self-centered

my blog entry titles lack creativity. better work on that...someday

am i self-centered? yes i am. very self-centered. but not because im self-centered means im selfish. i care about other people's welfare and i can be selfless from time to time. i think being selfish is more of an external act while being self-centered is more of an internal thing. not mutually exclusive though. the external act could be a reflection of one's state of mind and the internal...ummm...whatchamacallit may manifest in the external world. point is, just writing this blog entry just shows im self-centered. i could be writing about the presidential pardon given to Estrada. i have a degree in political science and im a law student, i should be affected by it and should be giving some thought on this news item. well, since i brought this topic up, might as well talk a little about it (just a little because i am writing about how self-centered i am. actually not really. it just so happens i cant sleep and i felt like writing about my being self-centered). where was i? oh yeah, the presidential pardon. i have nothing against giving Estrada the presidential pardon as long as Arroyo has a good reason for it. and for me, reconciliation and unity really isnt enough to qualify as a good and jutifiiable reason to give a presidential pardon at this moment. but then again, who am i to say that isnt enough, im not the one sitting in Malacanang feeling the pressure (or fully knowledgeable of the consequences. its not like everything we see on TV is really "everything" or really true). Arroyo cites similar situations regarding pardon in other countries but not because other countries did it means we should follow it. but then again, Estrada's been in detention for six years. so what? well, that is a long time isnt it? but it seems its too soon to give the presidential pardon. it makes the Estrada trial look like a big joke. after six long years of trial, he's free after conviction (so Estrada's lawyer should have opted to finish the trial as soon as possible and not let it extend for six years. but then again (again), maybe thats why the pardon was given, its been six years of detention before conviction). Was there even confiscation of the money plundered? maybe i should read the papers before reacting, the answers might be there. i mean, im not really updated on every detail.

why did i write about my being self-centered? i forgot. the Estrada topic distracted me. long enough to make me forget what i intended to write about. which just shows that i have a short attention span. i think. wait, i got it. im self-centered because im too absorbed and wrapped up in myself. thats it? not really. i lost my train of thought with regard to this topic. isnt this res ipsa loquitur? shouldnt be citing latin terms. im not good with using latin maxims. anyway, to support my self-centeredness, i think the next two blog entries would help. why would i want to be self-centered? because i am and i dont think there's anything bad about it. as long as it doesnt go beyond pissing people off...from time to time. besides, its not like i uncontrollably manifest my self-centeredness. i dont go around saying im such a great person. not the greatest but great nonetheless. nor do i tell people im better off not having good looks because if i was goddamn handsome, i wont notice the other people around me. wait, im not describing a self-centered person, im describing a jackass. im not yet willing to admit im a jackass.

tristan thorn

Tristan is a shy and somewhat awkward young man who can't help but feel that he doesn't belong in the Village of Wall. He dreams of traveling the world and reinventing himself, but most of all he dreams of Victoria Forester: the prettiest girl in the village. (from an article on tristan thorn in wikipedia)

holy fucking crap. after reading the sentence above, i just felt uneasy and a bit dizzy. i dont exactly know why but thats what i felt. did i feel its me? or the description fits me? i dont know. im not really shy, and i dont really use awkward to describe myself but somehow, i would say its close enough. maybe a first impression perhaps. about the feeling of not belonging, of traveling and reinventing one's self sort of hits the target. and of all the names, it had to be Victoria. if only people knew how much the name Victoria means to me. ive fallen in love with the name for 10 years now (maybe more, i know its late 90s. and thats probably why i started to like names that begins with the letter V). and i have a thing for liking the prettiest. just pretty isnt enough. tsk. i dont know if i can change that.

i just watched Stardust a few hours ago and i wont even think im like Tristan Thorn, but well, for some reason, i ended up reading a Wikipedia entry on him (ended up, so i didnt really purposely searched for it on wikipedia, i just saw a clickable link on Tristan Thorn and clicked on it) and well, the part i copied above sort of, well, caught my attention. now im interested in buying Neil Gaiman's novel. or maybe look for someone who has a copy and just borrow it. or maybe look for it in a book sale shop (i saw some of The Sandman comics in a book sale of some sort).

the movie Stardust didnt really catch my attention until i learned there's a character named Tristan (either im just self-centered or im just self-centered. i didnt even know he was the main character until i watched the movie). i dont think ive seen the movie's trailer either. and not knowing it was an adaptation of Neil Gaiman's novel, the movie name Stardust isnt that appealing to me. the word Stardust sounds like a dance show. or an alternative title to Will Ferell's Blades of Glory. anyway, i liked the movie. maybe it ranks fourth, next to 50 First Dates (just saw 50 First Dates last monday in Burger King) Stranger Than Fiction and Transformers. but then again, all of these movies belong to different genres so when it comes to fantasy films, it might rank first. or in live-action fantasy film category because the usual fantasy films i like are anime films. not really much of a "fantasy" type of guy. although i enjoy it i still prefer sci-fi. i would have loved the movie Stardust, even if it was purely a fantasy film, if Yvaine was Rachael Leigh Cook (or maybe Keira Knightley or Winona Ryder). Claire Danes isnt bad but im not much into Claire Danes. she has a nice name though.

