House, M.D.

Since I finally watched this series in decent chronology, I’m tempted to arrive at this conclusion: if this show existed about 10 years ago, OR I’m presently in high school, I’d kill to get into medschool. It’s funny because the medical jargons fascinate me (some of which are mentioned in the subjects I teach) and despite the semi-disgusted contortions I feel on my face when I see some graphic surgical procedures, “COOL…!” still evade my lips. It’s engrossing in a masochistic way that I find myself entertaining the thoughts of having psychophysiological, neuropsychological and/or biopsychological field/s for post-graduate studies. Oh, did I mention I only watched Season 1? I still have 2 CDs left (seasons 2 and 3) before I borrow the next batch (Thanks to Lee). I wonder how brainwashed I would be when I get updated on the latest season.

Now, I officially have 3 fictional role models in life:

In the category of Shrink: Himura Kenshin. Dude who is not even a shrink yet knows how to talk his way out of whatever sh!t he’s in. He’s pretty good with his sword, too (…um, the weapon) and uses it to cap off talking his way out of whatever sh!t he’s in.

In the category of Teacher: Onizuka Eikichi. Dude who plays a really unconventional teacher in a rigid, academically-disciplined school. There are times that I wish I could emulate his entire teaching and rapport-building strategies but I doubt that will work in the real world, or that I can get away with it.

In the category of Mentor: Gregory House. The new addition who seriously reminds me of how things are done in psychological research despite the show’s medical setting. Or maybe it’s his way of analyzing things. His antics to Cuddy would be nice to adopt as well, if only I have the reason to be a brat with my superiors.

I guess this medicine inclination is what’s keeping me from chewing out from teaching Biopsychology—because deep inside, I find the terms and processes interesting. There, I admit it.

Hiatus, Jumper (***spoilers***) and Tennis Tales (Days 44-47)

I didn’t get to update because work got busier and I had an encounter with a nasty virus. I’m well now—been so for a while, thankfully—and catching up with work. It’s just sad that I’m banned for playing tennis for one more week as part of the recovery plan. Oh, and I eat. As in EAT – double the servings of rice, more fluids, snacks in between and mandatory consistent vitamin intake. I’m anxiously waiting what these will do to my weight, especially since I don’t get to burn the calories. XD

~~~

Instead of the usual life happenings, I’m going to share my opinion on the recent movie that I saw with Quiaps—Jumper. In brief, it’s about a guy (Hayden Christiansen-[sp?]) who can teleport, makes money out of it and visits places, gets the girl he’s always wanted since high school, gets hunted down by mysterious people, finds out there’s another one with the same powers as he does (Jamie Bell!!!), teams up briefly to fight bad guys but team up didn’t last long enough (irreconcilable difference I guess, haha!), protagonist defeats antagonist (Samuel L. Jackson), saves the girl, learns about past and teleports with the girl to travel around the world.

Hn.

The Good:

I personally liked the concept behind the film—teleportation and how would an average person deal with it.

The you-are-not-alone and the you-are-going-to-be-hunted bits are plot clichés already but the reason for the hunting—evolved religious fanaticism was interesting.

The teleportation CG wasn’t bad either—it reminded me a bit of the SilverHairedMen+Sephiroth+Cloud fight scenes in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, but this time with real people.

Jamie Bell. When I saw his name on the opening credits, I just knew I’ve heard that name before. I only remembered (IIRC!) now that he starred as a ballerina wannabe kid in Billy Elliot. Compared to Hayden’s acting, I liked Jamie’s better because I was able to like his character. Although Jamie’s character isn’t really the complex type, it just worked—he nailed it so well that I didn’t even notice Hayden looked better than him.

Samuel L. Jackson’s character didn’t die. Or perhaps it was stated in his contract that his character shouldn’t die. Rightfully so, because with the way the plot worked out, it would’ve been a shame if he died.

The Bad:

Underdeveloped plot—which is sad because for this type of movie concept, it had such promise.

The time spent on the high-school-type-impress-the-girl-and-date-her-then-make-out-with-her scenes was a little overemphasized that I felt it would’ve been better if such time was spent for further plot development. Also, it’s not as if the girl was pivotal in protagonists’ way of performing his ability to teleport anyway. Plus, the mystery behind the disappearance of lead guy’s mom was intriguing but only resolved at the very end, like somebody remembered that it should be brought up but the roll of film is almost out. The religious fanaticism motivation to hunt down “Jumpers”, as well as their back grounds—how they became as such, how they acquire their Jumpsites and make it “theirs”, etc were hardly explored. I wonder if the basis of the story used for this movie was actually a first draft or something.

The Ugly:

Lacks development of characters and storyline. Oh, wait-I already said that. And that is why I’m glad Samuel’s character did not die because the plot was not worth it. In short, the movie has great promise—it has some intriguing moments and makes one anticipates for more but fails to deliver.

So the verdict? I saw this movie in Shang. Not worth the money I paid for, considering that Shang is more expensive that the average movie theater. At best, I’d be willing to watch it from a ripped off DVD—but that’s because I like topics on teleportation. I suppose for those who cling on actual characterization and plot, wait for it in cable. But if you fancy Hayden fan service or a sucker for Jamie’s accent and have a companion to treat you to a movie, go for this.

