So I watched TV

I bummed on the couch in front of the TV after dinner. Juan dela Cruz was on. They were already having a countdown to its finale: five days left. About time, I thought because I wasn't really a fan.

Tonight’s episode was, I believe, the turning point of the whole series – the major battle between the forces of good and evil. As the pawns of the evil side started moving through the dramatic fog, the good guys all get tensed up, until the lead man, Juan dela Cruz himself, yelled “CHARGE!”

Gaiman's effect

Reading The Ocean At the End Of the Lane reminded me of the reason a started devouring and loving books. There is this special privilege given to people who, book in hand, get transported to another dimension, another reality while safely curled up in bed. I especially love Neil Gaiman for bringing me to the realms of dreams and nightmares with just a turn of the page.

Four Sisters and A Wedding: Not Just Comedy

Four Sisters and A Wedding was unexpected. Although I was told beforehand that the movie was “dramedy” (mix of drama and comedy), I thought it would portray the family on a light note, cracking jokes and witty comments in every scene, like with any Filipino feature film. Boy, was I partially wrong.

I said “partially” because the witticisms are still intact but the story about the family dynamics and the relationship among siblings brought the heart-warming, tear-jerking and effective drama into the screens; it drove me, and the rest of the cinema audience for that matter, into tears. As I am writing, my eyes still burn from crying for half of the movie.

So what’s with the drama, really?

This semester's anthem

Imagine Dragons's Radioactive

Not just Radioactive, but the rest of the songs in the Night Visions album. I have enjoyed, and am still enjoying, Imagine Dragons's music for three weeks now.

Among the songs, though, Radioactive struck me the most. Probably because of my bias towards the chemistry-related title (chemistry major here!). But I think it was Dan Reynolds's breathing in the first part of the song that hooked me to Radioactive. It was so intense. I felt the exhaustion and exasperation. I may not be experiencing stress right now will make me exhale so bad like Dan Reynolds, but it will come. After all, school just started.

The music video is a different story. Here's one more reason to love Imagine Dragons.

Thunder

Perspectives change, and here's a very good example.

Age 4: That was a very scary sound! I never ever ever want to hear that again. MOMMY!

Age 7: Dad said the gods are playing bowling in heaven. Thunder is when the ball hits the pins. He said that lightning is because of celes– heavenly cameras with flash taking pictures of the game.

Age 10: My aunt said that when God sees people doing bad things, He gets angry and lets out thunder and lightning to scare evildoers. I'm not scared of thunder and lightning anymore; I'm no evil.

Age 12: So here's what really happens: when particles bump into each other, energy is released and it is perceived as lightning (light energy) and thunder (sound energy). Science.

Age 16: OMG! It's Thor! The god of thunder has blessed us with a show of his magnificent powers! THOR! *fangirl squeal*

Age 18: I'll just be warm and cozy under my blankets and sit in a corner of my room and let it– HOLY FREAKING GLOB THAT'S LOUD.


Context: There has been rain with lightning and thunder (I'm not sure if it can be categorized as thunderstorm yet) every night since the start of the week. Some loud bang like glasses crashing and gunshots woke me up one night, and, thus, this.

#ThrowbackThursday: Galaw-galaw sa Tag-araw

Time for some Throwback Thursday! (I know, but a little mainstream once in a while won't hurt, right?)

Last push for summer! Here's a video of my friends and I dancing to an old summer TV station ID four years ago during a summer internship in a local college as a requirement in high school. (No, the video was not required of us, but rather, a fancy among friends. The internship was required, though.)

Shout out to Ayanne Aborka, Nicola Alcanzo, Sri Anabo, Charisse Gasataya and Faith Marcelino: I hope you don't mind me sharing this little, uh, adventure we did, and sharing your names here as well. May I ask, though: do you cringe when watching, or even remembering, this?

Acknowledgement to Mark Marcelino for shooting and editing the videos. It was fun!

Pat's Diary: What is happening to my friends?

Dear Diary,

My friends were acting really funny today.

At lunch, Jane talked in her whispering voice. She told us that she finds Ed very cute and made us promise not to tell anyone. Sophie raised an eyebrow, but agreed. Candy and I nodded, but Jane was not assured. So we did our best-friends-only pinky swear. Candy said she thinks he’s cute, too, and Jane glared at her. Then Candy clarified that she finds David handsome, which is better than cute. Jane was frowning at Candy, who was batting her eyelashes as she thought of David dreamily.

Taekwondo Day 23

New skills: roundhouse kick, full moon kick, neck chop attack, taiguk 1 and a little bit of taiguk 2.

And a stuffed toy? No, scratch that. Two stuffed toys.

My brother received stuffed toys from his ates in the class. His older girl classmates are fond of him. They think he's cute. I think they're babying him a little too much. Antagonistic as it may be, I want my brother to return the stuffed toys because he has asthma and he's too big for stuffed toys (no matter how cute the teddy bear and the cow can be). We just do not tolerate spoiling him at home. And then there's the feeling in the pit of my stomach that there's more to this and it worries me. Sister's instinct, maybe?

