Arrrr + tagged by Mon

I've started with A History Of The World. It's pretty easy to read, Neil was right. I kinda figured I should trust him on it cos I've used the book in high school and he claims that he uses it as a bedside story book. Yeah Neil, yeah.

Aha 1 chapter down, 39 more to go. This is going to be fun, seriously. I'm hoping to finish, I dunno, 4 chapters tomorrow?

Meh. Dunno what else to say. Have a downloading spree would you? Here's my current playlist of random-based-on-instinct/feeling chosen songs. (A lot of songs from Lock Stock and Two Smoking barrels :D)


Orange Juice - Dying Day
James Brown - The Boss
Ocean Colour Scene - Hundred Mile High City
Junior Murvin - Police And Thieves
Kraftwerk - Neon Lights
Ocean Colour Scene - It's A Beautiful Thing
James Brown - The Big Pay Back
Dusty Springfield - Spooky
Boomkat - Rip Her To Shreds
Orange Juice - Rip It Up 1983
Oasis - Champagne Supernova
British Sea Power - A Lovely Day Tomorrow
Nouvelle Vague - The Guns of Brixton
Bjork & Moby - Big Time Sensuality
Nouvelle Vague - I Melt With You
Bjork - Isobel (Portishead remix)
Bjork & Tricky - Black Coffee
The Kooks - In Love
The Kooks - Seaside
Modern English - I Melt With You
Babyshambles - In Love With A Feeling
Architecture In Helsinki - In Case We Die
Architecture In Helsinki - Need To Shout
Kings Of Convenience - I'd Rather Dance With You
Architecture In Helsinki - Frenchy I'm Faking
Frou Frou - Psychobabble
Radiohead & PJ Harvey - This Mess We're In
Spoon - Merchants Of Soul
Spoon - Everything Hits At Once
Pulp - This Is Hardcore
Spoon - THe Way We Get By
Phantom Planet - Lonely Day
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
Our Lady Peace - Walking In Circles
Motion City Soundtrack - Attractive Today
Modest Mouse - The World At Large
Richard Ashcroft - New York
Richard Ashcroft - Break The Night With Colour
INXS - Afterglow
Ani Difranco - I Loved You, So What
Ani Difranco - 32 Flavors
Robbie Williams - Man Machine
Ani Difranco - School Night
Ani Difranco - Fuel
Boomkat - Crazy Love



Hmm, I only downloaded Boomkat cos I read that Taryn Manning's in it, and I like Taryn Manning. Heehee. It's weird tho her voice seems like it belongs to a black singer or something. Seriously, not that I'm being racist in any way but it was my first impression. Like her and her band sound like The Go Team.

Yeah. I'm gonna try to get back to reading now. :D

---

The 4 Things Meme:

Four Jobs I’ve Had:
1. kahera at taga-resibo
2. marine lab assistant
3. student
4. photographer... kunwari lang daw

Four Movies I Can Watch Over and Over:
1. Fight Club
2. Blue Crush
3. Amelie
4. Shaun Of The Dead

Four TV Shows I Love to Watch:
1. PRISON BREAK
2. Less Than Perfect
3. Queer Eye/Project Runway/ANTM/Ambush Makeover/Knock First (haha)
4. Grey's Anatomy

Four Places I’ve Been on Vacation:
1. Japan
2. Hawai'i
3. Australia
4. Singapore

Four Favorite Dishes:
1. Sinigang
2. Inihaw na bangus stuffed with tomatoes and onions (relleno? sp?)
3. Salmon
4. Ziti

Four Places I’d Rather Be:
1. Eating in some yakiniku place or Denny's (haha) in Yokohama
2. Prison Break set or better yet Wentworth's trailer (personal assistant, hoy ano ba haha)
3. Florence
4. Manchester

Four people to tag:
Hmm.. since tagged ka na Remika, di na kita lalagay
1. Ayisse
2. Icy
3. Danna
4. Faye

I'm now prone to screaming out of nowhere and for no apparent reason

WTMFH AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

Check out the World History part: http://www.mext.go.jp/a_menu/koutou/ryugaku/05110801/001.htm

So, are they really expecting that all the test-takers would know when the hell William crossed the Straits of Dover to take over England or something and the exact year of when the first ever secret transvestite became a transvestite during the "medieval" era?

