Kronos' Wrath

Time to reel in the basics and get back to what this li'l blog o' mine is all about: insights from the movies!

Last night, I was one of the lucky few to witness Kronos' wrath unleashed on mankind ahead of time (i.e. I got to watch Wrath of the Titans on its premiere night, made possible by Magic 89.9 and a few other sponsors), and I must say, 'twas very entertaining.

Wrath is the long promised 2nd story to the 21st century remake of Clash of the Titans, and although a bit weak in its Greek mythology, the action and story more than made up for the lack. I say its weak in Greek because in my humble mortal's opinion, the producers could have delved a bit more on the monsters. Don't get me wrong. The mayhem they caused was really explosively entertaining but I couldn't stop myself from wondering stuff like, "Where'd that Chimera come from?", "What's the story behind the Minotaur?", "What the heck's a Makhai?", and "Kronos, who?!"

Okay okay, so maybe not all of those. I'm not too much of a ditz to not know who Cronus, father of the godly triumvirate, is. A bigger story on the Minotaur, since he was the Medusa of this sqweakquel, would've been appreciated though. At least Medusa's backstory of being envied by Athena so she was turned into a monster that turns men into stone was brought up, albeit quickly, in the plot of Clash. Or was that in Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief...

But I digress.

Action need no major explanation. As aptly used in the title, there is much wrath in this movie. Poor Chimera had a spear stuck through one of its heads. Minotaur had its horns broken off. God of War Aries made a rag doll out of our demigod hero in their how-is-this-even-possible fight scene. There were a couple of missed moments on my part due to the inability to process blood and gore (i.e. I turned away from the screen. I'm squeamish like that.).

But the story... now there's something wholly unexpected. Afterall, when you think of Wrath, family and forgiveness aren't the two Fs that automatically come to mind. But seriously, injecting filial and brotherly love into Greek mythology is somewhat new to me. Normal for Perseus to be drawing strength from his son Helius, but for Zeus to be weak and needing the help of his son Perseus, when he is betrayed by his other son Aries, whose betrayal stems from his envy of his half mortal brother who he thinks their father loves more than him, and for Hades, god of death and the underworld, to turn a new leaf over to help his brother Zeus because they've forgiven each other for their mistakes... wow! Who thought up those plot lines?

Did I reveal too much of the story? Point is, for me Wrath wasn't all about the messy, fussy destruction of the world. It was also an undoing-and-coming-back-together of a family. Plus the lengthy cameo of Bubo the owl while Hephaestus was doing his semi-neurotic monologue was cute.

I reco you watch this for sheer entertainment. However, ff you're looking for a lesson in Greek mythology, read Percy Jackson instead. :)

Needing a breather

...

I wish I didn't but I do.

...

(Near) Empty Airport

Departure Area of NAIA Terminal 2

I've only flown alone once before. For a vacay/work trip to Boracay back in... (egads, how long ago has that been) 2006? Or 7.

I was this newbie in the FMCG industry, handling an up-and-coming brand that was making waves on the sunny shores of Bora and I was going by myself to check-up on sales, look up possible distribution partners and take a breather from the suffocating city life. I was nervous, edgy, kinda clingy to my stuff because I was so sure someone was out to get me. (Of course, there wasn't. Paranoid much?)

So it's been a while since I last traveled alone.

And comparing that trip to this one now... I'd say I'm calmer... more of a donya... (I checked in my tiny blue bag. Hello! If you saw it, you would've gone "Eh ang tamad mo pala eh!")... and more tolerant of strangers.

The near empty departure area of NAIA Terminal 2 is peppered with a few oddballs here and there. As I type, there are two hippie Japanese-y dudes (Okay... not Japanese-y... really Japanese) discussing stuff on their laptop in Nihonggo. There's a thin, oldish white dude with a bald spot checking out the ladies that cross his peripheral vision (I'm not going anywhere near that)... and there are a few fellow Pinoys happily waiting for boarding time to get here. I guess they're looking forward to getting on the plane and getting to Cebu.

And there's me. Ho-hum. Besides all those up top, I feel... tired. I wish I could be excited about all these trips I've been doing but in all honesty, I just want it to stop. Just a nice, short pause in the traveling would be oh-so wonderfully grand. With this third straight working weekend... I think I've forgotten what Saturday feels like.

But... such is life.

Then again, at least I'm not paranoid anymore.

*who's there?*

Untitled

The alarm can ring. The birds can peep. My bed is warm. My pillow's deep.

Today's the day I'm going to sleep!

-Dr. Seuss

Someday.

Not Being There

So there is a downside to a job that takes over you life after all. I realize it now.

I lose time for my friends.

Friends who need me to just be the listening ear or the shoulder to cry on. Friends who just want to hang out and laugh out loud for no reason whatsoever. Friends who turn to up unexpectedly to gain a bit of happy comfort...

I used to be able to do all that for my friends; used to be the girl everyone could talk to, could count on for a good, idiotic laugh, for just plain no-brainer fun...

Now, I'm not.

I couldn't even give a few minutes of my time to Lisa last Friday. Just a few minutes of catching up and checking on how things are going...

I'm such a lousy friend. :(

Mishap

Last week, the worst of all worsts happened. My OCD finally got the better of me and caused me to... *ack!* ... spill water all over my laptop.

I was cleaning my desk because it was getting too gross for its own good, and mistakenly placed my red tumbler beside my laptop to make space for the other stuff I was clearing away. As I was further disorganizing my disorganized mess, my clumsy elbow connected with the the tumbler and water came a-spilling out to my keyboard.

First emotion: Shock. I was literally stunned, frozen in place. I had no idea what to do. But panic set in when my screen blanked out. Then fear. I broke my laptop. All my files. All my data. All a few days before two major program launches. I was shaking in my shoes! (Yes, not boots. I don't own a pair kasi.)

Yet, despite the fear, panic and shock of the moment, I was able to function. Adrenaline kicked in and I was unplugging anything and everything that could be unplugged. One of my roommates finally took notice of my stress and helped me out be researching what do on such occassions on google. He said I should remove the battery and leave it computer off for at least five days.

FIVE DAYS?1?!? Color must have drained out of me completely because suddenly it was Judd on the adrenaline rush. He turned my laptop over to remove the lock on the battery pack and started tilting the laptop to its side so whatever water was left in it could be drained out.

I could not imagine life without a computer. Life at least for the next few days at least. No. Actually, I refused to imagine it. There were too many things to do, and an idiotic mishap like this could not, should not cause any delays.

So off I was to harass our floor's admin officers. I needed a service unit, and I needed it ASAP! I don't know if it was because I'm good friends with our admin and IT people, or if I just really looked like a complete mess that afternoon, but they couldn't have given me a service unit faster. I had the unit 6 PM, and before that I was continuously working thru my BB.

So all in all, only a few manic minutes were spent mourning over the loss of my laptop. The rest of the afternoon was spent over work overdrive.

I guess what it taught me is, really, how I value what I do. If it were anyone else, they would've run crying to their big boss and asked to go home that day because there wouldn't be anything left to do. But in my case, my boss didn't even know about the problem until it was solved! There was no stall in the work flow. Emails were still answered, files were still sent, everything still operated like clockwork. Overall, I'm kind of proud of how I handled the entire mishap.

It's been more than five days and I now have my laptop, dried and not fried, back with me. Those who are curious would be happy to know that all files and emails are intact and in perfect working order. :)

And note to self: Keep tumblers empty when within a 12-inch radius of any electronic gadget.