Heels and Commandos

A few “Odds and Ends” as usual.

One. I  finally got hold of the Star Wars Republic Commando Series. At least one of the books anyway. I bought “Triple Zero” yesterday at Fully Booked. They still don’t have “Hard Contact” and “True Colors” but I had the guy reserve me some copies when they do arrive. Yey! I’ve started reading it last night even though I’m supposed to be resting (as I had to go to work in a few hours). But I just can’t put it down. In fact I’m reading snippets of it as I am typing this blog entry.

Two. I gave in for a bit to my inner “girly-girl” and bought a pair of really great -looking heels. Shock! Horror! They’re high heels if you really want to get nit-picky – somewhere around 2 to 3 inches. I think they’re a bit closer to pumps anyway. My friend (who is incidentally gay) finally convinced me to get one. Why is this news you say? Because I typically do not wear heels. Although I have a bit of love for collecting shoes, I usually wear ballerina style flats (quite stylish, but does not impede walking – because I certainly do not walk like a “lady” haha!) I caved in because I think it would go better with the rather nice dresses (on sale ) I recently bought.

I tried them on (the dress and the shoes) this morning after getting home from work. I practiced walking up and down the stairs too. I think I’ll survive. But I really must commend the women who were able to wear them all the frakking time. Because after 30 minutes or so I feel like all my toes had gone a bit numb. ahaha! Not to brag, but it does feel good to dress up like a “real” girl from time to time (like last, last week when I hung out with a few friends on one of the local spots. I traded my usual pants/shirt/flats outfit for a navy-blue, greek-inspired dress, which I really loved). I do “clean up” nicely from time to time. Just not ALL the time though. Takes a lot of work, I tell you. And I’m a slob by nature. Besides,I like breathing and blue-berry cheese cakes too much to really focus much of my attention to beauty regimens. But yeah, like I said it feels nice to know you can look pretty for a bit (again, not bragging or anything, I’m not Grace Kelly. But I don’t think I’m ugly either).

And since we’re tackling my “girly-side” (once a century). Let’s move on to the subject of make-up. I’ve only started wearing real make up recently (meaning a year or so ago). But I’ve always known what colors will work for me. The benefits of being an artist I guess. It’s no different than drawing on paper really. I usually go for nudes, neutrals to dark colors  when it comes to lipstick. My staples so far are something called “Dark Chocolate”  (Avon) and “Night Valley Red” (Max Factor). For the eyes, I go with browns; although when I feel like going “gothic” I go a bit overboard with the black liner. But not too much. Let’s be thorough and talk about my hair too! But there’s nothing interesting about my hair. I just use conditioner and that’s it.

Anyway, enough with the nonsense. I feel like I wasted paragraphs talking about “shallow” things like makeup. Haha! Another semi-related thing, I also bought a copy of OK! featuring  Kate Middleton (I must be shot right on the spot! Oh, the horror! The horror!) But whatever, I honestly like the way she dresses. Simple and classy.

Oh, quick footnote.  Our “team” at work had a little exchange gift ceremony earlier (there’s only four of us). I received most of the stuff I put on my wishlist. A laptop skin (mechanical design) and whole load of Bristol Boards (for sketching).

I have to go back to reading Triple Zero now…:P Might write a review afterwards.

Odds and Ends (the month of November to December)

I decided to change the theme yet again. This one, called “Girl in Green” is one of my “go-to” themes. The last one featuring the characters from The Hunger Games, looks far too dark and gloomy. It’s the end of the year, well almost, and enough of the gloom and doom. It’s time to look forward to some hopefully good things to come. Leave all the bad shit (excuse my French) behind for a change.

Indeed there are some really bad memories I definitely need to leave behind. In fact I am now “seething with rage” (bit of an exaggeration, but in essence true) as to why one person would fail to keep his promise nor fail to inform me as to when he actually intends to compensate me.  It makes me think that he has no intention of doing so, which would have been to both our convenience if he had just been direct about it. Therefore, I would no longer expect him to and consequently move on.

