*cough sniffle* Yay!

Yay! New Multiply up. I'm still under the weather--in fact, I have been since Friday. Note to self: REALLY quit smoking. Too much of it + lack of sleep due to odd work hours = not good at all.

Anyway, I've tinkering with my brand-spanking new Multiply site, and I wanted to make good use of it. The old one (under username GodofDeath) I deleted because it was so...I dunno, corny and useless. I couldn't upload my other photos because my DeviantArt is working weird.

I miss my FOTOCAM (Photography for Comm Arts majors) days. I wish I had an SLR cam with me and some ISO 400 film so I could snap snap snap all I want.



Oh and I miss writing too. I haven't really written anything in quite a while. A bunch of reviews, yes, but not really good old features. I haven't also done prod work in quite a while, and I miss the panic and tiredness and flurry of it all.

Maybe I should just rest and revive my health instead

Casablanca

Rating:	★★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Classics

Admittedly, I'm a classic movie junkie. I guess my college sophomore year Introduction to Film (INTROFI) days haven't wavered in spite of uber-busyness.

And after one such extended day-off period, I kicked back and watched this wonderful film.

From what I remember, back in the day they made films in sets. Looking at this movie, you'd be surprised at how natural everything looks. Casablanca, located at the tip of French Morocco, is like the Catholic notion of Purgatory--you can't go to the New World or go back to German-occupied France, so you're stuck there until you get a visa. Now you really can't get a visa unless you're filthy rich, because you "buy" it from the Captain of Police--which is pretty much like the Philippines in that respect.

Underneath the rich political storyline is the romantic one that accompanies it. Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart, who rocks) is a bitter, cynical, jaded, younameit cafe owner who "doesn't stick out (his) neck for anybody." Suddenly Ilea (Ingrid Bergman, all needy and good at it) pops out of nowhere, and the flashback explains why Rick was smoking and drinking himself to pieces after Ilea left the cafe. It appears that they had a wonderful affair in Paris, but when the Germans marched into France and Rick and Ilea were set to leave, she didn't come along with him. Which explains the bitterness and et cetera.

Dialogue was witty, too: I found myself chuckling at more than a few scenes. This film may also induce some tears. Not in my case, though. Hahaha.

From this point I'll stop because I'll get ahead of myself and not let you watch it. It may be a hard find in video stores, but once you find it, it's a gem.

Smaller and Smaller Circles

Rating:	★★★★
Category:	Books
Genre:	Mystery & Thrillers
Author:	FC Batacan

Once upon a time, a friend saw me reading this in our org office-slash-tambayan more than a few months ago. He remarked that this was an engaging read. I had to take his word for it: he was a former Literature major.

He was right. It *is* an engaging read. The fact that this novel is also detective fiction makes it all the more interesting. I mean, you don't really get to read a lot of Pinoy detfic books out there, do you?

Gus Saenz the protagonist exudes this charisma of sorts that makes him...attractive. The fact that he's a priest also makes it pretty cool. You don't really hear of priests doing dirty forensic work--and in the Philippines, no less.

Jerome, his assistant, is somewhat typecasted as the typical hotheaded sidekick, but he has a mind of his own. He doesn't hang on to Saenz's every word. And he complements Saenz's cool.

The killer wasn't creepy enough, but his handiwork was. I swear, I was kinikilabutan as badly as I read Edgar Allan Poe back in sixth grade. Vivid imagery and all that. This is probably what I like best about this book.

It's a good buy, too, for just Php130. I haven't gotten myself a copy yet, but I know I will.

The Alchemist

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Books
Genre:	Literature & Fiction
Author:	Paulo Coelho

Let me start off by saying that I used to HATE this book because everyone was raving about it. "Everyone," from critics, to my PHILORL seatmate, to my Friendster friends. Being the then-non conformist that I was, I took an instant dislike to it. There was no way I would read it, not ever. I was vehemently against it even if I hadn't read it yet.

Then I did, and I realized how wrong I was.

If you've read a few of his books (previously I've read "Veronika Decides to Die", parts of "Eleven Minutes", and a smaller part of "By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept"), you'd easily grow accustomed to his light and simple writing style. He has a very light touch of humor that is so subtle you really wouldn't sense it immediately. Compared to the previous three I've read, however, The Alchemist deserves a second, third, and umpteenth read (and I must say that "Veronika Decides to Die" is a close second to that).

Oh, and get this--this book made me cry. Thrice. It was the first time that a book ever had that kind of effect on me.

So much for the vehemence.

Daddy's 60th

Start:	Oct 20, '06 01:00a
End:	Oct 22, '06
Location:	Baguio

miscellaneousness

electronicated

http://electronicated.blogspot.com
where I actually blog. nothing much to find here, except for random eclavu stuff.