Fifteen German Animated Shorts on The Wall, Fifteen German Animated Shorts...

I attended a screening of German animated short films w/ Lola at the Adamson Building in Makati (thank god parking was easy and free). It reminded me of the first time I attended a screening of the Japanese filmfest, since the animated shorts were shown in a relatively small room with only 3 rows of seats. Today was also the last day of screening, so it quickly became an SRO event. Before the screening began I mentioned to Lola that there seemed to be common look among the female attendees: long, past-shoulder-length hair wrapped with a single band, dull-colored casual dress w/ a light sweater, and glasses. It almost looked like a female Clark Kent convention.

Afterwards we had dinner had Italiannis at GB2, where our waitress turned out to be my 2nd cousin Ivy (Michelle's little sister and Philip's 1st cousin). who's on paid OJT. From the moment she introduced herself as our waitress for the evening to when she was clearing up our plates my penchant for remembering faces but not names was proving to be a bother. What made it more embarrassing was that she was practically family! It was only when I finally mentioned that she looked familiar that she mentioned our connection. And as a nice ending to this tale she gave us a 20% dicount on dinner! Left her a big tip, despite her protests.

Anyhoo, my short thoughts on the 15 short flicks:

• Gil Alkabetz, Rubicon - Reminded me of Bill Plympton's work, w/c wasn't a bad thing
  
• Jochen Ehmann, HOBO - Whuh???
  
• Lars Henkel, The Patchwork Queen - Whuh???
  
• Daniel Höpfner, Cherchez la Femme - Whuh??? Oh, and WHUH???
  
• Andy Kaiser, Harara - Confusing. Pruny.
  
• Tine Kluth, Ghost Train - A little sad, with Boxing Helena homage
  
• Raimund Krumme, The Message - Fido Dido w/ indie flavor
  
• Jochen Kuhn, Recently 2 - Didn't watch Recently 1. Should have.
  
• Daniel Nocke, The Modern Cyclops - Wish it had better animation to go with quirky story
  
• Hannes Rall, The Raven - The Simpsons version was better
  
• Chris Stenner, Heidi Wittlinger, Rocks - Watching life pass by in "rock time" was cool.
  
• Jan Thüring, Terminal: Paradise - (See thoughts on The Modern Cyclops)
• Thomas Voigt, The Moment - Trippy Animal Planet moment
  
• Johannes Weiland, "Hessi James" - A Bug's Life meets Woody Allen
  
• Kirsten Winter, Escape - They shoulda closed with Hessi James.

Spider-Man 3's Venom

Yowza!

Lost on Lost? Take Losticil!

Click on the blank space below. Seriously.

I Think That I Shall Never See...

... a poem as denuded as our tree right now.

A crew from Manila Seedling finally came by to assess the damage Typhoon Milenyo wrought upon our mango tree. Bad news: they were gonna amputate. And amputate they did. The tree went from oversized rhubarb plant to biblical burning bush, sans the burning.

Well, at least placing the Xmas lights on it this year won't be too difficult.

Cloning on The Day of the Dead

My latest clone pix series was shot during our annual visit (today) to Manila Memorial Park in Dasmariñas. I kept the poses rather plain ('coz who wants to act like an ass in a cemetery), so I tried to make up in quantity what's lacking in quality.

Because Rad Took It, Too. :)

the Wit

(66% dark, 30% spontaneous, 21% vulgar)

your humor style:
CLEAN | COMPLEX | DARK
You like things edgy, subtle, and smart. I guess that means you're probably an intellectual, but don't take that to mean pretentious. You realize 'dumb' can be witty--after all isn't that the Simpsons' philosophy?--but rudeness for its own sake, 'gross-out' humor and most other things found in a fraternity leave you totally flat.

I guess you just have a more cerebral approach than most. You have the perfect mindset for a joke writer or staff writer.

Your sense of humor takes the most thought to appreciate, but it's also the best, in my opinion.

You probably loved the Office. If you don't know what I'm
talking about, check it out here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/theoffice/.

PEOPLE LIKE YOU: Jon Stewart - Woody Allen - Ricky Gervais

When a Stranger Calls

I like talking to friends on the phone. Even when YM, MSN, and IM came about I still preferred yakking it up til my ears became sore. And with ears like mine that could take a while.

