On fandom in general

Kinda TL;DR but I have to get this off of my mind.

Hello.

I am back. /epic flailing

Actually, I have been up and about (in case this, this and most recently, this weren't sure signs of me still living a life). It's just that with the forced hiatus (due to stupidity on my part), plus life for the past two and a half months flew by at breakneck pace that it was impossible to have done a decent blog. Nope. Nu uh.

So, this will be like a monster posts of sorts, just to tie in the past two and a half months to the present.

Here goes everything.

"And so it goes with God."

I was finally able to finish Life of Pi last week, and I must say that unless another book of this caliber ends up on my shelf (whether part of the loot of the upcoming MIBF or after), this will be my favorite book for the year. I was in tears when it ended.

The title of this blog post came from that part where I lost all composure. I don't want to spoil anything, but that answer made sense of the impossible, of the incomprehensible.

My copy of this book came with a reading group guide, and one of the questions was this: How does it (the last few lines of the story) relate to the claim that this is a story "that will make you believe in God?" My answer to this is quite simple - this book will make you believe in God because it is an impossible story, and God is a God who makes all things possible.

One thing common about the religions dabbled upon in this book is that each of them had its own story, and with these, they brought to the table its own unique traits. Hinduism was about continuity and connectedness. Islam was all about brotherhood and devotion. Christianity was about love and undeserved grace. All of these elements were touched upon in this book, and in my perspective, did not give one preference over the other.

For me, that was the beauty of Life of Pi. It wasn't a "religious" book, for what I saw was a guy who got stranded on a boat with a tiger, a hyena, a zebra, and an orangutan (plus some rats and cockroaches) who knew well enough that he wouldn't survive the ordeal. But instead of giving up, he surrendered his life to a Higher Being, and made use of everything in his surroundings in order to survive. What was put on a pedestal here wasn't the religion, but rather, the relationship that person had with God. And in the end, it was never about religion. It was all about the relationship.

This was a story of faith - that even if it's the size of a mustard seed, we could command the Bengal tigers of our lives into submission. This was a story of waiting on God, knowing that what had been promised will come to pass; a story of expectation - that we could have such wild hope over something that was unseen. This was a story of love - that we could love an unseen, and yet true God, who loves and cares for us more than what we deserve.

I SUPER TO THE DUPER HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK. =D Oh, and even better, the movie comes out this year. =D

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I watched The Phantom of The Opera last Saturday. And like with Life of Pi, I CRIED.

It was AWESOME. The only coherent thing I can say about it now is that it's worth every centavo. Just GO AND BUY YOUR TICKET, and don't fret over the price, because it won't disappoint.

My favorite part, as I have already raved on FB, was when "The Phantom of the Opera" was sung. It was EPIC - stage design, vocals, acting, the orchestra (HNNNG THE ORCHESTRA) - everything. When the song ended, I wiped my tears and let go of the railings from which I've been holding on to furiously. 

I wonder though why I didn't cry in the finale. The people whom I've talked to who have watched this told me that that part got to them so bad. Apparently, another part got me. XD

I truly hope this won't be my last Broadway show. When Les Miz comes here, I will DEFINITELY WATCH, being my namesake is there. =D

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Here are some other awesome things that happened since I last posted:

• The Project Wendy photoshoot happened. If you're in the Tom Hiddleston fandom, you'd know what this was for. We had so much fun. Personally, I've never been more proud of the photos I've taken with this shoot. I also finally got to go to Paco Park (being the Rizal fangirl that I am, it would be an absolute TRAVESTY if I didn't set foot here), which was OSAM. 
•  THRANDUIL ELVENKING WAS FINALLY REVEALED. I was a mess last Friday. I was weeping (sincerely!) from all of the emotions. Lee Pace looked so bad-ass and ethereal at the same time. Just. HNNNNNG. He will definitely be something to look forward to in this super extended movie version of The Hobbit. I wonder though, if Thranduil will be on all three movies. Hmmmmm...
• Finals for me will officially end tomorrow with our presentation for E-marketing. I'm preparing myself, in case we have to dance GANGNAM STYLE to get the attention of our panel. I hope that this won't push through (LIKE HECK YES PLEASE SANA NGA)
• I've been writing my book. =D
• I'm on leave from stage ministry.

