February 19, 2012
“Bad things happen all the time. But we can still live.”

Last Friday, I had an urge to download something from the internet, and enjoy it during the upcoming weekend. (After all, none of us knows how long we have till torrents are forcefully wiped off the net.) The movie I chose to download was Super 8. This film intrigued me the moment I saw its trailer but, sadly, I was out of money (and friends to go with) at the time. Without further ado, here are my reactions (SPOILER ALERT):

  • The movie is filled with lens flares, like that of the Star Trek movie. I don’t really know if this is significant or not. Either way, it’s pretty damn noticeable.
  • Do the kids really have to cuss every 5 seconds?
  • The plot is not as perplexing as I expected it to be, knowing that two of the men behind this film is JJ Abrams and Steven Spielberg. I don’t want to call it a mature film, but calling it juvenile is not an option neither; it’s somewhere in the middle. It’s the same old ‘princess gets kidnapped by monster, boy enters the beast’s lair, boy saves the princess, boy encounters monster, boy befriends monster’ story.
  • What I like about this movie the most (No, it’s not Elle Fanning. Jesus, she’s 3 years younger than me! I’d never do th….oh wait….) is the big monster of a metaphor. Literally, the monster is a big metaphor. For what? Mourning. Multiple characters appear to be mourning/in grief as soon as the movie starts. Joe deals with the death of his mom due to an accident; Joe’s dad has the same cause for grief but the difference is he blames someone for the accident who goes by the name of Louis Dainard; Alice Deinard, his daughter, grieves over the unpleasant relationship she has with her dad; and Louis thinks that he could’ve saved Joe’s mom. All of them resolve their problems and let go in the ending. Louis and Jack (Joe’s dad) finally cleans up their dispute, Alice hugs his dad, and Joe literally let go of a locket that had his mom’s picture in it; symbolizing the long-needed acceptance of his mom’s death. All the while this was happening, the alien monster was taking off into space, symbolizing the departure of grief. A beautiful scene, that was.
  • The zombie movie in the end is kick-ass!

You’d make such a great zombie, Elle.

    11:54pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZfDBJxGg4NEB
    (Notes: 1)
      
    Filed under: Super 8 
    February 14, 2012
    Lovely, in the truest sense of the word

    Valentines Day, who wasn’t talking about it today? You may have been part of the many who were high afloat in the air thanks to a direct hit by one of Cupid’s arrows, or maybe you were part of that sullen percentage of the society which abhorred the idea of an overly-commercialized Christmas for lovers. Me? I found myself in between the two. I had no girl to share this day with, and I wasn’t too bothered by it, after all, I have been without a woman since god knows when. You could say that this was the closest I have been to ‘enjoying’ my singleness.

    Waking up today felt unappetizing-ly ordinary. I ate breakfast, took a bath, brushed my teeth, went to school. The usual. It was when I arrived at UST was I able to remember what day it was. It was the day of hearts, made evident by the sudden inflation in numbers of couples roaming about the campus with flowers and chocolates in their grasps. Walking to my building alone, I passed by at least 15 couples (not an exaggeration.) There were also guitarists appropriately playing love songs in the middle of the hallways and inside the classroom. I saw cupcakes with too much icing, Ferrero’s, Toblerone’s, red balloons—-just to name a few.

    Seeing all this made my heart jump up and down, and made me smile in public while all alone. (That’s something you don’t get to see everyday, my public smiles.) It was really heartwarming to see those people love.

    Hopefully, next year, I will be one of those guys giving my girlfriend a bouquet of flowers and a box of chocolates. (Here’s to wishing she shares that box of sweets with me!)

    11:03pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZfDBJxGPWUbI
    (Notes: 6)
      
    Filed under: valentines day ust 
    January 25, 2012
    I Time Traveled Today

    In line with the very last week of its Quadricentennial Year, UST aims to conclude its year-long celebration in a spectacular manner. This is yet another reason why I love my school.

    Today’s Velada Tomasina, in particular, was a perfect example of why it’s good to be a Thomasian. For this event, students were encouraged to dress up the way people did during the Spanish Era.

    This morning, as I was on my way to my classroom, UST looked odd, somewhat magical. It seemed as if I was viewing the campus as it was a hundreds of years ago. Almost everyone was wearing apparel from the Spanish Era. Ladies everywhere were wearing those hot but oh-so colorful baro’t sayas. Men, on the other hand, were wearing those just-as-hot barongs, walking sticks, fake mustaches, and top hats. (There were cross-dressers, even, which made upped the awesomeness even more.)

    Something that I am now regretful about is my failure to bring a costume to wear for the event. My barong, the one I wore since 6th grade, is now too small for me, and it was too late to borrow from someone. Seeing all those people with their Filipinanas on was torture for me.

