1. Philadelphia (Tom Hanks film) - well deserved Oscar


2. Last night at a bike show, the grand prize of a new Honda motorcycle was awarded to some biker dude. His name was picked from hundreds of raffle tickets, and he was ecstatic to death. He jumped around like a little boy, shouting and throwing high-fives to everyone. But when he failed to present his copy of the ticket, the show host annnounced that they won't give him the bike afterall, and they would pick another winner. This, I think, is stupid. They should have at least asked for an ID instead. HIS NAME WAS ON THE TICKET, for crying out loud. He deserved that prize, even if he lost that stupid ticket. His name was on the registration form too, I mean, what's the pont of that anyway if not for this? If they wanna give away a bike to make people happy, they shouldn't be so damn technical about it. So anyway a lot of people booed the show for being so mean to the guy. Now the poor dude won't be able to sleep for months.

3. Cebuano lechon is overrated. I don't see any difference with Tagalog or Ilonggo lechon. Oh, there IS a difference. Cebu's lechon is more expensive.

4. Alec Baldwin is apparently a big Pacino fan

5. The "Skyfall" trailer is not bad.



6. Went out on a Sunday night without a single drop of booze entering my body

7. Slacking off at work is cool

8. Contemplating on smoking again

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I've always envied my brother in almost all aspcts of his generation. He was born in 1980, so that means he grew up during the 80's and spent his teenage life in the 90's. So unfair. He couldn't have picked a more kick-ass year of birth (well, he didn't really get to "pick" it, but).

He was part of what is called Generation X, or those who were born after World War II, technically from 1960 towards the early 1980's. In my opinion, these people have the most colorful lives, growing up to the influences of rock and roll and the Beatles, the hippies, flower power, psychedelia, punk rock, decades of now-classic movies, disco, and new wave. Even grunge. Yes, I think those who were born during the late 80's were too young when grunge became active.

And these are exactly the things that my brother is made of. I grew up unintentionally listening to the songs he listened to, and it was years later when I discovered those artists by myself. He always bragged about his generation's music, saying that their songs would never diminish, would never get old, would always be more soulful and profound compared to my music. By "my music", he meant pop.

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I was born in 1987 and am part of Generation Y. I was still in Kindergarten when the Eraserheads released "Ligaya" and was in entering first grade when Oasis had "Wonderwall". By the time I was old enough to appreciate music, the world was conquered by the Spice Girls and the Backstreet Boys. All I saw on MTV were colorful baggy clothes and repetitious dance steps, mostly by UMD. And when my mother would switch the channels, there was no way to hide from the presence of Judy Ann Santos everywhere.

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He was a toddler when Michael Jackson broke out with "Thriller" and was old enough to enjoy dancing to "Billy Jean". During his elementary years he must have listened to Madonna, Tears for Fears and U2, maybe a bit of Rick Astley and R.E.M.

It was his first year in hight school when the Eheads released "Ultraelectromagneticpop!". Dammit.

In college he sort of regressed to older roots - he became fascinated with Earth, Wind and Fire, The Jets, Lionel Richie, El Debarge and Reo Speedwagon. But he still listened to contemporaries, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Beastie Boys, Nirvana and Radiohead.



I'm not ashamed that I grew up bombarded by boy bands and girl pop groups, but I just can't stand the reality that I could never be in that exact moment when all these timeless music were first shared to the world. All I can do now is look back and appreciate their legacy, and of course, drown myself into the dreamlike beauty of the music.

1. Self-imposed house arrest
2. Why I no longer like Brad Pitt movies (especially the recent ones)
3. Pancit canton + scrambled eggs combo
4. Contemplating life without mobile internet
5. The delicate art of growing a moustache
6. Me and my laptop's 10th anniversary
7. I kinda noticed that songs are harder to download these days
8. Reading ebooks using the DVD player and TV
9. Kim Chiu and Eva Green
10. Electronic plane tickets

I never really enjoyed watching "serious" quality movies growing up. I was a Jim Carey fan and all I watched were his slapstick movies during the mid to late 90's (yes, even The Cable Guy, although dark, is slapstick. The Truman Show - not). Bottom line is that I was crazy about him.

I only started watching dramas and epics during high school, and that was when I was first introduced to Pacino. The first Pacino movie I saw was Dick Tracy. He was not playing the lead, actually he was the antagonist, Alfonse "Big Boy" Caprice. The lead was Warren Beatty but Pacino stole every scene that he was in, much like Heath Ledger as the Joker in The Dark Knight.

To me then, Al Pacino was just a familiar sounding name, and I really didn't know what he looked like, I just know he's famous. I couldn't believe his face in Dick Tracy (he was apparently wearing prosthetics). So I became intrigued with him because of how he carried his character. He wasn't your typical villain - he danced, he sang, he threw out punchlines with the comedic timing of a veteran comedian (which I knew for a fact that he was not). Eventually I started searching for his movies and in the process, I struck gold: I discovered he's won an Oscar in '93.

When he was proclaimed Best Actor that year, everyone went like, "Well it's about time!". Pacino has been receiving nominations since 1972 (The Godfather, hello?) and had to wait 20 years to get his first (and only) golden statuette. Of all movies, he bagged the award for his role in Scent of a Woman, which was indeed a remarkable film, but let's face it - there were a lot of other Pacino films which were more deserving (again, The Godfather, hello?). And I'm not even gonna mention Scarface, Serpico, And Justice For All, Dog Day Afternoon, The Godfather Part II, Heat, The Devil's Advocate... (oh, I did mention them afterall).