And...that's pretty much it! 

"I want to stay single and let my hair flow in the wind as I ride through the glen, firing arrows into the sunset!"

I was FINALLY able to watch Brave last night. With company. (You win at life, EK. Slow clap for you.)

This is my favorite movie this year, after The Avengers. However, I must admit that I was kind of misled into believing that this movie was an adventure of a warrior princess that was of epic proportions, and that the theme of the movie is to create your own "Brave" story. For me, it was hardly that, but something more raw.

On rainy days and Hollow Crown feelings

Ang saya-saya talaga kung umuulan, diba? (I'm not being sarcastic here.) Okay, di bali nang baha sa paligid mo, di bali nang hindi ka makakalabas ng bahay kasi baka hindi ka makabalik (o hindi ka rin makakarating sa pupuntahan mo). Basta ang importante ay nasa bahay ka kung umuulan.  Sapat na ang lahat. 

Alam mo kung bakit? Kasi, panay na bukambibig ng tao kung umuulan ay "sana nasa bahay ako ngayon, sana nakahiga ako sa kama ko, sana meron akong champorado (at tuyo)..." Kaya, kung nasa bahay na kayo at umuulan, i-enjoy niyo na lang! Wala nang drama na "OMG hindi ako makakalabas", lalo na kung nung mga araw na may pasok ay nagsasabi kang "sana nasa bahay ako, ang sarap matulog kasi". Tama na ang drama - mag-enjoy ka na lang!

Katulad ko - dapat pupunta ako sa YC, eh dahil baha hanggang tuhod sa Leon Guinto, at malamang mas malalim sa Singalong, eh di nag-ayos na lang ako ng hard drive at nag-marathon ng Lord of the Rings Extended Version! Ang saya, diba? Nakipag-drinking game pa ako sa sarili ko (sa bawat headshot ni Legolas, sumigaw ng "WOOOO!" sabay inom ng hot choco). 

So yeah...masaya ang weekend ko. Saksakan ng saya. Tuwing umuulan at kapiling...ang sarili mo. XD

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Okay. That's enough Tagalog. Hahahaha! Ang sagwa ko talaga mag-Tagalog! Mea culpa. 

I think time spent to write about The Hollow Crown (and all the feelings that have surfaced from watching the same) is time well spent.  So, I shall!

Before I begin, let me just say that prior to watching this, the only Shakespeare play that I seriously studied was A Midsummer Night's Dream from grade school (one of the very few things I'm thankful for when I studied in St. Scho, now that I look back on it); and quite indirectly, Hamlet (cause The Lion King is Hamlet). I'm not going to go all lit-freak on this (cause I'm not going to try to be someone I'm not...lest I embarrass myself!).

Let me begin by saying this: Richard II = Henry V > Henry IV, Part 2 > Henry IV, Part 1.

Yup. Still Alive.

I have been remiss in updating this place. But I haven't been really away, because if you looked hard enough, you'd notice that I have two new static pages above! *points*

• Seen/Written is my humble, short collective of written work, posted in some shape or form online - Seen for photography, Written for prose. 
• Books is my growing list of books that I'm open to lend out (to close friends, initially). I was supposed to put up a book club with this person here (AND I HAVE BEEN REMISS ON THAT AS WELL, I AM SO SORRY) but stuff happened that made us unable to do it. Anyway, in an effort to get something started, I've put up my own list of books for loan. This list is still a work in progress; I'm sure I haven't included everything that I have at home.

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So, what has been happening the past few weeks?

