509: go watch.

hey you.

let’s have a deal. I’ll go watch movies i’ve never heard before, you do the same. Then let’s swap lists of those we appreciated. ;) game!

Ok let me give the first list. Here’s what I recommend (in no particular order):

all the real girls

if you want a love story minus the glossy plot/characters.

su zhou river

if you want a love story minus the glossy plot/characters, plus a fresh way tell the story.

blood: the last vampire

if you want another vampire treat anime style.

voices from a distant star

if you want a postmodern look at long distance relationships. anime. Sms. Robots. Star wars. Oh and this is all done by one person. goodness.

next stop wonderland

another one of those let’s-live-our-own-lives-for-now-and-meet-later-at-the-end-of-the-movie films. But I love this. Balloon fish. walang kamatayang fate vs coincidence. Mrt’s. long walks. Shores.

hardboiled

chow yun fat. Tony leung chiu wai. Guns. Bullets. Dead bodies. Guns. Bullets. Dead bodies.( repeat as desired) and the classic undercover dilemma.

genX cops

if you want a taste of those staple hongkong action flicks. Laughter included.

genY cops

if you loved genX.

ratcatcher

if you want bare walls. empty spaces. Silence. And beautifully subtle but effective music.

chungking express

if you want to appreciate 24h convenience stores more. Romance-comedy-action compressed into a new genre. Pineapple cans. Fish. cranberries’ dreams. Saturday morning sunshine on your room. Shawarma. Chef’s salad.

in the mood for love

Lost in translation, hongkong style. 1960’s. perhaps,perhaps,perhaps. Noodles. Red. Haunting but nevertheless endearing music. My favorite LSS of all time.

let the viewing begin! J

508

I’ve already turned off the radio but still I can’t hear what our goldfish is telling me.

My curiosity almost got me the other day when I was tempted to pour a glass of coke on pinoch and see his reaction.

sunset. out in the open sea.  When you are out in the open sea watching the sun set, you oblige yourself  to put your life on the scale again. You recall each and every struggle you’ve had and you still have. You are reminded of your dreams, and somehow they all suddenly seem to come within your reach again. You find renewed passion to talk to God, and somehow you are affirmed. 

Thank God even sunsets on your desktop do the same to you.

one of the things I treasure most nowadays is chitchat with my parents. As in conversation without direction. random flow of thoughts. Yeah, sure, there would be  a bit or two about their golden past but nevertheless almost the same as regular chitchat with friends.

For three whole days I had ministop meals. I shared table with strangers. perhaps we’ve already met.  If you bought something from ministop  herrera tower in makati last week and you saw someone devouring one of ministop’s instant meals with a milo bar, a pair of glasses, and two loose keys on his side, that was me.

Well, I'd like to visit the moon

On a rocket ship high in the air

Yes, I'd like to visit the moon

But I don't think I'd like to live there

Though I'd like to look down at the earth from above

I would miss all the places and people I love

So although I might like it for one afternoon

I don't want to live on the moon

I'd like to travel under the sea

I could meet all the fish everywhere

Yes, I'd travel under the sea

But I don't think I'd like to live there

I might stay for a day there if I had my wish

But there's not much to do when your friends are all fish

And an oyster and clam aren't real family

So I don't want to live in the sea

I'd like to visit the jungle, hear the lions roar

Go back in time and meet a dinosaur

There's so many strange places I'd like to be

But none of them permanently

So if I should visit the moon 

Well, I'll dance on a moonbeam and then 

I will make a wish on a star 

And I'll wish I was home once again 

Though I'd like to look down at the earth from above 

I would miss all the places and people I love 

So although I may go I'll be coming home soon 

'Cause I don't want to live on the moon 

No, I don't want to live on the moon

--

haha perhaps I’ll go sing this when I go marry someone.

507

I want everyone who reads this to ask me 3 questions, no more, no less. Ask me anything you want. Then i want you to go to your journal, copy and paste this, allowing your friends (including myself) to ask you anything.

Because this is the IN thing among my blog friends recently. Because.

Oh by the way I do have selective memory and attention disorder. Hehe.

