my long-awaited haul list. Let's begin with...

BOOKS

The arsenal of Twilight books I have can make one bookstore really happy. I didn't buy in any other store except there. Hint: I can live in their Fort Bonifacio branch. =]

I have a total of 14 Twilight-related books -- 11 of which were all bought here in the Philippines while the other 3 were a gift from my handsome (naks!) cousin from Australia. Here's the rundown:

Hardcover copies of Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse & Breaking Dawn (4 books)
Softcover copies of Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse & Breaking Dawn (4 books)
The Twilight Illustrated Movie Companion (1 book)
The Twilight Movie-Tie Versions, both trade and masss market paperback (2 books)
Softcover copies of Border's Special Editions of Twilight, New Moon & Eclipse (3 books)

I also purchased other books as I was bracing for my long holiday. I can't wait until I can crack them open.

The Host by Stephenie Meyer
Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling
The Chronicles Of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
The Complete Works of Jane Austen
Expeditions Prose by Fully Booked
Harry: A History by Melissa Anelli
London Fields by Martin Amis
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
The Eight by Katherine Neville
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

Also, since I like buying dictionaries too, I also bought (don't laugh) a copy of the Tournament Edition dictionary for Scrabble. You can see it in the picture above, still in it's original packaging. I can't wait to open it during New Year's Eve for a traditional Scrabble game with my family.

MAGAZINES

Over the last few months, I've purchased every conceivable US and Local publication that has a Twilight feature on it or it's two stars (Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson) on the cover. Here are the magazines I've purchased:

Entertainment Weekly (July 18, November 14 3-Cover Special, November 21, December 5, December 19, December 26)
Vanity Fair (August 2008 and December 2008)
InStyle Magazine (December 2008)
Rolling Stone (December 11, 2008)
Teen Magazine (Winter Edition 2008)
Teen Vogue (December 2008)
People Magazine's Sexiest Men Alive edition
Ok! Magazine Philippines
Fudge Magazine (I got a free Twilight poster with this! Teehee!)
Candy Magazine

CDs & DVDs

This is perhaps one of my few hauls that's not Twilight-dominated, and least numbered I guess. Hahaha. With the advent of digital downloads, I hardly buy these anymore. The only reason why I still buy them is because of the special features. I love Gag/Blooper Reels in DVDs and extra stuff in audio CDs.

Twilight The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack CD (Must-play tracks here are Mute Math's Spotlight, Paramore's Decode, Muse's Supermassive Black Hole and Iron & Wine's Flightless Bird, American Mouth.)
Twilight The Score CD
Up Dharma Down's Fragmented CD
Up Dharma Down's Bipolar CD
The Kills' Midnight Boom CD
Kung Fu Panda DVD
Ratatouille DVD
The Prince & Me DVD
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End DVD

GIRL STUFF & OTHERS

Last on my haul list are a few girl items, a Twilight-inspired messenger bag and a Twilight 2009 Calendar.

After having my nails done in Menage Salon Gateway, I discovered a neat-colored nail polish: The Face Shop's RD303 nail color. I fell in love with it's dark red tint that I bought that shade in their BHS branch along with a nail remover and a clear polish to go along with it. Now, I bring it along when I have my nails done with my regular manicurist. I also bought a couple pairs of shoes: a pair of black open-toed heels and a pair of black & white patent ballet flats.

I wouldn't end this post without something Twilight-related again, would I? In the picture above, I also bought a Twilight-inspired messenger bag in the color of Alice's Porsche (wee!) and a 2009 calendar exclusive to Borders. I love the quote on the messenger bag: only a vampire can love you forever. From now on, it'll be my official bag during local Twilight-related happenings.

Whew, that was a long one! Hope you enjoyed the post. Here's to 2009 and plenty more hauls ahead!

c,')

xoxo, l.p.

Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire

2008-12-25T01:25:00.003+08:00

The moment I hum or sing this song out of the blue immediately signifies that the Christmas spirit has descended upon me. Of all the numerous carols out there, this has got to be my all-time favorite because of its simplicity and warm vibe to it. Although the lyrics depict Christmas on the other side of the world, it never fails to elicit happy feelings from me. So, instead of trying to compose my Christmas greetings for you readers and fellow bloggers, I'd rather you imagine me singing this song from the heart and in tune as my long-time friends can attest.

