Booklist & Must-Haves:
Eragon
PLDT DSL
Ignorance by Milan Kundera
The Annotated Legends (Dragonlance)
The Princess Bride
LotR journals and jewelry on this site

I will be posting a BackLog bulletin soon, as I am too tired to recall and put into writing everything that occured yesterday - the day Reins, Karen, Chari, Arvi and I got together at last. I hope Chari sends me the pictures as soon as possible (Chari, if you're reading this, send them to me na! =p). I have to get some sleep. I dont want to face 4 hours of Assembly tomorrow with a fuzzy brain.

Why didn't I see this film when it came out? Why, why? I finally saw it yesterday at Mog's. It's one of the funniest films I've seen, mostly because of Johnny Depp. He's so cool as Captain Jack Sparrow. I cant wait for the sequel, currently being filmed according to IMDB. I hope Orlando's character's personality improves a little. It's so obvious that the producers just want to package him as some pretty boy-hearthrob like Leonardo DiCaprio. Ugh. Gayness.

Hahaha, I took one of 'em quizzies over at Quizilla, Which Celebrity Are You Going to Marry? Guess who I got? Guess? Check out the results quick! ~Weeeee!

I never imagined stress to come this early in the term. Surprise, surprise, it's not even coming from school work! It's mostly coming from my grandmother, who is the most stubborn person I know - even when she's so glaringly wrong. It's also coming from my landlady (is that the correct term for the owner of the condo I'm living in?). See, the PLDT phone line is in her name, and I want to subscribe to DSL. But I need her authorization letter since she owns the account. Yesterday she was ready to sign the form. Today she wants me to just apply for my own phone line and have DSL installed there. Sigh. I have to haul ass tomorrow morning to the PLDT office to apply for both a phone line and DSL. Hmm, come to think of it, maybe that's not such a bad idea after all, killing 2 birds with 1 stone (argh, a cliche!). I just wish she had thought of this and decided on this course very early on. I could have applied for the line last year for fuck's sake. What a waste of freaking time and effort. Oh well. After all this stress even C++ seems to be a ray of sunshine. Which, come to think of it, is a very positive attitude to take when facing a rather daunting programming subject. I'm off to school!

I had fun in COMTECH today. There's something so utterly charming about Sir Tubo. He's cute, has breeding, has a wry sense of humour, and seems to be really smart. I think it's the perceived intelligence that makes him so attractive. He sometimes looks like this mischievous little boy and yet his smartness manifests the grown, learned man. It works. =p He inspires me to learn and do well in class. I want to be as smart as he is, in the field of COMTECH at least. He inspires me like the way other smart people do. I want to be acknowledged by him as one of his best students this term and live up to my 1.0 in DATANET. This time around, if and when he gives me a 1.0, I want it to be one he knows I deserve, and not a 1.0 by adjustment. COMTECH promises to be an interestingly difficuly subject - lots of technicalities and memory work. But at least there's some sort of inspiration coming from the teacher. =p

In the case of OBJECTS, I have my work cut out for me. I have to show Sir Reggie that I can be a better student than the one he saw in DASTRUCT. And so the third term begins. The journey continues...

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I saw Sir Tubo! Early this morning! ~Weeee! He was wearing a barong and he looked really, really cute. Okay, I've officially succumbed to ditz mode. Lol. I cant wait till COMTECH. I just hope he doesn't give a quiz on the first meeting, hehehe. TPTS has a new look. I'm quite excited about this weekend's A Long-Expected Party. The talk on Tolkien's languages isn't included in the released schedule of events, instead there's is a Forum/Panel on Fantasy Writing on the 17th @ 11am. Bummer. I was really looking forward to the language seminar since I've started really studying Quenya. Oh well.

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I just learned from the The Pinoy Harry Potter's Forums that my beloved Orlando Bloom has a girlfriend! Read this short article on IMDB about it. Happy 27th birthday Orlando!

Late afternoon of Saturday, I went to Monchot's house to play some board games. Nix and Mog were there since morning with Jayvee, Ricky, Titus, Froggy, George (who can only be described as ethereal), Aileen, Carlos, and a couple more whose names I simply cannot recall. We played Werewolves. During the second game, George and I were the werewolves and we won! Haha, Girl Power! Good thing we decided to eliminate both Nix and Mog quite early on in the game. I'm sure that at some point, one or both of them would have caught on that I was one of the werewolves. Especially since both already suspected George of being one.

After dinner, we ended up discussing RotK. I'm pretty glad that I found someone who shares my sentiments about Lord of the Rings in Carlos. I've been hesitant in voicing this out because it is a selfish and pompous thought, but I'd have to agree with Carlos that after the initial thrill of seeing FotR on the big screen, I felt as if my little world has been invaded. I'm pretty sure there are some other book fanatics who feel this way. Suddenly, this piece of literature that made everyone go Huh? Lord of the Rings? What's that? at me since grade school (when everyone's bible seemed to be either Sweet Valley or the Hardy Boys) is the current fad. And people who have seen the movie but have not read the book are suddenly authorities on anything LotR. Wtf right? The only positve thing to come out of this is that I got some of my friends to finally read the books mostly after seeing Two Towers and my vehement reaction: There were NO Elves in Helm's Deep for fuck's sake! Also because I refused to tell them where Peter Jackson made changes and which lines in the movie originally came from the book. =p Dont get me wrong. I loved the movies (well, maybe not Two Towers), and I have long wanted LotR to be made into a movie. It's just the possessive, selfish, and I guess, purist in me that makes me feel this way. Some purist friends of mine marvel at how I can like the movies seeing as a lot of changes were made. Simple, I didn't go to see the book on screen. I went in thinking that this is a movie version, an interpretation. Tehanu said it best in her review at TORN:

Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens tell a different story of the same events. What fun, I get to hear a whole different interpretation of it all! I love the newness and surprise. After all, nobody's taken away the original story I always knew. Every time I return to the written page, it surprises me and moves me with its power and beauty. But so does the film. But in different ways and for different reasons.