• I've been meeting a lot of new people (if I've met you the past two weeks or so and you're reading this, hi!)
• I'm getting required book readings again, and I'm so delayed with finishing them. Required book readings, by the way, aren't the same with wala lang book readings (Read: stuff I want to read)
• I co-composed and arranged a song (emphasis on co- because there's no way I can do it from the ground up). We have this ongoing workshop-slash-book report thing for Music that required us to make a song. I got the recordings of all the songs through email this week, and yeah...hearing my own voice is sooooo awkward *goosebumps* 
• I got paid to do graphic design work in exchange for books (best payment I ever received aside from cash [duh]).
• I ventured once more into snail mail! I called this Operation Liham. The details of the letter can be found on that link. I can't even remember the last time I sent snail mail. It was probably even before 2000. YEGADS

In class, I'm starting to see my most favorite line of Yu-Gi-Oh! Abridged in an entirely new light. (Read: SCREW THE RULES.) I'm also seeing a very significant shift in my responsibilities at work, and once again, I find myself hardly prepared.

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This Wednesday, when I went to midweek, I was told by two people that they really like the way I sing this particular song. I am really floored when people say nice things about what I do, whether it's with singing or with work, because more often than not, I am harder on myself than most people are.

But, what I find really funny is that there were other people who told me the same thing for the same song. At first, I was thinking, "Teka, nag-usap ba kayo?" Hahahahaha! But, it seemed highly unlikely because the interval between this Wednesday and the last time I got a similar compliment was more than a year. So...yeah, I don't think nag-usap sila. XD

I guess it's because [1] I love the song; [2] I absolutely LOVE Brooke Fraser (read: girl crush); and [3] there are many ways to sing a song, but very few ways to sing it right. I consider #3 to be the most important, because you can have less of #1 and absolutely none of #2, and still do justice to a song - as long as you sing it right.

Truth be told, I remember messing up Hosanna so many times to the point of not wanting to sing that song in public again, so to hear these things out of the blue is so uplifting.

I must be doing something right. It may not be as bad as I think it is. (Applying the temperaments, the melancholic in me has to seriously chill. XD)

And on this note, gusto ko na uli magkaroon ng raket! Nakakapagod din ang work-school-church lagi! Wala bang mga ikakasal diyan? (Bwahahaha tama ba ito? XDDD)

Celebrating freedom, #RP612fic style

For the first time, I celebrated Independence Day by participating in #RP612fic! At first, I thought it was going to be hard, but once I got my first tweet down, everything else fell into place like clockwork (thank you EK for giving me that much needed pep talk. =D).

You can go through my Twitter feed to see all of them (they've all been conveniently hashtagged with #RP612fic). Alternately, I've also compiled everything I've done from close to midnight until tonight through Storify, which you can view here.

I'm so happy that some of the stuff I posted got retweets from respected Twitter accounts (i.e. the halo-halo fic and that one bit about Quiapo Church - both of which have references to Avengers). It let out my inner fangirl, and it was understood. I was trying to make references to other fandoms, like Dragonball or RuroKen, but I couldn't churn out anything I'd want to publish. /sigh 

There will always be next year. I'm definitely going to be part of it again.

Some sites are starting to compile the microfics. I'll be posting below where some of the stuff I've tweeted were included (and I give also my humblest of floorbows to them):

• Katipunan Magazine (The Lasallian in me is delighted with this =D)

Back to school, back to DLSU | Randomness

It's my first week of my second year of grad school! Around this time last year I didn't have a job, I just moved back to Manila, and I wasn't entirely sure how I'd finance my masters without any regular monthly income. It's just mind-blowing how everything just came together. /sigh

By the way, I learned something quite unexpected this week. The Master in Marketing Communications program of DLSU is rated 21st in the world. Akalain mo yun? Having said that, it's pretty obvious that UST  PWNS everyone locally when it comes to graduate degree programs (teehee). 

Anyway... my subjects this term are very interesting. 

Monday class (Copywriting) will be held in Yuchengco Hall. I know my professor quite well...which is, truth be told, a scary circumstance. Scary - in the sense that I know exactly what to expect.

That aside, this class was a shoo-in for enrollment this term. First of all, it's copywriting. If ever I do not get a high grade, at least I'll be doing something that I really love to do. Second, it was something that I really wanted to learn during my undergrad, but it wasn't included in the MMG program. Now...now...oh my stars. Pinch me, I must be dreaming.

