“Love is a universal migraine / A bright stain on the vision / Blotting out reason.” –Robert Graves On life, migraines and the seach for the answer to the ultimate question... *Just kidding* Welcome to my life.
Thursday, July 21, 2005
Pinoy Pulp
I was fortunate enough to get a FREE ticket to the premiere screening of Peque Gallaga’s newest film, Pinoy Blonde by Unitel Pictures. That was about a week ago. Took me that long to finally decide if I liked the film. Now do I like the film? As of this writing, I still haven’t decided yet.
I’ve seen some of Peque Gallaga’s work before and I’ve grown to love them. Oro Plata Mata (1982), an episode in Shake Rattle and Roll (Manananggal, 1984), films co-directed with Lore Reyes Kid, Huwag Kang Susuko (1987), Isang Araw Walang Diyos (1989), and Shake Rattle and Roll 2, 3 and 4 (1990, 1991, 1992 respectively). Pinoy Blonde is quite different from all these films I’ve mentioned in the sense that it didn’t follow the norm that these films conformed to. I think it’s heavily influenced by by Quentin Tarantino’s movies though, like Pulp Fiction (1994), Jackie Brown (1997), Kill Bill (2003) and Kill Bill ver. 2.0 (2004). My fondness for these films does not carry on for the director though.
Anyway, the pseudo-intellectual banter, unusual camera work, cut-to animation sequences, the title graphics were all done very well and it seems that a lot of work has gone into the making of this film. It involved a lot of very talented and capable actors. I commend all the people involved in the making of this movie. But they could’ve done better. The people involved have already done a great job as it is. All I’m saying is they could’ve pushed it a bit further than where they’ve gone with it.
A lot of the stuff they did here has never been done before in Philippine Cinema. But Tarantino has done it before. We've know of and have seen Tarantino. So nothing's really new here except that its the first film to mimic Tarantino and Tarantino-esque film ideas. Like what they're tagline says, hindi typical Pinoy film on one hand but on another, it's a typical Tarantino-style film.
Monday, July 18, 2005
Up On The Roof
Photos I took on a lazy, rainy weekend afternoon...
UP ON THE ROOF
by James Taylor
When this old world starts a getting me down
And people are just too much for me to face
I’ll climb way up to the top of the stairs
And all my cares just drift right into space
On the roof, it’s peaceful as can be
And there the world below don’t bother me, no, no
So when I come home feeling tired and beat
I’ll go up where the air is fresh and sweet
I’ll get far away from the hustling crowd
And all the rat-race noise down in the street
On the roof, that’s the only place I know
Look at the city, baby
Where you just have to wish to make it so
Let’s go up on the roof
And at night the stars they put on a show for free
And, darling, you can share it all with me
That’s what I said
Keep on telling you
That right smack dab in the middle of town
I found a paradise that’s troubleproof
And if this old world starts a getting you down
There’s room enough for two
Up on the roof...
UP ON THE ROOF
by James Taylor
When this old world starts a getting me down
And people are just too much for me to face
I’ll climb way up to the top of the stairs
And all my cares just drift right into space
On the roof, it’s peaceful as can be
And there the world below don’t bother me, no, no
So when I come home feeling tired and beat
I’ll go up where the air is fresh and sweet
I’ll get far away from the hustling crowd
And all the rat-race noise down in the street
On the roof, that’s the only place I know
Look at the city, baby
Where you just have to wish to make it so
Let’s go up on the roof
And at night the stars they put on a show for free
And, darling, you can share it all with me
That’s what I said
Keep on telling you
That right smack dab in the middle of town
I found a paradise that’s troubleproof
And if this old world starts a getting you down
There’s room enough for two
Up on the roof...
Burger Machine Ultimate Double Burger
The Burger Machine Ultimate Double Burger has two patties, the top one is covered with cheesy bacon bits and the bottom patty is topped with chili. I don't remember exactly the cost but it's around thirty five Pesos. I had one for dinner several weeks ago. The crew preparing it burned the top portion of my sandwich but it was ok. I think that's the essence of street food. Flavored with a bit of carbon monoxide, smog and dust. Mmmm... Tsalap!
