Last Tuesday, my friend and I tried out The Java Man at Powerbooks (Live!) in Greenbelt 4. We had watermelon shakes and herb chicken wraps. We ate at the patio, aka. the smokers' area. It's a very private spot, because unlike other sane people who eat inside the store, which has airconditioning, we opted to eat out on the patio. During the middle of the day. In summer.
Anyway, so we went there again today to try out their pasta. She had the Pomodoro and I had the Salmon in cream, and we both had watermelon shakes. The Salmon in cream was fantastic! Plus, it actually had real salmon chunks in it! Also, the servings were huge, so both of us ate for two people today. A plate of pasta costs around P120, but still, HUGE servings, fantastic sauce, REAL CHUNKS of SALMON! Segafredo's or Grappa's could easily charge you P300+ for a plate of pasta, for one.
Oh, and we had free chocolate cake. Heh.
On the way back to the office, I didn't realize that Bro. Eddie was holding a rally today. The whole of Ayala was closed off. Even the underpasses. On the bright side, I got to experience walking in the middle of Ayala avenue. On the on the uh, not too bright side, I walked. Yeah, so I burned that plate of pasta.
I was surprised when I found the Original Broadway Cast Recording of Rent in Tower Records yesterday. Musicals aren't popular as of the moment, so demand for such music is low. That's almost always the case. Anyway, so after I restrained myself from jumping up and down like an idiot (as I am wont to do when something makes me really very happy), I snatched up a copy and purchased it with a P500 E-GC (Electronic Gift Certificate for those of you not in the know) and I added some cash. Ahh, GCs.
I love Rent. LOVE! Rent. The themes of all kinds of love, the bohemian lifestyle versus the corporate lifestyle, friendship, and such, hit close to home. The music is great too. The characters are well-defined, and the actors' distinct voices add a lot of personality.
I'm also on to the last two episodes of Queer as Folk (UK) Series 1. The accents take a little getting used to, but it's really good. It's not as flashy as the U.S. version, but the dialogue is fantastic. Damn funny stuff. Or should I say, Damn foony stoof.
Onto something non-pop culture for a change.
I sat across a gay couple this morning on the MRT. It just warms my heart that they're so out with their relationship. They were doing the usual Coupl-y Practices While Riding Public Transportation:
- Head resting on partner's shoulder. - Elbow resting on partner's thigh. - Hand resting on partner's knee. Subconsciously/Consciously scratching said knee. - One arm around partner. - Talking, couples' faces in close proximity to each other. - Whispering.
One of them's quite cute, and he was sneaking a peak at what I was reading. Heh. It's Everything is Illuminated. Damn foony stoof.
[music][ Rent - Original Broadway Cast Recording - La Vie Boheme ]
Blogger has this tie-up with Google to beta test the latter's new email feature. The thing is you have to be a long time Blogger member to avail of this.
It's just going to be my secondary email, though. Heh.
Basically it's just shell out some cash, fill up form, pee on command, wait, Window 4 -- shell out some cash, wait, wait, wipe sweat, wait, Window 7 -- get picture taken, sign, wait, wipe, wait, wait, wait, take 'exam', wait, shell out some cash, take 'road test', wait, wait, wait, buy bottled water, wait, wring out handkerchief, wait, wait, wait, wait, Window 6 -- claim license.
There was a song like that, right? It's always in my head now.
My friend and I had another one of our Gay TV/Movie Nights at his house last Saturday. It's when we indulge ourselves with the latest gay-themed movies that we've gotten our hands on. It is a hard task, mind you, getting on queer movies. It's like panning for gold, and when you do find it, you suppress your joy. In the case of panning for gold, you'd want to protect your find, in the case of finding a DVD or VCD, you just wouldn't want to look like an idiot in the store, jumping for joy . The night is usually capped off by a Queer as Folk marathon. He has all the DVDs.
First we watched the last scene, and then the last musical number of Camp, which I have come to love with each repeated viewing. Then we watched Mambo Italiano which I love. Love, love. LOVE! Hi Luke Kirby! After that, we proceeded with a QAF Season 3 marathon. I fell asleep on episode 6, while a ghastly scene of a drag queen doing the robot dance to "Barbie Girl" in Babylon. Aside from that aberration, though, season 3 is quite good.
