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ALL ANGLES

rasterize, rock, Rothko, rhyme, Rohmer

I've been listening to this guy's folk rock all afternoon, and I don't want to share the music.



But that's selfish.
So I say your next search expression should be
"Patrick Park"
#
but it feels like there's a hundred.

So it's Christmas mode, and the year is coming to an end. Oddly, it feels more like a time of beginnings than endings, and school is featherweight versus everything else attempting to knock me out.

After submitting our month-end progress report to The Esteemed Thesis Adviser, my partner Absie and I realized we've only been less than exceptional and we've to gain more mileage fast. In other words, our thesis is upsettingly floating out and about. To somehow make up for such delinquency, it found its way to several CHED offices to beg for information. It caused much paranoia and some scandal, however, and so we might find our brilliant, researching selves in more government agencies' black lists in the near future.

There are also upcoming big events for my love UNIV in my area of jurisdiction and I've been demanding more stress from the people involved. Welcome to the wonderful world of UNIV, my dears, hard work toward noble goals, it's the life we live.

That and other side stuff I can't wait to kick off. Not to mention, designing for VOX committee and designing for Mom and designing for three other events, period.

I'm also applying for a part time job as a writer. Man, I never thought I would ever call myself that. All this to steer clear of the potential poverty and hunger transition period between graduation and employment next year. This is adult life. Nice to meet you.

BUT! If all else fails, dial Mom. Or be on thine knees. It's better than ice cream. #

--
photo from mimimayhem.multiply.com
The DVD database I've been obsessively keying into every time Dad brings home new titles the past year got corrupted. I couldn't figure out how or why. No back up, no installers whatsoever. That's over half a thousand titles meticulously organized, categorized, named, summarized. It's made in way to resolve common house snags such as a yelling Dad looking for his favorite action flick, some worried younger sisters trying to remember who borrowed their HD copy of Mean Girls and a Mom forgetting titles of every flick she has seen and liked.

Now it's gone, baby. Kaput. And so every weekend from now on, expect our living room to look like this.



True to the fact that "technology creates needs." #
ON HIATUS.



Missing.
Missed.
Playing.
Traveling.
Gaining weight.
Talking endlessly.
Laughing.
Pulling a prank.
Finishing a book.
Learning a language.
Discovering.
Sleeping 8 hours a day.
Contemplating.
Having fun. #

--
photo from mypurpleworld.wordpress.com
pinag-desisyonan niyang mag-lipat ng (network) ng telepono. At 'eto ang reaksyon ng mga tao:

Jen:
Yey! Globe ka na! Mabuhay! Miss you Mimi.
Cecille: Yehess, Mimi, yehesss! Sesendan kita ng bagong promo ng Globe.
Cecille: New from Globe! P20 for 20 mins para sa mahaba-habang tawagan w/ tawag 236!
Dyan: Mimi! Welcome to the wonderful world of Globe!
Bing: Yes dearie, may God bless you!
Janet: Mimi! Mimi! May Globe ka na!!
Kim: Finally! Haha. I'm so happy.
Lianne: Buti naman Globe na si Camille. --Andre
AM: Yey! At least ngayon mate-text na kita.
Riziel: Shux Mimi! Buti naman Globe ka na. Haha!
Laurice: How's your J196? I'm going bonkers with analysis and writing!
Jali: ... (Mimi never receives her messages.)
Elsie: Text UNLITXT20 (for 1 day) or UNLITXT40 (for 2 days) or UNLITXT80 (for 5 days) to 2870.
Ali: Aba, ang lakas na mag-text ah!
JM: Mimi, sa wakas!

At sila ay nabuhay nang masaya kahit kailan pagkatapos. (And they lived happily ever after.)

I don't know what's going to happen in Andy Murray and Simon Gilles' match today. I'm personally rooting for the French. I didn't get to watch Gilles versus Nadal in the semis, but more and more it looks as if Nadal gives away the smaller tournaments. Maybe to reserve his energy for the big ones? I dunno. It's odd.

But lemme just say I'm relieved Nadal and Federer didn't conquer Master's Series in Madrid. Murray and Gilles survived an awful lot of break points to give the game to the reigning seeds. Sad though, it was an opportunity for Federer to regain men's tennis top spot if only he stepped forward in Madrid last night. And I received confirmation this afternoon that the Spaniard will definitely be world #1 for the rest of the year.

