and we talk about dying.

My weekend has been spent mostly watching movies. I can't find any way to waste my time and doing my backlog in work is quite tedious and frustrating. Whenever I see the paper works I throw a fit and I lose my head. Weekend is ruined and the cascading effect takes its toll on Monday. I don't want also to read books though I am already quite behind my reading. I just want to be lazy. Hehehe.

Last Eiga Sai, I only watched "Feel the Wind" and "Villon's Wife". The featured movie was "Departures" which sadly I haven't seen until now. Hehehe. Curious about the various comments I read in the reviews about its being a tear-jerker, I downloaded the movie to prove it first-handedly. Though there were scenes that were touching, it didn't give me the moment to shed a single tear which was quite frustrating. I was expecting too much perhaps and ended up denying the movie had already ended. Perhaps the big screen would be a great help. I watched it on my laptop. Anyway, the movie dealt about "departures", mostly about dying and separation like what happened to Daigo and his wife. And of course the joy and peace that followed after restoration. "Death is harder for those who are left behind." 

This brings me to the second point, "What would you do if you know you only have few seconds to live?" Honestly, I don't know what to do. I haven't made my "Bucket List" yet. So many plans to accomplish and seemingly so little time. Death is such a short notice. When I watched the "Source Code" I couldn't help but wonder, "Yeah, how will I make every second of life count?" Be worldly? Influence others? Build more relationships? Be attuned with God? I know the answer but my doubt is hanging me on balance. I feel powerless at the thought. If only I could turn back time. But what  would I do? I don't have any regrets in life except having just enough money. I want to be filthy rich, being able to buy what I want. Hehehe. 

What if I could travel through time and manipulate the course of history? Perhaps live in the time of the great thinkers and steal their ideas? Or maybe travel to the place where you could be mistaken as a god and be served all day and night? Or travel through time and cheat death and live like an immortal traveling from one time to another? The only underside is not being with someone but yourself. Would I risk? I watched "Cyborg She" and I had this thought. What if I could cheat death? Be with someone over and over again. Monopolize the history by jumping from time to time and annihilate the icon of the era. Evil, just plainly evil. I remembered a movie where in someone traveled through time and became a millionaire after placing a bet on the winning team. He got the idea from a sports book. I know there will always be a consequence. Cheating was never made to be perfect. But you can perfect cheating by going back again and again to the same scenario. Hehehe. Still my super-ego is working. Hehehe.

Cheating death entails a lot of consequence. But having death under your control would be a brilliant idea. No.1 in my Bucket list for that matter.

eiga sai 2011 and my personal blah-blah.

I always like how Japanese people talk. There's always this sound that makes me smile whenever the language is uttered. It was like the air is sending  whispers of ticklish incantations in my mind. I always smile. This is one of the reasons why I like Japan. There's a rough edge at the sounds and then there's a mixture of innocence and candor in the way the sounds wave and mix in my ears. And I always like the mystery behind it. Japan, for me, is synonymous with mystery. It is like being entangled in a web of beauty, mystery and a hint of roughness. Cherry blossoms, samurai and kimonos are the tangible proofs, to name a few. Of course, there are the movies. The Eiga Sai 2011. 

This year's Eiga Sai had been a frustration for me since I wasn't able to watch most of the movies. I managed to watch only the last two movies charged to lack of information. Last year's film festival was a remarkable one since Ms. Elna had been there. She was the culprit behind this. She had introduced me to Eiga Sai which schedule I was totally clueless. The film viewing that I had this year was "scheduled" by accident. I and my girlfriend were passing by the entrance of the mall when the notice about the film festival hit our eyes. Love at first sight! It was late already when we cleared our schedules. The first one in our menu was the movie "Feel the Wind" by Sumio Omori. We watched also the "Villon's Wife".

"Feel the Wind" was like running with the runners for the last 2/3 parts of the 133-minute movie. It was the "Chariots of Fire" of Japan only this time it tackles with athletes who need to battle their own issues and strugles in life. Haiji, wanting his own dreams fulfilled, organized a team of seemingly incapable individuals under the coach who I think was better be relieved as a coach. Sleeping in the middle of a competition?

Let me cut it short, the team did not win but had shown what real winning means. The Hakone Ekiden (marathon) had seen more than just marathon that day. As a viewer, I had seen the unfolding of patience and determination. The movie ended with the question, "What is running?" with which the answer was not given. 

