So I just saw the Jessica Soho segment about the street food calamares. I was really wondering why they are cheap. Perhaps they were just leftovers from the market, but my god, they're made from imported squid (not fresh and caught locally) and could have been smuggled. Plus imported squid might have traces of formalin. So if that piece of calamares you're eating seems rubbery, you might be eating the preserved kind which can cause skin diseases among other nasty things. EWW!

I uploaded a photo of me back in 2007 to give it a try and it guessed correctly how old I was in the photo.

It can speak in my native language. I tried it. *trombone sound of fail*

A loop of rain sound effects. For all your emo days.

Milan's public bike sharing service.

Woooooo 2 weeks off, mon. There was a split feeling of guilt and pleasure while taking time off from blogging. Well, not entirely because I have not stopped writing but I just don't do it here that often anymore. Taste changes, what can I say? I've kind of traded writing about what I've done previously to just doing things and having a life. It's not much a ~life really but it's the kind of life I have at the moment and there's nothing else I can do but to live it and hopefully sail through to the next round. I still have my old routine from 2009 but I wish it would change though. Different people to interact with, new ways of doing stuff, more stuff to learn, and other places to see... Who doesn't want those? I guess one thing I could wish for myself is to have more freedom to decide and stand my ground, to take responsibility even though it scares me shitless, to say "No," "I'm done," "You're quite the cunt. Cunt harder," and to make mistakes and not feel so bad about myself because of them. Sometimes my mind is beating myself to a pulp when somehow I believe I don't deserve such beating, and that sucks. And yes, it's easier to walk away from things when I was younger. I didn't care so much about consequences and just went by impulse and it felt awesome. But now, even if awesome feels so good, it just doesn't last. Sigh, why can't I be Peter Pan and be perpetually 15? I also find myself broken down at this age, goddamn. The Haiti situation doesn't even help because that makes me feel worse.

Anyway, sob story aside, I've been having weird dreams lately: Malaysia, caring for a baby that has the face of Christian Bale and me wanting to have sex with it (WHAT THE FUCK), being a creepin' bitch in Thailand, going to the US and getting lost, and being paralyzed while asleep again.The last one is the one I had last night, like something heavy was on top of my chest and I can't open my mouth and tell IT to stop. It took me like 10 times to just say no and it was even clear. I barely had a voice and I can't move. Sleep paralysis is such a nightmare because it gives you hallucinations. Ugh when will I have dreams of Lisa Frank and unicorns and rainbows coming out of my ass?

I've seen Glee already. I just like the songs. The story and characters, not so much but I want to watch the upcoming episodes in April. I'm watching Good Job! Good Job! and it's a bit boring. Uhm Ki Joon is very entertaining though. Little Miss Sunshine is sweet and I feel bad for Dwayne because he's color blind. Oh and I saw Kris Allen, yay!! I saw him at the radio station when he paid a visit for an interview! I love his voice, both singing and speaking. It's just right, not too low, not too high as if some ant bit him in the nuts. And he's nice and just so rad. Plus points for his pre-Idol missionary work and for being so in love with his wife. His fan base is also mixed. Both guys and girls like his music. And they're not rabid.Here's Live Like We're Dying. It has a nice message to it:

The Boys' Night Out interview can be found here. I also saw Boyce Avenue and Jabbawockeez. Too bad I don't know the members so I wasn't able to recognize each of them and greet them by name, haha. Here they were at Magic 89.9. CLICK!

And I love these cream puffs: http://www.happycreampuff.com/.

will post when i have something to write obviously. bye

I saw these movies for the past week and thought they're very entertaining.

THE MACHINE GIRL

I had no expectations of this film except that it's Japanese but at the opening sequence, I realized it'll be a gore fest of limbs and blood fountains, which reminded me of Tokyo Gore Police, a movie I've seen last year. It turns out that this film preceded Tokyo Gore Police and the makeup and special effects supervisor Nishimura Yoshiro actually directed TGP. Anyway, I found the lead actress Yashiro Minase to be charming and dedicated to her role. She's very pretty too. (I later found out she's a gravure idol. If you'd like to google her, you might want to do it at home.)