Davis Cup finals in November, and maybe I'll finally get to watch the Spanish armada against Argentina (in photo). I don't know but I really feel like I'm supporting Argentina this time. It's their ground, after all, and I'm excited for Juan Martin del Potro, my contemporary. Hehe. Davis Cup is my favorite, being the biggest team event of them all, 'cause there's much love around. Nothing beats team spirit.

If I were to predict, I say Argentina WILL take the singles. Now they have to put together a team for the doubles. #

--
photo from uk.eurosport.yahoo.com
Our boys are back, and I've not been watching.

I saw this today, I've been so happy and all to catch them together again. But I think, since they've grown and looked better, they could have done it without the dancing.

I don't post vids and other media 'cause they just clog up the page, but I really got to do this:



Watch Stephen in the last scene when they're all posing and still. He's had too much Red Bull.

So, to the boys, it's unbelievably hard to love you these days but I love you anyway. #

--
Post dedicated to: CJ, EC and JD. Of course I wouldn't mention your names. I wouldn't want to anyone thinking we're uncool. :P
"You know Mimimayhem? I used to be an avid reader of your blog but you don't update much anymore," a friend told me just this afternoon.

Another agreed. "Oo nga ... Why didn't you give up blogging instead?"

And so! I felt all remorseful, like I've been abandoning my own child, not feeding it, not clothing it, not bringing it to the doc for regular check-ups.

I try, you know, but it doesn't seem to work out as well as before. Because bloggers, too, have to grow up. I mean, two of my friends turned 21 today. I'm going to be one next year. And being 20 is being 20. The larger the number, the more things get involved, the more people share in your life, and so The Blog becomes less as a valued entity.

Still, it's my kid. I have legal and moral custody, therefore I gotta make it good.#
My sisters and I were Stumbling Upon! (TM) some art websites and came into art.com or something. So the prodigies spent maybe 10 minutes each to create their covers of Pablo P, Wassily K and Vincent VG. Let's start from the youngest to the prettiest sib :


Gail's "Sunshine" ala Kandinsky. Or Joan Miro?


Kim's "Starry Starry Night" after Van Gogh's


Mimi's "Drips" inspired by the master, Pablo Picasso. But it really looks more like Matisse.

No, actually we didn't care about famous painters or those blah canons. It's all in the genes, you know. #
I forgot from which website I got this. Please don't accuse me of copyright infringement, okay? Just a forgetful, innocent little girl here.

Some stories in one sentence.



As I dropped my spare change into his cup and heard a splash, I was horrified to realize he was not a homeless person begging for money but just a guy on the corner enjoying his coffee.

I told the eighty-something-year-old man to "Have a nice day", and he told me to "Have a nice life."

An intoxicated man pointed to a car's license plate and said to me "This chinaman is from Iwo Jima" and when I looked at the license plate it said "IOWA."

As a first year science teacher, I realized that parent-teacher interviews formed my best ever lessons in human genetics.

Walking home in the pouring rain was not the best time to discover a hole in my shoe. #
It is shaping up,
thank you.
Mwah mwah.
Chapter 1 and 2
wrapping up.
We love
our topic,
we love you
inefficient government
agencies
for giving us
a reason
to write
and tell
the world
about it.
That
concept paper
should rock.
We rock
too,
because
you wear
us out.
Yeah!
School is awesome.

But what I find awesomest, really? The libraries. The newly-airconditioned College of Arts and Letters has single desks for privacy and a pretty wide collection of literary and academic works in the humanities. My college's Audio-Video library is just spectacular. Its collection of rare but great local and international films is a treasure to behold.

I also discovered Educ lib last time. Gosh, they got age-old titles in there. Happy centennial. Then there's this part of the Main lib upstairs subscribed to international magazines and academic journals on every sort of topic under the sun. Not that I would like to read all of them, but I remember it was there that I first saw and read The New Yorker in paper form. I'm pathetic, I know.

