Fred’s Revolucion in Cubao Expo

Given a chance, I drop by Cubao Expo (because I don’t like calling it Cubao-X) whenever I’m in the Araneta Center area for nostalgic purposes. It was one of my favourite places when I was still living in Cubao and a CFAD student in UST. The place had always been quaint and feels like home for artists. People who hang around are usually art students from UST or UP, so it’s a very welcoming feeling to sit in one of the bars or browse around for unique finds. Fred’s Revolucion is one of the fairly new joints but feels like it’s been there for ages…but then again I’m not so sure since I visit the place only once or twice a year. I miss Mogwai.

Hunger Games: Catching Fire

The success of Catching Fire is proof that when a film adaptation of a book is followed according to how the story was written many will be pleased. I may not have read the book, but my friends did and they loved the movie as much as I did. Not only was it a good adaptation, it was also a good movie. After leaving the theatre I wanted to run back and watch it the second time if only we weren’t so hungry since we skipped lunch for the 1pm screening. Prior to the meeting I received a text asking me if the movie date was a go. I immediately replied, “Yes, let’s meet an hour earlier so we can watch the movie ASAP. Watching the movie is an urgent matter.” That is because most of my friends watched the premier and so we were missing out as the hours ticked by. And in the words of my friend’s justification towards our fasting, “Dahil Hunger games panunorin natin kelangan hungry din tayong manunuod.” Because the movie was 1pm and we were there by 12nn and wanted nothing else but watch, we ended up eating lunch at 4pm in Brickfire which by the way served terrible steaks but satisfied my jalapeno stick craving.

I suppose what got me so much into the movie was that it reminded me of Final Fantasy VIII with the whole armies and artillery and military vibes and marching beats and costumes and the train—oh yes the train…just like Timber. They transported me into a world that I really liked staring at visually but dread to be a part of. It is because of this movie that I became a Jennifer Lawrence fan…and ended up watching hours of her interviews on YouTube. Now I know why Hollywood is in such buzz stalking her all over. She may talk a lot but she’s darn funny. You may get annoyed with her constant jabber but then she says sorry and then you’re back to loving her again. This is the first time I saw a Jennifer Lawrence movie wherein I watched it from start to end since I didn’t watch X-Men First Class, watched Hunger Games only on its last 30-mins, and chose to skip Silver Linings Playbook. After Catching Fire I scrambled to watch the movies and all her interviews. Now, I’ve watched two out of three and find nothing but admiration for the actress who seem to space out and include a gross topic in every show—she even talks about her uneven breasts! If Johnny Depp fits the role of Jack Sparrow like a glove, then J.Law fits the role of Katniss Everdeen like a pantyhose. Plus this is actually one of the few occasions that I am fangirling about the whole Peniss (Peeta-Katniss) romance because of Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson’s undeniable chemistry onscreen. If Bella had chosen Jason over Edward I’d probably just roll my eyes thinking, “that bitch!” But the thought of Katniss ending up with Gale would cause me to cry out, “injustice!” I used to find Josh irritating as he often lands the role of a whiney little brat and use his voice to annoy me, now we’re okay because I can watch him act and not roll my eyes. Liam…well…I’ve always found his big brother the hotter hunk so I won’t talk about him. Woody Harrelson and Elizabeth were awesome as Haymitch and Effie. Jena Malone made for a cool Johanna. Francis Lawrence…thank you! And the soundtrack was also spot-on.

I suppose I finally got the idea that the trilogy is a violent romantic tragedy destined to have a bittersweet ending as the plot of the bigger story is being laid out in this movie. I want to narrate the movie in the best way possible because I liked it so much but I don’t know how because I didn’t read the book and I was so engrossed in the film that I just want to watch it over and over again because I now have a girl crush on Jennifer Lawrence because of her performance…so here I go:

Catching Fire is the continuation of Hunger Games, although this movie had gotten so much better and the though I am keeping myself together because Mockingjay Part 1 is still 300+ days from now—and since Catching Fire had such an abrupt ending I will too—The End.

The anticipation of the next two instalments is making me want to scream Katniss-style (when she found out she will be a tribute the second time.) It was such a terrible cliff-hanger that I actually thought about reading Mockingjay…but of course I don’t read novels so I ended up reading wikia instead. The only thing missing now is to watch the narrative on the big screen since I trust the team can do the book justice this time. I shall end this with a suggestion from Josh Hutcherson on what to do while waiting for the next instalment, “Improve upon yourself, become a better person.”

*photos were from Hunger Game's Facebook page

Libera Concert 2013

Growing up to the music of Josh Groban, Charlotte Church (before she became a pop-rock mom), Enya, Sarah Brightman, Andrea Brocelli, Gregorian, Celtic Women…you get the picture…it’s only proper that I get excited about this concert as Libera is the closest I can have to experiencing the voices of the Vienna Boys Choir. I mean, it’s basically the same concept of young boys being recruited to sing before their voices get to their awkward phase and they start talking in baritone voices. Libera may have been formed not too long ago as compared to the Vienna Boys Choir, but at least their group reaches our shores for concerts.  

