I swear that phrase was the only thing I could think of when "Subject" glared at me. And I don't even really wonder why there are two A's. How did everyone spend their Easter weekend? This early I apologize for this one being long.... In my country, it could only be one of three things. One: hit the beaches (the island of Boracay is still a big hit for locals and foreigners). Two: take a road trip up to Baguio City, my city, which is dubbed our country's summer capital because of its climate (it's elevated, you see). Three: stay home and do whatever. I can't do One, because I'm not really a beach-ocean girl, and the beaches are bound to be crowded anyways. I can't do Two because I already AM in Baguio, and going out would be inviting stress, what with the influx of people. There's the reason why Tourism was never high on my list of college degrees. Needless to say, I went for Three. And tried to catch up with....err, non-Nihonggo visual assimilation. So I had a marathon of the 13 episodes of GOSSIP GIRL. Out of curiosity, more like, because my friend has all 13 episodes on .mp4 and practically shoved it down my throat, ordering me to WATCH IT. It's the Holy Week, right, so I was unusually obedient. More like resigned.
I've never read the books, not even laid a finger on them. I don't even know who wrote them. Chick-lit was never my fare. Cecelia Ahern is not chick-lit, is she? And I only read Sophie Kinsella's Shopaholic books because my friend (yes, same friend) very nicely lends them to me even without my asking. While they're a fun read, I'm not really too impressed. And how one's outrageous spending habits backed up by more outragous logic behind each purchase can be excused simply because 'she has a good heart' is beyond me. I'd say it's nothing special. Typical TV fare with a good-looking cast, not-too-new themes. But surprise surprise. I actually found myself having a bit of fun watching the exploits of the filthy-rich kids of the Upper East Side, led by the best friends Serena van der Woodsen and Blair Waldorf. Who wouldn't? Some characters are just deliciously evil while being sympathetic. But I must say my favorite character would be the only un-rich (and need I say, moral voice) among the lot, Dan Humphrey. I watch him, and I thought, "I WANT HIM FOR MY BOYFRIEND." Not drop-dead gorgeous, but has a charm. Not rich, but has gold for brain. Has a spectacular (and sometimes self-deprecating) humor to compensate for the lack of blings. Any repartee with him would be worth looking forward to. And the actor who plays him plays him with such zest that he owns each scene he's on. I also rewatched a couple of movies that's been sitting on my lap for the longest time. I have now watched ONCE twice (Gawd, I love how that sounded!), this beautiful small Irish film with great music...I was gloating a bit when it won for Best Song at the Oscars despite - three? four? - competition from the film Enchanted. I was reminded why I love Irish music. When you hear it, you feel it's....Irish. *cough* I rewatched STEP UP again, because the sequel's coming up, I wanted a review. Boy, Channing Tatum sure could dance. Then there's AUGUST RUSH, yet another music-infused film. (Mix Jonathan-Rhys Meyers and music and a heartfelt story and you can never go wrong.) Oh, and I've only watched JUNO recently. Haha! Very beautiful film, owing most of it to the screenplay, I must say. Darn. Does one have to be a former stripper to come up with such a gem?
I put off watching EASTERN PROMISES because I feel I might need more mind-conditioning before jumping in. It is, after all, Viggo. In a badass role. This time with a Russian accent. (Still reeling from his Spanish Alatriste.) 'Nuff said. Gosh, a lot of films coming up. THE KITE RUNNER is showing next week and I literally clutched Sheryll's (my bestest friend) arm when I saw the poster. "Oh, wow, we HAVE to WATCH THAT, and if you're not coming with me, that's OK because I'LL WATCH IT EVEN BY MYSELF!" It's one of my favorite books, you see. Then there's PRINCE CASPIAN...what else? Oh, the week before, though, I met up with my high school classmates who came home for the weekend, and we watched 10,000 BC. Not my popular choice at the time, but for lack of options I was again resigned to go. The trailer was misleading. See, I was expecting something Apocalypto, only a prehistoric one. There wasn't even blood in the movie. And I found the final battle....anti-climactic? I love the CGI of the spear-tooth (tiger), though. My gawd, he looked gorgeous. On the Jdrama front, I checked out the first three eps of FIRST KISS. First scene and I was cringing. They could've spent a few more hours coaching lead actress Inoue Mao with her English pronunciation. She's supposed to have spent most of her life in the Orange County, for pete's sake! But Eiji and Shizuku made me tear up yet again last night when I watched the hardsubbed ep 9 of Bara no nai Hanaya (Florist without Roses). I love that series, owing mainly to the father-daughter dynamics. So beautiful. (I ought to rename this post to beautiful because I've said it many times already.) Now time to wrap this up before I put anyone to sleep.
