Sunday, December 4, 2011
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Monday, October 24, 2011
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Monday, October 17, 2011
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
LITFILI Finals
Livin’ La Visa Loca
The main characters are Jess, the ‘limousine’ driver, his father, Mara and her son, Nigel Adams, and at some point, I think Jess’s overseas girlfriend, Anette.
Jess is a relatively good person. He is funny, cares a lot for his dad, and was shown to have compassion for Mara and her son, even without knowing at first that it was also his child. Throughout the story, he was constantly on the hunt for an opportunity to get his visa and follow his fiancé in the US. But towards the end of the movie, even though he was able to get his visa, he chose the people he loved at home and chose not to leave.
His father, whom he calls ‘Papang’ is a half-deaf, fat and diabetic old man who stays at home and depends on his son for money and care. Every scene in the movie shows him to be slightly clueless and very dependent on his son. He also relies on Jess for money, and even used it to buy different pills. But in the end, he is shown to have a lot of love for Jess—even protecting him from the truth that his mother left them—and missed him terribly when he thought he had left for America.
Mara is Jess’s ex-girlfriend, with whom she had had a son before, whose name is Jason; he carries his father’s side of diabetic illness and mannerisms. Mara seems to be a nice person, is shown to be very caring for her son unlike most unplanned and single mothers, and struggles to keep him happy, even denying a job abroad so that she could stay with Jason. During the movie, she falls in love with Jess after meeting him once more. Both she and her son are very fond of him.
Nigel Adams is Jess’s boss, the host of a show called Planet Strange which he shoots in the Philippines. He is a considerably decent boss, but was led at a wrong turn and viewed the country and Filipinos in general differently when he got cheated. In the end however, when Jess conceded to be part of his show, he seemed to have kept his end of the bargain in helping him gain a visa.
I realized that the main character Jess almost always wore red clothes in the movie: red shirt, polo, cap, etc. I'm not sure if that is symbolic of something, or it is just a running joke of the director, but maybe it is a representation of the hundreds of Filipinos who are also pining for a chance to go to the US for better jobs but are most often denied the chance.
The strong family ties and relationships of Filipinos were also shown in the movie: it could have just shown Jess coming back to Mara and their son, but his father was also a big deal in the story and given a great role. It shows that we really are close to our loved ones and that we value our family and the time we spend with them sometimes over the possibility of getting a job (ex. Most Filipinos would love a job that has weekends off so they could spend it at home with family).
Nigel Adams’ show, Planet Strange, also brings light to the different cultures we Filipinos have, and the rituals and beliefs we have that foreigners might find strange but we find common.
The movie somewhat depicts the harshness of Filipino living, and how hard it is to find a good paying job. Most people are desperate, like the man who accepted Nigel Adams’ money and ran away from them afterwards. Sometimes people forget about morals and do all they can to survive. Then again there are people like Mara, who continue to work hard even if it is an embarrassing job, for their loved ones.
It is also saddening to think about the cases of Filipinos who turn away from their heritage and pretend to be foreigners, regarding them uncivilized and without discipline, when they are Filipinos themselves. Nowadays though, more and more people are proud to be called Filipinos, and I find that more and more of us are getting well-known throughout the world.
I think the movie is mainly about two things. 1.) As I had mentioned before, it is about the many Filipinos who dream of being able to leave the country to seek better life abroad. I think it’s why we have a lot of nurses, not to mention the OFWs. Then again, mostly the reason for people working abroad is that 2.) they want better lives for their families. You have to admit that other countries give much better pay than here, and with that you could provide more efficiently for your family members at home. There are many cases here in the Philippines of children being left at home while their parents work abroad. However, I think what keeps other Filipinos tied down here is that they are too close to their loved ones to be able to leave them, like the case of Mara, who immediately disregarded the offer of a job in Italy upon seeing her son’s sad face. In the end people just find a way and cope, and sometimes the fact that you’re happy with your family helps you push through.
