Hello, I'm one year older
 And the lights were really pretty.  This pic's by Ayisse. Would post a bunch of other pics but I'm lazy and they're all taken by Ayisse anyway (save for 3 shots) :P Got an mp3 player and shiny card reader from my dad. (But technically, it's both from my parents.) The card reader should be Kaye's or something because it's surface works as a mirror too. Thanks everybody else for the gifts. Remika, I'm wearing the one you gave me tomorrow. Heh.
Polaroids
My sensible blogging days are over. As you may have noticed, my posts have slowly turned into crap. I haven't been doing anything productive online as well and haven't been fully active in whatever online community. Normally, I'd move on to a new online community. You see, there was Musician Forums (the MX tabs forums), then there was Grey Tower (a Wheel of Time RP), and then I finally decided to migrate to dA. Looks like I'm staying in dA though. I'm such a geek, I know. I do eat in front of the computer, get study materials online, talk to people online, apply to schools online, buy books online, read newspaper online, and I just learned that the internet has - (why the hell is my mom trying out my skirts, and now she is taunting me saying there are mice inside my closet -_-) - anyway, I recently realized that the internet has contributed much to me as a growing up teenager who only calls 2 other people on the phone more-than-just-regularly (up to now, actually). Enough about my not-so-sad life. Currently, I only need 10 mins. for routine internet use. I just exceed because I'm extremely bored (except on Wednesday, Thursday nights - Rockstar: INXS, Growing Up Gotti, Scrubs, and sometimes Top of the Pops on Tuesday nights and some other replays on Saturday.) So, I'd much rather and probably should upload new photos on devART or finish that online gallery I have started 3 months ago. But what I really want to do at the moment is start a new "project." Something less online-related. Here are shtuff I have in mind at the moment. 1) Black and white portraits of random people against a plain white backgroundI walk around campus with a white cartolina (as background) and pull out random people and ask them if I can take a mid close-up photo of them. You can do anything on the photo, pose however, close your eyes, stick out your tongue, pick your nose, be artsy, be fartsy, anything... just don't lick my camera lens or something. haha Deal is, I have to have the guts to ask random people. And I need someone else to help me. THat second one I can settle easily, the first one though... I am still not through with my social-PR skill building thing. Heh. I can ask friends to ask their friends if they want their photos taken though. Or I can just ask friends first. I actually want to use polaroids for this one. Polaroids soaked in vinegar or something. I have an old polaroid cam here, I just have to search for it. Although I wonder if they still sell the paper for that. Meh, I'd go digital then if it's in the you-think-it's-lost-forever abyss. This was inspired by the cover of The Perks of Being A Wallflower (that I saw in Fully Booked and really want for my collection even though I've already read it as an ebook but it's six-fucking-hundred twenty fave pesos. Duh, Fully Booked.) 2) I'll just document the whole Sing thing but that's still more than a month away3) Go out for some street photos again/finally do a fashion shootBut lately, I seem to be more interested with the black and white portraits. Cos I can't do fashion shoots at the moment, I'm feeling the mid close-up sort of portraits. And while I like black and white, I've always been a color fan. (Mainly because for my kind of photography, street photog, imitating life, reporting what was actually seen, kind of thing I really prefer color.) So this b&w thing is pretty new. Do you want your photo taken? Don't worry, not nude or anything. And I won't go Cameron Diaz "scandal" on you. Hah.
Another year wasted
That sounds familiar... Birthday on Wednesday. I just realized that for the past number of years I haven't been looking forward to my birthday, really. It's like any other day for me except that people come forward and greet you. The fact that they actually know your birthday or go to great lengths of wasting saliva greeting you should be some form of poke that'd tell you people do know you exist what the fuck I don't know what I'm saying. I've always "celebrated" my birthday at 10 in the evening of every August 31st though, because that was the exact time, give or take some seconds, I was born. However, I'll be awake in the wee hours of that morning sipping tea or downing coffee, surfing the net like the tragic wreck I want to feel like just because I like that kind of drama. Strangely, it's a form of boost I give myself. Don't ask why, what, when or how, I just like to think it does. Oh, mind power. If anybody wants to greet me and have crazy, late night convos IM me: amlcortez (YM). Anyway, shout out to Ayisse and Remika, I hope you get the DSWD travel clearance through. Dun worry, starting next year we won't be needing them. (Woops, exclude yourself Remika :P) PS Does anyone know if Starbucks phils scrapped orange poppyseeds out of its menu? Because I don't see any stores offering it as of current and I fucking love that breadstuff. The lemon bread thing's fine though but orange poppyseeds man, orange poppyseeds. *hangs head* Now, let me proceed to listening to Mr. Brightside, tragic OLP songs and equally tragic Ash songs.