rain

thank God for the rain! i love it when it rains. not that im only happy when it rains because its not impossible for me to be happy on a non-rainy day but a rainy day (or a rainy night more especially) most likely cheers me up or at least puts me in a good mood. of course that doesnt mean i wont be in a bad mood when its raining but somehow, the rain does help in improving my mood (most of the time). maybe its because of the cold weather it brings. also, im not talking about heavy rains. obviously. that would be heartless of me to want heavy rains because of the destructive nature of such rains. but then again i am heartless but not to the point of being inconsiderate with other people's welfare. people lose not only property but also lives with extremely heavy rain. and there is a difference between the two, being heartless and being considerate. they are not mutually exclusive. i mean, i could be heartless because i dont have pity nor feelings of sympathy or compassion but that doesnt mean i cant be considerate. for me, being considerate is more of a rational act. i see it as a knowledge of the needs and feelings of other people and taking that into consideration in one's actions or in making decisions.

going back to the topic, im talking about light to moderate rain or a simple drizzle. lately, it rains whenever i step out of a building, whether it be at home or in school. of course, there are times its a bit annoying because the rain is too heavy to walk under. i prefer rains thats not strong enough to get a person too wet.

i noticed that other people are "afraid" to get wet. sometimes its a very light rain and they still have to grab their umbrellas. i rarely use my umbrella. i only bring one so that i have something to use in case of "emergencies". what are these "emergencies"? if i have paper to submit (which is already due or on the day of the deadline of course, because its really extremely rare or as far as im concerned, really unheard of, for someone to submit a paper or a requirement a day before the deadline) and all of a sudden God decides to put up an "obstacle course". it suddenly rains very hard and there's no taxi in sight for almost an hour. i have to ride a jeepney but the jeepney that takes the easiest/quickest route is also unavailable. so i have to ride several jeepneys instead. and all throughout, it was raining really really hard. an umbrella would come really handy so that my paper wont be a soggy piece of crap when i submit it. why dont i just print it in school? well, God decides to make things more difficult. there was a blackout one hour before the deadline. so i have no option but to bring the hardcopy i already have. another example of an emergency is when it starts to rain really hard and you see a pretty girl that despite the hotness she possesses, cant make the rain evaporate before it hits her beautiful skin and she has no where to run to. so the umbrella would come in handy to rescue her from getting wet. but if it was only a light rain, dont bother. it wont kill her. if she cant stand light rain, she doesnt deserve to be rescued from it. i mean, how weak can a person be not to take a drizzle? ok, fine. maybe some people are too delicate to handle even the weakest of raindrops but still a little rain shouldnt hurt. thats why i rarely use my umbrella unless its really necessary. how about getting sick? maybe ive caught the cold from time to time because of walking in the rain but most of the time, i dont. so, why not walk in the rain? if its because its wet, then thats what i dont get. so what if its wet? maybe i just worry too less.

another thing i like about the rain is its disruptive nature. it disrupts the life of the unprepared. if you are commuting and it rains and you dont have an umbrella, sometimes you find yourself in a place you didnt plan to be or you get delayed. it disrupts the ordinary course of things, for those who didnt take into consideration the possibility of rain. sometimes the rain could make a person spend more either in terms of money (take the taxi instead or eat in a fastfood and wait for the rain to stop or buy an umbrella) or in terms of time (if you are stranded, you have to use your time for something else or well, waste it if there's nothing productive that can be done). so the rain is a disruption of the daily routine or the ordinary course or daily life of the people within the society or particular area who didnt have the rain and its effects in their plan for the day. why do i like it? well, because the disruption makes people stop and think for a while. i mean, if a person is too absorbed in what he is supposed to do or is in too deep in his daily routine, the rain most of the time is effective in breaking that person's routine and makes him think for a while what to do or reconsider stuff. its like a break from the monotony of daily life. of course, if it rains very often, a day with no rain would have the same effect. but since days with no rain is more of the norm, rainy days have more of the effect of being a break from the monotony of daily life. also, the disruption could be of such magnitude that could change the course of one's life. like i said, the rain could send a person to place he didnt intend to be (or be prevented from going to a place he intends to be) or the rain could take one's time and spend it for some other thing (like one's time is re-allocated suddenly).

so aside from the nice weather it brings, the rain is really an interesting thing.

october has landed

ock as in doc ock (short for doctor octopus, one of the famous villains in marvel comics, specifically, enemy of spider-man), tow as in tow truck and bur as in burlap (a cloth of some sort). put them together and we have, ocktowbur.

whenever i hear october, i remember 50 First Dates. why? because there was a part in the movie where Lucy Whitmore was insisting it was october and the way she said it somehow got "etched" in my mind. ock-tow-bur. its like whenever i hear bruce willis, its like being asked to complete a sentence. bruce willis? is a ghost! some people complained about this one. they said the movie spoiled The Sixth Sense.