Nix, Mog and I watched Return of the King again last Friday. We came in late, just a couple of footages before the Lighting-of-the-Beacons scene. Putting aside the Purist in me, I absolutely loved the film. Fellowship, I think, will always be my favorite, but RotK holds the special-Oscar-since-I-cant-give-it-one award. The first time I saw it, during last year's premiere, I couldn't help but cry. I was sniffling even during the first scenes cause I was thinking, This is it! This is the last film. What's there to look forward to next year? I was even half hoping that the showing wouldn't push through, you know? That I'd wake up and RotK wouldn't be shown till about 6 months, or maybe even a year. Or that for some crazy reason like making more money, Peter Jackson would actually cut RotK into 2 parts. LOL. Ah, the desperation. =p

My favorite scenes in RotK (in no particular order):

• Lighting of the Beacons. What beautiful cinematography! And the drama, oh the drama! The camerawork made up for the fact that Minas Tirith's beacon was already lit (in the books at least) when Gandalf and Pippin arrived. Denethor isn't the slob the movie made him out to be. Really.


• Pippin's song and Faramir's charge to regain Osgiliath. I shed a tear here. To the curious like me, Pippin's song is actually from Bilbo's A Walking Song, though of course, part of it was revised for the movie. Here is the excerpt from A Walking Song (those in parenthesis are the movie revisions):
  
  
  Home is behind the world ahead,
  And there are many paths to tread
  Through shadows to the edge of night,
  Until the stars are all alight.
  Then world behind and home ahead, (this line was omitted)
  We'll wander back to home and bed. (omitted as well)
  Mist and twilight (twilight was replaced by shadow), cloud and shade,
  Away shall fade! Away shall fade! (All shall fade, all shall fade)
  
  


• The Paths of the Dead (What say you?). Oh man, when all the Dead appeared around Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas- what a scene! They really made good use of the Renderwall.


• The Battle of Pelennor Field. Everything about it! The Haradrim and the Oliphaunts, the Ride of the Rohirrim, Legolas' blockbuster Spiderman moves, Gimli's That still counts as one!, the Dead Army appearing from the Corsairs and the sea, and then later on swarming over an Oliphaunt- LOL! Theoden's speech before the Rohirrim, Theoden's death and last words, and of course, Eowyn and the Witch-King. I admit, Eowyn's one-liner was very effective in terms of the momentum of the movie, but I wish they could have used some other dignified line from the book. Teehee, dont mind me. I just want to glorify Eowyn's part since she is one of the strongest female characters in the books and in the movie.


• Frodo and Sam inside Mount Doom. Elijah Wood's eyes are so expressive. All his acting is done through his eyes (which I hope to Iluvatar aren't CGI!). The scene in Mt. Doom, when Frodo decides to keep the ring instead (The Ring is mine!) was very well done. And Frodo looked like the maniacal, possessed-by-the-Ring halfling he was supposed to look like.


• Merry and Pippin's farewell. This was when Gandalf had to take Pippin out of Meduseld because Sauron saw him through the Palantir.
  Pippin: Merry...
  Gandalf: Run Shadowfax. Show us the meaning of haste.
  Pippin: Merry!


• The Witch-King on the fell beast, landing on the turret of Minas Morgul. What a shot! What an amazing shot!


• Minas Tirith, the first time they showed it. They did this right, to a T. When the scene came on, I was like, Wow. It was breathtakingly beautiful. And yes, like Nix, I want a replica!


• Eomer, Theoden, the Ride of the Rohirrim.
  The movie version (I think Eomer says this in the movie, but I cant be certain):
  Riders of Rohan
  Now is the hour
  Oaths you have taken
  Now fulfill
  For lord and land!
  
  The book version (Theoden):
  Now is the hour come, Riders of the Mark, sons of Eorl! Foes and fires are before you, and your homes far behind. Yet though you fight upon an alien field, the glory that you reap there shall be your own forever. Oaths ye have taken: now fulfill them all, to lord and land and league of friendship!
  
  My absolute favorite Theoden scene:
  Arise, arise, Riders of Theoden!
  Fell deeds awake: fire and slaughter!
  spear shall be shaken, shield be splintered,
  a sword-day, a red day, ere the sun rises!
  Ride now, ride now! Ride to Gondor!



• My friends, you bow to no one. This is my favorite scene in the movie. I couldn't help but cry when everyone bowed down before Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin. I loved the expressions on Frodo's and Pippin's faces here. Frodo looked hesitant, like he felt that he didn't deserve it. Pippin looked proud, like he felt he deserved it, hahaha.

Nix, Mog and I are watching it again this Saturday. We're gonna watch the whole day. I cant wait for the DVD Extended Edition! Oh, I found this really funny parody over at the TPTS Forums.