Five sober early mornings in Sing
I can totally picture myself sulking on the other side of Singapore River and listening to the sounds from a way away just because being the underaged person I am, I can't go drinking. NOT. There's more to Sing than the nightlife anyway. (But we must admit that it's part of what people come for.) All I can say is... MEH. Who cares? I'm going to walk around the place until I need to be rushed to the hospital for immediate leg amputation. Drown myself in everything such a multicultural nation-state has to offer. Finish 20 rolls of film or something. (Just kidding, I'd most probably only finish 5 24-shot rolls.) And dance in the middle of the street on my first early morning, and the one after that, and after that, up 'til the 5th. I've come up with a rough itinerary of the areas we're going to go around. If you've been there, feel free to comment and give suggestions :D And do you recommend going to Sentosa? Is the long MacRitchie hike worth it? (Honestly, I want to cross the 250m hanging(?) bridge and cross that other bridge to the southern most point of Asia. So cliche and somewhat touristy but fuck yeah, I want to. :P) And so I leave you with some good lyrics from The Killers :D The crashing tide can't hide a guilty girl With jealous hearts that start with gloss and curls. I took my baby's breath Beneath the chandaleir Of stars and atmosphere And watched her disappear. Into the midnight show. -Midnight ShowJealousy Turning saints into the sea Swimming through sick lullabies Choking on your alibis But it's just the price I pay Destiny is calling me Open up my eager eyes Cos I'm Mr. Brightside -Mr. Brightside
Furry brown things
Furry brown things from under the computer monitor. I'm over at my grandma's house. A cousin of mine lives here and he's got DSL so naturally, I abuse it everytime I'm here, given my pathetic existence with a dial-up back home. He told me before using the comp, the first time in... the first time, to not be surprised because they're keeping a pet that suddenly peaks out from the monitor's lower corners. I thought it was some sort of virtual desktop pet. An hour into my pointless surfing (and downloading of materials for film class presentation, actually)I wonder why the virtual thing is not popping out. I knew they had one before from some online game. "Well, looks like they installed a new one." I haven't really done much that's connected to my film presentation because their dvcd-rom keeps on spewing out whatever vcd I feed it. (I need to extract some clips and all.) So, 3 hours into really pointless bloghopping and searching for Audrey Tautou movies, I spot beady eyes under the computer monitor. I yell. It scurries somewhere. I jump. It jumps. I thought I felt it on my hand or something. I ran outside the room. (Turned out that that thing I felt's the DoCoMo mushroom attached to my cellphone, which is in my pocket. So it was bobbing up and down too.) So now I'm one meter away from the computer. And it's raining bulls and hippos outside, the greens are swaying. Sweet, first Oasis, and now Muse is on LAUNCHcast Radio. My birthday's on near, on the 31st. You do the math on how many days 'til that. Comment and I'll treat you to cheap but really good pasta at Chef d'Angelo :D Dang... I just remembered. A major part of why I came here is to ask for overdue travel money from my gran. Haha.