anyway, i was in the mall a few hours ago (as usual) to eat dinner and check the prices of coffee makers. and when i reached the basement, i was a bit surprised that on the first day of october, the mall was already selling christmas trees and christmas decors and playing christmas songs. this was done only in the basement so the "christmassy" (most likely this word doesnt exist but if does, i might have spelled it wrong) atmosphere wont be felt in the entire mall. i was just there last saturday and as far as i remember, those trees of western origin werent there. so i guess starting to sell stuff for the christmas season was scheduled this first day of october (unless they started it yesterday, september 30. i didnt go to the mall yesterday). why am i making a big deal out of it? its just i didnt even feel september that much. i mean, august as always was unforgettable but i couldnt remember what stuff happened last september. and now its october already and the mall is making people realize christmas is coming. its another year coming to an end! time flies even if youre not having fun. time flies also for those who need a lot of it.

thats it? yep. i just wanted to blog about seeing christmas trees as early as the first day of october. i know i shouldnt be surprised since i think the christmas season starts this early in this country (i think) but, well, i was still surprised that the malls are preparing for the christmas season.

i think im in a tragedy

just watched Stranger Than Fiction (on video) yesterday starring Will Ferrell, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Emma Thompson and Dustin Hoffman. i thought it was a comedy because its a Will Ferrell movie. so i was a bit surprised when the guy in Video City told me it was in the drama section when i asked if they had a copy of the movie. and the reason i thought of renting it was because i saw its trailer in one of the videos i rented (i watch the trailers so i know which movies to rent next). and after watching the movie, i cant believe i didnt notice this movie when it was released in cinemas (but i watched the piece of crap of a movie Pathfinder. since then, i research on the movie before watching it). i checked IMDb and it said it was just released last January 24. where was i then? why didnt i notice this movie? obviously, i loved Stranger than Fiction after watching it on video.

although its not really a comedy, Will Ferrell's character is fun to watch and to a certain extent funny but he doesnt ruin the seriousness that the movie is supposed to have. i mean, all he has to do is be this plain guy with a plain life. but of course, his life became interesting when all of a sudden he hears the voice of a person narrating his life and realizes that he might be a character in a story. the thing is, i think the idea of this movie is very original because i havent seen anything like it. there might be similar ones or similar themes but not close enough to really think that this movie is like this movie or worse its a rip off of another movie.

the character Will Ferrell played reminded me of me, in a shallow sense of course. i dont hear a voice narrating my life but i also counted brush strokes but not the same number as his brush strokes. i wear my wrist watch on my right wrist and i also have an attachment to my wristwatch. and when i watched the movie, my wristwatch just stopped the day before. also, im pretty much a solitary type of guy (which is different from a loner. im both). thats it. its really shallow similarities.

also, the movie gave me a way of explaining my life (of course not in its entirety because im not harold crick/will ferrell's character). before i dont know how to put into words the explanation why i live my life. but somehow the movie was able to state it in a way thats a bit of an appropriate description. so here it is: my life is lived in a way that i refuse to let the plot continue because i might be in a tragedy and not a comedy. of course, the only way of finding out is by taking the next step. and thats just it, i dont want to take the next step until i get an idea where i am exactly. not that im worried of the ending. regardless of whether its a comedy or a tragedy, the ending isnt something to worry about. its how you get there, especially if its a tragedy. its what happens before the ending that worries me. so thats why i dont complain (not much) that im "stuck" in this part of my life because i intentionally refuse to let the plot unfold. or at least let the plot move slower than its supposed to be, to the point it might not be attuned to the rest of what its supposed to be connected with. the movie didnt cover this part of my life that could put into words the idea i have which is somehow related to my own understanding of karma.

Quotes from the movie:

This is a story about a man named Harold Crick and his wristwatch. Harold Crick was a man of infinite numbers, endless calculations, and remarkably few words. And his wristwatch said even less. Every weekday, for twelve years, Harold would brush each of his thirty-two teeth seventy-six times. Thirty-eight times back and forth, thirty-eight times up and down. Every weekday, for twelve years, Harold would tie his tie in a single Windsor knot instead of the double, thereby saving up to forty-three seconds. His wristwatch thought the single Windsor made his neck look fat, but said nothing. - Kay Eiffel as the Narrator

Anarchists have a group?...They assemble?...Wouldn't that completely defeat the purpose? - Ana Pascal

What is wrong with you? Hey, I don't want to eat nothing but pancakes, I want to live! I mean, who in their right mind in a choice between pancakes and living chooses pancakes? - Harold Crick

Little did he know. That means there's something he doesn't know, which means there's something you don't know, did you know that? - Dr. Hilbert

caffeine got my tongue

i dont know exactly when or how it started but i suddenly became a coffee addict. what i know is that it started with me buying coffee in the mall. on which coffee shop, i cant remember. since then, i got hooked. again.

years ago i also got addicted to coffee but that was instant coffee. i remember that i would always buy them coffee packets and use 2-3 at a time. so im not really drinking a cup of coffee, i was drinking a mug of coffee. although i buy cold ones in coffee shops, most of the time, it was instant coffee. the reason the addiction didnt last long was because the caffeine gave me headaches (i think its the caffeine because the decaf ones dont bother me). and once the effect of the coffee wears off, i get extremely drowsy. also, the reason i drank coffee was because i needed something to keep me awake or at least keep me alert.

