Sound Of My Voice Movie

While browsing around the latest movie posters, I happened to find Sound of My Voice, wherein a journalist and his girlfriend investigates a cult that claims to hail from the future. One movie poster looked like one of those old book covers, and another had this cryptic hand sequence that I had to figure out somehow. (Then  I learned it’s from the same guy who made the Tree of Life and Martha Marcy May Marlene posters)

Poster design by Mark Carroll

I tried searching for the movie’s website, and if you type it wrong, you end up in a blog about the Windows operating system. Surprisingly, the real website allows you to view the first twelve minutes of this 2011 film directed by Zal Batmanglij. Throughout the course of the twelve minutes, there are nine clues that link to other web pages to back up the story. I like these snippets of information because it hooks viewers for a real-world interaction, and it’s intriguing to think that these groups can actually exist. Another interesting thing is the discussion page, wherein viewers can comment and solve the clue presented on screen. Since the characters of the film are very unusual and puzzling, you can’t help but to laugh at the trolls’ comments right after long interpretations from people taking it seriously. Here’s an interview with Brit Marling, who plays Maggie, the cult leader in the film.

It’s pretty absorbing advertising for a cult movie, and I’m wondering how could I ever get to see the whole film. Do you have a few minutes? Check it out at  www.soundofmyvoicemovie.com

 

Office Blessing

After bringing my mom to the airport and my sister to Makati, I attended Timeframe Media’s office blessing last February 8.

Just as Brother Joel said, God must not be compartmentalized. He is wherever we go, and the workplace is no exception. Congratulations Timeframe Media! May you have more years and projects to come!

Jobstreet: link

February concerts

I haven’t been completely committed to delivering content at least twice a week as stated in the About page. So here I am, trying to catch up on the past months in short, casual blog posts. Let’s start with 26 February 2012:

Mom was lucky enough to get a few tickets to Lea Salonga’s concert in Venice Piazza, McKinley Hill, Taguig. I was completely excited for the event because I’ve admired Lea Salonga for as long as I could remember. Growing up, I read about her life through some prescribed school books, and I was even encouraged to take up singing. (Of course, people who know me must be aware how cruel that possibility is.)

She had a sore throat that night, and oh boy, that didn’t even show in her voice. I absolutely loved that she sang a couple of songs from Wicked, and from her long and illustrious career in broadway. I was so happy when I got my CD signed. SO HAPPY.

I could say that my ‘watching Lea Salonga perform live’ bucketlist item can be partially crossed out, but I still am hoping to see her perform on broadway, may it be for some anniversary special or a new musical. I’ll be in a dream-like state.

_____

Commonly how my brother acts, he surprised us with tickets to Love and Laughter, a post Valentine concert held in the Newport Performing Arts Theater last February 29. As part of Resort World Manila’s concert series, it starred Karylle, Christian Bautista,  Nanette Inventor, the Opera Belles, and Primos. It was a grand, comedic, and vividly sweet performance fueled by the inexhaustible energy of the cast. The best part was the Kitchen Musical medley. I should mention that the whole thing lasted for around three hours, and that if you would ever watch a show in that theater, bring a blanket for survival.

Of course, you're not allowed to take photographs during the show!

We had Karylle sign a CD and poster for my niece, as a present for our young and hopeful singer. I went home thinking that I should be looking for the monologue Nanette Inventor performed… and because it sounded like the perfect piece for a typography animation video. (Hmmmmm… It’s been a month, I should probably start.)

Oh hey! It's K and Christian!

Well as of writing, I’m tempted to purchase a seat to The Sound of Music on May 18, at the same luxurious theater. Most likely because the deal allows you to get 4 movie passes too. I’ve got less than four days to decide!

A Weekend – Philippine Jazz Fest 2012

Audrey Cruz with Edza HQ

I first attended a Philippine Jazz Fest event as a university student. Nyko Maca and the Playground was scheduled for that fateful day in our college auditorium, and it was one of those afternoons that my classmates must have thought I was going bonkers while snapping and dancing silently on my seat. It must have been one of those days when I made a mental note to do myself a favor— learn music.

Years later, I found myself sitting through another show, but now right here as close to home. Megaworld sponsored some Philippine Jazz Fest events that we have not missed once that weekend. An interest doubly pressured by my mother who loved Kevyn Lettau, an international bossa nova/jazz singer, who had returned to our shores. My mom even got to fulfill a long-standing wish to get an autographed CD from Ms. Lettau. *clap clap*

I loved that weekend since I got to discover acts to my liking. To see how performers radiated onstage with flawless talent and energy will be an inspiration for as long as music plays. I am totally proud of these Filipino artists; all of them have true potential to take on the global music scene.

Sadly, my photographs are hazy and incomprehensible, and ultimately, the best way to experience a music festival is by listening to the music when you’re there, and so everything else becomes a blur. *wink* And as for my little resolution as a university student, I’ve made baby steps into learning. The difficulty of this craft is a factor that adds to my respect of those who mastered it already.

