Who are they

Just came from watching CSI: Miami.

It can't be helped that they'd be compared to CSI. So, this is my first impression, I know I can't judge on one episode alone so I'll with hold judgement til then. But, I just gotta say.... Horatio Kane (David Caruso)? *wince* I hope he'll stop trying to copy Gil Grissom's mannerisms, the intense looks Caruso shoots does not shout intellectual.

And, the CSI: Miami cast don't gel like the CSI Vegas team, their like a bunch of beautiful people thrown in without any semblance of unity.

*sigh* I couldn't help adding that. Here's hoping they'd get better.



Playing with small fry

It's finally happened, the most dread moment in my life, I never thought it could happen, the thought was there but it never registered. I always thought I had a safety net but.... it's gone, left in the night.

I now have to be truly *shudder* responsible.

Okay, so I overdid it but, heck I have to cook from now til mom arrives, and the only thing I can cook well is boiling eggs! Spreading mayonnaise on the bread!
The horror! The horror of my own cooking!

Good news of it though: Yaya Mercy is giving birth as we speak.

So, there's a good in it even though I would end up killing half the neighborhood.

[Add] Saw the Return of the King trailer.... it's so... from the music and their faces, it was so filled with despair, if i hadn't read the books before watching I'd think.... man, that's so... sad [/add]

Hmph. I got my mamo-chan back *biida* Lacaille! har har har! XDDDDD



Who's Your Anime Boyfriend?

Reflection: Mirror Reversed



There are times when a nation undergoes a horrific, scarring experience that immediately after that a person or nation is defined by that one event in history. For the Jewish people it was the Holocaust, for the Filipino people, to smaller extent, the Martial Law Period.

Looking back on Philippine History, it's almost ludicrous since the Filipinos suffered more under a three hundred rule, but then, the 20 years of Martial Law is so fresh and new and the Colonial rule under Spain is a distant memory remembered only by men and women over 100 years of age.

It is too easy to lay blame on Marcos for our current difficulties, we have done our own damage to the economy but undoubtedly he built the foundation of our difficulties. Marcos began his presidential run beloved by all since his first term bore fruits of his labor, then his second term began.

Let me be clear on one thing, I believe to an extent that he began as a good man with good intentions, but he ended his run of power as a power hungry man who plundered our nation. I also believe Martial Law or Monarchy could work, if and only if the ruler/leader was strong enough not to be tempted by Power and was able to sacrifice his/her personal ambition for the good of all. It can happen but only under these specific conditions.


Ninoy Aquino was a good man, this much is true. No man who can walk to their deaths, with their eyes open can be called otherwise, regardless if he was already dying. It takes great measure and strength, as **Coraline once said, "When you're scared but you still do it anyway, that's brave."
And no truer words, it is easier to say one is ready to die for their counrty, harder to do when faced with the decision of stepping on the plane, where inevitably it would land to an execution.

Ninoy was the first man to be sent in the caboose, when Martial Law was first declared, under the false charges of sedition, he spent 7 years in prison with other political prisoners. It was a horrifying experience, stripped naked and forced to depend wholly on his captors.

He stood-up for his beliefs and over underwhelming pressure refuse to have a defense attorney because he considers the court of law a sham, a kangaroo court he called it.

Ninoy was a remarkable man, a perfect arch-nemesis to Marcos. Both started as promising young men, able to do what few men could do in the tender age of 17. Marcos defended himself against a trial, Ninoy was the youngest correspondent to cover the Korean War, at 19 he became the Mayor of Concepcion but was unseated because he was too young.

It is said you know a man by his enemies, and that an enemy is often the flip side of the coin, a mirror reversed. They honor each other in that regard. They were on seperate paths that could only end in one result: Death.

Death can be a defeat, but in that last hour of his life, he was not defeated. He became a symbol of hope and defiance, the Filipinos marched away from their homes, stood on the streets finally finding the courage from a man who believed in them, who believed that they were, after all worth dying for.

In that way Marcos was defeated, not by his charms or intellect can he be saved. He died a defeated man, Ninoy died a hero.




**Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Hero

Set during the Warring States period, before China was united into one empire. China was once divided into seven states, each state vying against the other for supremacy, each year more than a thousand die from the wars. One king is more ambitious than the rest, the king of Qai (Daoming Yen), he seeks not only to dominate the six other states but to conquer all land under one rule: His.

Angered, six states sent assasins after the king, many legends were told about them. One legend stands out, three assasins named Broken Sword (Tony Leung), Flying Snow (Maggie Cheung), and Sky (Donnie Yen).

They alone had the prestige of very nearly killing the king.

So scared was the king with his near brush of death, he emptied out his palace and enforced an edict that no man may step beyond 100 paces from the king. He also issues a warrant for the capture of the three assasins, with a reward of gold, land and a drink with the king.

Nameless (Jet Li) arrives bearing the three swords of the assasin as evidence of his battle with them. Intrigued with this the king allows Nameless to step more than a hundred paces, until Nameless is within 10 paces from the king.

Nameless begins to tell the tale of love, devotion and betrayal between Broken Sword, Flying Snow and Moon (Zhang Ziyi), Broken Sword's devoted disciple. Each story is told in different color perspective, gray, white, and fiery red.

Nameless first recounts his story of defeating Sky, in a chess house, raining and with an old blind musician playing for them. Nameless and Sky break off their fight until the music is finished, they begin to fight the battle in their minds.

However, the final twist to the story is not provided by Nameless, but by the king himself.


Hero is a fascinating profound story with an effective, lush cinematography to provide for the internal sturggle the characters feel. Each scene is a change of color, a declaration of what cannot be said but seen.
In one, Flying Snow and Moon confront each other in a swirling golden pattern in the forest. It is an amazing and marvelous depiction with both women wearing a startlingly red, they float and flow over each other, while the golden leaves swirl around them.

The scene changes color, turning the grove from gold to blood red.


In the movie almost all the warriors were artists and musicians, Nameless explains this is because art, music and martial arts has ultimately one purpose: Peace.

Zhang Yimou and Christopher Doyle's are visual artist of the most effective forms they translated fine art into the silver screen, playing out each scene in a wonderful glory of color.

Jet Li's performance is excellent in all forms, harkening to the days before his crossover to hollywood. He provides an intense but humble emotion on screen without need to announce his greatness. His portrayal as Nameless is even better than his other movies. Though Zhang Ziyi is the prettier than Maggie Leung there was no doubt as to who dominated the screen. Maggie Cheung's steal and grace provided for a perfect foil against Tony Leung's strength and gentleness, one can accept them as lovers in whatever incarnation.

Of course the central theme of the movie was the meditation of heroism. A hero is not someone with bravado, smirk and attitude of who can take down a million soldiers with handguns, a hero is a person willing to sacrifice personal ambitiona for the good of all.

Hero is an epic tale in the truest sense. They are, according to one Philippine Daily Inquirer reviewer, like the epics of old, where the heroes in the quest and understanding of beauty break off from a brutal duel to listen to a series of tales from an old shaman just for a nugget of truth.

It just dawned on me! This scroll of Broken Sword's isn't about sword technique but about swordsmanship's ultimate ideal. Swordsmanship's first achievement is the unity of man and sword. Once this unity is attained, even a blade of grass can be a weapon. The second achievement is when the sword exists in one's heart when absent from one's hand. One can strike an enemy at 100 paces, even with bare hands. Swordsmanship's ultimate achievement is the absence of the sword in both hand and heart. The swordsman is at peace with the rest of the world. He vows not to kill and to bring peace to mankind.
-the King of Qin