I love old movies. I love to discover good films from the past that I haven’t heard of before. I enjoy watching films. Period. That’s why I’ve been trying to search the Net for nice Dish Network Offers or any cable company provider that has many movie channels. Unfortunately, I haven’t found any Dish Network and the lone company that services my residential area do not want to install cable TV in my apartment because my unit is apparently too far from the main line. It’s a real bummer, but lately I realized that it’s OK, too, because even without Dish Network Deals, I can find movies some other way.
Here’s something I’ve watched from a very long time that I recently rediscovered.
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There’s a 2001 movie called Waking Life that is both literally dream-like and innovative. The entire film is a journey into the dream world. It examines questions about life, love, the universe, and consciousness in the framework of a lucid dream, which is a kind of dream in which you know you are dreaming. It’s a dialogue-driven movie, from the writer and director of Before Sunrise and Before Sunset, Richard Linklater.
Here are a few quotes.
On paradoxes:
An assumption develops that you cannot understand life and live life simultaneously. I do not agree entirely. Which is to say I do not exactly disagree. I would say that life understood is life lived. But the paradoxes bug me, and I can learn to love and make love to the paradoxes that bug me. And on really romantic evenings of self, I go salsa dancing with my confusion. Before you drift off, don’t forget. Which is to say, remember. Because remembering is so much more a psychotic activity than forgetting.
The power of dreams:
…the worst mistake that you could make is to think that you are alive when really you’re asleep in life’s waiting room. The trick is to combine your waking rational abilities with the infinite possibilities of your dreams. ‘Cause if you can do that, you can do anything. Did you ever have a job that you hated and worked real hard at? A long, hard day of work. Finally you get to go home, get in bed, close your eyes. And immediately you wake up and realize that the whole day at work had been a dream. It’s bad enough that you sell your waking life for minimum wage, but now they get your dreams for free.
Flawed perfection:
I do not await the future, anticipating salvation, absolution, not even enlightenment through process. I subscribe to the premise that this flawed perfection is sufficient and complete in every single, ineffable moment.
Last Saturday, before I went to the badminton court to meet my friends, I took a bottle of an energy drink, forgetting that I just gulped down a bottle of another drink that supposedly has a high dose of L-carnithine. According to recent fad, L-carnithine, besides being an efficient fat burner, provides a great source of energy. Now this may not really mean something and it’s probably all in my head but during the games I found myself unusually overcharged to the point that I didn’t want to stop between sets. I ended up (probably) having had the most number of sets and I was even chatting myself away, which isn’t something I do on normal days when my level of energy is just enough to be used up on internalizing a lot of mundane, unimportant stuff. I was thinking maybe it’s because I was at home the whole day, alternating between sleeping, eating,and working online or maybe it really was those energy supplements. See? Overanalyzing mundane stuff again.
Anyway, this episode made me think about how hyperactive I’ll be if I’ll take a real, hardcore stimulant drug. Not that I plan on trying sometime but I’m guessing I’ll act like a drunk person on, well, drugs. Not a pretty picture. Having to undergo a drug test procedure is not exactly a fun experience, either. I know because I was “drawn” as a random testee once. To pass a drug test is not my concern because I am sure, barring sample switch, that I will. What irked me more is the process of showing myself and being cooped up in a room filled with people drinking lots and lots of water to stimulate the passing of “sample”. Because that was my first time, I found the scenery quite hilarious and scanned the room trying to see who among those with me will probably not pass drug test. What is not hilarious is that someone has to go with you in the comfort room to make sure that you’re not switching your sample. I’m not sure with others but I was relieved that the lady who came with me, despite having a pretty big scowl (which maybe is because of boredom and disgust for having spent her entire day looking at other people’s, errr, body fluids), allowed me to close the cubicle door just enough to have a little privacy. Anyway, passing drug tests is not the highlight of that experience. Well, actually, it doesn’t have one.
My friend and I were discussing babies and how cute they are. As with most random discussions, our topic suddenly segued toward a sort of debate on the morality of raising a child as a single parent. Morality maybe a strong word that has wider implication than is intended here; what we were really arguing about is if it is indeed selfish for a woman to undergo artificial insemination when she doesn’t have a husband or partner to raise the child with. I said it depends, whereas my friend said it is selfish. Well, it’s a tricky subject. Of course, it depends on a lot of things and circumstances really have a lot to do with it. On a strictly theoretical sense, I can concur that the motivation may indeed be selfish because obviously it’s the would-be mother’s choice. The child wouldn’t have any say on it. But if someone is financially capable and emotionally suitable to bring forth a child in this world, and she wants to love and raise another human being who will enjoy all of what life can offer, then I say what’s wrong with that? Oh, well, to each his own and I do believe we both have a point, or even points.