Woosh
I can swear I made a new post last night or this morning. And Ayisse commented something about nightclubs with bands and I said if I lived in Japan I'd beat the monotonity by going to Roponggi. Wait, maybe that was in YM. Well, I just said something about how Jessica has finally been booted out INXS's show and how Remika's throwing a party because of that (just kidding.) And, if you haven't watched the show yet or don't remember who Pink's lead guitarist is, you probably will not understand my brewing love, I mean, fangirlness for Rafael Moreira. Talk about passionate guitar god, and not automated guitar god. I dragged Remika all the way to SM Fairview yesterday so she can see, er, Jose. She didn't have a ride to Power-Up for PE so she decided to make up for that one meeting this week instead. So, we left UP and found out that Jose was not where he's supposed to be. Too bad. Hah. We're going back, because she needs to see him. lol That'd be next week, the day after my birthday. Hah. Yeah. Hah... tf? The primary reason why we decided to go so far up north was because we had no other stuff to do while waiting for Diliman to show at 5pm at UPFI. (To remika it's far up north at least, because she's so far down south, to me at least... confusing? gotcha. haha) Diliman's pretty slow during the start but the movie picks up somewhere in the middle. I have to say though that's the script's pretty good and it worded well what tragically depressing lonesomeness I'm talking about. Some sort of urban decay of the spirit when you're stuck depressed from loneliness in the city. The main realization I got out of the movie: WHo am I kidding? I don't really want to be lonely and dramatic and tragic and messed up. Well here comes in friends and colleagues and aquaintances with equally messed up lives who have nobody else to talk to but equally messed-up lonely people like me. (That is, if I do end up living in some city alone.) So, the city I'd love to live alone in? Tokyo. So I'd beat the tragic-ness in Roponggi. Hah. I should go to Roponggi the next time I go there.
Missing Gun is an awesome film
Is it just me who thinks milk tea has one of the best smells in the world? Of course not. I think lavander, lemongrass and honey, combined, smells really good too (familiar? Pantene Aromatherapy, the purple one. haha) Went to a grocery store in ages yesterday and found out they sold tea aside from chinese tea. I don't mind much if they're in tea bags, as long as they're easily available. (All bow down to SM Supermarket now.) Because last time I looked, which was two months ago, I didn't remember seeing any Earl Grey or English Breakfast. Maybe I got blinded by the whole army and a half of green tea, Darjeeling tea, etcetera slimming Chinese tea. So now I can enjoy milk tea and chocolate-covered, mint-filled cookies. I know it sounds weird but you should try that combination if you haven't yet. Anyway, actually learned tons in film class today. As Prof Cornejo said, " Now go make your own film." Lol. Speaking of film, I'd probably do a very casual and meat-in-the-middle-of-a-shark-fest travel docu of sorts of our Sing adventure. Funny stuff happen no matter how wide-encompassing (or not) these adventures I go on are. Finding my way to the Fine Arts hideout in UP, with Faye, is enough to make me wish I brought a DV cam along. (Hideout - only because it's tucked away in a somewhat thickly vegetated corner of UP). There's a problem though, I'm most definitely snapping a lot of photos. And being the geek that I am, I carry around a manual SLR and a digital hobby one on travels. Conclusion, I'd have to ask Remika and Ayisse to handle the camera. Or I can hire a camera man. Hah. I put a tad too much milk in my tea. I'm too lazy to go back to the kitchen for another tea bag. Lyons anybody? A mug I got for free from one of the thousands of ABC Stores in Hawai'i. And it's the same one in 50 First Dates. Can anybody remember from what scene? Free tea bag to those who do. Heh. Encountered a group (2 girls and a guy) of Koreans again btw who asked for directions. For some reason, I always get asked for directions. So far, among the other asian foreign students I've encountered, they're the ones who are, erm, wrestling with English the most. "Where is animal surgery building?" I thought there was some supposedly top secret animal operation in... Oh, Veterinary Medicine bldg? Aaaaand, 84.67% in my math midterms. At long last, I passed. Fck yeah, it's about time. :D
Fly me to Shibuya
For some weird reason, we get Manila Bulletin every Sunday because my dad used to read the Classifieds and all. Ever since last year though nobody's been reading MB in the house really so I still don't know why they haven't changed it to PDI like I always bother my parents to. The only part of MB I probably read are the cinema schedules, TV scheds, and Foreign Bulletin. And I just found out that Japan is going Paris because they decided to import a thousand ton of white sand from China to convert Shibuya into some St. Tropez rip off. There are going to be those beach chair things out for everybody, a huge TV screen, and concerts. Shibuya is an awesome, awesome place. Harajuku's right beside it. I had to walk through the whole length of Shibuya to get to Harajuku because I was riding a different train line from the more popular, and larger JR Line. (The Minato-no-mirai train line from Motomachi to Shibuya, if anyone cares. It has a newer, niftier, with more steel-and-whiteness modern vibe stations and newer train cars with cooler seat fabric covers. Haha.) Since I was lazy to pay another Y120 or something to ride from just one station to another, I decided to walk and see how Shibuya's instead. Despite more money than I want still in my wallet I didn't stop by any shops because for some reason I felt like I've bought enough clothes (only to find out I could've bought some more) and really wanted to snap photos in Harajuku. On second thought, I might try that government scholarship in Japan after all. Even if I have to use Nihonggo all through out my uni life then. (But I've been in a kind of rut, only a bit different, since I've been thinking of how awesome it'd stay in the Philippines anyway. Thus I was thinking of not applyign to Australia or whereever anymore. More travel money for me. But no travel companions available all the time. Anybody interested? Hah.)