The whole situation makes me think of this “old adage” I frequently see hanging near jeepney dashboards (and some buses too). It never fails to make me smile a bit. If you don’t know what it is, then you must have been pretty unobservant or totally idiotic or both. As always, I still give him the benefit of the doubt (for the one hundredth thousandth time I think.) I must remember to have myself lobotomized in the near future. My supposed intelligence seems to fail me when it comes to these things. I’m usually torn between wanting to kiss him and murder him (the balance shifts frequently). Right now I definitely have cold-blooded murder in mind. Just trying to lighten things up. I’m giving him an entire week to explain himself. A rather generous offer I’d say, considering.

With that bit of ranting out of the way, I will move on to other things.

Watched a few movies on the big screen. That means seeing a few duds once in a while.

Dud #1 is Apollo 18 aka “Blair-Witch-Project-In-Space-with-Crabs”. As one critic put it, “It’s 80 minutes of dead air.” Nothing could be more descriptive. I thought the poster looked visually intriguing so I dragged one of my friends to see what the film was all about. Well, to save you the headache and a bit of cash (in case you want to buy the DVD), the film is all about a bunch of American (and Russian) astronauts encountering deadly space crabs, all in Blair Witch style. I really wanted to sleep through the whole thing but I just have to get my 170 pesos back (too late for that though) so I forced myself to see the entire cinematic blackhole through. Needless to say, I would have been better off asleep. I’m sure any dreams I’m prone to have will be a hundred times more interesting (if it so happens that crabs will make an appearance, they will be cooked and ready to eat). One of my favourite lines from the film Ghost World comes to mind, “..after seeing this one, you’d wish you had 10 beers.”

Dud #2 is The Immortals aka “The Cheerleaders, circa 12 BC”. They say curiosity killed the cat. In this case, curiosity made me sleepy (slightly comatose even). Another film I thought  would be interesting (in a good way) based on the poster. It’s on the same vein as “Frank Miller’s 300″ (and I didn’t like that one very much either). If there is any lesson to be gleaned from this film, it is this: no amount of “cool” special effects will cover for the lack of character depth and crappy storytelling. The hero (Theseus if I recall correctly) is played so inertly by the actor that I can foresee him playing trees or possibly boulders in the near future. True, he seems to shout a lot but it’s “all sound and fury signifying nothing”. There’s even an almost scene for scene reproduction of the 300 “rally”. But instead of feeling inspired and ready for battle I keep expecting the “warriors” to do a cheerleader dance routine (complete with someone doing a high split). Which I’m sure  was NOT what the filmmakers intended. I would say the Gods were pretty bad ass though. If only the costumes were a little less ridiculous.

I did see “Ghost Protocol” during the weekend though. I’d say it more than made up for the duds I had the misfortune to see. A few good films were in line the following months. There’s the American remake of “Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” – showing this weekend; “Snow White and the Huntsman” – Charlize Theron will eat Kirsten Stewart alive. What were they thinking? But it has Chris Helmsworth. So there. What else? “The Hunger Games” of course. Quite excited to see this one. Plus some film entries to the Manila Film Festival. Should be enough to keep me entertained.

Still continuing with my drawings, I’m mostly working on quick sketches these days. Hopefully, I can produce at least a painting (canvas) in time for the local Mardi Gras. Crossing my fingers. I’m buying an Easel later in the day. One of the reasons I can’t draw for long periods is the lack of proper working space. The easel should solve that problem for a bit.

Sleepy and a bit hungry….

Odds and Ends (Wednesday 11/23/11)

As you can probably tell, I changed my theme yet again (a little drabble with Photoshop to create the banner). This is in anticipation of the “Hunger Games” movie. Forget Bella, Katniss is a heroine truly worth caring about. I’d like to make this post much longer, but I’m really sleepy.

Comedy Time…Star Wars Style

This is just BRILLIANT!

Tuesday(Día de los Muertos)Odds and Ends

Quick post before watering the plants downstairs. Then taking a nap. Then waking up (do numerous things in between such as draw, read, watch a bad movie, stare at the ceiling, etc.) Then going to work. Wash, rinse and repeat.

