Happy New Year!!

How else should i start my blog, right? haha. Funny thing, I've been working up til this time on the bloodiest task of the month- Teachers' Evaluations. AIEEEEE. What a way to end 2005. Not muchh on TV and my downloads are actually wearing hexagonal green shells. Not to worry. My neighbors aren't gonna let me forget it's new year. It's frickin noisy outside. Of course there's the news reporters screamin' at the top of their lungs in all the ruckus.

My new year's resolution- Not to waste my time on people who have no value.

i don't mean monetarily, of course. I've been through all the classes, A, B, C, and D long enough to know that it's character and heart that matter. I'm talking about those people who esteem themselves higher than others, or those that view themselves as 'great'. Those people who'd only spend time with you to lift their own benches or make you feel put-down. Those are the people who don't deserve attention. and they ain't gettin' it. I've started already, you might notice. It's quite fun.

Another? If there's a problem? Don't stand around dicussing it or blaming people. Just find the solution. ^^

(2006 now as of typing. H.N.Y!!)

/edit-continuing/

Ah. Just had Media nOche. Spicy Tuna Spag. Ham Sandwich. Fruit Cocktail. dark Chocolate.
OMG. Some guy on channel 7 is singing to a karaoke version of GooGoo Dolls' 'IRis' all poppified and balladey. Ewww. Normally I'm into versions, but they didn't even touch the arrangement. Anyway...

Microsoft Bintana

Just had to post this

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a100/mantoy/bintana.jpg

Haha.

The True Meaning of 'Blog'

Since last night, I realized the potential of true blogging. How it's not just one's personal 'pensieve', or thought-keeper, and that it is in fact, quite a public place. If I were to compare it to a part of the house, it'd be the open garage you see in the American movies where old memories are placed to last forever. That would probably never happen here though. You'd be robbed silly of your precious memento the second your eyes leave your precious garage. Okay, I'll need a better illustration. AH! Yes. that wall that exists in every Filipino's home. Right at the sala. It has all your graduation pics, your certificates and certifications (figure out the diff), your Mc Donald's Happy Meal collection amd your ceramic decor from every wedding, anniversary, 'binyag' and whatnot you've ever been to.
See, I'm very incoherent. That illustration was way too long.
Today, I'm beginning to feel the pressure. My blog's not just for me, is it? It's for everyone who happens to click in to a single word that happens to be in it.
Therefore, that's the true meaning of 'blog'. The 'blog' sound you hear when the pressure of writing better finally finds you and flattens you on the floor.
Okay, maybe, I'm exagerrating. (did I spell that right?)
There has to be some balance here. I have to learn how to put in the stuff I want, how I want it, and yet, not without regard to the readers.
Meaning my blog has to have stuff that people'll actually read! This is news to me. Really it is. Probably I'm one of the few who are like that.
Oh well...

The Etheria site is up... but a warning to slower PCs, the flash can take about 5 forevers to load and has no preloader bar to tell you where it's at. Also as of press date (nax) only 3 women are featured in the flash intro (Pirena, Amihan, and Alena). the gallery seems promising but the thumbnails are unclickable. http://www.igma.tv/show.php?showid=163

The Encantadia site is still running, though the show has ended. It's at http://www.igma.tv/show.php?showid=110

And of course the new Mulawin site, which is cool but lacks a lot http://www.mulawinthemovie.com

Etheria Walls: The Sanggre

These are my Etheria walls made with images from the Etheria and Encantadia sites. First set.

Etheria Walls: Wave One- The Sanggre of Encantadia

Darna Crystals

These are the rsin figures i designed to go with the comic books. Negotiations fell through during pre-production, and even though a lot were produced and were being produced, production was halted. The designs came in different colors corresponding to different Darna appearnces. Red/Yellow, Black/Red, Black/Gold, Sharon variety, Crystal red etc and the pure crystals shown here.