Basically orphaned Ami (played by Yashiro) avenged her brother who was killed by the son of a descendant of Hattori Hanzo. On her first encounter with the yakuzas, she lost an arm but had escaped and found herself in the garage of Miki, the mother of her brother's friend that had also died at the hands of the yakuza son. Miki and her husband took care of her and even helped her prepare and infiltrate the yakuza camp. Miki trained her in the martial arts, making Ami adapt to her handicap, while the husband built a machine gun prosthetic that Ami could use for combat.

I just enjoyed how creative the special effects are. They don't seem believable, the prosthetic faces are quite ghastly but you'd look beyond those if you appreciate the workmanship and how the scenes were put together. However, there are inconsistencies in the film. I'm pretty sure I saw Ami with both arms intact when she attacked Sho's henchmen. It was just at the start of the film right before she revealed that she is disabled. (Ack, I should have made a screen shot.) And wouldn't a nice and responsible girl rather seek help and not take such matters into her own hands? Where's the fucking police? She has a found a black list lying on her brother's desk, could she have not surrendered it to the cops? But on second thought, you really wouldn't want the cops involved in this story, would you? They're pretty much killjoys; setbacks even. Then we wouldn't have a bloodbath story have they been around.

Recommendation: Watch it if you're into gore and comedy. If you are making an amateur gore film, then you can learn from how the composition of the shots were made; how they made the props and prosthetics work for the story.

THE MACHINIST

Coincidentally I have a copy of a film with "machine" in the title. I bought it a couple of months back and have forgotten about it since. The only movies of Christian Bale I've seen would be The Dark Knight and Little Women, although I have no idea he was Laurie there. To be honest, I found Christian Bale very charismatic here in The Machinist.

Trevor Reznik, a factory worker, has not slept for a year, causing his weight to drop immensely. His emaciated look and odd behavior has strayed him from his co-workers. Later on, he was to blame for a machine accident in the factory which has severed a co-worker's limb. (Can you see that it's like The Machine Girl in a way?) Trevor insisted that it was the new employee Ivan's fault, however no one at work knows who Ivan is and there are no existing records of him. Also his personal life doesn't add up (the appearance of mysterious post-it notes, deja vus, Ivan's photo, and blood dripping from the fridge among other things) and Trevor concluded that everyone around him is on to something to drive him into insanity.

The story telling is impeccable. The details are very crucial in the story, in fact you wouldn't really think they're that important until the twist is revealed at the ending. It's amazing how guilt and paranoia can make a person perceive the world in a distorted way which is suitable for him. Trevor Reznik's defense mechanism was to make himself the innocent victim and somehow use bits and pieces of his memory of his mother to bring him comfort and companionship. He has also made up an imaginary character so that he could project all the blame and evildoing unto him. I don't think he's a bad person before the incident happened. I mean, his co-workers even remarked earlier that he has changed into this strange persona they'd rather not associate themselves with. I guess he just wasn't ready to face the consequences of a mistake he has done and the denial just got to him completely.

Recommendation: Must-watch especially for those who love mysteries.

Now that I'm done with those two, let me just say that I've also watched Ninja Cheerleaders and it sucked. Surprisingly Bitch Slap was a tad more entertaining.

