Sunday, October 19, 2003
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Going to beautiful Guimaras starting tomorrow! Hopefully, I can still get internet access, but if not, I guess this blog will be on hiatus until the end of the month. :)

Ciao, everyone! Be good. :)

Friday, October 17, 2003
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I'm being sent to Guimaras for about 10 days or so to oversee the trainings of some... Padawans. :D I hope I at least get to find an Internet cafe there somewhere....

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Still too excited about Clone Wars so I'm pasting some links here that might be of interest.... plus it will help me to go through them again when I get back... hehehhh....

Genndy Tartakovsky talks about Clone Wars:
http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?threadid=91727

Episode Summaries of the first 10 chapters:
http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?threadid=91725

And some character bios and sketches....
http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?threadid=91724

Cool!

Sunday, October 12, 2003
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Obsessive Compulsive Me strikes again

Because I got irritated with the pop-up ads while trying to upload my Harry Potter essay series, I decided to set my Tripod account back to show the darned banner ads (ugh!). That means I'll have to reformat Magical Melodies, which is just as well, I guess..... It will have to go down for some weeks though. :(

Aside from getting irritated with pop-ups, I got irritated with the weird layout of this training manual I'm editing for work. The result? I got a softcopy and decided to edit it myself, and reformat if necessary.... The catch? It's needed by October 20. It's 120 pages, and needs to be copied 31 times, and then bound. Ah... there seems to be a lot of work ahead of me next week....

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I've finally put up my series of Harry Potter essays collectively known as "All I Really Need To Know I Learned From Harry Potter (Magical Thoughts on Muggle Things)". Now to think about what I've learned from Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. Heehhh.

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I think I shocked Joran yesterday when I started talking about researching Star Wars costumes. Hehehhh. I think I shocked myself too. I've always said that I'm leaving costuming to the others. But... for some weird reason and maybe some weird bug bit me last week, I just surfed and hunted down costuming tips....

No, I ain't wearing Slave Leia (sorreeeeee) or revealing Padme! But I have been looking over some very cool Padme costumes.

Like this Senate gown that was cut from the theatrical release of Attack of the Clones...



Fabulous but too ambitious. Heheh. I've decided that this lovely and comfy blue dress she wore on Tatooine is more... me... *grin*



Now if only I'm able to get the materials in time, maybe it can make the next Convention....

But my ultimate Padme costume would have to be this...



Yes, the wedding gown. It is just way too lovely to resist. Wouldn't you love to get married in that? I sure would. (geek! geeeeekkk!!!)





Cool... especially considering Trisha Biggar made the actual costume from an antique lace bedspread..... Hrmmmm.... So of course, this would be a dream costume. As in dream on until you can find large quantities of lace....

But I think I'd better concentrate on the much easier Yoko get-up from the Animatrix episode, "Beyond", for the Revolutions opening. I shocked myself again, when I decided to go around the mall trying to find the requisite pieces. The blue hair will be a problem though.

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Happy Birthday, Mom! Love you. :)





Monday, October 06, 2003
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A Pensive Saturday Afternoon in Paris

Okay, not exactly in Paris. But every time I have half the mind to pop in "Sabrina" in the VCD player, I somehow feel transported there. Call it weird, but I know you people out there have this movie that has a special place in your heart too. A movie that you just want to watch over and over for some reason you cannot define. "Sabrina" is this movie for me. Well, for certain... times, that is. Let me make it clear though, this is the version that stars my favorite Harrison Ford and lovely Julia Ormond and funny Greg Kinnear. This is the movie I want to watch when I'm feeling especially pensive and... err... lonely, on a quiet Saturday afternoon alone in the house. :D I save Star Wars and Indiana Jones and Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings for other occassions and other emotions....

"Paris is always a good idea", Sabrina said. I say this movie is always a good idea. It gives me this different feeling of being somewhere where things are as they are supposed to be, where long walks will help you find yourself, and love is waiting when you come home...

Add to that a really romantic and soothing soundtrack by... guess who... John Williams of course (duh). Sting's rendition of "Moonlight" won't be out of place playing in the background during a candle-lit dinner. And the instrumentals are nice pieces to dance to with someone you care about, and will remind you of days spent sitting in a French cafe or strolling and watching them street singers or a fashion shoot maybe, or evoke images of the Eiffel Tower.

And for some truly weird and eerie reason, as I was watching the movie yesterday afternoon, this one song struck me as the song I want to hear sung on my wedding day....

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HOW CAN I REMEMBER

Music by: John Williams
Lyrics by: Alan and Marilyn Bergman
Performed by: Michael Dees
From the "Sabrina" Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

How can I remember things that never happened?
Arms that never held me,
Lips I never kissed?
How can I remember?
Why do I keep seeing someone's face before me?
Eyes that say they know me,
Shining through the mist.
Eyes that I remember.
I don't know why or when or where.
I feel suspended in mid-air.
Somewhere between a dream and a memory,
Where then and now meet somehow.

