The Boy Who Was Loved

I was in high school when the books first came out. I didn't pay much attention to them until the paperbacks were in stock. My brothers and I have the first four books. The rest, I managed to borrow from friends, read on my computer, or both.

I know a lot of fans are very particular about how the books are translated into films, but I've always enjoyed all the films—missing scenes (and added ones, for that matter). I think the experience of reading the book and watching the film are two entirely different things.

That being said, I didn't know how to feel about the last film in this franchise. On one hand, I was excited to see how it would all unravel onscreen. But at the same time, my heart was hurting because this was a story I had followed for more than a decade!



One of the scenes I was looking forward to was Snape's memory. I loved reading that part in the book. And though it was reduced to minutes on film, I still think it was one of my favorite parts of the movie. Another favorite: Helena Bonham Carter as Hermione Granger.

A scene that got to me (more than I expected it to) was when Harry finally gets to open the Snitch in the Forbidden Forest. Kind of wish I had my own resurrection stone to bring back my loved ones. ):

There were some things I wish they had included, but I think that it was necessary. The movie was just right at about 2 hours-long. And seeing it in IMAX is a whole other experience. It's the only film done entirely in 3D so it's worth seeing in that medium.

I can't believe it's all over. Now excuse me while I go back and find my books and get lost in Hogwarts again.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 in cinemas on July 14.

The Good Things

My Mani Matches The Tablecloth
Originally uploaded by the best kind of nice

This four-day week was tiring as hell but it was quite fun.

Monday started out with a field trip down South. I've always associated the South with the cemetery because that's where my Mom's parents and siblings are buried. The last time I went there, I got into a huge fight with my Mom because... well, I was being a brat. I have a horrible family picture to prove it—with my scowl in the foreground. Harrr. Buuut this trip was nothing like that. Ramen and Cheese Gyoza, Serenitea, Zombieland, M&M Pretzels, and my brand new toy.

Tuesday was a holiday and although I love staying home, sometimes mid-week holidays are strange. You get the "weekend is over" feeling twice in one week! I had my nails painted and stamped with a pretty lace-like pattern. Will write about it for our site soon. I can't stop staring at it and I'm being extra careful with my hands so my polish won't chip.

Wednesday was a terribly busy day. A cover shoot in the morning (the model was great so we were finished in record time) and a round table interview with David Archuleta (who is possibly the most adorable boy in the world!). Then there was a wonderful surprise because we got to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in IMAX (thanks to the wonderful people at WB!). I loved it! And Dobby certainly wins best house-elf in a supporting role, hands down. I have mixed feelings about July. Excited, because I want to see the second half. Sad, because it really is over. I want to re-read all the books, but I only have the first four. HAHA, the rest I read on my computer. O:

Thursday was quite busy but uneventful. Except for my ride home, which freaked me out. The cab I got was old and the driver was sick (he opened the door to spit—IN THE MIDDLE OF EDSA WHILE WE WERE GOING AT FULL SPEED). The car stopped in the middle of the road and he had to fill up the tank with gas from a mineral water bottle. I clutched my rosary and bottle of Holy Water (my boss's pasalubong from her trip to Europe) the entire way home. Then when I paid the driver P200, he gave me P270 for my change! I returned the P100 and he said sorry. He must've felt how incredibly anxious I was.

The Aftermath
Originally uploaded by the best kind of nice

Yesterday, I had my first ever Wee Nam Kee experience. We tried the Chicken Rice with steamed and roast chicken. 2 kinds of kangkong (I liked the one with crispy garlic bits—I had three small servings!) and cereal prawns. I'm definitely going back, but maybe when the hype has died down and it won't be too hard to get a table.

Today, I woke up at 5am like an old woman. And I think it's going to be a good day. (:

Two Movies in a Row

I used to be The Girl Who Watches Movies on TV. I'd literally wait for movies to be shown on HBO rather than watch them in the cinema. It's not really by choice. Most of the time, I don't have anyone to watch them with. Besides, watching a movie while you're on your bed without anyone else in the room is not so bad. You won't have to sit through two hours of someone who keeps kicking your seat from the back (haaate when that happens!).

