Mister Roboto

Le Chatelier's Principle:
"Complex systems tend to oppose their own proper function."


I, Robot is the new movie starring Will Smith involving him in the "man against the machine" theme melded with the question of Darwin's evolutionary survival. The twists involved are obtuse, while the plot is linearly predictable which makes this film not that "spectacular" or memorable but with it's flashy visual effects and cgi animations, this makes the movie a notch below Minority Report. Though linear, the mystery and the fast pacing keeps you at the edge of your seat. The dialogue is cliched and very very hollywood with all their pregnant pauses and their saccharin expressions- well what do you expect with a high-budgeted sci-fi schlock from tinsel town? However, the advantages outweighs the downsides. The action and the thrill of the chase keeps your eyes on the screen.

I give it 7.5/10.

Murphisms

The Cardinal Conundrum:

"The Optimist believes we live in the best
of all possible worlds. The Pessimist
fears this is true."

Movie of the Toilet Bowl

I went to Robinson's Place today with Jorin and watched "King Arthur." I just realized the following:

1. The higher the budget for any historical fantasy Hollywood film is directly proportional in terms of the cheeziness, crappiness, corniness and stupidity of its acting and characters.

2. That any Euro-historical film done in English will sport that bloody English accent. No exceptions noted.

3. The more fantastical the story is, the more fantastical is the logic of its actors. Imagine just staring at your enemy when the ice beneath your feet has already cracked off. ... Or indulging in a piteous caterwauling of a speech about freedom, friendship and other stupidly profound subjects just as when the enemy is about to attack your fort.

4. You see one Roman-themed film, you've seen them all. If Maximus in Gladiator sported an impassive poker face, so will Artorius (Arthur) but more crappier. If you've seen Legolas, the elves, & Helms deep, then you will find it refreshing to find them recreated in King Arthur.

5. The "wear & tear" of costumes of historical films (especially Roman films) corresponds to the number of days of shooting. Roman armors after "so-called" countless battles remain spotless without dent or wrinkle. It's already bad enough that the acting is so fake.

Don't believe me? Go watch it!

Also,
6. The person two seats beside you clad in sando will intermittently expectorate into the floor fronting him. And you think these things do not happen. Only in the Philippines. People think that their P75 ticket aslo bought them the right to trash the place. ***sigh

Shitty Shitty Bang Bang

I am A Shit Brick .

The Shit brick is usually the kinda person that doesn't like doing much. Turning down a nice romp in the park to his or her favorite television show and a nice big Mac or a box of chicken nuggets. Though shit bricks have their anti social flaws, what they lack in social values they make up for in laziness... But I guess that isn't a good thing either way.. Ok, shit bricks are just lazy fucks...
What Kinda Shit Are You?

Snot & Colds

I definitely have the colds. My eyes can't stop watering and my sinuses are clogged with a mountainful of mucus. I already took Tuseran and Biogesic but it seems it's not that effective. Well, I should know, shouldn't I? ***sigh*** Mostly it's viral so all treatment is therapeutic and symptom-based. Good thing, there were Sylvanas in the fridge. Mmmm!

Got a pirated DVD from ol' trusty Quiapo. It's called "Mishima" which is primarily based on the life of Japan's most prolific and distinguished post-WWII author, Yukio Mishima. I thought at first, "Ah.. Japan.. my homeland... anything from there is good." I guess I was mistaken, 'cuz the film itself was too "poetic" that watching it akins to appreciating paintings by Mirò or Basquiat in one sitting. One, it was boring and bereft of anything "samurai" unlike the films of Kurosawa. But pettiness aside, the film is a wonderfully made and sincere portrayal of the author-schizophrenic. The music which was composed by Richard Glass is very haunting and appropriate for Mishima.

Down with a cold!

I dunno what the hell's happening but suddenly (more like the whole afternoon) I feel as if I was going down with a cold. Good thing there's Paracetamol around because at least in this way, the symptoms won't be as bad. Most likely, this is just a viral infection so antibiotics are out of the question (for the time being.) But damn, that feeling of fatigue, heavy eyes, raspy throat, and increased frequency of sneezing, makes the condition worse than it seems.

Nana, Raprap and I went to Robinsons Place today to buy some groceries. Goodness, the prices have skyrocketed so much that our one cart-full of groceries (mainly veggies, meat, toiletries & household items) costed us like 3k. When I was still in college, say 1998, P1,500 worth of goods are already sufficient for the monthly use. But now, our peso value has sunked so much that it is not worth anything at all. Your P100 can now only buy a couple of items, unlike then, when that kind of money can already buy a family-size pizza.

I also bought an internet card from Mega store near National bookstore. I was rudely awaken last night by the sudden disconnection of my presumably unlimited PLDT Vibe postpaid internet line.  Reason? Well, that fucked-up company said that I overused over P2k worth of internet hours, consequently, my account was blocked until the 1st of the next month REGARDLESS of PAYMENT of the BILL FOR THE CURRENT MONTH! So, I asked that since I paid my bill for this month, won't the usage also revert back to zero? The guy said, "No sir, regardless of payment made, usage is charged from the 1st of the month." Huh? So, what's the use of paying on time? And furthermore, why don't they inform the users that such can occur and will occur regardless of loyal payment of bills? Just to show you that logic and reason here in the Philippines is and ever will be skewed.  It's not very customer-friendly of them to treat its customers this way.  So right now, I have to contend myself with a trusty anonymous internet card and an upcoming sniffles. Pass me the Tempra, will you?

Ahh... be sure to check-out this satirical site (Thank God for small miracles!):
http://www.pldt.com

Prayer for the Stressed

Bizu ala Carte!