Why do I keep hearing some familiar music?
Half forgotten love songs running through my mind.
Why do I remember?
I don't know why or when or where.
I feel suspended in mid-air.
Somewhere between a dream and a memory.
Where then and now meet somehow.
There are many things I may not understand,
But somehow I knew that you would take my hand.
I always knew you'd find me.
Always knew you'd love me,
Long before I met you.
Don't ask me how I knew.
Ever since I can remember,
I remember you.

~*~*~*

UPDATE: Believe it or not, yesterday afternoon (Sunday), I watched the movie again, and again that same night. Hahahahhah! :)

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I did say that I won't stand for all the jologs songs playing in the buses, so today, I decided to dig deep into Anakin's (my PC) music archives and me and Blue compiled some nice music to accompany my staring forlornly out of bus windows. Hehehheh.


What Blue Is Playing This Week

"Blue Eyes Blue" by Eric Clapton
"Forth Eorlingas" by Howard Shore feat. Ben del Maestro
"Broken Vow" by Josh Groban
"Alejate" by Josh Groban
"Bolero" - Moulin Rouge Closing Credits
"Objection" by Shakira
"The Breaking of the Fellowship" by Howard Shore
"You Won't See Me Cry" by Wilson Phillips
"How Can I Remember" by Michael Dees
"Moonlight" by Sting
"The Riders of Rohan" by Howard Shore
"Throne Room and Finale" by John Williams
"Qui-Gon's Noble End" by John Williams
"Save Me" by Remy Zero
"Sabrina Remembers and La Vie En Rose" by John Williams
"Sabrina's Return to Paris" by John Williams

Hrmmm. Nope. Don't ask me why I chose those.

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There are so many crummy things happening in the world that we should be thankful for what little joy we experience each day, little blessings, and things that make us smile. I can think of about 10 crummy things that happened to me this past week, and just a few nice things. But the nice things have outweighed all the crummy ones. And for that, I am thankful too.

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See see? That's gorgeous Aragorn looking very kingly indeed. :D

I was finally able to download and watch the Return of the King trailer. (Thanks Zaldy!!! It was worth staying until 9pm for. :D )

It was a fabulous fabulous trailer. I can't wait to see the movie!

Absolutely adored the shot of Gandalf (still a very sparkly white, heheh.) and Shadowfax riding towards a host of enemies, and suddenly, Gandalf holds up his staff and light just bursts from it. Now that's what a spectacular shot is supposed to look like. :D

I also loved all the scenes with Gollum and Sam and Frodo, especially the one where Frodo says "Let's go, Smeagol", apparently after Sam says some harsh words to Smeagol again, and Smeagol follows Frodo but throws Sam a triumphant and kinda evil look. Eerie.

The battle scenes look wonderful too. There's nothing like seeing the Rohirrim riding to battle to give you goosebumps. :D Forth Eorlingas! ;) And finally, a shot of Dernhelm! I still can't believe how apt Miranda Otto is for the role of Éowyn. She is exactly as I imagined from reading the book. Now I do hope they redeem Faramir's character also.

Oh,. and Shelob???? *shudder* Creepy creepy creepy. Gah. I hate spiders.

I had a Star Wars moment while watching the trailer, though, with that shot of Aragorn and Gandalf talking about whether Frodo is still alive, and Aragorn says "What does your heart tell you?". That was a line that Shmi Skywalker said to Anakin when he was leaving with Qui-Gon Jinn in "The Phantom Menace". :D It was the first thing that came to mind after hearing that line. :D

And because of all this excitement, I managed to finish listening to the RotK audiobook yesterday. Hehheh. But I decided, why not listen again? :D

Now back to studying the Atlas of Middle Earth....

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I've been hitting even more dead ends trying to find Cartoon Network Philippines's contact information. Yesterday, we used Globe Telecom's directory assistance service, unfortunately, CNP is not even listed. Next step: Do a Cartoon Network marathon and patiently wait for them to show one of their snail mail addresses and email addresses. This is crazy. But I don't want Clone Wars to be shown here after a year!!! After seeing the trailer and all the images? I'm not gonna give in to a delayed release without a fight.



Now how cool is that? The art has that Dexter's Lab feel to it, but not as rough. It has a Samurai Jack quality. Good work by Tartakovsky. And Yoda? He looks BAD. :)

UPDATE: Got CN's snail mail, yippeeeeee!!!

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It was you who put the clouds around me.
It was you who made the tears fall down.
Only you who broke my heart in pieces.
It was you, it was you who made my blue eyes blue.
---- "Blue Eyes Blue" by Eric Clapton