Anyway, I got to see two movies this week: Due Date and You Again. So I am now The Girl Who Catches Movies in Cinemas Once in a While. (:

photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

Due Date was hilaaarious. Even from the trailer, I was already laughing. Zach Galifianakis is so funny! I haven't seen The Hangover (still waiting for it to be shown on TV—I'm kidding!) but my friends told me I should go watch it. If only to see him and laugh out loud again, I probably will.

photo courtesy of Touchstone Pictures

My friend Kaich told me that two of my favorite Kristin/Kristens (Chenoweth and Bell, respectively) were in a movie together. I had already read about it by way of Twitter (like all news spread these days) and I couldn't wait to watch it! I think I'd watch anything with some sort of high school theme to it (Easy A, you're next!) so it's no surprise I liked this movie, too. The end was a treat, too, since I was hooked on The Bird and the Bee's tribute album to Hall & Oates a while back. (:

Anyway, it's time to catch with my TV series now. Still behind on Dexter, Chuck, and Glee! What have you been watching?

Songs I Like: Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi "I See the Light"

I'm a big fan of Disney and their movies' OSTs. I used to have Aladdin's OST memorized from Side A to Side B (Come closer, closer... Not that close!), which I think is the best Disney sound track ever. I remember playing the tapes on my Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, and Aladdin sound tracks thin.

My brother told me about a song from Disney's Tangled sung by Rapunzel (Mandy Moore) and Flynn (Zachary Levi). I immediately Googled it to hear the song.

It's no surprise that I love it because the man who's behind the song is the exact same guy who did the scores for Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, and The Little Mermaid—Alan Menken! And it doesn't hurt that Zachary Levi's voice sounds like a true Prince Charming's. ♥

Every once in a while, you find someone who's iridescent

And when you do, nothing will ever compare.

Can't wait to watch this. (:

It's love, it's not Santa Claus.

Tom: What happens when you fall in love?
Summer: You believe in that?
Tom: It's love, it's not Santa Claus.

Cannot wait for this movie. I've been obsessing for a while now. October 21, why are you so far away?

500 Days of Summer

I want to watch this movie. And I want her hair. Here I go again.

happy thought

Last night, before going to sleep, I turned on my TV and switched the channel to HBO.

Stranger than Fiction was on and I switched right in time to hear my favorite line in my favorite scene from the movie. "I figured, if I was going to make the world a better place, I'd do it with cookies."

Like a summer's day in May

A song like this just makes me want to fall in love. d:

Sigh.

Yuck, cheesy. Ha ha! Hindi bagay.

Chips!

My brother's old office sent us BOXES of coffee, candy, and chips. We didn't even get to open the boxes of chips until we got settled back home.

I have to say, good job, URC! The Nova Italian Herbs and Chippy Beef and Chili are so yummy. The Nova is great for my favorite snack: chips dipped in Nutella. And the Chippy tastes like tacos!

God, I sound like an advertisement. Ha ha!

I should watch my chip intake, though. d: Or else Imma get bloated, fo' shiz*. d:

*Juno was awesome! I loved it. I love Ellen Page!

What's going to be on your list?

Had the chance to watch this movie last night and I must say, I love its message. "Find the joy in your life."

I kept crying during the movie, because I remembered my parents. They're not super old, but they're both sick. And I couldn't help but think, would they have made their own bucket lists? Have they found the joy in their life?

And all the more I want to find the joy in my life. There is more to life than the occasional beach trip, or potato chips and a big jar of Nutella. Right?

Here's to a (not-so-long) journey of finding true happiness.

"You measure yourself by the people who measure themselves by you." —Carter Chambers

Lovett!

Sweeney Todd
They all deserve to die
Tell you why, Mrs. Lovett, tell you why
Because in all of the whole human race Mrs. Lovett there are two kinds of men and only two
There's the one staying put in his proper place and one with his foot in the other one's face
Look at me, Mrs Lovett! Look at you!
No, we all deserve to die
Even you, Mrs Lovett, even I!

I absolutely loved it! It was deliciously morbid and sick. Ha ha! I am no movie critic, so I will leave the review to people who know how to do it. I will say, though, that I loooove Johnny Depp even with dirty teeth and bloodied clothes. ILU, Mr. Depp! And I love this movie if only for their cute bathing suits on the beach and Mrs. Lovett's funny sunglasses that looked like dark-lensed spectacles.

A word of caution, though. I rarely remember any of my dreams so I was surprised when in the middle of the night (after the movie), I woke up startled. I had my first lucid nightmare. I swear to God, I thought there was someone in my room with a slit neck, poking my stomach to wake me up. What the eff?

That's how you know he loves you

I love Disney movies. And I love the songs.

