Movie Review (January-March 2010)

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief

• EPIC FAIL
• A waste of time
• as bad as Twilight (no, I didn't have the urge to waste another couple of hours for New Moon so I couldn't compare it against that other Hollywood abomination)

Book of Eli

• Wonderful
• Entertaining
• Full of surprises
• The set up and costume design looked a lot like the Fallout series, which was post-Apocalyptic

Alice in Wonderland

• Everybody did a good portrayal of their characters except for Johnny Depp
• If you love Johnny Depp, skip this movie (read why)

Up in the Air

• I would have personally preferred reading it as a book
• It's a DVD movie, not a cinema movie

How to Train your Dragon

• Instant favorite
• Has all of Up's cuteness without the drama. It'll make you happy without making you cry first.

I love you, Phillip Morris

• Half of the movie is laugh trip
• The other half is still funny but I mostly kept on telling myself, if these were a heterosexual couple then I would have died from their cheeziness
• Ewan McGregor can make any role adorable

Where the Wild Things Are

• I feel alienated
• More boring than Paulo Coelho's By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept novel
• I don't even find it adorable... probably because I didn't encounter the picture book when I was a child
• Can't finish the remaining half hour of the movie
• Yeah, it means more than the film. But it's still bad entertainment. I'd be more than happy to use it in a literature write up, but I'm no longer in school so I'm burying it
  

The Blind Side

• Good job, Sandra Bullock. You made your character adorable without making it Ms. Congeniality.
• All roles were played well and in the right manner
• It's not cheesy and men can admit having watched it without shame
• I liked it a lot. It's a hundred fold better than Have You Heard About the Morgans

on the list for my Holy Week movie marathon:

• I Love You, Phillip Morris
• The Blind Side
• Where the Wild Things Are
• Armored

Am I missing anything?

Plafish's new game: Hotel City

Have you checked into Playfish's latest game Hotel City? The quicker you start playing the bigger your headstart on your friends in the race to build the coolest five star hotel!

Click here to play Hotel City: http://playfi.sh/cJ11us

Earthquake just now

So I'm in the office and everybody just stops... there's an earthquake.

Did you feel it?

Getting a new laptop: notebook vs netbook

My old Toshi

College laptop requirements:

• It should be cheap because I'm not making my parents pay for more than I need. My tuition is already cause enough to bleed
• It should be a strong enough environment for me to code using user friendly compilers (with auto-complete and stuff) -- there's no way you're making me code in text and compiling in cmd. I'm not crazy.
• It should be movie-friendly. After working so hard with my studies, I needed my dose of anime (got tired of them eventually)

The above requirements resulted to a: Toshiba Satellite with a 512mb RAM -- it was, of course, wide screen. I think that's why I'm so used to having a dozen tabs open in my browser when I start -- because my screen makes it comfortable and manageable for me.

But after four years of service, my laptop has to retire. It's old. No. Ancient.

It gets tired easily, slows down under stress, heavy, and it bears battle scars from use. The only difference between this laptop and our old family dog is that our dog is dead.

The search for Balthazar

The search for a the new Toshi, to be named Balthazar. (Hey, I'm not the only one who calls their laptops by name)

The adventure of getting a new laptop has begun.

Work life is very much less complicated compared to school. It's because there's no more homework to be done and "team-projects" no longer rely on just one person (you) working, while the rest bug you to death, asking if you're done and they can go home. At work, if someone's not working, they get fired and you never have to deal with them again.

So my laptop requirement has dwindled to the most basic, most vain qualities:

• portable: light enough to be carried around from coffee shop to coffee shop
• small enough to fit in a shoulder bag
• big enough to enjoy watching HIMYM and Flash Forward
• strong enough to have a decent Remote Desktop connection to my work machine

I have braced myself to accept a Netbook instead of a Notebook because the most important requirement in any purchase is budget. If I want a computer that will perform fast and that I should be happy about, then it'll be expensive... until...