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire
Jack Frost nipping on your nose
Yuletide carols being sung by a choir
And folks dressed up like Eskimos

Everybody knows a turkey and some mistletoe
Help to make the season bright
Tiny tots with their eyes all aglow
Will find it hard to sleep tonight

They know that Santa's on his way
He's loaded lots of toys and goodies on his sleigh
And every mother's child is going to spy
To see if reindeers really know how to fly

And so I'm offering this simple phrase
To kids from one to ninety-two
Although it's been said many times, many ways
Merry Christmas to you!

c,')

xoxo, l.p.

Sixteen Days Of Bliss

2008-12-21T11:16:00.002+08:00

In my haste to blog about my night in the taxi-foresaken place last Friday, I forgot that one of the reasons where I should probably be busting out of my seat in glee then is that it also marks my last day in my beautiful work cube. Yes, I love my work cube but I was also gearing for those sixteen days of being trapped inside my clutter-filled room. I'm staring at the endless shopping bags containing unread books and other what-nots, which reminds me that I owe a good friend several helpings of haul posts to illustrate how ridiculous the last few months have been for me on the wallet front. Some of these sixteen days will be purging days: clearing out old bills, brochures and papers that can be sold in a junkshop. Some will be devoted to reading; some to continue writing my fiction.

I kicked off my first day with a party with a group of fifty-something Twilighters. It was a fun afternoon of games, raffles and new faces. There were a couple of hitches with the venue but nonetheless, happy faces of new friends were enough to keep everyone going. I had a quirky fan moment when I met a resident and uber-funny/smart blogger in the Pinoy Twilight universe. I got my new set of merchadise from the US and a new wave of pins to add to my growing collection. First batch, whew. I can't wait until January arrives. I capped it by eating a belgian waffle ice-cream dessert with four friends while musing about the party highlights and trading downloads.

Now, I'm home-bound at least until tomorrow. Thus, I can't wait to start cleaning up so that my reading and writing days (blogging included, of course) will commence. I'm busting out on my bed in excitement for what the rest of my sixteen days shall bring. Posting this blog alone is enough to make me terribly giddy about the days to come.

c,')

xoxo, l.p.

New Nails, WiFi And Taxi Woes

2008-12-19T23:31:00.003+08:00

Okay. So I kind of need to do this Twit-like blog since I've passed so much time already in CBTL Boni High Street. I've done abolutely everything to keep me occupied: browse my regular sites, drink my fave ice-blended drink, stare at my newly-painted blood red nails, pick-up the package from a good friend in Fully Booked... However, I'm trapped. Of all the days I could think of to do these things is on the last weekend before December 25 hits. I'm having a Scrooge moment here since I lucked out on getting a taxi at 10:30 p.m. which is unbelievable by my standards. Now, I feel for my 'rents who are now stuck in C5 just to fetch me from this suddenly taxi-foresaken place. The only thing that keeps me occupied now is a fellow Twilighter who came from the US to spend Christmas in the country while staring every so often at my mobile phone to see if my 'rents are close already enough for me to log out and walk towards my designated waiting area. Good thing my laptop battery is still pretty much in good shape.

But for some inexplicable reason I kind of feel giddy doing this -- like I'm a novelist or screenwriter who just passed time inside a coffee shop while waiting for an inspiration to come through. If only to close my day at that thought, it'll be perfect. Well, sans the lack of taxis and my 'rents in traffic. I get to live a fantasy that I thought I can't do even for just one teensy hour.

c,')

xoxo, l.p.

Eight Days, Eight Tickets, One Movie

2008-12-12T22:04:00.016+08:00

I've been holding off my thoughts about one of my most anticipated movies of the year, mainly for two reasons. First, I could hardly contain my excitement about it. And lastly, I want to be able to wear off the effects of the movie on me enough to provide an objective view about it. Part of the challenges in reviewing a book-to-movie adaptation is assuming a point-of-view that rightly deserves it. For many occasions, I was able to treat the movie separate from the books and enjoyed it. However, for some inexplicable reason, this didn't apply. Never have I felt so personally invested in a movie that somehow merely becoming a plain movie critic couldn't encapsulate my sentiments about it. For the first time, I feel compelled to bring in my thoughts as a fan of the books as well. And maybe, it'll be a good thing... I think.

