must have, must work for

these are the two gadgets that i would love to buy ASAP.

the reader digital book from sony so that i won't be able to debate which book to bring on any trip. that's 160 books on internal memory and there's always expandable memory for more books to be downloaded. oh my, dear me i want one!!!


of course my dream still of replacing the good old digital camera to a samsung nv series digital camera. this time though in the nv series it's the nv 24hd that i really want.



so a note to myself to work hard for it.

american idol season 7

i haven't been much of an american idol fan. i remember being irritated everytime arlene, a very dear friend of mine back in l.a., would text to remid me to vote for jasmine trias back then. although i liked kelly clarkson the very first american idol, i only started paying attention to the show during taylor hick's season, which i guess was season 5. first i genuinely liked taylor's charisma premature gray hair and all and i liked katharine mcphee and elliot yamin and i can't leave out chris daughtry. then last year after my very gruelling political stint i was able to catch the tail end of season 6. i have to admit that i was rooting for blake though he didn't win, a neat 1st runner up was good enough to launch a career for him.

for season 7 admittedly my week revolves on the anticipation of american idol day. i know it sounds like a looser couch potato life, but this is very rare for me to have this much time in my life. this season has produced head turning talents. my absolute favorite is david cook, "the rock god", who managed to rock every song he has ever performed. i can't also take away ramiele from my list being pinay and that voice clarity that no one else has among her competitors. michael johns and chikezie would be two of the other idol top 10 whom i also wouldn't mind winning.

as for those whom i could skip i have to say i dislike carly smithson, an early favorite who somewhere along the way disappointed me by not living up to the hype by continually adding that signature scream-like part in every song she sings. kristy lee cook, what can i say, just plain old boring and i have to borrow simon's "forgettable" adjective for her.

in general, this is a very good season. hey there's even eye-candy with talent in jason castro. there's the sunshine like attitude of brooke white and david archuleta's almost stellar performances save for that teeny bit where he forgot the lyrics on beatles week 1. syesha mercado well she can just be that dark horse having very good perfomances this two consecutive weeks.

still it will be david cook, rock on!

easter greetings

happy easter everyone. although i have mostly slacked off the religious activities and duties for most of the holy week except for the palm sunday mass and the easter mass, to my mother;'s disappointment, i hope that it was still meaningful for the rest of you.

the assassination of jesse james by the coward robert ford

i have obliged myself of writing a review of the movie, "the assassination of jesse james by the coward robert ford". i was lucky enough to score two tickets of the advance screening by etc 2nd avenue's 3rd row last monday at glorietta 4. i have read and heard about it from all the entertainment shows and of course my favorite new york times movie reviews. i won't be relying on that though. i have a pretty good idea of what i want to say.




the entire movie was dedicated to jesse james' last days and the circumstances that lead to his being murdered. jesse james was this outlaw, folk hero and robin hood type depending on which opinions are to asked who made his living out of robbing trains and banks in the post civil war america . a temperamental person which i can almost see some hints of restrained psychosis and sociopathic behavior. that would have been how i saw him based from the movie. some of the scenes were so shocking almost a break from the very slow pace of the entire movie. that very slow pace highlighted the violence yet in some ways the way jesse james as portrayed by brad pitt seemed so charismatically cool yet so feared by his uncontrollable outbursts. robert ford the assassin of course played by the brilliant casey affleck did so well in presenting an enigmatic stalker to jesse james. the aloof and myserious bob ford the new and eager recruit.

i always wondered why the title of the movie describes robert ford as a coward and towards the end of the movie i felt like that by killing jesse, bob ford would helped the world by getting rid of a menace. only just then that bob killed jesse for personal reasons not some mighty and noble expectations that he had reserved fo himself. he profited from the reward that the governor has put up for the arrest of jesse james and profited from how the murdered took place by staging a play around post civil war america.

the movie was beautiful, most especially the cinematography. the slow moving and sweeping shots were magnificent and the abruptness of the violent scenes higlighted the storytelling. my mom did raise this point though how would this movie attract modern viewers who are used to past paced action packed thrillers? to me while watching, it was break from this time, from the now of my life and i took a trip to another time and place to witness a piece of history and to learn something new in details, in moving pictures, in a movie where there was superb acting.

heart break

my heart was broken by my favorite amazing race team ever that has come out both of the american version and the asian version by loosing. it has a lot to do about marc and rovilson representing my home country of the philippines in the amazing race asia 2. they are made of a different caliber. they were witty, good looking ,and they have that sense of calm that seems a lot like grace under pressure in a very grueling reality tv show that has usually brought out a lot of ugly and untoward behavior from other contestants all throughout the history of the amazing race. from consistently being on the top for most of the race they ended up third place by that last road block that required rovilson to arrange in order the flags of each country that they have visited in the entire course of the race. i was on the edge of my seat for the finale, i didn't even mind that i was home for valentine's day very much single. all i could think of was the finale and would marc and rovilson win. unfortunately they lost. i am still proud of them and how they have been a very strong formidable team but i am still very much broken hearted at the same time.