 | I also didn't go out of town during the weekend hols and continued making Photoshop scenes out from the TCP scripts. I had a silly grin after discovering an effect (with the help of tutorials) to visualize a scene. :)
You've read, Sophie Kinsella's Shopaholic books, huh. This book is in my to read list. Currently, I'm reading Jude Deveraux "A Knight in Shining Armor" Man, I hope they turn this into a movie. A man from 400 years ago appeared in the 20th century at the 'call' of Dougless Montgomery. Speaking of books finding their way the silver screen, a friend of mine said Robert Pattinson (Cedric, GOF) is the lead in Twilight, from the book of the same name by Stephanie Meyers. Have you read hear books?
Hahaha, you've found Gossip Girl. I've been meaning to text you about the show but I knew you were busy so I just let time do it for me.
You've seen August Rush! I've been searching for it. Hopefully, on my next mall visit I'll get lucky.
Juno's still at home. Haven't got the time to view it yet. Where do you get your J-drama fix? Are you subtitling them?
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 | Oh wow! one of these days you have to show me your works! I am soooooo excitedly curious!
I've read a few Deveraux novels in the past, but I tend to forget them easily. Bleh. As for Stephanie Meyers....hmmm....I can't say I've heard of her....It's been a while since I went to the bookstore and leisurely check titles. Most of the time I have titles in mind before entering bookstores so it'll be a hit and run (before my wallet gets robbed clean). I just might look her up. :D
Yes. I have found Gossip Girl. Haha. More like 'it found me', courtesy of my friend-colleague did. I look forward to viewing the new episodes once they come out.
OMG. AUGUST RUSH is a must-see!!!! It's simply beautiful, and the music, too! I've hunted down the full albums of August Rusn and ONCE, and will upload the songs later. :D
Actually my latest movie fixes were downloaded off LJ communities sharing films and videos in iPod format, and that's where I am able to get these rare films....Haha! Really, there are a lot of kind souls sharing stuff around....
My Jdrama fix...I get it from Livejournal communities. There's quite a large fandom for Jdramas out there, a lot of subbing groups working on dramas. As for subtitling, I am part of a subbing team working on two (older) dramas at present, and a made-for-TV movie....
If you feel like watching a Jdrama, just let me know. I've got a lot lying around here. Haha! |
| Apologize by One Republic is still in my head. That was the song from the 13th episode right? :)
I'll put the links to my PS scenes. Thanks for the links to various sites. I'll check them as soon as I can. I'm going to look out August Rush soundtrack. When I've made a dent on movie/ tv series watching, I'll send you a msg for Jdrama. :) |
 |  I swear that phrase was the only thing I could think of when "Subject" glared at me. And I don't even really wonder why there are two A's.  Hmnnn...Curious. Very curious.
I also opted for Number Three. I did plan to do a movie marathon, which was expected of me. But aside from the fact that budget was a bit tight then, I was surprised to find myself contented watching some dramas. And tsaka siguro dahil sa Ch. 9 still aired Crime/Suspense shows which I like to watch anyway.
I thought I'd catch up on my reading as well but I only finished one, the movie-"script" of A Midsummer Night's Dream. I've read that twice before but I got into the mood of getting into the various characters, reading aloud, complete with faux accent. It's also my third copy of the book. Bought the script because of the pics and I wanted to see the technical stuff/directions.
So far, among the chick-lits, I've only read The Devil Wears Prada (my colleague's copy) and I wasn't impressed at all. I've been meaning to post my opinion about chick lit. Actually, about the supposed genre. I just don't understand why when it comes to lit, there should be a book-for-her/book-for-him segregation. First of all, if a book's really good, both genders will be able to appreciate it. Wouldn't that be more beneficial, too? Also, honestly, when I look at the covers and read the premises (tama ba'ng plural???), they're mostly just about shallow stuff. Which is probably why I'm not into them. Maybe not that bad, just not interesting enough.