That search resulted to a 3.5 lb beauty: Satellite T115D-S1125 Notebook Computer from Toshiba.
Yes, it's Toshiba. If you must know, it has the best service provider in the Philippines. The specs are as follows:

• 1.5GHz AMD Athlon Neo X2 Dual-Core L3252GB
• (2x1GB) RAM
• 320GB 5400rpm SATA Hard Drive
• ATI Radeon HD 3200 Graphics
• 11.6" LED Backlit Widescreen Display
• Integrated Webcam and Microphone
• 802.11b/g Wi-Fi
• Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
• 3.5 lb

I'll meet dear Balthazar on April 11.

As words to leave you with: Notebook vs Netbook?

Netbook is never an option.

Books over tv shows

I do think that I love books more than any other form of entertainment. If I'm holding a good book, I wouldn't mind missing a good movie or listening to a good album etc. (although now that I think about it, I do believe that a good theater act might trump a good book:D).

I love good books - I don't know the authors well, but if I have read the book then I almost never forget if it was good or it was bad. I'm no critique but I know when I'm entertained and when I'm bored. Right now I'm reading Elizabeth Kostova's The Historian and it's certainly a refreshing novel after the Twilight series. Before that, I finished the Narnia series which I surprised myself by liking a lot (I'm not a fan of the movie versions but the books were amazing!).

TV shows, I think, are great when I'm trying to relax from work and I'm dead tired. Books are entertaining and wonderful but they tend to keep me up longer than I want to. TV shows on the other hand are my "sleeping pills". After a couple of them, I'm ready to doze off peacefully :D (Books are too thrilling to put down after only a few pages).

I'm trying to keep a list of books I've read so far right here.

Beware of aliens

If it's really the "end of the world" then I do believe that the human species would be wiped off from the face of the universe. We're not very good at adapting to drastic changes -- let alone cosmological catastrophes.

I have seen a similar episode on Discovery Channel and they had a segment there about the possibility of alien invasion. That raised a question for me: if there is a possibility that something else is out there - why are we broadcasting our soundwaves to them?

Shouldn't we keep quiet and hope that they'd leave us alone? If they're good enough to detect our soundwaves from a billion light years away, then they're strong enough to crush us or to conquer us, right?

How obedient daughters are made: Open letter to parents

I originally wrote this on January 5, 2009.

That's more than a year from now. I decided not to post it last year because I wasn't feeling "stable" -- no, I wasn't going mad or anything, but I admit that I was emotional. Today, I don't remember what made me write the following, but it still sounds true.

Before you read and jump to crazy conclusions: I'm perfectly happy with my relationship with my parents who love me and will give me anything that will make me happy -- as long as it does not go against their faith.

And here the letter starts...

"Just because I say so" is not a reason. Stop using it. It makes us more and more stupid every time.

That's until we realize that we'll be obedient daughters just because we could and just because it's the only way we could stay under your roof peacefully. By "peacefully", we mean, you're at peace with yourself because you can order us around to do whatever YOU think is right.

Steps on becoming an obedient daughter is really pretty easy. You just have to switch to the passive aggressive state of mind - that means, just shut up and listen; do whatever mom/dad says without contest, whether you find it reasonable or not. What's the point of asking for a reason anyway? It'll all end up to "just because I say so". Actually it may also end up with "I shouldn't have to explain this to you" which is just as stupid because we wouldn't be asking for explanation if we understood in the first place right?

Then you have to act cool about it. You'll hide your anger and your tears because you have to appear like you understand. You'll tuck in all your feelings and risk yourself of heart attack. The next time mom/dad talks to you, you'll smile like nothing happened, then they'd think that all is well.

Sometimes this works out - we realize that all you really thought about was our safety. But still, we have questions that need answers. What will ever happen to these questions? Well, we have our girlfriends to ask. But our girlfriends are just as "immature" as we are - in the end we'll all feel even more misconstrued.

We'd end up bitter. We'd turn out as you expected us because we followed all the rules. But we'll turn out not quite as you expected us because there's something there that you couldn't quite put your foot on... something amiss... something you don't understand.

My mom told me that you won't see what you did wrong in parenting until your kids grows up, just when it's too late. She understands. Astoundingly, she understands a lot. But I guess we all sort of understand each other - all of us who always get the "just because I said so", and the "I really shouldn't even have to explain this."