And still no pictures.

Taekwondo Day 21

So here's an update: my brother is a low yellow belt. He has been for a week now. Crazy, huh?

After three weeks of training as a white belt, he got promoted, along with other white belts, into yellow last May 19. I have been mentally kicking myself for not charging my camera's battery the night before his promotional test, hence, no pictures.

Review: Return to Ribblestrop

Return to Ribblestrop continues the confusion, weirdness, friendship, suspense and chaos that Andy Mulligan started in Ribblestrop. The series is about a strange boarding school– quite an understatement, really– established by a quixotic Dr. Giles Norcross-Webb with even stranger students in impossible situations. In Return, Mulligan adds several big cats and reptiles to the school.

Honestly, I do not know where to start with the summary (or the review even!) of the novel. With the amount of characters and each his (or her) own sub-plot, it is a dizzying tale. Try keeping mental images of the students: Sanchez, Millie (the first and only girl student of Ribblestrop High), Sam, Ruskin, Miles, Henry, a dozen or so orphans (sorry, I lost count); and several grownups, while following the plot twist and turn into oblivion and finally resolution. Plus the geography of the Ribblestrop – the towers, the tunnels, the lake and the hills – adds to the confusion. But, I believe the complicatedness and Mulligan’s masterful presentation of it are the major factors that make the book unique and enthralling.

Rooftop

The sun was setting when Amy climbed up their flat rooftop – a solitary chair waiting for her as it had some two months now. Every day, she brought a book and read until the natural light dimmed to dusk. Amy was grateful for the open space; near the sky, it seemed appropriate for the journeys she shares with heroes and friends. She finds both book and rooftop respite from what she finds an unexciting, routine-living life.

Today, she sat on the warm seat without a book. Amy was staring at the raised edge of the flat rooftop and thinking what-ifs. Then, she decided that she was not high enough.

Now showing: Cargo

My sister showed me a short film, a finalist in this year's Tropfest. I have been itching to share it, but it keeps slipping off my mind.

Something about the film-- the paternal instinct, the helpless baby, or, maybe, the zombie-- made my chest tighten, eyes tear up and made me curl into fetal position in a corner of my dark room and rock myself to sleep.

It's amazing how something so short has the tendency to give you a gripping experience.

Check out all the other short films that might tickle your fancy in their website or their YouTube channel.

Sunday ride

Sunday afternoon. Fair weather as far as the eye can see.

I wheeled out my bicycle from our house unto the dirt path beside the highway, slowly, as I steered clear from the incoming trucks and cars that sped away. I turned to one side and started accelerating parallel to the highway. Each vehicle that passed me sends me angry dusty winds. I wobbled the first few times the air slapped me – right on the face, hard – but I continued to ride on, my balance in check.

Further on, as I pedaled to my heart’s desire, I felt ecstatic to be on a newly-painted, well-oiled bicycle with air-filled wheels, soft new seat and new rubber handlebars. Maybe I should buy myself a bike when I get back to university.

Lousy baker

My first attempt at baking red velvet cupcakes: FAIL.

With mother's day just around the corner and summer half-way through, my productivity level rose high enough to get me up and about the kitchen and bake a batch of experimental cupcakes. It was good foresight to have tried the recipe I got online way before the second Sunday of the month.

This batch was salty, not the right red, did not rise enough, wrong texture-- and the list of problems goes on. So much for beginner's luck. Thanks to some food tech graduates working at my aunt's business, I have some insight to what actually went wrong and what I could probably do to make my next batches better.

As the old saying goes, I shall try and try until I succeed-- or until summer ends.

Ten days

Ten days before the national and local elections, I still have not decided on a complete set of candidates to vote for. Should I be worried?

Being it my first time to vote in a nation-wide election, I feel burdened with the glorious duty to exercise my right to vote and free will. I have been thinking about all the candidates that I have heard and the others that are still invisible to me. Let me tell you, I still have a lot of research to perform. Here’s one of the perks of having reached a legal age that I am undecided whether to love or hate.

Thus far, I can say that I will not vote straight for one political party, because I find this lazy and a waste of opportunity – one of which can change the course of our country and the lives of our fellow citizens. Imagine the pressure I am putting on myself, when my vote only counts as one out of the millions of Filipino voters. But the fact that I am deciding with the good of the country in mind makes me feel certain that there are more Filipinos who are doing the same thing. It also makes me feel contented with my one chance to vote.

There are hundreds of candidates and most of them are a nuisance to the development of our country. It only takes about five seconds to shade an oval and cast your vote, but this election can determine the leaders who lead us either to a bright future or otherwise. So, I beg all Filipinos to vote wisely. Please.

Have you chosen your candidates yet?

Taekwondo Day 2

It seems that kicking is not the only thing my brother will learn.

