Surviving Last Weekend

Barely.

I had less than ten hours of sleep the entire weekend, haven't recovered yet, am still way past groggy right now but I have to make this post--or post the review on HP7. We went to a wake last Saturday night and came home around 5AM. And I couldn't sleep on Sunday because Harry Potter was calling my name and wanted to be read. "Accio book!" (or was it "Accio Kookie!") and there I was zapping through the pages until the epilogue--Nineteen Years Later. Hmm. (Smiling like an idiot right now.)

Apparate to my book blog for what I have to say about the book.

Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix

Lemme just say that I wasn't over the moon after I've seen this movie. I guess it was okay but I had such high expectations about it that after I did see it, it barely came up to par. But that's prolly also because of the fact that The Goblet of Fire was such a tough act to follow. 'Nuff said about that.

The movie did live up to what it promoted: "The rebellion begins." So that was mainly the focus of the entire movie. Well, of course, that was exactly what the book was all about. But there was more to it than that though and I felt that the movie didn't quite capture everything it was supposed to. But then again, we'd prolly be at the movie house the entire day. And, of course, we have to consider directorial styles as well.

The special effects were great. There wasn't a lot used as per the usual HP movie but whatever was employed were seamlessly done. From the practice sessions with the D.A., to the fight scene between the Deatheaters and the members of the Order, to the not-so-subtle encounter between Professor Dumbledore and Lord Voldemort--amazing all!


The cast. Whew! Talk about seeing them all grow up on screen. If I didn't know any better I'd swear they weren't the kids in at least the first two movies. How they've grown! Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville (this boy is tall), Ginny, Seamus, Lee, Feorge and Gred (LOL!)...even Dudders, Draco and his cohorts. I have always said that Sirius Black was one of my most fave characters in the entire series but now that he's gone, I think I'm having a fondness for Professor Snape. (Yep, he's grown on me. Wicked! I really liked the scene when Harry was being interrogated by Umbridge and he told Snape that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had Padfoot; and Snape had his usual deadpan expression on his face. LOL!) I hate me for that but there's just no helping it. Although I will give my opinion again after I've read TDH.

As for the new characters, Imelda Staunton played Professor "Hem Hem" Umbridge very effectively to make me hate so much pink in one frame. Ugh! And can Helena Bonham Carter get any more demented than in her role as Bellatrix Lestrange? Evanna Lynch may have been the perfect girl to play Luna Lovegood but the breathy voice really just freaked me out.

I wouldn't go so far as to say that this was a great movie (in comparison to the earlier installments) but it was, nevertheless, good enough. Better than other movies out there right now. And they did the trademark HP ending that will leave you wanting for more--until the next movie in, what, a couple of years? Waiting is never my strongest suit.

Uber Pissed!

Well, I was pretty excited to post my review of the latest Harry Potter movie when I saw that my template header is no longer working. WTF! If it had been another template I would have been okay with it. As it turned out, it was one of the best templates I've ever used--or found online. Shame. Utter shame. So I had to update the layout tonight when I would have been doing something else entirely.

This will have to do until I find something better--if I can find something else, that is, since it's oh so hard to find good--not to mention properly working--XML layouts out there. I will have to post the movie review tomorrow...but I'm so excited about the release of The Deathly Hallows that I had to redo the look of my book blog as well. Since I was at it, I might as well do both.

Love Notes, Part One

Due to the rainy weather the past week, my brain has become too tired to contrive putting two thoughts together. Hence, I have nothing to blog about. Either that, or talk about the blasted weather itself. I have promised myself to be a better blogger, especially now that I do have spare time. Problem is that I really don't have anything original to say. Well, I did do a book review. I guess my brain power is only up to there only this weekend.

So to prevent from blank-posting my blog today, I'll just share some love notes with you, the first of two. I dunno whom to credit though because when a friend of mine shared these with me years and years ago, it was in audio format--and with zero credits either. I loved them too much though that I just had to transcribe them.

Here is the first one--I'll do the other one later. Any editing and transcription errors are my own. I've personally titled this "The Dance of Love."

There were two hearts who met in a dance. The moment was magical, there was a sweet song playing, there was harmony, and soon, love in the air. They fell in love and they started to building castles in their dreams and promised forever with all certainty. But somewhere in the midst of the fun, they got lost in the dance. Something went wrong but they can never do anything. They were just drifting away, their fortress falling apart. There were so many questions but no one had an answer.

