I got to watch A Mighty Wind today, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I had no knowledge about this film whatsoever aside from the fact that there was a film called A Mighty Wind, and the synopsis from the back cover of the DVD.

It's a satiric documentary (and as I learned later--mockumentary) of bringing together the folk groups The Folksmen, The (New) Main Street Band, and Mitch and Mickey in a reunion concert to pay tribute to the man who represented them. The back stories, and the interviews were hilarious, because you have all these comedic actors from improv groups like Second City and the Groundlings telling these stories in all seriousness. The comedy was subtle, you really have to pay attention to what they're saying, or a band member's reaction to what another band member just said. It ends with a live concert with the aforementioned groups performing the song A Mighty Wind together.

When I was a kid, I loved going to the zoo, and I'd point out all the animals to my parents, "Look! A giraffe!". Watching this movie is quite similar to that, except that I was pointing out all the character actors. It's one big HITG!-fest.

"Hey! It's Eugene Levy! You know, Jim's dad in the American Pie Movies."

"Stifler's Mom!" That's Jennifer Coolidge, by the way.

"Parker Posey! Dorleen, from Will and Grace. Wha?! Jack's bitch of a boss, when he worked in Bloomingdales."

Another interesting fact in this movie is that all the actors actually sang and played instruments, and all of the songs were written mostly by Guest, Levy, and other cast members Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, and Catherine O'Hara. The performances were very very good, especially the finale. I think A Mighty Wind should've been the one nominated for the Oscar for Best Song, rather than A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow.

My aunt and uncle went to Hong Kong on business last Friday (actually, I was supposed to go with them, but I digress). I asked her to look for a Lord of the Rings: Return of the King soundtrack with a Merry and Pippin insert. Luckily, she found a three-CD set with the soundtracks of all three films. It cost HK $220. I thought it was fair enough price, and it was a boxed set after all, so I asked her to buy it.

They arrived yesterday, and brought the CDs to our house today. I was at the office, and being the eager beaver that I am, I called up my aunt. I asked her to describe what the box looked liked.

Pao's Aunt: Eh di tatlong CD na sinalpak sa kahon.
                    (Three CDs crammed in a box.)

Yes. That blunt. I then asked her if there was anything special, like a poster or whatnot. She said that there was none. It was then that I doubted my purchase. I swear I could've heard my wallet whimper. My doubt turned to relief and joy when I came home. I looked at the box, sure enough there were three CDs with their individual cases, but then I saw something else. Something that I really hoped for to be included in the set, but was doused when my aunt described the CD set. Inserts. Almost ALL OF THEM. CD Inserts, not only for Return of the King, but also for The Fellowship of the Ring. Not only do I have the Merry and Pippin insert, but I also have the Eomer one (I haven't seen these two in record stores). The only insert lacking for ROTK is that of Eowyn's. I'm not really complaining, though.

I bought The Hobbit Collector's Edition last night. I had it reserved last Friday, and the very nice guy at Powerbooks' customer service called up other branches just to find it. Eventually he found one at the Megamall branch. I liked him even more when he asked if it was in good condition. All customer service reps should be like him. Big thumb's up to you, fella.

The book is green, leatherbound, and it also has a nice leatherbound case. The cover has borders of gold runes and red etched on it. At the sides, there are splatters of green for whimsy. Inside are also some illustrations by Tolkien himself. You can take a closer look at the book here.

Today, my family got to do something that we haven't done in quite a while -- go to the mall. Together. When my sister and I were kids, every Sunday, we'd go to mass, and then head to the mall afterwards. We'd have the usual lunch in Tokyo Tokyo, and then spend the rest of the afternoon in the arcade. Good times. When I got into college, I would've rather slept in on Sundays than expend more energy. A good day's rest was so much worth it. As for my sister, she's in this top notch science High School with a rigorous curriculum, so she'd rather do her homework than go to the mall.

The conditions these days are just right. I'm working now, so I do get my rest on Saturdays, and my sister is about to end the school year (and High School for that matter), so we had time. Highlight of the day? My mom and my sister bought sneakers. Expensive sneakers, at Nike Stadium. I'm an Adidas boy, so I just go 'meh' over the Nike products in general. Had my dad bought a pair for himself, we would've gotten a VIP card.

Mom: Are the shoes okay?

Pao: Yes.

Mom: Really? You're just saying that, because you just want this to be over.

Pao: Ma, they're okay.

After the shoes have been purchased.

Mom: Are the shoes okay?

Pao: Ma, why do need to be reassured? Again?

Mom: So they're okay?

Pao: YES! Ma.

Hee. My mother drives me crazy. A lot. She's also excited, because it's going to be her first time at the gym tomorrow.

We also watched a movie, well, they watched a movie, and I watche a different movie. They wanted to see Chasing Liberty! I don't want to sit through it again. I can stare at Matthew Goode some other time. I watched Runaway Jury, which was entertaining, but the story's somewhat far out. Mini-review, and Jeremy-Piven-gushing in the next post.

I've been fiddling with this third party DHTML code generator. It's absolutely fantastic. Move your mousepointer over to the "click" section, if you will.

First off, thank you so much MA for pointing me to this site where I can download the Saturday Night Live episode that Elijah Wood hosted. lick You deserve one, honey.

What I equally love about the things that I love, are the parodies of the things that I love. Aside from my very obvious obsession of anything LOTR, I also love Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. And SNL? Has brought those 2 worlds together. Elijah Wood played Jai Rodriguez, the Culture Vulture, very well. He's got the gait, the voice, and the mannerisms down to a T.



