11th August, 2008
I want to believe.
It’s showing here in Manila in two days! I so cannot wait. :) I’m a huge X-Files fangirl — I was only eleven when I got hooked on the show, but it has remained a sentimental favorite now that I’m twenty-five. My goodness, that’s fourteen years. I’ve never been a sci-fi fan, but something about the paranormal cases and the sheer macabre surreality of it reeled me in. The show’s tagline worked for me — “The truth is out there” — as every case is basically just another mystery to be solved, albeit peppered with alien elements. I find myself staying on it because I want to know what really happened. (And even though most of the time the cases remain unsolved, are closed, or end up destroyed, all those things contribute to the show’s appeal.)
Besides, Mulder and Scully’s chemistry intrigued me, and truth be told, I stayed with the show for all of its nine-year run more for the two agents’ relationship than for anything else. XD Guess I wanted to see whether they would end up together or not. (When I discovered M/S shipper fics when I was about sixteen, I realized that didn’t matter, since the fans were so good at creating alternative universes for Mulder and Scully together. But it was a pleasant feeling to be confirmed by the writers themselves: Chris Carter, by the end of Season 9, did have Mulder and Scully in bed together — nothing naughty, just hugging themselves to sleep — and they even had a son together, William.)
I’m thinking I should have a marathon of all nine seasons (have them all on DVD), but I think I’m just going to have to review the eight episodes pertinent to the plot of X-Files: I Want to Believe, thanks to X-Files Revelations.
I’m all over Mulder/Scully moments! *swoons*
Permalink | Posted at 1:19 pm | Comments (2)
7th July, 2008
Wimbledon 2008 Finals: Just unbelievable.
What a truly unbelievable Wimbledon Final. First, five-time champ Roger Federer (yes, that’s five titles in five straight years) LOST the chance to break tennis legend Bjorn Borg’s record wins — now they’re tied for five consecutive wins, the most for any gentleman’s tennis champion. But the fact that he lost it to his “nemesis on clay” (to quote Star Sports commentator and former tennis player Vijay Singh) Rafael Nadal just made things seem more surreal.
Yes, that handsome young Spaniard four years the Swiss’ junior, informally dubbed as the King of Clay, finally broke the curse against him and the grass surface. He’s been up against Roger before in Wimbledon matches, and predictably, lost. Federer’s the master of grass, but clay is Rafa’s turf. And people were happy to leave it at that.
That was precisely this is why Rafa’s victory wasn’t exactly an outcome I could find myself rejoicing over. Partly because I am a fan of both players, and when they’re up against each other it was so hard to choose a side to root for — but mostly because Nadal’s win just disrupted the entire balance of the long-accepted truth of tennisdom. Don’t get me wrong, I myself am a big fan of Rafael Nadal (and his bottomless source of energy; he’s just such a raging bull on the court!) — but why couldn’t he have won next year, so Roger could have at least broken Borg’s record? :P
Permalink | Posted at 5:54 pm | Comments (10)
23rd June, 2008
Fruits of a long rainy weekend
Classes were suspended in all levels in the whole of Metro Manila due to the effects of what I would consider a one-day supertyphoon. Yesterday it was raining like the end of the world — I was half-expecting Evan Baxter’s ark to come bursting down our subdivision streets. Plus, there was a nationwide (?) blackout for about twelve hours; it would have been scary (or utterly boring), so I took it as a sign to get some sleep. I haven’t slept a full eight hours since the schoolyear opened, and I was more than happy to catch the fortysomething winks I’ve missed. :P
So yes, I feel quite blessed. I love it when it rains (as long as I’m inside the house; it’s such a b*tch if I were caught in the rain outside). There is a sense of peace I derive from the gray skies and the uncharacteristic cool (for Metro Manila weather, that is) the water brings. When I was younger I felt most creative when it’s raining. I pick up a book and finish it in a couple of hours; I wrote poetry; I indulged in arts and crafts.
But while I’m very fortunate to be sheltered by a strong, sturdy roof and concrete walls of our bungalow home, I do keep in mind the lot of families whose homes have been destroyed by the nonstop downpour, and so we pray for their safety and recovery from this disaster.
As for being creative, as soon as the lights were back on I put my webdesign skills to the limit — I managed to finish all the fanlistings I adopted from the previous owners Inge, Rosie, and Megan:
EDIT2: And the Malibu and Sway FLs have gotten makeovers — because I could no longer take the ugliness of the first layout (for Malibu) and I just felt like a change (for Sway). XD Colors are quite monochromatic, no doubt inspired by the rainy weather.
(more…)
Permalink | Posted at 6:20 pm | Comments (6)
15th June, 2008
Quickie for the week
Just got back from the weekend in Bohol and am still choosing from the pictures I wish to post here. It’s such a beautiful island, so I made sure I enjoyed every minute of it! Going out of Manila (where I live) really made me appreciate the Philippines more.
In other news, school has opened and am enjoying my students so far. It’s tiring to be handling 30 units, my graduate classes, AND accreditation junk, but my students all make the exhaustion worth it. I only hope they remain as nice and well-behaved as the semester progresses!