To-do list

To watch
The Simpsons
Ratatouille
License To Wed
A Love Story (hehe)
No Reservations
Hairspray

To eat
Butterscotch Caramel ice cream (which Marla says tastes like BK's Dulce De Leche Cheesecake)
Twister fries and bubblegum float combo

To look forward to
The fair
New season of Grey's, House, and Heroes

Hmm. Not really much on the list, you see. I just need willing movie buffs to accomplist the first to-do. Any takers?

Weekend Update

The house was pretty empty this weekend. I'm kind of getting used to not seeing my Kuya because he's a night owl and is always asleep in the day. My two brothers were MIA this weekend, too. One of them had an immersion for school, and the other one is at a fun run, I think. My dad is either in front of the TV in the kitchen, or asleep in the living room while my mom has her eyes glued to her Veoh downloads.

So I've holed up in my room for most of the weekend, reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (haha, I'm so cheap I just downloaded an ebook off the Net) on the laptop. I have about 24 more chapters to go, but I'm loving it. I totally understand why some superfans are disappointed with the movie (I, on the other hand, loved it). It's harder to read the book when you've seen the movie already, though. I keep picturing Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint. Haha!

The book is coming out next week and I know lots of people are excited about it. I stopped buying after the third book because I refused to buy the hardbound books. :P I'm cheap like that. But maybe, come September, I'll consider buying the boxed set of all the books in the series. Kaich says it also comes with a trunk you can put the books in. Bloody awesome. :P

I just thought I'd post something other than song lyrics and memes. Even if I know there aren't really too many people reading this, I do know that my cousin in Canada drops by every so often. :P So here's a proper update—if you can even call it that. Haha!

"That was dinner."

I'm very easy to please with movies. Even bad movies, I enjoy. Haha! (Case in point, Ghost Rider—what a total laugh trip!)

But then, there are those lovely little gems that are romantic comedies. I'm a sucker for those. :D I love that it's always just boy meets girl, boy and girl fall in love, the end. Haha! Sometimes you don't need a complicated plot to enjoy a good movie. Maybe sometimes you want something that you can make you laugh and feel good.



This is exactly how Music and Lyrics was for me. My favorite part has got to be when Sophie Fisher (Drew Barrymore) tells Alex Fletcher (Hugh Grant) that the lyrics are just as important as the melody. That the melody is the first encounter, the physical attraction. The lyrics? That's like getting to know the person in a deeper way. I loff et! So much that I watched it twice. :P Haha!

P.S.
I loff my text marathons with Pats whenever the chismis shows are on. :P

I ♥ my girls

It's so amazing how the month hasn't ended yet and I've spent time with most of the important people in my life—my friends. I have yet to see the handful of people from Wazzup (or those who were from there? :P Haha!) but I'm pretty sure we'll get together soon.

Getting together with my high school girlfriends last week was awesome. We didn't spend that much time together since we're all working now, and we had no choice but to meet on a weeknight. But I have to say, it was a blast having dinner (aba, succesful ang potluck dinner!) and then, playing (or trying to play) poker. Haha!

Then, the following night, I got together with my best buds from college (plus Patty's friend from GMA, Ghia) to watch, ahem, KKK. Haha! We were so noisy inside the theater, I'm surprised nobody threw popcorn at us. :P It was great hanging out with them even after a tiring day at the office. So funny that Kaich noted how I was so much happier now. She said that whenever we got together when I was still working in Wazzup, I'd just space out. Like, I was dead half the time. Haha! So true. "Mace? Are you there? What's your order?" "Huh? Oh, adobo flakes." Then, I'm dead again. HAHA. Those were the days. :P I'm so glad I'm out of that rut. :D

Because my posts are boring without pictures:

This was taken by the girl who sells tickets. We might've weirded her out a bit. :P

Yes, that's what KKK is. HAHA!

What is that FAAAACE!?

Inside Ghia's car, on the way to Kaich's

BW effect! Hehe!

Hala, Naf! Be very afraid. You need to appear more often at these things. :P Just kidding, darling! Tama na kasi ang aral! Haha!

Mikko's coming home tomorrow and hopefully all the girls show up for lunch! Woohoo! Two of my super good friends who now live on the other side of the world are actually here. I can't believe it. We've got to make the most out of this month. Seriously.

This post is already long and rambling, so I might as well just go on with it. I got a Friendster (wow, so 2003! haha!) message from one of my YFC friends, Elaine, and she said I haven't aged at all since she last saw me. Aww. What a sweet thing to say. Hopefully, we also get together since we practically just live a few steps away from each other! And I haven't seen her since high school. Wow, high school. It seems so far away. I'm oooold!