Virginity rocks!
So much has happened in the past few days. Our field trip...the Australian Open finals...and today. So much has happened today, and it was a very productive day, as I learned a lot. And I mean A LOT.
FIELD TRIP
There's not a lot to say about the field trip. It was mostly fun, and very very tiring. The trip there and back was sort of uneventful...a lot of chatting, eating, and taking pictures of those who are sleeping. If I get hold of those pictures, I'll post them here, I promise you that. However, as I have no camera phone nor a digital camera I can actually lug around anywhere, the only pictures I'll be able to show are those I've ripped off other blogs from my classmates.
It was certainly like a mud bath, especially for me, since, as my classmates have noted, I was the first one to have so much mud on my legs. I know it was stupid to wear those rubber slippers...but hey, they did not me. They might have stuck to the mud every time, and I'd have to pull them out by hand, but hey...they didn't rip. After all those caves, and trails...could you believe that? Actually, I almost lost them in the river...but the facilitators were kind enough to catch them before they went upstream. Haha.
The trails were just the worst...walking is just not for me...especially in those slippers. Forgive me, I just didn't want to sacrifice my one and only pair of rubber shoes that are actually in good condition.
AUSSIE OPEN
Thank goodness Carlos Baghdatis did not win. He didn't even come close. Yes, he got the first set...and I was probably losing hope in the second set...but Federer does not fail. That's why he's number one. If Baghdatis won...I would've been so furious. Not only is he cocky...his supporters are cocky...and he beat Andy Roddick. Beating Roger Federer would just be an even greater sin.
TODAY
I thought it was going to be such a bad day, with Chem being our first period and all. Thank goodness we had a talk for our English week. It was about media...and we've actually discussed the topics in our Media Awareness class, but since the speaker was really good, we didn't care. I'm too tired to elaborate.
We had this super-boring, super-confusing debate about an hour after...and the debaters were just really all over the place. The motion was stupid, too. If Aung San Suu Kyi was already free, why are they still debating about why ASEAN is not doing anything about the house arrest (answer: the ASEAN cannot interfere with the politics and political crises of the member countries...duh!).
Then we had this "Why Are You Catholic?" conference after lunch. Bo Sanchez was there, and we were all psyched 'cause he's a really good preacher. We also had a sort of praisefest with songs at the start and the end...that was really cool...and almost everyone got into it. I just had to put my foot down on the Pinoy Ako song. Too corny. We also had Tim Staples...he's American. He had such a long story, and had long answers to every question...but his talk was very interesting.
It's too tiring to elaborate on anything right now...even my title to the post. So...sorry na lang.
We still love you, Andy!
"It's always tough but the good thing about tennis is there's always next week. It's not like we're an Olympic sport where we have to wait another four years."
I cannot fathom to watch any more Australian Open. I missed the Manny Pacquiao-Erik Morales match (well, either way, I was going to miss it...I hate boxing) to watch Andy Roddick lose to a Cyprus unseeded player on the Fourth Round, who stupidly said he was "going to sleep with her girlfriend" that night. Whatever Baghdatis! And his supporters are so fucking loud and obnoxious. I actually felt sorry for the audience behind the mass of men taking off their clothes at any given moment.
I just feel so sad for Andy, and I was expecting him to go head to head with Roger Federer in the finals. Guess that won't happen. I hope he does better in the French Open or in Wimbledon.
Well, enough about that.
Tests. I thought I my grades were going to suck, but I guess I was wrong. Even my Filipino grade was acceptable. I just hope my report card can give me as much happiness.
Field trip is a few days away. The bus ride is almost always enjoyable, so I'm definitely excited about that.
Before I start to babble on, all Harry Potter fans everywhere should see this portrait. It was done by a very talented fan artist named Marta...and you can see more of her work in the main site. You'll love it. If you have a slow connection, be patient...'cause it's absolutely worth it!
Okay...since I like talking about music. I'll put a list of artists/albums highly recommended by me in most of my posts. If you think it's so tacky I'm doing this...skip this and just shut it.
You Should Listen To...
Walk the Line - I know the movie's not out here yet...but critics have been raving about this movie, and I really wanted to check out the material. It's actually pretty good. You'd never expect Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon to sing that well. You should really check out the album. My favorites here are "It Aint Me Babe," which is a Johnny Cash/June Carter Cash duet, sung perfectly well by Joaquin and Reese. I also like "Wildwood Flower," by Reese Witherspoon, and "It's All Right Mama," by Tyler Hilton (of One Tree Hill fame. Yes...he's in the movie. He plays Elvis. Hah!)
Avenue Q - My cousin introduced me to this. It's hysterical! It's a Broadway musical that has puppets. Sounds corny, but it's really good. The first one I really liked was "The Internet is for Porn," but the best one is most definitely "Everyone Is A Little Bit Racist." It's fuckin funny! Go download that.