(Okay, I'm just kidding, there is no secret transvestite, I made that up. And it doesn't make sense.)

My brain melted when I read the first question in World History :( It was just threatening to melt when I was looking at the Math A sample exam wherein I proceeded to answer the second question and filled a bond paper back to back, all of which was rather futile.

So I'm buying a history book later, which I've been planning to anyway. And I'm borrowing a friend's math 17 notebook from last sem. Hahaha Because I suck. I still have that Math 17 book tho.

Well anyway, so there. I'm kind of inspired to study really. Cos I'm not doing much online anymore and that's what takes up the majority of my time anyway. So yes, online zine plans would have to be postponed :( Sadly. But whatever, you know.

I'm gonna start studying tomorrow perhaps. I can squeeze in studying for French in 30 minutes less. As for History well, there are readings and stuff but I hope I can do that in 2 hours, and it's not going to be everyday anyway.

I hope though that all the dates question in the World History test is going to be confined to European history, if not, then I'd really fry my brain taking note of all the years certain events took place AROUND THE WORLD. Motherfuckinghell, I know T_T

Coupling <--> PBB

I only caught the last ten minutes of the PBB Teen Edition pilot episode and I guess I'd be watching it so I can go on and rant about and hate the idiots (if there are but let's face it, all competetions have one) and the annoying ones. (Annoying due to behavior and/or unfortunate physical attributes - Yes I'm evil. Ok, I was just half serius about that.)

I don't really have any violent reactions regarding any of the contestants but... Can someone please tell me why the fck there were motorcycles and girls dancing in bikinis and pek-pek shorts in front of that stage??? You are now free to imagine me screaming in mental anguish while trying to pull out my hair.

Now that were over and done with that... I'd actually join this thing cos it's just for a month. You know, just to grace national tv with my lack of social skills. We all know though that in reality I am friendly and accepting to the point of passivity (unless it is something, well you know... there are exceptions), and that I try to crack jokes, with much failure.

But really, I'm funny. I think. Come on, everybody I know can remember at least one time I said something funny. It still bothers me though how come when I try to crack jokes around a new aquaintance they rarely respond. I've also realized that at that point, I should go find somebody else with a similar sense of humor.

And so I managed to turn this post from PBB to er, something dedicated to myself.

I just finished this short Asian geography-related work and am about to go to sleep.

Coupling tonight was extremely hilarious btw. If you didn't catch it you just lost about 30 minutes of laughing time. (I swear I couldn't stop laughing all through out this one scene where Jeff comes into the bar wearing a bondage mask and carrying a plastic bag of laxatives from the drug store - cos he swallowed the key to these handcuffs and ran from the apartment to the drugstore to the bar where his friends are meeting their other friend's new boyfriend. And Jeff didn't realize he was still wearing a mask. You have to see it, it's hilarious. Okay, I know you didn't understand a thing I said T_T)

And bought new shoes and a shirt dress today. Yeah yeah.

Someday you will find me caught beneath a landslide, in a champagne supernova in the sky.

I would like to leave this city
This old town don't smell too pretty and
I can feel the warning signs running around my mind
And when I leave this island I'll book myself into a soul asylum
And I can feel the warning signs running around my mind

So here I go still scratching around the same old hole
My body feels young but my mind is very old
So what do you say?
You can't give me the dreams that are mine anyway
You're half the world away
Half the world away
Half the world away
I've been lost I've been found but I don't feel down.

-Half the world away

Almost the story of my life there. Except nobody that's half the world away O_o

You know how you want to be in so many places at the same time? How you want to be different things all at once? In the end it's the same for all of us I guess yeah? We all just want to be. To be.

Pretty much our lives are made up of the next best movie;
another book that can capture fleeting moments of infinity and inconsistencies of life that make it perfect and beautiful and tragic;
the next cup of coffee or ice cream;
the next episode of our favourite TV series;
our weekly love affairs with reality show marathons and sitcom overdoses;
another perfect song that describes our life so far;
quirky observations of people we're probably never gonna cross paths with;
praying to the universe for somebody to cross our paths with;
laughing, and laughing, ang laughing;
and feeling sorry for ourselves... but only for five seconds;
breakfasts in the afternoon and during midnight;
the internet and instant messengers;
articles of clothing we're all too thrilled to chance upon... and for a cheap price (ah, the universe is not so cruel after all);
books and magazines on sale;
anything on sale;
and imagining ourselves walking down the streets of NYC, somewhere under the Tuscan sun, crying alone inside a Paris hotel room, wandering the streets of Bangkok at night, running down nameless streets in a place a free version of Google Earth won't be able to place... all those and many more, imagining them and not being able to wait for them to happen because yeah, they're gonna happen.