For me, it was pretty well done for a Filipino movie. It must have been that good for it to have English subtitles. I also enjoyed it whenever the choir suddenly sneaks in like a piece of singing furniture to either provide more information on Jess’s current predicament, or otherwise bring comic relief to each situation. It’s also nice how everything fits together: Mara and her son and how they relate to the story, and how the situation with Jess’s mother was not only given enlightenment, but a conclusion as well, so that you aren’t left wondering where she ended up. There were also ‘Aww’ moments whenever it concerned Jess’s dad, the cutesy moments he has with Jason and Mara, and the funny moments familiar to Filipino movies. It’s something I wouldn’t mind watching again.
The main characters are Jess, the ‘limousine’ driver, his father, Mara and her son, Nigel Adams, and at some point, I think Jess’s overseas girlfriend, Anette.
Jess is a relatively good person. He is funny, cares a lot for his dad, and was shown to have compassion for Mara and her son, even without knowing at first that it was also his child. Throughout the story, he was constantly on the hunt for an opportunity to get his visa and follow his fiancé in the US. But towards the end of the movie, even though he was able to get his visa, he chose the people he loved at home and chose not to leave.
His father, whom he calls ‘Papang’ is a half-deaf, fat and diabetic old man who stays at home and depends on his son for money and care. Every scene in the movie shows him to be slightly clueless and very dependent on his son. He also relies on Jess for money, and even used it to buy different pills. But in the end, he is shown to have a lot of love for Jess—even protecting him from the truth that his mother left them—and missed him terribly when he thought he had left for America.
Mara is Jess’s ex-girlfriend, with whom she had had a son before, whose name is Jason; he carries his father’s side of diabetic illness and mannerisms. Mara seems to be a nice person, is shown to be very caring for her son unlike most unplanned and single mothers, and struggles to keep him happy, even denying a job abroad so that she could stay with Jason. During the movie, she falls in love with Jess after meeting him once more. Both she and her son are very fond of him.
Nigel Adams is Jess’s boss, the host of a show called Planet Strange which he shoots in the Philippines. He is a considerably decent boss, but was led at a wrong turn and viewed the country and Filipinos in general differently when he got cheated. In the end however, when Jess conceded to be part of his show, he seemed to have kept his end of the bargain in helping him gain a visa.
I realized that the main character Jess almost always wore red clothes in the movie: red shirt, polo, cap, etc. I'm not sure if that is symbolic of something, or it is just a running joke of the director, but maybe it is a representation of the hundreds of Filipinos who are also pining for a chance to go to the US for better jobs but are most often denied the chance.
The strong family ties and relationships of Filipinos were also shown in the movie: it could have just shown Jess coming back to Mara and their son, but his father was also a big deal in the story and given a great role. It shows that we really are close to our loved ones and that we value our family and the time we spend with them sometimes over the possibility of getting a job (ex. Most Filipinos would love a job that has weekends off so they could spend it at home with family).
Nigel Adams’ show, Planet Strange, also brings light to the different cultures we Filipinos have, and the rituals and beliefs we have that foreigners might find strange but we find common.
The movie somewhat depicts the harshness of Filipino living, and how hard it is to find a good paying job. Most people are desperate, like the man who accepted Nigel Adams’ money and ran away from them afterwards. Sometimes people forget about morals and do all they can to survive. Then again there are people like Mara, who continue to work hard even if it is an embarrassing job, for their loved ones.
It is also saddening to think about the cases of Filipinos who turn away from their heritage and pretend to be foreigners, regarding them uncivilized and without discipline, when they are Filipinos themselves. Nowadays though, more and more people are proud to be called Filipinos, and I find that more and more of us are getting well-known throughout the world.
I think the movie is mainly about two things. 1.) As I had mentioned before, it is about the many Filipinos who dream of being able to leave the country to seek better life abroad. I think it’s why we have a lot of nurses, not to mention the OFWs. Then again, mostly the reason for people working abroad is that 2.) they want better lives for their families. You have to admit that other countries give much better pay than here, and with that you could provide more efficiently for your family members at home. There are many cases here in the Philippines of children being left at home while their parents work abroad. However, I think what keeps other Filipinos tied down here is that they are too close to their loved ones to be able to leave them, like the case of Mara, who immediately disregarded the offer of a job in Italy upon seeing her son’s sad face. In the end people just find a way and cope, and sometimes the fact that you’re happy with your family helps you push through.