When we truly love someone, we give our best and let that person see the pureness of our intention. But sometimes that person makes us cry and hurts us for the wrong reason. That someone must have loved us but he has not loved us enough to make him stand for what he truly felt. Now we are faced with the seemingly impossible task of forgetting. We have burdened ourselves long enough but we still can't get out of this emotional trap. Let us try to remember that the more we forget someone we love, the more painful letting go will become. Sometimes we never have to take that person out of our hearts at all for he will always be there, no matter how hard we try to drive him away. It isn't his presence that makes this difficult; it is out stubbornness to accept our destiny that aligns forgetting next to impossible. We keep a cold face but deep in our hearts there is still that lingering hope for a reconciliation.

Somehow, we still believe we can rekindle small embers and relight the fire that once burned in our hearts. These thoughts give us hope. But it also breeds the seeds of loneliness and despair. The only way to accept is to forget. And the only way to move on is look ahead, and let the footprints of the past be blown by the wind of time. Only then can our hearts find a partner in the dance of love and hopefully, never get lost again.

July 4th Is The Day

For Americans the day mean something else. For a Beckhamist like me, it has an entirely different meaning. Let the video do the explaining.

Dreamboat Express: The Young'Uns Of C.S.I.

I have been pretty busy lately that I have been neglecting my dreamboat serial. So since today is the start of a new blogging year, I'm going to make some changes in the serial and just do a feature every two weeks. And this time around, I will be more diligent in posting them on time like I said I was gonna do every Sunday. THIS feature is even being done on a Tuesday so that just tells you how that worries my OC tendencies.

Right. A start of a new blogging year, as I've said. So I guess it's only right that we kick it off with a feature on multiple hot guys. My pal Olive had been asking for a feature of our dear CSI: New York character Danny Messner (played by Carmine Giovinazzo). I think I will just do that in the future. But for now, I'll just have to do a post of all the hot guys in the shows that make crime-solving hotter than usual. Enjoy!

My First Blogiversary!

Time flies pretty fast and the next thing I know is I've been blogging and yammering here for a full year. LOL!

I have posted just about anything about my life that I wanna share with the rest of the world--although I admit I haven't improved on being how open I am about my personal life. I'm sure that would make for some pretty good reading. But what the heck, even if I did write about my life it just would sound so far fetched that it would be hard to believe that it's my life instead of a TV soap and I don't think you'd need more drama in your life.

So here I am, one year and counting. Thanks for the peeps who keep dropping by--you helped me save lots (including my sanity) as I don't think I need a therapist. What do I need that for when I have a blog?

Transformers

Who would have thought that for someone who didn't know who or what Optimus Prime is, I would enjoy this film so much? Honestly, I just went to see it because I loved the trailer. Unlike the guy friends I went along with to watch Transformers last night, I wasn't singing the anime version's soundtrack all the way to the theater (and back!).

And boy, did I have fun or what! It was well worth the money I spent to watch it. I really felt blind going into the theater because I didn't know a thing about the cartoon version. I'm not exactly big on animation films, and especially nothing about robots for Pete's sake. But then I was impressed by the trailer when I first saw it and I was thinking of seeing if I have the time. But what the heck, when it arrived in the theaters last week, I just had to make time to see it.

I don't regret it one bit. Nuh uh. Of course, it didn't help my cause any since I practically worhip at the altar of Michael Bay--his Armageddon happens to be my all-time fave movie. So there. And yeah, I'm one of the few who saw Pearl Harbor more than once and will probably see it again. I think a new film from him would hardly disappont me. And then there's producer Steven Spielberg. One of the best there is although I was disappointed by that last alien movie he did with that short guy (don't ask me who). But he pretty much earned my respect once again after this effort to a point that I want my own pet Transformer in my backyard. That just is, I don't have one. A backyard, I mean.
Oh, and did I mention that Josh Duhamel and Tyrese AND Amaury Nolasco was in the film, too? (Yes, Lee, Sucre is in the picture!) Yey! But it's really hard to consider who the real winner of this film was--except for the studio, that is, once they're done counting how much the box office earning will be. Just about everything clicked the right way for this movie--it had all the right comedic wise-ass comments thrown in plus a little teeny-bopper romance. And then some really funny robots--watch them try to hide themselves when Sam first brought them home. Absurd! Bay also did his trademark speech scenes (Jon Voight as the Secretary of Defense) and those slow-mo takes he shoots in each film he does. And he happens to worship in the altar of big action sequences as well so it goes without saying that there's a plenty big explosive moments in the entire film. Love it!

Right. I have decided who the real winner in the film is--Bumblebee. I want a Bumblebee of my own. Really. If there ever was a scoundrel of a robot, it's a Bumblebee in all his glory. That stunt he pulled when Sam was trying to impress his crush Mikaela (played by the hot Megan Fox) was something else. Up until now, I still can't get the song "Baby, Come Back" outta my head. LOL! You have to see it because I wouldn't be able to do it justice if I try to narrate it .

So for those who haven't seen the movie, hie yourself to the theater nearest you, like, now!