Immersion (plus pics)
How long has it been? Dang.
Well, A LOT has happened over the past week...the Immersion, making up for the things I missed because of the Immersion, Walk the Line, giving out of cards. It's a whole mess. If I dwell on everything, this would be a very lengthy post. So I'll do separate posts for everything.
I really wanted to talk about the Immersion ever since I got back, and I could have last Monday when I didn't go to school...but I was tired, had a slight fever, major sunburn, and a cold (and in the next few days, a nasty cough developed. Boo.). Add to that I was lazy the rest of the week, and when I wasn't, my brother was hogging the computer, so I just became even lazier.
So...Immersion... It's kind of hard to tell the whole story...I've been doing that for the past week...so I'll just show some pics (I have few pictures of the participants, and no pics of the activities we did...my camera sucks so most of the time I don't bother with taking pictures):
Just starting with our "short" hike. Who knew it would last five hours? Duh, no one. We didn't even know where we were going or if we were almost there. If we'd ask the Aetas who helped us with our things, they'd say "Mga 15 minutes." Shit. Ang 15 minutes ba sa inyo, dalawang oras sa totoong buhay? O baka mabilis lang talaga sila maglakad. We had water breaks every twenty or thirty minutes.
It's a nice little village. We thought the houses were about a mile apart each from each other. Turns out that wasn't true. And turns out what we had hoped about having a partner with each family also wasn't true.
The house I stayed in. I only slept there for a night. The other two nights I slept in Patrice Sibug's house. My house rocked though...it's bigger than the others. Although Aura's house was the best. They even had a receiving/living room area which was so cool. And her family even made a "porto-potty":
I wizzed there a couple of times. Other times sa talahiban. "Number two" sa talahib din. Haha.
We rode a kariton going back, and while we were riding the thing, I realized how fucking long (both time and distance) we walked the last time. Sitting was, in the words of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, "pleasure spiked with pain." A rope was in the middle of my butt crack. Yey.
More stories next time.
I wish I knew how to quit you!
I've been waiting to watch this movie for a couple of months, and now that I have, I honestly don't know what to say. Was it good? Bad? Satisfying? Umm...
It's not what I expected, I can tell you that. Not at all.
Before I watched it, I fairly knew the story. Heck, I even knew the final scene. But the way around it was what I was most interested in.
Still, I can't form any kind of opinion on Brokeback, because it's an intense movie. Intense as in...it's really not for the weak of heart. I'm still recovering from the initial shock of that very first love scene, which I'm not going to elaborate on. One word to describe, though: graphic.
I can say that Brokeback Mountain is good...but not great. It doesn't leave that awed feeling to you, but nevertheless, it affects you. The characters were deep and well-acted. The art production was great...the music was awesome (Gustavo Santaolalla is super good). I would recommend though that you don't familiarize yourself with the music beforehand, because it ruins the mood sort of, like what happened to me (I have the soundtrack).
I would recommend it...but not to everyone. If you're not open to the idea of homosexuality (which I'm partly not...so I was really just shocked by a lot of scenes)...don't watch it. Also, don't watch it on a whim. Prepare yourself psychologically.
From filmcritic.com:
"The love story depicted in Brokeback Mountain is as traditional as that depicted in Casablanca, Romeo & Juliet, or Gone with the Wind, but instead of war, family rivalry, or the general bitchiness of one of the characters getting in the way, societal prejudice is the culprit. This is not to say that the film explicitly attempts to make some sort of statement about gay rights or social injustice. If anything, the film’s unswerving focus on the relationship, treating it with the same narrative respect reserved for Rhett and Scarlett or Harry and Sally, is a statement in and of itself. That Lee, Ledger, and everyone else involved are in top form elevates this film from mere gimmick to a work of universal substance, earning its heartbreak every step of the way."
You gals going to a pageant?
Shit.
Prom sucked big time. I spent all the that money. What a waste.