Camp. In that last scene where Vlad took off his clothes, dove in the lake and swam, snuck up on Michael, hit on him (I'm not giving out the reason why), and then Michael refused. Some would say that what Michael did was noble, because Vlad was actually straight and was just feeling vulnerable. Here's what we thought:
Friend: Ang tanga-tanga talaga niya! Nagprisinta na nga eh! Pao: Oo nga.
Mambo Italiano. The movie's about Angelo, a gay Italian man who meets his former best friend, Nino, after a long time. They discover that they both liked each other, and they got together and became a couple. Angelo has recently come out of the closet, but Nino doesn't want to, because of his family and his profession (he's a cop). This, along with their conservative families, eventually puts a strain on their relationship, and Nino leaves Angelo to lead a straight life.
I really love this movie, because it is something that I can relate to. It's hard to be a gay man with a conservative, close-knit, Roman Catholic family, trying to live the life that he wants, and eventually move out of the house. It's also hard to be in a relationship, when your partner insists that it be in secret. It's like going back into the closet. Yes, I was in one. Aside from the fact that I can relate to the main character, this movie also exhibits some truths: that some gay men are not into the club scene, like Angelo; that some gay men never come out of the closet, like Nino; and that some gay men do leave their boyfriends to lead straight lives. That last one, was the toughest bit of reality to swallow, I think.
Given the subject matter, it's actually a comedy. Instead of portraying the ignorance of Angelo and Nino's families as maddening or despicable, it was satirical. Also, there's this one hilarious scene where the parents are arguing who's doing the "banging". Heh.
All in all, I say this is one well-made movie (Luke Kirby's (Angelo) accent might have been more Mexican than Italian, but I'll let that pass). It's really quite funny, and most importantly, it speaks the truth.
Queer As Folk: Season 3. This'll be quick, because I'm tired of typing already. This season, the story lines are more mature, and less absurd. There are less Babylon scenes, which, let's face it, is mostly filler. Ethan cheats on Justin, and is gone after episode 5 (good bye Fabrizio Filippo! I will miss you. Terribly.). Everybody's looking pretty fabulous. Yay.
It was amusing at first, his poem-reading style of 'singing', and his 'dancing'. It's funny how his surname can provide a lot of material for puns and inuendo. It was also amusing that he got a record deal before any other finalist on American Idol. Now that his album is out, and his songs are being played on the radio, and his putrid, horrible, unfunny video is being shown, it's just annoying. It's not even the type of putrid, horrible, annoying that you can't take your eyes off. It's the type that would make you want to curl yourself up in the fetal position in embarrassment for him.
It's just not funny when something (and and actually funny, in a pitiful sort of way) like William Hung's audition is commercialized. It was funny, because it was raw and it was bad. If you try to polish and pretty up something bad, it (of course) would be just manufactured and plain, and the impact is lost. So now, when he sings with a band behind him, it's just sad. What's sadder, I think, are his back-up dancers. Just because of the fact that they're actually dancing to such dreck.
Anyway, just my two cents. Please devote your fandom to someone else.
I spent the Lenten Holidays at my aunt's house. It wasn't out of town or anything. It was at Quezon City. We're too lazy to plan an out of town trip during Holy Week. Actually, we're just too lazy to plan an out of town trip.
My objective was clear: watch as many DVDs as possible. Sadly, I didn't reach my quota, because either the DVD was incompatible with the player (like the Ronin one) or was defective (because it was bought from Your Friendly Neighborhood DVD Store). Also, there were other activities like cooking (I made sushi! Successfully!), Badminton, and sleeping.
So here's the list of the movies that I've watched/rewatched/attempted to watch.
Watched: Finding Nemo I watched this for the first time. Now I get all the Dory jokes. The DVD gave out (skipped, jumped, got stuck) towards the end of the movie. See abovementioned reason why DVD was defective.
Old School Brainless, funny movie. Also, Luke Wilson covered in KY jelly? Made me feel all sorts of emotions. Generally, lust.
Rudy Okay, so I watched this primarily because Sean Astin was in it. I didn't realize that I would actually sympathize with Rudy. I almost bawled when Rudy read his acceptance letter. The one that finally confirms that he got into Notre Dame. Also, my high school ripped off Notre Dame's Victory March song. I went to Notre Dame of Greater Manila. Go figure.
I felt so butch watching this while drinking beer and eating pretzels, belching loudly.
These movies I caught on cable: The Goonies Cute wee Sean Astin. I only caught the last 20 minutes of this movie.
