Edmund

Of mugshots (2)

So I received my new driver’s license in the mail today. The picture wasn’t as bad as I feared. I actually kinda look good in it. (Hey—when you look good, you look good.) But I’m not gonna post a picture of it here—for security reasons ☺.

And speaking of security . . . I better have my passport renewed as well. Not that it’s expired or expiring. It’s just that I don’t look anything like the person in the photo there anymore. I don’t want to have any problems when air traveling—you know how it is nowadays.

I’ve been noticing this poster at the community college for quite a while now. What ever happened to Rex Goudie, a Canadian Idol contestant from time immemorial? The poster must’ve been there since the early 2000s!

I went to bed early last night, so I decided to just videotape the Oscars. When I woke up this morning, I found out that nothing ever came out of the effort. I don’t know how to play around with VHS machines anymore—they now (like the typewriter) seem very unfamiliar  to me . . .

Inglorious Basterds didn’t win Best Picture. But my bet, Christoph Waltz, did win Best Supporting Actor—I should’ve put money on that bet. There’s talk that he’d next be starring with Robert Pattinson and Reese Witherspoon in the film version of Sara Gruen’s Water for Elephants.

I never finished reading the book—although I like anything that’s set during the Great Depression. I didn’t like the way the book began. I saw an audiobook version at iTunes. I heard the snippets. The “old man”—an actor portraying the voice of old Jacob, I think—who was reading it sounded really bad. I’ll just wait for the movie.

Oscar wish

It’s Oscar night on Sunday. I don’t really care about the Oscars, but I’m really rooting for Inglorious Basterds and Christoph Waltz.

Baduy

I’m gonna scream if I hear Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’ one more time. Though I had my earphones on, I heard it blaring again from that accursed gym stereo. It’s 2010 already, for goodness’ sake!

The title of this post is a Pilipino slang, and it aptly describes the dang song—go find out what it means.

I want candy

I hate excuses—valid or otherwise—so I’m not gonna make any. I had a sudden craving for candy, so I went to the store (after gym, of course, and amidst bad weather) and got the following childhood favorites:

I’m having half of one of the bars and two Life Savers (orange and lime) after lunch.

Of mugshots

I had my driver’s license renewed yesterday, and I went to the motor registration to have my picture taken. Heaven knows how that’s gonna turn out. Driver’s licenses, passports—they never let you smile or look good in these things. I still had hair in my first driver’s license photo, and I like the picture on my first passport. But then again, in the latter, my mouth is open.

Evitamania

Word has it that Evita is going to be revived on Broadway. If it is true, then I’m really going to see it this time around. When it was revived in London four years ago, all I was able to do was get the T-shirts and souvenir program. When it was done in Manila in 1986, after the EDSA Revolution, I was too young to go. Although Don’t Cry for Me Argentina and I’d Be Surprisingly Good for You were played a lot on radio from 1979 to ’80, the show wasn’t performed in the Philippines until after the Marcoses were ousted from power—there were whispers back then that Imelda didn’t like Evita.

And speaking of Imelda, Here Lies Love, a concept album by David Byrne and Fatboy Slim about the life of Mrs. Marcos, is finally coming out in April. Evita started out as a concept album before it evolved into the beloved stage musical. (I still believe that Evita: An opera based on the life story of Eva Peron 1919-1952 is the best Evita recording ever.) Will Here Lies Love be performed on stage eventually?

Shushan Purim begins at sundown today. It commemorates the day when the Jews of Shushan, the capital of Persia, finally rested after defeating their enemies. I love the feast of Purim. For me it’s a reminder that anti-Semitism—and indeed racism itself!—should be fought aggressively. For Haman is still alive, and he is as mighty, powerful and wicked as ever—and he comes in many forms and guises.

Bobby

#504. Hunger. Directed by Steve McQueen (most definitely not the Steve McQueen!). United Kingdom and Ireland, 2008. 2:35:1. Color. 96 minutes. English.

I try to avoid films about the IRA simply because I’m not familiar with and I do not understand Irish political history. This disc has no captions for the hearing impaired—and it was very much needed, because I find Irishisms very difficult to understand. Indeed, this is a film that’s very difficult to watch. Do not watch it after you’ve just eaten, while you’re eating or before you eat. It is not for the weak of gut—really and seriously. And it is very, very overindulgent at times. The dragging exchange between Bobby Sands and the priest is endless (the profanities didn’t make it interesting), and there’s a scene where the floor was mopped ever so slowly from one end of the hall to the other.

I want my 96 minutes and $32.77 back!

Whatever Lola wants . . . (2)

#503. Lola Montès. Directed by Max Ophüls. France and West Germany, 1955. 2:55:1. Color. 110 minutes. French, English and German.

Criterion granted my wish. Read my previous post about Lola Montès here.