Trains of Thought
I accompanied a friend from Libis, Quezon City to buy a Personal Computer for one of their offices a couple of weeks ago. These are pictures of the train ride from Katipunan to Gilmore in Cubao. It's quite convenient to take the train especially on a rainy day. I love the weather! Ang saya saya!
*****
Several days ago, I got bored at home (I was supposedly sick and resting). So I decided to go malling. Nothing much to see in Makati so I took the train to Ortigas. Had lunch in... I forgot tha name of the place. Kainis. Anyway, its a boxed-rice place run by San Miguel Purefoods Company Inc. at the Ayala MRT station. Took these picturesof my ride from Ayala station to Ortigas station.
P.S.
Found out the name of that boxed-rice place... "Inbox." :D
P.S.
Found out the name of that boxed-rice place... "Inbox." :D
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
The Week That Was...
Sunday, July 10. 2005. I'm afraid the weather has gotten through to me. I guess I underestimated the common cold. I think I got the not-so-common strain accompanied by dry cough, a runny nose, and the occassional migraine. Quite enough to keep me from work. And the usual prescription for this is increased fluid intake and bed rest. It would've been fine if I had been able to stock up on DVDs to keep me company through the duration of my absence. But I've pretty much viewed most of what I have at home at least twice or thrice already. I thought of watching the Lord of the Rings Trilogy all over again but then that would pretty much defeat the purpose of "bed rest." That would be around nine to ten hours of travelling around Middle Earth on foot, battling all sorts of Orcs and Goblins and journeying into Mordor to cast the "One Ring" into the fires of Mount Doom. Kapagod.
Anyway, being sick with the cold did not stop me from going wherever I wanted to and enjoy myself. Here's a recap of the week that was.
On Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Movie time! There's really not much I can say about this film. Except maybe that I wouldn't have felt as bad spending one hundred pesos on this one than when I saw Dreamworks' animated film, Madagascar. It's like Barbie and Ken playing James Bond and Mata Hari roles. I dare not blink for I did not want to miss a single shot of the very beautiful Angelina Jolie. She gets beat up, shot at with machine guns, banged on a wall, kicked in the gut and pretty much everything else but she still manages to look good (which, I think is the point). In which case is pretty much the same for Brad Pitt but then, he's really not my type. Its very much a "chick" and "guy" flick since Ms. Jolie is there basically to keep the men riveted as Mr. Pitt pacifies the women. It was a very entertaining film, to say the least.
Market! Market! On A Rainy Day
Saturday morning. I was supposed to be home resting my head but I just couldn't stand staying home all day and do practically nothing. Jo also had nothing to do that day and she wanted to go to Market! Market! at the Fort Bonifacio Global CIty. I agreed to go so we braved
the rains and headed there. It was my first time to go there and all I can say is that it's a really BIG place. Very much like the Festival Supermall in Alabang but much bigger (although I'm really not a very good judge of scale). There are a lot of bargains there. The
fresh produce section looked like a neat place to go around in and look for stuff but I wasn't able to do that so I guess I'll reserve that for next time. There are also quite a number eating place to choose from so you'll never go hungry (unless if you're flat broke). The ladies will probably go nuts from all the bargain
clothes, shoes and what-have-yous in that part of the mall. Jo pointed out this one store which sells mostly tsinelas (KV and Jo call them chinelasis which sounds very much like a communicative disease), the kind that's sold in most malls at four hundred pesos a pair. This store apparently sells them at sixty pesos
a pair!
Though I cannot say that Market! Market! has everything I want and am looking for because it doesn't (I'm having thoughts of Metrowalk and DVDs... Mmmm...). But I did see stuff that I do want in the technology alley, one of which is an
illuminated keyboard for a little over a thousand pesos. Medyo luho nga lang but I think it would look really good on my computer table. Haaay...
