I went home early from work today and I was debating with myself if I’ll go play badminton for the third day in a row. Had my stomach not been feeling weird the whole day, like I took some coloncleansing medication or something, I probably went ahead to play despite my worries about overusing my knees over such a strenous activity (I sort of have a history). Once I got home, I immediately turned on my computer and searched for some mp3s to play while surfing the net. Boy, now I’m getting a bit sulky and nostalgic.
I found some Joey Albert songs somewhere in my files and I decided to download some more. Now, I love music and I love OPM. But I’ve always felt that the old OPM songs sound a lot more “original” than what we get to hear these days. I really can’t explain it in technical terms so I won’t try to.
When I was younger, I loved Joey Albert’s songs because of the melodies and themes. You know, they’re the type of love songs girls dreaming of “twuluv” and imagining heartbreaks and stuff (what, it’s only me?) memorize by heart. Now, listening to her songs made me realize that she’s one of the best Filipino singers we ‘ve ever had. I just love the tone of her voice. And I can be really sappy when I get to it.
A friend and a certified baddict (badminton addict) sent me this article about how badminton can aid in one’s goal to lose weight and look better. I think the article was specifically targeted to women but it actually applies to all. Being a baddict myself, I didn’t have to read that article to know that badminton is an excellent way to get fit while you’re having fun. It’s definitely better to take on a sport than to rely on diet pills or unhealthy diet regimens.
As I always say, the thing that impresses me the most about playing badminton is that it can be enjoyed by people of all ages. I’ve joined several queuing sessions where I played with people between 10 years old and 60 years old. Some of the older ones are even better players.
I might have mentioned having fun. Badminton is a very enjoyable group sport. Ironically, it can also ruin friendships and relationships. But that’s another story. And please don’t ask me how.
I saw a list of pop culture heroines from another site and it kind of surprised me that I know most of those mentioned. I really have been watching to much TV, huh?! Well, it gives me something to write about so it’s a good thing in my books. I want an HDTV someday, though.
I picked out three of my favorites, in no particular order:
1. Buffy Summers. The reluctant hero. She’s almost just a child when she was called to serve her duty (well, of fighting creatures of the night and other spawns of evil). She grew so much in the course of the seven seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and yet by the end she’s still a work in progress. I love the fact that she is such a flawed character. She’s physically as strong as 10 men combined but it doesn’t mean she’s emotionally as tough. She made mistakes and learned from them, just like any other young person going into adulthood. And at the same time she saved the world … a lot!
2. Sydney Bristow. The kick-ass spy. How many people can claim to be a genius? And how many geniuses can learn to be so physically capable to carry out spy missions. Well, you know, beating up guys twice her size, detonating bombs, impersonating people, speaking a multitude of languages, and occasionally jumping off planes and mountains. I loved watching how good she was tactically; how she solved seemingly hopeless problems in the nick of time. I’m actually watching Alias all over again.
3. Dana Scully. Miss logical; a medical doctor and an FBI agent. They say when a person hardly smiles, it’s like a rare privilege to witness it happen. Scully is oh so serious, and in a way I can understand that inclination perfectly. Her firm grasp of physical laws makes her a skeptic of all things that cannot be explained by science, so it’s almost ironic that between her and Mulder in The X-Files, she’s the one who keeps a specific religious faith. But her heart is in the right place. It doesn’t hurt that she serves as a “touchstone” to her partner as well.
Ever since MP3 players were banned from work, I haven’t been listening to my “collection” of Broadway songs. There was a time when I spend the whole day alternating among the soundtracks of Rent, Wicked, The Last Five Years, and Spring Awakening. I miss those times. At home I’m usually too busy browsing the Web and trying to write that I can’t focus on the music (not that I don’t focus on work, heh).
Anyway, here’s one of my favorites from Wicked. This rehearsal video of Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth is one of the best things I’ve ever found on YouTube.
I’ve heard it said
That people come into our lives for a reason
Bringing something we must learn
And we are led
To those who help us most to grow
If we let them
And we help them in return
Well, I don’t know if I believe that’s true
But I know I’m who I am today
Because I knew you:
Like a comet pulled from orbit
As it passes a sun
Like a stream that meets a boulder
Halfway through the wood
Who can say if I’ve been changed for the better?
But because I knew you
I have been changed for good
The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood is one of the best books I’ve read. Ever. The prose is exquisite; the language is masterful and eloquent, which is not really a surprise because Margaret Atwood is a poet. The plot, not so much if you’re looking for a thrilling page-turner, but major kudos to originality: It has a story within a story within a story. As the narrator for almost half of the book, Iris Chase-Griffen, is laying down the events of her life and that of her troubled sister, Laura, we simultaneously read the novel that made Laura famous, The Blind Assassin, which tells the tale of mysterious lovers in hiding. Within Laura’s novel, the male half of the clandestine couple is spinning a science fiction yarn to keep his love interested. These seemingly disparate elements will come together by the end of the book.