People will always have different views about building families and raising children. Even in families with both mother and father, many couples observe family planning and some even opt for drastic measures like surgical treatments such as vasectomy or tubal ligation. Some parents want to keep their family small while others want to have as many children as they can. The thing is, even if the father has undergone vasectomy in life and then change his mind in the future about the rearing of more children, he has the option to undergo vasectomy reversal. Family planning is sometimes mandated by law in some countries so the practice really differs in different socities and cultures. What we have to realize and remember here, though, is that life is beautiful and every child born into this world is too.
A few days ago was our batch’s 9th anniversary with THE company. By “batch”, I mean the group of employees that were taken in and trained for a particular post together. There were more than 10 of us then and, now, after 9 years, 3 of us are still left standing. We’re such troopers. Or maybe just too lazy to look anywhere else or breathe any other kind of air. We’re getting old. It is getting old. But what can you do? Well, I suppose a lot of things, but let’s focus on the lazy. With the world in recession, it’s not as if I can say I’m done and start reading on trading signals and enter something I have no idea about. I know people who really understand business and money; I am not one of them that even if I hire a trading signal service to provide trading advisory, I will still know squat about the business scene.
When I think about it, it’s really not the lack of initiative. You can deduce by now that the position I’m in is not the best in the world because if it is, why do I have to explain why I’m stucked with it? Anyway, enough with the useless ranting. I was just wondering why they always ask you “Where do you see yourself in five years?” during job interviews? I mean, obviously, it’s to see your “vision”, whatever that means. But why five? Why not four? Or six? Useless question, I know, but I remembered that when I was interviewed my answer was hilariously typical. I see myself as someone holding a position that is well above my entry level because I’m hardworking and dedicated and all that blah. Of course, those were not the exact words but it’s a wonder anybody took me in. I was such a spaz that I probably swallowed a lot more comprehensible words than I’ve managed to spill out.
Not five, but nine years later, I am nowhere where I thought myself would be. But then again through time, my own vision changed and the things that seem appealing to a neophyte corporate rat doesn’t appeal to me anymore. This is not a race I want to run. There’s no ladder here that I’m interested to climb. The current may lead me some place I do not expect but as long as I haven’t figured out a plan, I’m OK with being stucked. I’m patient that way.
Well, the WTA tour can certainly use another Grand Slam champion during these dire times when no one is rising above the fold (Victoria Azarenka and Caroline Wozniacki, are you up to the challenge?) and pretty much everyone else seem injured or bored, thus boring the tennis fans. Wait! Justine Henin, come back! Your fellow Belgian is returning, see?
Kim Clijsters said that practicing for the upcoming Wimbledon exhibition with Steffi Graf, Andre Agassi, and Tim Henman is what brought her the realization that she wants to do this thing professionally again. Lindsay Davenport did well at first when she came back but the majors seem to be too much. We’ll see if Kim can do better.
I miss tennis! I wish I can play again but I’ve given up my Adidas shoes already. And the hourly costs of the court and trainer are still what hinder me most. Besides, I have badminton and playing those two sports together is not a good idea. Which reminds me that I need to look for discount athletic shoes because mine are already starting to look beaten. I’m gonna look for online photos of athletic shoes now, see if I’ll find something I like.
Release date: July 11, 1997
Starring: Jodi Foster, Matthew McConaughey
Written by Carl Sagan
Directed by Robert Zemeckis
Contact is my most favorite movie of all time. It’s not a sentiment that millions of other people share but this is the movie that really made me think about the things I believe in, the things I cannot dream about understanding, and the essence of our humanity.
The story was penned by renowned astronomist Carl Sagan so the science aspect of the movie is pretty much technically accurate, but not too technically presented as to alienate the lay person. Put simply, this is the story of Dr. Eleanor (Ellie) Arroway, a consummate scientist who, for years, have been trying to make contact with other intelligent beings outside our own planet. Her work is constricted by lack of funds and grant support; her peers, naturally, think that searching for extraterrestrial intelligence is a waste of time, money, and technology.
Ellie, on the other hand, will not be deterred. She made her point well: “Look, all I’m asking, is for you to just have the tiniest bit of vision. You know, to just sit back for one minute and look at the big picture. To take a chance on something that just might end up being the most profoundly impactful moment for humanity, for the history… of history.”
What is science fiction, anyway? Did ancient men ever believed people will be flying planes today?
In a strange turn of events that will never be fully explained, which to me became the charm of the entire narrative, Ellie discovered a radio signal from deep space that appeared to contain a message. In brief, the message was deciphered and it turned out to be a schematic of some sort of transit; the events that followed are something you can expect would happen if a worldwide announcement of a confirmation of alien life form will be realized - mass hysteria, drastic measures from the government, military alert for possible hostility, and all forms of religious uproar.
Meanwhile, Ellie had to go through several hurdles - gender inequality, bureaucracy, her faith or the lack thereof - before she was able to have the chance to be the passenger of the “pod” that will send the first human ambassador to the planet called Vega.