[Cue in Full Moon by The Black Ghosts. LOL. Sorry, couldn't resist including this bit.]

Okay, by now you're probably going to ask me if indeed, I watched Twilight eight times. Yeah, I did and I'm proud to say that. After screening it for the first time (much thanks goes to my Totally Cool Pals), I never got tired of it, so much that I wanted to experience the movie in as many ways as possible. How? I did say eight right? Well, here's how it went down:

I watched it in an advanced screening reminiscent of the LA Premiere aura (Day 1);
I watched it with a heterogeneous crowd of office mates on regular film format (Day 2);
I watched it alone, laying comfortably in a La-Z Boy chair with a generous helping of popcorn and drinks (Day 3);
I watched it during my first ever visit to the newest addition to the Ayala chain of malls up north with a handful of Pinoy Twilighters, one of which I successfully convinced to mentally close her ears in one pivotal scene (Day 4);
I watched it in digital format with my movie buff friends who treated me to the best seat in the house where we all literally fell for Edward, err... Rob (Day 5);
I watched it in digital format again, but alone this time because I couldn't believe that it took me that long to fall for Edward, err... Rob (Day 6);
I watched it with three of my Totally Cool Pals in digital format wherein one of us screened it for the first time and we both gave the same apple rating (Day 7); and
I watched it with another Totally Cool Pal in digital format who was supposed to join the day before but got sick (Day 8).

It's been 3-4 days since my last screening and my excitement for the movie has worn off a bit enough to lay down this review. During my first screening, I was asked if I were to rate it out of 10 apples where 10 is the highest, what would it be? I gave the movie 7.5 out of 10 apples, which is a passing rate in my book. This despite constantly nitpicking during the entire movie (so sorry, CdL, since you were getting the brunt of my side comments while we were exposed to cute squeals behind us).

Why 7.5? Well, it was a good adaptation, I think even a faithful one. Operative word: good. It retained most of the key plots of the book, as Melissa Rosenberg (MR) said, a condensed version of it. Adapting a 500-page novel, especially one with a built-in and highly expectant fan base, is no easy chore. I liked that MR and Catherine Hardwicke (CH) exercised some liberties to make the movie as palpable to non-readers. This became apparent when I screened the movie for the second time as they couldn't stop talking about how good/great the movie was despite their lack of knowledge of the series. My barometer: they didn't squee when Stephenie Meyer, the author, appeared on screen.

The most notable one for me was bringing in the Nomad threat earlier, when in the book, they appeared towards the last few chapters. Another notable but successful deviation was bringing in Victoria (excellently played by Rachelle Lefevre - she gets 10 apples in my book) during the prom to suggest a looming danger to Edward and Bella, which created that LOTR effect among non-book readers. I have heard a lot of people say "bitin" once the credits rolled thus, making that deviation effective. Some minor deviations like the gadgets used by Bella (Mac book, iPod, Nokia cellphone), the Volvo C30 (which became the surprise, scene-stealing star in all of the 4 minutes it appeared), the tres chic Nike house as the Cullen mansion, and the Cullen's Crest (nice one CH, nice one) contributed to the visual feel of it. The action sequences were very visceral; I was flinching a lot during the confrontation in the ballet studio especially when I watched it in digital format. I think the right actors were beautifully matched to their characters. I could see and feel CH's signature in the movie. My love grew with every single screening. However, I did rate the movie with a 7.5 and that may leave you to wonder what's the 2.5 for me, which didn't change even after eight screenings.

The major issues I had with the movie can be found in two key scenes. First is when Edward saves Bella from being crushed by Tyler's van. The image above is from that scene. My issue is that they didn't use any F/X to illustrate Edward's vampire speed when he leaped over Bella's truck. They used it generously in other scenes (i.e. Edward opening Bella's door when she first visited the Cullen's mansion), why not in this one? I mean, any human with a 20/20 eyesight, like me, wouldn't miss Edward's human-style leap-frogging. Unless he had Hiro Nakamura's or Piper Halliwell's time-bending powers that I didn't know of, that bit made the scene all wrong for me.