now, im addicted not to instant coffee but to "coffee shop" coffee. i usually order cappuccino because thats whats usually available. and i only order hot coffee, unlike before where i order cold drinks whenever i buy something from coffee shops. and i dont like instant coffee anymore because the reason i drink coffee now is because of the taste and not because i need something to keep me alert. and having tasted different coffees from different coffee shops, ive realized how inferior instant coffees are when it comes to taste.

i think its been a month now since i got addicted to coffee. of course i did my research on the harmful effects of drinking too much coffee so i try not to abuse or drink too much of it. besides, im prone to hyperacidity. i still get headaches but not as bad as before. i only have very mild ones which are really very slight discomforts. the drowy effects is still there though. once the effect of the coffee wears off, i become extremely sleepy. and whenever i wake up in the morning, i still feel the extreme drowsiness. not sure if my body will adapt to that (no longer feel drowsy after a few hours when the caffeine wears off). i hope it will but i sort of doubt it. not sure if it can be changed by mere state of mind. and im not sure if im going to stop drinking coffee in the next few weeks.

also, ive learned how to drink hot coffee, like learning how to eat sisig. since both of them are served hot, chances are, if the person is not careful, he or she will burn his or her tongue. in the case of sisig, it took some time before i learned how to eat it. since im the type who eats quickly, i get annoyed when i have to wait before i can put the food in my mouth. so i was a bit pissed with eating sisig because its one of my favorite dishes and i cant eat it right away. so, the trick with it is not eating it on the sizzling plate or not having the rice on the sizzling plate (because some serve sisig with the rice in the sizzling plate, so you dont only get a sizzling hot sisig, you also get a sizzling hot rice which takes some time to cool down). its common sensical but it took a lot of burnt tongue before i realized that. so i frequented only those places that serve sisig with rice not placed in the sizzling plate. as for coffee, i had to wait for a few minutes to let it cool down before placing the cover. because i started with drinking it through the cover right after i add the sugar. and with the cover on, you dont get to see the coffee and the next thing you know, youve sipped enough coffee to burn your tongue. thats irritating because it doesnt only affect drinking the coffee but the subsequent meals for the next few days. so although common sensical, it took me a few 2-3 coffees before i realized that i shouldnt cover my coffee right away after adding the sugar. i should let it cool down a bit and once i get the right temperature so i wont scald my tongue, thats when i replace the cover and thats when i start drinking it.

sometimes i give too much thought on things people dont even find significant. like the daily commute for example. commuting is a science as sitting is an art.

poor memory makes brilliant ideas go to waste.

i just hate it when the thought that im supposed to blog about just escapes me. ok. i dont think the phrase "escapes me" is that appropriate. and the statement doesnt seem to be that sound. anyway, i was already trying to sleep, since i went to bed early. then i just felt like i had to blog about this thought running in my head. so i got up, switched the PC on and when i was already connected to the internet, the thought was gone. by the time i was logged in my Blogger account, i couldnt even find a trace of that thought. i hate it when that happens. and it happens a lot. if only i could write the thoughts in my head the moment im really in the mood to write it, i could have written a lot more blog entries than what i just blogged last month (and i could have written the real blog entries i wanted to write since what i write most of the time are merely brainless articles that are devoid of value and significance. well, not completely. it still serves as a record of my thoughts but they really arent ideas or significant thoughts that has more worth than just mere memory aids). im thinking of buying a notepad and a pen so i could write it down whenever and wherever a thought strikes in my head. but i dont think that will happen. ive been meaning to have my right knee checked but its been months and well, im still clueless if there's something wrong with it.

finally! here's some cake

ive been trying to upload this video i made when i was...well, procrastinating. ive been trying to upload it for a week! the file size was too big so i had to convert it into different video formats. the smallest file size i had was in flash video format but unfortunately, video hosting sites do not support such format. and uploading it with the usual mpeg format was always unsuccessful probably because of the file size and my intermittent connection. well, big thanks to vimeo.com, which is really good in uploading videos with big file sizes, i was finally able to upload this video (i think i used a divx video format). well, its a song by cake (short skirt, long jacket) and then i added a bunch of desktop wallpapers. i was planning to upload the song on multiply when i thought, its a bit boring without watching anything. although its a nice song to listen to, i would like to see something or watch something with it. so i thought of adding some wallpapers. so there.



cake1 from anubz and Vimeo.

edit

i think i better edit my blog entries before i post them. just read the preceding entry and there are grammatical errors. sometime the thought changes in mid sentence and i dont read the sentence again in its entirety. so i end up with awkward sentences. ill edit someday. not tonight. i need to sleep and i have to force myself to be busy for the next few days to make-up for the lost time caused by the suspension of classes.