This mostly refers to my life though. And probably those of my friends whose lives are more closely intertwined with mine.

...Is it so sad that I can describe what makes my life worthwhile in a finite amount of words at all?

Of course, there are the food we want to eat, the people we want to meet, the kinds of sand we want stuck between our toes, the animals we want to save, the online gossip news we read just because...

I can't list it all in one go but it would still be finite if I ever do come up with a list.

So it's never sad. Yeah. Omg brainfart. Heh.

British Sea Power started all this. Huhu.
For Ayisse, Remika and Dixi. :x

Taking French now. And German or Portugese?

Not that anybody might care but this is no longer the Adventures Of A Cultured Dirtbag but Last Life In The Universe. Yes, I knicked the movie title. Just because I don't have anything else and frankly, there are no adventures happening atm. Heh.

On an update, sadly, my Italian 11 class got dissolved :( So I had to take another foreign language class. I just chose a later time slot cos I realized I won't be able to wake up early enough everyday for a 9am class and commute to school :p And if I'm gonna drive, I certainly don't prefer to drive amidst heavy traffic. Soooo... I'm now taking French 10.

It's a huge challenge and it's actually been... fun. Because I'm one of the few who get the pronunciations immediately. However, I suck at the whole listen-and-write thing, although we haven't fully gone into that.

Everytime all these nasals and seemingly gutteral R's come up I feel like screaming. But since I can't I've resorted to making faces. Yeah... Too bad almost everybody else can see me making faces cos all the seats are against the walls of the room so there's a square formation with a space in the middle.

So you might be able to guess what happened when I got home... I watched the French channel on TV, TV3 World (I think), and screamed every 3 minutes or so cos of frustration. Ah, we all go through it at first when studying a new language. I might take the "just listen and repeat and find the meaning route then focus on theory later" because that's how we pretty much learn our native languages right? And our prof sort of suggested it saying, just try to get the pronunciations and don't analyze too much first.

Speaking of all these throaty R's, I feel like mine sound more gutteral or you can say more German (haha just kidding). But I think I have the most authentic sounding "Qu'est-ce que ca veut dire?" next to our teacher. Hahaha I swear I can repeat that question over and over again it just rolls off the tongue real smoothly. And I actually say R, as an alphabet, alone alright. So I can repeat that over and over again I guess.

So yes, even though I was a bit sad that my Italian class got cancelled and I was planning to take French later on, it's alright I guess. Who knows, I might get so used to French I might decide taking up to Intermediate :D (Intermediate is 12-13, just checked.) As for Italian... I have a basic-intermmediate book and since I already have a primer on it I think I can carry on from there.

Although of course, the only way one can truly be fluent is if you stay in a place where that language is spoken. Or stay with people who speak that language.

And I'm taking German 10-11 in my first sem. Hahaha If there's a Portugese 10-11 though I'm taking that. What do you think?

9 hours

Summer classes start in 9 hours. I'm taking up Intermmediate Italian and History: Asia and the World.

I'm still thinking whether I should take up Persian or Portugese or French first sem next school year. Hahaha Okay, Persian I probably won't be able to use unless I get stuck in the Stan areas or somewhere in the middle east. What are the chances, eh? Well as for Portugese and French, they're both romantic languages and blablabla. I dunno. If they open a Fren 10-11 (Basic-Intermediate, I think) I'm taking that instead of Portugese.

Tralala I'm off to sleep.

Dancing to electropop like a robot from 1984

Sugababes covered I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor by Arctic Monkeys song for the B-side of their single, Red Dress. Everybody should go download Sugababes' version cos it's fun. Nyahaha. It even sounds louder than the Monkeys'. What's pretty ironic though was that I Bet That... was the song that kicked Sugababes out of the top 1 position in the UK Charts. (Not sure if Red Dress was that number 1 song then.)

