Tags: Marie Antoinette

Have you guys seen Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette? I just watched it today. I know, I’m a loser, but anyway.

Did you like it?

I didn’t. I’m probably the only one who didn’t.

The best I can say about this movie is it’s very artistic, in more ways than one. But thats also the worst thing about it. Have you ever looked at a piece of art, like a dance, painting or a song, that made you go “What the fuck is that? You call that art? I don’t get it.” It’s something like that - I just didn’t get this movie.

Admittedly, it’s a very lovely film to watch, very easy on the eyes. Marie Antoinette is an aesthetically beautiful movie - it has the most stunning sets, dresses, clothes, jewels, tapestries, furniture, make-up and everything in between. The ladies looked like walking Sonja’s cupcakes. The color combination is gorgeous, too. There isn’t a frame in this film that isn’t bursting with color. Notice how the colors of the sets and the dresses blend so well. Every intricate detail was meticulously taken care of, from the crystals in the chandeliers, to the blue and yellow flowers on the wall tapestries, to the diamonds in the shoe buckle of the Queen’s shoes. Marie Antoinette is the most eye candy historical film I’ve seen.

But Sofia Coppola took another artistic leap-of-faith, which for me wasn’t effective at all - the deliberate use of anachronism. To put it plainly, she placed all sorts of verbal expressions, music and even a few items that were not even possible in the 18th century. If you’ve seen the movie, notice a blue pair of Chuck Taylors in that scene where Marie Antoinette was trying on a lot shoes. Coppola said it was to show the viewers that Marie Antoinette was still just a teenager, regardless of time period. Um, huh? I know it’s artistic license and all, but come on! What the hell was that for? You could do without that. And I couldn’t stand the modern alternative/rock background music that didn’t even fit the scenes they were in. I mean, shouldn’t they be playing Baroque music or something? It doesn’t help that the songs they picked were annoying. I hate it! It doesn’t make sense at all!

Okay, I suppose you think I’m too narrow-minded to appreciate this novel approach to historical fiction. Actually, I do like a few period movies that use anachronism, like Shakespeare in Love, A Knight’s Tale and Titus Andronicus. Those were entertaining and effective even if some words and items were completely out-of-place. Marie Antoinette failed to incorporate those modern elements seamlessly. The modern music and Chucks were incredibly lame attempts at making Marie Antoinette relate-able to this generation. It was unnecessary. I think Sofia Coppola tried to hard to be unconventional.

But what I hated most was this movie barely had any dialogue. What the hell! If you compress all the dialogue in this movie, it will probably last just 30 minutes or so. And because it had almost no dialogue, there was barely any story at all. Only disjointed scenes from Marie Antoinette’s life. No transitions whatsoever. It was like hopping from one event of Marie Antoinette’s life to the next, not knowing how the previous one connects with the current. It became boring. It made me go, “What the fuck just happened? What the fuck just happened?”

Lots of people would probably like this movie a lot, but not me. It had too much art that it didn’t mesh well together anymore. The anachronism was unnecessary and poorly executed. I was disappointed. Marie Antoinette is one of my favorite historical European royals. Her life is fascinating, and I think it could’ve been interpreted better.

I just didn’t get this movie. Really.

Tags: Miss Universe 2007, Riyo Mori, Honey Lee, Anna Theresa Licaros

(image from AFP/Getty Images)

I’m a closet Miss Universe fan. Ha ha. The first Miss Universe pageant I ever watched was in 1994, when it was held here in Manila. I remember thinking how messy Charlene Gonzales’ hair was. Watching international beauty pageants as a little girl was quite an experience. Kind of like a big geography lesson, only more interesting.

After 48 years, Japan gets to hold the title of Miss Universe. Congratulations to Riyo Mori, Miss Universe 2007.

Last year’s first runner up was from Japan too, the very gorgeous Kurara Chibana. Does anyone remember her? Wow. Although I was turned off when she answered one of her questions in French. I thought that was kind of showoff-y. But she’s still one of the most beautiful pageant queens I’ve seen.

