Tuesday, February 28

Away mission

My sister's on her way to Iran. Saving the (children of the) world and all that stuff. Well wishes are in order.

Be safe in your away mission, Captain.

Thursday, February 16

Four

I have been trying to write haikus for the past hour. Times like this, I love my job. But the haikus are going nowhere, so MEME muna. Tagged by Starshuffler.

4 jobs I had in my life
* PR writer
* copy writer
* library manager
* TVC jingle maker

4 movies I could watch over and over again
* Vengeance trilogy (Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Old Boy, Sympathy for Lady Vengeance)
* House of Flying Daggers
* 2046
* Howl's Moving Castle

4 places I've lived
* Sampaloc
* Antipolo
* Bulacan
* Makati

4 TV Shows/Channels I love to watch
* My Name is Kim Sam-soon
* American Idol
* Jewel in the Palace
* Gilmore Girls

4 places I've been on vacation
* Boracay
* La Union
* Hong Kong
* Baguio

4 of my favorite foods
* Burgers
* Indian food (New Bombay!)
* Lechon
* Chickenjoy

4 places I'd rather be by now
* Hong Kong
* At home
* Hogwarts
* Gateway cinema

4 bloggers I'm tagging
* Kung sinong may oras mag-sayang ng oras..

Wednesday, February 15

Toxicity

Toxic 1: Sta. Lucia Clinic. Like purgatory. Waiting is eternity.

W and I arrived at 1:00 p.m. for a 1:30 appointment. It hadn't been a restful weekend. W's blood analysis results were due Sunday but the doctor wasn't in. So we went to the clinic a little early on a weekday, minus lunch. As Tara would say, mammoths in the stomach. Hurling was not an option. At 1:45, W asked the front desk if the doctor was in. She was on a lunch break. She came in at 2 but was nowhere to be found. She started calling in patients at 2:30, but W's appointment was moved (our first number said #2), and moved, until we were 4th. We bitched at the receptionist who was just shrugging most of the time. All the managers were in a meeting. So fuck it. And a fuck you all!!!!!! I curse you long lines wherever you go. Bathroom lines like a Neil Gaiman book signing! May you all pee and shit in your pants. At the same time!

We waited our turn.

Toxic 2: The Doctor is out of her head.

She starts with, Yes, you have diabetes. And then...
Dr.: You see, our body is like the Philippines.
Us: (Whathafuck?)
Dr.: Our main produce is ...?
Us: (Whathafuck?)
Dr.: Rice. And when we run out of rice, what do we do? What do we do?
Us: (Dance?)
Dr.: We IMPORT! Similarly, when our body can't produce insulin, we?
Us: (We're fucked.)

Toxic 3: Where W calls me and says he's listening to Sugarfree.

I wish I could say, Lights will guide you home and ignite your bones, And I will try to fix you. I wish I could sing it and make him feel better. And it hurts me to see him put up a brave front for me. But he is brave. And all would be better. We were watching My Name is Kim Sam Soon last night, and Sam Soon, while applying for a job as a baker says, "The chocolates in my box aren't all sweet. At my age, I'm just hoping that I've finished up most of the bitter." But the bitter ones have less sugar, so from now on, bitter is good.

Saturday, February 11

More Life in the Universe



Pen-Ek Ratanaruang, director of infinitely beautiful
Last Life in the Universe, is back. (Yay!) Old Boy's Gang Hye-jung is part of the cast.

And Asano Tadanobu still plays the lead. (Yay! Yay! Yays!)

Be My Lady Vengeance

Good doggie.

A decipherable Sympathy for Lady Vengeance website is finally up with lots of purty downloadable stuff, including the film's soundtrack.

This third and final installment of Park Chan-wook's vengeance trilogy is a curious beast, visually feral, and achingly sweet. Sometimes literally. Sometimes, to a fault. Frenzy and stylish in its first hour, it's quite a struggle to connect with Geum-ja (Lee Young-ae of Jewel in the Palace!) or her thirst for vengeance. But when the puzzle is pieced together --- the gun assembled, the cake baked, the scary lesbian dead, and the snow begins to fall --- Geum-ja takes us to a totally different place and invites us to join her in her revenge. And it's an invitation that's impossible to refuse.

Not the best of the series, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance is incomparable in depth and devastation, but still a satisfying (and surprisingly funny) end to Chan-wook's dissection of revenge and redemption.

P.S. Marathon tayo ng vengeance trilogy!

P.P.S. The Tartan Video releases (Mr. Vengeance and Old Boy, Region 1) have lots of juicy extras. Behind the scenes, interviews, and a properly subtitled commentary by the director and actors.

Tiny Babbles

1. That one's pathetic. Wit's dried up today. Parched. From too much thinking and 4-hour dozing. W's been having a hellish week as well. Work and a few scheming employees that plan and backstab. If this were a Park Chan-wook movie, tongues will be wagging, well, wriggling and flipping like fish out of water on the floor.

2. Too much thinking with this band thing. Over lunch, munching on what to do, M asked me why I was quiet about the entire scenario. We're not Best Before for nothing, y'know? Heh. I'll go with whatever, with whoever's decision. I've enjoyed the moment, a few more won't hurt, but hey, to each his or her own expiration date. Even this for the fun of it is turning Medical Investigation on me. Somber dissection. Second guessing.

3. Expiration. The reminders are everywhere suddenly. From a dear friend to someone's dear brother. And I feel something change in me. Like any day now, I'll start believing all that Dr. Phil shit. Like maybe, simplicity will work. Choosing the right fights. Snood logic: everything in its rightful place. Soon enough. The mouse has alwas been in your hand. Everything's a double click away.

4. Snood. Got my father into it just this morning. My sister has been staying up late just to top my score. And I'm not even the best in the office. I've been caught by the big boss playing it. Recently I discovered the Y key. Dun-dun.

Tuesday, February 7

Deathly

Some of us are getting fidgety. Irrational fears really because it sounds too much like a Japanese horror movie.

Two fathers. Two wives. A brother. And a baby.

God bless their souls.

A year of unimaginable heartache for some us; the rest can only stand by and watch and try to unburden the bereaved with laughter and alcohol.

It's not a deathly cycle. Not a curse. Not punishment.

A bittersweet life is all it is.


And here's a prayer for more of the sweet for all of us.

Please, God. Please.