Download-Happy
It's been so hard to post this past week (except for the whole Brad-Angelina thing...that took only two minutes)...what with school and all. We're pretty much on the edge since tests are next week. (Bakit di na lang kasi ginawa nung December pa?) Besides...whenever I go online it's really just to download songs. I love DSL.
I've just been downloading so many world music songs. Na-adik ako sa French songs ever since I heard Complainte de La Butte by Rufus Wainwright. You have to listen to Putumayo Presents: French Cafe. It's soo cool...really nice to listen to. You also have to listen to Acoustic Brazil. Really nice...especially if you like guitar music. It sounds kind of like Ottmar Liebert's Nouveau Flamenco. You can find those in the World Music sections in record stores...or on Limewire and other file-sharing communities.
Now to Harry Potter. Ella posted this link a few weeks back. It's a Harry/Hermione, Dan/Emma thing, and it looks really gross. Click here. It's the most petrifying thing you'll ever see. Emma-haters will obviously be mad...but try to see the comedy in it.
Also, I have to recommend these artists (I am a music elitist and proud of it):
Sufjan Stevens. I found him in The OC Mix 4...and his song was my favorite in the lineup. "To Be Alone With You" is so nice and soft and his half-whisper of a voice is really soothing, as well as the soft twang of the banjo when he shifts. It's so nice. His sound is sort of a folk rock, very light music. Check out his album Seven Swans, and listen to "Size Too Small".
Stars. I find everything in The OC mixes. This one I found from Mix 5. They have a guy and a girl vocalist (which is like Sufjan Stevens, 'cause a girl backs him up in some of his tracks)...which could be irritating with other bands, but not at all in this one. I checked out their album Set Yourself on Fire, and "Your Ex-Lover is Dead" is the best one there, as well as in the Mix 5 CD.
Imogen Heap. Yes, from the OC again (4 and 5). When I first heard "Goodnight and Go," I thought it was so pop with hints of electronica...but catchy nonetheless. If you watched the season 2 finale of the OC, where Marisa shoots Trey. The very second Marisa pulls the trigger, an eerie song plays. That was "Hide and Seek." Check that out.
Brad confirms baby and relationship
After a year of speculation, Brad Pitt's publicist has confirmed the actor is dating Angelina Jolie, by releasing a statement from both of them confirming the actress is pregnant. The Hollywood couple have been regularly photographed with Jolie's adopted children Maddox and Zahara over the past year, but both have refused to confirm the nature of their relationship. The couple have always vehemently denied they became romantically involved on the set of Mr. And Mrs. Smith in 2004, while Pitt was still married to Jennifer Aniston. After weeks of rumors of Jolie's pregnancy, America's People magazine quoted the actress as telling a charity worker in the Dominican Republic, "Yes, I'm pregnant." A statement from Pitt's publicist Cindy Guagenti issued yesterday confirms the actor is set to be a father and refers to him and Jolie as "they" for the first time. Guagenti says, "I can confirm they are expecting. There isn't a lot more to say." Pitt, 42, is currently in the process of legally adopting 30-year-old Jolie's Cambodian son Maddox, four, and Ethiopian daughter Zahara, 10 months and the Girl, Interrupted beauty has petitioned for the tots' surnames to be changed from Jolie to Jolie-Pitt. When asked for Aniston's response to the pregnancy news, a spokesman for the Rumor Has It star says, "Jennifer is not in the practice of commenting on the lives of other people." Meanwhile, Jolie's estranged father, actor Jon Voight says, "Angie is my daughter and I am always wishing the best for her."
Damn!
Happiness Is A Warm Gun
EDIT!!!: Omg! I couldn't believe it when I watched it this morning on ET. It was pretty obvious, of course...especially when I saw her on SNL...but I never thought she would admit it. Lindsay Lohan said in an interview to Vanity Fair that she suffered from bulimia and experimented with drugs. See the article here.
Forgive me...this is gonna be a long post.
Well, we've been out of the house the few days before the 2nd, and when we got back I was just so excited to talk about Narnia that I forgot all the other things I wanted to talk about.
MORE ABOUT CHRISTMAS
Shit! Funny story! My cousin bought Bertie Bott's Every Flavored Beans...and he handed me an orangy bean that looked weird. I didn't know it was Bertie Bott's, but I asked what flavor it was since real jelly beans don't even taste good anyway...and he said it was Tutti Frutti. And I said eww, but I ate it anyway...and it tasted sooo bad! Turns out it was vomit. I also ate the pepper-flavored one, which was nasty, and spit it out immediately...the soap flavor was kind of weird and really had a more laundry detergent taste (even though I don't really know how that tastes). The bacon flavor was so bad, as well as the grass flavor...but it was one of the bearable flavors.