Ready for the kill!!


All smiles from here! 

ahem ahem ahem... allow me to clear my throat... the photo above was taken when? last may? yes, it was.. last may. anyways, jan paul hormillosa of new york arrived here last may for a long vacation. and during his last leg, he stayed near gb4 in makati and during our last gimmik with him, we went to bizu, that swanky dessert resto in greenbelt 4. the place was painted ochre and purple like cheeze and ube, perhaps to stimulate the appetite. there were lots of yuppies and buena familias there... obviously oblivious to the dessert. ohhh... the dessert... those sinful delectable mounds of sweetness. i ordered vanilla shake to go with my cheezecake/mousse and at first i was a bit disappointed at the proportions given. well, this was a big irony. it's because the cake was so heavy and laden with cream, chocolate ganache, and syrup that after a few bites, i surrender to its prowess... so there were: Terai, Jp, Me, and Robinson all prepared to indulge into the most sinful desserts imaginable. mmmmmmm.... the chocolate was intoxicating,... so rich... so sticky that it clings to the palate and the cream so ....well, creamy. anyways, the service is such that is expected from those swanky gb4 restos. crisp, clean cut and somewhat efficient....but not that creative and attentive to the customers

Ratings: (5* criteria)
Interiors: ***
Food:****
Value for Money:***
Service:***
Overall: ***
 

Conyo Islands

Are you feeling tired? Down in the dumps? Need a laughtrip?

Then, go to:

http://www.blurty.com/users/caffeinerush/

http://schadenfreude.blog-city.com/read/390719.htm

Geez, these coño pricks really have delusions of grandeur.

Filipinas, Filipinas

Filipinas

Filipinas, Filipinas,
Where art thou, my country’s bride?
Have you gone deep into slumber?
In your shame you do now hide?

 

For today your children’s ember
hast lost their glorious past.
For none shall burn nor remember
In the season of your last.

 

This was a poem I wrote a couple of weeks ago, but it's still not yet finished. =) So far this is the first part pa lang... I am mulling over if I'm going to replace the last quatrain with this:

 

‘Tis centuries to still remember
the beauty of your past
but now ‘tis a bleak December
in the season of your last.

 

The rhythm fits but it lack a certain oomph! It's neither as regal nor as well-rounded as the first one, but I have a feeling I'm going to keep this too. And the next two quatrains goes on like this:

 

Filipinas, Filipinas,
Look! Your children gone astray
To the valley of the fallen

Your kindness they did betray.

 

Your mountaintops are barren
Your seas swelled with much debris
This infamy not be forgotten
In the annals of history.

 

However, the flow and sense I am not satisfied. I feel it's a bit mediocre and style not that convincing. The next quatrains shall soon follow I guess, perhaps in the coming days. We'll see.

 

 

DVD pirates, Quiapo and Art films gone loco!

I am really not that fond of artfilms at first because of the lack of exposure and the availability of materials in local video rental shops. It's true! Go to any decent video shop and ask if they have, let's say, Amelie, most of the time, they would only shake their heads faster than a tree shedding it's leaves in autumn. It was the Hollywood schlok that ruled the nest. Even during the vcd era, there were not a lot of artflicks other than the asian horror genre.  Back then, it was what? Ringu, the Phone, Pang Brother's The Eye. But that was it.  It was only after I got hooked on dvds that I learned to appreciate artfilms as a whole. The first film i bought was Cuaron’s “Y Tu Mama Tambien", followed by “Crime of Padre Amaro", and the rest was, well, history. The amount and type of dvd artfilms available depends on what the quiapo bootlegged dvd market supplies. There, you can buy any artfilm for P65-70, which is also the price of watching a hollywood film in, let’s say, Robinson’s mall. If you go there, just ask for the foreign films. They would say, “boss, poren? poren?” Because foreign films are hard to come by, supply for it is small even if the demand is huge, so a full supply of pasolini’s “Decameron” dvd now will be no more in less than a week. I vascillated, so I wasn’t able to get a copy. damn. I mean, if you want to go treasure hunting for artfilms & classics, quiapo is the place to be. It’s what people in internet threads call “the dvd lair", so most probably you’ve gone there too. =)
 
A week ago, i went to Quiapo (Ahhh... that veritable ghetto for everything illegal) and bought criterion collection’s “Seven Samurai", “L’Appartement” and even the disgusting “Salo.” Talk about luck. and you won’t find any originals in Astrovision or Odyssey. So, who says we must not to patronize piracy when in fact there are no original counterparts for artfilms being sold in legitimate stores? And besides, though I don’t advocate pirating Philippine films, piracy of arthouse films brings movie appreciation to a higher level wherein the masa can now appreciate reading subtitles. And besides, collecting these films is a good way of building my own filmlibrary or archive since the pirated dvd copies are quite good and the quality seldoms depreciate over time unlike vhs or vcd. Suddenly a thought of guilt ran through my brain, but thankfully, looking all those neatly stacked up dvds pushed that thought away. What a relief! Long live DVD piracy in the Philippines!!

Dawn of the New Error

Thank God I found this site.... a new blog a new beginning. There have been blogs for which I am a habitue of like Demented http://demented.so-phobic.com where a small circle of close friends update themselves with their daily grind, and a group blog in Yahoo groups composed of retired CAT officers also whooping about their daily grind. Ugh!
 
But now! Mwahahahahah! Mwahahahaha! I have my own blog where I can shout to the world! I can now hear Dr. Frankenstein in the black&white background say, "Igor! It's Aliiiive! It's Aliiiive!!" And so, without much further ado, I hereby declare this blog officially open!
 
clap! clap! clap! Thank you! Thank you!