a new look… for now

i finally got sick and tired of staring at the same old, boring template that i’d been using for the past 20 months. i’d always meant to change it of course, but somehow i never got around to actually doing it, because every time i tried doing that i always ended up with a look that’s light years away from what i wanted.

which is why i ended up with this combination. it’s s till a work in progress, of course, because i’m not even sure if this is what i really want. ah well, i suppose can always change the settings again this coming weekend. yes. for once, i have a free weekend all to myself (ye gods!).

so for all those who have plans for this coming weekend, i say go and enjoy it folks. be with your family, or go see a movie or a play. which reminds me… christmas is just around the corner. maybe it’s time to save for that, too.

law of inertia

“An object that is in motion, tends to stay in motion; conversely, an object that is at rest tends to stay at rest (unless acted upon by another force)“

i’m sure this well-known Newtonian principle requires no explanation for anybody who has taken up physics in high school or college. i think this pretty much applies to my blogging habits as well.
you see, when i’m in the mood for it (too rare, these days), i can usually manage come up with something to write about. and when i post a couple of entries in quick succession, i actually find it easier to write another. i guess my point here is momentum — when you do things regularly, it doesn’t take much to convince yourself to keep doing whatever it is you’re doing because you’re on a roll.

but then, of course, there are days when finding a compelling reason to write is almost as painful and as appealing as a visit to your dentist. and when you start feeling too lazy to write, it becomes habit-forming — and let’s face it, sometimes letting things slide by (and not lifting a finger to change that pattern) is soooo soothing and easy to do. why fight it?

and so it is with my blog(s). sometimes, i write. most of the time, i don’t (see a pattern here?). it hardly matters which train i’m on. once i start, i just go with the flow. (i just love mixing metaphors!)

i guess old isaac newton knew exactly what he was talking about.

movie updates

after reading about the predominantly negative reviews about Max Payne, i decided to forego watching it and went home earlier than planned — although i (depending on my schedule) might end up watching it, if only for the pleasure of watching mark wahlberg strut his bad-ass stuff onscreen.

another slight disappointment for me was Eagle Eye. i don’t know what i had expected exactly — not that i had high expectations, mind you. i just happen to like shia laBeouf, plus the fact that steven spielberg was the executive producer of the film.

i wouldn’t call it a waste exactly, but for me, Eagle Eye just seemed to lose steam halfway through its run. aside from the preposterous plot, at times the movie (esp. the the excessively loud tunnel/highway scene) feels like a collection of mindless mechanical crashes and relentless chases. i found it hard to concentrate on the story and the ending was just a little too convenient and cut-and-dried (a typical hollywood ending).

fortunately, Tropic Thunder lived up to my expectations. i’ve been yabbering about this film for some time now so i’ll try not to add to the clutter (well, not much anyway). it’s far from perfect of course, but i enjoyed it. the cameo appearances of tom cruise, matthew mcconaughey and tobey maguire (his brief ‘smoldering‘ scenes with robert downey are a blast!) are creamy icing on a yummy cake. go watch it.

so, what’s keeping you awake?

i don’t know if there’s such a thing as a link between coffee and gambling — well, maybe except for the obvious fact that under certain conditions both of them are liable to keep you awake, or at the very least jerk your attention to sudden wakefulness.

coffee has its well-known properties and capacity of keeping conversations alive and to keep you stubbornly limping towards your deadline. of course, it also makes for an excellent excuse to hang out in a cafe these days — especially if you have a few hours to kill. gambling, especially the ubiquitous online casino, on the other hand, has a way of keeping your nose to the grind especially when it involves the possibility that you might enlarge or exhaust your well-guarded treasury. i’ll bet (pun intended) you’ll even feel more ‘alive’ when you’re winnings begin to stack up (naturally, the opposite can make you feel the same, too, or perhaps even worse). if you have a pile of money to burn, though, games such as slots and roulette should be enough to keep your spirits from flagging.
now, if you’ll excuse me, i need to refill my cup to fortify myself for the task ahead (a couple of files that need to be finished asap).

karaoke, anyone?

last sunday, as i was poring over a rack of fun shirts, my attention was suddenly assailed by this wince-inducing, bombastic sound of somebody singing lustily (greatly enhanced by a well-oiled microphone, of course).

…and ay-ayyyyy….  will alwayyys loooove youuuuu!!!

it wasn’t just the grating quality of that voice mind you. despite my assiduous efforts to ignore it, there was just no way of escaping its all-encompassing reach. instinctively, i turned to glance at the enthusiastic performer — a matronly woman in her 50s, who was probably considering buying a karaoke set, was trying out the merchandise with unbridled passion (complete with facial expressions and grand gestures that would put a prima donna to shame).

what was really riveting about that performance was her relentless pursuit of hitting (and consistently failing to reach) the right notes and her mangled pronounciation of certain words — which would have been enough to send me fleeing from the scene, except that i was eventually won over by her courage and and utter lack of self-consciousness (think Cameron Diaz in My Best Friend’s Wedding).

this was her moment. and nobody, not even the wincing and smirking passers-by — nor the long-suffering expression of the sales attendant — can deny her this pleasure of belting out her favorite tune in the middle of Robinson’s Galleria.

which leads me to marvel at how pervasive karaoke has become in the social scene. of course, it’s a well-known fact that karaoke first became popular in Japan (although the concept itself started in the US). the first karaoke machine was invented by a daisuke inoue, whose invention was cited for “providing an entirely new way for people to learn to tolerate each other.” amen.

but i’ll bet only a few people know that the person who actually holds the patent for this device is none other than roberto del rosario, who named his own version “Minus One” (that name ring a bell to you?). apparently, mr. inoue never bothered to apply for a patent to cover his invention. (tsk, tsk, that’s a huge pile of money down the drain)

karaoke ranks as one of the best ways to spend time with your friends and giving in to the secret conviction of yours that — given the right motivation and emboldened by several bottles of beer — you sound just like (or even better than) the original artist. cheers!