Since the "publishing" of this blog on Facebook, I've been getting a bit of grief on my chosen title.
INSIGHTS FROM THE MOVIES was originally planned to be as simple as that, and it sometimes still is, especially if I've just watched something I feel is worth writing about, such as Notting Hill a few moments ago... we'll get to that later.
When I started writing here last May (2010), I was on a cinematic semi-rampage. I was watching these Hollywood-made movies left and right, and I, being the critic I am, wanted a way to get my perspective out to the world. No, I did not start this blog to compete against Rotten Tomatoes. And, after going thru a few more theater dates, I also realized that one doesn't get much insight from the cinematic industry.
So, I switched gears. I now write about anything that strikes me as funny, strange, smart, weird, cool, uncool, etc. In other words, anything that makes an impact on me.
I guess you could say this is an odd mix of a cat and viral blog. Cat blog because it mostly centers around vain me, and my whatnot thoughts. Viral because (bangko, bangko, bangko) there are ideas in here that could amount to something!
So, to those of you who wandered in thinking you'd get the latest blockbuster reviews, I'm so sorry to disappoint. Look around though, you never know what you just might pick up. No, I'm not changing the name to something else. Life, for me, is one big movie anyway.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Monday, August 9, 2010
You know...
... it's time to turn up your iPod when the LSS in your head is that idiotic Lal-lal-laah-lala song from Surf.
... the program you're monitoring ain't doing so well when competition's AMR% is higher than your SHR. Maybe we should look into new timeslots.
... you need to get away when you just want to scream along to "Beach life! City livin' drives me crazy." (I *heart* Beach Head)
... the program you're monitoring ain't doing so well when competition's AMR% is higher than your SHR. Maybe we should look into new timeslots.
... you need to get away when you just want to scream along to "Beach life! City livin' drives me crazy." (I *heart* Beach Head)
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Today...
overall... was a good day.
Volunteered for a feeding program sponsored by the Focolare Group today at Sulyap ng Pag-Asa Center, Brgy. Bagong Silang. There were about a hundred kids who benefitted from today's feeding, with ages ranging from 4 to 12.
Of course, feeding the kids wasn't the only item on the agenda. The main objective of the volunteer group today was to start a tracking system of the kids' health. They wanted to be able to get all 100 kids registered into the feeding program for better efficiency, to get all of them to weigh in so the volunteers can track their progress, and to do a bit of catechism. There was a lot that needed to be done, and a lot of kids to be "babysat" and entertained.
I broke my sneakers in the process. Haha! Amazing how my shoes fall apart on the worst possible times. Again, the soles (take note, that's in plural form) decided they wanted to be separate from the rest of the shoes. First time I became soleless was in AdMU, running a lap around campus. So this incident was strike 2! Different pair, of course. Why I didn't just wear the ones I had fixed recently, I don't know... let's not dwell...
So, there I was, soles flapping around with each step I took. I was slightly embarrassed. At first, I was trying to hide the mishap from the other volunteers. I mean, hello, a grown woman like me can't afford decent shoes? What is this? So I was trying to hide the flappyness by taking careful steps. But when you're trying to run after 5 year olds with minds dead set on "Let's play!", small, careful steps don't really work.
Imagine me, all over the place, trying my darndest to keep the kids smiling and happy and cooperative, while my shoes were doing otherwise. But then I thought... How ironic it was that I was bothered by something as trivial as a broken pair of sneakers when I was among little people who had practically everything broken before them.
Brgy. Bagong Silang was one of the worst hit areas when Ondoy drowned Metro Manila in September last year. Those houses swept away in the flash floods that flowed out to Marikina River, caught on video and uploaded on youtube, likely came from there. Families were separated, lives were lost, homes were broken, people suffered. And Ondoy knew no age, no social status, no nothing. Not everyone in Brgy. Bagong Silang was impoverished before. There were 2-storey homes that housed pretty "okay" families. Not everyone was the poorest of the poor, but when Ondoy came... she brought them all down to zero.
It's almost a year later, the community slowly but surely getting their lives back. Outreach groups like the Focolare are essential in that march to normalcy. There's a long way to go, but with all the love pouring in, things will just keep getting better with time.
My friend who recruited me into the program kept saying, "these kids are not starved for anything other than attention." Feeding them was one way to give something concrete but what they benefit most from is the interaction with the new found "ates" and "kuyas" who volunteer. Just the fact that we call them individually by name has a positive effect on them. The fact that for that one morning, before we serve them lunch, they have our total, undivided attention... we weren't just feeding today, we were changing lives. For the better.