WORST Spicy Sushi

Above horror can be found in Sakura in Rockwell.

What is it?

It's a rolled up sashimi and cream cheese with sushi rice onto which they poured hot sauce (I'm guessing from the soury taste, it's Tabasco)

What part of "JAPANESE" don't you understand?

Oh, I heard this is supposed to be Hawaiian style spicy sushi. Still wrong to put it in a Japanese restaurant. Go a floor up and ask the guys in Sumo Sam for some decent spicy powder -- not as spicy as I would like, but at least it's not tabasco.

Oh and chi-chi time: a Tita's friend went to (we don't want to offend some millionaire restaurant owner, right? riiight?) a certain Japanese restaurant in a quite-small mall in Makati to eat and ordered Pork Tonkatsu. In the process of delivering that Pork Tonkatsu, the server drops it on the floor. The same server picks it up and puts it back into the bowl to serve -- all in front of the customer who ordered it. The customer complained, of course, but the employees wouldn't admit that they did something so terrible.

2010 Holidays

January 1 (New Year's Day)

April 1 (Maundy Thursday)
April 2 (Good Friday)
April 9 (Araw ng Kagitingan)

May 1 (Labor Day)

June 14 (Independence Day) Monday nearest June 12

August 23 (Ninoy Aquino Day) Monday nearest August 21
August 30 (National Heroes Day) last Monday of August

November 1 (All Saints Day)
November 29 (Bonifacio Day) Monday nearest November 30

December 24
December 25 (Christmas Day)
December 27 (Rizal Day) Monday nearest December 30
December 31

I cancelled my Fitness First membership in 5 days

There are tons of blogs out there that complain how difficult it is to get their Fitness First membership cancelled. Well I just got my Fitness First to sign my membership termination and it took me five (5) days to do it, so I have no idea what other members did to get themselves into their predicaments.

Day 1. So last Tuesday (March 9, 2010) I personally delivered my membership cancellation letter to Fitness First. I took three copies with me. The first one I gave to the receptionist for her to forward to the Customer Service Head (or whatever you call them because they don't refer to them as "managers") then the other two copies I asked her to sign as a "receiving copy" (proof that she got something from me just in case she "forgets").

On that same day, I asked for the Customer Service Head on the phone but I missed her (so I asked for her schedule). I simply wanted to confirm if she got my letter and the helpful agent on the other side (although he impolitely laughed at my question, the prick -- don't you guys get a "how to professionally handle customers" seminar or something?) politely told me that it will take 3 to 5 days before the Customer Service Head gets back to me regarding my request.

Day 5. So I wait for 5 days (yes, 5 days, not 3) before I brought my membership cancellation request to their attention again. I decided to go to the gym on that day and made sure that I went when the Customer Service Head will be in -- so that I can ask for her when I'm done.

The receptionist asked my purpose with Customer Service Head and I told him the truth: that I was cancelling my membership and that it was the fifth day since I submitted a formal letter about it.

Customer Service Head comes with huge book and quickly jots down my information. She asked why I was leaving, I told her the reason (it doesn't really matter what the reason is since my contract was over and they have no reason to keep me if I don't want to). She signs the form, asks me to sign the same form then she gives it to me as a personal copy.

That's it. My membership is officially over on May 1, 2010.

That should make sense to you if you read your contract. It clearly states that

7. Cancellation of Membership

a)...

b) A Member may cancel his or her Membership upon written notice to the Club which must be acknowledged by the club at least one full calendar month prior to the effectivity of the proposed cancellation. For purposes of these Club Rules, "one full calendar month" shall mean the period from the first day of a given month up to the last day thereof.

...

Since I sent my membership cancellation letter on March 9, "one full calendar month" would correspond to April 1-30, and thus is the last month my credit card will be billed for membership dues.

But just to let you know: the Customer Service Head didn't even get my cancellation letter. She said she's supposed to ask me for one but she didn't mind filling up the form (which she did while we were talking, and it was the same form that I received the original copy of as my document proof).