The second is the fact the neither Edward nor Bella say the words "I love you" to each other in the entire movie. Sure, there were many scenes illustrating that their love grew over time. I didn't even mind that they glossed over the thick dialogues in the book for more subdued yet suggestive scenes and indirectly-phrased declarations ("I only dream of being with you forever."). Shoot the hopeless romatic in me but there's nothing more wonderful than hearing those three little words to seal it all in. Stephenie Meyer never found it corny to say "I love you", is it corny now for typical American teens to say it? Well, to quote Iris Simpkins, "I like corny. I'm looking for corny in my life." Saying "I love you" might be corny for some but sure is hell not for me.

Other minor faux pas, which can be found in Twilight's movie pages in IMDB.com and MovieMistakes.com, took a piece of the 2.5 but among the endless sites that pointed out what lacked in the movie, only the one posted by ReelzChannel.com got my earnest agreement and a big "Hell, yeah!" after I completed reading their list. I differ on their number 4 and 6 though since I did like the subtleties of its presentation in the movie. But, that's just me.

However, I don't want to end my thoughts on a sour note. I haven't shared my favorite scenes in the movie. These moments left me wishing that I have Michael Newman's remote control in the theater if only to replay them over and over again.

Edward and Bella coming in Forks High School officially as a couple. This takes the number one spot for me. Simply because I've guessed and secretly hoped that Mute Math's Spotlight would be the background music for this bit way before the movie was released. And boy did CH make my hopes come true! I liked the fact that Rob had that James Dean aura while trying to share what their schoolmates thought about them and Kristen being conscious in the process.

The vampire baseball. Perfect, perfect, perfect! Muse's Supermassive Black Hole was spot on for this. My love for Jasper Hale/Jackson Rathbone increased ten-fold. I mean how cool can he get with the baseball bat... LOVE! And Alice Cullen's/Ashley Green's graceful ballerina form as she pitches, I'm impressed. Total JackAsh-er! Hahaha. Rob and Kellan's reactions after falling from their mid-air body slam was heartwarming and adorable. The bonding off-camera was very apparent as this is the only scene where majority of principal cast members were together. Imaging shoot that in Portland's highly unpredictable weather.

Edward and Bella talking in the restaurant after the Port Angeles incident. I read in one of the many behind-the-scenes articles that Rob Pattinson stopped the shooting which concerned CH and decided to pull him away for a short talk. He admitted to feeling that he was falling for her (whether he refers to the character or the actress playing it, I'll never know). CH said to Rob, "then fall." And I felt that on screen when Rob as Edward said "I don't have the strength to stay away from you anymore." Neither do I Rob, neither do I. Just enough to yearn saying the line "then don't" back at you. *sigh*

Charlie, Renee, Billy and the Volvo. All the scenes that featured those four characters are repeat-worthy for me. Yes, I consider the Volvo as a character. Charlie flicking his shotgun -- major flashbacks to traditional Pinoy flicks with meet-the-dad sequences. Renee asking if Bella was being safe. Billy being "down with the kids." And the Volvo in full drift mode, if that's not a solid advert I don't know what else is. I want to have that car, or Alice's Porsche Turbo. In yellow, of course. But red for the Volvo. Personal reasons. =]

The prom. Much thanks to Kristen Stewart, Iron & Wine's Flightless Bird, American Mouth is now a solid contender for the most played track in my mobile phone. I am in love with that song and coupled with that scene speaks romance in volumes.

The montage before Bella woke up in the hospital. If only to hear Let Me Sign by Rob Pattinson.

The B/W end credits. Very CH. Radiohead's 15 Step is another most played track contender. It was also apparent that there were tons of footage that didn't make for the final cut but was used creatively. The headshots/profiles used for the Cullen men (Carlisle, Edward, Emmett and Jasper) were all gorgeous and pause-worthy if only to stare at it for as long as you want.

The kiss. I don't need to elaborate on this. I'm going to my happy place as I remember it in my head. *sigh*

Whew, that's some lengthy review. And that sounds like a haiku. LOL. I cannot wait until the DVD comes out and replay the movie over and over again like any true-blue Twilighter.

c,')

xoxo, l.p.

Letting Go For A Dream Fulfilled

2008-12-07T22:22:00.013+08:00

au revoir! à la prochaine fois!
joyeux noël! bonne année!