From the depths of pop culture mess
Folks, I am happy to announce that there is a pop band out there that is worse than McFly. WAY WORSE. As you probably all know, I like the band. Nyahaha. I KNOW. I like an assortment of brit pop artists as well. It's something rather unusual that I picked up from watching too much Top Of The Pops. But I haven't watched it in months. I tune into MTV and find Hilary(sp?) Duff's new video on TRL. Yes, Hilary seem to have lost most of her baby fat already. Perhaps it comes with being girlfriend to a much older dude. At least it's not a very drastic change like all the fat out of her got sucked in by a vacuum all at once. Anyway... After shifting channels, I came back later to TRL to find a bunch of guys wearing ugly matching black suits (black ties, and blue polos.) They're like McFly made 50x worse. (Some of the reasons supplied below.) Behold, The Click Five. Only one, or five, of the many things that make you give the TV a death stare. 1) There are 5 of them instead of 4. 2) They have 3 part harmonies. 3) Both the lyrics of TCF (because their name's too long) and McFly are cheesy, but the music TCF makes to go along with it is even cheesier. Not as bouncy and 60s rock inspired as McFly, but of course that's just me. 4) They have ugly matching suits. Ugly. They can't pull off the suit thing as good as, let's say, The Killers. 5) Some of their members look like jocks. 6) They try to make up for face value with almost uniform Beatle's-inspired hair cuts. 7) They overdid their name with the The and the number. The to make them sound slightly rock to the unsuspecting idiot, perhaps, and the Five to, I don't know... make them sound like a bunch of sensitive guys or something (this may be related to popularity of numbered group names among boy bands or Maroon 5 - not that I don't like them, in fact, I do appreciate their music). Forgive me, my brain is half-soup at the moment. But whatever, you don't really care about them. Instead, let me share with you 3 books that I want so much I'd buy them when I am no longer broke. 1) Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson 2) Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer 3) Non-Fiction by Chuch Pahlahniuk
Movies to watch at UPFI
Now I've got the Math17 2nd long exam over and done with, I'm ready to forget it. It was another, aherm, grim experience. I'm sure I'm going to fail again. Just by a few points perhaps. Can't say I didn't try. I did try. In fact, I wanted my graph in this single graphing question perfect, I spent 10 minutes solving every single detail and rewriting my answers on a new page. Midterms, my only midterm exam this semester, is on Wednesday. And woopeedeedooda, Math17 again. This time though I'll solve ALL the given sample problems (both in the book and handouts). And I have to do really good in this one or my parents will probably kill me with their I-told-you-so's. And it's worth 2/9 of my total grade where as the long exams are like, only 6.66whatever% Anyway... there are quite alot of movies to look forward to this month (and September) in the UP Film Institue. I'm hoping to watch all of them. Shamelessly stolen from a UP CAM (Cinema as Art Movement) yahoogroup notice: The Bunnyguards aka Erkan & StefanAug 12, Friday, 5pm In a case of mistaken identity, two goofs in town get to be the best bodyguards that money can buy. Dubbed as the German answer to Dumb and Dumber. Direction: Michael Herbig. Screenplay: Cast: Erkan Maria Moosleitner, Stefan Lust, Alexandra Neldel. 2000. 87 minutes 35mm color German with English subtitles A TMV Films International Release Love Me If You Dare aka Jeux d'enfantsSeptember 2, Friday, 5pm I saw the trailer and I just have(?) to watch it. As adults, two best friends continue the odd game they started as children: fearless competition to outdo one another with daring and outrageous stunts. Direction: Yann Samuell. Screenplay: Jacky Cukier, Yann Samuell. Cast: Guillaume Canet, Marion Cotillard. 2003. 93 minutes 35mm color French with English subtitles A TMV Films International Release Ganito Kami Noon, Paano Kayo NgayonAug 10, Wednesday, 10am, 2 and 5 p.m. A rural bumpkin unwittingly sent to look for the bastard son of a Spanish friar wanders through the Philippine Revolution against Spain from 1896 to 1898 and the Philippine-American War from 1899 to 1901 to come to grips with the struggle of an emergent country not just for independence and quest for a place among the world's community of nations but also for that elusive identity. Direction: National Artist Eddie Romero. Screenplay: National Artist Eddie Romero, Roy Iglesias. Cast: Christopher de Leon, Gloria Diaz, Eddie Garcia, Leopoldo Salcedo. 