On the Way to Recovery

Janeiro 28– 3

On the Way to Recovery

Soundtrack of the Week

1. Wait a Minute [PCD]
2. Someday [NINA]
3. Hurt [AGUILERA]
4. In the Name of the Father [CHOU]
5. Save Room [LEGEND]

Movie of the Week: Curse of the Golden Flower

• When our parents argue we are sometimes forced to choose a side and when it gets worse they usually divorce (at least in the USA). Question. What happens when you are in ancient China, Tang Dynasty? Your father, the emperor, is adding a poisonous substance to your mother’s “anemia” medicine. Your mother, the empress, is canoodling with your elder half brother. Your younger brother has lethal “Nobody-cares-about-me” issues. Your parents often stare daggers at each other and they both have an army at their command. What would you do? Ladies and gentlemen, Zhang Yimou’s latest film: Curse of the Golden Flower.
• Acting-wise I don’t really understand why Penélope Cruz was given an Oscar nod while Gong Li was snubbed. I’ve seen Volver, yes Penélope delivered a great performance but hey I’ve seen this one too and I agree with Time Magazine 100% that China’s premiere dragon lady was indeed robbed of a nomination!
• The palace in this movie puts the palace in Princess Hours to shame.
• All the while I thought Marie Antoinette was a lock for the Oscar Best Costume Design statuette, after seeing this film though I think it will give Marie Antoinette a run for its money, lol.
• Most shocking part for me was the part when the youngest sibling demonstrated his hidden hatred for his half-brother; hahaha may potential si bunso! Na latigo ka tuloy ni daddy, lol.
• Mabubusog ang mga mata mo sa pelikulang ito promise, kaso kung iisipin mo maigi para siyang soap opera na ginawang movie, hence the Dynasty comparison. Yun ang pinagkaiba niya sa The Banquet ni Zi Yi Zhang.
• Wag manood kung iyakin. Opo, tragedy itong palabas na ito.
• Mate-test mo sa movie na ito kung Mama’s boy/girl ka o Papa’s boy/girl.
• Why is the empress so obsessed with embroidering golden Chrysantemums for Christmas? (Joke!) Watch the movie to find out.
• The costumes are WOW. The production design is WOW. I wonder how much budget this film had. Ang dami kong nakitang ginto ha, lol.
• Naiisip ko rin para siyang one step higher than Mr and Mrs Smith ni Brangelina. Kasi di ba nag evolve yun from Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf ba? Tapos nagkaroon na sila ng hight tech gadgets. Ito naman meron na silang dysfunctional family tapos ancient China ang setting, hehehe.
• If you find Gong Li’s Lady Murasaki a little bit boring, watch this to see her other side. You are in for a ride. Great film IMHO.

The Historian: There was a time when I hoarded books from National Bookstore and this was one of them. Not really a Dracula fan but this gives a unique twist to the story. Di ko pa tapos. Ang nakakainis sa librong ito hindi ko maisara sara! 4 AM in the morning and your eyes are half closed yet you still can’t put it down and mind you 800+ pages long! Don’t read if you don’t have time.

Mental Health: I am more than happy to know that my brain is back on the negotiating table. Offered Elizabeth Kostova’s The Historian as a “welcome-back” gift. Restructured reading habits to cater not only to academic readings but leisure readings as well (fiction of course) Learning to not obsess on thinking about stuff not relevant with the present that could ruin focus. Recovering.

Languages: Revised program for eveyday self-learning of languages. Limited target languages to Korean and Portuguese; the former as a hobby and a much needed break from French and Italian, the latter as a job improvement campaign. Bought cheap DVD copy of Princess Hours to aid in Korean language learning and immersion. Surfed the net for Brazilian Portuguese nitty-gritty.

Work: The weekend shift is great. I now view work as a weekend affair. It ends my week while school starts it. Learning new Brazilian Portuguese stuff, specially its differences with its continental counterpart. Doing well at work, being competitive enough to stay in the game but not overdoing it to stress myself out. I’ve learned to view my job as a constant challenge and I think that’s a good thing.

Academics: Had the penultimate exam before the end of the Midterms season. I definitely did bad in that exam, lol. One Midterm exam to go next week and then I can rest. Results of previous Midterms already in and they were not that bad, actually closer to good. Attended a seminar on Biodiversity and environment stuff. Interesting talk, enlightening. Still recovering.

Heroes: I said this was one of my favorite TV shows but back then I only read transcripts. Now I got hold of a pirated DVD copy and wow I could finally say that I’m now a total fan, lol! Gasgas na yung mutant storyline and we saw how Mutant X failed miserably but this is different. I just wish na sana ma sustain ang momentum at di magaya sa Lost na na lost na talaga, hehehe, peace fans.