~~~

I can’t remember much of my tennis practices prior my hiatus, except for the last session where I actually practice approach shots and finish the points with volleys. It’s sad because I was getting the feel of it but now I’m worried that the month-long absence of practice would defer the progress. I wouldn’t be surprised though, and it’s also sad that I won’t be able to do my monthly 10 hours of tennis resolution this month.

Yesterday though, Quiaps had a tennis session in Rizal and I accompanied her, sitting on the sidelines…green with envy. I was suppose to play with her but the moment I mentioned it to my mom the night before, she was ready to deploy a checkpoint to make sure that I cannot leave the house with a single tennis paraphernalia. So, I urged Quiaps to take the hour instead while I watch (and finish coding a research project). But, being pasaway and all, when Quiaps took a break, I borrowed her racquet, checked out for any Rizal guard (I’m not in the proper attire) and hit for 5 minutes with the ballman (yes, man—the dad of our usual ballkid). I was satisfied even if I chose not to run after balls I usually do so I can hit it. I suppose this means I still have it. Can’t wait for next week when I can officially get back to practice.

Death Note (follow up – w/ SPOILERS)

It’s been a while since I finished Death Note the live action movie, and I don’t think I’ve told Quiaps and Choco up to now. Anyway, since the Part 2 DVD was so messed up, I reread and finished the manga (thanks to K-chan =3 ) before going back to the DVD. For a quick follow up update, I hope my memory didn’t fail me too much.

So…what can I say?

…On the acting, L rOcKs!!! XD He did good! (I wanna watch the spin off movie!)

...Raito’s actor was a bit tame? He did okay but I felt like a bit more intimidation would’ve been better. I found Misa less annoying that how she was portrayed in the manga.
…I like how they revised the story about L’s death—and how he died, basically. (Great, Choco would probably hate to continue the movie now…)
…Surprisingly, as most people preferred the movie than the manga, I wasn’t as biased towards the movie. It wasn’t bad and as it is, it’s good enough to give a newbie an overview of DN. But it wasn’t enough to favor the manga less. The manga wasn’t the best but I just found the introduction of the new characters and L’s successor interesting.

All in all, it was a good movie, despite the absence and/or literal translation of the subtitles for Part 2. Although I won’t be watching it again or reading the manga again anytime soon, otherwise, I won’t stop talking to myself on the many possibilities of L and Raito’s cognitive battles.

What's Playing on the Small Screen

My reputation for watching movies in theaters isn’t that good. Often times, I’m one of the few people (at school, at least) to watch the latest movies two weeks after their opening dates. So this summer, I told myself to catch up and watch recent movie DVDs and those that were considered classics. And here are my opinions of them (not really reviews and not very constructive either)…

300 – Whoa. I watched this twice—probably won’t get tired of watching it. I want to read the graphic novel. This is good movie. Gory, but really good. Tight plot and witty humor (Spartans can just be so adorable when they make an upcoming bloodbath something to look forward to). See, it’s so good I’m writing in fragmented statements. I regret not seeing this on the big screen…and I blame my superego and thesis for it.

Fast and the Furious 3 – While Quiaps and Choco might disagree with me on this, I didn’t like it as much as I liked the first two (yes, even if there is an Evo in F&F3). Didn’t like the plot—Initial D 4th Stage has better plot (and I thought ID4 had very little compared to its predecessors) and while there were wee moments of excitement (I can’t remember now which part), I don’t know…the “drifting” didn’t thrilled/impressed me. The mountain pass views were nice though.

Babel – This is like watching a global version of Crash—plots where characters are eventually linked with each other. I liked Crash better because I prefer its pacing over Babel. The movie comes off as boring but in retrospect there were issues that are worth debating over. And it’s very interesting to see how sign language is used in the Japanese context. Translation issues. I instantly remembered Magnus on this since he wanted to do a research on this topic.