I'm lucky to be part of this. This experience only makes me thirst for more. This is the kind of cause I'm talking about. If we're not the ones who have the money to give, we can give something else... time, attention, love...
Today was a very good day. It's solidified in me that, even though there are real evils in the world, there's also a real and great good. And it's closer than you realize.
Volunteered for a feeding program sponsored by the Focolare Group today at Sulyap ng Pag-Asa Center, Brgy. Bagong Silang. There were about a hundred kids who benefitted from today's feeding, with ages ranging from 4 to 12.
Of course, feeding the kids wasn't the only item on the agenda. The main objective of the volunteer group today was to start a tracking system of the kids' health. They wanted to be able to get all 100 kids registered into the feeding program for better efficiency, to get all of them to weigh in so the volunteers can track their progress, and to do a bit of catechism. There was a lot that needed to be done, and a lot of kids to be "babysat" and entertained.
I broke my sneakers in the process. Haha! Amazing how my shoes fall apart on the worst possible times. Again, the soles (take note, that's in plural form) decided they wanted to be separate from the rest of the shoes. First time I became soleless was in AdMU, running a lap around campus. So this incident was strike 2! Different pair, of course. Why I didn't just wear the ones I had fixed recently, I don't know... let's not dwell...
So, there I was, soles flapping around with each step I took. I was slightly embarrassed. At first, I was trying to hide the mishap from the other volunteers. I mean, hello, a grown woman like me can't afford decent shoes? What is this? So I was trying to hide the flappyness by taking careful steps. But when you're trying to run after 5 year olds with minds dead set on "Let's play!", small, careful steps don't really work.
Imagine me, all over the place, trying my darndest to keep the kids smiling and happy and cooperative, while my shoes were doing otherwise. But then I thought... How ironic it was that I was bothered by something as trivial as a broken pair of sneakers when I was among little people who had practically everything broken before them.
Brgy. Bagong Silang was one of the worst hit areas when Ondoy drowned Metro Manila in September last year. Those houses swept away in the flash floods that flowed out to Marikina River, caught on video and uploaded on youtube, likely came from there. Families were separated, lives were lost, homes were broken, people suffered. And Ondoy knew no age, no social status, no nothing. Not everyone in Brgy. Bagong Silang was impoverished before. There were 2-storey homes that housed pretty "okay" families. Not everyone was the poorest of the poor, but when Ondoy came... she brought them all down to zero.
It's almost a year later, the community slowly but surely getting their lives back. Outreach groups like the Focolare are essential in that march to normalcy. There's a long way to go, but with all the love pouring in, things will just keep getting better with time.
My friend who recruited me into the program kept saying, "these kids are not starved for anything other than attention." Feeding them was one way to give something concrete but what they benefit most from is the interaction with the new found "ates" and "kuyas" who volunteer. Just the fact that we call them individually by name has a positive effect on them. The fact that for that one morning, before we serve them lunch, they have our total, undivided attention... we weren't just feeding today, we were changing lives. For the better.
I'm lucky to be part of this. This experience only makes me thirst for more. This is the kind of cause I'm talking about. If we're not the ones who have the money to give, we can give something else... time, attention, love...
Today was a very good day. It's solidified in me that, even though there are real evils in the world, there's also a real and great good. And it's closer than you realize.
SALT: mixed reviews
(headline: I am finally blogging thru MiNi Me! Huray!)
Saw SALT last night with a few friends from college and, I must say my main takeaway is that I chose the right person to have a girl crush on.
Not what you were expecting? Me, too! Well, actually, before going into the theater, I had barely an inkling of an idea of the plot of SALT was. All I knew was it somehow involved government espionage, betrayal undercover, all that "I'm innocent" crap... I guess what I thought was going to be a simple cat-and-mouse game turned into, how do I say this without ruining it too much... something COMPLICATED!
It had one too many turns for my liking, and although the production was done smoothly (read as: not too gory), the story just kept upping the game. And up and up the storyline went, until it went for a bad crash of an ending.
Okay, it wasn't that bad. I guess I just think that it would've been cooler if they just let her... (too much of a spoiler. I'll be quiet now).
But going back to Angie Jolie. I swear, if I were a guy, Brad Pitt would have run for his money. She is friggin H-O-T! Especially loved the short do on her, brought me back to Foxfire days, when Angie played a psychotic lesbo and I fell in love with her the very first time. Yes, that movie was pre-Gia. Ergo elementary years for me. Hahaha! Ya see, told you I'm crazy.
(But I'm damn straight. Except for Angelina Jolie...)
Overall, it was an okay movie. Don't expect to think a lot, like in Inception (or so I hear). Just go to be entertained by the wild turns.