ONCE sounds interesting. I kinda like Irish music so I'll check out your post of the songs. I also want to watch Juno and The Kite Runner. As for JDrama, truthfully, I've had enough of seeing Asianovelas (Pinoy soaps included) unless they have something new to show on Philippine TV. Asianovelas from other countries are mostly (but not all) too simple. I like simple, but too much dose of simplicity kills it for me. Parang that's IT??? Pinoy soaps have more meat but I hate that they most times are too melodramatic and they come up with plot after plot after plot (case in point: Maging Sino Ka Man. God forbid if they come up with Book 3). I think we've discussed that some years back. Telenovelas have more meat of a different kind naman. It's flesh, drama, flesh, bit of comedy, flesh, Pinoy-style plots, flesh, flesh and more flesh. Sheesh. |
| BTW, Gossip Girls's on cable. You can follow the stories there if you want. I forget which channel, though. Could be ETC or 2nd Avenue, they're sister-networks anyway. |
| Be careful. Curiosity killed the cat.
I haven't read Prada yet, nor seen the film. Wasn't too interested, I guess. I got into this conversation once, with a senior, and she was saying something about how chick-lit back then was different to what we have now. Of course I wouldn't really know how it was then, but one observation I made about chick-lit at present is how it is fixated on career-driven women who are into fashion, and live their lives Sex And the City style.
I personally think it is a marketing strategy, this having to categorize a his and hers book type of thing. Like, the general majority of the reading population are women, so they just had to create the genre. Oh well, it works for them....
Oh check out ONCE. I loved it. Juno's a real treat too.
Jdramas. Haha. I also got kinda sick of Kdramas because lately they've all been the same, rehashed storylines and even characterizations (95% had two guys and two gals all entangled in what-have-yous). On Philippine TV nothing has lured me in yet because theyre just the normal fare (and I was saving myself the disappointment, knowing how Pinoy series go. They start promising and strong then along the way the stowry winds this way and that, losing direction.
Taiwanese dramas too left me for a bit. Why? Because they were a bit long. Haha. I watch Jdramas now because...they are short. Lolz. Pretty shallow reason, but no really, that's just part of it. They run for an average of 9 to 12 episodes, so the stories are packed. Plus, lately, there's been this influx of mangas being turned to live-action dramas, and I noticed how mangas are a good source of stories.
Anyway, I rambled.
I think GG's on rerun in the channels because it went on a hiatus in the US, no thanks to the strike? I think it's about to resume its run anytime soon.
But then again, as is expected of me, I could be wrong.
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| I saw the cover of Once here at the town mall.This was an Irish film. Man, why did I miss it. I saw this one when I bought "The Look Out" and "Waitress".
I've never read "Devil Wears Prada" or any chick-lit books. I was heavy on the sci-fi genre. haha. Star Wars and Star Trek :TNG where mostly the worlds, I usually orbit. Ghie can attest to that. Lolz.
It was a change for me when I picked up Cecelia Ahern's books, a smattering for teen books (SV, Charmed and Susan Coopers books), several self help books (yeah, went thru a phase too), LOTR books and souvenir books. Before reading "A Knight.." I finished For One More Day by Mitch Albom. It had me teary-eyed reading about Charlie's mom leaving him little notes. "I love you every day."
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| Yes, very much so. Although, the lead actress is Czech. I really recommend it. :)
I've read this Candace Bushnell book, too, called Lipstick Jungle, because I too went through a phase and was feeling like I should try new things. One thing, though, that I don't see myself reading - phase or no phase - would be self-help books. Haha! I am too much of a cynic to go for those. :D
Mitch Albom is a writer that reaches down to one's core. He's very good. :) |
| Do you think it was his interpretation of Charlie's out of body experience? It seemed to me.
Book Tour! Book Tour! Book Tour! lolz |
| Highly likely that it was. It was him confronting his demons by having his mother come back to remind him how special his life was without him ever really realizing it.
Btw, the title was FOR ONE MORE DAY, right? haha!