If you're still afraid that you'll get billed after your membership ended, then go ahead and fax these documents to you Credit Card company.

How to write Gym Membership Cancellation letter

First of all you should not be going against any contract you signed or any local laws. If you signed a contract that states that you are tied to their gym for a year then there is no way you're getting out of that membership until after you paid your 12th membership monthly fees and other fees stated on your contract.

However, if you no longer owe the gym anything and you simply want to get out of it and you want to do it nice and clean then start with a formal letter stating that your concern like the following (I had to get help from my dad to make it sound clear and professional):

2010 March 11 [this is the date you'll give your letter]

To: [Name of Gym] Membership Department

Please consider this as my formal notice to terminate my membership with[Name of Gym] effective immediately.

I have been a member since [start of your membership which is often on your gym ID] to date thus fulfilling the minimum four (4) months requirement.

In view of the above, please stop charging membership fees and other charges to my credit card account starting on the month of April 2010 and beyond.

Thank you.

Things We Love to Hate [your name here]
Member No. 01234567

[your address here]

Make 3 copies of such letter. When you give one copy to the gym, make sure that you have one of their staffs sign your two copies. By "sign" I mean:

Received by:

[Printed name over signature]

Data received

That's proof of when you actually wanted to terminate your contract. Next step is to get them to sign your membership cancellation.

A no-longer-a-fan letter to Johnny Depp

Dear Johnny Depp,

I used to really like you, I used to think that you played your roles really well and that no one could have played your role better than you did. However, I just want to say that you disappointed me deeply with how you interpreted the Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland.

I thought that your later, unconvincing performances with Pirates of the Caribbean was brought by the pirate environment you had to make us feel like you were in. I dismissed all those grumblings and mumblings and I-don't-know-what and told myself, "maybe that's how pirates really talk". But now I realize that that was just you forgetting you had an audience. Sure you looked hot and sure you acted funny, but I didn't understand half of what you said and I'm pretty there are a lot of "like-me's" out there.

I no longer think your steady stares and far-away-looks are poetic. That's just how you act... because that's the only way you know how to act -- or at least that's how you make it look like. You're like our local star, Kris Aquino, whose sad, melancholic, angry, hysterical, doubtful, scared to death looks all look the same. Of course, you act so much better than her but that's just what everybody expects from a Hollywood celebrity.

Your Mad Hatter performance was the last straw. I'm no longer a fan. You were 80% angry-mad and only 20% insane-mad. That would look really good on a movie review (the ones we used to have to make in high school?) but that just turned out boring. You sounded a lot like your Jack Sparrow character. It's not funny, it's not amusing, and since I don't understand what you're saying it's not even cute anymore. I'm so glad Helena Bonham Carter was there, or the movie would have just sucked because you almost sucked all the life out of it.

Your ex-fan,

Me

bisexuality is the future

10 years from now (at least, or 25 years at most), people's "default sexual orientation" will be bisexual.

Innate bisexuality, or predisposition to bisexuality, is an idea introduced by Sigmund Freud, based on work by his associate Wilhelm Fliess. According to this theory, all humans are born bisexual but through psychological development, which includes both external and internal factors, become monosexual while the bisexuality remains in a latent state.

Source: Wikipedia

I just want to be the first to say it. That's my prediction for the next couple of decades. Then maybe I'll be a renowned seer... gossiped as Nostradamus follower (no, I'm not).

It's not like I'm pulling this one from thin air.

When I was growing up, I saw adults make fun of young boys saying, "if you suddenly come home gay, I'll pierce your nipples with hooks and hang you up on that mango tree in front of our house". They made it sound funny but all the kids knew that they meant half of it. Sure they won't get their nipples pierced with fishing hooks, but they'll get something just as bad -- like humiliation and a good beating to "get that inner macho man out in the open".

In contrast to how it was before, I now see gay pre-adolescent kids being smothered with love by their parents. I have also met young people who openly admit that they are bisexual without fear of being ostracized.

If that's not the "ideal environment" for freedom to practice/enjoy your sexual orientation then we're getting close.

In a decade or two, day cares will be painted purple and no longer pink and/or blue per area.