Despite having only one Oscar under his belt, he is still considered an actor elite, having won acting awards in 3 various media, which is considered as the triple crown of acting: an Oscar (film), an Emmy (television), and a Tony (theater) award. This is a rather difficult feat to achieve since not many actors enjoy the glory of both the film and television industry, much more the theater world. It seems that Pacino can do it all.

Landing the part of Michael Corleone in The Godfather not only put him on the map but also served as a rite of passage from Marlon Brando, the most acclaimed actor of the past golden era of film, to Pacino, the most promising (at that time) young actor which would eventually spearhead a new age of performance-driven films and memorable characters, cementing his title as today's greatest actor alive. Both are known for method acting, a style that made the distinction between actors who play the part and those who live the part.

 

I can never forget a scene in Scent of A Woman where Pacino's blind character was shouting mad at Chris O'donell's character. Pacino was so in to the scene that he was drooling all over Chris and was shouting right at his ears.

[caption id="attachment_117" align="aligncenter" width="300"] "I'm in the dark, here! I'm in the dark!"[/caption]

Pacino is the standard that actors today measure themselves with. Actors like Kevin Spacey, Robert Downey Jr., Edward Norton, and Johnny Depp all look up to him as a mentor, an idol, a living legend. And right now he still dazzles everyone with his acting, bagging awards here and there and still finds time to go back to his roots, the Broadway stage.

Here are some of my favorite Pacino flicks:





 



Bonus: It's been confirmed that Pacino will be doing his first voice-acting for an animated film: as the yet-to-be-named villain in the second installment of Despicable Me!

Two jumps in a week I bet you think that's pretty clever don't you boy?

Flying on your motorcycle Watching all the ground beneath you drop

You'd kill yourself for recognition Kill yourself to never, ever stop

You broke another mirror You're turning into something you are not

Don't leave me high, don't leave me dry Don't leave me high, don't leave me dry

Drying up in conversation You'll be the one who cannot talk

All your insides fall to pieces You just sit there wishing you could still make love

They're the ones who'll hate you When you think you've got the world all sussed out

They're the ones who'll spit at youYou'll be the one screaming out

It's the best thing that you ever had The best thing you have had has gone away
Don't leave me high, don't leave me dry

By sheer dumb misfortune, I decided to start blogging again just as when the entire country is being swept by this Cybercrime Law media circus. Not that it directly affects my freedom to post stuff, but I don't wanna be that dude who doesn't give a damn - obviously I'm using this medium to throw my thoughts out into the world, and so the internet deserves at least my futile sentiments on protecting my freedom to use it to my benefit.

I suppose it all boils down to the definition of the word "malicious", a term used to describe that fine line that separates an innocent, unadulterated, honest opinion from a libelous statement that could put you behind bars for 12 years. Suddenly you can't just tweet anything anymore.

In American culture, the saturation point for a libelous act is set up so high that what may be very scandalous for Filipinos may just be a typical emotional outburst for them. You hear them verbally lambasting one another on Twitter and Facebook, but nobody really goes to court unless someone directly assaults another. Certainly no cases are filed just because someone gave out an opinion - rather, they are taken as considerable seeds of debates and exchange of ideas among fora and social media sites. The person who had spoken will not be crucified, perhaps only objected, criticized or disproved, but definitely not punished. Individual ideas become newsworthy because someone opened his mind and shared it to the world, even if those statements are personal attacks, morally degrading.  Americans can tolerate it to a certian point until perhaps the matter has already been blown out of proportion, compromising their reputation, career or families. That's why (and understandably) they abuse this freedom. They tweet whatever they want, whenever they want. They would even attack their own president on live television and not be sued or grilled by anyone. They abuse it because it's theirs to have and no one would take it from them.

Now, Filipinos aren't like that. Here, opinions are taken personally by everyone. In a showbiz-oriented political landscape like ours, nothing is more important than image. Politicians care more about what they say than what they actually do. And celebrities, well, become politicians, eventually. So whenever someone verbally attacks someone, the act will be taken seriously and acted upon, regardless of whether or not the receiving end was actually insulted or offended by the statement. Like modern mafia warfare. If you had, by any means, negatively altered the way people look at a Filipino celebrity, you're going down, paisan.



"Malicious" is a very dangerous word for Filipinos. Our political and showbiz celebrities are so keen on showcasing a public facade that even the faintest of remarks can cause a bloody wound to their suddenly sensitive hearts. They will use this word to retaliate on opinionated people who have blemished their royal image. They will jump on every opportunity to retaliate on every media person whose online reports are unfavorable to them. And the worst con of this scenario is that people will be reluctant to speak out. Voices will be supressed and opinions will rot in the minds of those who dare to care. Our very own government will hold us back from being involved, from being in the loop, from being outspoken, from being vigilant, from being free to express what we desire to express.

It's one of our precious rights and they're taking it away.

So I say, go ahead and let them implement the law on anti-pornography, anti-hacking, anti-identity theft and anti-piracy. I'm all for that.

Just leave out the "e-libel" part.