For me, it was pretty well done for a Filipino movie. It must have been that good for it to have English subtitles. I also enjoyed it whenever the choir suddenly sneaks in like a piece of singing furniture to either provide more information on Jess’s current predicament, or otherwise bring comic relief to each situation. It’s also nice how everything fits together: Mara and her son and how they relate to the story, and how the situation with Jess’s mother was not only given enlightenment, but a conclusion as well, so that you aren’t left wondering where she ended up. There were also ‘Aww’ moments whenever it concerned Jess’s dad, the cutesy moments he has with Jason and Mara, and the funny moments familiar to Filipino movies. It’s something I wouldn’t mind watching again.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Two Toes Up
I found it pretty hard to believe that the words "Computer subject" and "like" could even exist in one sentence due to my many unforgettable Computer classes in high school, but now I accept the fact with wide open arms. In fact, I believe that the only time I ever liked computer classes was here in college.
First off, because the Prof didn't look like she would eat you if she asked you to stand up and say something up front. The first time I walked in the classroom, my glasses weren't on, and I just saw this girl in a purple shirt talking inside the room. Oh, new classmate, I thought. And after a few minutes of listening and waiting for the professor, I new thought came sauntering by: "Silly goose, that is the Prof."
Oh.
It had its quirks. The class was fun because of all the interactive reporting styles of teaching, because the teacher wasn't all "superior-y" but rather like a classmate who knows way more than we do, and to my delight, we weren't off doing nosebleedy equations with our noses stuck on a monitor. I thought we'd be going through the basics they taught back in grade school, but I learned more about hackers, and Mac-vs-Windows-vs-Linux and CDs and stuff... CompSci's really fun, it’s something I look forward to two times a week.
That, and I was given a chance to write, and for my grade too... here I could write about new stuff besides a newsletter, a fanfic, or somebody else's Reaction Paper about The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. So when I found out that Ms. Kath wouldn't be our Prof anymore, I chimed along with the "Aaaaaawwwwwww..." Choir.
Gosh you'd think I was rating a movie or something...
Bwahahahaha....
Two toes up!
First off, because the Prof didn't look like she would eat you if she asked you to stand up and say something up front. The first time I walked in the classroom, my glasses weren't on, and I just saw this girl in a purple shirt talking inside the room. Oh, new classmate, I thought. And after a few minutes of listening and waiting for the professor, I new thought came sauntering by: "Silly goose, that is the Prof."
Oh.
It had its quirks. The class was fun because of all the interactive reporting styles of teaching, because the teacher wasn't all "superior-y" but rather like a classmate who knows way more than we do, and to my delight, we weren't off doing nosebleedy equations with our noses stuck on a monitor. I thought we'd be going through the basics they taught back in grade school, but I learned more about hackers, and Mac-vs-Windows-vs-Linux and CDs and stuff... CompSci's really fun, it’s something I look forward to two times a week.
That, and I was given a chance to write, and for my grade too... here I could write about new stuff besides a newsletter, a fanfic, or somebody else's Reaction Paper about The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. So when I found out that Ms. Kath wouldn't be our Prof anymore, I chimed along with the "Aaaaaawwwwwww..." Choir.
Gosh you'd think I was rating a movie or something...
Bwahahahaha....
Two toes up!
I've Got Your "Giant" Right Here.
A football flick. Once again, the same thought invaded my mind, like when we were going to watch Firewall. A movie I immediately branded as "something my dad would like." I was dead wrong.It took a very interesting turn. I was suddenly surprised when they applied 'the scriptures' to a football movie, but it only ended up in making the flick even better. It was wonderful how they related God to a game football, and they gave so many beautiful insights; the best of which is the proverb, "With God, all things are possible," and all the stories and everything-in-between, like the story of the two farmers asking for rain, and how the coach said that they would praise God, win or fail. It was just all so heartfelt that I found myself internally squirming more than strictly necessary a couple of times... and it came from a football movie, mind!
I believe it when people say that God makes things happen for a reason, and that He takes what you initially ask from Him because He'll give you something better in the end.
The overall awesomeness of the film was really touching, just the type of feel-good insightful movie one should always watch before taking a test that consists of an endless sea of numbers and Pythagorean theorems. The first time I passed my Calculus long test back in high school by a fleeting 50 points (over a hundred... okay, too much information..) I was just so "overwhelmed" that I profusely babbled a continuing series of 'thank you Lord!'s under my breath, squealing quietly like a mouse under attack.