U.P. also has a huge archive of periodicals in microfilm and database format. Although many titles can use some work and updating like some medieval philosophy books, most college libraries have pretty decent collections. Like our CMC lib is the largest communication library in Southeast Asia, I think. Have you seen our references and coffee table books? Hah! Worth stealing. Kidding.

Not to mention there's also a small, pseudo-private library of matchless warmth in Katipunan which I really like. Sorry na lang sa mga hindi nakakalaam.

For the international feel, here are some of the world's most beautiful libraries.


Handelingenkamer Tweede Kamer Der Staten-Generaal Den Haag in Hague, Netherlands.
I copied-pasted that name, you bet.


Library of the Benedictine Monastery in Admont, Austria


Real Gabinete Portugues De Leitura Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. "Possibly the most beautiful library of them all." #

photos and quote courtesy of curiousexpeditions.org
Here it is! 'Di ko tuloy alam kung ano'ng gagamitin kong adverb, "finally" ba or "unfortunately." 'Pag thesis kasi, parang matanda ka na, 'di ba? But it's also like you've gained the right to write down your contribution to the world kunwari.

Ze prof finally approved our topics after I emailed her last week. Take note: topics, with an S. She approved all five of them:
"These are all very good topics. Baka you can give the others that you will not do to your classmates who are having a hard time finding a topic. hehehe."
That's scary. We would've preferred it if she picked maybe two and told us the rest sucks so we'd learn how to choose better topics. But we appreciate it anyway.

My journ subjects are love. LOVE. Not a word below that, no. They're killing me of course, but that doesn't mean I find them unbearable. For the next few weeks, I'm going to have to probe issues of seafarers and rotcee guys in U.P. then work using the Internet longer this semester for my computer-assisted reporting class. Then that unexpectedly fun fun fun ethics class.

I can't get enough of my humanities subjects too. The teachers, the teachers! I can't imagine better ones taking over. I can listen to them all day from dusk till dawn.

Napanood ko ang 400 Blows and Les Enfants du Paradis na. Grabe ka, Truffaut. Grabe ka, Carné. Grabe kayo, French films. You have value beyond what Hollywood-brainwashed people (myself included) imagine you'd have.
I can't believe I've never seen a Hayao Miyazaki animated film. Reading about his works is exhilarating but not enough since I haven't actually seen them. I guess I'm still in love with traditional animation even in this era of CG and Pixar. As the favorite quote of mass communication students goes, "The medium is the message." Cel animation could only be done with love, and appreciated with love. Cel animation is love.

Some say Miyazaki is the Japanese Walt Disney. I don't think so. Miyazaki deserves to be called his own. Miyazaki is Miyazaki. It's another kind of story telling, the kind that goes against the norms. His characters are gray, pointing out the good in the supposed villains, making the the good and the bad live together. He also advocates environmentalism and features anti-war themes. A former Marxist, he says "I stopped seeing things by class, as it's a lie that one is right just because he/she is a laborer."

Some stills:


My Neighbor Totoro (1988)


Princess Mononoke (1997)


Spirited Away (2001)
#

photo credit: Yahoo! Movies
quote: Nausicaa.net


I'm learning Spanish now. I used to not like the language, thinking Latin and Swahili are more awesome. But really, there's no use comparing the languages, they're languages for heckssakes! I unintentionally enrolled in a higher Spanish class in school without taking the basics class, which is a technical and intellectual prerequisite. I think if the authorities learn of this, they will force me to drop so right now it's still a secret. ¡ Salud !

And gosh, sometimes I find myself Freudian slipping out Spanish expressions. It's like an epidemic. I commented on Claire's pink jeans in Creative Writing class right after my Spanish class, "Te quedan bien los pantalones." Which means nothing in my head really, but an intended compliment nonetheless.

---




I love school. Maybe my favorite subject is Film 106, French national cinema. I never knew legendary filmmaker Jean Renior was the son of artist Auguste Renoir! What a surprise. But now that I think about it, it's not surprising. One great artist being the offspring of another great artist just makes a whole lotta sense.