The malls are closed today. And a lot of shops too. But I badly need brewed coffee and donuts :( The coffee is not a problem really, and I'd probably go and buy a coffee maker (FINALLY) next week or so anyway. But the donut. I just recently revived my love for donuts btw.

So ye, new layout. I dunno... I found out that I actually do get more than 5 hits a day (thanks to statcounter) so I decided to make a new layout for you guys who visit this crap space, friends and strangers. Now drop me a note on my tagboard. Come on, come on. It'll only take 2 seconds of your time. And you shall contribute to my emotional and psychological health by making me happy. Heh. Heh.

Braindead 40 Yr Old Teen Takes Morning Survey

I got woken up by my aunt telling me to print NWA airline ticket quotations.

Since my brain is still half-dead I need to sort of shake it up so here's something I knicked off Mon.

A - Available?
Seriously, I don't get this question. Er, no not right now cos I have a small chore and I'm sleepy still?

B - BEST FRIEND:
Ayisse, Remika, Dixi. And Raphael, kinda. haha (They're my only friends too. Just kidding.)

C - CRUSH:
One of the SAs at the CS office. WAHAHA.

D - Dogs Name:
No dog.

E - EASIEST PERSON TO TALK TO:
Myself. J/k, I'm not that lonely. Friends of course.

F - FAVORITE BAND?
Oasis

G - GUMMY BEARS OR WORMS:
Bears

H - HOMETOWN:
QC

I - INSTRUMENT:
Piano, guitar, bass? Recorder hahaha.

K - KIDS:
N/a

L - LONGEST CAR RIDE:
To Armidale in Australia

M - MOODY?
Not often

N - NUMBER OF SIBLINGS:
2

O - ONE WISH:
I'd say a dSLR, or a plane ticket to London/Manchester but, hmm, none really.

P - PHOBIAS:
Rats. It's not a genuine phobia tho.

Q - FAVORITE QUOTE?
I'm not big on quotes that I keep on dishing them or muttering them in the middle of a conversation but I have to say, one thing I pretty much haven't forgotten since would be: When the center of the universe is finally discovered, a lot of people will be dissappointed that their not it. (Forgot who said it.)

R - REASON TO SMILE?
Random amusing things while walking around.

S - SONG YOU LAST HEARD:
Arctic Monkeys - Still Take You Home

T - TIME YOU WOKE UP:
9:17 am

U - UNKNOWN FACT ABOUT YOU:
During insomniac moments, I'd visit every blog I've visited in the past week until I feel sleepy. Wait, you already knew that :(

V - VEGETABLE YOU HATE:
Saluyot. Does it even have an english name?

W- WORST HABITS:
I'd say cancelling last minute but I pretty much don't do that anymore. And no I don't really feel that people watching then criticizing is a bad habit. Come on, everybody does it between friends for fun. (Or maybe I'm just evil like that.)

X- X-RAYS YOU'VE HAD:
Chest

Y - YUMMY FOOD:
Caprese salad ---> Mon, gusto ko nito huhuhu
Pasta with puttanesca.

Z - ZODIAC SIGN:
Virgo

Bagel with ham omelette and cheddar

I've been playing Cheat on Neopets for about 3 hours now.

Such is my life.

Attempt at omelette

I caught Tyler's Ultimate on tv again last night, this time it's an episode about omelettes. And I was amazed at the low heat french omelettes and how I found out that my way about cooking omelettes even before watching the show was french-y and all that. So I tried to cook a more proper french-style omelette for brunch. Actually, I didn't have any creme fraiche nor did I have time to make one but that didn't stop me yeah. It was alright. I put tomatoes in it tho not mushrooms. Tomatoes and cheese.

---

From Mon
Name ten of life's simple pleasures that you like most, then pick ten people to do the same. Try to be original and creative and not to use things that someone else has already used.

1. Walking half-aimlessly around the mall. Alone.
2. Seeing music videos or performances of bands that I like on TV. Even though I've probably seen it on YouTube.com or something.
3. Watching my favourite sitcoms and other tv shows.
4. Chancing upon a really good/foreign/art film on sale in the dvcd stand.
5. Hugs from my younger brother.
6. Omelettes. Seriously. Cooking and eating it.
7. Getting mails, e-mails, notes that I hadn't been expecting.
8. When I (over)hear certain pop culture references, that doesn't seem to be refered to much, out of the blue.
9. Opening a new book for the first time.
10. Writing on a new notebook for the first time. It's that clean-slate feeling.