There aren't any computers in this film whatsoever, but it's definitely something I wouldn't mind watching again until the feel-good quotes are stuck in my head.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
The Matrix Run on Windows
Okay, so I haven't really watched the Matrix saga myself, but I am familiar with most parts of the movie. It was enough to make me understand (and laugh at) the current video I posted bellow. Having a techy older brother does have it's fair share of advantages. To anyone who hasn't watched it before, here it is:
Three words...
I can relate.
This particular "movie" is really funny... the computer we use at home houses almost all of the faults featured in the flick. It's amazing how they were able to create this and at the same time make it as close as possible to the experiences of people with PCs that do a lot of hangin'.
The talking paper clip that showed up halfway during the clip when The Oracle showed up with "cookies enabled" reminded me of the good old days when me and my brothers would choose different "finding buddies" (Office Assistant) in Microsoft Word: I usually chose the dog, Rocky, my older brother would choose Mother Nature or F1 the robot, and my younger brother... well, he's actually more of the gamer type. Only when he plays games on the computer do his fingers really start tapping on the keyboard; that's why only his thumbs get the better part of an exercise.
The send-error-report part was something I could really relate to... one time just for the heck of it, I did try to send an error report. And like the great all-knowing Oracle had predicted, nothing happened.
I didn't get the part when the DVDs fell out of the closet... they said guns, didn't they?
-shrugs- Ehh, anyway... I loved the part best when the black-clad dude was "multplying"... hahaha... when that used to happen all the time I'd just click and drag the window all over the monitor and fill it with unfinished box-looking things.
And aaaaaas usual, I didn't know what "Ubuntu" was when Neo spoke about it towards the end of the clip, until my brother told me it was a Linux OS. Ah. That explains the befuddled expression.
Three words...
I can relate.
This particular "movie" is really funny... the computer we use at home houses almost all of the faults featured in the flick. It's amazing how they were able to create this and at the same time make it as close as possible to the experiences of people with PCs that do a lot of hangin'.
The talking paper clip that showed up halfway during the clip when The Oracle showed up with "cookies enabled" reminded me of the good old days when me and my brothers would choose different "finding buddies" (Office Assistant) in Microsoft Word: I usually chose the dog, Rocky, my older brother would choose Mother Nature or F1 the robot, and my younger brother... well, he's actually more of the gamer type. Only when he plays games on the computer do his fingers really start tapping on the keyboard; that's why only his thumbs get the better part of an exercise.
The send-error-report part was something I could really relate to... one time just for the heck of it, I did try to send an error report. And like the great all-knowing Oracle had predicted, nothing happened.
I didn't get the part when the DVDs fell out of the closet... they said guns, didn't they?
-shrugs- Ehh, anyway... I loved the part best when the black-clad dude was "multplying"... hahaha... when that used to happen all the time I'd just click and drag the window all over the monitor and fill it with unfinished box-looking things.
And aaaaaas usual, I didn't know what "Ubuntu" was when Neo spoke about it towards the end of the clip, until my brother told me it was a Linux OS. Ah. That explains the befuddled expression.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
The Grandpappy of all Nosebleeds: The Sequel
Yes, there is a sequel.
The paper said Java, C, and C++ are the top programming languages. Wanting to prove it to myself as well, I searched "Top Programming Languages" on the net; it turned out that the awesome-threesome weren't necessarily the on top of the food chain, but they were part of the Top 10 list, unless my sources were outdated.
Probably because of said awesome-threesome, I hated the Computer subject back in high school. We'd have it right after math or right before PE, and I always kept thinking twice a week, "Oh no, here comes the bell... death to us all, or just me at least." I think we studied it for a good two years, and most of the time I had no idea what to do. There I was, tapping away at the keys in pretend like someone killing ants on a table with just two fingers. We used QBASIC, actually, but even that didn't make things any better. Thank goodness for flexible plastic chairs and smarter-than-smart BFFs.
Check it:
"Java is a programming language originally developed by Sun Microsystems and released in 1995 as a core component of Sun Microsystems' Java platform. The language derives much of its syntax from C and C++ but has a simpler object model and fewer low-level facilities. Java applications are typically compiled to bytecode that can run on any Java virtual machine (JVM) regardless of computer architecture."