death

why are people scared of death? its a once in a lifetime experience and its probably the best thing that could happen to a person. i mean, we start dying the moment we are born. its just a question of when death will come for us. its never really a question of where or how. its always when. but people dont want to ask when. its always how or where or worst, why. why would you ask why? why would i want to think of death? why do i have to die? why are people scared of death? i just asked that. so why? is it because of the fear of not being part of the world of the living? is it because you're going to be detached from your loved ones? is it because you will cease to exist? is it because there might be nothing on the other side? is it merely fear of the unknown? my answer to that is, so what? whats so great about this world that people want to live long lives? we have global warming, crime, pollution and a million other stuff thats not really good to live with. why is life worth living? because of one's family, friends, and other loved ones? why do people hold on so much for their dear lives? because there's so much to experience in this world? the fear of the death might be caused of the pain it brings to the people left behind by the deceased. but if thats the root of the fear, then death is only painful to the living and not the dead. so the person thats going to die shouldnt be scared of it. but thats being insensitive to the people he or she will leave behind. and that couldnt be the only explanation for the fear that people have of death. but that might explain why some people can face death easily. the dying arent really the ones who's going to feel the full impact of death. its the living. if death truly means ceasing to exist, then the previous statement is true. why? the person's dead. how can he feel death? some people might fear death just because it detaches them from the world of the living. they think there's so many things they would like to do and people they would like to be with. death is an obstacle to those things and people. so they dont want death to come knocking yet. but most people dont realize these in their daily lives until death makes it presence felt in their minds. usually, death does this through doctors who can be seen as messengers of death. as messengers, they make approximations how far you are from death. if youre healthy, then youre as far as possible from death given that no accidents or other unusual circumstances happen. if youre sick, it depends on the illness. point is, death may pass the message to doctors to tell people that time is running out. people may fear and ignore death all they want but they cant deny the fact that death will come eventually. sometimes its a good thing to hear death through doctors. at least you get a head up. you prepare for the inevitable. accidents are just tragic and violent. anyway, as i was asking, whats with all this fear of death business? i think the current social norm is to keep death at bay as long as possible. ok, nothing wrong with that as long as we dont fear death.sometimes fearing something causes misconceptions and well, disrespect. i think its disrespectful to fear death. i mean, why dont we fear time? isnt time and death intertwined? like i said, its really a question of when. so its like death and time are good buddies only that time is a much bigger than death. its like death merely rides along time. death is dependent on time but not vice versa. time can exist without death. but death needs time to fulfill its purpose. so, why dont we fear time when time brings along death with it? is it because of the nature of death? its not time that ends life, its death. so we respect time but fear death just because it takes away thats merely given to us. be it religion or science, both fields agree that life is merely temporary. so why are people deeply bothered by the thought of death and they feel immensely bad or fear if death is near? theres a lot of factors of course but theres got to be a very good and convincing answer for this question. what is it? i dont know. it just so happens that i was reminded of this question a while ago. and i really think that death or knowing death, acknowledging it, respecting it, is much better than trying to push it away, keeping it at bay and being afraid of it.

i just hate this month

i hate august. just got called for nego again and wasnt able to answer. how nice. i wouldnt mind if i didnt study. problem was i did. crap. at least i was able to say something as opposed to the last time where my mind just went absolutely blank. the only thing flashing in my mind during that recitation was Cebu. but thats only the name of the case. how the crap can the word Cebu help me in my recitation. as for a while ago, i really couldnt recall the details of the case. all i had was a general idea, very general idea, of the case. that wont even lead me anywhere. and to make things worse, i cant understand where my recitation was heading. fucking crap. maybe its my blood illness acting up. its affecting my memory retention and retrieval. its slowing down my brain functions. ok, blame the illness. when i took the LAE interview a few years ago, i had a high fever. but did use it as an excuse? no. i still went to that interview even if i wasnt feeling well. i couldnt even stand the air-conditioning so i stayed outside the room while i was waiting for my turn. got waitlisted for that. i was stuttering during the interview and i had a hard time thinking. but that didnt stop me and i didnt blame my fever for getting waitlisted. so i wont blame the sucky recitation on my blood illness. besides, its only a probability. so am i blaming it on august instead? not really. but i am thinking that its not surprising that my recitations suck this month. august is the month that always gives me a hard time. not that my recitations are good but my recent recitations are the worst for this semester. and im kind of hoping that by the time august ends, i get to recite without my mind going blank or taking years for me to retrieve the answer in my head. and its not a self-fulfilling prophecy either. i dont think im going to have a sucky recit because its august. i just remind myself that its august after the stupid recitation. so its more of an afterthought really. and i dont condition my mind that just because its august mean im going to get sucky recits. i just tell myself that i should try harder and if that doesnt work, its august after all. so i do try to change things but well, sometimes, no matter how much i try, there are things that just wont change...yet.

Transformers in IMAX theaters!

The Transformers movie will be shown in IMAX theaters on September 21 with additional footage! Now, im not sure if it meant IMAX theaters worldwide or IMAX theaters including the one in SM Mall of Asia (the second IMAX theater is said to be being built on SM North Edsa, on what used to be SM North Annex Building, and is scheduled to be finished by 2008) but if it includes our local IMAX theater then im still going to see it (i hope i get to see it. i mean, there's such a thing as force majeure). Watching the Transformers movie on TV isn't the same as watching it in theaters (for me anyway). It might not be in 3D (since it never mentioned IMAX 3D. i used to think when a movie is shown in IMAX theaters, it meant the movie is in 3D. i was wrong) but at least it has additional footage. I was planning to watch the Transformers movie for one last time before they stopped showing it in cinemas but an old guy scared me before i even bought the ticket.