Letters from Iwo Jima – For me, this movie screamed Japanese culture and how unpopular unconventionality can be. The dude who played Nishi was hot (compared to the rest, sans, Ken Watanabe). The suicide scene-soldier style was—well, really graphic. This was a heavy film. I wouldn’t watch it again anytime soon. I did like it a bit better than Babel.

The Godfather Trilogy – Let’s start with the Godfather ONE. Very slow start—that’s my only complaint and the rest went smoothly. The simultaneous baptism and massacre scenes were great. Imo, this is the most action-packed among the three. And I can’t believe they killed HIM just like that—didn’t see it coming…and just when I was warming up to his character!!! Godfather TWO. I felt like this installment dealt more on the character development—the Vito Corleone flashbacks were nice (and darn, Robert de Niro and Al Pacino almost looked alike and related! ; ). Towards the end though, I felt how long the movie was—the drag setting in I guess…it’s like there were moments that I asked “when will this movie end…?’). Godfather THREE. I liked it—pacing and all, and for a change, something got taken from Michael Corleone (oh, le anguish…), unlike before where it was always him that takes something from someone. But I guess the reason why I appreciated this movie more was because I saw the first two—I wonder if I will feel the same way if I saw it stand-alone. The common circumstance among the three, aside from the obvious mafia dealing, is the festive mood—there’s always songs and celebrations in each installment. One thing’s for sure—I applaud anyone who can watch this trilogy marathon style ~_^.

Cinepuri – Even though I already know how this turned out since I read Tenipuri manga, I thought I’d check it out and see what the crack is all about. Heeheehee…this is like tennis meets Shaolin Soccer/Kung Fu Hustle style, only at least the whacked premise is already known in the latter two films while in Cinepuri, it actually starts off serious. But really, no one should take this movie seriously ^_^ And so what if I fancy the dudes who played the Captain and Mr. Buuuurrrninggg!!!! (Again, compared with the rest LOL!!!) Also, I found the lead kid to have more personality here compared with the manga (and he actually fits the role, he looked cute…as in kid/puppy-cute).

Death Note – I may have to do a follow-up reaction here since I only saw the first part—the subbing of the second was way too messed up. I also want to reread the manga for better comparison. All I can say is L is hot...his acting, I mean, hehehe.

Cogitations of an Idle Mind ver…3? 4?

I feel the need to update this blog but I can’t seem to connect with my muse who usually gives me the drive to write about something. So for now, I guess an update on what I’ve been doing would do…

I have less than two weeks before school starts and work begins again. I still haven’t made my preps. *looks at piles of junk on desk* I’m not even done completely fixing my room. But there’s a big improvement compared with the last year or so.

If I was such a loser for watching 300 way too late (meaning, DVD only), it’s a different story for Spiderman 3, which I saw on the second day of opening. Choco already blogged about this and while I didn’t really feel the slight drag of the movie that she felt, I quite agree with her assessment(!) about the movie. It wasn’t bad but I didn’t feel the urge to get the DVD, unlike maybe Fantastic 4. Spidey 3, imho, invested on emotions and character development—the last fight scene was really great, though. And yeah, do watch out for Harry Osbourne ^_^

I just finished revising one of the research projects (with Magnus and Quiaps) and I noticed how much difference 2 years made in terms of writing style. I recognized some of the portions I did in the paper and since I’m fresh from finishing my thesis (a.k.a the blissful journey to hell and back), I realized how, erm…my writing style has changed ^^;; Also, the way I looked at my old writing style…hehehe, it could use a lot of work.

Series Rave

[Begin rave.]

I confess…I officially like Avatar: The Last Airbender. I further confess…I’ve been watching it since it’s first season.

I don’t care if it’s a pseudo-anime. Hell, its animation can make some of the animes out there make a run for their money. The plot, character design and development, the animation—I really, really like it! ^__^ I’d say it’s a refreshing change to see an American (it’s Nickelodeon) animation using this approach, something that I’d see in Japanese animation. And the concept of “bending” the four elements was really good! ^o^

In case you’re wondering what this series is about, I’ll leave you to this site with really comprehensive take on the series: AvatarSpirit. (Warning: MAJOR SPOILERS)

Did I mention the awesome animation (oh, them fighting moves!) and character development? ; )~~ And Zuko’s character, I like! *sigh* Why do scarred men make the most interesting characters? I just had to put this pic up from season 2. (Better make the right choices, boy… ; )

If this were a book or a graphic novel, I’d read it! Wah…there’s still a third season on the works…I want a DVD o_O.

Pic credits to (mostly to) AvatarSpirit, as well as Answers.com.

[End rave.]