Saw SALT last night with a few friends from college and, I must say my main takeaway is that I chose the right person to have a girl crush on.
Not what you were expecting? Me, too! Well, actually, before going into the theater, I had barely an inkling of an idea of the plot of SALT was. All I knew was it somehow involved government espionage, betrayal undercover, all that "I'm innocent" crap... I guess what I thought was going to be a simple cat-and-mouse game turned into, how do I say this without ruining it too much... something COMPLICATED!
It had one too many turns for my liking, and although the production was done smoothly (read as: not too gory), the story just kept upping the game. And up and up the storyline went, until it went for a bad crash of an ending.
Okay, it wasn't that bad. I guess I just think that it would've been cooler if they just let her... (too much of a spoiler. I'll be quiet now).
But going back to Angie Jolie. I swear, if I were a guy, Brad Pitt would have run for his money. She is friggin H-O-T! Especially loved the short do on her, brought me back to Foxfire days, when Angie played a psychotic lesbo and I fell in love with her the very first time. Yes, that movie was pre-Gia. Ergo elementary years for me. Hahaha! Ya see, told you I'm crazy.
(But I'm damn straight. Except for Angelina Jolie...)
Overall, it was an okay movie. Don't expect to think a lot, like in Inception (or so I hear). Just go to be entertained by the wild turns.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
She's here! And she's perfect?
World Wide Web, meet MiNi Me. She's the one on the left. The one on the right is Li'l Ole Faithful. I've had a good (more or less) 4 years with Li'l Ole Faithful and it's high time I gave her a rest. That is, rest when I've figured how to transfer contacts and messages and everything else to MiNi Me.I'm happy MiNi Me is here and all, and so pretty in PINK, but... ah yes, as in all great relationships, there is always a but... I dunno if I'm doing something wrong, which likely I am but I can't connect right on the internet.
Was trying to log on to FB using the handy app already installed on the C3 but it just wouldn't connect. Was also trying to blog thru it, imagine how cute a title "Bloggin' thru MiNi Me" would've been, but it kept giving this strange error message that my untechy brain just couldn't handle. Gah. Frustrating, but hey... it's only day one. Things will get better. They'd better or I'm... crying! Haha!
OH-EM-GEE! I can't believe I just got myself a new phone! Hahaha! Shout out of thank you to all of the new phone campaign supporters. I couldn't have done this without you. Continuous feedback on MiNi Me shall happen, and hopefully I'll be able to blog thru it soon enough.
Obsessed
This is not good...
I am seriously obsessing over this new phone! It's the Nokia C3, one of the Finnish company's latest releases and it's PERFECT... for me that is.
I haven't bought one yet, but I've reserved my unit already and I will hopefully get to bring it home tonight. EGADS! I have to be super careful going home with it! Then I have to break the news to my family. "Ma, Pa... I splurged on myself today" will not be the most welcome information but HECK I seldom do this! I need this phone! My über old Nokia 6680 is conking out on me.
But anyway... why do I want this phone so bad?
1. It's got (obviously) a qwerty keypad. Yiiiiii! So sleek! I've always wanted a qwerty phone. To think I was even considering other brands just to own a qwerty phone. Ugh!
2. It's a Nokia. I'm a loyal user. I don't care what other people say about them. I started my mobile phone adventure with a Nokia (5110!) and it's the interface I am most comfortable with. I know that if I get lost somewhere on a Nokia phone, I'll be able to figure my way out. Nokia is the brand for techy dum-dums like me.
3. It's wifi capable! I can now surf the net from the privacy of my room! (Hahahaha! Wait... that doesn't sound right...) So, fine, I can do that with my laptop, but this I can surf while lying down! (Still not right!) And I won't have to lug around my laptop everywhere anymore. Okay, I say lug just because I'm lazy. My laptop is perfect already.
4. It's cheap! I'm getting it for PhP 7,280.00, credit card payment payable in 6 months at ZERO INTEREST. It's a frikkin STEAL!
5. It comes in PINK! Lovely, lovely, wonderfully girly PINK! YIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I've never been this excited about new technology. I think I only get like this with things I seriously like and seriously can afford to have. AND I SERIOUSLY LIKE AND CAN AFFORD THIS!
I can't wait for 18:00:00H! Pretty pink phone, you will be mine tonight.
I am seriously obsessing over this new phone! It's the Nokia C3, one of the Finnish company's latest releases and it's PERFECT... for me that is.I haven't bought one yet, but I've reserved my unit already and I will hopefully get to bring it home tonight. EGADS! I have to be super careful going home with it! Then I have to break the news to my family. "Ma, Pa... I splurged on myself today" will not be the most welcome information but HECK I seldom do this! I need this phone! My über old Nokia 6680 is conking out on me.