Our apartment complex looks like the Manila North Cemetery last night. For some reason, many of our neighbors decided to place numerous candles around the place (saw a lot on doorsteps and verandas) Which got me thinking. Since some of the living cannot visit the (jam-packed) cemetery, maybe the “dead” can visit them instead? (*shivers*) Anyway, if I were one of the “departed”,I would make sure to stay the hell away from the cemetery during Nov. 1 and 2. The racket is enough to wake the dead as it is (imagine all your relatives, even the ones who “hate” you when you were alive, converging on your tombstone/stage/camping ground. They have brought not just flowers and a prayer, but also Karaoke (If I have to hear my uncle singing “My Way” again!!), food and booze(!) -complete with “pulutan” of course. I think I’d prefer to wander around the seventh level of Dante’s inferno.

Did numerous “silly” things during the weekend, first of which is to accidentally sit on my glasses! Maybe I can lay the blame upon my uncle’s unannounced arrival. First time it happened since, well, since I started wearing glasses – which was in high school. Friends have been forever bugging me to get contact lenses instead, but no way, Jose! I just don’t trust contact lenses or anything that I had to actually stick inside my eyes for that matter. Naturally, I had to replace them since I don’t want to go around seeing everything in “watermark”. Blerg!

Second of which is to..wait, I can’t think of anything else right now. It must be because I’m stuffed. Decided to eat lunch earlier (instead of sleeping). Had One and HALF(!!!) helping of rice (que horor!) They had “Morcon” and “Puso ng Saging”, so I really can’t help it.  :D

And now that I am done with this completely pointless post, I will sleep for a bit (the plants can wait for a little while longer).

Sanctuary (S1) Review

This is going to be a “write as I watch review” so most likely this post won’t  be enough to cover all episodes. I’ll try my best to be objective.

Premise: Intrepid Criminal Profiler Dr. Zimmerman gets recruited by a team of supernatural hunters (as in
they hunt supernatural creatures or sometimes the creatures voluntarily give themselves up) who reside in a
decidedly badass looking castle – rather like a mental health facility for things that go bump in the
night.

Episode One – So we are introduced to our hero Dr. Will Zimmerman who was booted by “the Agency” (the FBI
most likely) for “chronic weirdness”(you know what I’m talking about). We get the usual establishing
narrative of how weird he is through a murder case where we encounter of our first “creature” (a mutant boy
from Chernobyl who possess a killer apendage of sorts). Needless to say he accepted the role of shrink to
these dispossesed and lost entities. He’s given an obligatory tour of the castle by Dr. Helen Magnus -
founder and leader of the Team – I’m not sure what they call themselves – The Society for the Preservation
of All Things That Will Most Likely Creep Out Normal People?? We also met Dr. Magnus’ “Selene-esque” daughter Ashley (who I’m SURE is Will’s designated love interest).

Interesting Bits:
The introduction of Darth Vader- I mean John Druitt – who as it turns out is Ashley’s long lost father -
who is also “Jack the Ripper”. We were given a rather interesting explanation on why he never got caught
..the guy can teleport just like Nightcrawler. Being a veteran of detecting “dysfunctional love-hate
relationships”, I can tell right away that this is the case between him and Helen. They alternate between
trying to “quasi-murder” each other to staring longingly at each other’s eyes – possibly hoping that other
person will blink first. :p He’s out of the picture for now, but of course he will pop in from time to
time.

Will’s “backstory” – turns out Helen (she’s 157 years old by the way) saved him when he was a kid (from
what I can tell from the flashbacks, him and his mom were attacked by a creature that looks suspiciously
like “Balawis”.) I’m fairly certain there is more to this story.

Episode Two – It’s usually not a good sign when I’m already starting to get annoyed and it’s only the
second episode. They “rescue” three semi undead women (more like in suspended animation) from a crypt
inhabited by er..creepy, masked creatures in SCOTLAND (this is going to be important later). So yeah, our heroes
brought the still sleeping (?) women to their castle-base to try and wake them up (most likely to ask how
life was a thousand years ago). What irked me was the scene when one of them woke up. Of course we have our
Dr. Zimmerman trying to talk to the girl, saying something like “you are in a medical facility” (???) I
don’t know, if you are a woman from SCOTLAND circa “880 BC” would you know what the heck the
guy was saying?? To make matters worse, when the girl spoke she was sporting a modern AMERICAN ACCENT
(??!!) Seven Hells?