I remember one of the Nescafe commercial lines that goes, "Ikaw para kanino ka ba bumabangon?" It has the same appeal to me. It asks the most banal questions which answers can take us off-guard. Your depth of answer will tell the level of maturity that anchors in your being. The depth of answer will also tell our motives and concerns, particularly our circles of concerns. "What is running?" I can't basically answer this seriously. All I can say is that, "It is an infinitive." Why so serious? Seriously, that's how deep I am. Hehehe. 

Anyway, the movies were really nice.

scheiße! scheiße! she was born that way.

People are unique but it doesn't mean all are original. We are pieces of what we have in our lives; the people around us, the stacks of literature we read, the experiences that taught us. We are pieces of the portions put together like threads woven into a tapestry. Therefore, my point is, no song or literature is original since it may be an inspiration drawn from pieces preceding it. It may be unique in its own way but again, repeat, repeat, repeat, nothing in this world is original. 

Let me get to the bottom of this. Lady Gaga's new album has created a hype since the time she has proclaimed that this is the album of the decade. Well, I got hold of the leaked songs (whether it is true or not, I don't care) and after ripping it and listening to it, the songs are scheiße good! Mostly electronic beats that drag you to the dance floor and a reminiscence of early 90's, the album presents also messages where everyone finds a place to fit in. Hair/Born This Way deals with freedom of expression, Government Hooker with freedom from censorship, Bloody Mary with religion, Judas with love, sin and contempt, etc. All the songs ride in the same motorcycle bearing the theme about embracing one's self, self-acceptance and freedom. 

Personally, I like the Marry the Night, Judas, Hair, Scheiße (for the gibberish lyrics and bloody beats), Bloody Mary, Heavy Metal Lover, Electric Chapel and The Edge of Glory. Talking about BTW being an Album of the Year, well, it's Gaga's problem. I won't go up the stage with her when she gets the award, so practically, I don't care and she either. Lol.    

Amidst the kinkiness and playfulness of the song lyrics ("I want your whiskey mouth/ All over my blonde south"), Lady Gaga again invests in filthy and sexy moans, theatrical vocals doused with electronic guitars, saxophones and whatevers. And I like it. For the past twelve songs, opening with Marry the Night, you'll find yourself drowned in an amniotic fluid  of electric beats but will later end with a breather You and I and finally be born with The Edge of Glory sticking in your ears. That's how the album Born This Way was born. It was just born that way. 

Comparing her with Madonna, for me, is already a cliche. As I've said, no one is original. Lady Gaga is unique in her own way. Staying on the uterus of her hyped album phenomenon and until its birth, she deserved somehow, just like any newborn,  a pat on the back and a welcome on a comfy crib. 

We don't care what people say. We know the truth!  ~Lady Gaga, Bad Kids (Born This Way

the boy with the dragon tattoo.

funny :)

It is like sex without being sexual. 

The cinema has put it as R18 owing to the sexually-oriented parts which actually substantiate the story of the movie. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo deals with sex, trauma, and a lot of violence, with a touch of racism. I haven't read the book, though I'm wanting to own the trilogy, but I read some blogs talking about it. There are a lot of books that handle such theme yet the story here was uniquely crafted when Lisbeth Salander, a goth-pierced-here-and-there-with-a-dark-haunting-childhood, was suddenly put into context. Out of curiosity, she hacked deeper into the life of Mikael Blomkvist and was suddenly riding with him in his investigation. As a know-it-all hacker, she managed to uncover more than what Blomkvist managed to unearth, thus, making Blomkvist a symphatetic journalist. But Salander brought him his salvation. Murderer found. Libel case closed. Capitalist dead. Girl with a wig. Done. 

It makes me want to read the book. And to have a dragon tattoo at my back. Fierce as Salander's. I had mine by the way which lasted weeks on my back. I didn't realize that my skin was as sensitive as my ego. The black "home-made" henna was replaced by red swelling. It's like the black ink was stripped off and VOILA! A red dragon!

the boy with the dragon tattoo (black version)

 

If you're curious about the red dragon tattoo, hmmm...Never mind. I'm on the process of healing. Hehehe. Anyhow, I hope I can have a copy of the trilogy. Weee! My birthday's coming.