Image not mine

My Tuesday class is...wait for it...at the Makati Extension Campus  at RCBC Plaza! All it takes is a 20-minute walk from the office - something I don't really mind doing.

Tuesday is E-Marketing day. The class is a very interesting mix of MBA and MMC. Unang araw pa lang, ang dami ko nang natutunan. I went home with the realization that I need to get an iPad very soon. Hohmaygash.

Oh, and since I've been posting pictures of buildings that are DLSU-related, I'm reminded of something that's kind of important:

From thelasallian.com

After one year, Henry (Sy Hall) is nearly done. I'm sure I'm not the only one who noticed the blue waves on the facade. I know Henry Sy is SM, and SM is primarily blue, but...I certainly wasn't expecting this. At least it has the trademark four pillars that are usually found in a major La Salle building, but truth be told, I was under the impression that this building was supposed to look like a tree.

Anyway, I'm still going to give it the benefit of the doubt, being unfinished still. But the blue wave thing...I wonder how people - especially the older alumni - will react to this.

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Today, I realized again how BAD I am with Tagalog. My mind is automatically wired to Taglish, and my sentence construction patterns are more partial to English than Tagalog (remember: tuwid and baligtad sentences in Tagalog are opposite to English - and I'm surprised that I even remember this!), and if I translate English to Tagalog, I transliterate instead...ugh! It's just so complicated. 

Sorry Gat. Joe. I have failed you. #yunyoneh #gospeltruth 

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I'll end this...errr...really random post (which supposedly was about school, but it went its own course again, as expected) with one of my favorite songs during rainy days. It also happens to be my favorite Kangta song. #HOMGKANGTAWHENISYOURNEXTALBUMBB

Goodbye summer. 

Life ruiners, among other things

Hello people who read this blog.

If you see me this week and you're getting a hint that I want to spend some money, please, for the love of everything holy, stop me. Remind me that I have just paid for my tuition and am still paying for the buy-one-take-one shoes bought last May 1 and for the Phantom ticket bought last April, and couldn't possibly afford to spend my money on a whim. CANNOT. I REPEAT. I CANNOT. 

Usually, I remember that I'm broke not rich (every time I look at my wallet, I am reminded), but it would be good to have a support group. XD

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This has been a great year for book-reading so far. I've read more books than the number of months that have passed this year (HAH!): 

1. 1Q84
2. The Feet of Juan Bacnang
3. To Kill A Mockingbird
4. Solo Flight
5. The Case for Christ
6. A Grief Observed
7. Before Ever After

And on that note, #8 in the list is this:

THE RED NECKLACE! Thank goodness for Fully Booked - they transferred one copy from some branch to the Greenbelt 5 branch just for me to get it. =D The book looks lovely for P335, it even has some of the words printed in red. 

Anyway, I bought this book to go along with the audiobook version that I got last week. I expect that I'll be in that fine point between getting lost in the story and marveling at the awesomeness of Tom Hiddleston voicing all of the characters - that fine point is called life ruination 

Anyway, I haven't read historical European fiction since The Constant Princess, so...yeah. 

HOMGICANTWAITFORHIDDLESTOREADTHISSTORYTOME

Lists

IT'S FRAAAIIIDEEEYYYYY /freakout

I'm in the mood for making a list. So, I shall make one.

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A reading list, that is! Probably this book has got something to do with it. I'm now halfway through Before Ever After by Samantha Sotto, whom I've met last Saturday (the post, in case you missed it).

Romance isn't really my home genre when it comes to books, so you could just imagine me sighing with relief when I found out that this book isn't the typical romance novel. It's fantasy, which is totally in my home court. XD

It's been a good page-turner so far. Getting into the flow of the story was hard for the first few pages though, because I couldn't keep up with the descriptions. I'm like...oh wait, she has diarrhea? When did that happen? and so my eyes scan the page again to see what I missed. I eventually got used to it, and now I'm progressing at a very comfortable pace.