Mulawin: So Good, It Can Give You A Headache

Leaving the theatre, I felt like someone had stuck an 'ugatpak' up my... uh... back, the wrong way.
Mulawin's storyline had so much going on that it can leave you with a king-sized heeadache.
Too much emotion, too much plot, too much action, that it all ended up unfurled and misguided, with way too many loose ends. It's a great film, storywise, until you leave the theatre and a couple of hours later start thinking on what had happened.
Mulawin: The Movie is officially a part of the Mulawin/Encantadia/Etheria canon. It takes place smack in the middle of the war in Encantadia between Queen Amihan and Pirena and right at the end of the Mulawin drama.

A recap of the end of Mulawin: everyone who left the land of the Mulawin, Avila, had had their memories erased. This includes the chosen two, Aguiluz and Alwina.
Beginning the film: As luck would have it, Aguiluz and Alwina's boat on the way to the realm of man is met with a storm and they are washed ashore in two separate places.

In Encantadia, Pirena (Sunshine Dizon) weeds her way through her Diwata sisters (Iza Calzado's Amihan, Karylle's Alena, and Valerie Concepcion's decorative-more-than-anything Danaya) to get the Golden Seed and succeeds. For an unknown reason, she uses the Seed to bring back the king of the Ravena, whose name is Ravenum (Michael de Mesa, who's prosthetics are yuckier than ever before, in a good way).
This sets the search for the chosen two in motion, a task undertaken by Aviona (Bianca King, playing the character once possessed by Pirena), and the kiddie Mulawin.

Anyway, that was just the first 5 minutes. That's a lot. You can imagine what the rest of the movie was like at that pace.
The storyline wouldve been better stretched out into a mini-series.
I will not complain about the acting or sets since they're pretty much the same things in the series. Although it seems as if the FX budget all went into the Buwarka (dragon) effects, and not much was left for the wings and flight effects.
The effects, probably in chroma, were distinguishable, quite easily, from the non-chroma sleek film used in regular shots, a mistake commonly encountered in the past and evaded masterfully by 'Exodus'. The mass of effects can actually cause one to lose amour for the movie, if one was not a fan of the series.

It would help a lot if you were a fan of Mulawin to begin with before seeing this. If not, lower your expectations and focus on the story. But don't nitpick, or you'll activate a migraine.

Rax Awards for this one:
BEST DRAGON
BEST POSTER (S)
BEST STORYLINE in a FANTASY ADVENTURE

WORST EFFECTS (as in none of them were good, save for the dragon)

Ako Nood "Legal Wife"

Stroke of brilliance!!! Haha. I had so much fun watching this dramedy. The story evolves around one Filipino-Chinese businessman (Jay Manalo) who's married to three different women.

Zsa Zsa Padilla shines as the 'sosyal' Chinese wife, the first, and legal, one. She delivered her lines in perfect fookien-accented broken Tagalog and spent much of her time trying to overpower the second wife- Cherry Pie Picache. Ms. Picache was downright funny as the 'Lucky Wife' the one that was able to rise from her heritage and become a 'sosyal' woman herself, even though she speaks with English marked with a Visayan accent.
Rufa Mae Quinto rocks as the sexy Manila girl, who's hobbies include mountain-climbing and expanding her businesses. Nearly everyone did well and the teen actors' performances, half-baked though they were sometimes, were quite okay. John Prats' closet 'mujer' scenes were quite commendable and it really showed that he had a lot more training than his reel siblings Julianne Lee and JC de Vera.

Though, I did have to ask my Chinese friends, Ceci, Allen, and Sybina, if Polygami was accepted in China. sybina said that the woman's parents might just have the guy kiled if that happened.