Why? Maybe it's because my favorite people to converse with, while great to talk to, are notoriously bad with the "follow-up IM," which is when they'd reply to my first text message but not to any follow up IMs, or maybe they don't reply at all. Frankly that's a pain in the butt. You can also chalk it up to my being a cheapskate. I should say that I like talking to friends on a landline. It's old school, but free old school.

In a related subject, last night I was again scoring a zero batting average getting in touch w/ friends on the phone. Last night it was 5 straight calls, and with the 4 of 'em the party was not at home. The fifth one was busy (writing). If I believed in such things I'd think fate was telling me to give it up and head for the showers. But like a Deal or No Deal contestant on his last throes of the game (Hey, I could still win 50 bucks!), I made another call. Success! She was supposed to watch Sex and the City on DVD but we managed to chat for quite a while.

Our conversation was interrupted by an IM from one of the persons I tried to contact earlier. She apologized for her brusqueness earlier and asked that I call her at home. This was the girl my bank manager wanted to fix me up with. All I had was cell number, so I was surprised that she texted me her home number.

Afterwards I called her. All I knew was she's 26 and works at ChinaBank. The conversation quickly turned Small World After All when it turned out that she's a batchmate to a Beijinoy from ICA. Soon she was asking me what fellow ICAn's been doing ("School, I think...") and why I didn't make any moves on her ("I don't think I'm her type"). Well, that's one thing in common, I guess. And she watches House, w/c can't be a bad thing.

I asked if she'd like to meet up tomorrow (today), since it was a holiday and neither of us had any pressing matters to attend to. Yeah, yeah, too soon some might say, but I say life's short. She was of the former opinion, and politely declined the invite. Understandable. So, final assessement: English not her first language, likes to read, not a big TV person, likes going out w/ friends. Watches House and Grey's Anatomy. Nice enough, at least on the phone. Still awaiting a picture. ;)

Not Quite Like You've Got Mail...

So I get this Hello message outta the blue on my YM, see? Man, more porn spam? I thought. Turns out it was a girl from China, looking for a Beijinoy dude she hooked up w/ as a language partner and (I'm assuming) semestral fling. Hmm, intriguing... She also asked if dude was seeing another girl.

Chatted for almost 2 hours. She seems interesting, and a bit on the unintentionally flirtatious side (quick rebound). I missed The Daily Show, but I could download it later, anyway. At first I didn't believe her 'coz her English was too good. Turns out she's on her 3rd year of English studies at BLCU. Future conservations may follow.

UPDATE: In a bizarre twist, 2nd conversation with girl from China turns into a soap plot. Turns out she's not a girl from China, but the other girl she was supposedly asking about. Long story short: she's not Chinese, but at least (from her picture, anyway) it's an improvement. Viva Italia!

Hmm, girl I like just came back from working abroad. My bank manager wants to set me up w/ another client's daughter. Another friend's almost done w/ her "mourning period" and may soon be allowed to go out again. When it rains it pours. I have so much yet so little. Story of my social life.

Long Ally McBeal Quote

This speaks to my inner TV geek, but it's underlying message is a truism for me.

In this episode of Ally McBeal Ling, as owner of a mud-wrestling club, is being sued by MOPE (Mothers Opposed to Pornographic Entertainment), who are trying to shut the club down. Nelle is defence attorney:

Ling: The idea that it degrades women is ridiculous. Every woman wants to be thought of as desirable. Imagine, they can go home at night and say "Even in mud, I look good!"
Nelle: You have to admit this activity does objectify them?
Ling: So?
Nelle: Ling, how can it not be a little degrading, women stranding around in bathing suits ? Guys whooping?
Ling: First, the women there make nearly a hundred thousand dollars a year. How? These drunken Neanderthals hurl money at them. Go into that club. You come out with a lower opinion of men, trust me.
Nelle: That could be true, but these girls do make that money with their bodies.
Ling: They make it, by teasing men with something they'll never get their hands on. That goes to the very essence of a woman.
Nelle: Excuse me?
Ling: Sex is a weapon. We all use it, we tease, we tantalize, we withhold it, something we do in almost every walk of life, be it marriage, business... God gave us that advantage by giving men the dumb stick.