To learn more about the Philippine Jazz Fest (which ends tomorrow… oops), please visit http://www.pijazzfest.com/

Logos Hope in Manila

We were around Manila at the time we decided to visit Logos Hope, which is docked until March 13 at Pier 15. Luckily, we were able to arrive before the closing time of 21:30.

The left side of the picture faces Hotel H2O

An entry ticket costs PHP20, and a video introduction is played to acquaint visitors with the sections aboard.

Welcome aboard!

The ship carries 5,000 titles with a wide scope of topics. Items are priced in units, which depend on the currency of the host country. I managed to get Saladin’s 5th edition Anatomy and Physiology and a copy of Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment. It was my chance to start all over again after my first copies were flooded away back in 2009. We also grabbed three audio CDs, which were very reasonably priced. (We had Susan Boyle singing for us on the way home.)

Book Fair

A volunteer from Malaysia, wearing a balloon hat, delivered an announcement in Tagalog over the PA system. Everyone stopped browsing books for a bit and stood amused by his likable pronunciation. At any section of the boat, you can get to interact with crewmembers about the experiences they had aboard or about their life’s stories. There are also theaters and sections for counseling by the tail-end of the ship.

International Cafe

When I was younger, we used to visit MV Doulos, a sister ship with the same purpose. Now almost at an universally legal age, I wondered into volunteering for a post aboard for a couple of years, inherently because of the same ideals and motivation as those 400 current volunteers. It’s been a dream to embark on a journey, empowering the humanitarian spirit and sharing wisdom to the hopefuls around the world. I’d place this to consideration someday when I’ve stabilized a means of living.

Mouse

 

An evening, eleven and four minutes on a Saturday, everyone has plans. I am wide awake to post-rock on deck, that leads me to ask who these people are and how their limbic systems matured. How I even thought of that, I don’t recall. So the internet, as so many of us have treated it, will live for the lonely and so I ask Google what I thought. It takes me down a trail of scientific studies and ultimately one, linked rock music to depression. I snubbed the factual accuracy and hated how it failed to note what specific genre of rock it applied to the experiment, as if it was my primary source of inclination to read through. I also hardly believed my representation to the experimental group of mice. Nonetheless in print, it said, mice that listened insatiably to an unmentioned rock group for three weeks, cannot find the cheese that they were skilled to search for initially. They had no direction, groped through the walls, while their classical or silence tested counterparts smoothly navigated the maze. The study stated that hippocampal damage was evident, noting significantly also the frontal lobe shrinkage of the now memory and reasoning handicapped, hungry mouse. It slyly concluded that the right kind of people must have listened to the right kind of music in their earlier years.

Suddenly my mobile phone rings and I lower the music player volume. My mother’s voice resonates from the receiving end but the words were incomprehensible and strangely melodious with the songs I had playing. As if a message was being sent as an extraterrestrial song, something we could not understand in the mind, but the heart alluringly takes comfort in. Recoiling on the sofa, I say “alright, ok” which is the safest answer to a situation like this. She hangs up, her credits lost in gain of the communications network provider. The clock reads eleven and forty-five minutes into another Saturday evening, and naturally, my eyes shifted to the humble computer screen.

What was I doing again?

 

Recycled Klimt calendar

In a random visit to a Fully Booked branch in Bonifacio High street, I found a 2011 Gustav Klimt teNeus calendar in an insanely discounted price . As the hand behind many of the world’s highly valuable paintings, Klimt was definitely the type of man whose works would be immortalized in everyday objects. It wouldn’t hurt to recycle the old calendar for a gift.

Great deals on the fifth floor! haha

We reused an old frame rescued from the infamous Ondoy flooding back in 2009. Then with some measurements and alterations to the sizing, we were able to frame three reproductions of Klimt’s artworks for my brother’s residence.

Tear off a page

Remember to cut off the artwork’s title and include it in the frame for reference.

Materials!

Reuse an old frame!

Be neat! Make light pencil marks

A personalized gift incredibly adds to the show of appreciation for people you hold dear to your heart, most especially if there isn’t an occasion for giving so. This spontaneity and creativity makes gifts unique, and you don’t always have to spend a lot to make someone happy.

Valentine’s pickings

Eventually, Valentine’s day had to fall on a blog scheduled Tuesday. Let me take you around some of my on hand “love themed” pickings.

Two years since live on Youtube, this video still gets to me! It’s hard to ignore this toddler’s adorable talent. It just had to end in my bookmarked list. In a totally irrelevant side note, Billy Collins’ The Art of Drowning is one of my favorite poems. Diego Maclean really gave justice to the piece with this animated video (http://vimeo.com/13110245)

I initially heard Damien Jurado’s Museum of Flight in Blalock’s Indie Rock Playlist for February 2012. The lyrics are straightforward and golden. Just the type of song you’d nod in accordance. Amen.