Fact is, I can’t stop quoting Iris in my other blog. With her disconnected view of the world, she has this certain coldness and distance that ironically made her writing reek with pain and quite a bit of sarcasm, undoubtedly because of a generally unfortunate fate of knowing the kind of unhappiness that can only be understood by those who lived it. I named Iris the writer because it is her story, the one she’s hoping to leave her grandchild behind, that got to me the most. With her failing health (and nary a Blue Advantage plan) at the end of a largely unfulfilled life, she persisted to write down her story, in a final act of trying to reconnect, if not share her legacy, to the only remaining person in the world she has a claim to.
I recommend this book to everyone who loves literary fiction. For lovers of language and stories of the heart, this book is a definite treat.
I just started watching the popular Web series written by Felicia Day - The Guild. It’s funny in a very dorky way and it’s easy to watch as each webisode lasts from 3 to 7 minutes tops. You can watch it here.
The Guild is about a group of online gamers, written for fans of massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) by an avid gamer herself (Felicia is said to be “addicted” to World of Warcraft). Well, I’m not a gamer but I can enjoy the comedy. So far I like the way she writes her characters (Codex is my favorite, of course). It’s a good thing that each episode is so short that I don’t need super high-speed Internet like Hughes Net to be able to watch them at once. On the other hand, if this sitcom will inspire me to try online gaming, then maybe I’ll need something like HUGHES NET in the future. But, no, I don’t think I’ll get into that. That I cannot imagine where I’ll get the time is the biggest reason.
Seasons 1 and 2 of The Guild are even available on DVD. Fans are still waiting for announcement of a third season. This Web series actually served as a pattern for Joss Whedon when he created the now massively popular Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, which incidentally is being rumored to be jumping into the wide screen soon. Felicia Day also stars as the love interest of Dr. Horrible and his arch-nemesis Captain Hammer.
Anyway, although it will be some time before the Web can truly supersede the more popular, and not to mention accessible, form of media like television, a few notable series like these two I mentioned are paving the way for this new form of entertainment. For people with an idea for a show but cannot get a network to back them up, creating an independent Web series on a limited budget, and then using the available medium like YouTube, for example, provides them with the opportunity to reach an audience. Felicia Day and Joss Whedon are proof that this is very possible. I probably would need Hughesnet, though, if I’ll get hooked with watching online series.
The latest Dollhouse episode, A Spy in the House of Love, saw Echo being handed over to a new Handler. Boyd, her former handler, was promoted, that’s why. I can’t help but see the parallel of the Active-Handler relationship in Dollhouse with that of the Slayer-Watcher relationship in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It’s the same thing - a strong young woman being guided by an older, wiser man. In BtVS, the Watcher is responsible for the physical training of the Slayer as well as training her mind with studies about her trade (well, studying about demonology, history of vampires and big bads, and the likes; you get the drift). He also gives advice on how to split her time between being a normal girl and a hero. Not that he looks at rotary watches and gives her a strict schedule or something. It’s more like a father-daughter relationship actually. But that’s fiction for you. In the real world such mentor-student interactions are mostly strictly business. The difference with the Doll-Handler dynamic in Dollhouse is that the girl (well, it can be a boy, too) does not have her consciousness to fully participate in the relationship. Echo is already an aberration in that she’s realizing that she trusts Boyd implicitly, although she cannot fathom why. Boyd, on the other hand, have this strong desire to take care of his charge, despite that fact that his rotary watches will dictate when an engagement is complete and Echo will return to her child-like state, unable to feel anything except for the “bliss”of literally knowing nothing.
It’s a compelling story. To watch a friendship form between two unlikely people. I’m probably bound to favor Buffy and Giles on BtVS over Echo and Boyd, but I’m hoping Dollhouse will continue to explore this interesting dynamic in future episodes. But, heck, I’m only hoping the show will get renewed for a second season for now. It still has a lot to tell. Better set your ROTARY WATCHES because episode 10 will be aired in 2 days’ time.
I’ve been thinking about GE home security, especially after a friend detailed to me how he has installed an alarm system in his apartment unit to ward off, or at least detect and hopefully scare away , tresspassers or burglars. What he had is pretty simple; it’s a sort of a sensor in the front door that will give off sound and light signals in the case that the door is forced open. Well, the GE home security system is a little more complicated; they have wireless security systems wherein your home will have an interactive monitoring system regardless of where you are at at any given time. This is done through Web access, mobile access, and e-mail. The state-of-the-art technology like using security cameras and video surveillance may be going overboard for simple homes or residences but it is not to say that the GE alarm system do not offer simple burglar alarms like window and door sensors.
I think it is not too much (read: paranoid) to think about the maximum ways to ensure the safety of your home and yourself, of course. Getting the best possible protection, although it will cost you, is always worth the investment. Well, if you don’t go overboard, that is. Myself being a nervous wreck, I get agitated at night whenever I hear sudden movements or unidentified sounds outside my door. That’s why I check for any possible alarm system I can install in my own place soon.
I think you’ve all heard about Susan Boyle by now.
Then there’s Adam Lambert. I didn’t care for the hair but the fact that he was on Wicked made him my favorite to watch. Guy’s got a crazy range. I kinda like the dramatics although I’ve actually stopped watching AI, save for the occassional online video recaps, but Adam’s rendition of Mad World is something I really liked (studio version below).