On War of the Worlds
I agree with what Uleb said, this one's a Steven Speilberg film and not a Tom Cruise flick. Most people I know reacted a bit violently about the ending, they're saying that the resolution wasn't set up properly and that it was too abrupt. Also the fact that the story revolved around the character that Tom Cruise was playing. For the most part of the film he was just in hiding so that kind of cuts the audience off from all the action that's happening outside. But then that device is probably intended to build up the suspense. The viewer is left to their own imagination (along with visual and auditory cues) as to whatever might be happening on the outside.
Now The War of the Worlds was written by H.G. Wells in 1898. Knowing what we know now, it would not have been as terrifying if Speilberg made his film in the context of the book. Around the time the Wells' book was written, there was much fascination about astronomy. The moon was studied extensively and has been mapped out, and it had been proven that there is no "man on the moon." (At least not until we do send men up there, which would be around 71 years later). So people turned their telescopes to Earth's closest neighbor which was Mars. Mars is nearly as big as the Earth but with half its gravity, with hardly any atmosphere (but people in 1898 didn't know that yet). Now we know that there are no Martians and that they won't be coming to invade our planet. In the film, there wasn't any mention of where the aliens came from (at least none that I remember, I'd have to see it again to make sure). Overall, I liked Spielberg's re-interpretation of the story, even with his signature "happy ending."
Blast 4! University Online Consortium EB
Remember that event I posted about a week ago? It turned out to be bigger than I expected. I initially thought that this was a peyups.com event only, not until later when I found out what the title of the event was. Apparently, four University online communities participated in the event namely http://www.peyups.com/, http://www.atenista.net/, http://greenarcher.yehey.com/ and http://ustexchange.yehey.com/ in cooperation with http://www.pinoyexchange.com/. Eight bands performed that night (we arrived a bit late so we just caught the last five). There was a fashion show of cool clothing, wearable MP3 players and hip jewelry. Lots of prizes were given away. There's also a sneak peek of the UAAP Live 2005 PC game. All I got though was a plastic cup full of beer mixed with Lipovitan which left me halfway between tipsy and sober. More photos here.













Anyway, being sick with the cold did not stop me from going wherever I wanted to and enjoy myself. Here's a recap of the week that was.
On Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie in Mr. & Mrs. Smith |
Movie time! There's really not much I can say about this film. Except maybe that I wouldn't have felt as bad spending one hundred pesos on this one than when I saw Dreamworks' animated film, Madagascar. It's like Barbie and Ken playing James Bond and Mata Hari roles. I dare not blink for I did not want to miss a single shot of the very beautiful Angelina Jolie. She gets beat up, shot at with machine guns, banged on a wall, kicked in the gut and pretty much everything else but she still manages to look good (which, I think is the point). In which case is pretty much the same for Brad Pitt but then, he's really not my type. Its very much a "chick" and "guy" flick since Ms. Jolie is there basically to keep the men riveted as Mr. Pitt pacifies the women. It was a very entertaining film, to say the least.
Market! Market! On A Rainy Day
The taxi ride |
Saturday morning. I was supposed to be home resting my head but I just couldn't stand staying home all day and do practically nothing. Jo also had nothing to do that day and she wanted to go to Market! Market! at the Fort Bonifacio Global CIty. I agreed to go so we braved
Inside Market! Market! |
the rains and headed there. It was my first time to go there and all I can say is that it's a really BIG place. Very much like the Festival Supermall in Alabang but much bigger (although I'm really not a very good judge of scale). There are a lot of bargains there. The
The fresh produce section |
fresh produce section looked like a neat place to go around in and look for stuff but I wasn't able to do that so I guess I'll reserve that for next time. There are also quite a number eating place to choose from so you'll never go hungry (unless if you're flat broke). The ladies will probably go nuts from all the bargain
Inside Market! Market! |
clothes, shoes and what-have-yous in that part of the mall. Jo pointed out this one store which sells mostly tsinelas (KV and Jo call them chinelasis which sounds very much like a communicative disease), the kind that's sold in most malls at four hundred pesos a pair. This store apparently sells them at sixty pesos
The Banana Peel tsinelas store |
a pair!
