cory

tomorrow, it'll be the first anniversary of former president corazon aquino's death, when she succumbed to colon cancer. 12 months after her passing, many things have since taken place. mar roxas gave way to noynoy. noynoy trounced erap, villar, gibo and the rest of presidentiables. kris gave up the buzz and snn and eventually separated from james yap. p-noy refuses to use wang-wang, still shuttles from times st. to malacanang and is bent on making the past administration pay for its crimes. kris is now making utos to all of her co-hosts in very-soon-to-expire abs-cbn's pilipinas win na win.

i braved the heavy rains and massive number of people to take these shots. from where i stay in san antonio, i went up to buendia - south superhighway flyover, where throngs of people, including foreigners were patiently waiting for the convoy to pass by. almost miraculously, when her casket was getting near where i was standing (in front of cash and carry), the rain stopped. and then when the convoy finally pushed beyond the flyover, heavy downpour was on it again. salamat, pres. cory!

inception

What's the most resilient parasite? An Idea. A single idea from the human mind can build cities. An idea can transform the world and rewrite all the rules. Which is why I have to steal it. - cobb


halos dalawang linggo nang palabas ang inception bago ko pa ito mapanood. at kung di pa umokey sina chorvs, emma at cathy at pinilit kong tapusin ang walang katapusang excel, di ko pa rin makikita ang obra maestra ni christopher nolan.

isang makabagong klasiko ang pelikulang ito - tungkol sa isang tagahalaw ng panaginip (leonardo di caprio) na sa naising makabalik sa kanyang pamilya ay kumapit sa naiibang patalim na paglalagay ng bagong ideya sa isip ni robert fischer (cillian murphy). higit na kumplikado ang magsimula ng ideya sa nakagawian na ni cobb na paghalaw lamang ng impormasyon mula sa panaginip.

may hustong lapit ng drama ang pelikula mula sa pansariling pakikihamok ni cobb na iwaksi ang sisi mula sa kanyang sarili sa kinahinatnan ng kanyang misis. kapana-panabik ang bawat eksenang aksyon at mahusay ang pagkalapat ng koryograpiya, lalo na sa eksena ni arthur (joseph gordon-levitt) sa bumabalintunang pasilyo ng gusali dahil sa kawalan ng grabidad na bunga ng mas malalim pang panaginip. simple ang lapit sa konsepto ng panaginip, halos mala-teknikal na pagsulat ang pagpapaliwanag dito, kaya marahil di maliligaw ang manonood sa mga kaganapan. tulad ng matagal na pagkasansala sa hangin ng sasakyan nila cobb bago ito tuluyang mahulog sa dagat, mahaba ang pelikula. ngunit, ang bawat saknong nito ay mahusay na sangkap ng isang suryal at mapanlikhang talakay sa iba't ibang hagdan ng malay-tao, reyalidad man o gawa ng malikot na pag-iisip ng subkonsyo. malawak ang mga temang tinalakay ng pelikula mula sa isyung pampamilya, karera, kapitalismo, siyensya, edukasyon at oportunidad pagkatapos nito. ngunit ang lahat ng ito ay naipakita ng may katuturan sa kabuuan ng istorya. sa akin, ang pinakasentrong tema ng inception ay ang pakikibaka ng bawat tao na tanggapin ang mga di magandang pangyayari sa ating buhay - maging ito'y tuwirang resulta ng ating kamalian at kahinaan o bunga ng di maiiwasang sitwasyon. sa sandaling harapin ng bawat indibidwal ang isyung bumabagabag sa kanya, nabibigay signal ito upang palayain ang sarili sa labirintong umaalipin at sumisikil sa indibidwal na magpatuloy sa buhay. sa kaso ni cobb, nangyari ito nang kanyang bitiwan kay mal (marion cotillard) ang linyang, "Look at you. You're just a shade, a shade of my real wife. How could I capture all your beauty, your complexity, your perfection, your imperfection, in a dream? Yes, you're the best that I can do. But, I'm sorry, you're just not good enough."

magagaling ang bawat isang nagsiganap at ang aspetong teknikal ay angkop. sa huli, ang manonood ang magpapasya kung nakabalik nga ba si cobb sa reyalidad o nanatili nakasansala sa gitnang hangin. isa ito sa pinakamahuhusay na pelikulang napanood ko.