I love my work load. Heavy? Oh yeah. But I just wish it doesn't anymore mess up with my temperament. To make up for it somehow, I made the digital "artwork" above entitled Indonesia. Go figure. ;)

---



Pope Benedict XVI, said to a Vatican audience last June 22:
With great emotion I learned this morning of the ferry that was capsized in the typhoon that has raged in the Philippines. As I assure the people of these islands who have suffered from Typhoon Fengshen of my spiritual nearness, I offer a prayer to the Lord for the victims of this new tragedy at sea in which many children also seem to have been involved.
Let us pray too not only for other people involved and affected. The families, the fisherfolk who depend on those shores for livelihood, for the officials of the liner, for the government and other organizations.

photo credit: bomomo.com, Inquirer.net
I sense a whole new trend in Hollywood posters these days. I guess, with technology, commercial art has also been evolving huh? Sheesh, but why am I telling you this even? It's a given.

There has been a shift towards minimalism, white or open spaces, dominant typography, digital and manipulated photography, rather old school but refreshing illustrations, and best of all, courageous (or risky?) non-depiction of lead stars. If they do get pictured on the poster, they're barely recognizable.

To make the long story short, check out some of the latest Hollywood movie posters around. Notice the trend:



The Coen brothers' Burn After Reading and Sideways lookalike Bottle Shock beat the the long-standing style in poster design. Illustrations and typography! Open spaces! See? No stars' heads!



Photography over celebrity. Here are posters of murder romanticizing Wanted, the non-Eric Bana sequel The Incredible Hulk, and my favorite poster these days Hancock. I don't know about you, but I didn't recognize Angelina, Edward Norton and Will right away.



White spaces and near-minimalism in Beastie Boy Adam Yauch's documentary Gunnin' for that #1 Spot and TV adaption-sequel-sequel-sequel The X-Files: I Want to Believe.

Sana lang the good ol' days of floating heads will be over soon, no! Nakakasawa. Like that downmarket Iron Man poster. Come on! Those guys gotta be more creative than that.
I didn't. This was such a surprise.


"Head with Red Shadow" by pop art master Roy Lichtenstein displayed in Gagosian Gallery, NYC.

credit: nytimes.com
Call me just another critic of "Sex and the City." You'll hate me for this.

For years the show has been running, both female and male fans around the world devoured its episodes and with that, even the values they represent. And what values? Clothes, bags, whirlwind relationships and promiscuity. Sad. There's so much more to a woman than that. In fact, they shouldn't define a woman at all.

And now the movie, one that concludes surrendering to the commitments and maturity Carrie, Charlotte, Samantha and Miranda have eluded from for so long. There's no need to add to Colleen Carroll Campbell's article on the movie adaptation's "fairy tale ending," when three of the four main characters end up happily married after decades of you-know-what.
"For all their pretensions to envelope-pushing, the movie's producers apparently could not improve on the age-old answer to a woman's romantic yearnings: the very ideal of traditional marriage so often disparaged by the series. Even the promiscuous, materialistic fashion plates of 'Sex and the City' ultimately succumb to the desire to direct their erotic energies into something more enduring than one-night stands and shopping sprees. They want, as most women do, the kind of lifelong love that can survive wrinkles and stretch marks and the dowdier duds of old age."
Let's just say it's all effective marketing, with a box office high being reached. But what a market! It's a pity really that women feel they are empowered by a show that depicts a world where estrogen rules while reason is undermined. There's no point, no purpose. The characters are all feelings and emotions and with hardly any mind work.

But then again, some people call it a mere "representation." A representation of a social revolution that has weakened suggestion and valued the explicit. Are there no bounds anymore?

Maybe I'm too young to be picking holes in this film since the critics we hear from are decades older while the young adults don't really have much to say. After all, "Sex and the City" is more tame than how the traditionals think it is, we say. And that's what's miserable. This generation has not only evolved into an attention-deficient, visually-triggered, Googling, digitalized, loosely relativistic group of people, but one whose sensibilities are lowering to a level where almost everything is tolerated.

To end, here's another worthy quote from an article by Kevin Ryan:
Sex in the City has conditioned this generation of women to imitate them by giving sex away, swearing like the Sopranos and wearing freak-show adornments. But it just won’t work. Men use women like that, but they won’t love them.
Art Studies 190 - Aesthetics
Loved that the class has many different, interesting people and depth of art analysis - sarap! Like a big mug of frappuccino.
I honestly didn't read most of the required readings in this class. I didn't think they were worth it, too ideological. To survive, I just listened carefully, reported the topic assigned and submitted the papers. Tapos okay naman. Kitams? Safe and intact pa ko. Sometimes talaga, we don't have to risk it.