Though I cannot say that Market! Market! has everything I want and am looking for because it doesn't (I'm having thoughts of Metrowalk and DVDs... Mmmm...). But I did see stuff that I do want in the technology alley, one of which is an
Clothes, clothes, clothes! |
illuminated keyboard for a little over a thousand pesos. Medyo luho nga lang but I think it would look really good on my computer table. Haaay...
On War of the Worlds
Dakota Fanning and Tom Cruise in Steven Speilberg's War of the Worlds |
I agree with what Uleb said, this one's a Steven Speilberg film and not a Tom Cruise flick. Most people I know reacted a bit violently about the ending, they're saying that the resolution wasn't set up properly and that it was too abrupt. Also the fact that the story revolved around the character that Tom Cruise was playing. For the most part of the film he was just in hiding so that kind of cuts the audience off from all the action that's happening outside. But then that device is probably intended to build up the suspense. The viewer is left to their own imagination (along with visual and auditory cues) as to whatever might be happening on the outside.
Watched this one in Market! Market! cinemas. After gulping down a large iced tea, I had to go in the middle of the move. The restrooms were outside the cinema so I had to get myself stamped so I could get back in. Bad trip. |
Now The War of the Worlds was written by H.G. Wells in 1898. Knowing what we know now, it would not have been as terrifying if Speilberg made his film in the context of the book. Around the time the Wells' book was written, there was much fascination about astronomy. The moon was studied extensively and has been mapped out, and it had been proven that there is no "man on the moon." (At least not until we do send men up there, which would be around 71 years later). So people turned their telescopes to Earth's closest neighbor which was Mars. Mars is nearly as big as the Earth but with half its gravity, with hardly any atmosphere (but people in 1898 didn't know that yet). Now we know that there are no Martians and that they won't be coming to invade our planet. In the film, there wasn't any mention of where the aliens came from (at least none that I remember, I'd have to see it again to make sure). Overall, I liked Spielberg's re-interpretation of the story, even with his signature "happy ending."
Blast 4! University Online Consortium EB
Remember that event I posted about a week ago? It turned out to be bigger than I expected. I initially thought that this was a peyups.com event only, not until later when I found out what the title of the event was. Apparently, four University online communities participated in the event namely http://www.peyups.com/, http://www.atenista.net/, http://greenarcher.yehey.com/ and http://ustexchange.yehey.com/ in cooperation with http://www.pinoyexchange.com/. Eight bands performed that night (we arrived a bit late so we just caught the last five). There was a fashion show of cool clothing, wearable MP3 players and hip jewelry. Lots of prizes were given away. There's also a sneak peek of the UAAP Live 2005 PC game. All I got though was a plastic cup full of beer mixed with Lipovitan which left me halfway between tipsy and sober. More photos here.
A sneak-peek of the UAAP Live 2005 PC game
Lipovitan-powered fog machine
Students from different schools
Dancing ladies
Onlookers
Boy Elroy
Out-of-body Special
Thirteen Needles
Six-Cycle Mind
Whatever It Takes
The crowd loves it
Fashionistas in the crowd
Friday, July 01, 2005
Placenta Soap and A Six-Million-Pesos-A-Month Billboard
| Throwing Copper - Live 1994 |
Lightning Crashes
Artist: Live
Album: Throwing Copper
lightning crashes, a new mother cries
her placenta falls to the floor
the angel opens her eyes
the confusion sets in
before the doctor can even close the door
lightning crashes, an old mother dies
her intentions fall to the floor
the angel closes her eyes
the confusion that was hers
belongs now, to the baby down the hall
oh now feel it comin' back again
like a rollin' thunder chasing the wind
forces pullin' from the center of the earth again
I can feel it.