"You mustn't be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling." - eames.

natgeo

there's so much to see in the philippines... much more than the beaches in cebu or the gigantic urban boxes called malls in metro manila. and yet, even a global site like natgeo only hosts max of 10 downloadable photos about the philippines. haaayyyy... how i wish we have what thailand or indonesia have, where tourism industry stakeholders such tour operators, tour guides, transportation services firms, etc., are interconnected with each other. through this, there will be a third party to ensure that calls for action to protect the endemic flora and fauna are pursued, as well as push for conservation of our manmade heritage sites.

as natgeo puts it, "Poverty and deforestation mar the islands' many charms." natgeo forgot about corruption and the natural tendency of the pinoys to forget about the past and preserve historical sites. haayyyy, ulit.

princep

simon (roger princep) of el orfanato! since i can't remember anything from my 12 units of spanish, i couldn't understand anything from this clip (tres tigres) as well, hehehehe! but still, i got to see this... i need to go to mcs one of these days.

dampi

kagabi, maaga kaming umalis ni madam upang hanapin ang dampi ng palad (0922-8504435, 0933-5419187, 782-2010). ayon kay chorvs, nasa mayapis ang masahihan na ito kaya't naglakad kami mula sa buendia pagkababa ng bus. 'yun pala ay lagpas sampaloc na ito, sa kanto ng aranga at mayapis.

walang ibang kliyente ang masahihan, kaya naman naisalang agad kami ni madam para sa isang oras ng hilutan at haguran. pagpasok ko, ang kasikipan ng buong establisimiyento ang una kong napansin. walang sapat na espasyo sa pagpapalit ng damit at kapag hinawi mo ang kurtina ay lababo ang bubulaga. di naman gaanong malaking isyu ito sapagkat nasanay lang siguro ako sa ibang masahihan na higit na maluwag at maayos ang loob. ngunit di rin pala sila nagbibigay ng salawal na maaari mong suutin habang minamasahe at tanging tuwalya lamang ang nasa kama. wala ring butas ang hapag para sa mukha, kaya bahala ka na kung saan mo ipapaling ang leeg mo habang humahagod ang siko't buong kamao ng masahista. bukod dito, langitngit ng kawayang hapag ang umaalingawngaw sa tuwing gagalaw ang masahista, lalo na ng pinatihaya na ako para sa masahe sa mukha at batok. bagamat malamyos ang saliw ng musika sa dampi ng palad, malayo ito sa musikang zen na nakakarelaks sa ibang masahihan. sa dampi ng palad, instrumental o minus one ng mga ballad tulad ng 'one moment in time' ang tumutugtog! hanep! kaya naman siguro 250 lang ang halaga ng isang oras na masahe dahil sa mga ito.

maayos naman ang masahe, kumbinasyon ng shiatsu at swedish. pinagtiyagaan ng masahista ang pagtiris sa lamig sa aking likod, lalo na 'yung malapit sa aking shoulder blade. may mga kakaibang hagod lamang tulad ng sa taas ng singit at kakatwang mga pagbatak sa binti at hita. bukod sa medyo masakit na likod ko, guminhawa naman ang aking pagal na mga kalamnan. ang hagod na mahalaga sa wastong daloy ng dugo sa mga biyas ay masarap at sapat.

bagamat lalakad na lang ako pauwi sa aking tahanan 'pag nagpamasahe ako sa dampi ng palad, sa huli, babalik pa rin ako sa nakasanayan kong lotus massage sa dela costa (893-0759) o leviste (211-8145) - mas higit akong narerelaks sa pabilog na hagod sa masaheng balinese o di kaya sa combi ng lotus.