Speech 100 - Introduction to Speech Communication
Loved that our prof used a different method of teaching, that is, she didn't teach at all. In a good way, fortunately. I was exposed to social science researches and more communication theories, but this time I loved it. I would rather not have memories of my Comm Theory class which I almost flunked, but Speech 100 made me see the darned theories in a whole new pink light.

Journalism 122 Layout and Design
Loved this class for itself. For heck's sakes, it's layout and design. Two of the most lovable words in the English language. Thanks to the inspiring creations of artist Leonardo Sonnoli, it somehow became my fate. Loved the people too. Nothing like having your beloved friends around, and the Internet at your fingertips in one room, three hours a week.

Photojournalism
Loved that it's so practical and laid back. I enjoyed exerting every effort and finishing every requirement. Although I realized in the end that I don't want to be snapping scenes for a living, it's a timely endeavor. It's easy, which makes it a difficult art, if you think about it.

Journalism 151 Advertising
Loved the class and the people, hated the topics. I don't like advertisements, much less advertising. Feels good that I still pushed through with the course after wavering a bit about continuing. What saved me was the work. It was awesome creating the projects and with different people. It was a team class and everyone felt the support of everyone.

Communication Research 101
Loved that our research group was solid and hardworking, and that our professor was beautiful. It was a lot of hard work but when you have inspiring groupmates and a role model for a teacher, every burden is automatically transformed into something sweet. Naks.

Philosophy 171 Ethics
Loved that it's a Philosophy course. Period. Odd that I'm a journalism major with 12 units of Philosophy history. It wasn't wasted. I've had great professors so far, the tame and brilliant ones. I don't think I'm going to take anymore. Too risky. The subject matter can most of the time be dangerous, especially if taken in my university. It was awesome spending days and nights trying to penetrate the minds behind moral philosophy.

Half-psyched for next semester. Half-afraid too.
Since I always talk about different works of art in this blog, I figured maybe illustrations can also be a part of our posts. I was inspired by a certain book on illustrations when I was browsing through Greenbelt Powerbooks' discount section last week. I don't recall the title though but it's two inches thick and full of colored pages. And it was on sale for only P800 for such a beautiful collection. If you see it once, buy it at once. Then let me lend it to me, yes!

So here's my first feature of illustrations, a children's book by journalist Jean Perego entitled Joseph and Chico: The Life of Benedict XVI as Told by a Cat. This is really an interesting online find and it makes me embarrassed that a cat supposedly knows more about the Pope than we do. Hehe.

"In a special way, children, he loves you all, and he also knows that, with a little effort, you know how to be generous. Better yet, he prays every day that you may grow up to be healthy and good in body and soul. You will then be happy and be able to make the world a better place," writes Fr. Georg Ganswein, the Pope's personal secretary, for the book's introduction.

Of course, important in this feature are the various brilliant illustrations by Donata Dal Molin Casagrande.




According to sources, the Pope really loves cats and he really has one named Chico since when he was a kid. Now, Chico lives with a neighbor in Bavaria since he cannot stay with the Pope in Vatican. Poor cat. But still lucky anyway. #

Source: www.ignatius.com and NYDailyNews.com


SELF-SUFFICIENCY IN 2010. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap inspect the new variety of rice crop Friday at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) where she was presented a copy of the master plan, "Focusing on Increasing Provincial Productivity," that aims to help the Philippines achieve self-sufficiency in rice by 2010. Photo taken by Camille Diola/INQUIRER.NET Contributor.

Read full story
by Lira Dalangin-Fernandez
"So it's internship season," as Claire said. True for me especially. I've been running around this House for three days now.

Okay, not literally running-running. But my mind has been working as fast as Michael Johnson, and my fingers tapping against the keyboard from 1pm to 6pm since Monday. Phew.

I love being a journalist, even a pseudo-journalist. So awesome. You know? Every time I see my professors' words unfolding right before me I tell myself, "It's true." To submit before deadlines is grueling. Leads are super important. Editors have to be consulted. Out-scoop and de-scoop others for an edge. Knowledge is power. Check and double check. Get quotes!