506: the pretentious college artist a.k.a. a last look before they hit mr. garbage can

#505

#504 personal ad

sorry i'm too lazy to text or call each of you people concerned here hence this post.

this is for moks, ida, glen, charis, anne, cocoy, amy, and all my moviemates.

hoy kelan na uli tayo magmomovie marathon!!!?

nakuha ko na ung il mare . ida! ang ganda nung soundtrack niya. easy listening. at hoy mahiya kayo tinitiis kong wag lapitan muna un kasi nga gusto ko sabaysabay tayo manood. saka may ditto na rin ako. naisip ko sige na nga iexplore ko na nga ang asian take on the love across time theme. siguro sa first week ng May after ng work ko. alam ko ung concept na makakakausap ka ng some person from the past via ham radio na sinasabing ginaya ng sky of love sa frequency, well actually that year na pinalabas ung frequency(2000), marami siyang kasabay na more or less ganun din ang premise. dalawa na nga dito ay ang il mare at ditto. i wonder kung saan nanggaling ung craze. mere coincidence? oh btw cocoy, ndi ko pa rin mafigure out kung ano ung logic behind the asian horror craze dito sa pilipinas.(as well as sa ibang bansa). kainis ka sumasakit ulo ko. ;)

o ano na sama kayo? dali dali.

text niyo ko!!

#503

for him, red means go.

he rolls his wheelchair around to trade flowers for food among impatient cars waiting for their turn to rule the streets.

i stare at him from inside the comfortable car wondering why i have legs and he has none and how alienated he is in my world and how alienated i am in his.

he wipes beads of sweat on his forehead while i sink my back on the seat and close my eyes and redirect the AC grills to my neck.

i long for sleep and perhaps he does too.

we complain of the same sun.

i look at him and he looks at me. he's not pressed for a deadline today and i'm not chained on my seat.

outside, the billboard promises me of whiter teeth and fresher breath.

green means go for me.

--

rough.

everything tastes rough.

this is what happens when you absentmindedly gulp a spoonful of boiling coffee.

#502

this was written some four years ago. thank God for the invention of pen and paper. more things are yet to be seen. during these times when  foggy roads are ahead of me again, i just embrace Jeremiah 29:11.  something is brewing for you, moonbeam. something is brewing.  and somehow i am stilled and comforted, just like what happens when i see leaves dancing with the wind at  noon while i'm on a jeep and stuck in heavy traffic.

#501  pickled thoughts while reheating the coffee

++we went to Chinatown yesterday and along the way we passed these usually-busy-but-now-empty streets and it somehow made me sad.  the sight made me remember  some all too familiar places that have become empty through time.  sniff  sniff.

++found the infamous estero and eng bee tin. I shall return. J

++recently discovered good flavor combination: banana-coffee. Calling ice cream makers.

++I wonder, do coffee molds have caffeine in them? I mean a trace of where they came from? A friend and I’ve always joked about molds growing eyes and all after being left untouched for a long time. Ahhh let’s make a hardcore B movie:

establishing shot: dilapidated house, night

sound fx: screaming

 cut to:

inside the house, panning shots.

All of moonbeam’s friends are already dead. Torn limbs and guts are scattered everywhere. Where the light of the swaying bulb reached, dark smears of what might be blood can be seen.  At one corner of the room lit by the flickering  swaying bulb lies moonbeam, wounded. At the left shoulder. With blood running down the whole of hisleft arm. Just like those in action films.

Mold monster:

 rrraaarrr!

Moonbeam:

nooo!! (a la i'm your father -noooOOOO! effect)

Mold monster:

rrraarrr!!

The creature reaches for moonbeam’s neck.  Moonbeam leans back, but the monster with its long neck and huge fangs managed to reach him.  Then the familiar scent came. A millisecond before the fangs hit moonbeam’s jugular vein, the creature suddenly freezes.

Moonbeam:

 coffee? Is that you coffee?

Cut to

Soft focused, slo-mo shots of moments of moonbeam drinking coffee. Editing. With friends. Watching  pirated Bfilms.  Then  time-lapse of a room with a coffeemaker at one corner.  Zoom to coffeemaker. Time lapse continues. Some lump begins to grow out of the coffee filter. Eyes opens. Then mouth. Then…..evil laughter.