Yeah! Book Tour. Gawd. I am in dire need of a good book to read now. Whee. Gotta browse tomorrow. XDD |
| Ah, thanks for correcting me. I've edited the title. I knew there was something wrong with it. :) Is there a free ebooks site? :) |
| I know a place where you can download free ebooks, i just don't know if there are Mitch Albom ones.....
projectw.org
it's a warez and applications site, also with movies and music and stuff. You just have to sign up. |
| Ohhhhhhhh, thanks. :) I had to look up to warez for its meaning. :) |
| ....had to look it up to when i first heard it. lolz. |
| one observation I made about chick-lit at present is how it is fixated on career-driven women who are into fashion, and live their lives Sex And the City style. Exactly my point. I like stories that are more intricate...The reason I read the book was because I wanted to be able to say I've actually read at least one chick lit. Also, the movie had more interesting twists, but that's because they changed a lot of things from the book (which actually made me think "What was the point if you're just going to change practically everything anyway?") I can't exactly say which I liked better 'cause both had their merits at least, just not much.
"I personally think it is a marketing strategy, this having to categorize a his and hers book type of thing."
Yes, you're right. I'm just miffed that if they had to create that whole distinction, why couldn't they come up with better stories that are not Sex in the City-wannabe's.
"I also got kinda sick of Kdramas because lately they've all been the same, rehashed storylines and even characterizations (95% had two guys and two gals all entangled in what-have-yous)."
Exactly! I told my pals that I call it the "love square," not "love triangle." And then the men, even the protagonists, are so used to dragging the women around. I've yet to see a Koreanovela where in the whole story, there's no scene where the "good guy" doesn't just grab the hands of the "good girl" and drag her somewhere, whether in anger or just to show her something. The poor girl asks where they are going and normally, the guy keeps mum or says, "Basta." as she practically trips trying to keep up. That is VERY rude, really. I wish the good guys don't do that, but they always do.
All these Asianovelas are not really stuff we haven't seen yet on local TV. Same old, same old. I just watch them when they offer something "new" as non-Pinoy shows. I watched Meteor Garden Because it was sort of a first on local TV. I watched Lovers in Paris, because finally, a funny Koreanovela (before that, all the Koreanovelas had to be sad where the heroines die). I watched Jewel in the Palace because of the interesting premise and because it was based on history. I watched Princess Hours because it seemed funny and I wanted to learn more about Korean royalty, the rituals, etc. Coffee Prince offered something new also. |
| So normally, I ignore the Asianovelas unless i see someting interesting. |
| the movie had more interesting twists, but that's because they changed a lot of things from the book (which actually made me think "What was the point if you're just going to change practically everything anyway?")
The only chick-lit-book film adaptation I saw was THE NANNY DIARIES (which, IMO, had more heart). Although, I wouldn't really know what changed, because I haven't read the book. And I think they still make use of the book as some sort of a lure, or bait, especially if its a runaway bestseller then the readers of the book would flock to the cinemas to watch it unwittingly, unaware of the changes.
I told my pals that I call it the "love square," not "love triangle." And then the men, even the protagonists, are so used to dragging the women around.
True. Love square. I have long accepted the fact that it must be their way of showing their affection? Weird as that might sound. Like there's always ALWAYS bound to be a scene where the girls goes piggyback on the guy, and that classic scene in a street resto, where the girl drinks herself into a soju-laced stupor...Those are already constant fixtures of Knovelas. I only have a few that stand out. The Endless Love series (Autumn in my Heart, Winter Sonata, Summer Scent) because of how they made use of the seasons and sceneries as major backdrops. Didn't think much of the last in the series, though, called Spring Waltz? Utterly bored. Dae Janggeum: Jewel in the Palace is a classic for me because it is really reeallly good. I'm Sorry I Love You will always be a favorite because it has a meatier storyline and fantastic acting. Of the recent crops of Kdramas, I've only seen Time Between Dog and Wolf because Lee Jun-ki stars in it (haha!). No, really, that's not entirely it. I liked the plot. And Lee Jun-ki acts very very well. And there's this one I'm taking an interest in, called The Devil, but I'd need more time to actually watch it.
If I were to recommend a recent Jdrama, though, I'd suggest Ashita no Kita Yoshio (Tomorrow's Kita Yoshio), about a middle-aged man who decides to kill himself in 11 days, and in the days leading to THE DAY, he meets various people that may or may not actually lead him to the culmination of the act. A fine piece of ensemble.
And there's Bara no nai Hanaya (Flowershop without Roses), about a man with a shady past now living as a lowly florist with his little daughter. Soon his past comes back to haunt him and take everything away from him....Fantastic acting as well, and the twists and revelations are kinda reeling. |
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