And yey my first news story! And so on and so forth. Dot dot dot and another dot.

Like this morning I was waiting, bored, in Treehouse café (photo) for a news forum to start. I was just sitting idly on one of the tables with my camera, pen and notebook, trying to look like a reporter, right? and pretending I'm older than I really am. Then I saw a tall, familiar-looking person walking towards me smiling and then he tapped me on my shoulder like we were friends forever. So I scoffed, ignorant and all. Who does he think he is anyway? I asked the waitress. "Ma'am, si Golez po 'yan."

What? Shoot, it was Deputy Minority Floor Leader Roilo R. Golez. Congratulations to me. I didn't even shake his hands or smile at him so I could get an interview. Dumb rookie.
That's what happens to a 3-day-old trainee who doesn't watch TV to recognize politicians, left alone in a beat for an ENTIRE day without her reporter. Scarier than The Exorcist and The Omen combined.

But I love it. It's most rewarding when I see the story published and people sort of believe in them and all. hehe. I don't even believe myself sometimes.

RUNDOWN
House of Representatives Press Office where I stay and make my stories and wait for press releases and eat and obey.
That's my batchmate Vienna in the center wearing my jacket. She interns for Business World. Cool noh?

The computer I use where all the anguish and bliss come from. I installed a dictionary and thesaurus for purposes of mental blocks and laziness.

Next stop: Camp Crame for Defense beat. Wheeeee!
I think my sense of art these days is inspired by the streets and idle walls. Although it doesn't help me that much 'cause what I need most right now is to inject teen spirit to the kind of layout and imagery I'm doing, maybe the colors of street art can inspire my somewhat minimalistic tendencies. hehe

I think street art is not just found in the streets, but in box arts, wallpapers and T-shirts as well. Since the art can be offensive sometimes (it's said to be first and foremost for expression but it shouldn't be an excuse), just look at the nice ones, right? And we shouldn't deny that the attractive forms and colors are really transcending boundaries of not just established art, but well, one's own private yard.

Here are some stunning! examples.


This sculpture is by rather famous graffiti artist only known as "Revs" featured in NYtimes.com



2D or 3D? Street art at its finest. I'm sorry, my source on this one was lost.

by Dan Witz
nd finally, a trompe l'oeil series by artist Dan Witz featured in Time.com

Photo credit: untitledname.com, Dan Witz -Time.com.
Note: This post was edited on March 20, 2007. Some parts have been taken out and replaced.
you realize you lost a book you've always treasured.

For as long as I can remember, I've owned a copy of Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul III, and now I don't know where it is. It has just always been in my bookshelf since high school. And when I thought of making my youngest sister Gail read it lately, it's not there anymore. C'mon guys, who borrowed it? Return it, please, I'm on my knees!

I know it's just another one of those gazillion Chicken Soup titles available, but this particular copy has sentimental value to me. Oh whoosh with sentimentality, but it really was my consolation during tough times in my early teenage years. I even let go of the chance to join our school's semestral field trip to be able to purchase the book. It cost a fortune for a 13-year-old those days.

Now I'm 19. A few more months to go before I graduate from the teenage roster. And gosh, I think the best thing to remind me of the vibrant, formative years that passed is this book. But now, Gone Baby Gone. Casey Affleck didn't win the Oscar. I wanted him to. Thought it was the best time to recognize Ben's little bro.

Hehe, labo. Change topic bigla.
So I've seen 111 of the 1,000 Best Movies Ever Made listed by New York Times.com

I have mixed feelings about this. I mean really, if I've seen more than 111 films in my 19 years on Earth, I should have just chosen less chick flicks and box office hits and more quality titles.

But I'm thankful. Imagine, I already saw the best genre movies like Douglas Sirk's melodramas All that Heaven Allows (1956) and Written on the Wind (1956) and Todd Haynes' Far From Heaven (2002), classic screwballs It Happened One Night (1934), The Lady Eve (1941) and Philadelphia Story (1940), rarities like Vittorio de Sica's Ladri di Biciclette (1949), Godard's Breathless (1961) and Truffaut's La Nuit Americaine (1971).