I didn't do much during the holidays. Most of the time, I stayed at home to catch up on family quality time (yeah, all that drama), and tried to throw out whatever I felt like throwing out because for the past year, I've unnecessarily taken in more NEW than taken out more OLD. (Out with the old, in with the new, anyone?) It's a disease of mine to get rid of things. I figured that I should not be that sentimental with all material things I've acquired in my lifetime and simply have a small reminder, may it be in the form of a written note, a blurry camera photo or an emotional scar in the heart (Let's play the smallest violin here, shall we?), of why I've hold on to said material things. Socks, for example. I'm pretty sure that I've held on to 30 pairs of worn-out socks beyond common sense. I had no clue what moment I was waiting to come that I'd decide to whip out all my old socks to save the day. I'm not a fan of recycling and the feeling that I should is, to be honest, very unproductive. Most clean-up house makeover shows on the Lifestyle Channel would follow this rule of letting go of things which have not been used in 6 months. That's quite a long time actually, equivalent to a year in technology, a decade in fashion, or pretty much forever for a turtle in a decathlon, and you will never be that person you were 6 months ago (NO SHIT, SHERLOCK!) so your personal taste would definitely change within this period unless you're a boring old hag. I'm pretty much over keeping movie tickets or a book that only induced imaginary laughters in my head (what one would call the LOL effect) so yes, LET GO! SHOOT THAT KALAT! But I didn't exactly throw away my books, OK. I gave away some of them during a family reunion party I went to. Basically my book collection was cut in half and it's all good. I also went over my DVD collection and gave away a few to my friends during another get-together. 

Oh I almost forgot. During my vacation, I was able to try Guitar Hero for the first time and I think it's pretty interesting because I didn't find it as hard as Drum Mania or as embarrassing as Dance Dance Revolution. My brother didn't like it though because he had a difficult time reaching the frets. Anyway, it was funny that on the second and third song on Easy level, I placed 7th then 3rd at the arcade I went to, WTF. Next time I'm going to try Medium and Hard next time. Should be fun.

AND... I saw this Filipino film called Kimmy Dora. My brother said he found it funny but I doubted him at first because the title sounds cheap. Kambal sa Kiyeme? Really? But because he insisted that it was funny, I decided to watch it and it didn't disappoint. I found myself cackling in my room. I love Eugene Domingo. She's a very versatile comedienne and she pulls off almost anything convincingly. But of course, it's not a "perfect" film. There are many flaws in the movie, like to begin with, why did it start with... shit, I forgot my film terminology... but anyway, the movie started with the words "Earlier in their lives" like WTF. The movie already made an assumption that the audience knows there is a "their", if you know what I mean. It was just unneeded fluff, really, because the story line was chronological with only a few flashbacks to make a point. Dingdong Dantes looks manorexic from the neck up and it was disturbing, however I'd hit it a thousand times. *wink, wink* His character didn't even have a closure. What, he became Dora's chauffeur? The assistant played by Miriam Quiambao could have had more substance too because her character had potential to move the audience, methinks. Then Zanjoe Marudo broke out of his character with the occassional language slips when he's supposed to be a farm folk ("electricity", "parents") and only relied on his looks to look the part, pun not intended. Ariel Ureta as the wealthy Luisito Go Donghae and father to twins Kimmy and Dora was charming, but I'm not surprised because he almost had the same role in Kasal Kasali Kasalo and has always been a likeable public figure so it's nothing really challenging for him. Nevertheless, it was Eugene Domingo's acting ability that saved this movie. Should you watch it? I guess so.

2009. finally that hell of a year is over. i'm now going through my old entries here. it seems to be the only thing i can do so that i can write something.

JANUARY

• went to la mesa eco park
  
• thought of going to culinary school. omg wut.
• younger brother hates me
• 2009 to-do list (replaced New Year's resolution)

• organize DVD collection - DONE
• organize bills+files using an expandable folder - DONE
• recreate old photo albums - DONE
• keep a small notebook - DONE

• movie - white chicks (rewatch)
  

FEBRUARY

• ONTD lockdown. 16.8 million comments. my life has gone wrong!!!
• was in serious need of a flashlight
• went to my university to pick up my transcript of records
• watched a demo of lightwave 3d editor
• tried david carradine's am and pm taichi workout. RIP mr. kill bill
• opened a wordpress account. made a public tumblr blog.
  