RAX AWARDS
Best Laughs
Best Actresses (all 3 leads)

Enteng Kabisote 2: The Legend Continues to Suck

I left the movie theatre after the fourth installment of Okay Ka Fairy Ko's movie franchise with a huge smile on my face. This was because I had lowered my expectations completely of the Enteng series and aceepted it as brain-dead fun. Scratch that. There were NO expectations. Well, Vic was still Vic. I couldn't really measure his versatility cuz I think all his films were written around his generic onscreen persona. Hence, it's always been the naughty husband/goofy dad with the "Nyeaaa!", "Acheche", and "hi, fans!" lines. Kristine Hermosa fairs slightly better than before, and actually appears more useful than any other character in her family with all the balst attacks. One wonders why she has to let her husband go through all that swordfighting when she could easily do away with the moomoos with a couple finger-flicks. Aiza Seguerra's role, as with the previous movie has been sorely reduced to supporting.Alice Dixson, i have to admit, did a pretty good job as Magenta, though G Toengi was much more memorable (in the last film) even if Alice seems better fit. You will easily tire of Melanie Marquez's broken English jokes as Ina Verde. Not even the 'masa' laughed. Toni Rose (Ina Azul) was good. Victor Neri (Drago) was okay, and Jeffery Quizon's brilinat talents were wasted on his vomiting elictricity, like, half of the movie.

I wouldn't recommend this movie to be shown to children, though. Unless you want them chanting Joey's new catchphrase repetitively , (Pang-gay Pok Pok, Pang-Gay Pok Pok), or learn new phrases like 'napakain mo na si baby, asawa mo naman" complete with thumbsucking action (courtesy of Vic), or start fantasizing about their aunt (Oyo's thing for his tita's adopted daughter, which, while not tolerated by mom and aunt, goes on without moral closure). The ending sucked too. When Amorillo/Satana is confronted by her sisters, a couple of moral-lessonish sentences later, she gave up her plans, which is soooo out-of-character for the beautifully-played Satana (Bing Loyzaga). Horrid Verdana (Jose).

The special effects were the same as I remember them as a kid. No improvement. Terrible would be a compliment.

I only enjoyed the film because I was a fan of the old series. If you're not a fan, don't waste moolah on this one.

This movie was the top-grosser? Well. That explains a whole lot...

Gosh, I'm so tired, and sleepy, and handsome...

How'd I spend my day yesterday? Lessee...
1. watched Brother Beat Episode 4 in the morning followed by The Exorcism of Emily Rose
2. went to the office to give my boss his handycam back

(to edit)

I'm 70% McDonald's

I love Mc Donald's and will so never deny it. I've found a Double Cheeseburger contains more beef and cheese than a Quarter Ponder, and is cheaper too.

So funny. today's our Christmas party and the videoke machine's video is soft-porn. It was embarassing. The party is in a while so I hope they find some way to change it.
I have resolved to buy myself one shirt that I like every week. I started by getting an American Idol tee. Next- Slimer. But maybe I'll get a webcam first.


Yesterday I gave the most number of certificates to a set of CEE members. :) This year was fun. Hope next year will be too. Next year we will have both a movie project AND a concert. Shooting will begin for Power Rangers Livewire (a fandub) the first half of 2006. It will be both an acting project and a dub project. The film will be targeted to kids, unlike NEUP (2004) which was in the horror/suspense genre. The concert, for the later part of the year, will be a musical play, probably also in SM.

Chore...

I'm tired and sleepy and don't wanna blog.

Yeesh

Aha, so ... paolo Paraiso is Animus (in Etheria). That soooo explains everything. Oh well.

Our school's Junior Camp is getting nearer and nearer, hence my vacation's been reduced. haha. yaaay! More kids!

Today, the CEE, my English club had a meeting. We included several things in our itinerary for 2006. 1. A musical play. 2. A dub/acting project ala Power Rangers targeted to kids 3. Typhoon Relief etc. it's gonna be an exciting year. :)

Haha, tonight it appears as if all my chatbuddies decided to gang up on me by all being online.

Gratitude Journal
1. one student for 2 hours of tutorial time
2. a break from my IEC classes

Hmmm

Apparently, the men of Etheria act and vocalize better than their women. The king of Hathoria and general, and Dingdong Dantes' King Ybrahim, and Dennis Trillo. I'm finding it cooler and cooler everyday. Haha. Francine Prieto, while looking the part, doesn't really deliver the lines as well as royalty should. It's not the acting. It's the voice. Too high-pitched and unregal.

Oh wait, the guy who plays Animus sucks too. Haha.