Oh, and Happy Father’s Day to all! :)
Permalink | Posted at 2:15 pm | Comments (5)
22nd May, 2008
Finally!
At last, America’s got it right! David Cook is the clear winner from the start and everyone knew it. Finally. (And to think he didn’t even want to join in the first place!)
Permalink | Posted at 11:47 pm | Comment (0)
17th May, 2008
NUMB3RS
NUMB3RS is just about my favorite show right now. The daily AXN reruns are addicting!
Permalink | Posted at 11:17 pm | Comment (1)
15th May, 2008
It’s a David VS David final. Surprise, surprise.
I wasn’t at all surprised when Seisha Mercado was deprived of the slot in American Idol’s final two. Not because advertisers (and the judges themselves) have been huffing about a “David-vs-David” final practically since the season started. (And perhaps, rightly so, because those two boys are the strongest contenders, vocally.) It ’s because — well, perhaps my dad (who’s an even bigger Idol fan that I am) summed it up best:
“Majority of Idol’s voting public is female. She’s no contest against these two handsome men.”
(Actually my English translation is horrible. He said it better in Filipino: (pointing at Seisha) “Eh hindi talaga makakalusot yan sa Finals. Mga babae ang bumoboto eh, ano’ng sinabi n’ya sa dalawang gwapo?”)
And at this stage of the competition, even getting in a million votes would not be good enough if the competition has a few hundred thousand votes ahead of you. So to get more votes, she needed more admirers. It’s really too bad she’s the only girl left.
I suppose the biggest problem she has is, her appeal is quite forgettable. Don’t get me wrong, I think she’s an incredibly beautiful woman. She’s got the moves, too; she can dance very well. And she sounds extraordinary. But there’s something about her that is quite too ordinary; she just doesn’t have that recall factor, you know? As much as I like her, she does have that aura that she’s someone you’ve seen before. For some reason, her uniqueness does not transfer onto television.
Having said that, I still think it’s a mistake to see her go.
I have nothing against David Archuleta at all; I think he’s a walking miracle and a living reminder of how wonderful life is, for to be given such a second chance is such a huge blessing. I mean, for a guy who’s lost his voice, he sure can sing! Not to mention he’s such a good-looking kid, too! :) And he definitely has that recall factor Seisha (most likely) lacks.
Permalink | Posted at 8:46 pm | Comments (3)
15th May, 2008
It’s a David VS David final. Surprise, surprise.
I wasn’t at all surprised when Seisha Mercado was deprived of the slot in American Idol’s final two. Not because advertisers (and the judges themselves) have been huffing about a “David-vs-David” final practically since the season started. (And perhaps, rightly so, because those two boys are the strongest contenders, vocally.) It ’s because — well, perhaps my dad (who’s an even bigger Idol fan that I am) summed it up best:
“Majority of Idol’s voting public is female. She’s no contest against these two handsome men.”
(Actually my English translation is horrible. He said it better in Filipino: (pointing at Seisha) “Eh hindi talaga makakalusot yan sa Finals. Mga babae ang bumoboto eh, ano’ng sinabi n’ya sa dalawang gwapo?”)
And at this stage of the competition, even getting in a million votes would not be good enough if the competition has a few hundred thousand votes ahead of you. So to get more votes, she needed more admirers. It’s really too bad she’s the only girl left.
I suppose the biggest problem she has is, her appeal is quite forgettable. Don’t get me wrong, I think she’s an incredibly beautiful woman. She’s got the moves, too; she can dance very well. And she sounds extraordinary. But there’s something about her that is quite too ordinary; she just doesn’t have that recall factor, you know? As much as I like her, she does have that aura that she’s someone you’ve seen before. For some reason, her uniqueness does not transfer onto television.
Having said that, I still think it’s a mistake to see her go.
I have nothing against David Archuleta at all; I think he’s a walking miracle and a living reminder of how wonderful life is, for to be given such a second chance is such a huge blessing. I mean, for a guy who’s lost his voice, he sure can sing! Not to mention he’s such a good-looking kid, too! :) And he definitely has that recall factor Seisha (most likely) lacks.
Permalink | Posted at 8:46 pm | Comments (3)
22nd April, 2008
XAMPP = sweetness :9
Because messing around with Wordpress templates is messing around with my head (and with my slow and pathetic dial-up Internet connection) I decided to Google some ways to run Wordpress locally (on my own computer!). I’ve heard of something like this before when I was hanging around (for a very brief period) at Hostmatrix Forums, i.e., how to run PHP and MySQL scripts in Windows.
Permalink | Posted at 6:31 pm | Comments (4)
16th April, 2008
Tennis star bleeds from his own racket
I like to think I understand men’s singles tennis players very well, tennis being the only sport I’ve appreciated religiously followed for years. It doesn’t escape me that quite a number of tennis players tend to be hotheaded. It may be because they’re all alone in the court and they have to psych themselves up by themselves (without team members or a coach), so they tend to talk to themselves a lot, fight with the umpire, snap at distracting audience members, and throw tantrums. :P Goes with the “solo sports superstar” image, I’d say.
Youzhny Bleeds in Tennis Tournament
Permalink | Posted at 5:09 am | Comments (2)