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Oh oh, and I got my first audiobook yesterday - The Red Necklace by Sally Gardner, as narrated by Tom freaking Hiddleston. ALL YOUR ARGUMENTS ARE INVALID. 

In spite of Hiddleston's awesomesauce tulo-laway voice, I still long for the written word. My carnal fangirl tendencies make me concentrate less on the story and more on the voice behind the audio book - which isn't so bad because Hiddleston's voice is like HOMGTHICKDARKCHOCOLATE THAT YOU CAN HAVE AND YOU WON'T GET ANY ALLERGIES. With that being said, I think I'll have to buy the book and read it while listening to the audiobook; otherwise, I'll be lost in the story (and instead be raptured in Hiddleston's voice - whether it may be the girl character or the Scottish one or the Count...bwahahahahahahahaha).

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Dear Weather sages, 

Please make up your minds if it's going to rain or if it's going to be sunny.

Achoo,

JC

Happily ever after - a longer version this time

As promised, I am posting about the Author event that happened yesterday. Of course, I have to repost the epic Samantha Sotto photoset, and along with that my pictures with our other speakers  - Larry Gamboa, RJ Ledesma, Charles Tan, and Grace D. Chong (I had to be the host during the afternoon session. HOST!!!!! /dedz).

I feel really privileged to have organized this event (though it is rather tiring, LOL. By the time the event ended I realized I had a poor excuse of a meal for lunch and had next to nothing for merienda. I would have crashed along Pasay Road if weren't for CBTL.). But being a reader and a writer myself, having to listen to all of these people talk about their author journey is nothing less than inspiring.

About this time last year, I remember that I was seriously contemplating on returning to Manila even if it meant resigning from work and being unemployed. There was so much uncertainty during that time, as well as self-doubt.

But looking back on it now, I realized I didn't have to fret so much. From that very low point last year, I'm now meeting people whom I though I'd never meet in my lifetime, learning new things at a speed that I'm not used to, and taking on responsibilities that I never even thought I'd handle...oh, and did I mention writing a book?! It's all just amazing. It's far from "living a dream", but it's far from half-bad.

And on this note, you've just been Loki'd. #appropriatelokireactiongifisappropriate

RDJ/Opera

Hello, people who read this blog.

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The April 27 event went quite well. There were things that didn't exactly go the way I planned or intended, but overall I'm relieved that it's over.

Like...YOUHAVENOIDEAHOWRELIEVEDIAM relieved. XD

Up next on my pipeline is the author event on May 5. I'm more excited with this event than the one last Friday, but I have a feeling that there is more work for this one than the other.

I also have to buy myself a copy of Before Ever After to get that awesomesauce autograph. XDDD

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Guess what. I HAVE A SOCIAL LIFE. I just have to try harder at it.

I watched The Avengers last Saturday. It was PERFECTION. Everything was awesome and nothing hurt. Though I did initially feel bad that Edward Norton won't be reprising The Hulk, it didn't dampen my expectations for this movie at all. This was also the first movie I watched this year with a group. 

I would like to officially induct RDJ to my list of Papas, along with Johnny Depp and Lolo Ken Watanabe. Because. He is RDJ. 

Oh, and I get to watch it again tomorrow. For free. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. 

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About an hour ago, I bought myself a ticket to this Broadway show coming to this country on August! I got a decent Balcony 1 Center seat on September 1, and I'm not complaining. I need some opera in my system, and I should at least get my butt out to watch one opera in my lifetime. 

The only letdown I see with this is that I don't have anymore money to buy a decent ticket (read: AT LEAST LOWER BOX) for the NKOTBSB concert that - read this - may have Kevin Richardson joining BSB again for good! Then again, I've already watched a BSB concert, and Phantom or the really good Broadway shows don't just come around here often. 

You got to deal with it: The Obligatory Fangirling-about-The-Legend-of-Korra Post

Aang is dead. 

Since last week, I've been spazzing on the awesomeness called The Legend of Korra. Knowing my country, it will be a while before the series reaches our shores, so I took the liberty of seeing the first two episodes for myself.

 I regret nothing.