My cousins dared my brother to eat one of each flavor...so that's ten in all. If he chewed them for ten seconds each before swallowing (no water!), they'd give him P200. And he did it! It was so disgusting. In the middle, he was already oing that puking look...it was so disgusting. He said the rotten egg was the worst. Haha.
NEW YEAR
I felt like the 31st was the worst leading up to midnight. Since we were staying at a hotel nearby, we decided to head over to Roxas Boulevard to watch the fireworks display. We waited for two hours after we went to Mass, and it was the most boring wait ever. There were soo many people there, and worse, the GMA thing was soo bad and I couldn't bear it. So really, my night sucked, and I was feeling so bad, kasi new year pa naman. We've never ever spent New Year's Eve without my relatives, and since the only people I could see were my family, and every other stranger there, I guess it was just a big change of setting for me. One I couldn't get used to.
Once we started the countdown, though, I sort of felt happy. The fireworks display was amazing...and I guess I felt that this wasn't going to be such a bad start to the year after all.
I missed the Pyrolympics, though, and we could have actually seen it through the window near the elevators. If we didn't have a party, I would have totally gone there...or just watched it from the elevator place...or on TV. We left the party around 10, but we didn't get back to the hotel until about 1 am, because there was soo much traffic. It was hell. I was bored to death in the car.
I'd also just like to say that Manila is full of dirty old men (mostly Japanese) with young Filipinas. It was weird to look at. And there were lots and lots of transvestites...it was insane! Manila is one weird place.
BACK TO SCHOOL
I am starting to hate school more and more. When I'm there, I can feel something that's just hard to explain. It's not boredom, I don't feel pressured by the school work...it's just a complicated emotion, even for me.
I got new shoes by the way. Haha. My old ones were almost three years old already...and before we went to break, they were squeaking and the soles were already talking :D
Also: About Narnia...in the part where Aslan dies and the rats surround him...I thought they were very few rats, like probably just three or five. I sort of imagined a more dramatic scene, where there are really so many rats so you couldn't see what they were really doing.
Narnia
Spoilers ahead.
Well, I've watched it (Hah! Earlier than others!)...and I don't know quite what to say. Did I like it, or didn't I? It's hard to tell, really. I mean, I really do regret reading a lot of reviews before I got a chance to watch it...because now I don't know what to think. The reviews have kind of blindsighted me, in a way, to give an overall opinion for myself. Sucks.
So I'll just say what I think about some parts. I'll start with the kids.
I thought they were alright. They were very true to the book, although Lucy wasn't quite what I expected, and I don't mean that in a bad way. Her voice is not saccharine at all, and I didn't mind the short hair...it was actually very cute. The others were fine, although Susan did get too annoying sometimes. What I didn't like was when they'd fight, you didn't quite get the feeling of siblings quarreling, but maybe it's just me.
Narnia was very nice, and very scenic, although Lantern Waste at the start did look a bit small, which I know the filmmakers tried to avoid...but it did get claustrophobic in a way. With the talking animals, it was very weird looking at them. You kind of imagine a sort of Dr. Dolittle when you're watching them. With some animals, the voices worked fine, like with the beavers, but I didn't quite feel the wolves' voices. I also didn't like Aslan's voice. Liam Neeson's okay and all...but it's just not right for me. It didn't feel right...and I've said it to others before.
With the war, I didn't really have a problem with it. Sometimes, it was nice, sometimes it wasn't. When some critics would comment that there was absolutely no blood and carnage, I thought to myself that they wouldn't show anyone killing anyone at all. I was wrong. They'd slay each other and stuff but you wouldn't feel it, because there was no blood. Even when Jadis killed Aslan, he wasn't bleeding where the sword went. It's kind of hard to explain. Also, you couldn't distinguish who's who, like which side is which. Sometimes, you can...but sometimes you can't, either. It got confusing at times.
Tilda Swinton was good for the part of Jadis, the white witch, but sometimes she became less malevolent than she's supposed to be. When she confronted Edmund, that's when you can really feel her, and her stares were very piercing. Although, I would've imagined her to be taller...so you could feel that she was a head above the rest and therefore more powerful...and she was only really fitting for the snowy background.
There was another thing I had a problem with... I honestly don't remember how Jadis was killed, but when Aslan killed her, it was vile. They didn't show it, but it looked like he ravaged her face, and like he was going to eat it. It felt so weird to me.
Also, near the end...I laughed so hard...because the older Peter sort of looked like Nick Lachey. It was so weird. Also...another weird thing was Mr. Tumnus and Lucy. You'd think they were a couple or something.
After saying all that...I guess I liked the movie...but it's not really really really good. I honestly expected a bit more, and the movie could have been so much better.
Interesting tidbit: Did you know in France, the title of Narnia is "Les Croniques de Narnia: L'Armour Magique". Well that's what I can remember from what I watched anyway. There's no lion or witch...just "magical wardrobe." Yep...I can understand a bit of French if I want to.