On another note…looky-looky! I got an Easter Egg. The folks and I ate at Harbor View again (the toitle is still there, btw ; ) and they had Easter Egg giveaways. I don’t know what’s inside…I don’t want to open it and ruin the pretty sticker ^^; I hope it’s not food, hehehe.

MeRrY cHrIsTmAs! MaLiGaYaNg PaSkO! mErI KuRiSmAsU! hApPy ChRiStMaS!

LOL!!! If you’re not familiar with Tenipuri, this might not be so funny. Let’s just say that they are teammates and Santa’s the narcissistic captain and Rudolph is his loyal slav—I mean, minion who only utters that monosyllabic-sounding reply. By the way, I did not make the above pic--credit for the art goes to ‘snowbunnyluv’ (go visit her deviant art site).

***
An uncle and my cousin and his family came over for lunch today. I saw my nephew and niece again and I can totally relate to Choco and K-chan about kiddie antics and how it can completely ruin(?!) one’s mood to be a “diligent-student-who’s-suppose-to-do-her-thesis-blah.blah.blah…” aka “pagpapanggap” hehehe. See, the niece likes dogs (I like dogs..) and the nephew worships Spiderman (I think Spidey’s good…) so I ended up…playing with the kids.

I rarely feel at ease mingling with kids but for some reason, today was an exemption. They kept asking my mom to give them their gifts and mom tells me to give it to them…and I delay it. Hahaha! I was the one who chose their gifts—a stuffed dog and a Spiderman action figure where he kicks this wall-thingy. When they finally got their gifts (after ripping off my late night, time consumed, hard-worked gift-wrapping in less than under a minute), we played with them. The wall-thingy was like a 4-piece puzzle which I was unable to put together but nephew did it...quickly.

[Darn it! What the hell was that about?! Here I am trying to get some higher learning and I can’t put together a freakin’ 4-piece wall-thingy puzzle!]

Ahem…My cousin brought with him his laptop and we tried to go online and talk with his mom (my tita) in the States. It turns out that he’s got some Death Note anime with him and shared it with me. Great, another temptation to resist—good thing I’ve read the comic already so it’s not that hard.

In the afternoon, a little last minute grocery shopping with mom and later in the evening, bro and I went to cousin doc’s house to deliver gifts. We basically exchanged presents ^^; While we were there, old stories came up about my entire mother-side cousins and their childhood escapades and mishaps, including which adult went crazy because of it. I wasn’t with them at the time because either I was way too young or not born yet. Cheh…youngest ; )

It’s Christmas Day. I can finally eat chocolates ^_^

***
If you’ve watched anything that’s dubbed, mostly likely, you’d know what voice actors are. Since I don’t watch telenovelas and more into anime, they are called ‘seiyuu’ in Japanese. It’s amazing how their voice give rise to different characters, from the sickeningly saccharine sweet tiny voices of anime girls to feminine-sounding voices of samurais (hehehe, that’s Kenshin again for you, Choco), to feminine-sounding voices of female-looking samurais and shinobis…who are actually…men…Ergh, you guys get the point.

Still, nothing beats seeing the voice actors of The Simpsons! There are only 6 of them and they make up almost the entire neighborhood of Springfield! And their talking voice are actually different from their character voices—really different! They were the guests on Inside the Actor’s Studio and the host (dunno his name) even joked that he’s never had 30 simultaneous guests in his show. The fun part there was when the “characters” were interviewed and the voice actors went into action. I got lucky that I channel-surfed at the right station ^_^.

Cogitations of an Idle Mind v.2

• Actually, it’s not very idle right now. My anxiety level is so above my head lately—yesterday and today (…maybe even until the end of the week…ugh…). Fortunately, there are little things that keep me sane, somehow.

• Recently saw the 1st round match of Marcos Baghdatis against Thomas Johannson (I just realized how good his serves are!) in the ATP Masters Series Cincinnati. Baghdatis won (YAY!). It would’ve been nice to see him go against Marat Safin (who’s on a losing streak) in the second round but he lost (the losing streak continues….).

• I also saw two Roger Federer games—one was the Finals match in the Rogers Cup against Richard Gasquet, and the other was the first round of ATP Masters Series Cincinnati against Paradorn Srichaphan. They both fought hard against Federer but….somebody please STOP this guy!!! Rafa!!!

• I’m getting hooked on Tenipuri again. The characters have increased exponentially from the last time I followed the series—too much names…confusing.

• Yes! Star Sports will televise the UEFA Champions League this September. More football!

• My contenders for Rockstar: Supernova…Dilana > Magni > Lukas > Ryan. Hopefully they will be in the finals.