As for the Voltron movie, some might think its corny to make a movie out of it. It would probably look like a Power Rangers movie. Like Transformers, it may also be a robot movie but its a robot that...umm..well, "volts in". I mean, which is cooler, "transforming" robots or robots that "volt in"? Some said a Transformers movie was idiotic but they're not complaining now after they saw the movie. I get the point that the Voltron movie might turn out to be a lame idea but i just hope that it wont turn out to be something more of a Power Rangers movie with better special effects. It probably wont suck as some people think (i hope). i mean, i did love watching Bioman and Maskman when i was a kid. but that doesnt mean im going to like a Voltron movie made that way unless i wanted to see a comedy or a spoof of robot cartoons/tv series.i guess it depends on whether they can make the necessary changes (like the changes they made in the Transformers movie) or making a well-made film adaptation to make the Voltron movie really look good. wait, isnt that the point of everything, in making this movie? Anyway, there are also plans to make a Thundercats movie (not sure if this was given a go signal already, read this news a month ago, i think). I think this one wont be a live-action version but more of a CGI movie like the TMNT movie.


More info on Transformers in IMAX:
joblo.com
comingsoon.net

IMAX on SM North

suspension of classes

i dont know if its weird but lately, im not really happy when classes are suspended. like now, classes were suspended and i really didnt feel relieved or glad to hear the news. and theres also an announcement that classes are suspended again tomorrow. i see it more of as a bad news than good news. im hoping that were not covered by the suspension, but thats highly unlikely. i cant exactly say why i dont like these suspensions. one reason i can think of is the make-up classes we have to schedule in lieu of the missed classes. thats just it, the classes are merely suspended. it does not mean we wont have the same number of classes, it merely moves it to another date. so, in effect, it just disrupts the normal schedule. of course, a suspension of classes here and there would be nice because it can serve as a much needed break from the daily law classes. but i just dont like these "erratic" suspensions. besides, there are two holidays coming up. so there's a lot of "free" days to take a break. these suspensions are not whimsical of course. im being inconsiderate and very narrow-minded if i see these suspesions that way. there are legitimate reasons behind these suspensions and there are people that are badly in need of such because they are negatively affected by the weather. its just, im not really happy that classes are suspended. another reason is that, maybe i just dont like staying at home. i just need to be somewhere else, even getting stuck in the law library. i hope the law library is open tomorrow. i would go there no matter how strong the rains are. not that im being nerdy (although thats my aim this semester. one of our professor's got a point. if we dont develop good study habits now, there's no point continuing our law studies because its just bound to get harder. and i havent really exerted as much effort as other law students do), its just im more productive outside our house. its more enjoyable to be anywhere than our place. maybe im growing tired of our home.

comic books

the prices of comic books havent changed substantially. its still around P165. if i remember correctly, thats the price (somewhere around P165) of the marvel v dc comics i bought, i think, ten years ago.

i used to collect comic books, mostly marvel comics. im not much of a fan of DC comics. the only DC character i like is batman. as for marvel, ive always been a fan of the Xmen. not much of spiderman until the movies came out but by that time, ive stopped collecting comic books. why did i stop? well, because all of my collection vanished into thin air. ok, maybe not thin air. ok, not vanished too. my collection was borrowed from me and all of it werent returned. and from that point, i just felt that everything ive done, all those years of collecting, just went down the drain. i just lost interest in collecting comic books.

it wasnt cheap to collect comic books, even if i dont buy the expensive ones. i remember that my mother always accompanied me when i bought comic books. she was always patient with me when i bought these comic books because looking for the comic books i was collecting took some time. i had to rummage through stacks or bundles of comic books. usually, this was our last stop whenever we go to cubao before we headed home. i usually bought my comics from filbars ali mall (which is no longer there or no longer exist, the ali mall branch of filbars i mean) but sometimes my mother would tell me she saw some comic books on other stores with books sales and so we would go there. sometimes i find something i like, sometimes i dont. anyway, she sort of encouraged my comic book collecting. i remember that my mother always tells me to limit the number of comics i buy each time (maximum of five i think) and that my mother wouldnt allow me to buy any comic book more than a total P100.

in school, i had friends who also collected comic books. i remember sharing stories and i think trading comics with manuel and clemen. comic books were always one of the things we usually talk about and it also enticed us to draw. although it wasnt the comic books that made me interested in drawing, it encouraged me to make drawing as a hobby. but when i lost all of my comic book collection, i sort of stopped drawing too. i just lost interest in drawing because ive associated it with comic book characters. i stopped collecting because i felt that all the time and money spent went to waste.

i still pass by comic book stores, checking what ive missed over the years. im not sure if ill ever collect comic books again. i feel im already out of touch with the recent developments in the comic book industry and its a bit of a hassle to update myself or adjust to the changes.

portalets and urinals

the first time ive used a portalet is when my brother took the UPCAT. i wouldnt want to use it at first but since all the restrooms in buildings are inaccessible i had no choice. i really had to take a piss. after i used it, it wasnt that bad but its wasnt good either. and when my sister also felt that she had to use the restroom an hour later, i felt that the portalet wont do so i accompanied her to kalayaan hall. why didnt i think of that earlier? well, it was easier to convince the guard since she's a girl as opposed to a guy since i thnk the lady guard would have been hesitant to let me use kalayaan hall's restroom. but thats merely an assumption. and since the topic is about the portalet and taking a leak, might as well talk about the first time i used MMDA's pink urinals. it was three years ago, and i was out with some of my blockmates (i think it was nikki, jen and mark) and just came from angelo's party at his place. while nikki was driving us to go to where she will drop us, i just had this need to take a leak and told nikki i really had to go. i wont be able to hold it very long. so when i saw the pink urinal at the side of the road, i was just so glad that MMDA had these things. i told nikki to stop by the urinal and there i relieved myself. they were laughing when i came back because i really couldnt hold it and really had to go. its not really a good place to take a piss but well, its still very useful and convenient when you really have to take a leak.