Ooops! Perhaps I misjudged a little. They did notice the “language-thing”. I’m going to shut up and finish the episode before making decidedly premature comments.

Done with Episode 2. Explanation for the American Accent? The women are “telesthetic”. Nice one writers. That saves the actresses from having to adopt a Scottish drawl.

Interesting bits:

The Cabal  - A “Knights-Templar” type of organization that has managed to survive the modern times by infiltrating important institutions (military, medical, you name it). Nothing too surprising there. Turns out they “own” these women. The women by the way are called “The Morgana” – as Will so aptly put it, “witches from the middle ages” who posses the power to make men drop dead  like flies just by being near them (not unlike some other women I know). I’ve got a feeling this is “the big bad organization”.

The Brooklyn Bridge (?) – I’m not quite sure what happened. I’m guessing a cataclysm of sorts. Because for some reason,  the bridge has been torn in half. Must study this further. On to the next episode.

Liz Lemon on being single

“You know there are some things that are actually harder to do with two people, such as…monologues.” – Liz Lemon

Those lines just crack me up every time!

Just something to keep my spirits up this very dreary morning. Tropical storm “Pedring” is on a rampage at the moment. I took a jeepney ride going home from work for the first time (I usually walk to and from work, because I  live just  2 blocks from the building), due to strong winds.

I wasted a brand new 200 peso umbrella and ended up like a pathetic, wet duckling (just try and picture that). Anyway by the time I got home (despite the jeepney ride) my clothes were streaming. I hope I don’t get a fever or something. No wait, I hope I get sick so I won’t have to go to work tonight!  I could just curl up with a good book and a cup of Nesvita.Very appealing, no? Although the chances of getting sick are slim as I took a bath as soon as I got home.

Hmm..I’m hungry. I smell lasagna (with loads of cheese)…

9/23/11 – Saturday Odds and Ends

I would continue my previous post with “Liz Lemon-ing (part 2)”, but not now. Probably later in the day.

Just a few random thoughts.

WORK – Still waiting for the ax to fall. Not on my neck, I hope. No news yet whatsoever about training schedule and whatnot. I’m not quite sure whether that’s a good or bad thing. I’ll keep my fingers crossed. Aside from that, back to the regular humdrum of things.

BOOKS:

Bought a couple of books. Two from when I attended the “Manila International Book Fair” last Sunday.  Found “Storm Warning” by Jack Higgins. It’s one of the books I loved when I was a teenager. My brother and I made a sort of  radio-drama-style cassette recording of the story. Complete with sound effects. We do all the major character voices, as well as the background characters, since there’s only the two of us. It was really fun (the recordings I mean). Especially the part where the Deutschland finally foundered on the Washington Reef , and was slowly sinking. Harry Jago, Paul Gerrick (the “dashing” –at least to me, I find his intelligence and ability to break a few bones dashing– U-boat captain turned POW, I might add), Janet Munro, Admiral Reeve and some others were trying their best to get to  rescue the passengers/crew before the ship totally sank. All the sound effects we had to do to simulate the “sinking”! We yelled! Pounded the table with our fists! Rattled cups and plates, etc. Just thinking about all that makes me laugh.

I liked the chemistry between Paul Gerrick and Janet Munro (I think he left her his war medal before going off to escape somewhere). It’s kind of obvious that they were attracted to each other, but cannot do anything about it since the situation was somewhat complicated. He was a captured U-boat Captain, a German POW; while she was a stern, somewhat abrasive, cigarette-smoking American doctor. But they had brilliant conversation though. Nothing mushy. Mainly because the story is about war and how people are willing to endure overwhelming odds to go “home”. It is also about setting aside differences and having the decency to save what is truly important, our fellow human beings, no matter what side they happen to be.

Anyway, I’m reading it again. Haven’t read it since I was 1st year HS. Let’s see.

Before I get carried away, there’s that other book I got from the fair. It’s called “Stories”, a collection of works from different authors edited by Neil Gaiman. Haven’t  read a page yet, but I’m guessing it’s going to be good.

And as if I don’t have enough books on my plate. I got a copy of  ”The Castle” by Kafka (yes, THAT Kafka) last Thursday. I’ve just observed that translated books are much cheaper. Not sure why. But I’m not complaining.