Those where the last sets of French phrases that I've heard from Clement and my classmates. December 6 marked the last day of my French class for 2008. We'll be resuming our classes in January next year. By then, I would've enjoyed my upcoming 16-day vacation wherein I'll surrender to my ever-growing pile of unread books and do some more writing. I have tons of things to blog about - movie reviews and hauls, just to name a few - but somehow, it'll feel inappropriate if I didn't blog about someone that mattered to me who I happily yet sadly surrendered to a dream that was fulfilled also on December 6.

When I got her text message saying that it was her last night in the Philippines, I felt sad. We've been friends since 2001. She, along with two other ladies, were as close as we could get. Our bond was forged by our love for training and our animosity towards one of our teammates. Then came issues of the heart and home. I was the lone single person and the youngest among the four of us. I was also the last to leave the company by 2004. Since then, we became witnesses to each other's life stories -- weddings to childbirths, new jobs and credit woes, getting bigger or slimmer -- sometimes silently, sometimes actively. The last time the four of us met was in January and we ate in our favorite restaurant. By that time, my brood of pseudo nephews and nieces grew by a fold. However, what didn't change is that I was still single but they were happy for me. Despite our apparent differences, we jelled together. And by now, one of us has already arrived in the United States to be with her husband. It was a dream of hers for as long as I could remember. I'm happy for her. But how do you say goodbye without shedding a tear or two? Trying to put on a brave face when, in fact, you absolutely feel sad?

I am in tears while I'm writing this because I'm terribly missing her. Everything about her. The last time I saw her was when we ate lunch with both of our mothers and her daughters last September. Since then, she spent her last few months in the country in her hometown of Olongapo. I got her farewell text message last December 5 and hit me hard enough since I know I'll never see her again unless I decide to pay her a visit which only God knows when.

Somehow, I'm glad that I didn't get to say goodbye to her in person or over the phone before she left because I know she'll be depressed to see/hear me in tears. Same goes for our other two friends if they see me this way, simply because I don't hold the cry-baby torch among the four of us. The one who left bore that torch. Perhaps, the three of us who remain here will pass it amongst ourselves, just to keep it lit.

Time can only tell what this milestone will do to our friendship. Hopefully, it'll be stronger across the distance. For now, all I can just do is to let go.

c,')

xoxo, l.p.

Five Months Past, Still Fun To Watch

2008-11-10T22:53:00.003+08:00

With all the hype surrounding the release of Twilight, I was looking back at one of the videos I've ripped off when I noticed an update on one of the sites I frequent for the latest tidbits about the movie. That site is MTV.com. Known to most Twilighters for its Twilight Tuesdays segment and Twilight Dad Larry Carroll, it also featured one lucky fan named Laura Culpepper who became an intern/correspondent that covered some segments as part of the MTV Movie Awards pre-show activities last June 2008. Her conversation with Robert Pattinson (yes, conversation; their interaction doesn't feel like an interview to me) is by far my favorite among the slew of press releases as it was candid, funny and heart-warming in spots. So imagine my surprise when they got to bring her back to talk to Robert again, and the interaction is just priceless. I feel that they've somehow managed to "imprint" on each other as they act more like close friends. To think, it has been more than five months since their first meeting. I'll be showing the before and after interviews of the guest blogger/intern. Two notable differences: the hair and the seating arrangements. Enjoy the videos! Credit goes to MTV.com.

First Interview (Posted June 1, 2008)

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

Latest Interview (Posted November 10, 2008)

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

I know a million girls would trade for her spot (including me, of course). However, I've got to give props to her because she handled herself and both interviews well. Even during the Movie Awards coverage. She's obviously a fan but I never saw her flip, gawk or stammer. She laughs nervously at times, but who wouldn't be? Her questioning skills may not be Pulitzer-worthy but she's able to draw out things from Robert Pattinson that I think no one else does. And that in itself is a gift. For Laura, it's an experience of a lifetime. I hope she gets to do more of these kinds of interactions with Robert Pattinson in the future, once (and hopefully) Summit formally greenlights on the sequels. Now that's a progression I'm looking forward to seeing.

c,')

xoxo, l.p.