memanjat

i haven't posted anything yet re my indonesia trip in march. here's one, super edited, pic. (",)

snogging

one of the lazy nights last week, i chanced upon a nickelodeon movie called Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging. with virtually nothing to watch (2010 wimbledon done and tired of sappy teleseryes), i stationed my control on hbo. upon seeing that it's a nick movie, i was a bit hesitant to watch the movie in its entirety. but when i saw that it's actually a british film, i thought that this should offer an off-tangent take on usual hollywood teen (something told me that this is a teen movie) flicks. out of curiosity on how the word snogging is actually used in elizabeth II's island, i watched the film while munching on cashew nuts.

as imdb puts it, the movie is about georgia, a 14-year-old girl who keeps a diary about the ups and downs of being a teenager, including the things she learns about kissing. her family has a dog named angus; the boy of her dreams, robbie, is going out with a teenage girl who wears thongs; and georgia's gang is bent on finding that one true perfect snogging (making out in american english).

while i won't really say the movie's a good natured fun coz of the girls' quest for perfect snogging, the movie's quite fun. while i think i'm open-minded enough, i grew up in a society where 14-year old girls are expected to be busy not with making out or being pressured to have an early relationship by their peers, so i can't really imagine my nieces having to deal with these issues at that early age. it's an altogether different setting where georgia and her gang live, so you just have to hold back cringing at the snogging idea. what i like about the movie is its overall appeal. of course, it was mainly aimed at young audience, but as john puccio of dvdtown said, "it's got enough warmth and charisma to attract a wider audience." georgia groome shines in this film, owning the role and essaying it as if she's really an ordinary girl in eastbourne. the witty lines and the usual british flair of playing with words make the movie worth watching. i guess i'm still engrossed on how the original speakers and owners of the language we call english use it and how this differ from what i'm used to hearing, american english. the movie puts forth the perpetual message of teenage angst, dealing with family matters and the quest of almost all normal teenagers - grow up fast to become adults. even seemingly trivial things like how an oblique nose can eternally ruin your chances of actually leading a happy adult life were gleefully presented. nice and enjoyable as a whole, i wish we can come up with such films, a long departure from formulaic pinoy take on teenage love affair.

Robbie: I wrote a song about you.
Georgia Nicolson: Really?
Robbie: Yeah. It's called "Bitch in Uniform".

summer

Most days of the year are unremarkable. They begin, and they end, with no lasting memories made in between. Most days have no impact on the course of a life.

- Narrator, (500) Days of Summer.

bacuit

june 2010's highlight was my return to el nido. in 2007, the trip was with mark, det, varbs and greg. this time, i went with elke, mylene, kr and joey. apart from the 6-hour van ride and regular brownouts, this town has all the plus factors. not as expensive as people might imagine, el nido boasts of bacuit archipelago, hidden beaches/ lagoons, breathtaking limestone formations, relaxing atmosphere and the overall sense of being away from manila's daily grind. budget food and accommodations are easily available and most of the resorts are now offering free wi-fi.

i'm still not sure if we'll be able to salvage our pics in pambato reef (from izhi's camera), but here are some of nice shots from el nido. (",)

we got an air philippines flight (PHP 734) to puerto princesa back in february. upon arrival at the airport, our van (660) from fort wally (contact number: 0917-2762875) was already waiting for us. we went back to puerto princesa's north terminal to fetch the rest of the passengers. after almost 2.5 hours of traveling we had a very late lunch at fort wally's resto in taytay. at almost 5:30 pm, we arrived at el nido. we checked in at Marina's, had 'budget' dinner at one of the carinderia's in calle real and booked our island hopping at kuya nath's (0926-4531106). we chose tour c (650 per head), but opted to have the small lagoon included in our trip. next day was all about islands, white sands, limestone cliffs, snorkeling, boat ride and that very nice lunch in an island all to ourselves. we headed back to el nido poblacion, just in time to refresh and get ready to travel back to puerto princesa. yes, we rented the van (kuya bert: 0919-7444286) for 1,000 per head, so that we can maximize the whole day in puerto princesa's honda bay.

next trip to el nido should include a day without anything to do but to lounge around the poblacion beach. also, tour d will be the main activity and to also include some quick visits to some of el nido's waterfalls. i don't know if i'll be able to negotiate my way atop el nido's limestone cliffs overlooking the entire town. it'll really be a huge challenge, especially without the proper climbing shoes.

i'll definitely come back! (",)

goat

with serena's wimbledon 2010 win, her 13th slam, debate on who is the greatest ever female tennis player rages on. jon wertheim's article suggested that serena can be ranked higher than graf, navratilova, court and evert, making her the greatest {player} of all time (GOAT). serena's by far the best among her batchmates but i think she still has a lot to achieve to match the four players. steve tignor sums it up with this line:

"You can’t penalize Graf and Navratilova for not making themselves good enough in their primes to beat a hypothetical future opponent."

cinemanila

amen to dad's musings re cinemanila's two funerals.