OTHER THINGS:

Might watch “Contagion” later. Glad it’s still showing at Market Market. Then I shall work on a project for a friend and probably finish my “Padme” drawing. I certainly do not plan on moping or sleeping all day just because I have problems (of a personal nature – I really wanted to strangle the person causing the problem. But I haven’t seen him for quite sometime now).

Liz Lemon-ing (or should I start considering buying a cat?) Part 1

Highlight of the weekend:  I went to heaven, I mean the Manila International Book Fair, yesterday.

Listening to: “Now We Are Free” – Lisa Gerrard live at Milan (I’ve loved her music for more than 10 years. It speaks to the soul and takes you somewhere else entirely. Whenever I hear this song I am standing on an open field, just a few steps from the beach, the sun is shining; the wind ruffles my hair and I wave my arms and embrace the infinite heavens. I hear the cry of a seagull close by. The waters are a clear emerald from where I stand. It is all so peaceful. I wish I could stay here).

I woke up this morning with an urge to finish the last piece of chocolate cake sitting on the fridge downstairs. That or some spaghetti with cheese.

On January 2012, I’ll be 29 years old (oh wow, really?) and while my life is not so bad (I have a job w/ a somewhat lucrative salary- in spite of what I might think about it. Tons of friends who really care about me), sometimes a realization just hits me hard (like the Deathstar beam vaporizing Alderaan in one quick *zap* *boom*), how in the blerg did this happen?? I’ve never particularly “planned” my life when I was younger. But I have an idea on how a “normal” life should go. I’m sure there are quirks along the way, but still it should have certain recognizable highlights. Such as:

>”That time when  you danced and socialized happily during Prom” -

To me it’s “that time I considered going to the catering area and chatting up the staff so they would give me second helpings of the entire menu”. Prom was quite an embarassing  and somewhat bewildering time for me. And I never attended the second one (during my senior year). My dress as I recall was lousy, more suited to one of those “El Shaddai” events on TV than a Junior-Senior Prom. I saw my female classmates arriving one by one wearing one gorgeous dress after another. The questions in my mind then were, “How did they know what to wear?” “Was there something I missed?” “Were they part of some conspiracy?” And I never really saw the point anyway. All I could think of was “How long until this is over?” and “Can I go home now?” I think I might have had one dance. And then I spent the night hanging around the fringes (thinking of escape methods should a fire occur). I’m quite sure my friends had a better assessment of the event than I did. Some people might say it’s just the a prom, but to me it’s an indication of how I managed to enter womanhood, not with grace but with a sputter like a clogged exhaust pipe. I think the pipe has been clogged ever since.

>”That time when you should understand the complicated dance of consorting with the opposite sex and the art of looking good.”

Never really understood this one. The whole “flowers-and-chocolate-flirting-sweep-you-off-your-feet” ritual. My last boyfriend (whom I will now refer to as “Dennis” after Liz Lemon’s erstwhile BF)  and I didn’t exactly follow that routine. Though we had loads of conversations/debates about geekery (movies, videogames, the whole nerdy nine yards). And truth be told, I am not quite sure what our current status is at the moment, but I guess the whole thing is over more or less, given the fact that I haven’t seen him since the Cretaceous Period. I’m of the Sex and the City generation and somehow I couldn’t relate to the four main characters. I might be closer to Carrie since I am an aspiring writer, but I don’t have a closet full of designer clothes, with the designer bags and shoes to go with each of them, and don’t spend the weekends sipping champagne in the swankiest locations possible. I also do not date the city’s most eligible bachelors every other weekend (well maybe not exactly,but you know what I mean).

My closet space looks like it hasn’t been organized since the moon landing. It has been invaded by books mostly. And no designer clothes anywhere. The most expensive piece of clothing I own is a sort of dress-blouse from TopShop (sale at 999 PHP) and a sweater from Kamiseta (1,300 PHP), both of which I bought in a very rare fit of insanity. Weekends are usually spent with friends or in front of the TV/laptop (while eating all manner of artery-hardening foods, ahaha!) or mostly curled up reading a book or drawing. I just remembered, I didn’t wash some of my not-so-dirty laundry again this weekend, which is typical. Back to the matter at hand,  I think looking good (both for the sake of looking good and attracting the members of the opposite sex like flies to rotting meat, wait – did I just say that?) is hard work. It requires meticulous planning. Which outfit goes with what, what colors go with this and that and so on. After many years, I finally figured out that it’s something I’m not really interested in. I don’t dress like a hobo though (except maybe at home), but I’m not exactly “glamour girl” either. I’d rather spend my energies in what I deem to be more worthwhile pursuits.

