Skindred

God I love Skindred.  They’re one of those bands that make you want to start your own band and just fucking rock out.

Greenbelt Intramuros

People who think that Intramuros needs to be turned into a commercial complex featuring nightclubs in order to boost tourism need to get their heads examined.

As Aissa requested, here is my letter tot he editor to counter the FUN fool:

Dir Sir,

I was inspired to write to you today because of an infuriating letter one of your other readers that was printed out on the June 25, 2008 issue of the STAR.  In it, he claims that FUN is what tourists are looking for and he even lays out the preposterous idea that we turn Intramuros into a commercial complex in order to make it relevant.  This is irrational and is the same idea that leads people to tear down buildings like the Jai alai building in the name of progress.  We are so desperate to become a modern country that we buy into the idea that in order to move forward we must tear down the past.

My girlfriend and I went to Hanoi a few months ago and it was thick with tourists: Caucasians, Asians, you name it, they were there.  You literally could not walk a few meters without seeing a fellow tourist.  A kindly German man took our photograph on a bridge and we were accompanied on our tour of Halong Bay by an Old Malaysian and Thai couple, a Japanese and Australian couple our age, a Japanese woman and her mother, and a Canadian doing social work.  Why were they there, do you ask?  Certainly not to see suntanned bodies and to have fun after hours in Hanoi, which is notorious for going to bed early and waking up even earlier.  They were all in Hanoi for the culture, for the taste of something different that they cannot find in their home countries.  And so were we. And so are thousands of other tourists.

There is nothing wrong with promoting tourist destinations for fun.  Heck, that’s basically the only reason to go to Boracay these days is for the nightlife.  And sure we can turn some of our other beaches like those in Bohol or Samal and turn them into FUN tourist destinations, but to propagate the idea that this is the only way we well get tourists into the country is preposterous and wrong minded, and will not further the tourism industry here in any meaningful way.

Come again?

On Cafe Juanita:

The ambiance? Quaint but nice. Maybe some would say it is eclectic. Yeah, like when you don’t know what it’s all about. And then suddenly you get it. It’s about “wala lang.” No theme at all. Just that the owner likes to put nice things together. A charming place really.

Color me bewildered.

Zed of Zardoz

You try to avert your eyes…but you cannot!  The damage this picture has wrought on your eyes will haunt you forever.  Witness Sean Connery as Zed in the movie Zardoz!

Simple Minds

People whose YM status message always reflects the current summer blockbuster du jour really annoy me.

Magallanes v0.9

This is the hard part, near the end.  When you don’t know quite what to do to finish it off.

Urduja movie review

I’ve refrained from writing movie reviews for a while, but after watching Urduja, I felt compelled to write this.  Urduja was…disappointing.  It epitomizes everything that I hate about Filipino cinema, all of the overacting and the bad jokes and actors who think they can sing.  The story is simple enough and easy to understand, but the dialogue sent shivers down my spine, or caused uproarious laughter at all the wrong times. The jumping to and fro between mangled english and tagalog also annoyed the hell out of me.  I can safely say that Urduja is one of the worst movies I’ve watched in a long time.

However, the animation itself is not bad.  I’ve been studying animation and composition in movies lately, and it was nice to see that these guys know their stuff, apart from the random slow mo effect or levitation.  Some of the animation sequences were very fluid, especially those involving the snake and the pirate chase scene.  The character design needed some help though; you know you’re in trouble when you don’t find the animal characters cute.

Unfortunately the sound design also lets the movie down.  You know how in those chinovelas and koreanovelas where the dubbing of the voices overpowers the background music?  That’s how it sounded.  Hell, the movie could have done with better direction, and the truth is if they had a bigger budget and more time, I’m sure this would have been a much better film.

But it’s not.

I do encourage you all to see it though.  I really hope it makes money, because that’s the only way these folks can get another project and make it better.  I’d encourage everyone to see it, and look at it critically.  Don’t praise it just because it’s Filipino, just because everyone worked so hard to make it.  No animated film is ever created with out the sweat and tears of hundreds of animators.  If other animated films don’t get a free pass, neither should Urduja, because if we never hold it up to the standards of others we’ll wallow in Philippine mediocrity forever.

Magallanes v0.6

Octales gets pimped

I rarely get worked up over any web 2.0 social networking bullshit these days (I shit on you facebook, I shit on you in a cup) so when I get hooked on something new that must mean it’s special (and yes, special in exactly the way you were thinking of). Octales is that something special, and while it’s not in open beta yet, it’s getting a little bit of love from the inquirer. I’ve known Luis since I started “writing” for highfiber.org, so it’s nice to see all of his ideas start to come full circle in this way.

MAG:NET Speflling Bee!

So my threadless submission failed.  BUt it’s all good, because MAG:NET’s first ever spelling bee is happening this Tuesday, May 27 at MAG:NET Bonifacio high street!  WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Hit JC medina up for the deets if you’re interested in joining…and facing my spelling wrath!!!