He has a taekwondo student handbook. It has instructions for the different techniques, how to wear his uniform, a list of commands in Korean and English and a bunch of FAQs. The list of Korean words intrigued me and I started reading with him. 

Now I'm counting from one to ten in Korean. I'm not even sure if I'm pronouncing the words correctly. I am not a big fan of Korea, but I just learned something new. Good job, me.

Speaking of languages, part of my summer activity is to learn Japanese words online, and probably later, reading and writing in Japanese. There's something about Japan and its culture that makes me interested and curious.

Taekwondo Day 1

Brother arrived home, still enthusiastic from today's taekwondo lessons. Even after three hours in the gym, he still is a ball of energy, even ready to demonstrate everything he learned from the class.

He put down his bag on the floor and stood a ready stance. He said his instructor said he had big kicks and he should practice at home. He bowed, because "that's how they begin," he said. He started kicking and punching and twirling-- I mean, spinning-- and more kicking and punching the air. He started coming near me, kicks and punches going my direction.

As much as I would like to move away from the attack, I only stood there and waited for my brother. I took aikido as a freshman PE class so I have a little know-how on self-defense.

He was an arm's length away and punched, and I held his wrist and did a move (that I unfortunately cannot recall its name). But I did have him locked on the spot. He looked at me, hurt and defeated. I smiled at him and let his hand go. He swore he will never try his moves on me again.

I guess I do not have to worry about him bullying me anymore.

Taekwondo

My mother enrolled my brother to taekwondo class to help him "instill discipline and lose some weight." He will start tomorrow. We picked up his uniform earlier today. At home, we tried it on. Yes, we.

Game face: ON 

Garden Show

We swung by the garden area again today. I spent the whole time looking through the viewfinder.

These would be nice at home.

Summer so far

It is that time of the year again when our provincial capitol grounds play host to hundreds of people, locals and tourists alike, for the annual Aklan Piña and Fiber Festival. This includes booths of the different small and medium enterprises, local restaurants, and government units from every town in the province promoting their homegrown produce as part of the "One Town, One Product" advocacy.

Then, as the shops close for the night, food stalls are kept open and entertainment happens-- bands, dancers, singers, comedians. This part of the festival is called Tsibugan sa Kapitolyo, or crudely translated to be "a place to eat at the capitol." 

I have religiously visited the fair since my family brought me there to help out in my aunt's business's booth. Well, I was too small to even help my first time, but when I was mature enough, I have been lending a hand. Thus far, I have not missed a festival week.

How to cook your egg, sunny-side up

Yesterday, I have finished a book. I am proud of this fact because it has been my summer vacation for two weeks yet I have not read a full novel. It has been a long time and I think my brain has dried out of its creative juices. So here I am, writing my time away, hoping to have my thinking machine oiled and tuned up, ready to create and recreate pieces of literature in my head and through my pen (or laptop, in this case).

To start my gears turning, perhaps a little how-to of a common household chore? Simple enough? Interestingly, the most trivial of things is what I find to be the most difficult to write. If you have not seen my previous post on brushing teeth, please check it out to understand my... situation.

Modernizing Classics

Reading classic works such as those of Verne's and Alcott's is a tedious process, especially that I find their style and use of language far from what my tongue is used ti. Yes, I have enjoyed the stories but it takes me a long time to finish reading the book. Searching polysyllabic and mostly archaic words in the dictionary, many of which I have not even heard spoken by any of my friends or acquaintances fluent in English, or rather, has English as her first language, adds to the time I spend on a book. Complicated words makes it more difficult to understand the meaning of paragraphs, let alone a sentence. I keep losing my concentration when I read classics because I keep losing my interest, too.

To prove a point, I was able to finish a young adult novel by James Patterson in one afternoon. Simple language for the single minded me. And a book being about people my age is added interest. On the other hand, I haven't finished Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, which I started last November. And before that, it took me more than a week to finish his Journey to the Center of the Earth. I blame the Icelandic names of places and things and scientific descriptions every or so paragraph.

Resolutions for the new year?

I think I need to re-think my plans for the future and cut off my ties with the Internet. NOT.

It's hard for me to work without it for school, but similarly the Internet decreases the amount of what's left of my time and concentration that's supposedly for school work. I'm not even sure if that statement makes sense. Am I going insane? Is this withdrawal? But from what?

I'm in the phase when every now and then I have this urge to open my browser do a routine check of social networking sites. I think I might have become overly dependent on technology, like many of the people with access to a computer and Internet. Yes, that's it. "Overly dependent." That's a less harmful way to put it, instead of the extreme "addiction" or "obsession". That will do.

KMN.

Welcome, 2013!

Here's some jokes for you. May you have a pun-y year ahead!

Movie Marathon

I'm excited for 2013 because of all the films that are about to premiere. With that in mid, I have decided to compile the trailers of some of the movies that I would love to see with family, with friends, or maybe just by myself if no one else want to come with me. I didn't make an effort to check which of them gets released first.

Les Miserables