musings

ugly betty

I HEART UGLY BETTY !!!!!

carlo and i just finished watching season 2 of ugly betty. this show is amazing! i never had the chance to watch betty la fea but im aware of it, my mom and sisters watched it back then. when they released ugly betty it took me months still before i decided to sit on it. one thing that influenced me was the word going around re america ferrera’s performance. for a young actress, ferrera is flawless and totally fabulous. im familiar with her early works and to be dressed down for the tv show is no mean feat, she doesnt even look anywhere near her real self! im thrilled she won the globe and the emmy for that.

also, in the original series, betty la fea gears up for a transformation and gets the handsome boss in the end. i dont even think the US show’s direction is towards that. it loses brownie points (or gio’s deli sandwich points) if it does. a huge part of ugly betty’s charm is her independent, smart and optimistic self. she doesnt need to be any way prettier than amanda nor more fashionable than the clackers. she’s in essence the only real person in that office.

in the first few episodes of season 1, the show was way way close for comfort with the devil wears prada, from the geek-trying-to-fit-in thing, to being a fashion disaster, to a devil boss (wilhemina) and a fabulous office, down to the soundtrack (they were playing suddenly i see by kt tunstall). as the story progressed things developed beyond the film and ugly betty just got better and better. the side stories are also funny as hell! among others, there’s amanda’s search for her dad, marc’s new boyfriend, wilhelmina’s whatevers, mystique’s new body este, rebecca romijn’s tranny character, betty’s love triangle and the heartbreaking love story of hilda and santos. also, betty is a fan of WICKED ! (also the writers and producers, ergo why kristin chenowith starred in the s1 finale and betty and henry finally makes a date watching wicked with eden espinosa on broadway).

everybody has their own particular skeletons in The Closet, their own insecurities and disappointments. a lot of the characters in Ugly Betty deal with it by turning in a facade or a cold heart. betty’s a bit pinoy in her mexican sense where family is always important and values are help up despite the office politics and culture. for somebody who works in a closely similar industry, i cant help but question myself of the practices ive done and the kind of attitude i put in my work. thankfully im still in touch with a few realities. friends celebrate nightcaps, family is home, love is treasured and God is ultimate. and maybe sometimes, wearing polyester wont get you that promotion. hehehehe

the unfortunate events of the recent writers’ strike in america caused ugly betty to produce only 18 episodes. hopefully the 3rd season will feature 30 episodes hehehe

love it ! love it ! love it !

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cute !

art & design

calculator stools

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musings

avenue q london

kainis! ang daming cute videos ng avenue q london sa youtube. here’s one where they start singing “popular” from wicked. ubber cuteness!

another here where they celebrate their 1st year anniversary onstage. how cool is that? i always have loved nicky and this doesnt disappoint 😀 he’s soo funny, along with trekkie monster.

i get nostalgic watching clips from avenue q. always! i remember batibot and sesame street, and rent in the 90s. unfortunately i never had the time to watch avenue q manila. i tried to schedule for the last leg before they all left for singapore but never had the time 😦 waaaa. at least i saw the local versions of rent (loved it), into the woods (didnt like their version) and miss saigon (great cast!). astig

check this performance for the royal family. they changed a lot of the words including a guy playing gary coleman, but the cuss words are retained. how’s that for censorship in front of royalty? haha

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art & design, set design

fantastic PD in cartoon series

picked this up from apartment therapy. apparently the adult swim show The Venture Brothers has featured iconic chairs in their set design. the fact that this is a cartoon is a big plus.  obviously the chairs themselves are classics and fabulous.  i should try catching that show

the oxchair: perhaps a mix of Jeffrey Bernett’s Metropolitan Armchair and Jean Marie Massaud’s Auckland Armchair

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Bertoia stools…
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Corbusier’s LC4 Lounge…
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Eames Aluminum Group chairs…
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love it !!!

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food trip, musings

2008 birthday part 1

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birthday dinner at mamati’s house velez cagayan de oro city mindanao philippines milky way universe. less food than the previous cdo birthday but no less exciting. and with more photos! this SAME SET of photos appears on multiply for the 4th time (1st time was by cuzin may, 2nd time by cuzin pating, 3rd time byu cuzin ej). but that doesnt stop me from posting it yet again hehehe cheers to you all! thanks for a great year and a great time!

update: so there’s no more link because multiply is no more. lol it’s 2018.

 

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got these from glorietta. new E.T.s to add to my collection. yey! theyre soo funny especially the drag ET hahaha

musings

new friends

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musings

eat pie

here’s what commenter charlie roces has been writing on my blog:

“It’s good Raya Martin, Lav Diaz,etc. are not bent on copying Brocka. Mendoza should think original & not rely on the Brocka relics like Lao… Well, Mendoza should stop copying Brocka if he wants to be respected like Raya or Lav in the world…A wake-up call to the relics of Brocka, di na uso drama niyo… kaya Brillante Mendoza & the rest (Jeturian din),should start being original & be done with the pa-Brocka epek. ”


here’s some news for you, charlie:
Piolo goes indie again
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 03:06:00 06/01/2008

MANILA, Philippines – Actor Piolo Pascual has started work on his third indie movie, “Manila,” a twin bill directed by Adolfo Alix Jr. and Raya Martin.

“Manila” is a tribute to Lino Brocka and Ishmael Bernal. Piolo is also co-producer. Joining him in the cast are Rosanna Roces, Mitch Valdes, Jodi Sta. Maria, Jay Manalo, Anita Linda and Alessandra de Rossi. -end quote-



— manila is a film with two stories, the first half of the film is based on jaguar and the other half, by manila by night (or city after dark). jaguar is by lino brocka and ishmael bernal directed manila by night in 1980.

what can you say? holiday

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movies

serbis lashing

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wow. the reviews for serbis are hot! scalding hot! except for a few, all the reviews are negative! hahaha one even went on to write, “What’s the worst so far? That’s easy. It’s Philippine director Brillante Mendoza’s “Serbis.” another wrote “overall thumbs down to Serbis, a shambolic picture of life in a Filipino porn cinema.” and my last post on serbis is filled with comments berating on bing lao being a brocka relic and dante’s supposed unoriginality. carlo and i were involved in the making of serbis (design part, not the writing) and this doesnt discount the fact that we are part and parcel of it. rather unfortunate for dante though that this film is getting worldwide lashing from critics and audiences mainly because since it’s on cannes, most everybody gets to see it and comment. otherwise, indie movies like this would have only generated curses from a few horny curious movie patrons at some sleazy cinema in recto who are just waiting to get serviced. how ironic haha

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movies

Serbis competes in Cannes

Brillante’s Serbis competes in Cannes
FUNFARE By Ricardo F. Lo
Thursday April 24, 2008

BREAKING NEWS: Director Brillante “Dante” Mendoza’s next film, Serbis, has been officially invited to the official competition section of the 61st Cannes Film Festival from May 14 to 25.

>This piece of good news was relayed at around 1:30 yesterday morning by Christian Jeune, director of Cannes’ Film Department, to Dante and producer Ferdinand Lapuz who just came from a preview of the rough copy of the film with executives of a major film distributor who flew in from Hong Kong.

The official announcement was made during a press conference in Cannes yesterday.

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