Sixty Pages And Counting

2008-11-02T16:54:00.004+08:00

I was debating whether or not I should do this. But you only get to live once and I've promised a couple of people that I'll post a portion of it. Doing this is like free fall for me. I'm anxious about it but I'm equally curious to see how my writing fares.

For a long time, the things that I wrote were mostly poems and some short stories. Lately, however, I've been dabbling on fiction writing. I never realized how invigorating the experience feels. To date, only one person has seen what I've written so far and she's badgering me to finish it. I don't know why. I will not share my tale as to how and when this came to me. At least for now. Although I hope that someday I get to finish this tale and eventually have it published.

Selecting what to publish here was challenging as there are so many ways you can go to preview a story. I have a couple of titles that I'm playing with but I'm not comfortable using any of it yet. Well, without further ado, here goes my free fall dive. I promised only a portion but do tell me what you think. Enjoy.

To anyone’s eyes, it would seem like an ordinary day in the National Statistics Office due to the long cues of people. It would have looked terrible but already, ten million customers were served as seen from the overhead display that updated real-time for every completed transaction. The only time you realize that there was a difference is when you see how they were getting the information they needed. Everyone was holding a slim, translucent plastic half the size of a typical credit card. Each individual went inside one of over a thousand booths set-up on the floor to update their info. Usually, this process can be done in the comforts of their home. However, with the announcement of a minor glitch in their system, everyone was prompted by the government to renew as a precaution. Compliance was a must.

I took a quick glance at one guy who was reading today’s paper on his ultra-lightweight, tablet PC. He moved his hand over the screen as if to turn to another page. I saw the three-dimensional hologram flip over enough to catch the date before it disappeared from sight. January 1, 2108.

I got wary of the date. It felt like lead to me. I didn’t come to renew my information although I had the same plastic in my hands, a futile attempt to blend in. The whole process was unnecessary for me. I walked further past the renewal booths until I found what I was looking for: the archives section. Although I already knew the answer to what I was going to do, I still went in to satisfy my curiosity and my longing.

I sat on one of the inquiry tables inside, located a few feet from the door. The section didn’t get a lot of guests so Gio, the attending clerk, sat straight up the moment I took a seat across his table.

“Good morning, ma’am! How can I be of service today?” He asked.

“I’m looking for some information about a person.” I replied.

“Sure. Give me five seconds to draw up the system for you.” Gio straightened up his seat and moved his right hand, palm facing the 29-inch slim monitor perched upon his clean, wire-free, black fiberglass table.

“Ok, it’s up. Name?” He asked.

“Elysse d’Loire Austria.” I said, feeling strange saying my old name aloud. It has been a while since I used or been called that name.

“Date of birth?”

“Um… May 21, 1977.” Saying it felt even stranger.

“Parents?”

“George Francisco Austria and Elaine Martinique d’Loire.” I said almost sadly.

Gio waited patiently as the computer drew up the search. He didn’t type over his paper-thin keyboard. The voice encryption feature of the system picked up on his questions and the details I mentioned. I could see a frown forming on his forehead 15 seconds after I uttered my parents’ names. He maneuvered his hand across the screen, as if he was flipping cue cards. I knew that he was quickly reading page after page of results. Pages of an old life.

“Hmmm… This is strange… There is a George Francisco Austria and an Elaine Martinique d’Loire in our database but no Elysse d’Loire Austria.” Gio moved his fingers on the screen, flipping on everything his research turned up on.

“Are you sure?” I asked in a rhetorical fashion.

“Wait, let me look at it again. Nope, no Elysse d’Loire Austria.”

“But they do have children right?” I probed further.

“Yes, six of them. Eldest is Orly, followed by Roanne who became a Martinez after marriage, Vernon, Leon, Madeleine who became Agustin after marriage and Louis, the Nobel Prize scientist. Wow, this is a very prominent family you’re researching! Rich as rich could get, and unbelievably talented. Often looked at as part of Filipino royalty. The parents died around 2020s and all of their six kids died during the 2060-2070s. The next two generations are still alive as far as the research can tell and are leading quite the privileged and philanthropic lifestyle. Any relation of the person you mentioned to them?”

At the very moment, I wanted to say yes. I stopped myself from doing so despite feeling a hollow pain beneath my ribs.

“No relation.” I replied.

“Ok. Do you have a chip with you so I can upload the data?” He asked.