"In computing, C is a general-purpose, cross-platform, block structured, procedural, imperative computer programming language originally developed in 1972 by Dennis Ritchie at the Bell Telephone Laboratories for use with the Unix operating system."
"C++ is a general-purpose programming language. It is regarded as a middle-level language, as it comprises a combination of both high-level and low-level language features. It was developed by Bjarne Stroustrup in 1979 at Bell Labs as an enhancement to the C programming language and originally named "C with Classes". It was renamed to C++ in 1983."
See? See?? Any of y'all bleeding yet? I told you... hey, even that last name was a doozy.
So... should all students be required to learn computer programming?
...
...
...-buffering-...
Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo... (cough cough)
In my humble opinion, at least.
Not necessarily required, per se. Let's face it, only quite a few chosen people can actually do and like this sort of thing, and I am definitely out of their circle. Teach it to those who really like this sort of thing, and at the same time are good at it as well, because truthfully, you'd be wasting your time teaching someone who can't comprehend the situation no matter how hard s/he tries to. And if that's the case, then the knowledge will all just go down the drain like that time I accidentally upended my cooked pancit canton noodles in the sink. Save it for someone with "the gift" (insert sappy, angelic background music here).
It would be like giving a baseball bat to someone who wanted to go fishing. Just teach them the basics, and cut the crappy stuff. Then we're good.
I do believe bugs originate from the programmer. Where else would it come from?? It's like the mini self-destruct button people might accidentally insert with every "test1 = SomeFunction();" or "/* int */ CallingFunction()" they type on the screen.
The paper said Java, C, and C++ are the top programming languages. Wanting to prove it to myself as well, I searched "Top Programming Languages" on the net; it turned out that the awesome-threesome weren't necessarily the on top of the food chain, but they were part of the Top 10 list, unless my sources were outdated.
Probably because of said awesome-threesome, I hated the Computer subject back in high school. We'd have it right after math or right before PE, and I always kept thinking twice a week, "Oh no, here comes the bell... death to us all, or just me at least." I think we studied it for a good two years, and most of the time I had no idea what to do. There I was, tapping away at the keys in pretend like someone killing ants on a table with just two fingers. We used QBASIC, actually, but even that didn't make things any better. Thank goodness for flexible plastic chairs and smarter-than-smart BFFs.
Check it:
"Java is a programming language originally developed by Sun Microsystems and released in 1995 as a core component of Sun Microsystems' Java platform. The language derives much of its syntax from C and C++ but has a simpler object model and fewer low-level facilities. Java applications are typically compiled to bytecode that can run on any Java virtual machine (JVM) regardless of computer architecture."
"In computing, C is a general-purpose, cross-platform, block structured, procedural, imperative computer programming language originally developed in 1972 by Dennis Ritchie at the Bell Telephone Laboratories for use with the Unix operating system."
"C++ is a general-purpose programming language. It is regarded as a middle-level language, as it comprises a combination of both high-level and low-level language features. It was developed by Bjarne Stroustrup in 1979 at Bell Labs as an enhancement to the C programming language and originally named "C with Classes". It was renamed to C++ in 1983."
See? See?? Any of y'all bleeding yet? I told you... hey, even that last name was a doozy.
So... should all students be required to learn computer programming?
...
...
...-buffering-...
Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo... (cough cough)
In my humble opinion, at least.
Not necessarily required, per se. Let's face it, only quite a few chosen people can actually do and like this sort of thing, and I am definitely out of their circle. Teach it to those who really like this sort of thing, and at the same time are good at it as well, because truthfully, you'd be wasting your time teaching someone who can't comprehend the situation no matter how hard s/he tries to. And if that's the case, then the knowledge will all just go down the drain like that time I accidentally upended my cooked pancit canton noodles in the sink. Save it for someone with "the gift" (insert sappy, angelic background music here).
It would be like giving a baseball bat to someone who wanted to go fishing. Just teach them the basics, and cut the crappy stuff. Then we're good.
I do believe bugs originate from the programmer. Where else would it come from?? It's like the mini self-destruct button people might accidentally insert with every "test1 = SomeFunction();" or "/* int */ CallingFunction()" they type on the screen.
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