    I met with a number of SHS friends right after classes, namely Derick, Duncan, Cedric and Roan, and spectated a bit of the procession before eventually going home earlier than I desired. After all, we could only do so much without any costumes on. As soon as I reached home, the computer was my best friend as I viewed the rest of the proceedings via Ustream. Close enough, I thought. I still had a hint of regret with me, though, for being such a lazy-ass and not bringing a barong.

    I could’ve been a part of history.

    9:13pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZfDBJxFLF2pB
    (Notes: 1)
      
    January 24, 2012
    Hollow Man?

    Anyone who has traveled with me knows that I am such a Snorlax (for lack of a better metaphor) when I ride jeeps. How fast I fall asleep may even surprise some of you. How I prevent myself from crashing onto another person’s shoulder, when unconscious, is beyond my knowledge.

    It’s more of a gift than a curse, for the most part. It helps me get back on all the sleep I lose from the late night writing sessions. (Who am I kidding? My ‘writing sessions’ are composed mainly of hardcore YouTube video-digging.) Aside from the occasional drool-pools and head-to-shoulder moments, sleeping on jeeps hasn’t been a problem for me.

    What’s ironic is that the only problem (or shall I say, blunder) that I have encountered so far is after waking up from a twenty-minute-long slumber. This evening, as usual, I took a visit to Slumberland as soon as the jeep reached the overly-dense part of the Quezon Avenue traffic. I woke up to a woman, handing a stack of coins towards the driver. My immediate reaction was to help the lady out by cupping my hand and catching the coins with it. To my utter embarrassment, the coins all fell to the bottom of the jeepney’s floor. I tried to recover most of it but there were a couple of coins that I just couldn’t locate. My next move, as an attempt to divert everyone’s attention from my totally obvious blunder, was to give all the coins I could muster to the driver. The unmissable sound of clattering coins resonated once again all throughout the jeep. My face turned into a tomato.

    That’s when I suspected myself to have some kind of phantom-like superpowers…

    2:32pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZfDBJxFHzJgX
    December 14, 2011
    Does anybody have a spoon?

    There are days when I love my schedule, and there are days when I despise it. Yes, I get the luxury of having to wake up at 9AM everyday and not be late for class, but the consequence is that my meal patterns have to be altered to best complement class hours. In short, lunch is no longer a part of my day. All there is are brunches and lunners (?)

    What is man’s answer to this tummy-upsetting ordeal? Packed food. I always bring food (most especially sandwiches) to class, you can bet on that.

    The food that I brought for today is a scrumptious bowl of Ginataan (the dessert kind), one of my favorite Filipino delicacies, which I decided to eat after first period. But I soon made a horrible discovery—-I had no spoon to aid me with my conquest against hunger. I went around the classroom, asking “Hey, do you have a spoon?” like some kind of mad scientist who oddly needs a spoon in order to complete an invention.

    No one had a spoon, I eventually concluded. I was determined, though. And very hungry.

    Beside me was a classmate who was innocently munching on pieces of Piknik when I had a Jimmy Neutron Brainblast: Why not use the lid of that Piknik can as an improvised spoon? The idea seemed brilliant. So I did ask for the lid, and satisfied my stomach with that fine bowl of Ginataan, not caring at all how stupid it might have looked like.

    With just about minutes till the next subject, I hurried to my bag and put the empty plastic container inside. Then I saw something familiar inside. Guess what I saw inside my bag?

    A spoon. 

    9:58pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZfDBJxDFEeMS
    (Notes: 3)
      
    Filed under: facepalm 
    December 4, 2011
    The Dream Cup

    David Beckham. Ever since the 90s, this man has made headlines and a name for himself with the help of his sublime skill, especially his signature curving free kicks; hence the phrase “Bend it like Beckham.”

    He has been a part of several top flight clubs, and, in one way or another, boosted each club with his excellent skill. Manchester United, Real Madrid, AC Milan, and currently LA Galaxy—-these clubs have all been gifted with such a talented player.

    LA Galaxy, his current club and MLS Cup-holder, is scheduled to tour some countries in Asia and Australia with a set of friendlies with the respective national teams. When it was announced that LA Galaxy was to visit the Philippines and play against our very own Philippine Azkals, I was extremely joyful. The first thing that crossed my mind was the vision of Beckham, a man who I’ve only seen play on TV or on YouTube, finally display his world-renowned talent in front of a Filipino crowd. The event was appropriately named ‘The Dream Cup’.

    While it is somehow true that people will only come thanks to David Beckham’s charm (I don’t blame those people. After all, Filipinos have little exposure to MLS.), I’m sure that after the game has transpired that more Filipinos will appreciate how great Galaxy is as a team. There are other reasons as to why this club is MLS champion, namely Donovan, Keane, and Magee. Each of these players are all great as individuals, and as a team, there are close to unstoppable.