---

Off to UP for some class cards.

In the streets of Chinatown in Manchester...

...our dear friend Ange was spotted running around barefeet, wearing a silvery pink dress, and probably freezing cos she doesn't have a coat on.

Here's the link for the pic.

Aha my new found photoshop skills.

I'm a bit frustrated at the moment actually. I need to canvass for lights and huge ass handheld flash. Would have to go out of the house tomorrow, er later, then. Crap.

oatmeal and sashimi

+ Dinner sucked so I had oatmeal instead. Yes, recently my body's been running on oatmeal a half the time. Nothing really, I just felt like declaring my love for oatmeal. Again. (I did it on LJ.)

+ I want sashimi. But I'm broke, I have nothing. I guess the good thing about taking summer classes is I get allowance. haha Maybe I have to collect pay from fu already. They haven't payed me yet. Hmm...

+ My cousin's first flight with Etihad's going to be Damascus on the 17th and then Manchester on the 18th. And they always stay at Hilton. I love travelling, like it's a huge factor in the decisions I make but I haven't really seriously considered, full on, being a flight attendant.

+ I'm on YM with Raphael and he's saying something like he's dying. Okay. I bet it's nothing serious, not even health related.

ANTM LATER

I will be in TV Heaven later.

8:00p Project Runway
9:00p Queer Eye
10:00 America's Next Top Model (Season 4 Premieeeeere)

And here are some shots from the shoot this afternoon. Still a number of post-processing to do and stuff.

nvm post before this

The past hour was spent in mass, where I usually contemplate how many times I've heard that certain sermon, how many times I've heard that gospel (usually I just recall the past 2 times), and if I really should convert to Buddhism.

But let's not discuss religion here cos well, religion is such a layered, subjective innovation brought about by society because... No I will not go into the Durkheim theory and all. Ehehe. (I can almost swear by that theory.)

So, as for my second attempt at an ezine I've tried to come up with some sort of not-so-random word vomit association. I usually get my creativity flowing that way. I type stuff up on notepad and yes I know you don't really care about that. So on to the word vomit.

Against failure of imagination. Internet. Internet generation. iGeneration. Around the city. Art. Photography. Films. Events. Music. Fashion (but not specifically like haute couture, runway, high end or whatever just... whatever's out there). Pop culture. Subcultures. But none of that tiered society crap. Celebration of the creative genius. Preoccupations. 5 second-generation. Preoccupations of the 5-second generation. Brain shit. Camera mobile phone adventures. Preoccupations. And preoccupations.

If you're interested to collab with this project, send me a note. My email's amlcortez at gmail and I've got the same username on YM.

---

And fly me to Japan, quick. So I can visit Ayisse in Cali in the future every short break I have. And so I can finally ship my ass to London.

Btw, my cousin's going to graduate from her Etihad training in Abu Dhabi(sp?) on the 17th and she's flying to London on the same day :D I'm praying she gets placed in first class. Aw she's grown since her Cebu Pacific days (I got her that job, kinda hahaha). Wait, that was just 3 years ago or sumthin.

Oh and I'm already prophesying that she'd end up some princess in that country or something, judging from all the funny stories re: her new-found popularity. Haha We're forcing her to marry some rich business tycoon. Oil. Yeah.

PS
Ayisse & Remika: Should I ask Ate Sugar to get me that 2nd McFly album? HAHA I'm tempted. I can already hear you guys boo-ing. And snoring. Wait, I know, I'm gonna get her to buy me Arctic Monkeys :D :D :D

5econds

Five seconds.

Sometimes everything seems to be for five seconds.

You're mad for five seconds. Happy for another five. Preoccupied with this for five seconds. Worrying about that for 5 seconds. Fixing this in 5 seconds.

Yeah, five seconds.

PS
Has it occured to anybody if their moms care for them at all? Cos sometimes it seems like it. But then again I find out that I feel like that for only five seconds.

PPS
Everything's been sucky lately. But yes, you're right. It's actually all just for five seconds.