And again, on the “subtle” art of flirting, I’m flying blind. It’s not that I can’t converse, it’s just that I don’t really know what the blerg am I suppose to say so that the conversation will lead to wherever it’s supposed to go, at least according to most chick flicks I occasionally watch. Probably not something like “Into the garbage chute flyboy!”, lest it’d be misconstrued or “I am really interested in what you have to say, you scruffy-looking nerf-herder.” It sounds like I’m picking a fight or something.

Random Movie Reviews

I’ve seen quite a few movies lately (on the actual theater as opposed to usually sitting on my butt and watching DVDs), but haven’t had the chance to write a review yet. I’ll try to keep them as brief as possible.

• Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows (part 2) – I am a Harry Potter fan and must say I am extremely satisfied with the way they handled the finale. Out with a bang indeed!
• Captain America: The First Avenger – Well, I thought the first few minutes were alright. But as the movie progressed, I had this one nagging question: “When is it going to be over?” Really. I think the story isn’t very cohesive, but I suppose they got almost everything right in terms of the lore. On a related note, I am very excited to see the Avengers movie.
• Conan: The Barbarian (or should it be Conan, the Barbarian?) – one description “AAAAARGGH!” I used to watch the old Conan cartoons when I was a child, I sort of vaguely remember the theme song, it goes something like this “Conan, the adventurer; Conan, warrior without fear!” I think I just found the opening theme on youtube, wait, was that DARTH VADER SINGING?? I never really noticed it before, but if our favorite Sith Lord would choose a career in music, that’s how he would sound. Anyway, back to the movie. Nothing special here. In fact, it feels like a big overblown pilot for a Conan series in the tradition of Hercules and Xena.
• Zombadings: Patayin sa Shokot si Remington – this one had me in tears (for laughing so hard). Especially all the gay lingo parts (“Magpa-feel, magpa-sense ditey sa baler!” hahah!) Saw it with a couple of gay friends and had a really great time. I think I’ll buy the DVD.

On other things, I’ve been watching the Star Wars movies again. I know most fans, especially the ones who saw the old trilogy first (trust me, I did see it first in “black and white” format, I think I was in the 5th grade. Color-TV is not too common at that time) think the the prequels are rather crappy in terms of story-telling and blah, blah (the argument goes on).

I might agree that it isn’t perfect (there were some cringe-worthy dialogue to be sure), but I think it is not as bad as they make it out to be. In fact, when I saw Hope, Empire and Jedi (especially Jedi, the entire Throne room scene made me cry, well maybe not the “entire” but you know what I’m talking about), I was struck on how much Star Wars is a story of love, family and most of all redemption. While I cheered for our heroes (the “golden trio”), I’ve always been a Darth Vader fan. Luke’s words “I never really knew my mother.” and Leia’s “She very was very beautiful..kind..but, sad.” had me wondering about his back story (what happened? what made him fall? what sort of woman would fall in love with someone like Vader?)

So, when the prequels finally came out I was really excited. Finally, I’ll get to see how it all happened. And I think it could have been worse. Those who had been saying that Anakin seemed like an immature, bi-polar guy and is therefore annoying/disappointing got it all wrong. I mean really, did they think the future Darth Vader would be a paragon of maturity and emotional stability? Hello! But at least GL got Vader’s “intensity” right. Vader doesn’t take anything lightly, it’s all “serious business” for him. The way I see it, he wanted enough power so he and the ones he cared about wouldn’t get hurt (I think his origins as a slave is quite appropriate too). Most of all, the final piece of the puzzle is finally in. Padme Amidala. That answered my question. She was a lot like Leia in a number of ways. On a side note, I think Luke got more of Padme’s temperament.

..lost my train of thought after taking a bath..later..