For a love transcends all type of movie, check out…. Hmmm.. Across the Universe (2007)!

I’ve been subscribing to PHD Comics for over a month now. They’re comics about the world of research and heck, I don’t even remember why I subscribed. But they’re hilarious in a geeky type of way. Check out their comic for the Valentine time (lolz. Valentine time): http://www.phdcomics.com/comics.php?n=1470

And of course, check out Google’s doodle for today. (Halatang tinamad na lolz) I originally planned to put up some acoustic covers but hey, I’m entitled to practice more. The record producer within me says so. While the literary critic says, “don’t you go and have the nerve to post your love letters to no one. Don’t you dare!” Hahahaha yikes.

But seriously, everyday should be a manifestation of love for your friends and family. But if this day suits to be a reflection of your responsibilities, the things that must be amended, and the magic that occurs between people that presumably lasts a lifetime, then use the day wisely. Before I go into a litany of resolutions, have a cup of tea and read this article instead. It’s about adding milk to tea and how it can hinder heart disease protection: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6241139.stm. We’re talking about hearts, aren’t we?

Ending: I hope everyone had a great day! Woot!

Buffet

One of these days you’ll get the urge to try out that new eat-all-you-can joint down the block with some friends, or perhaps alone in the verge of spontaneity. These places excite your salivary glands and churn up the hydrochloric acid, and you leave feeling large even after days on the toilet rim. You get a seat, leave your satchel to mark your territory and head towards the endless rows of sushi, raw meat, chicken entrees, and so on. Suddenly, you appreciate vegetables and fruits. Suddenly, you appreciate the cuisine of faraway lands. The assigned chef is more than willing to serve you a ladle of noodles. You stuff your plate, your mouth; You talk without a worry in the world, not caring about the rising triglyceride levels in your blood, or the stones forming in your gallbladder. Your mindset is focused on finishing everything and maybe grabbing another opportunity to return. Customer is king; you’re the honored guest for being able to pay. You laugh at how your friend gobbles like a monster, or how the guy at the next table hogs the dessert bar. You assign dishes according to the size of people. A Korean stands up and dances to the music, while waiters encourage the rest of the jolly folk to follow through. It’s a fun place, a hybrid of some university cafeteria and an in-house hotel restaurant for middle-class men. It’s a place for no remorse, not even if four million families outside its doors are hungry, waiting, watching.

Some Apps

Checking the Apple app store has evolved into a weekly habit of mine, and often it’s true that if you browse a little further, you would get to discover some gems beneath all the other commercially successful apps that dominate the charts. The Genius feature is supposed to cut the work as it recommends new apps based on installed ones, but I happen to be happier with the self discoveries than opting a suggestion that usually has the same features, although different design as the app I already got. Of course, selecting what apps to download is a decisive task due to the time and money you’re giving, so almost instantly, a well written description and the word, ‘free’, attracts my attention. I’d like to take you along as I tinker with 3 apps.

Baybayin 1.0

I had no doubts in downloading an educational app about the Filipino script. Headed by Jose Jaime Enage, Baybayin 1.0 opens with a background about the usage of the ancient script, teaches you how to write the different characters, and allows you to post your work on social networking sites.  The woven straw and bamboo design adds native appeal to the otherwise advanced method of introducing a system of writing to the world. I definitely would want to see more educational apps about the Philippines!

Mightybell

As lifted from their website FAQ, Mightybell is “a social software application based on a simple idea: success comes from thinking big, but acting incrementally.” Basically it’s a how-to guide operating with magazine-like visuals and an engaged community. Coined as a Mightybell Experience, topics can advise you what to do as you climb a mountain to topics that teach you how to code, and sometimes to realizing what it takes to be called a Duran Duran fan. It’s funny that I never really toyed with it (downloaded it last year hahaha) until I noticed regular emails that reminded me to continue on the current Mightybell Experience I had running. They released the beta version of their website, so go ahead and register if you want to. There’s a dash of curiosity as you get to advance in each step. Users can make their own experiences (with a fee for now), a user can support others/ have supporters to complete an experience. I’d imagine it in a classroom setting, where students can complete the course through the experience.

Tanzen

I would like to pull a Hemingway here with six words only to describe this app: relaxing tanagram puzzles to pass time. You have to  place all shapes in the shaded area with no pieces overlapping. I was immediately hooked, especially when I discovered that the puzzles were endless! This is my favorite app to play when waiting in line for something. I could remember having a yellow cardboard box with black plastic pieces, in the same goal of forming a shape as depicted on the box, when I was younger.

Well that’s it for now! I didn’t imagine as a child that technology would grow into this behemoth of addictive interactions. As children nowadays would play on their own smart gadgets, I would still recall the days when we spent playing in parks, throwing rocks, and making a mess out of everything. Ahh. I feel old.