    Tickets to such an high-profile game won’t come cheap. Surely enough, the ticket prices were off the roof. Scratch that, they were sky high. P2,000.00 for the cheapest ticket and P12,000.00 on the extreme end. This, and the fact that Filipinos lack the proper exposure to the MLS Champions going into the Dream Cup spelled a disastrous attendance at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium. “Walang pupunta diyan!” I saw one troll type on some forum discussion. That troll was dead wrong. When I arrived at Vito Cruz, I immediately noticed the massive line along the sidewalks. When I got in, boom, I saw what seemed like a full house inside the stadium! The atmosphere was really exciting, especially when the game was about to start.

    About the highlights of the game, you may have already watched it, so I won’t delve much into that. All I can say is that aside from seeing Beckham’s free kick live (which was just saved by Sacapano), one particular player stood out in my eye: Angel Guirado. He has this spark whenever he gets a hold of the ball due to his awe-inspiring footwork. He fools defenders left and right with all his FIFA-like skill moves. If given the right exposure, Guirado could be a player for aspiring players to look up to and imitate, and hopefully more Filipinos will have footwork just like the Brazilians.

    Speaking of standouts, there was one stand out in the stadium but he wasn’t a footballer. Not even associated with the sport one bit. That man sported his signature beard and his very prized (and very muscular) arms & hands—-If you guessed Manny Pacquiao, you are right. He arrived just after half-time, and immediately people caught notice. Even the man of the hour himself, David Beckham, spotted the world champion, and after the match went up the grandstand and gave his jersey to the Pacman. David later mentions that he is a big fan of Pacquiao, and meeting him was almost like a dream come true. People who sat on the grandstand certainly got their money’s worth as they saw two giants in one spot.

    Truly, it was an amazing night to end a stellar year for Philippine football. Even though the score sheet says that we got beaten very badly, there is a bigger picture that every Filipino must look at. That is the rapid and sudden growth of football in this country. I, personally, would share stories about this night to my grandchildren someday.

    1:09pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZfDBJxCnSc1E
    (Notes: 2)
      
    Filed under: david beckham dream cup azkals angel guirado la galaxy 
    November 30, 2011
    Light and Magic

    I might have mentioned before how I hated my Tuesday and Thursday schedules thanks to a very late dismissal time; 7PM to be specific. Now, though, I am in love with it. I’m in love with how beautiful UST looks at night this time of the year. There are lights everywhere: dangling from trees, covering the outlines of buildings, on little pseudo-Christmas trees. Not only was the whole campus lit up by this, but also my heart—-it felt so bright, so happy when I stood in front of that scenery. I actually paused for a while before going home to take in the loveliness of what I saw; a totally overwhelming experience.

    The Christmas spirit has definitely arrived, and is making its presence known to everyone. I can’t wait till the holidays!

    12:08am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZfDBJxCaq29Q
    (Notes: 3)
      
    Filed under: christmas ust 
    November 28, 2011

    Song # 251 by Danna Richards: “Where You Are”

    11:08pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZfDBJxCXyiKF
    (Notes: 1)
      
    Filed under: danna richards myninetofive 
    November 28, 2011
    My Nine To Five

    Rarely do you get to know of a truly talented musician in the midst of this age plagued with people who claim to be talented, but in all honesty rely heavily on auto-tuning and good looks to acquire a fanbase. It frustrates me to witness so many people falling for today’s musicians, when I know that there are more deserving musicians who don’t receive as much recognition.

    A perfect example of an unnoticed gems of the music industry right now are the musicians at YouTube, and one that I’d like to point out in particular is Danna Richards. She’s an outstanding talent from YouTube who, unlike a majority of the YT music population, composes her own songs, sings, and posts them on her channel. What’s even more impressive is her commitment to herself to write 365 original songs in the span of a year. Another feat that Danna boasts is her consistency when it comes to the quality of her songs; every one of her songs is a masterpiece, in my opinion. Plus, she doesn’t just stick to one genre, she does multiple. 200+ songs so far, a beautiful voice, a knack for writing catchy lyrics, a degree on Song Writing, an undying perseverance and determination: Now she is a talent that deserves more than just a thousand views per video; a hundred thousand is more like it.

    If this post has not convinced you that Danna is one to watch, please, let her singing do the persuasion for me.

    http://www.youtube.com/user/DannaRichards

    11:03pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZfDBJxCXyG1_
    Filed under: danna richards myninetofive 
    November 25, 2011
    Light Year Lasting Love

    A peasant once frequented a castle’s balcony to have glimpses of a sleeping Stella, a lovely princess whom the man adores so much. A love story starring the two starts when the man accidentally wakes up Princess Stella, and they immediately become friends. Like most love stories, though, things get complicated as time passes by.

    The man is faced with the question: Are you willing to do anything and everything for the sake of your most beloved?

    http://www.wattpad.com/2661095-light-year-lasting-love-part-i

    Check out this new story I’ve written! By the way, tomohawk is my Wattpad username, in case you were wondering.

    6:57pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZfDBJxCOS8_H
    (Notes: 1)