But anyway... why do I want this phone so bad?
1. It's got (obviously) a qwerty keypad. Yiiiiii! So sleek! I've always wanted a qwerty phone. To think I was even considering other brands just to own a qwerty phone. Ugh!
2. It's a Nokia. I'm a loyal user. I don't care what other people say about them. I started my mobile phone adventure with a Nokia (5110!) and it's the interface I am most comfortable with. I know that if I get lost somewhere on a Nokia phone, I'll be able to figure my way out. Nokia is the brand for techy dum-dums like me.
3. It's wifi capable! I can now surf the net from the privacy of my room! (Hahahaha! Wait... that doesn't sound right...) So, fine, I can do that with my laptop, but this I can surf while lying down! (Still not right!) And I won't have to lug around my laptop everywhere anymore. Okay, I say lug just because I'm lazy. My laptop is perfect already.
4. It's cheap! I'm getting it for PhP 7,280.00, credit card payment payable in 6 months at ZERO INTEREST. It's a frikkin STEAL!
5. It comes in PINK! Lovely, lovely, wonderfully girly PINK! YIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I've never been this excited about new technology. I think I only get like this with things I seriously like and seriously can afford to have. AND I SERIOUSLY LIKE AND CAN AFFORD THIS!
I can't wait for 18:00:00H! Pretty pink phone, you will be mine tonight.
Monday, August 2, 2010
What's your cause?
Have you ever seen this video...
It's by Daughtry. Yes. American Idol runner-up Chris Daughtry and his co-named band.
No, I'm not a Daughtry fan, but I am a fan of whoever produced this video. I think I first saw it... oh, I dunno, years ago; likely a few months after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. I cried after watching it the first time. It's so moving, heartbreaking, unnerving. It's makes you think about... what do I stand for?
What's my cause? I don't have one. Yet. I thought my cause would be to run races that supported issues I believed in, but I don't think that's enough. As an able-bodied member of the human society, I have a responsibility to be a good steward of... something: another person, another life, a movement to save the planet, a movement to stop excessive waste, anything.
Seth Godin once said "If you're reading this (post of his) thru a laptop, smartphone, or an e-Reader, it means you're likely to be better off than others. Now, what are you going to do with that advantage?" Granted he was talking about being a linchpin, I think this came from the introduction of his "The Insubordinate" e-book, but he could very well have been talking about social responsibility.
It's not an excuse to say we're only trying to make ends meet at this point, because with all the millions of things that need to be done, money isn't the issue anymore. Sometimes, those in need just need a good support system, someone with time in their hands, someone who'll volunteer freely and unconditionally, someone who'll listen, someone who'll just be there.
I'm taking my stand. Instead of running this Saturday at U.P., I am choosing to attend this:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/event.php?eid=138212016210037
I'm not yet sure who this group is, I was invited to be part of the feeding program only by a former colleague but I can learn more about it on Saturday.
You know that empty feeling you sometimes get... you can fill it up by giving back. Find your cause. It'll be a worthy search.
It's by Daughtry. Yes. American Idol runner-up Chris Daughtry and his co-named band.
No, I'm not a Daughtry fan, but I am a fan of whoever produced this video. I think I first saw it... oh, I dunno, years ago; likely a few months after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. I cried after watching it the first time. It's so moving, heartbreaking, unnerving. It's makes you think about... what do I stand for?
What's my cause? I don't have one. Yet. I thought my cause would be to run races that supported issues I believed in, but I don't think that's enough. As an able-bodied member of the human society, I have a responsibility to be a good steward of... something: another person, another life, a movement to save the planet, a movement to stop excessive waste, anything.
Seth Godin once said "If you're reading this (post of his) thru a laptop, smartphone, or an e-Reader, it means you're likely to be better off than others. Now, what are you going to do with that advantage?" Granted he was talking about being a linchpin, I think this came from the introduction of his "The Insubordinate" e-book, but he could very well have been talking about social responsibility.
It's not an excuse to say we're only trying to make ends meet at this point, because with all the millions of things that need to be done, money isn't the issue anymore. Sometimes, those in need just need a good support system, someone with time in their hands, someone who'll volunteer freely and unconditionally, someone who'll listen, someone who'll just be there.
I'm taking my stand. Instead of running this Saturday at U.P., I am choosing to attend this:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/event.php?eid=138212016210037
I'm not yet sure who this group is, I was invited to be part of the feeding program only by a former colleague but I can learn more about it on Saturday.
You know that empty feeling you sometimes get... you can fill it up by giving back. Find your cause. It'll be a worthy search.
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