animated delights

i managed to catch both Ratatouille and The Simpsons Movie these past few days. truth is, i've been waiting for these screen gems to hit the local theaters for some time now. the only question was, which one will i see first. an irrelevant point, since i enjoyed both films.

Ratatouille (Disney), which features a cast of well-known (Peter O'Toole, Ian Holm, Janeanne Garofalo) and unknown names, is a sumptuous visual feast with terrific graphics and seamless animation. the casting is spot on and the film's pace crackles along nicely. and with a storyline that dwells on gastronomic delights (food!) as only the French can dish 'em, who can resist it?

as i had expected, The Simpsons Movie is an irreverent and delightful romp, which should satisfy its hardcore fans. homer, the goofy paterfamilias of this dysfunctional TV family, displays his his usual idiotic tendencies and consequently creates havoc for the hapless citizens of Springfield. In a hilarious sequence that brought tears to my eyes, he dares his son Bart to skateboard around the town — naked! naturally bart obliges him (hey, the little guy's got a rep to protect) with predictable results, see below.

go and watch both. you won't regret it.

a quick note on HP and the Deathly Hallows

7/21/07 (midnight) — i've finally finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (thanks to zarine). i'm planning to read the whole thing again (more leisurely this time) to make sure i haven't missed anything.

the opening chapters (except ch. 1) are packed with frenetic and dizzying events. it's like JK Rowling decided to jampack this one with as much thrilling action as she can manage. you barely have ebough time to process one shocking development before the next one comes along. the middle chapters are a tad more restful as harry, hermione and ron traipse around various locations in search of various artifacts and anwers.

and near the end, there's the Battle of Hogwarts, an action-filled, rousing confrontation between the two camps that involves humans, centaurs, dementors, giants, elves, spiders, etc. many readers will be pleased to know that a number of characters from earlier books are mentioned again. be warned though, there are a lot of deaths in this book (both major and minor characters). two of my favorite characters actually died (one death in particular really saddened me).

NB: "mastering" or "defeating" death is not as straightforward as you might think. you might be pulled in several directions as more revelations begin to unfold (esp. details regarding harry's family and that of dumbledore). there is also a detailed explanation regarding dumbledore's death in book 6. basically, book 7 is about horcruxes and hallows. and yes, harry is the 7th horcrux.

like the first 6 HP books, there is an explanatory discourse near the end (before the Epilogue), and this — being the last one — ties up all the loose ends that have been left dangling in earlier books.

so what happens to harry and his friends?

as the big day nears, speculations about harry potter's survival/demise are running rampant. the biggest issue of course is the question burning in everyone's mind: will harry's candle finally snuff out?

for some, this question is already moot point. the only relevant question is, who else will jk rowling send to the chopping block? a big majority will convince you it's voldemort, others will swear it'll be most likely snape, or even ron (or anyone from the weasley clan), hermione, neville, lupin, hagrid, mcgonagall, practically anybody.

in fact, the cyberspace is being deluged by a number of potential "spoilers" (heard that one about gabriel yet?) regarding book 7. the latest of course is this purported advance copy of HP and the Deathly Hallows. the latest word is that this isn't the only version lurking in the Net these days. There are reportedly  3 versions of them flying around so you need to be very discerning to decide which one to believe…

wow. Pseudoshrink just gave me this LINK (possible **SPOILERS**). to tell you frankly, there are too many deaths in it for comfort. (didn't jk rowling say only 2 characters will die?) this one almost seems like a bloodbath heheh. it's too fantastic to believe, but hey until i actually have the book in my hands i'll treat everything with a grain of salt.

there are countless articles about the mounting anticipation as fans and non-fans await in awe of the final unfolding of this global phenomenon. let's hope we can last until saturday, with our sanity intact.

until then…

UPDATE: it now looks like the scans in the last link (Epilogue) is a genuine copy of book 7. it turns out that a number of customers who have pre-ordered HP: THDH received their copy several days ahead of schedule in clear violation of rules. the publishers are already taking appropriate legal action.

