pleasant surprises
From Thursday night to Sunday noon, Amita, Aie, and I (Sophie had to leave Saturday afternoon, too bad) stayed at the Asian Institute of Management conference center for a seminar on journalism ethics. Such a nice, relaxing weekend. Gah I wish I can stay in a hotel for a very, very long time.
Accomplishment report:
1. After talking to friends and a beloved former professor, I finally got peace of mind regarding the whole ethical issue about our first big story.
2. This weekend was the first time my fellow reporters and I really got to bond: there’s of course the endless talks with the girls, and then Ubalde and Meru came over Saturday night. We roamed around Greenbelt for a while before hanging out and taking lots of pictures in our room. We’ll all hang out again, hopefully with Sophie and Kim, very very soon. Pics are at their Multiply sites.
all smiles
3. We became renewed advocates of ethical decision-making and multi-source reporting. Yeba.
4. I’m now halfway through “On the Road.” How’s it affecting me so far? Let’s just say that, while walking in the middle of Glorietta with Aie and Amita, I suddenly said out loud, “Masarap sigurong maging high tas hihiga ka lang ng sobrang tagal.” Hahaha.
kirk lazarus
Kirk and I tried out this neat place in Tomas Morato, “Kitchen of Cakes and Coffee.” You can pretty much tell what it’s all about from the name, I know, and I wish the owners had been more imaginative too, but the place was really nice.
Kirk had a quarter-pounder, which he gave four out of five stars. I had a cheesecake, and a frozen Montezuma, a chocolate drink whose name alone fascinated me because, history dork that I partly am, I recognized the name–AztecemperorduringtheSpanishinvasionhah.
Anyway. After dinner we wandered around Tomas Morato before deciding to see the last full show of “Tropic Thunder.”
We laughed like maniacs in the cinema. The movie was so perverse and deliberately offensive, haha. One of our favorite scenes is the one with the little kid stabbing Ben Stiller’s character a few moments after he said he has to stay in Vietnam to take care of the same kid, whom he called his son. I also found Tom Cruise as Les Grossman screaming at the kidnappers over the phone pretty hilarious, although it kind of scared the living daylights out of me (it didn’t really, but I’ve long been wanting to use that phrase).
But in the end, Kirk Lazarus for the win! Robert Downey Jr stole every scene he was in, ahlavet 
almost
I saw this Australian film “Clubland” with Frank last night; it’s part of the Australian film festival currently showing in Gateway. At first I was only mildly interested–the plot, about a shy 21-year-old whose perfect romance is blocked by family problems, seemed too normal, and I like stuff that are out-of-this-world. Or at the very least, quirky. But 10 minutes into the film I began to see why some people prefer indie foreign films over the ones Hollywood spews out.
It’s so real. I’d like to expound, but I’m too lazy. Suffice it to say we liked it a lot, and now I have more reason to look forward to seeing “Hippie Hippie Shake” (which I bet will bastardize the whole hippie culture because it’s Hollywood, but which I still wanna see) because one of the main actors in “Clubland,” Emma Booth, will star there. Booth’s long, wavy blond hair makes me miss my old ‘do. Gah.
I’d also like to see “It Might Get Loud,” a documentary by “An Inconvenient Truth” director-producer Davis Guggenheim. It’s “a documentary on the electric guitar from the point of view of three rock legends”–Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page, U2’s The Edge, and The White Stripes’ Jack White.
The poster alone is love. I don’t care much about The Edge, but I’ve been infatuated with Jack White (it’s like he can play every instrument in the world, it’s scary) and Jimmy Page for years. That the documentary was directed by Guggenheim makes me want to watch it more.
There’s now a long list of stuff I have to watch. “Singles” for more grunge and Cameron Crowe, “The Strangers” because Gemma Ward is one of the masked intruders, etcetera. Almost makes me wish I didn’t have to go out with friends and colleagues virtually every night. Almost.
click
I’m in love with Jimmy Page again. Dear God, why wasn’t I born in 50s London (or San Francisco, but that’s another story)?
See, I finally managed to buy “Hammer of the Gods,” that Led Zeppelin bio by Stephen Davis that I had previously blogged about. I haven’t listened to Led Zep in what feels like ages–about two years ago I realized that I had to move on, at least a little bit, and stop living in the past, haha–but reading just the first few pages makes me want to download even The Yardbirds tracks.
I love how Davis just drops the names of the greats and expects you to get it. To illustrate (boldface, my own):
A few weeks later, after one of the Marquee blues jams, Page was approached by a young guitarist with a London band called Roosters. He said that he thought Jimmy sounded a lot like Matthew Murphy, then playing with Memphis Slim. Jimmy was flattered. The guitarist introduced himself: “My name’s Eric Clapton.” (p. 15)
Coincidentally, a guitarist named Eddie Phillips with an English group called Creation (bass guitar: Ron Wood) was already bowing his electric guitar in London at the time. (p. 23)
I don’t claim to know every Led Zep track ever recorded since I listened to them at the time that I was also busy devouring music from other classic rock pioneers–The Who, The Doors, etc–but I loved the few tracks that I used to constantly listen to.
I had to stop reading at page 27 and put the book down because, um, I had gotten too nostalgic. See, it mentioned the 1966 film Blow-Up which we saw in Film 175 class. That movie, while weirdly fascinating, had seriously boring moments, and near the end we were all feeling antsy because we just wanted it to end. But suddenly there comes this nightclub scene. There is a band. And who’s playing the guitar? Jimmy-fkin-Page. I was immediately shaken out of my stupor, but no one else in the class seemed to notice that it was The Yardbirds playing.
Ah, college.
Anyway, interesting post-House moment yesterday. And today! Too many distractions. I swear, my life is becoming stranger and stranger.
quest
Philippine cinemas better screen this film or I will sue!
Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist is a comedy about two people thrust together for one hilarious, sleepless night of adventure in a world of mix tapes, late-night living, and, live, loud music. Nick (Michael Cera) frequents New York’s indie rock scene nursing a broken heart and a vague ability to play the bass. Norah (Kat Dennings) is questioning pretty much all of her assumptions about the world. Though they have nothing in common except for their taste in music, their chance encounter leads to an all-night quest to find a legendary band’s secret show and ends up becoming the first date in a romance that could change both their lives.
Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 71 percent rating, which means it’s not crappy at all.
Anyone, let’s, okay, if?
