Since I have relatively more time in my hands, I was able to catch up on some movie viewings. It can get quite addicting, really. In between doing the written thesis of our short film, I take breaks by watching a movie. The first one is a Spanish film, the two others are the first two installments in the James Bond franchise.
Tags: British films, Hollywood films, movie commentaries, Spanish films
Last Friday, I had my last exams for my undergraduate years in college. After the exams in Mass Media Ethics, our notorious professor, as he is traditionally known for, kept us in class till almost midnight to watch two decades-old Hollywood films. We watched Lost Horizon (1973) and The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971).
We were prepared, however. We had pasta, chicken, chips, and dessert to sustain us for more than ten hours in class. Props to these sweet cupcakes which one of our classmates brought!
Tags: academics, cupcakes, UP Mass Comm
I’ve actually seen the first two films, Atonement and Gone Baby Gone more than a month ago, but academics and the student council elections took most of my time so I wasn’t able to blog about them. I saw Le Grand Chef, a Korean film, around a week ago.
It comes to me with slight surprise that there is little talk among students and bloggers with regards to the imminent shortage of rice in the country. I don’t know, perhaps, as a middle class concern, the pursuit of low-carb diets and the shortage of rice go hand-in-hand? Or perhaps since we all apparently have alternative sources of nutrition, rice shortage isn’t really a primary concern? Or because many of us can afford it at 40 pesos a kilo anyway? I don’t really know. But for the common Filipino who remains to be poor, rice is one of the cheapest foods that sustain his daily nutrition, especially for the many work of his (if any) that require intensive manual labor. Just the thought of rice at 40 or 50 pesos per kilo must be really alarming and terrifying. When shall it be alarming for the rest?
Tags: agriculture, corruption, food shortage, Gloria Arroyo, land reform, political dissent, rice
While blog-hopping, I came across this commercial advertisement from Spain. It is a recent advertisement for Madrid’s underground railway system.
I was not particularly or personally offended by this advertisement. In fact, I found it quite hilarious. Perhaps it’s because I view it as a Filipino, and I thought it simply followed common Filipino humor, even if it relies on our penchant of poking fun at things provincial.
Tags: ethnic stereotypes, humor, post-colonial relations, TV commercial
My thesis partner and I defended our thesis short film yesterday morning. It’s finally over. Congrats, James! I’m glad that all the stress and sleepless nights editing and arguing over how our thesis shall develop or look like are over.
Yesterday was quite stressful. I woke up with a headache, and after taking three doses of ibuprofen the entire day, it barely toned down. And I had the luck of having to take a two hour exam for Sociology 101 after defending my thesis. I felt like going on a painful trance. I barely studied, and with a headache, it was quite excruciating how I had to extract whatever stocked knowledge I had regarding the subject matter. After filling up my blue book with words, I couldn’t recognize what I had written.
Tags: academics, college friends, film student, thesis, UP Film
March 21-22, 2008. The family spent two days in Batangas for the Good Friday and Black Saturday holidays. We dropped by Matabungkay Beach in Lian in the morning of Friday before proceeding to Golden Sunset Resort in Calatagan, where we spent the rest of the short getaway.
We left Quezon City at around four in the morning and arrived in Tagaytay just before six. We had fastfood breakfast in Tagaytay before proceeding to Batangas. Since I barely had any sleep because I spent the entire night till early morning editing my thesis short film, I slept the entire time. We eventually arrived in Matabungkay in Lian, Batangas a little past eight in the morning.
Even if my parents prodded me to take a dip in the salty water to, apparently, help heal my fungal infections, I refused. There was also quite a crowd on the beach and in the waters. Too many rafts, too. Didn’t want to swim at all. I contented myself with taking stolen photographs of Tisay and other people.
Because it was getting pretty boring, we decided to proceed to Golden Sunset Village Resort & Spa in Calatagan where we had a reservation. Didn’t have much fun since I wasn’t really in the vacation-mood at all because of thesis-worries and other such leftover academic concerns. Plus I didn’t feel comfortable swimming with the dark fungal infections I had in some parts of my body. I again just contented myself taking photographs of Tisay, my nieces, and other things around the resort, including the golden sunset from where the place borrows its name.
Tags: Batangas, beach, Calatagan, family, Lian, resort, Tisay, vacation
March 14, 2008. Thousands of students from different universities in Metro Manila marched to Liwasang Bonifacio to continue the clamor for truth and accountability from the scandal-ridden Arroyo administration.
It was the Friday before Holy Week, many students were busy with exams and other final academic requirements for the semester. Despite the academic load and pressure on that day, around a hundred students and teachers from UP Diliman joined the youth rally at Liwasang Bonifacio.
A short program was held at the steps of Palma Hall before we all boarded hired jeepneys to Espana Avenue in Manila, from where we marched all the way through Quiapo until we crossed the Pasig River to Liwasang Bonifacio.
Tags: Espana, Gloria Arroyo, Liwasang Bonifacio, Manila, Palma Hall, Philippine politics, political dissent, rally, UP Diliman, youth sector