but it seems that the MMDA has neglected these urinals recently. so, they're more unsanitary than before, and the awful stench of urine is unbearable for passers-by. given this current condition, well, if the need to use them arises, might go for the wall than the pink urinals.

movies im going to see

Another live-action robot movie:

after transformers, the next cartoon robot that will be made into a live-action film is...voltron! remember the intro? if you dont, its posted below (cant find a copy of the voltron theme). so will this be as awesome as the transformers movie? well, we cant tell yet but if they make the voltron robot as realistic as the transformers and the fight sequences as spectacular as the battle between the autobots and decepticons, then this movie could be as good, hopefully better. and good thing they chose the lion force over the vehicle voltron (not sure what this other voltron is called). but it would be nice if the vehicle voltron could make a cameo.

more info on Voltron movie on joblo.com:
http://www.joblo.com/voltron-joining-forces


two new marvel heroes hitting the big screen: Iron Man and Thor

ok, the Iron Man movie has already been in production for some time now, so its not really new. but there is a new cool pic of the live-action version of IronMan said to be based from a comic book cover. the Iron Man armor looks great. the movie is scheduled to be released May next year (USA, not sure for Philippines. If its considered as a blockbuster like Spiderman, the Philippines would have an earlier release date.im still waiting for Adam Sandler's Reign Over Me which was released in the US last March 23. no idea if this movie will be released here). the other marvel movie to be released next year is The Incredible Hulk, starring Edward Norton as Bruce Banner and Liv Tyler as Betty Ross. not sure if Norton is really Bruce Banner material. this casting reminds me of Nicolas Cage as Johhny Blaze.

here's the link of the cool Iron Man pose:
http://www.joblo.com/new-iron-man-pic

the other new marvel hero to be made into a live-action flick is Thor, the Norse God of thunder and war which will be directed by Matthew Vaughn (never heard this guy before but he directed Layer Cake and Stardust, and i havent seen both). this one scheduled to be released on 2009 and im not sure which other marvel movie this one is paired with (since it was announced that there will be two marvel movies each year. forgot where i read this or got this idea. maybe it will be paired with Magneto which is also set to be released on 2009). i wonder if there are plans to make a Dirk Gently movie, another book by Douglas Adams (the author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which is a book said to be the most useful and reliable book in the universe). Thor was one of the characters on the second Dirk Gently book.

more Thor info:
http://www.joblo.com/vaughn-takes-thor
http://news.yahoo.com/s/eonline/20070810/en_industry_eo/b9372a87_b4254019_afb0_66957e536f95

lets talk about restrooms

i noticed that some female students in malcolm use the male's restroom. why? because the set-up in the building is, for all three floors, all the male restrooms are on one side while the female restrooms are on the other side. so if one unfortunately ends up on the opposite side of the appropriate restroom, you have to walk a considerable distance just to answer the call of nature and then walk that same considerable distance again just to get back to the room. not really convenient. thats why some female students who end up on the "wrong" side of the building use the male restrooms, specifically, the one for male faculty members. well, i dont think guys have a problem with girls using our restrooms. we dont really get scandalized when we enter the restroom and see a girl in there. actually, its the opposite, its the girl thats alarmed when the guy sees her use the guy's restroom, as if she was caught red-handed, and a bit embarassed to have been caught. she looked as if she wasnt expecting a guy walk in. i forgot to mention, the male faculty restroom is an enclosed cubicle, so that theres no way of knowing if someone's in there if the door is closed. so, its really "safe" for girls to use the guy's restroom. they dont have to worry about perverts since the only way a pervert could see the girl using the restroom is if she forgets to close the door which is highly unlikely, if not impossible, or if a guy climbs on the sink and look over the wall (and that would be a sure indication the guy is pervert because he would have to go great lengths for a useless peek). so guy restrooms could actually be unisex restrooms as long as theyre not only urinals. i mean, having cubicles is enough. and i dont think a guy would peek or force himself in a cubicle. the only thing people have to worry about is using the restrooms for other purposes which is one good reason why men and women should have separate restrooms. but thats really concerns horny people and not people who have legitimate reasons to use restrooms. well, if guy restrooms can be considered as unisex restrooms, the other way around doesnt really follow. guys cant use girls restrooms with ease compared to girls using guy restrooms. why? if girls are scandalized of being seen using the guy restroom, they are more scandalized to see a guy in their restroom. if guys would just ignore the girl and pretend as if he never saw a girl in the restroom, the girl most likely would react differenty. the guy would be lucky to receive just a frown or a look of disapproval. well, thats merely an assumption. havent seen a guy use a girl restroom before, and not sure if anyone had dared. but then again, its more dangerous for a girl to hold it in compared to guys so it could mean that since girls have more pressing needs to use the restroom they have more of an excuse to use guy restrooms than guys using girl restrooms

sale

what's worse than malls on a weekend? malls having their three day sale! i dont like it when malls are crowded. thats why i prefer to go to malls on a weekday when there's a lot of space to walk through. and if possible during work hours or before people get out of work or students out of school. i get irritated when malls are filled with people because its really uncomfortable and really unenjoyable. well, maybe because i dont go there to buy stuff. i go there most of the time to just look around or watch a movie.