lightning crashes, a new mother cries
this moment she's been waiting for
the angel opens her eyes
pale blue colored iris,
presents the circle
and puts the glory out to hide, hide
Artist: Live
Album: Throwing Copper
lightning crashes, a new mother cries
her placenta falls to the floor
the angel opens her eyes
the confusion sets in
before the doctor can even close the door
lightning crashes, an old mother dies
her intentions fall to the floor
the angel closes her eyes
the confusion that was hers
belongs now, to the baby down the hall
oh now feel it comin' back again
like a rollin' thunder chasing the wind
forces pullin' from the center of the earth again
I can feel it.
lightning crashes, a new mother cries
this moment she's been waiting for
the angel opens her eyes
pale blue colored iris,
presents the circle
and puts the glory out to hide, hide
*****
pla·cen·ta (plə-sĕn'tə) pronunciation
n., pl. -tas or -tae (-tē).- a. A membranous vascular organ that develops in female mammals during pregnancy, lining the uterine wall and partially enveloping the fetus, to which it is attached by the umbilical cord. Following birth, the placenta is expelled. b. An organ with similar functions in some nonmammalian animals, such as certain sharks and reptiles.
- Botany. The part within the ovary of a flowering plant to which the ovules are attached.
pla·cen'tal adj.
*****
Click image to see larger picture
On the package: (Front)
NEWLY IMPROVED
Featured in GMA-7's Extra Extra - Jan. 8 & Unang Hirit Aug. 8, 2003
The first & the original
BEWARE OF IMITATION!
Renew PLACENTA Classic Herbal Beauty Soap
W/ double - acting
Anti - aging & active
skin whitening properties
(Back)
Ideal for aging skin and areas susceptible to wrinkles
or loss of subtleness. Helps renew damaged skin tissues
and fades away skin blemishes. Recommended for
everyday use for healthier and younger-looking skin
Ingridients: High-grade Coconut Oil, Glycerin,
Sodium Carbonate, Sodium Palmitate
Cocodiethanolamide & Placenta Extract
Featured in GMA-7's Extra Extra - Jan. 8 & Unang Hirit Aug. 8, 2003
The first & the original
BEWARE OF IMITATION!
Renew PLACENTA Classic Herbal Beauty Soap
W/ double - acting
Anti - aging & active
skin whitening properties
(Back)
Ideal for aging skin and areas susceptible to wrinkles
or loss of subtleness. Helps renew damaged skin tissues
and fades away skin blemishes. Recommended for
everyday use for healthier and younger-looking skin
Ingridients: High-grade Coconut Oil, Glycerin,
Sodium Carbonate, Sodium Palmitate
Cocodiethanolamide & Placenta Extract
*****
My friend Jo uses this. I just had to take a photo of it. The package didn't really mention exactly what type of placenta extract (mammalian or botanical) they used on this product.
Wala lang. :-)
*****Wala lang. :-)
Click image to see larger picture
I just found out how much that really big billboard space in Café Lupe along EDSA costs. Apparently, you'd have to shell out P6 Million a month to take the whole space. From what I recall, it's normally divided into either nine or twelve billboards.
Thursday, June 30, 2005
Peyups.com Grand EB
Mula sa aking mga kaibigan sa peyups.com...

Peyups.com will be having it's Grand EB at Club 650 Libis (beside Shopwise Libis) on Saturday July 2. EB starts at 5PM while the program starts 7PM.
There will be bands, booze, video games, a fashion show and lots more in store. Tickets at P100 and available at the gate or from the UPZS booth along the CASAA-IB Walk. We will also be shooting photos for the soon to be revived photo of the day so please be there.
There will be bands, booze, video games, a fashion show and lots more in store. Tickets at P100 and available at the gate or from the UPZS booth along the CASAA-IB Walk. We will also be shooting photos for the soon to be revived photo of the day so please be there.
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Pancit Canton... Sublime
I'll tell you about my day tomorrow. I'm afraid this cold has got the best of me. I'm tired and hungry, so off I go. I wonder what I could make for dinner... (like there's any other food in the house other than the ever-reliable pancit canton. :-) It will have to do, for now).

The dining area/kitchen I have yet to clean up.
The dining area/kitchen I have yet to clean up.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)