Randomness

I am really, really tired. I seriously need a day off so I can sleep the sleepiness off. I hate that I didn't have a weekend.

Anyway...

I am SERIOUSLY curious about this. It's a new Saiunkoku Monogatari novel, and from what I'm getting with the little Japanese that I know, the title of this story is somewhere along the lines of Ask/Beg The Skeleton. (I reserve the right to be wrong XD)

Okay. The title as it is doesn't make any sense to me, so I'm betting it is a metaphor of some sorts, or maybe proverbial, since SaiMono uses a lot of proverbs. However, the only skeleton proverb/wisdom I know of is this: "If you can't get rid of the skeleton in your closet, you'd best teach it how to dance."

But the cover - and may I say it is the PRETTIEST SAIMONO NOVEL COVER EVER - doesn't suggest anything that's close to the "skeleton in the closet" proverb. If you ask me, it's about death, or if I may quote Psalm 23, walking through the valley of the shadow of death.

It's been a while since I got this excited for SaiMono. And all it took was a cover.

I'm speculating like heck here. XD I'll stop now.

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On things that I have more knowledge of (haha!) and are capslock-worthy:  BSB IS COMING TO THE PHILIPPINES, and they're not alone, because NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK will be coming with them. Praise the Lourde, NKOTBSB WILL BE COMING HERE! 

My primary concern is, of course, [1] funds and [2] how will I get myself to MOA on a workday. I definitely have to start saving now so I can really good seats. I hope also someone can go with me...I'm not really sure if I can watch a concert by my lonesome. =/ 

I also hope I can get a decent lens to photograph the event. If I'll make do with the 18-55mm of Oberon, I'll have to have a really good seat so I can have good photos. If not, they'll be blurred or just too far away. =( 

Randomness

First movie of the year - Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. IT'S SO DARN GOOD. My only misgivings (which are pretty minor) are the music - I think the first movie was better; and Rachel McAdams getting so little screen time. Other than that, fan-freaking-tastic.

I don't want to give any more details lest I spoil the whole thing.

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So, for work, I was asked to join this mentoring program for aspiring authors. HOW AWESOME IS THAT? I really wanted to freak out when I heard, but being at work, I had to keep my cool and downplay my reaction...but I think I overdid it. ("Hindi po labag sa loob ko," in a really toned-down voice. Imagine that!)

That aside,  I'm really excited about being a student slash-alalay. The sessions start next Tuesday. Being the person managing the program, I still have to prepare the handouts, make reservations, contact the participants, etc. etc., but I find it rather fun that I'll be participating. Last year when I was preparing for this program, I was thinking of how awesome it would be if I could afford to join something like this. Turns out...I could join for free! *epic freakout dance*

More than the dress and the voice

If you know FFVIII well enough, you know what song this is. It's Eyes on Me, the song Julia Heartilly sings to Laguna Loire, and it is also the main theme of FFVIII.

Julia was in love with Laguna, but she was too nervous to tell him anything. Laguna, on the other hand, felt the same way, but was too clumsy to even make a move every time she visited the lounge where Julia plays. 

I've always liked this song, but since it's only known by geeks a few people, not everyone was crazy about it. It also didn't help that during the time it was released, listening to Chinese/Japanese/Korean singers was considered extremely weird (right now it's just weird-ish I think, hahaha!). 

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I could finally strike out my wish to sing this song in public (without discrimination - excluding karaoke gimiks of course!). I was asked by a good great friend of mine in high school to sing this for his wedding. It was to be sung during the wedding march of his dashing bride - a schoolmate during high school. 

Now, singing a wedding march for me is no walk in the park. It's actually in my top 5 hard-to-sing-in-these-situations-list (first are funerals) because you absolutely CANNOT mess up a perfect, once-in-a-lifetime moment. When I'm really nervous, my throat dries up, and so I drink a lot of warm water, which then leads me to puke (all cause-and-effect, really). XD

The song went pretty well (my employers, este, groom and bride loved it). On my part, I wish I  rehearsed the Faye Wong version, because that's what was played and I only knew at the moment I was supposed to sing that's how it will go down. I was in love with the Angela Aki version that I didn't even consider the original. /facepalm /headdesk 

How I wish I had a video of it cause I was being accompanied by an accordion, violin, and flute - apart from piano and guitar! How epic was that?! I don't think I have any pictures of that part too...I guess I was too nervous that I didn't even think of using my camera. /le sigh

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Yesterday was the first day of class. I hope to get a better grade this time around, so I have the guts to take the plunge and take two subjects next term. I don't want to be delayed anymore.