anyway, malls having some sort of mall-wide sale is like one of the worst mall experiences i could possibly have. fine, the prices of products are cut down, theyre cheaper, more affordable but in return you have to go and make your way through a sea of people and try to get the best finds before others do. its really a challenge to buyers. so weighing the two, discomfort and saving money, discomfort is really a small price to pay. but i dont go to malls to buy anything! so, all i get is discomfort because i just went there to eat or see movie (because theres no point of looking around since in order to do so, i would have to engage in some pushing and shoving just to enter a stall).

so next time i would take note when malls would be conducting their sale so i wouldnt make the mistake again of going there while theyre doing a mall-wide sale.

NIGS

ive only been to NIGS twice. the second time was when my brother took the UPCAT. the first time was when we were waiting for topet datu.

during that time, well, earlier, meaning before i ended up at NIGS, i received a text message from carmin whether im free to go out that afternoon. replying yes, jam, carmin and mico fetched me at my house and the three of us went to UP to wait for topet because he had a class until, if i remember correctly, 6pm. while waiting we ate some isaw and quail egg fritters. i also recall buying my constitutional law book by cruz at rex bookstore shopping center. when the time came to meet topet, he told us to go to NIGS. none of us knew where it was but well, we figured it out eventually. after that, we went to topet's place and just hung out til, cant recall exaclty, maybe 2am. it was during that time that i learned later that lani was trying to contact me.

anyway point is, going out with my svs classmates on that day became useful because i learned where NIGS was and knowing where NIGS was made it easy for us to go to my brother's exam site. we didnt have to go through the hassle of looking for it or getting stuck in traffic in the academic oval. never in my stay in UP did NIGS crop up except for that single instance. of course, someone could give me instructions and tell me its near the math building but its still not the same as actually knowing and having been on the place. i think this is an example where what appeared to be an insignificant detail back then could become something significant or useful in later years. i wouldnt have thought i would be at NIGS again or would have a need to know where it is. some would argue of course that im giving too much meaning on something thats really meaningless. true but i think its an established fact that where knowing NIGS has proved to be convenient and that if i didnt take note of it back then, then we could have had a harder time getting there.

UPCAT memories

my family accompanied my brother when he took his UPCAT last sunday. we were already up around 5am. we stopped by jollibee to get some "take-out" breakfast. i waited in the van while my family ordered breakfast. while in the van, i noticed the busy scene in front me. it was 5am or a little past 5am but the UP-philcoa jeepneys were easily filled (it looked like the UP-Philcoa jeeps were having a field day...or morning since the moment it strikes 630am, there wont be much people going to UP. they would have to wait until its time for the afternoon exam takers to arrive) and jollibee philcoa had vehicles with their hazard lights flashing (like mine, meaning they were also ordering breakfast and would eat it at the test site).

usually, the students that would take the exam were accompanied by their parents or by their families, like my brother. it seemed to me its some sort of family affair. it does look like that having someone take the UPCAT is a very big thing. i never saw it that way. when i took the UPCAT, it was just an entrance exam. it never dawned on me that my future was at stake or something like that. i wanted to pass the UPCAT because it was the university i liked most among the four (UP, Ateneo, La Salle and UST). if im going to go to college, i would have wanted to go to UP. when i saw the busy scene at Philcoa, the fuss people were making out of it and the look of concern not only on the exam takers but also on the parents, i never thought of it to be that significant. it seemed to me that the UPCAT mattered more than i thought it was eight years ago. if i have been more concerned and realized its importance, would it have made a difference? well, i still might not pass but it would have depressed me. so, i guess i was better off not knowing the gravity of the UPCAT back then. i mean, when i learned that i didnt pass the UPCAT, i easily shrugged it off. it wasnt the first time i failed. i didnt pass the entrance exam for UPIS and i wasnt picked to take the exam for UP elementary (not sure if its called UP elementary). and i thought, i could go to UST instead. well, i failed UST too. so i ended up in Ateneo, which wasnt really bad. its a good university but im still very hesitant to call myself an atenean. not that its something to be ashamed of, on the contrary, its something to be proud of but it just so happens that i feel its doesnt fit me. its like some shirt youre not comfortable wearing.

going back to the UPCAT. well, my brother took the exam at NIGS. i took it at the Math building. how nice, my favorite subject (insert sarsastic tone here). i remember listening to Sixpence None the Richer the night before the exam. so whenever i remember the time i took the UPCAT, i also remember Sixpence None the Richer. if i remember correctly, i took the UPCAT on August 07, 1999. if i remember correctly, we rode a taxi driven by a former driver of my uncle. what a coincidence (not sarcastic tone here, it really was a coincidence).