Personally, I was rooting for Miss Korea, Honey Lee. She’s really pretty, don’t you think? Or maybe that’s just me. At the risk of sounding racist, I love Koreans, ha ha. The ones I know are very kind and creative. The woman who does my hair, as well as my mom’s and sister’s, is a Korean and I love her to death. She’s the best damn hairstylist I know. But whatever, Honey Lee was my favorite and I’m glad she still placed.

Aaaand.. Miss Photogenic goes to Miss Philippines! Again! For the third year in a row! Ha ha! I hope this means Filipinos are photogenic. Seriously, though, her pictures really stand out. Congratulations, Anna Theresa Licaros! She will always be the epitome of beauty and brains.

And for some reason, I really liked Miss Kazakhstan (that’ll give Borat something to talk about.

A random Miss Universe fact: the first winner of Miss Universe is Armi Kuusela, from Finland. She won the pageant in 1952. She married a Filipino business man named Virgilio Hilario and they had 5 kids. They lived in Forbes Park, Makati. Pretty cool, huh.

Each player of this game starts with 6 weird things about you. People who get tagged need to write a blog of their own 6 weird things as well as state the rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave a comment that says you are tagged in their comments and tell them to read your blog.

I don’t tag people because they never do the meme. Ha ha.

1. I love cats. So when I see a stray cat around school, I “talk” to it as if it can understand human language. I say “come here, kitty!” Sometimes I even by them lunch. No shit.
2. Related to #1, I like taking pictures of cute stray cats. I have an entire folder of them in my cellphone.
3. I like walking around when I brush my teeth. In fact, I can’t stand still when I brush my teeth. I never thought it was weird until my sister pointed it out to me.
4. I grit my teeth when I sleep. I don’t know what it sounds like, but my mom and sister said it sounds like fingernails running down a chalkboard. My mom would even wake me up in the middle of the night when I do it; she was afraid my teeth would fall off.
5. I don’t find it rude when people eat before everyone else’s meal is served. Maybe they’re starving already. Nor do I think sitting at the back of a car when no one is sitting in the passenger’s seat is like treating the driver like a chauffeur. That’s dumb. When I was a kid my mom would always let us sit at the back of the car where it’s much safer. Also, being the second kid, my sister would always take the passenger seat so I’m used to sitting at the back.
6. My irrational fears include: airplanes, earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, landslides, and stubbing my toe and breaking a nail. Yes, I really do agonize about these useless things.

I submitted my final Psych 195 project today. Which means it’s officially summer, again.

I have about two more weeks until classes start again. In that span of time I need to accomplish the following:

1. Work on that pet blog my mom and I are planning - we are crazy about our pets, so we decided to make a blog about them. Haha.
2. Finish that food videocast - damn, I need a mic!
3. Cook more food! Yay! My mom agreed to enroll me in a day-long short course over at the Center for Culinary Arts. I hope they still have before regular classes start.
4. Possibly edit my blog theme again.
5. Go to the gym. Damn it.

I am a little sad because I was not able to play an PlayStation 2 RPG this summer. Every summer for the past five years, I finish at least one RPG. Last year, I played Suikoden V, the best in the series next to Suikoden II. Last Christmas I tried to play Final Fantasy 12 but it was a bit too difficult for my liking. Too bad all the nice new games are all for PlayStation 3. I don’t think I want to get that yet. Besides, if there won’t be a Suikoden VI, it’s just not worth it anymore. Ha ha.

Well, here’s to an anti-social me for the next two weeks.

Tags: The Diamond Hotel, French cuisine, French food, Bistro

My mom could not attend this week’s International Culinary Cuisine Class at The Diamond Hotel, so I gladly took her place. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. I mean, how often do you get to learn from the executive chef of a world-class hotel known for having some of the best restaurants in the country?

This week’s theme was especially enticing - French Bistro Cooking. I’ve heard the word ‘bistro’ before but I wasn’t sure what it meant. I am tempted to say that ‘bistro’ is a kind of restaurant in France, but from what I learned today, bistros and restaurants in France are as different from each other as restaurants and cafes. Cafes are for, well, coffee; they rarely serve food there, save for sandwiches. Restaurants have full-course meals. French bistros do not serve “delicate food”, and have relatively simpler meals that are served quickly (I have heard from my friends who have gone to France that one must really wait for hours before their meal is served), made with ingredients fresh off the market.