In deciding to go, she is risking her life for the purpose of getting the answers to the grand questions “Why are we here? What are we doing here? Who are we?” Ellie doesn’t believe in God because she finds no proof of Him. Reaching her destination, she realized that out there, in the vast space that is the universe, is the proof that we are “tiny and insignificant and rare and precious and part of something that is greater than ourselves.”
It seems like a very expensive way of realizing what many other people already know by heart. Especially considering the fact that she came home without the tiniest bit of evidence that she did make contact with someone who is not quite human in another galaxy.
There is no satisfying resolution to Ellie’s story. She wasn’t able to prove that her trip to space had been successful. In a purely scientific sense, she couldn’t even insist that what she saw and experienced was true. In the end, it became more of a personal journey and it is alright because we were there with her. We listened as she was told that we, as a species, are “capable of such beautiful dreams, and such horrible nightmares. You feel so lost, so cut off, so alone, only you’re not. See, in all our searching, the only thing we’ve found that makes the emptiness bearable, is each other.”
We will continue to search, there’s no doubt about it. We will continue to question our purpose in the grand scheme of things. But no matter what we believe in and no matter how we view the world, we are never alone. Maybe that’s why in the darkest times when we feel cut off, looking at the stars can sometimes fell like a warm, desperate embrace.
… may not be such a good idea. I do believe those subconscious stuff they talk about have some hand on what our dream landscape turns out to be, but I’m not sure about prophetic meanings.
I recently searched for interpretations of dreaming about water in the toilet and my search gave me some results depending on if the water goes in or out (overflowing) or whether the water is murky/dirty or clear. Water going/flushing in: releasing of bad emotions or getting rid of negative feelings. Overflowing: desire to more fully express repressed emotions. Clean or dirty = good or bad.
It’s quite uncomfortable (and, frankly, yucky) to dream about toilets but I’d rather have that than one of those trapped-under-water dreams with an opening tightly sealed by industrial hand wheels you don’t have enough power to turn. Truth is, I’d be more than happy not to dream at all.
As the renowned SciFi series Battlestar Galactica comes to an end this week, I am making it a point to finish watching its first season this month - it will be my series of the month, just like others have their book of the month, or wine of the month, or movie of the month.
I’m just in the fifth episode and I’m fairly certain this is something I’m going to see the end of. It has a great story to tell, with all the human drama, the awesome space fights and flights, the political elements, and nail-biting suspense.
I guess what I like most about pop music is that it is so much fun! It doesn’t usually take too much out of you and you can enjoy the catchy melodies for as long as your tolerance would allow and then forget about it. It’s the best companion during long trips, rv camping, and/or parties.
I tend to stay away from bubblegum pop, but I concur even those have their charm. Generally, I like the music of Michelle Branch/The Wreckers, Sara Bareilles, Rachael Yamagata, and KT Tunstall. And the reason why I watch for American Idol talents with a bit of trepidation is because I still think Kelly Clarkson is the best talent that show has seen. The good news for me is that her latest album, All I Ever Wanted, is significantly better than the last one (My December). The songs still have that angst-driven edge that pushes toward the pop-rock variety, but it is less moody and more sugary. It’s not likely to stay in my mp3 player for the entire year but I’m going to enjoy it while the fun lasts.
I’ve been buying stuff from Ebay, mostly books that are not available locally, and it’s all good because I find it a lot cheaper than buying from, say, Amazon and other online stores. My favorite seller never fails to deliver in two weeks or less, with a shipping fee of 4 USD (Priority Mail International). I don’t know why, but items fom this seller are delivered straight to my address whereas books that I ordered from others have to be picked up from the local post office. With the latter, there’s a Php35 customs fee.
Now Php35 is not bad (printed materials are apparently tax-free), but I learned the hard way that other items cost a lot, lot more to import. I ordered a box set of DVDs and it was delivered to the main customs office for inspection. That being my first time to claim an imported item, I just brought my claim slip thinking that all I need to do is to show and take. Imagine my surprise when I arrrived there with a long line of people in waiting, most wearing an irritated expression from the amount of duties and taxes they have to pay. I overheard one lady raise her voice upon knowing that she’ll have to pay Php2,500 to claim a playstation 3 that came as a gift from a relative. It made me really nervous because I didn’t have enough cash with me. True enough, when it’s my turn, I declared the real amount I paid for the item (US$77) and was given a computation that totalled to Php1,900. The price of ignorance. Tsk.
I’ll *never* buy DVD box sets from abroad again. [Truth is, $77 is waaaaay below the real price of that product but I no longer want to recount how I’ve been scammed into believing that I’m buying authentic DVDs. It’s too much insult added to injury already. Again, the lesson learned: If something seems to good to be true, then it probably is.]