Cinemalayo
July 12, 2010, 10:37 am
Filed under: Emotisents

I’ve always loved indie movies. I love movies that tell stories without resorting to eye popping razzle dazzle effects and worse inutile dialogue (“I’m hotter than you”, belch!). Yes indie movies can sometimes try too hard to be “indie” but if you give me 200 bucks to watch another installment of THAT vampire love story (somehow vampirism and love story does not bite me, pun intended) franchise, I’ll use that money to buy pirated Lav Diaz’s movies in Quiapo instead. Diaz’s movies might’ve been full of hubris, but he makes it up with gravitas (sitting through a 12- hour Lav Diaz movie is the verbatim definition of hubris in the dictionary. Look it up.).

And so, as my preamble goes, I met Jalberti at CCP to take a dip into Filipino Indiecinephelia (such an insert word here !).

Since Cinemalaya is on its 6th year, they amped up their serving by dividing movies into various categories e.g. new breed, director showcase, shorts, etc. As if we do not know the newbies from the tandercats?! So andaming pagpipillian, what na? As usual, I have troves of theories to rely upon whenever I get into these schiznitz moments. For this one, I go by the Flock is right or your fucked theory. Meaning, one should go with the direction of the herd unless you want to be branded as pasaway. So I told Jalberti, let’s watch the movie with the longest line! Normally, Jalberti on a full stomach would raise an objection to such absurd communal theory but hunger is such a dumbing pill, he acquiesced.

So off we go to get in line for Two Funerals by Gil Portes since it had the longest line then. On hindsight, even if my theory was correct, my method was flawed since we didn’t check the other theaters if their lines were longer than ours, alas dispensa Jalberti.

Two Funerals is a (screwball) dark comedy about the mix-up of two cadavers that were victims of a bus accident in Gapan, Nueva Ecija. Since it is an indie movie, the pre-requisite good acting was present. The story was also good but as Jalberti said, it was bordering on Magical Realism already. Again, I have no compunction if a movie has elements of both, but this is an indie movie for chrissakes! An indie movie plus dark comedy plus magical realism is not only redundant, it reeks of self-indulgence! It’s like Jejemons having their own dictionary!?

Anyways, after the movie, since the director was sitting just a row below us, I clapped with the pretension of politeness (I was afraid that he might see me being haughty and slap me silly). Jalberti did not clap; he was too polite to patronize the shenanigans of direk. I admired Jalberti’s resolve at that moment.

And that was the end of our filmfest adventure. The movie drained too much from our brains that it manifested into hunger so we had an early dinner at Jubilee and then spent the rest of the afternoon discussing about poverty and “tirahan”. Topics typically spread-eagled in Cinemanila but was relatively absent on this year’s roster.

On another note, what’s with the increasing ticket prices. In 2009, it was only 120, now it’s 150. That’s around a 25% increase ha! I understand the producers need to recoup their expenses but increasing the prices somehow defeats the commercialism candor of these movies. If my math is right, 2011 prices would be at 180 level if the trend continues. Foreign film ito?

