Tribute lines.
Happy birthday, Freddie Roach. My birthday wish for you is something not only you would want, but millions of Filipino boxing fans, as well: that you get to train Manny Pacquiao for fights beyond Joshua Clottey.
Well, that means I’m wishing for him not to win in the upcoming elections for obvious, selfish reasons.
At the heart of the urban jungle that is Makati, a team of production crew members, actors, and actresses (veterans and rising stars) lined up to face a firing squad of cameramen and media people; questions were fired, defenses went up, and an already great film was glorified further in the process.
The cast, director, and writer of The Red Shoes.
I like the fact that this outfit representing the upcoming film, The Red Shoes, was very proud of its work; Tessie Tomas even went as far as to say it was a step towards “a Renaissance of sorts for Philippine cinema,” an industry beset by piracy, budget cuts, and deterioration of quality over the years: a natural occurrence given that over time, a formula for “great movies” is improved upon and followed in hopes of guaranteeing ticket sales, and that this formula is the same menace that makes many movies that hit the big screen look, sound, and play out the same way as the last one before it.
The Red Shoes, the group claims, is an original film from top to bottom, a true gem of Philippine film-making history, a milestone in originality and representation of local culture. I was convinced the first time I saw the film in an advanced access to it two weeks prior. I was convinced further a week later when I saw it again. The defense of those part of the production could not convince me more of the quality of the film, but they offered me bits and pieces beyond what was shown on-screen that allowed me to appreciate that piece of art on a greater level.
Marvin Agustin, Tessie Tomas, and Nikki Gil.
I anticipated that this would be a special afternoon, and I was correct; the decision to maximize my recording devices was fruitful as I was able to capture sights (still and moving) and audio on separate tools.
I had a relatively unique appreciation of the movie for I partially share backgrounds in advertising with the scriptwriter and the director, as well as an attempt at making it big at Cinemalaya (for which The Red Shoes was originally intended to participate in); I wanted to congratulate him and his team for a job well done but they were swarmed by media personnel from all sides of the room. I had to hand my congratulations somewhere else, so I am doing it here now on this journal.
I have a soft spot for vanguards of Philippine art and culture, and I find it hard not to love a movie trying to represent a chunk of Philippine history, to entice audiences from whichever sector and class, to be artful and original, and to be of the uncompromising kind, the kind of which is rarely seen not only in the local film industry but in a broader sense, the Philippine way of life.
Proud of their latest work, and rightfully so.
At the heart of the urban jungle that is Makati, a team of production crew members, actors, and actresses (veterans and rising stars) lined up to face a firing squad of cameramen and media people; questions were fired, defenses went up, and an already great film was glorified further in the process. This team was composed of vanguards of Philippine cinema, they were proud to say as I am proud to present them to you; it somewhat is a cliche to say that we need more people like them to churn out quality works in the future, but it is not to say that the inspiration that future film-makers and writers and actors and actresses can draw from this film will help shape the future of Philippine art.
Bravo.
(Originally posted on StaticRiot.)
Extended to March 24, 2010!
Announcement: I am extending this Whapakkontest until March 24, 2010! (Okay, tatlong araw lang, pero kahit na, hindi ba?)
Week 1 winner. Week 1’s theme is “must-try food/dining places,” and I’m happy to announce the winner of the week! For sending in an entry about something I haven’t tried before and I will probably try out this weekend, I would like to congratulate Vivian V. Aguilar!
Carabao Milkshake.
She sent an entry about Cuillere’s Carabao Milkshake with the following caption:
It’s not just a milkshake, it’s a carabao milkshake topped with a generous amount of cheese shavings. So flavorful, so luxuriously cheesy! It’s one hell of a cheesy drink. What could be more cheeeeesy than that? Okay now, are you ready for a close-up? Say cheese…
Thanks for submitting your entry, Vivian! You win a Php 1,000 Ayala eGC from Ovi by Nokia! Will get in touch with you soon.
Call for entries. For the second week, I’m looking for your must-try travel destination discoveries! As with last week, register for a free Ovi account at http://www.ovi.com/ and use your new Ovi email account to send your entries to juddstamaria@ovi.com (please include your full name and contact number in your submissions). Here’s a sample entry:
Forget about John Lloyd and Bea: their recent movie didn't do justice to the beauty of the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I visited KL a few months back and this is the first photo I took when I got there; it's really a sight you just have too see especially at night!
Join now and win a Php 1,000 Ayala electronic gift certificate! Week 2 runs until March 9, 2010!
This contest is sponsored by Nokia Ovi.
Six hours prior to life support necessity.
I’m using an evaluation copy of Windows 7, and as with everyone else using the same copy, I was bugged by system alerts telling me to go out and buy the license as the evaluation OS I’m using was set to expire in 2 days, 1 day, 12 hours, 8 hours, 6 hours, and so on. The fucker expired two days ago.
However, it didn’t mean I couldn’t go on using Windows 7. It just meant that my laptop would die down every two hours until I find the time to finally grab that license from somewhere. A minor hassle, I think, for this OS I’ve grown to appreciate. It’s not as slow and buggy as that Windows Vista crap on my other laptop, and I’ve never been a Mac user so that Macbook at home has accumulated more dust than my old guitar.