Coffee mold monster:

 hahaha… (echo, voice from hell effect)

Cut back to

Dark room. Coffee mold monster and moonbeam staring at each other. Then a cellphone rings… the both the coffee mold monster and moonbeam are startled.

Cut to

establishing shot: dilapidated house, night

sound fx: screaming

ting!

++coffee’s already warm!

# 500

anyone who has either/both of these and willing to sell them?

i. need. closure. and that trip.

i bought the first three issues of arnold arre's mythology class some 3 years ago but when the 4th and last issue came around it so happened that my purse was crying and i had so many things to do and later on i forgot everything about this graphic novel. and now i have a feeling that everyone in that novel is waiting for me to witness the conclusion of their story. perhaps one group on the way to the battle field had a way too long stop-over. or the two warriors fighting each other have already grown their beard and had a long chitchat with each other while waiting for me. 3 years!? oh dear.

different case with trip to tagaytay. oh yeah same crying purse. when my purse was comforted and i came back to buy it it was gone.

and now they're both gone. G-O-N-E. such a cruel world.

#499

++on my way home tonight a random dog tried to chase me away. It was already way past midnight and I was the only one on the street. This dog still has his chains dangling on his neck and when I passed him by he started barking like hell. I tried to ignore him and looked straight forward. As I walked the next couple of steps I still heard the chains being dragged on the street behind me.

++I was an hour late with my appointment and these had to happen.

Mrt card got stuck

Taxi -> overheat

FX Driver -> had to refill, then had to ask for loose change on the next

gas station

++While I was out buying some milo bars to sustain me while working there was this beautiful night sky. It was not really spectacular; stars were even scarce. But perhaps it was the overall effect of the combination of a usual busy street silenced by the night, the electric buzz of lamp posts, the overly sentimental music being played from an old transistor by the delivery truck and the signboard of ministop that made me feel good about the night sky. That moment I wanted to just talk to anyone about mundane things but I had none with me at the moment. sending an SMS would only be a frustration. I even considered chatting with the lady at the counter but I remembered I had work to do so I just held everything back. I just smiled at everyone I came across with and returned to my PC smiling to myself like that of a kid who found a treasure in his backyard.

+Moonbeam you know you’re better than this. darn you’re not pushing yourself enough. What are you waiting for?

#498 because i like city lights

#497

It was 2:00pm yesterday, the 1^st day of april and I was there. waiting.

For someone who’s always late, it was something I’ve never experienced in a long time. for the past N years of my life people waited for me. to rush up things. to say something. to do something. to be there.

The past weeks had been a mere blur. It was as if I woke up one morning and suddenly all the world was in constant fast motion, and I was merely swept up in it.

Then yesterday, after weeks of spinning around, the whirlwind suddenly left me.

Actually it’s not that deep. I just had to meet several people for different reasons yesterday, and in the middle of everything I had to do I suddenly had this brief 20 minutes’ worth to stop doing anything. i just waited.

Well actually I was late again (I came from another meeting! honest!), and I requested that I just tell her if I’m on my way so that she’ll be on her way too, in that case there would be less chances of someone waiting too long. agh, ok ok lame excuse.

But I lied. It was only after I arrived there that I told the client to go. She arrived some 20 minutes later as she told she me she would.

But that 20 minutes’ stop was a huge break. Yes all around me people were doing their usual stuff, walking to the left. walking to the right. Making phone calls. laughing. And I was there in the middle, breathing.

perhaps like jonah inside the fish. While all the other little fishies inside the big fish panicked, jonah was just there, breathing. And praying.

And it took me 19 minutes to realize how far i’ve ran away from God.

Yes, I’ve planned at the start of the year to set things straight. to have discipline. To trust Him more. But then again that was just me. The same forgetful me. I should’ve known better; the moment I prayed that prayer, the battle began, and I fought on my own.

And lately, I’ve chased Him for the all the wrong reasons. I went to the prayer mountain to leave things behind, and I spent the next few months praying that whatever I left there roll and roll and roll down back to me.

Around a minute later, an sms came, the client was already there. Things resumed; the whirlwind carried me away again.

Lord, please bear with me. Grab me tight.

Sigh. I will laugh when I read this blog entry in the morning. Oh it’s morning already. dagoink.