I saw both listed Little Women films (1933 and 1994) and most Audrey Hepburns like The Nun's Story (1959). Thanks to bootleg versions and small franchise original DVD rental shops, and almost ten years of Pioneer DVD players.

But what I HATE about the list is its preference of questionable titles like Clueless (1995), Get Carter and Monsters Inc. being included without undoubtedly better ones such as Once Were Warriors (1993), Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980), The Shawshank Redemption (1994), and even just one of the The Lord of the Rings super three!

I can't believe it. It seems that even if you come up with 1,000 movie titles and claim they're the best, you still miss out a lot.

I also saw 98 of IMDb's Top 250 Movies and 292 out of the 325 All-Time Worldwide Box-Office titles. Gosh, how many more have I seen? I'm frightened to know I spent over hundreds of hours, mouth opened and eyes widened in front of the television and theater screens. But you, you've got to use your time better. Go!
I know it's not nice to put in all caps phrases in the web, but it's part of making a point you know. I'm really working on some important things now, work work work, but I couldn't resist to post about this:

Meet Elizabeth Gilbert, the author of recent bestseller Eat, Pray, Love. I stumbled upon her official site and she has some interesting things to say and share with people who are yearning to make a mark through writing.


Here are some quotes from her page "Some Thoughts on Writing."
"I believe that - if you are serious about a life of writing, or indeed about any creative form of expression - that you should take on this work like a holy calling. I became a writer the way other people become monks or nuns."
In her words, I feel there are also traces of believing that writing as an gift. Although we know it can be developed as a skill, in some ways it works more like a vocation, something someone is born to do. Like yes, Kant's concept of genius.
"It has never been easy for me to understand why people work so hard to create something beautiful, but then refuse to share it with anyone, for fear of criticism. Wasn't that the point of creation - to communicate something to the world? So PUT IT OUT THERE ... just don't sit on your work and suffocate it."
And in the same paragraph:
"Don't pre-reject yourself. That's [the editors' and agents'] job, not yours. Your job is only to write your heart out and let destiny take care of the rest."
My favorite part:
"The more important virtue for a writer, I believe, is self-forgiveness. Because your writing will always disappoint you. Your laziness will always disappoint you. You will make vows: 'I’m going to write for an hour every day,' and then you won’t do it ... Continuing to write after that heartache of disappointment doesn’t take only discipline, but also self-forgiveness."
This one's not from Gilbert herself, but from film visionary Werner Herzog as response to a seemingly hopeless indie filmmaker who wrote him a letter:
"Quit your complaining. It’s not the world’s fault that you wanted to be an artist. It’s not the world’s job to enjoy the films you make, and it’s certainly not the world’s obligation to pay for your dreams. Nobody wants to hear it. Steal a camera if you have to, but stop whining and get back to work."
And the best thing to do about these things is to read the article yourself.
I've had coughs and colds for more than two weeks now. Really, am I that unhealthy? Though this acquired virus only caused me a total of 1 day in bed, around 10 days sitting-working, and 3 days out and about. Not bad, but it's tough when you're coughing all the time and all you want to do is work and finish everything lined up in your agenda. This virus has caused me some opportunities lost.

But the worst kind of virus I encountered the past days is the monster SSCVIIHOST.exe and all its sister applications. Seriously, this worm/trojan/malware is serious. It disabled my task manager, registry and folder options. Without those three, what's a computer all about? The PC also started running slow and prevented us from CD-burning with success. Dad also had to delay his Autocad bliss that actually puts food on the table because of the slow performance. It sucks right through.

Ergo, I gave in. One near-sleepless night and I tried to kill SSCVIIHOST.exe. Man, that name would hunt me all my life. If I didn't do it, we would have to reformat. Dad has to buy a laptop immediately to get on with his job to feed his family. I also wouldn't be able to transfer the 30-second TV advertisement I made and pass it on time for the competition. Told ya, it sucks right through.

