the art of killing time

now that time is no longer my main taskmaster (relatively speaking), i find myself slipping into that old comfortable habit of slacking off. ironically enough, despite the lack of an overriding motivation to accomplish anything i don’t really seem to get that much sleep these days. no matter how late (or how early, depending on your viewpoint) i drop off to sleep — 3:30 to 5:00 am — i still wake up around 10:00am, with this inexplicable urge to bolt from my bed, hit the shower, and be someplace else.

i guess it has become an ingrained habit.

well, moving along… these days i mostly stay up late watching animes, movies and tv series (hah, now there’s a big surprise) that i’ve always wanted to watch but couldn’t find the time to do. this past week i’ve been soaking myself in 24 (i’m done with ssn 1, 2, and 6, courtesy of Pseudoshrink). yep, it’s that engrossing. as implausible and ridiculously far-fetched as Jack Bauer’s exploits are, you gotta admit 24 is one hell of an entertaining series, with plenty of chill-inducing cliffhangers and incredible action scenes. and then, there’s Third Rock from the Sun, which is quite a blast to say the least. for physical comedy, John Lithgow is my main man.

for variety, i have also dug deep into my anime files, and just finished Alice Gakuen (aka Alice Academy), a typical fare of the fantasy/magical girl anime genre. I even watched Azumanga Daioh (a classic) again.

of course, if all else fails there is always the upcoming Harry Potter book 7 to look forward to. And HP: Order of the Phoenix tomorrow.

Transformers

i was ablet to watch Transformers this weekend. twice. and guess what… i liked it!

apparently, so did a lot of people – judging from the audience's reaction. in fact, i had to wait in line for like 15 minutes last saturday before i could purchase my ticket (note: about 5 screens were showing the same picture).

basically i liked the movie for its snappy and occasionally funny dialogue. and the fact that the filmmakers weren't afraid to kill off a few characters (although if this film turns out to be a huge hit, i'm sure the hollywood moneymen will easily find a way to resurrect them, and maybe roll out another interminable list of sequels). i'm also relieved that they found a way to inject a strong human counterpoint – despite michael bay's predilection for huge explosions and deadening directorial style — to all that onscreen mechanical mayhem: the smartass teenage protagonist and his sexy but highly capable "would-be" girlfriend; his wacky parents; the tough, battle-hardened special ops guys, etc.

if you want to be entertained, go watch Transformers. and don't forget Live Free or Die Hard either.

cheers!

p.s. it looks like Transformers will be a trilogy after all. the word is out that Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox and Peter Cullen (voice of Optimus Prime) have signed up for films 2 and 3.