See Jane Date I chanced upon this flaming pile of crap on the Hallmark channel. It starred Charisma Carpenter (you know, Cordelia? The character that she will forever be associated with?) as Jane. And we? See Jane date. That's about it. I continued to watch this movie because it's like a WB image campaign. But with Evan Marriot! So aside from Cordy, there's also Holly Marie Combs (you know, Piper? The character that she will forever be associated with?), and Antonio Sabato Jr! Shirtless! Anyway, in the end, she found her man. Whatever.
I love you Starbucks! Really, I do. Because of your new promo, I have 3 shots of espresso in my system right now! Hee! Heeheehee!
*twitches*
Starbucks has this promo wherein for every purchase of any beverage, you'll get a free upsize. FREE. UPSIZE. Music to my ears. There is no catch! Just buy a damn drink and they'll upsize it. So now when I buy my usual Grande drink, I get a venti (If you're a Starbucks regular you would have inferred from that sentence, that my usual drink is cold.). And a venti Iced Caramel Machiatto? Contains 3 shots of espresso (Thank you Ms. Barista for that nugget of information).
It felt weird saying, "Oh Jesus!" in my head, when I was watching The Passion of the Christ. Eventhough it does seem to be a fitting expression to say. It's not an, "Oh Jesus!" of dismay at the film, but more like, "Oh Jesus, I saw rib!".
I saw rib.
Honestly, my intention for watching the film was to see the gore. This is because I know the story already, and you've seen one film about the life of Jesus, you've seen them all. Okay, maybe not Jesus Christ Superstar, because you know, there was singing. So anyway, gore indeed I saw. One person described it as tocino. I would have to agree. The Scourging at the Pillar (or Tree Stump, I should say) was one of the most heart-wrenching, wince inducing moments. Basically, it's where Jesus's body was transformed into, well, tocino. After that, the succeding scenes were bearable, gore-wise. Except the Crucifixion. Oh Jesus. (See? See?!)
I'm surprised that I liked this film despite of instances of overkill (We'll get onto that later.). The look was great, I love the camera work, the characters were portrayed well. Especially Maia Morgenstern, who played Mary. She was strong all throughout the beginning, still composed even when her son was being scourged, but when Jesus fell for the second time, she lost it. It wasn't hysterical, though, it was subtle, but you can feel the outpouring of emotion. Jim Caviezel did a good job as Jesus. His eyes, oh his eyes, had this piercing look that really conveys, "I am Jesus!". Oh, and hi Hristo Jivkov! Hee.
Okay, instances of overkill. The bridge scene, where Judas saw Jesus dangling on chains. What happened after Jesus was pulled up, and you have this close up of John? Yeah. Was that necessary? We know he did a bad thing. Another one is when Jesus was being scourged at the pillar, and Satan was roaming around, and she was carrying this 'child'. We know that there was evil in that place. That the people were doing something EEEEeeeeevil! It was laid on so thick that it was a bit insulting. Oh, Mel Gibson, why?
I think this movie is good, nothing new though. The flashbacks were a nice touch. It was a very graphic portrayal of the Passion, but still much appreciated.
I was surprised when I found the 
I'm also on to the last two episodes of 
- Head resting on partner's shoulder.
Camp. In that last scene where Vlad took off his clothes, dove in the lake and swam, snuck up on Michael, hit on him (I'm not giving out the reason why), and then Michael refused. Some would say that what Michael did was noble, because Vlad was actually straight and was just feeling vulnerable. Here's what we thought:
Mambo Italiano. The movie's about Angelo, a gay Italian man who meets his former best friend, Nino, after a long time. They discover that they both liked each other, and they got together and became a couple. Angelo has recently come out of the closet, but Nino doesn't want to, because of his family and his profession (he's a cop). This, along with their conservative families, eventually puts a strain on their relationship, and Nino leaves Angelo to lead a straight life.
Queer As Folk: Season 3. This'll be quick, because I'm tired of typing already. This season, the story lines are more mature, and less absurd. There are less Babylon scenes, which, let's face it, is mostly filler. Ethan cheats on Justin, and is gone after episode 5 (good bye Fabrizio Filippo! I will miss you. Terribly.). Everybody's looking pretty fabulous. Yay. 
It felt weird saying, "Oh Jesus!" in my head, when I was watching The Passion of the Christ. Eventhough it does seem to be a fitting expression to say. It's not an, "Oh Jesus!" of dismay at the film, but more like, "Oh Jesus, I saw rib!". 