the grammys

before the grammys was aired. i saw an online poll that rihanna's or amy winhouse's performance was the most anticipated. i can't argue about that because i too anticipated their performances. but in my list this was the best performance and the most enchanting of all the performances in the 50th grammy awards.

must have, must buy for the book addict in me

i own too many books more than i know where i could put them but there a lot of books still waiting to be bought and read. this is my current wishlist or more likely must buy list. i love to try and put some description on why each one of them ended up in my list but there's one common denominator in all of them they're interesting and they're making a buzz in bestseller's list or just by word of mouth.

madlibs

i never knew that a word game madlibs ever existed until yesterday afternoon, january 26, 2008. my friend rachelle and i went to onstage greenbelt to watch the stage play version of "tuesdays with morrie". while inside the taxi cab on the way to greenbelt she handed me the other christmas gift she has for me but has forgotten a couple of times to give since last december. so right after the play when she went to the restroom i hastily ripped the wrapping to open the gift, and there it was madlibs. i opened its pages and i instantly know it was going to be fun. when i got home last night i tried the first set of games alone and later today i tried the second set of games with my sister. it is very fun and funny.

this game has been around since the 1950s created by leonard stern and roger price and published by price stern sloan, an imprint of penguin group, cofounded by roger price and leonard stern. i had to google about madlibs to learn more. i was pleasantly surprised why until only yesterday was i introduced into this very addicting and entertaining game. it should be more popular like sudoko. i have rachelle to thank for my new source of amusement.

best buy

i read about belle de jour planner from the shopcrazy website. i'm not into planners, i either rely on my phone or my good memory to remind me of my things to do. when the reminders tend to pile up especially when it's work related i either just write in an ordinary notebook or go high tech with a pda. belle de jour power planner has made me a convert to good old pen paper way of writing down and planning my days.

every night i would sit on the edge of my bed, i would think about my things to do, just personal ones and i would write it down, also i would tick off the things that i have done during the day. every time i take this very tiny moment of my day, i feel accomplished. that moment i tick off one errand or reminder in my belle de jour planner i am reminded that my day wasn't wasted and every time i write for tomorrow i am reminded that i am alive to have those plans and that i have hope to accomplish and to move forward with my life.

sometimes it's not the grandest things that are life changing, in my belle de jour planner's case it's the fabulous girlie little thing that has become life changing. this planner has everything that a woman needs for a planner in its pages. from life dreams, goal planner, vacation planner, birthday list, menstrual tracker, budget and finance list, credit card expense tracker, and coupons for more shopping. also in between months there are interesting articles that discusses interesting tips and trivia. as part of my gratitude to those who thought of coming out with this planner i have emailed more than a couple of times, posted my admiration in the girtalk message boards, and of course gabbed about it to my girlfriends. as early as now i am declaring it is my best buy of 2008.

belle de jour- directly translated as nice of day or beauty of the day according to an online translation.
-the french name for day lily, a flower that blooms only on daytime according to wikipedia
-a 1967 movie starring catherine deneuve based on the 1928 novel by joseph kessel, information also from wikipedia

everyone should be praying this

there is one prayer that i found among the stack of things that my sister has accumulated in our shared room. i am guessing that it was one of those prayers that our "lola madre" has given her in one of our visits to the convent of the rvm sisters at n. domingo. this prayer has gotten me through the best and the worst days of my life this past year. i pray this almost everyday not just to feel but to learn humility, gratitude, patience, and grace.


learning christ
Teach ME, my Lord, to be sweet and gentle
In all the events of life--
in disappointment, in the thoughtlessness of others,
in the insincerity of those I trusted,
in the unfaithfulness of those on whom I relied.

Let me put aside, to think of the happiness of others,
to hide my little pains and heartaches,
so that I may be the only one to suffer from them.


Teach me to profit by the suffering that comes across my path.
Let me so use it that may mellow me not harden nor embitter me;
that it may make me patient, not irritable,
that it may make me broad in my forgiveness,
not narrow, haughty and overbearing.

May no be less good for having come within my influence. No one less pure, less true, less kind, less noble for having been a fellow-traveler in our journey toward ETERNAL LIFE.

As I go my rounds from one distraction to another, let me whisper from time to time a word of love to Thee. May my life be lived in the supernatural, full of power for good, and strong in its purpose of sanctity.