Attorney: So as a woman you see nothing wrong with putting out naked girls in a ring, rubbing mud on their breasts for the sole purpose of titillating men?
Ling: No!
Attorney: Nothing at all ?
Ling: Suppose we put them in a ring as boxers, and cheer for one to knock the other unconscious, would that be better?
Attorney: You're comparing boxing to mud-wrestling ?
Ling: Of course not. Boxing is worse, talk about reducing people, let's pay two men to beat on each other, how rich!
Attorney: Have you ever met any women in your club ?
Ling: Why should I?
Attorney: Never bothered to check out their backgrounds, find out why it is their living is based on sexual desires?
Ling: It would be hypocritical for me to ask, it would suggest I care.
Attorney: Maybe a few of them feel like they have little choice. Perhaps for some it represents their only choice.
Ling: Well, then how lucky they are to have you to take that choice away! With feminists like you, who needs chauvinism?

Departed Weekend

My personal cash savings were wiped out from comics shopping at both Comic Odyssey branches of the Robinson's malls during their weekend sale. (See ya soon, ATM.) Ah, the things we do for bigger discounts... Most of the books I got were to fill up holes in my collection (Supreme, Black Panther, The Demon, Planetary, JLA Confidential) and for eventual resale (Superman, New and Young Avengers, Ultimate Spider-Man).

Also caught The Departed at Galleria w/ Lola. We first drove to the Promenade, yakking away at the queue only to find out that it wasn't showing in their theaters! (That'll teach us to pay more attention to the Now Showing posters.) In the end it was back to Galleria, where we ordered takeout dinner for the movie: Party-sized stuffed crust Super Supreme Pan Pizza and two 22-ounce glasses of ice tea. For my first experience of eating pizza in the dark, let's just say it was an effort, as toppings kept falling off the pizza slice with each bite. Here's an idea, Pizza Hut: instead of filling up the crust w/ mozzarella why not place the cheese on top of the toppings so they won't fall off?

Yeah, she's probably had better belated birthday parties.

My 10 thoughts on The Departed, w/ spoilers:

1. It must be nice for Jack Nicholson to get to play a role that allows him to look like a slob. He could just wake up, neither shave nor shower and, voila, it's Frank Costello on the job.
2. If you're not a fan of being drowning in a cacophany of fake Bostonian accents, then this film is not for you. Wicked re-tah-ded.
3. I thought Mark Wahlberg's Sergeant Dignam and Vera Farmiga's Dr. Madolyn wassername could've been played by David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, respectively. Mebbe it might've been too distacting a visual to have both Mulder and Scully in a project not related the The X Files, though not as distracting a scene as Scully doing the dirty deed with Leo DiCaprio's Billy Costigan.
4. Couple of plot points came outta nowhere for me, w/c is both good as bad. Frank Costello as FBI snitch? Oohh. cool. Dr. Madolyn falling for Leo while seeing Matt Damon? Where'd that come from? They coulda at least provided some backstory to justify her falling for the damaged psyche that was Leo's character.
5. What a star-studded cast. DiCaprio, Nicholson, Damon, Baldwin. I half expected Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci to just pop up and yell "Surprise! Where Marty goes, we go!"
   
6. Speaking of Alec Baldwin, the man can just chew up the freakin' scenery. It's like everyone else was given a script while he just got an outline and improvised his lines. Brilliant! And, boy, was he fat in this film.
7. Plot question: If the Chinese gangster/goverment rep was from the Mainland why was he speaking Cantonese? That's the main language of Hong Kong.
   
8. When the beatdown scences were first shown I thought maybe Scorcese was losing his touch in the Brutal Violence departmart. Thankfully he more than makes up for it near the end of the film. I was chuckling at the movie audience's reactions to the lead actors being offed one by one in a short span of time.
   
9. Oh, HA-ha w/ the rat walking across the balcony beam at the end. In terms of subtlety the movie title was more cryptic as to what the movie was about.
   
10. After seeing this film I'm now more psyched to watched Infernal Affairs I and II.