Ten favorites of 2008:
Floating Vendor at Halong Bay, Vietnam
Lagoon at Anawangin, Zambales
Sidi Bou Said side street, Tunisia
El Jem Amphitheater, Tunisia
Temporary jetty at Caramoan, Camarines Sur
Honongan beach construction at Caramoan, Camarines Sur
Naga Seminary
Intramuros Wall
Binondo estero
UP Lantern Parade Fireworks
It struck me that there is hardly any person in the photos! I suck at photographing people.
“If you want me you know where I am. I saw your arms in a dream and there were blue veins blue. Blue veins.” Belle and Sebastian, Simple Things
Too pretty and girly for a Tori song but soothing enough for any occasion.
Mood song of the day. Also, very appropriate for the present global banking troubles: “How do I get you a loan?”
The three worst ways to start a year are to: (1) get sick and/or die; (2) get fired or get dumped; and (3) get depressed. Thankfully in my case it’s not the first two, so I guess I can’t really complain. But still, the last time I was emotionally in the red was exactly eight years ago, which eerily coincided with the last global recession. (The last last time happened during the ‘97 Asian financial crisis. Pattern?) December was incredibly awesome, so it makes sense for January to suck.
Things that are making Kristian sad:
Things that can make Kristian happy:
But maybe it’s just the heat. I would like to hope so.
Oscar Films Update #3:
Milk. A well-made, commercial biopic of the first openly gay man to hold an elected position in the US. It’s hard to reconcile that Gus Van Sant is also responsible for last year’s sublime and more cinematically ambitious Paranoid Park. 8.5/10
Frost/Nixon. The only Ron Howard film I ever liked thus far. Langella is phenomenal as Nixon. 8.5/10
Doubt. It features the best living actors, some smart writing and lovely cinematography. Somehow, these are not enough to elevate Doubt from mediocrity. 7/10
The Reader. Kate Winslet (and her nipples! again!) is the only reason to watch this shallow and emotionally opaque romance-cum-Holocaust film. 6.5/10
The films in the running for this year’s Oscars are, to say the least, underwhelming.
“No, no. It’s because.” – 10cc, I’M Not In Love (in Tagalog, “Hindi no. Kasi naman.”)
This is too funny.
Lovesickness can kill and should be taken more seriously as a legitimate diagnosis, according to health experts….
Prof Alex Gardner, a clinical psychologist in Glasgow and a member of the British Psychological Society, agreed that doctors needed to be more aware of lovesickness as a possible diagnosis.
He said: “People can die from a broken heart.
“You get into a state of despair and hopelessness.”
He said as a result of love, in some people it could lead to an extreme state of physical exhaustion….
Dr Tallis said that before the 18th Century lovesickness had been accepted as a natural state of mind for thousands of years.
He said in modern day terms the symptoms can include mania, such as an elevated mood and inflated self-esteem, or depression, revealing itself as tearfulness and insomnia.
Aspects of obsessive compulsive disorder can also be found in those experiencing lovesickness, such as preoccupation and obsessively checking for text messages and e-mails.
Lovesick losers. Clearly this is not my problem.
And yes, why not another video? Nothing beats the slow, drifting and extremely sarcastic 70s original but since Youtube has been acting up lately, we settle for Olive’s hipper version.
“My dear dear dear khalana, I talk too much about you. Their ears are getting tired from me singing all the night through.” – Animal Collective, The Purple Bottle.
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Words of encouragement to self: quit whining, suck it up and stop blaming others. Sheesh. But really, why do people have to suffer unnecessarily? How can brief innocent moments cause so much chronic emotional pain. Is it all worth it? Cue melancholic piano music. What good does posting this entry here do? Is world peace possible? Does life exist on Mars? Will the world end in 2012 as the Mayans predicted? Will Filipinos finally get to know who Gretchen Espina is? Difficult questions.