• chinese new year party. my camera's tape deck was still broken.
• received a letter i wrote a year ago via FutureMe. i didn't follow through anymore.
• dined with my friend at starbucks on valentine's day. isn't that sad?
• movies: cursed, confessions of a shopaholic
  
• bought a study table
• opened a passbook account
• went back to uni to join the alumni association
• went back to high school and met my football coach

MARCH

• dying from nervousness because of an upcoming interview
• bank hopping
• a korean stylist cut my hair and it was damn short.
• movies - aeon flux, ultraviolet
• my sister found her guitar broken. yeah, blame it on the cat. very convenient. bought my own guitar.
• caught up with american idol season 9
• tried green tea soy milk for the first time.
• dreamt of snow and owning a sewing machine.
• my auto loan was approved.
• felt insecure because my sister drove the car for me. lame.
• tried reading twilight. could not tolerate it.
• book - the blair witch project: a dossier

APRIL

• book - madame doubtfire
• had lamb for lunch.
• finally been to the renovated mcdonald's katipunan. was very disoriented.
• went to the fort with friends. my 2 friends were asked to show their ID so they could be served alcoholic drinks. ive never felt so old.
• slept over at my friend's house. had a look at our old grade school photos.
• movie - feast 2: sloppy seconds, i am legend, elektra, the uninvited, college
• had my camcorder fixed, finally.
• dad and i decided on what car we're getting.
• television - heroes season 3, true blood season 1, arrested development season 1, poohkwang (and it made me defend manny pacquiao, can you imagine?)
  
• made my livejournal private
• thoughts of me being a neurotic house wife
• wrote a public letter for my sister who reads my shit
• cleaned out our storage room
• went to eastwood with friends, saw 2 college blockmates. very awkward to see 2 sets of circle of friends in one place. kinda like my 18th birthday celebration.

MAY

• bought - running shoes, chucks, optical mouse, jack connect, micro sd card
• dined at pho hoa
• television - pushing daisies season 1, heroes season 3, american idol season 9
  
• went socks crazy.
• shitty internet connection at home
• lolo was in the hospital, pissing with blood.
• movie - shaun of the dead, my wife is a gangster (rewatch), taken

JUNE

• missing my old habits of reading books, writing in a journal with a pen, and listening to fm radio.
• lost the cinemax pen which i received from the hbo contest
• i finally had my car last month but just blogged about it this month
• movie - elektra, tomb raider 2, transformers 2
  
• stalker tools to be scared of - the white pages, pipl, zabasearch, google maps
• went to singapore
• book - the indian in the cupboard

JULY

• caved in to nutshellmail
• television - convergence, qtube, attack of the show
• RIP MJ.
• dined at tokyo cafe.
• movie - ice age 3, harry potter and the half blood prince
  
• went to raon, quiapo.
• had a short crush on olivia munn. regrets.
• people talking about my youtube videos during dinner is really awkward.
• became a dinuguan convert.
• book - the indian in the cupboard, virgins
• found my old art contest certificate.
• still fucking hates SONA.

AUGUST

• movie - wrong turn 2, 9to5: days in porn,
  
• thinking of what i'd do if i'm unemployed again
• television - short cuts
• went to a classmate's funeral
• had a vegetarian sandwich from oliver's super sandwich
• music - lollipop by big bang feat. 2ne1
• edited a video for my brother's religion homework

SEPTEMBER

• movie - sunday school musical, monster village, 13 hours in a warehouse, the hive, tokyo gore police,  kill bill vol. 1, kill bill vol. 2, rec
• cine europa!
• ondoy
• created ondoy tumblr

OCTOBER

• i hate ondoy.
• regrets at the arcade
• friggin blackout!
• bought machinist vcd
• wrote a random blog entry about swimming
• shared video - more than words can say (david hasselhoff, regine velasquez)
• movie - fame, jennifer's body, sydney white, invasion, blades of glory (rewatch), 28 weeks later, meet the robinsons
  
• thought of taking up french
• television- arrested development season 1, pushing daisies season 1
• played a few games of tetris.

NOVEMBER

• opened a chinese cyworld
  
• got really sick.
• television - true blood season 2, america's next top model cycle 12
• movie - front of the class, twilight saga: new moon, legally blondes, final destination 4, zombieland, spy girl (rewatch)
  
• shared video - i don't care [twisted lyrics] (2ne1)

DECEMBER

• went to bangkok, thailand
• blogging vacation

that was my 2009 based on what i've blogged here. it doesn't even sum up everything because i've been blogging somewhere else. how was your year?