1976 125 minutes 35mm color Filipino with English subtitles print from Cultural Center of the Philippines CollateralAug 11, THursday, 5pm I just want to watch it again because I love it. A Very Long Engagement aka Un long dimanche fiancaillesAug 16, Tuesday, 5pm An indomitable young woman sets out on a long, painful and somewhat comic search for her fiance's one of five soldiers left to die in the trenches of the Somme during World War I. Direction: Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Screenplay from Sebastien Japrisotâ's novel: Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Guillaume Laurant. Cast: Audrey Tautou, Gaspard Ulliel, Jodie Foster. 2004 134 minutes 35mm color French with English subtitles A Warner Bros. Release Aaaaaand.... DilimanAug 18, Thursday, 5pm A socially-committed writer-turned-romance novelist chances upon a man on the roof of a building. Watching him would become a growing fascination, an obsession and a mystery. Direction and Screenplay: Mes de Guzman. Cast: Cris Villanueva, Ronnie Quizon. 2005 87 minutes multimedia Produced by Sampaybakod Productions, National Commission for Culture and the Arts
No more excuses, AM
Last week showcased a rather schizophrenic weather. It was a series of downpours spanning hours and sometimes just minutes. And it's such a bitch to walk from one building to another in a too-sun-friendly assortment of clothes. (Distance = length of Megamall, or close to it.) Despite the rain and having to walk through 2 cm - 5 cm puddles of rain water and dirt mixture, I still haven't given up my trusty leather slippers... which is a poor choice given that it's leather. I got it cheap anyway, so maybe I'm buying another pair (since this current pair has obviously had its share of, erm, domestic violence - if you can do that to footwear.) So, Friday night consisted of solving math problems, in not-so-earnest anticipation of my 2nd math17 long exam tomorrow and the midterms on Wednesday. Saturday, Ayisse and I trekked to the Super Artist's bazaar in NBC Tent. Since Remika lives 5 minutes away or something, she came over too. After grabbing a bite at McD's, I ran to the Old Swiss Inn somewhere along Makati Ave. for the Rock Ed Philippines orientation. Turns out that the group oriented last Saturday, an assortment of students, 20-somethings, some media-people, and a number of teachers, is the first wave of volunteers who are not related or friends with the 10 founding people. Meaning, we are the first batch of good-hearted strangers to volunteer. Naks, good-hearted daw. Hahaha You should check out the link there. It's an awesome org that's trying to bring together NGOs, it's not politically motivated, it's a great venue/medium/whatever for all your hopes and dreams of alleviating the country's state (through education, music, various other subfields of the arts), et cetera, et cetera. I don't have time to explain everything here but please do check the link. It's along the lines of ONE.org, End Poverty Now, etc. As Rock Ed puts it, No more excuses, Philippines.Thanks to Dan btw, since I learned about Rock Ed through him. Actually, after Rock Ed, I trekked over to the Fort again. Because I was handed an invitation upon purchase of a book from the Super booth at the bazaar, Remika and I decided we'll go to the awards thing in the evening. It was rather spontaneous. Hey, who can resist free food? (I was just kidding. It's not like we hoarded the food and all.) And I had to spend the night at her house since I live up north, no one wants to fetch me and sadly, I don't drive yet. Anyway, it was so spontaneous I asked Remika not to change clothes haha. (Well she did change her shirt, in the same color, and changed from slippers to sneakers.) I was rather colorful that day. (I decided to dress up like a colorful normal college kid since I thought the orientation was purely for students only. Colorful because I had to show my non-boring side and it is an assembly of art-inclined people after all. Well it's what I'd wear when I don't want to think of what to wear anyway. Enough of rationalizing.) Anyway, we were extremely surprised to see Jojo A there. Too funny. Too funny. So yar. I have to get back to my maths and blahs. No more excuses, Philippines. No more excuses.