Edit: This may provide some answers. Turns out I match three personality types: The Thinker/The Observer, The Romantic/The Artist, and The Peacemaker (or alternatively: often cold, sometimes emo, and always passive). Maybe.
“One single night with you little [insert any name here] is worth a thousand with anybody.” – Julie Delpy, Waltz for a Night (from Before Sunset)
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And we’ll all float on okay. – Modest Mouse, Float On
The sight of bridges and balloons makes calm canaries feel irritable. And they caw and claw all afternoon, catenaries and dirigibles. – Joanna Newsom, Bridges and Balloons
Oscars. More films update:
The Wrestler. Astounding performances from Mickey Rourke and Marisa Tomei (and her pierced nipples!). An uncharacteristically low-key filmmaking from the otherwise bold and stylistic Aronofsky. Rourke for the Oscar. 9/10
Happy-Go-Lucky. Mike Leigh always draws the best performances out of his actors (think British greats Brenda Blethyn, Timothy Spall, Imelda Staunton) and Sally Hawkins is no exception. She makes a borderline-annoying optimist a full-blooded character. At least a nomination for her please. 8.5/10
Frozen River. Melissa Leo is heartbreaking as a desperate mother in this cold, unflattering portrait of rural American poverty. 8.5/10
Travel. We’re off to Kota Kinabalu in Sabah on Valentine’s Day weekend. Modest expectations since really how exotic can Sabah get? Hoping Malaysia will place at least 5th in my favorite countries list (at the moment: 1. Vietnam 2. Tunisia 3. Italy 4. China 5. South Korea)
Showbiz. Over the past week, I’ve dreamt about Charice Pempengco, Karylle and Dionisia Pacquiao.
Corn and Cheese. Things are finally back to normal now although I am still intolerably cheesy (with lines like: “I can be your Florentino Ariza and I wouldn’t mind waiting half a century too” running in my head. Yikes! Sorry for the relapse. Don’t be creeped out, I’m getting there.)
I wanna hold you in the bible black pre-dawn. You’re quite a quiet domino. Bury me now. – Wilco, I Am Trying To Break Your Heart
Your skin is something that I stir into my tea. And I am watching you. And you are starry, starry, starry. – Joanna Newsom, Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie
Oscar Films Update:
Slumdog Millionaire. So irresistibly charming and heartfelt that its shortcomings can be forgiven. Cynical critics should eventually give in to its entertaining and earnest final third. After No Country For Old Men’s win, we deserve something lighter this year I think. 8.5/10
Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Penelope is wonderful as always. ScarJo is mediocre as always. Perhaps one of Allen’s best recent works. 8/10
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. The script and the material does not justify its 3-hour length. Everything else however, from the direction, cinematography, production design, music, make up and visual effects, are excellent, although Brad Pitt once again is outshined (by Cate Blanchett this time). 7.5/10
Meanwhile, one of the best things about the unnecessary Beatles pseudo-tribute film called Across the Universe is this song. Beautiful. (This is for you. Yikes!)
All the recent (internal? imaginary?) commotion has prevented me from dedicating due space and time to Marcel Proust and his Great Novel, a book that, along with Joyce’s Ulysses, has permanently changed me like no other. 
I started this new year by finishing an old love affair that spanned more than three years, beginning with the first time I laid eyes and fingers on a copy of Swann’s Way on an August Saturday afternoon in Powerbooks Megamall. Getting through the 3700-page maze that is In Search of Lost Time felt quite as hard as completing a thesis but the rewards turned out to be doubly gratifying. (Thousands of people finish a thesis each year but really how many finish all of Proust? Yes, snobby I know, but it’s that big a deal!). I will definitely miss the asthmatic and neurotic narrator; his complex, obsessive affair with Albertine; the unique characters that populate the fashionable salons of early 20th century Paris; the philosophical meditation on time, place, love, friendship, art, jealousy, inversion, war, food and many other interesting things; and the exceptional beauty of the long, winding and intricate Proustian sentences.
A madeline and tea for Proust! Cheers to time regained!