Chef Jean-Pierre Migne definitely made this whole experience fun. He was not very hands-on with our class, but I still learned a lot of cooking techniques from his cooking demo. He is a very good teacher, and a very funny guy, too. I think he has been in the Philippines for quite some time, because he got the common Filipino expressions right - from using ‘di ba and sige na, to referring to the chicken as manok, to saying “Kawawa naman ako” when no one was volunteering. Ha ha! How adorable. You would love him if you meet him.
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I cannot wait for my French Bistro culinary lesson tomorrow, at the Diamond Hotel. Whee! My first “professional” culinary endeavor!

Thanks to Tina, I will get into the Friday’s Feast spirit from now on.

Appetizer
Name a sound you like to hear.

The sound of our Siamese cat’s meow. It’s really high-pitched, sing-song-y and sweet. Siamese cats are very vocal animals so our cat meows a lot, and I mean a lot. Usually when he sleeps in my room, he wakes me up by meowing incessantly so I could open the door for him. He also does this funny bird-like chirping sound, kind of like a half-purr, half-meow. Silly cat.

Soup
What is your favorite kind of cheese?

Edam cheese A.K.A queso de bola for the win! I like putting a slice of that in whole wheat bread and pop it in the sandwich maker. It becomes all grilled, gooey and sticky. Awesome. I also like Parmesan cheese in my pasta, and Swiss cheese, especially when it’s fondue. I love cheese! Cheese platters in swanky buffets are the best.

Salad
Do you sleep late on Saturday mornings? Why or why not?

No, partly because my body clock doesn’t permit me to sleep beyond 6:30 AM. I’m a morning person, anyway. I don’t really like sleeping until 10 AM or noon because I feel like I’ve wasted my entire day by then. Lately I haven’t been a fan of sleeping since you cannot be productive in your sleep. And I like productivity.

Main Course
When was the last time you forgot something? What was it, and how long did it take to remember it?

Someone texted me a while ago, but I haven’t replied yet because I was at a dinner. So thanks to this meme I remembered it, haha. I will send my reply later.

Dessert
Fill in the blank: I notice ____________ when _____________.

I notice if a guy wants to date or hook up when they ask me where I usually eat lunch. Food is the world’s oldest, and most overused pick-up tactic.

A high school acquaintance recently got a Globe number and availed of that Unlimitxt thing (something I’ve never tried myself since I have the post-paid plan). Ever since, she has been spamming my inbox with insensitive forwarded text messages every goddamn day. No, scratch that. Make it every 6 hours. What the hell. I wouldn’t mind this much if it wasn’t so obvious that she was forwarding the same goddamn message to every Globe number in her phonebook. I don’t even bother reading them, I delete them right away.

Take note, she is an acquaintance (who actually wasn’t very nice to me anyway), not a friend. I only appreciate forwarded text quotes when they are from friends, who usually send me quotes that are meaningful to whatever’s happening to me at the moment. But otherwise, I hate forwarded text quotes because they’re exactly that - forwarded, thoughtless and insensitive. I am sure you can tell when someone is just mindlessly forwarding you a quote, or when they picked it out especially for you. And the first indicator of that is if that someone really knows you well, who will only send you quotes he or she thinks might help you.

Honestly, I am very sentimental with my text messages. My cellphone is so filled up with text messages that when my inbox runs out of space, it pains me to delete any of my saved messages. Once my phone memory cannot accommodate them, I write them down. And a good 90% of them are real messages that have touched me, or made me laugh, or made me feel loved, because I know those were sent only for me.

In conclusion, quotes are tolerable, just don’t send one every fucking day. Besides, if you want to touch someone’s heart via text, send them a virtual hug or kiss, or ask them how their day was, or tell them that their favorite artist is on TV, or tell them about something you saw today that reminded you of them… DON’T USE FORWARDED QUOTES, DAMN IT. Do that only when you think it applies to your friend. Otherwise, DON’T TEXT ANYTHING THAT WILL MEAN NOTHING to the recipient.

Oh, and make sure you’re in an actual, mutual friendship.