I’ll probably get a real license sometime this month. I think I’m convinced it’ll be worth the buy. (How much does it cost, again?)
I will be late, don't stay up and wait for me.
Guilty as charged. I used to listen to the Backstreet Boys (a lot) back in high school and yeah, I think that for the life of me, I won’t ever get over these lines from their song Drowning:
“Go on and pull me under / Cover me with dreams, yeah / Love me mouth to mouth now / You know I can’t resist / ‘Cause you’re the air that I breathe”
- Kevin Richardson, Drowning
Win. That, and this stupid line I think I could relate to right now:
“Sadness is beautiful, loneliness is tragical.”
- AJ McLean, Shape of My Heart
So, I watched the Backstreet Boys concert at the Araneta Coliseum this weekend with Gelo, Peter, Peaj, and Bianca. I felt a decade younger, fuckyeah.
With Peaj and Gelo at the concert.
What sucks is that the venue is again the Araneta Coliseum; you know, that stupid dome that doesn’t allow better-than-compact cameras at concerts. As expected, they wouldn’t let me bring in my Lumix FZ28, so I had to try shooting with my cellphone (photos were so lame that I didn’t bother posting them anywhere). I really hate concerts at the Big Dome, but what was I to do?
I remember asking MY Nuffies prior to last year’s All-American Rejects concert in Malaysia, “Am I allowed to bring a camera?” They answered, “Of course, what kind of a question is that? It’s a concert!” So what’s wrong with the Araneta Coliseum? Damn them.
Anyway, camera issues aside, all the numbers were great. They performed an almost-complete set list with all of their chart-topping singles (except for Get Down and 10,000 Promises, but with songs like I Want It That Way, Everybody [Backstreet's Back], and Shape of My Heart, why should one complain?).
Sure, AJ was fat and Nick looked gay, but they’re the Backstreet Boys, so it’s forgivable; if anything, they still delivered a “larger than life” perfomance, so it was a 9/10 concert in my book.
Thanks again to Gelo and the rest of the guys for the pass: cheers to ’90s pop music and silly dance routines!
Food continues to tempt me; love doesn't.
My life as of late has been about three main things: work, worldly objects, and food. Not that it’s completely a bad thing to focus on the said items, no, but when you start disregarding proper financial management, health, and most importantly, love, there’s something wrong with you (and that’s an understatement; read: there’s something very wrong with you). So I guess something’s really wrong with how I’ve been living my life.
I consider my work a 24/7 affair; almost everything I do has something to do with work. Be it blogging, be it travel, my head just keeps relating everything with work. It’s definitely not just for the love of what I do. It’s simply something I can’t shut out of my mind, and it’s really been tying me down from everything else out there.
Perhaps making the situation worse is I find solace in the material things I buy for myself. I don’t want to discuss it here in detail, but yes, it’s really lame and I can’t help myself. I’m a damned fool. It’s definitely not just for the love for whatever I’m buying; it’s the need to be comforted and responding to that need by buying cheap ass music CDs and ripping them for my iPod, for one thing.
Food continues to be that hole in my pocket. A friend told me a long time ago: “Pagkain naman ‘yan eh, huwag kang magtitipid sa pagkain (Well that’s food; frugality doesn’t apply to food).” Okay, whatever man, how about now that I’ve upgraded the costs of my daily meals and it’s like a Supersize Me moment everytime I’m at a restaurant? It’s definitely not just for the love of food that I’m doing it; it’s just disregard for wallet management and cheaper alternatives. (In the past few weeks, though, I’ve been enjoying cheaper food trips. Uyeh to takoyaki, turon, and Bugong’s roast chicken.)
Why again am I talking about this? Because I spaced out and my currently one-track mind jumped from one subject matter to another.
Sometimes, life doesn't permit you to do just as you please.
I really wanted to write about how I think I’ve forgotten how to love: what it feels to be in love, why people fall in love, and how people should respond to love. I think I also wanted to write how, for some odd reason, whenever I think of love, I also think of damned chocolates.
I also don’t know why lines from the movie Kimmy Dora keep on messing up an otherwise coherent train of thought. “Demonya ka, impakta ka, mamatay ka nuhhh!” “Ako, ako si Dora Go Dong Hae!” “Ebola virus? Ano kaya ‘yun? Malaking ipis?” “Kadiri ka, huwag mo ngang kainin ‘yang suka ko.” Mind-bending.
Back to the topic at hand. Maybe I rejected love as an emotion a few months back because I wanted to focus on work, and perhaps it was a rejection made out of the wrong reasons. Now that I’m both loveless and happy at work, I feel that I’m missing out. Is it time to open up to the possibility of a new relationship? Maybe. I think I might even have some use for a dose of inspiration right now.
This cup of White Haze costs Php 115. It doesn't cost anything to love. Do the math.
Di ba, ako’y tao lang na nadadarang at natutukso rin? That’s the way it should be. Eh nasaan na ‘yung tukso?