“No, it’s okay. That won’t be necessary.” I said.

Gio looked almost frustrated, as if his efforts were lead to waste, but his better judgment of me allowed him to say otherwise. “Alright then. Is that all?”

“Yes, Gio. Thank you!”

“You’re welcome, ma’am!”

I slipped through the doors faster than how I went in. Whether or not Gio noticed, I didn’t really care enough to the point that I didn’t see someone who nearly blocked my path, her cherubic face crinkled in disgust and frustration.

“Gem, you shouldn’t leave me like that… You’re supposed to be training me, remember?” She scowled.

Normally, I would’ve scolded such kind of behavior as she was nearly shouting. But no one really noticed or heard it, simply because no one could see us anymore. We both disappeared into thin air the moment we crossed paths.

“Sorry, Lexi.” It was all I could say at the moment.

“Don’t mess with me, Gem.”

I merely breathed a sigh to answer her.

“Hey, are you alright? Looks like you’ve seen a ghost.” Lexi inquired curiosity raging in her eyes.

“No, I’m okay. So where were we?” I replied, quickly dismissing my thoughts.

“My training. We’re supposed do be doing something simple today?” Lexi asked.

“Right. So have you seen what you need to do?” I asked.

“Yes, and she’s about to leave now. If I don’t get there in time, the fate of a future president will be in jeopardy.” Lexi said anxiously.

“No need to worry. You have plenty of time to do what you need to do.” I replied.

The both of us went out of the building. We re-appeared from thin air without so much as being noticed by anyone who was within the same area. Lexi saw her target and waited for the right cue. I stopped to wait from a distance as Lexi swiftly moved to pick-up the woman’s wallet just before she was about to sit on the passenger seat of her 4X4 hydrogen-powered SUV.

“Ma’am, you dropped your wallet.” Lexi mentioned.

“Oh, thank you, sweetheart!” The lady said, obviously in a hurry to board her car. However, Lexi was persistent. Good, I thought.

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t help but recognize you. Are you Monique Aguinaldo?” Lexi asked.

The woman looked flustered at the recognition and immediately placed her hand on her growing tummy. Ah, the future president, I mused.

“Have we met?” Monique politely replied.

“No, but I do recognize you. You’re much beautiful in person than in Tatler.” Lexi started to work on a chit-chat with the woman who was obviously getting irritated by the second.

“Patience Lexi.” I communicated to her in my thoughts.

“I know, Gem. You taught me well. It’s about time.” Lexi replied without turning her head towards me, while she continued her chit-chat with Monique.

All of a sudden, a flurry of commotion happened outside. Every single person were screaming for their lives as I heard a loud blast. Within that same moment, Lexi swiftly tucked Monique in the passenger seat, closed the door and glided back towards me. A broken bus door came through the air and landed on the ground where Monique stood nearly seconds before Lexi safely put her inside her SUV. The commotion didn’t stop and we disappeared again from everyone’s sight.

Both of us didn’t wait long enough to see Monique asking her driver to roll the vehicle forward in order to thank Lexi. We just moved outside to appraise the wreckage. Lexi saved one life in exchange for a hundred people who died and several who were injured by a bus that lost control along East Avenue in Quezon City.

“Hmm… That was cool. I don’t feel a thing now unlike the first.” Lexi declared while she was creating two small hurricanes with whispers of her breath and placed them underneath her feet for her to float.

I wish I could’ve reacted otherwise but after a hundred years of doing it, the deaths grew numb on me. I stretched my shoulders until a pair of feathered white wings twice my size appeared effortlessly on my back.

“It’s time to let the souls pass, Lexi. Watch me so you can see how it’s done. You missed this on your first try.”

I flew towards the middle of the wreckage. Fires were still eating up the bus but I hardly notice or felt anything. Not that I could, really, since I was never bound to this material world. I went in the middle of a growing crowd of luminous souls, those who died or about to but were ready to pass on. Using my right index finger, I drew an invisible line in the air and a stairway opened in front of me. Each of the souls ascended through the stairway where Peter and Judas were waiting for them to do the sorting. As the last of the souls ascended the stairway, I blew on the door and it closed immediately but not before Peter offered a kind smile and Judas winked at me. Lexi laughed. I pretended not to notice.

c,')

xoxo, l.p.