perversity of random events

i have lately dug up some books that i have read long ago and stashed away in the nether regions of my cabinets. some of them are barely recognizable — in fact i'm still puzzled why i bought them in the first place.

one of them is a tattered copy of Her Majesty's Wizard (whose virulent green cover features the 2 human protagonists and a dragon that looks like drunken iguana with wings) by Christopher Stasheff. as fantasy books go, it's not exactly groundbreaking or significant, but it's a mildly amusing read and there are several lines there that caught my eye — or rather quoted lines regarding perversity.

Take the case of Murphy's law (which i'm very familiar with):

If anything can go wrong, it will

and then there's Gunderson's law:

The least desirable possibility will always exert itself when the results will be frustrating. Or, if anything can go wrong, it will — at the worst possible moment.

now, that seems like an overly pessimistic view of things and rather a self-defeating tenet. then you tell yourself "surely not, no one can be that thoroughly unlucky "  — until, of course, it happens to you. and when you're left holding the bag (following paralyzing moments of shock and disbelief), you can wail to high heavens and gnash your teeth at the unfairness of it all (fate, life, luck… whatever you call it) or you can analyze things to death, but it still won't make you feel better. trust me. it's just a conjunction of random events that sweeps everything in its path, and you just happen to be in the way.

but wait, it doesn't end there. here's another gem, Finagle's general law:

The perversity of the universe tends toward the maximum

before you jump to conclusion, let me quote a comment from the lead character (Matthew Mantrell, the wizard):

Human beings are inherently perverse. They will project perversity into anything they look upon. The perversity's in our perceptions, not in the perceived – which is to say, it's in us.

 

another meme (the big 3)

here's another quirky meme from daisy. thankfully this one's not too long and is actually quite easy to do. so here goes…

3 Names You Go By
onyxx
my initials
–

3 Screen Names You Have Had
onyxx
ashley
–

3 PhysicalThings You Like About Yourself
eyes
hair
–

3 Physical Things You Don't Like About Yourself
hmmm….

3 Parts of Your Heritage
pinoy (born and bred)

3 Things That Scare You
racial bigots with access to loads of weapons and money
dying destitute and alone (a failure)
screwing up big time

3 of Your Favorite Bands or Musical Aritsts
Toto
INXS
red hot chili peppers, etc.

3 of Your Favorite Songs
it depends on my mood

3 Things you Want in a Relationship
full commitment
respect
humor and stimulating conversation

2 Truths and a Lie (in no particular order)
i almost got hit by a car once
i like to pore over giant jigsaw puzzles
i've never been inside a cave

3 Things About the Preferred Sex That Appeals to You
eyes
build
height

3 of Your Favorite Hobbies
reading
writing
sketching

3 Things You Really Want to Do Badly Right Now
win the lottery (the bigger the pot money, the better)
find the motivation to write
finish my chores (they're endless!)

3 Careers You've Considered/You're considering
columnist (or failing that, a food critic)
fantasy writer (unfortunately, i'm still stuck in the planning stage)
– (i'm still making up my mind)

3 Places You Want To Go on Vacation
NZ
the Scottish highlands
Spain

3 Kids' Names You like
i'm taking a rain check on this one…

3 Things You Want to Do Before You Die
watch the Olympics (in person)
accomplish something useful or anything that has socially redeeming values
save a life or at least make a difference in somebody's life

3 Ways That You are Stereotypically a Guy
i like adventure/action/war movies
i steer away from mushy romantic or melodramatic films
i'm fascinated by historical military figures

3 Ways That You are Stereotypically a Girl
cockroaches really — pardon the pun – bug me
when the mood hits me, i like to cook
i could play with kittens and puppies for hours

3 Celebrity crushes
secret…! (let sleeping dogs lie heheh)

3 People That You're Tagging
alvin
twisted kai
zarine