Last October 29, I was mortified when my brother forgot to insert the SD card in his cam…but thank God for internal memory I managed to take a few photos. It took a while before I figured out how to transfer those photos to my laptop...thus the late post. You see I’ve been pretty excited about going to the Libera concert for the longest time, so long in fact that I’ve forgotten about the concert until a week before the date. It could've been chaos had no one reminded me. The first Libera concert I went to was last 2011, and this year I saw the kids grow a little older and they even have new recruits. Let me tell you, this is the only concert I’ve been to that gave me goose bumps in almost all of their songs.

They’ve been coming to do concerts for the past six years I think…and this is mostly because of the Philippine-British friendship month. I tell you, if you have not heard angels sing, then this is your best bet to hearing them. Their music plays mostly to the soul, uplifting your spirits as they raise their voices higher and higher. It’s like listening to a violin sing, swaying from one string to another, making sounds of elation. At times they would sing in unison, reaching for the top notes, but then out on the corner a single boy does his solo and you’re blown away at the height of his echoes. Some songs such as Voca Me and Sanctus leaves you with a haunting feel, like walking on an old misty pavement with the ghost of a little boy following you with his voice that seem to bellow from beyond our world. It makes you wonder where they get the power to reach these notes because taking it from their stomachs seems insufficient from what I was hearing. To say it simply, the music they produce with their voices is without doubt ethereal.

It saddens me that of the two concerts I’ve been to, it wasn’t a full house…I suppose that’s because this kind of music is followed by a small niche, but that doesn’t stop them from coming back; a fact that I am genuinely glad about. The next time they do a concert, do yourself a favour and experience this kind of concert at least once in your life because this is something I plan on doing on a yearly basis…that is, if they do the concert here again. For a Php520 ticket, it’s like you give your soul a two-hour journey into the heavens to hear a choir of angels serenade you with songs of soul-stirring jubilation. Also, I love the play of instruments in their In Dulci Jubilo piece--kudos to they guy who played the flute!

Desk Update 2013

This is my new more-cluttered-bigger-table-bigger-mess work table now. I've been using it for a couple of months now and I absolutely adore big desks...one of my dreams is having a work room where I can have a HUGE table to do my drawings, crafts, writing, and other art stuff. Anyway, it's been a year and just a comparison from my first post, this was my desk back then:

Almost everything has changed, even my laptop and my mouse...the only thing that remained is my cork board, mouse pad and the wall which I had planned on repainting but changed my mind when I saw the decals the other day--OHHH--and of course Sheepig is still there! 

Now here's a detailed description of-sort of my new work area in lieu of what I did on my first ever blog post: 

My First Year Blogsary Fail!

FAAAAAAAAAAAAAIL!!! That's all I can say after planning a really nice blog post for my first year anniversary of running this blog. I started about two weeks ago, thinking of an article to write about...but then I lost track of time, things happened in between, and before I knew it I had missed the day. Crappy crap crap! >:[

Oh well...87 blog posts and one year later I'm still a mess, but I still manage to update this blog...so not bad for someone who has commitment issues.

I haven't come up with anything yet so here's a yummy photo of Häagen-Dazs' apple something (that is no longer available because they're gone) instead. I rushed out in search of a cake for 
the anniversary photo this afternoon, but I wasn't craving for a cake today...so I used an old photo dating back last 2008 instead. 

But I am preparing a better entry for a more worthy blogsary post...but maybe I'll do that this long weekend. So...many...pending...posts.

Pre-Christmas Shopping

Before I knew it Christmas songs are playing, a few weeks more and we'll start the Simbang Gabi (which I attend only on the last day...because I am never going to be a morning person.) As what I now consider a personal Christmas tradition, the first gift I will be buying for the season is mine. A well deserved annual compensation on top of my weekly compensation. This year one of my self-presents is a Herschel backpack for Php4990.00 but I got a 500-peso discount from a promo that they were having. If you buy a 5K worth of Herschel products you get a Php500 discount coupon. I asked the guy who sold it to me to grant me the discount since it's a ten-peso difference from 5K. He called his boss and bwahahahaha! I got it for Php4490.00 at Bratpack, Greenbelt 5. The store there is bigger than other locations, thus the selection is more diverse than other branches. 

I have a thing with the blue-brown combination since last year...except now I'm more into the aqua-teal-ash blue kinda hue and the one on the left was love at first sight...but I also love the darker one on the right. So I sorta figured a way to trick my brother into buying it so I get to borrow the bag. Bwahaha! I've been eyeing on that Herschel bag for a long time now. Finally, I got "two".

Then I bought a M&S canvas bag for Php325.00 (if I recall correctly) then got a 95-peso discount at the counter. Marks & Spencer has this thing about surprising you with discounts only when you pay them at the counter despite being marked with a regular price on the rack...this isn't the first time it happened to me. The chocolates were also discounted by a few pesos, like 15-25 I think. Cost me about Php65 (red) and Php85 (brown). I like M&S chocolates, especially the one with the biscuits attached. The bag though, I'm thinking of giving it to my aunt who seems fit the bag with her fashion sense.

The lamp and the light bulb are also part of the weekend purchase. The lamp and light bulb were bought at Home Depot in BGC. I love the whole modern-industrial-cafe-like look of it so I bought the piece for our kitchen light. Cost of the bulb was around Php400.00, and the lamp for about Php1800.00 because of the 20% discount. The bulb is the 40-Watt with the cute squiggly filament seen inside. The lamp is a drop-light with a nice grey-tint glass and a classic shapely curve. I love it with all of my heart...for now.

  

QLC Moment #14