I would like to express my utmost gratitude to MajorGeeks.com for helping me through these tough times. It gave me another chance to regain my oh-so-beautiful life. However, the process wasn't just any foolproof job, it required time, patience, faith, hope and at least some brains. Imagine what I had to do:
1) Download four kinds of computer and registry cleaners, not counting the virus and malware scanners.
2) Deal with registry files and configurations. One bad, small step meant death. Luckily, I'm still alive.
3) Create registry patches I copy-pasted from smarter people's sites and forums.
4) Give up usual amount of sleep. Trust me, the first three numbers might sound complicated but this one's most difficult.

And I was successful. Thank you, thank you. I learned it takes a lot of guts and awful lot of dedication to turn around committed mistakes.
But I'm still praying. My job isn't done yet. There are a couple more malware stuff in our system. They're not big threats compared to SSCVIIHOST and its sister applications but of course I have to remove them nonetheless.

Again, thanks MajorGeeks. Through your generosity, I learned how important a virtue it is.
Wong Kar Wai's photograpy is just so beautiful. I remember my fascination while we were watching Chungking Express in my first film class in '06. It's like an impressionist painter's high-contrast masterpiece set in motion. Wong Kar Wai's films are among the visually best for me. Every shot is well-composed, traditional but well-composed. What makes it visually stunning is the combination of colors, lighting, texture and the camera movement (Like hello Godard for A bout de Souffle). All these plus an unconventional, capturing storytelling would make a non-Hollywood magnum opus. Take a look at this still from Chungking, for example:


Dominant yellows and oranges and reds throughout the film. Means perky, romantic, odd and mysterious. Thanks, I learned all that color-analyzing from Patti Bellantoni's book "If It's Purple, Someone's Gonna Die."

Wong's upcoming flick, My Blueberry Nights, stars my Natalie Portman, the ubiqitous Mr. Law and first-time actor Norah Jones. First time Wong takes on American stars and unarmed with his cinematographer Chris Doyle, but hey, look at the brightest side: Amazing Promotional Stills!


And finally, the auteur himself..



1. It has all the sites I'd like to visit when I open the web browser.
2. It has colorful themes, though they can work on creating more.
3. I can subscribe to my favorite sites for updates. Now I'm an RSS glutton.
4. It's fast.
5. It has the best sources for movie reviews, box office and DVD rankings.
6. It's for geeks and aficionados. I might be both.
7. There's a glimpse of the article when the pointer hovers over a link.
8. It lists modules and sites' updates on my favorite things: films, journalism photos, art, books, interesting articles from credible news sources, and tidbits from the worlds of travel, science, politics and sports.
9. It has a "To Do List," which is not absolutely useful in real life, but works if I have to remind myself of things I have and plan to do in the web.
10. Coolest sites in my life are in a nutshell: Art News Blog, Drawn, Arts and Letters Daily, Zenit, Barnes and Noble, Filmspotting, Earthbound Light Photography and a few official websites.
11. Lists sections from my favorite reads online and off: Time magazine, The Economist, National Geographic, The New Yorker online, New York Times online and Forbes online.
12. As a site, My Yahoo lasts as a tab on my browser. If I spend some time visiting other sites, it's an inevitability I'd return to it to before exiting.
13. It has a preview of my e-mail inbox. It is indeed a one-stop page.
14. the best benefit I get from it: IT SAVES TIME!

My beautiful, beloved My Yahoo! page...

Mwah.
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About Me

ART AS A PEDESTRIAN

Hi, I'm Camille, and I'm a real journalist from Manila. Without claiming expertise on the subjects, I try to write about my artistic and cultural encounters on this 17-year-old spot.

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Whut!

We will have but one option: We will have to adapt. The future will present itself with a ruthlessness yet unknown.
~Michelangelo Antonioni, filmmaker

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness ...
~first lines of Charles Dickens' The Tale of Two Cities

Culture is to know the best that has been said and thought in the world.
~Matthew Arnold, cultural critic

The only way to really change society is through culture ... it's not through force, it's not through armies, it's not through politics (but) through freedom.
~Dony McManus, artist

You are a fine person, Mr. Baggins ... but you are only quite a little fellow in a wide world after all!
~Gandalf in The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

"I find television very educating. Every time someone turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book."
~Groucho Marx, actor

Don't laugh at a youth for his affectations; he is only trying on one face after another to find a face of his own.
~Logan P. Smith, essayist

God is in the details.
~Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, architect

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