Freeverse
Hello fellow monkeys. Hello, monkey fellow. I didn't go to the USC Volunteers' acquaintance party today because it starts at 5:30p and I my classes ended at 11:30am. So like any other lazy, me-first people out there I didn't go. Just kidding. I thought it wouldn't be practical since it'd probably end late and Ayisse and I are planning to go out tomorrow. I'm dragging her to the Rock Ed Philippines Student Volunteers orientation tomorrow at the Old Swiss Inn. (That's not 'til 3pm so we'd probably drop by the Super Artist's Bazaar in the morning before her dentist's appointment.) So, this week's pretty complete since I've been able to watch all the TV shows I look forward to which are: Desperate Housewives (though I didn't get to watch the whole thing, there's reply on Sunday anyway), Rockstar INXS (I only have PE at 1p on Wednesdays so I get to watch the live airing of the show, yay for that), Growing Up Gotti (because it's funny). I'll be catching Mafia's reply on the weekday. And Interpol maybe. Dude, Jordis and Mig are awesome ... awesome. And I like Marty too. And no offense to fans of him but, I don't like Ty although I can't deny that he CAN sing. Remika said he looks like a jazz dancer and should probably be one. Brandon seems to be increasingly annoying but he's still got a strong voice. But I remain a Jordis and Mig fan. Although in the end I'd probably support Mig because, duh, it's a pinoy out there and we're pretty much suckers for talented pinoys out there. I only have midterms in Math17. 2nd long exam's on Monday though. I guess I have to start studying later tonight. I was thinking I'd drop by Starbucks and solve math problems there this afternoon like a geek but I'll be burning more money and Jose has his shift today and yeah... I'm not up for showing up there alone and risk looking like a stalker, thanks to my lovely cousin who divulged my secret to the place's security guard. And for some reason, Jose is buddies with the security guards. So yeah... My birthday's at the end of the month btw. Send me gifts now biatches. Hah :D So, poll... Do you think I, or Remika and I (if she's allowed) should continue to Malaysia, Thailand, and Cambodia, after Singapore? (We're planning to go to Sing on October, sembreak). Aaaand... this just in. (Watching 24 Oras in the other room.) Piedra China stones, worth thousands each piece, were dug up in Intramuros. SHould've brought a shovel when Kla and I went there on an adventure last January. And... our beloved Roco has passed on to somewhere else, or nowhere, whatever. I wanted him to be president :(
Let's Pretend I'm Psychic
Tell me what are on your computer table and I'll tell you who you are.I don't have anything to do so I have come up with something that is obviously a failure even if it hasn't started yet. Comment with 5 things that are currently on your computer desk. (Excluding computer parts - unless you don't have anything else AND really want to say that you have a insert manufacturer's name here insert combination of alphaneumeric characters here.) And then... I will reply with a rather biased, material-judgemental, insightless (or insightful), discriminating, one-sided, multi-sided, wonderful, psychic, unfair, etcetera view of who you are. Or if I know you, you can opt not to put your name and I'd guess who you are based on the items you listed. Why am I doing this? I feel that there are an abundance of sometimes amusing, sometimes stupid, but almost always innately annoying pass-it-on blog meme thingamajigs. (Whew, alot of words huh?) Soooo, I decided I'd contribute and add something to that annoying population in cyberspace. Why should YOU list your 5 things? Because you are bored, admit it. (You wouldn't be reading this in the first place if you aren't anyway :P) Because you want to. Because you feel my psychic-ness. Because we are attracted to stupid things out of curiosity. Hmm, lemme try this. The 5 stuff I have on my table are... 1. a half-eaten moon cake (I know, it's not yet the time to eat it, but meh...) 2. a digital camera 3. a roll of unused film 4. an unlabeled diskette I don't even know what's inside and haven't tried finding out 5. a stack of papers and photo envelopes Guess who I am? Guess who I am? :D *wider idiotic grin* *even wider...* *jump jump jump* *giddy giddy* Bang.
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