Then again the faces of Etheria, the Hera, play their part well. Even Jopay can steal the screen as a 'Kitchie Nadal with a blade'. And of course there's Allesandra who plays the clairvoyant Andora.

The opening of Mulawin the Movie is 5 days away and yet the website isn't open. If I were the webmaster's boss, he'd've been fired by now.

Gratitude Journal:
1. New student starting tomorrow.
2. Egg omelette sandwich.
3. Getting home in time for Etheria.


I'm so excited about the filmfest. Hope it'll be good.

Began the day with Brother Beat, a recommendation of my Singaporean friend.
No subs. But it's so visual that I can understand pretty much everything that's going on.

'Don't Judge Me Because of Your Ignorance'

'Don't Judge Me Because of Your Ignorance'. Haha. Y'ask me, that kinda sez a lot about the speaker. that was on some guy's shirt.



I finally finished 'The Perfect Man'.
It felt super super weird.
and if I talked about it here without you seeing the movie, it'd be fairly odd to read. trust me.

Gratitude Journal:
1. A phone that actually works inside my room. (signal-wise)
2. Philadelphia Cream Cheese sandwich

uh oh...
I can't find that many things to be grateful about today. I mean aside from the general stuff like food, water, shelter...

Hope I can find some more tomorrow.

The X-Men 3 Teaser Trailer!

Source: 20th Century Fox

December 5, 200520th Century Fox has launched the eXcellent teaser trailer for X-Men 3! You can watch the teaser in High Definition QuickTime and regular QuickTime formats here. It looks like director Brett Ratner is doing an amazing job picking up the legacy from Bryan Singer, who helmed the first two films.Also, the studio has updated the official website to include even more character images. You can view them all in the gallery here! X-Men 3, hitting theaters on May 26, 2006, stars Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Sir Ian McKellen, Famke Janssen, Halle Berry, James Marsden, Anna Paquin, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, Shawn Ashmore, Kelsey Grammer, Daniel Cudmore, Vinnie Jones, Ben Foster, Ellen Page, Olivia Williams, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Bill Duke and Michael Murphy

No Cameras, Celphones, and Cameras

I spent the afternoon foloowing my two Chinese friends around the Alabang Town Center as they shopped for clothes etc. Ceci, the fashionista, and professional blogger (of 6000 hits on her opening week) practically left the camera on to shoot and shoot the whole shopping time away.
So lots of cam action ensues, much to my nervousness, that some of the shop people might go, 'sorry no pics please'. The shopkeepers in the boutiques were jovial about it, so Ceci just kept shootin.

Guess where we get stopped.

...a bakery.

They actually had a sign that said 'No Cameras, Celphones, and Cameras' (which i had to read and re-read several times to make sure THAT's what it said, perhaps to emphasize the fact).

Oh well.

Learned two new words today.

1. Naam - looks like a giant pizzadilla including the cheese filling.

2. Floss- bread with shredded stringlike whatever, the whatever being the 'floss'.

Both courtesy of bread-talk.

Cris Villonco was having a show with some orchestra. She's sooo not the birit queen. So sana she doesnt try na lang.
She sounds better being the calm and composed singer who doesnt fling her lungs at the audience.

Saw half of Heather Locklear and Hillary Duff's 'The perfect Man' last night- fell asleep.

Gratitude Journal.
1. Free floss and strawberry lemonade courtesy of Sybina.
2. Bought a Chicken Little celphone ornament. cute.
3. The huge fire in Zapote tonight didn't seem to involve anyone I knew.
4. Chatted with my Li'l bro 1am this morning.

Work on Saturday

Hmmm. Today I've got class after class. Full-fledged teacherhood. Haha. Should be great fun. I hope my students'll be very 'activity'. haha. (interactive)

My Dec plan for myself is to marathon Exodus, Mano Po 4, Enteng Kabisote and Mulawin in one go in the moviehouse.


My 6-in-1 I Still know what you did last summer etc- DVD failed me last night. Which sux.



I swear I'm such in a pinoy phase. I keep listening to pinoy music, planning to watch the filmfest movies, sooo into Etheria, AND bIG bROTHER. HAHA