I thought that I'd at least be able to crazy dance to something decent like Fall Out Boy's Dance Dance, or Smells Like Teen Spirit. But of course not. They played so many stupid hiphop songs (the worst!!) and so many mushy slow songs. They weren't even considerate to the stags. They played like more than five slow songs after they crowned prom queen.
I have nothing to say about the winners.
Our prom was super lame. If it wasn't for Marianne and Astrid, I wouldn't have enjoyed at all. We were just laughing all the time...and checking out that hot Brazilian guy (who was a judge for the competition). Damn.
Shit shit. I have to talk about this embarassing moment we had while we were on the elevators going up to our room. There were these two American guys. One of them asked us, "You gals going to a pageant?" Imagine it in a Texan accent...that's what it was. We were shrinking in embarassment. I didn't even wanna look at them. Why were we asked to wear that big stupid number on our dress? Shit.
After the prom we went out for coffee. We drove to Starbucks which was sort of a long way from the hotel (turns out there's a Starbucks in Greenbelt 3 just near the hotel)...we got coffee, then our ride left us. So we had to walk back to the hotel. My friends were wearing clothes for clubbing...and if it wasn't for my super casual clothes (hey they said we were just going out for coffee), people would have probably mistaken us for hookers. Haha.
Pics next time.
OotP cast
Shit shit shit...new info on the actors/actresses cast to play the new roles in Order of the Phoenix. Shit!
Luna.
Evanna Lynch. She's 14, and attended the open casting call three weeks ago. I was surprised that they'd cast someone from the open call. I thought they'd stick with the girls they found in their school searches. I don't know what to think about her. She's super-blonde, though.
Tonks.
This, for me, was most surprising. She will be played by Natalia Tena. And she's not a name you'll recognize or anything like that. But if you've watched About A Boy (with Hugh Grant), this is the girl Marcus falls for. You know, the tall one with lots of piercings. Shit. I was so surprised. She'd make a good Tonks.
Umbridge.
Imelda Staunton. Not surprising news anymore, of course. She's been rumored to play Umbridge for months. She's perfect for the role, look-wise.
Kingsley Shacklebolt.
He's George Harris. He was in Raiders of the Lost Ark, but I don't know who. I was surprised. I thought they'd cast like a white person or something... but he looks good for the part. So I have no qualms about that.
Bellatrix Black.
Thank heavens it's not Elizabeth Hurley. I'll just laugh if the rumors were true. Bellatrix will be played by Helen McCrory.
Others:
Kathryn Hunter as Mrs. Figg
Michael Wildman as Magorian, a Forbidden Forest centaur
Harry Potter and the Academy Awards
I am outraged!
Narnia, King Kong, War of the Worlds...better than Goblet of Fire's visual effects? The Academy members are blind! They're blind, I tell you! Harry Potter deserves to at least be nominated! Honestly! Narnia has gotten more nominations, even if the movie is obviously not that great. Hollywood film kasi (Yes it is...even though the actors are British). I am greatly outraged!
Look, I love the Oscars...but they should give Harry Potter more nominations. I'll be happy of course if they just nominate it for Achievement in Visual Effects, but nooooooo.....
Goblet of Fire is nominated for Achievement in Art Direction, though. Congrats to Stuart Craig (Art Direction) and Stephenie McMillan (Set Decoration). It's nominated alongside Good Night, and Good Luck., Memoirs of a Geisha, King Kong, and Pride and Prejudice. Check out all the nominees here.
Bands to check out:
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds. Their album, Abattoir Blues/ The Lyre of Orpheus, is tops Mojo magazine's list of the best of 2004. It's really good. You would expect hard rock or something like that...but it's more of a bluesy kind of rock. I looked them up, and it turns out that there are a lot of Bad Seeds. There's seven, and with Nick Cave, there's eight in the band.
Scissor Sisters. They would sound weird to some, especially because it's electroclash. Listen to" Mary" and "Comfortably Numb," which is a cover of Pink Floyd, and it sounds very Bee Gees, actually.
Hay..prom is in three days. I'm terribly nervous.