Last semester, I got a 2.0 in one of my classes. What the hell.  When I get low grades in, say, Math or Science, I accept it because I know I suck at those subjects, so I get a deserving grade for my efforts.  But this time, I didn’t feel like I deserved this, not only because it was an easy class but because I really enjoyed it, and I worked extra hard even if it was just a General Education subject.  It pulled my GWA down by a few points, which is something I really don’t need considering I have a 5.0 in one of my subjects and I’m still clinging onto my laude dreams.

I couldn’t imagine getting a grade that low considering that I submitted all the requirements AND aced the first exam.  I probably didn’t do that well in the second (and last) exam because it was kind of hard, but still.  I remember studying well and being able to answer most of the items correctly.   So I texted one of my professors (there were two teachers) asking for a breakdown of my grades.  She didn’t reply.  Later I found out that she was in Thailand, so I sent her an email.  She replied right away, but she said I had to wait for 3 weeks until she gets back to see my grades.

So after the wait, my prof finally sent me a breakdown.  I got full points on all my requirements, except for the first exam which was 94/100.   My second exam, however, was 41/90.  What the fuck.  Impossible. So I asked to see my blue book.

So long story short, I saw my blue book.  I was right - the other professor (the prof I was talking to wasn’t the one who checked my paper) forgot to add up the points in one section of my exam.  Instead of 41/90, I got 78/90.  And instead of a 2.0, I should’ve gotten a 1.25.

What a relief. Well, the grade can be changed as per university rules.  Luckily, it’s the professors who do it for you since they’re the ones who committed an error.  Yehey.

Tags: college, academics, University of the Philippines

Do you ever get that feeling when reviewing for an exam, you feel as if you’ve studied enough and you can’t read another paragraph? So you stop studying thinking you’re all prepared for the exam.  Then you go online saying to yourself “Just a 15 minute break”, but you end up surfing the hours away instead? AND THEN when you study your notes again at the last minute you realize there are so many things you haven’t reviewed yet? But still, your brain feels so saturated with terms and shit, that the information just doesn’t register anymore?

Gah. I hate studying for exams.  I love learning, just not the exam part.

It doesn’t help that the topics for my Chem exam tomorrow are kind of depressing. Chemical warfare.  Nerve, lung-damaging,  blood and blister agents. Pollution.  London Smog and Photochemical smog.  They’re interesting and all, but I’d rather it not be the last thing I think about, nor the words organophosphates or mustard gas, Ypres, chlorine gas be the last words I utter before I sleep.

I remember having to study natural disasters for Geology 1 last semester.   We watched this documentary on earthquakes.  It had some footage of the Great Tokyo Earthquake of 1923.  Apparently, most of the casualties perished not because of toppling buildings, but of the firestorms ignited by fallen poles, stoves and other flammables.  Thirty-thousand survivors were even crammed inside an open space the size of a football field, but that caught fire.  Only thirty people survived. THIRTY OUT OF THIRTY-THOUSAND.  My chest was so heavy after. Sure, Geology is very interesting, but that subject gave rise to a lot of irrational fears.

Haha, my Science subjects are so upsetting.

All that idle time this summer served me well after all - I actually figured out what I really want to do after college. In fact, it’s all I ever think about these days. I’ve been thinking about this so much that I’m blogging about it instead of studying for my Chemistry exam, which is probably what I should prioritize at the moment if I really want these goals.

I thought up of five options. Of course I can only realize one of them.

Here are my plans, in order of what I really, really want:

1. Get a postgraduate diploma in Hotel Management or any Hospitality-related course in Switzerland.
2. Get a postgraduate diploma or masters degree in Industrial/Organizational (Occupational) Psychology in New Zealand, specifically at the University of Auckland.
3. Set up my own restaurant/burger joint somewhere in UP (fo’ realz!)
4. Work at the Human Resources Department of a corporation.
5. Be a lawyer.

But… Here are my plans, ranked according to feasibility (my chances of actually accomplishing them):

1. Work at the Human Resources Department of a corporation.
2. Be a lawyer
3. Get a postgraduate diploma or masters degree in Industrial/Organizational (Occupational) Psychology in New Zealand, specifically at the University of Auckland.
4. Get a postgraduate diploma in Hotel Management or any Hospitality-related course in Switzerland.
5. Set up my own restaurant/burger joint somewhere in UP

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