That was my favorite bit, right there.

In other news, Maya Rudolph, I love you now.

Dear Miss,

Hi, I know that I may come off as too eager to write to you, but I just cannot contain myself. By the way, did you get to work on time, this morning? With that cab. You know, that was supposedly mine?

I'd really like to get to know you better, if I may be so bold. Okay, question, how can you live a normal life, with the notion of ownership that you first had that cab when I was clearly already seated? You know, because you were already talking to me. While I was already seated.

P.S. Other people also have appointments to catch. Other people exist.

Pitying you very much,
Pao

-----------------------------------

Dear Mr. Cab Driver,

It was so nice of you to ask that lady to get in the cab and assume that we'd be going the same way. I mean, after she got seated after I did, you just drove, and then asked, "Where to?" later. A man of action, aren't you? But we gave conflicting answers. Didn't see that shit coming, did you? She was so very out of the way. Oh, and it was so nice of you for siding with her, when we were arguing who got your cab first. With that, I had no choice but to get off. Too bad, our ride got cut short.

How's that rear door, by the way?

Hoping to slam that other rear door,
Pao

I am that guy. The guy who spews trivia about stuff that he is so intensely immersed in.

Pao: Do you know Garulf?

Friend: [whom I talk to about LOTR]: Garulf?

Pao: Yeah, from LOTR: TTT.

Friend: Uh-huh.

Pao: Did you know that in the movie, in that scene with the siblings -- the girl and the boy? And the girl said that their father shouldn't let them ride Garulf, their horse? Well in the book, Garulf was actually a Rohirrim. The owner of Hasufel.

Friend: Huh?!

I even alienated her with that bit. Knowing her, though, she'd watch that scene again just to be sure.

I found this over at LJ land.

Marriage is love.

Click the link for the code.

It's just so nice to watch a movie and expect nothing but a lack of plot twists (save for one, and I won't mention it since it's the ONLY twist), sub par acting, and contrivance all around (like air), and just enjoy the fluff. It's amusing fluff, actually. That's what I did with Chasing Liberty.

The movie is basically about Anna (Mandy Moore) and Ben (Matthew Goode) having a romp around Europe -- from Prague, to Austria to Berlin -- being chasing by agents. In the end? Love, love, love. I've just summarized the movie in less than five sentences.

Mandy Moore? Wasn't that great. Watching Anna, codename "Liberty" to her security agents, is like watching Mandy Moore trying to be bad ass. My sister has made me watch countless Mandy Moore interviews that I can confidently say that flailing arms while talking, placing both hands on her chest in an 'aw shucks' manner while talking, and scrunching her face in a pouty, squinty way while talking are all her mannerisms. It comes off as if she didn't even try to form a character. I like Mandy Moore. She's the most digestible of all the pop (formerly) teens. I hope she churns out another A Walk to Remember.

Matthew Goode. I think this guy can stay afloat for a while. He can do the mumbly British guy (Hi Hugh Grant!), and he has good deadpan humor. Matthew Goode, you are Hugh Grant lite. But with muscles!

As for comic relief subplot B characters. Agents Weiss and Morales are funny. I thoroughly enjoyed all their scenes as they chase "Liberty" (geddit? GEDDIT?!) and Ben all around Europe. Jeremy Piven, I officially love you now.

All in all, funny, amusing fluff. Go see it.

You are Sea Urchin Nigiri Sushi!
You are made from the sexual organs of the sea
urchin and are very expensive.

- - What Type of Nigiri Sushi are You? - -
brought to you by Quizilla

Oh, SQL Server. Why were you such a bitch today? Why did you not let me make a pipe-delimited file with ease? Today?! Did we not used to make such lovely pipe-delimited files with ease? Just press F5 and there it is in the result pane, just waiting to be copied and pasted onto Notepad.

I hope that we'd be able to reconcile our differences. Tomorrow is a new day.

No, Mr. Security Guard, Guy-Whose-Cube-Is-Near-The-Men's-Bathroom, and Guy-Occupying-The-Next-Lavatory, I did not have too much coffee to drink. In fact, I did not have coffee today, but it seems that static electricity (whom I suspect had a liking for me during my college days) is totally smitten with me.

Case in point:

Early this morning, I touched the metal handle of our office's glass door. KzzZzZt! (silent) Ow! *twitch* (mouthed) Fuck!

Around 10:00am I decided to go to the bathroom. I touched the wooden(!) door to avoid the metal door handle. Still? KzzZzZt! (silent) Ow! *twitch* (mouthed) Fuck!

After lunch, I went to the bathroom, and (not minding if Guy-Occupying-The-Next-Lavatory thought that I was obsessive-compulsive) turned on the faucet using a tissue-padded hand. Success! Faucet's on! But upon contact with water? KzzZzZt! (silent) Ow! *twitch* (mouthed) Fuck!

I am static electricity's bitch. Peter Gibbons, I feel ya.

Guestbook is up. Thanks to Signmyguestbook, and for being able to register before they enforced the $1 one-time fee. Thanks to Cam for posting.

Comment system provided by Haloscan. So snorf away.

In other news, is there any kind soul out there who can persuade me NOT to buy this? Note that it was "lavishly illustrated in full color by Alan Lee."

Hello wee shire, and welcome to the world.

Here's to hoping that you'll remain purdy and updated. *clink*

test. woo.