P.S. I live in Fairview. So going to CCP on a Saturday for me is malayo. As in Cinemalayo talaga (corniness and italics mine).

roja

la furia roja wins! as octopus paul correctly predicted, spain won its first ever world cup and cemented their status as one of the leading football countriees in the global stage. a single goal from andres iniesta ensured the spanish victory over netherlands' brute force.

i stayed up very late to watch the live proceedings, but fell asleep during the second half. i woke up to see studio 23 off the air and cnn was already showing live feeds of spain's triumph. from the start of aydisi's world cup game, i went with spain to be the champions, while portugal as runner-up. germany settled for the 3rd place, so i got 2 out of 3, not bad!

ayala

this post is grouped under travel... but the place is just behind ayala triangle. i've been working in makati for almost a decade now, but i haven't ventured in this green section at the center of concrete jungle called makati, until after we had dinner at conti's greenbelt a couple of months back. so true to form, click mode kicked in immediately and thanks to mabel, we have these pics! (",)

masterful

as spain defeats the young team of germany in the semis of the world cup, here's peter bodo's little ode to wimbledon 2010 champion, that mallorcan kid named rafael nadal.

Lads in London
...
As for Rafa Nadal, well, what can you say?

It just doesnt matter if its grass, hard or clay.

The Spaniards a genius, a masterful stud,

Who fights like no other when hes out for blood.

He believed in himself and defended his crown;

He covered the court, chasing everything down.

As he fell to the grass, the crowd cheered with joy;

They cant get enough of this jubilant boy.

...
And wait for the day Rafael plays Serena.

wimby

walang paglagyan ang aking tuwa ng mga bandang alas-11 ng gabi kagabi! bakit?! nanalo lang naman ng kanyang pangalawang wimbledon si rafael nadal! pangwalong slam niya ito, pangalawang beses sa kanyang karera na napanalunan niya ang magkasunod na french open at wimbledon. numero uno siya sa pandaigdig na rank at lumawig pa ang lamang sa pumapangalawang si novak djokovic.

tulad ng aking nakagawian kapag may laban si rafa, di ako nanonood ng live. minamalas yata ang laro niya sa tuwing makikita ko ang laban. kaya naman pinagtiyagaan ko ang 17 again ni zac efron sa hbo dahil matumal ang magagandang palabas nitong gabing ito.

sabi ng mga eksperto, malaki ang tsansa ni tomas berdych na manalo ng kanyang unang slam, lalo na't di pipitsugin ang mga tinalo nito sa mga naunang round, djokovic sa semis at federer sa quarters. marami-rami rin ang mga errors ni rafa sa laban nila ni berdych, di tulad ng manalo siya kay murray sa semis. ngunit, di napayuko ni berdych ang anumang service games ni rafa at higit sa lahat ay nanaig si rafa sa lahat ng higit na importanteng mga puntos. sa bawat panalo ni rafa, madalas ay nagpapaumanhin ito sa kanyang katunggali sa laban at tunay na hinahangad na magtagumpay din ang sinumang natalo sa nalalabi pang buwan ng 2010 season.

US open na lang at mukukumpleto na ang kanyang koleksyon. sana manalo na siya sa new york at manatiling malusog at malayo sa anumang pinsala sa katawan. vamos rafa!

negrense

i spent the past 3 days in bacolod for our data gathering. even during june 30, a special holiday, i had 2 meetings. but before the usual late afternoon rains came, i was able to squeeze quick trip to bacolod's nearby cities, talisay and silay on that day.

when you're in negros occidental, they say that you really need to see the ruins in talisay city. this mansion, built by don mariano ledesma lacson was torched during WWII by the USAFFE so that the japanese won't be able to use it as their headquarter. entrance was 4o pesos for non-negrenses and i'm glad that i saw it. again, the rains came, so i wasn't able to see it during sunset.

silay city is known as negros' paris. with heritage houses lined up in the city center and all well-maintained, it can be compared to vigan. the difference i guess is silay's heritage houses are much 'younger', most were probably built in late 1800s and silay's heritage houses are usually usually fenced inside a traditional mansion-type alta sociedad villas. picture below (left) is the ancestral house of former rep. teddy boy locsin's family.

of course, i got an everyday sampling of negros' chicken inasal. while walking around bacolod, i also tried their very own sinugba (no picture) and ilonggo dinuguan.

bacolod and its nearby cities are not hurried despite their economic progress, much to my liking. not much traffic, except in front of robinson's place and the people are really nice. it's a place to go to if you want to get that city-style relaxation without the usual urban rush. since it has a lot to offer aside from these heritage houses, i hope that next time, i get to see more of negros. (",)