The Illusionist

Adapted from Steven Millhauser's novel "Eisenheim the Illusionist", tells us the story of a village magician (Edward Norton) who fell in love with a lady of royalty (Jessica Biel). After being separated, they meet once again in Vienna, him as a famous illusionist maker and her, bounded to her duty of her status, to marry the eccentric Prince Leopold. What comes next is a story and struggle of love, reality and of illusions. how they came to be together in the end is what makes the movie truly worth watching.

IN OTHER WORDS: its full of amazing tricks & magic, captivating to watch. in fact, i almost believed Eisenheim truly lived (but my bro told me it was from a novel--tsk tsk). good special effects, i must say..(of course, or else, the illusions would not be convincing). i can compare Eisenheim & Sophie's love story to the drama of star-crossed lovers. but Eisenheim had the brain and power and creativity (unlike Romeo) to make illusions.

the end of the movie is a twist in itself, you'll see.

then after watching it, make a reality check.
*wink*

i have to come back..

being the cause of someone's pain is not easy to bear. if it was mine alone to regret, i t would be easier to forget about it. but having someone involved is too much to fathom.

but i have to come back from the darkness of self-pity and self-disappointment.

because i have been given a wonderful & promising gift of beginning.
and everything will end beautifully..in God's perfect time.

"CRASH"

"moving at the speed of life...we are bound to collide with each other..."
"CRASH" will definitely rock your mind. i've never seen a movie so powerful in its use of words and imagery.
Crash is a film of people of different races and ethnicity, moving and colliding in each other's lives. not exactly a "power" cast -- with few known hollywood residents (Bullock, Dillon, Fraser, Bridges & Phillipe), but has created the right mix for each character needed in the film.
Crash has everything: drama, humor, love and action. what i like best about the film is its treatment on the subject of racial discrimination. not too heavy & not too light which makes relating to the character's way & experience of disrimination not too difficult.

IN OTHER WORDS: if you've seen "jologs", this movie has been its inspiration! the film awakened my conscience not only about racial prejudice but on discrimination as a whole. i had mixed reactions while watching the film: got mad over the insensitivity of the whites, furious at the blacks gangsta way of life and pity for victims. shall i say it again?! DEFINITELY A MUST-SEE!

ELECTIONS: read the tale that says it all

while walking down the street one day, a Philippine senator is tragically hit by a truck and dies.

His soul arrives in heaven and is met by St. Peter at the entrance.

"Welcome to heaven," says St. Peter. "Before you settle in, it seems there is a problem. We seldom see a high ranking official around these parts, you see, so we're not sure what to do with you."

"No problem, just let me in," says the senator.

"Well, I'd like to, but I have orders from higher up. What we'll do is have you spend one day in hell and one in heaven. Then you can choose where to spend eternity."

"Really, I've made up my mind. I want to be in heaven," says the senator.

"I'm sorry, but we have our rules."

And with that, St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell.

The doors open and he finds himself in the middle of a championship golf course. In the distance is a clubhouse and standing in front of it are all his friends and other politicians who had worked with him.

Everyone is very happy and in formal evening dress. They run to greet him, shake his hand, and reminisce about the good times they had while getting rich at the expense of the people.

They play a friendly game of golf and then dined on lobster, caviar and champagne. Also present was the devil, who really is a very friendly guy, he was having a good time dancing and telling jokes.

They are all having such a good time that before the senator realizes it, it was time to go.

Everyone gives him a hearty farewell and waves while the elevator rises...

The elevator goes up, up, up and the door reopens in heaven where St. Peter is waiting for him, "Now it's time to visit heaven."

So, 24 hours pass with the senator joining a group of contented souls moving from cloud to cloud, playing the harp and singing. They have a good time and, before he realizes it, the 24 hours have gone by and St. Peter returns.

"Well, then, you've spent a day in hell and another in heaven. Now choose your eternity."

The senator reflects for a minute, then he answers: "Well, I would never have said it before, I mean heaven has been delightful, but I think I would be better off in hell."

So St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell. Now the doors of the elevator open and he's in the middle of a barren land covered with waste and garbage. He sees all his friends, dressed in rags, picking up the trash and putting it in black bags as more trash falls from above.

The devil comes over to him and puts his arm around his shoulders.

"I don't understand," stammers the senator.

"Yesterday I was here and there was a golf course and a clubhouse, and we ate lobster and caviar, drank champagne, and danced and had a great time. Now there's just a wasteland full of garbage and my friends look miserable. What happened?"

The devil smiles at him and says,
"Yesterday we were campaigning......Today, you voted!"

i will not tell you to vote wisely for to do it wisely could mean a lot of things. i could say i am being wise because i could earn money in it or because that politician could help me later on, etc.
VOTE with your CONSCIENCE!

indignant i am

i felt bad to be truthful. i got hyped being invited as a facilitator in a political education among the youth in our area. and since i have the excitement like of a little child, i was already preparing good materials for my input. ideas were abundant every minute. i was confident in all means. this is my forte, so to speak.

MAJOR BUMMER. my dad told me i was not allowed by the community leaders to give the lecture. on the basis that i was not "sent off" to do such? (FYI: sending off is a solemn rite where one is initiated in the position and one clearly accepted the responsibility of such position--just think of an induction).

is there such a thing? in academic institutions, people who give lectures are nothing but the BEST and the MOST KNOWLEDGEABLE in their respective fields. but not being sent off? i may not be the best but i can proudly say i am throughly knowledgeable.

i was sidetracked because i have not been blessed. sometimes, i believe that the Catholic Church is too rigid on their rules and their hierarchy. no offense meant because im a practicing Catholic since birth. but this incident seems to difficult for me to comprehend.

if we truly want to educate people, then we shoud only get the people who knows the whole sh*t of what they are talking about. NOT the ones who were "sent-off".

but then again, maybe its not what God wanted me to do noble for this election
*wink wink*
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the idea of a thief lurking amongst the UTI is repulsive. but it has happened. fran lost her money inside our territory. and it seems there is no outsider to place the blame upon (except for sir fred's theory of the third kind playing tricks..).

for years now, we treated each other not only as colleagues but as family--as a REGCOM volunteer and a UTI too. and it seems the many years of being together is going down the sink because of this stupid theft incident. to let go of this incident would have been easier if the circumstances would point that someone took it and NOT FROM OUR CIRCLE. but sad to say, it does not. and its what makes me sad and mad.

mad because its stealing.
sad because someone's being secretly accused. though its not proven but it seems people are already believing he/she is the culprit. call it prejudice but the circumstances are not helping him/her either. i am for the truth but i am also for fairness. talking bad about someone from behind is bad business for me especially in this kind of sticky situations.
- - -
lucky lucky miss earth beauty pageant! i was not able to watch their crappy event or else i would be more than willing to give them a "sound review". though feedback has it that piolo sucked as a host.

ONE, i never liked piolo. he tries hard at everything especially at his singing career. hmpf!
and TWO, the miss earth beauty pageant is a sucker in itself anyway..