The classroom this time is in Yuchengco, which means colder temps and smaller desks. LS is old and finding your room there is a bit of a challenge, but their big desks make up for all that. 

Did I mention that Yuchengco Hall was my building crush before (when it was new)? Now you know.

Movie time

As (I have) promised (myself) early this year, I watched The Adventures of Tintin today. It was supposed to be yesterday in 3D, but stuff happened. So today, I got to see it but in 2D only. I think the experience would have been complete if it was in 3D.

Anyway, IT WAS AWESOME. Watching this series as a kid and seeing it rendered with such detail (even in 2D the rendering was so beautiful, everyone looked near-human) made the Php180 worth it. Personally, seeing Snowy chew through the rope had nostalgia written all over it.

Now, I'm not really a Tintin purist. Yes, I've read the comics when I was in grade school, but I'm not so much of an addict that I can remember if I read the comics from which this film was adapted (which Wikipedia says is a combination of The Secret of the Unicorn, Red Rackham's Treasure, and The Crab With The Golden Claws). Some say that it didn't stay true to the comics, which is (of course) not really surprising - it's rare that a Hollywood adaptation stayed true to its novel/comic roots anyway.

Having said all of that, being someone who watched this on TV and read some of the comics as a kid, this was such a treat watching on the big screen. I did feel that the Thompson/Thompson slapstick could have used more effort, but everything else was very satisfactorily done. If there's a sequel, I'm definitely watching it. I hope there will be more characters in there, like Professor Calculus.

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The next movie to watch on my list is my favorite Disney movie of all time - in THREE-FREAKING-DEE! The Lion King 3D opens tomorrow! I really want to watch on opening day, but alas, I have commitments. I intend to watch it on Saturday lunchtime (which I can do since finals is over and done with).

I wonder if I'll cry watching Circle of Life, or watching Mufasa die, or the Mufasa-in-the-clouds-saying "Simba, you have forgotten me" - in 3D...gosh, just thinking about it right now makes me want to watch it even more! 

(By the way, when I watched this for the first time as a kid, those were the three scenes where I cried. Not even Finding Nemo came close to this.)

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The last two days have been nice. I go back to work tomorrow. I hope to have more consistent posts this time around. =D

A date with my DSLR, 101011, Kafka

Today, I finally took Oberon out.

It was a working date though.

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Was at Dusit Thani the whole day (from 7 to 7). I haven't been inside Dusit since...2008 (or 2009), so it was nice to be back there again for work. I haven't gone out with a camera for a long time (I blame it on my lack of social life, cause my life basically revolves around work-school-church /le sigh), which was why I was happy that I thought of bringing Oberon along. 

I posted most of my pictures on FB...they're kind of work-related (most of them). I only posted the non-work ones in Tumblr (I haven't uploaded the food pics yet...I may work on editing tomorrow). 

I like the Dusit ballroom. I'm still partial to the Manila Pen ballroom though, but Dusit (plus its food, HOMG) isn't bad at all.

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My favorite Kafka short story thus far is Before The Law. I find it very profound. One should always challenge the status quo, even if you have to face one gatekeeper after the other. 

For me, each gate is an opportunity. Imagine - how would you feel if you've waited for the gate to be opened for you, only to find out near the end of your life that the gate was made only for you, and that no one else but you could be admitted inside, even if you were told by the same gatekeeper that you cannot go in? It's such a waste. It reminded me how much I don't want to live a life of regret.

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This is so late...it wasn't late in Tumblr though, but I feel that I should have given this thing here 360-degree coverage. XD

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AHN CHIL HYUN! Maygasssh you are thirty-freaking-two and still wooing the hearts of young girls (and boys, LAWL).

Birthday wish: a freaking album that has more than just sad ballads (oh God please) and autotune, because honestly, autotune is a disgrace for his voice, plus I am kind of sick and tired of the sad-maglalaslas-na-lang-ako-ng-siko type of songs that he composes. I know that's kind of his signature style of songwriting, but there's got to be more than just that.

Anyway, if he does release new material, that will make me so frigging happy.

The epic First Term Grand Slam

KWATRO.
(with hagod)

When I came in as a grad student in DLSU, I was psyching myself that a 3.0 or 3.5 final grade is "high enough". Since a 2.0 kind of equates to a 1.0 - anything lower than that and you have to retake the subject.

So, imagine my surprise when I opened MLS this morning and saw that BOTH of my subjects got a FOUR POINT ZERO. Tears of joy. Previously unknown [bad] dance moves emerge. Sheer bliss.

The Stat grade was something I wasn't expecting at all. Just last night, I was musing that I will be happy with either a 2.5 or a 3.0, because even if I did really well in my finals (I got a perfect score), I have no idea how midterms went down.

Anyway, this means that I officially have my Friday nights back (WOOHOO!) - I can once again attend Friday practices until December, and I have a (OMGWHUT) 4.0 GPA.

Slap me, this must be a dream.


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In hopes of refreshing my RK quotient, I watched the Rurouni Kenshin movie (―維新志士への鎮魂歌) last night. I always thought it was an awesome movie, primarily because of the Hitokiri Battousai flashbacks that were replayed seven or eight times (hahaha!). 
Hitokiri Battousai's like my husband from another life. HAHAHAHAHA /ehem

Busybody

I should really work on regularly updating this.

Been really busy with everything, basically (haha, that's a nice way to put it). It's finals week in school, plus I'm getting one task after the other in the new job. I'm okay, so far...I just have less bulakbol time (le sigh).

Anyway, onward to the updates!

Had a photoshoot at the SDA Building of DLS-CSB. It was my second time coming here, and shooting there was...well...quite a pleasing experience. There was a lot of natural light, lots of angles, lots of interesting things. The photos will be used for mock-ups for one of my finals.

I realize that there are still a lot of things that I need to learn about photography...like using light effectively, among other things. Everything I know in photography I've learned by observing how people do it; I was only "formally" trained once.

Speaking of finals, I also took my final exam for Stat last Friday. I was the first one to submit (aside from finishing, I was getting really restless, plus my right shoulder hurt so bad that I couldn't continue), and I was told that I passed (which is great, cause you can only either pass or fail). All that sisig-na-ang-utak-ko moments were worth it.

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I was sort of out of the loop this weekend, so you could just imagine my shock when I learned that the new RuroKen anime will only have the Kyoto arc animated, so far. So much for all they hype and the beautiful Newtype spreads (specifically Kenshin/Tomoe, which was the biggest hint the Internet got so far that the Jinchuu arc will be animated). The picture above isn't even enticing me one bit, but I'm going to give Aniplex/Studio DEEN the benefit of the doubt and treat this as a draft, for now.

The only way I could make sense of all the Jinchuu arc hype prior to the above screen grab being published is that the "new" Kyoto arc will serve as the foundation for the animation and, eventually, the showing of the Jinchuu arc. The Kyoto arc is is the pivotal arc of RuroKen, IMO, in the sense that this is the arc wherein Kenshin doesn't have to go all Battousai and stuff to defeat Shishio (prior to that he always had to); aside from that, Jinchuu is the next arc after Kyoto.

Having said my speculations, I cannot deny that I am so disappointed with this announcement. So much for all the "OHMAYGASSSHHHEEEEPIIIIIC" reactions when the Kenshin-Tomoe Newtype spread came up. Whoop dee doo.

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Other things: I have neon green nails, I'm working on character looks for Unforgiven using DreamSelfy (hahaha!) and I may be going to a celebration dinner this Sunday...

I'm crossing my fingers that this won't be the only post that I make this week.