of frogs and princes (and all that sh**t)

another prince has turned into a frog again. sabi ko na e. kahina-hinala talagang may biglang cute na lalakeng susulpot na parang kabute, sasabihing classmate ko raw sya from prep, at iimbitahan akong magkape at manood ng sine.

e ako naman itong si gaga, sama naman. hahahay buhay!

well, in fairness to me, he WAS my classmate from prep. and i said yes to that coffee/movie date because i was curious. di naman kami close nung prep...and all of a sudden he wanted to meet up and "catch up on old times"? heck, it was weird, but i wanted to give myself a chance. malay mo.

but then, something as kahina-hinala as that ought to turn out somewhat dour, in the end.
after DAWN OF THE DEAD and a cup of coffee at COFFEE EXPERIENCE, the bombshell dropped. he said his guy friend was coming to meet us. he said that they were going to "present" something to me. a business proposition. my nose started twitching.

then the friend arrived. ahh. a networking business. they wanted to recruit me. they spent forty five minutes trying to persuade me that investing ten grand in their "venture" would give me a Volvo and 1million pesos in about a year. as the friend smooth-talked his way into the business "presentation", i looked over at mr. prince charming from prep and mentally drew an X-mark over his livid, nodding face.

duh. first date turns out to be an ambush. so that was what the sweety-syrupy text messages were for. what a complete TURNOFF!

Oh well. there's always the nearby swamp to scout for more possible princes. a shrek wouldn't be too bad, either.

just because i say "pare" a lot doesn't make me lesbian (and other inane angsts)

hwell, oh hwell. seasons are turning again. the french film fest is done and over with, so is my festival pass. didn't even get to watch that LA PETITE LILI movie. dunno if i missed much.

i did go to the FETE DELA MUSIQUE last june 19, though. a sudden downpour ruined the entire event. i'm still amazed at how the organizers (alliance francaise) could have overlooked the possibility of rain. i mean, heller?! it's june, ain't it? open air, right? just after 10 pm the frogs came down to earth and the stages were soaked...we had to run for the nearest cover...didn't even get to see parokya perform! :-(

well. at least i bumped into someone i'd been secretly hoping to bump into that night. well not really. well yes. okay, fine, yes. despite his girlfriend on friendster. despite his female companion that night (and mind you, it was NOT the girlfriend). despite everything. shit. i hate him. and i hate him for saying that i looked nice in orange (is that supposed to be an insult? who would look good in orange?). i know it was a mindless compliment at best, a text message composed out of sheer boredom probably, but who cares? not me, i don't.

not any-friggin-more.

hay hay. oh truly. money makes the world go round. or is it love? i guess that's why my world has been erratic in its axis for the past twenty-four years now. stop, go, stop. rotating, rotating, but hardly revolving at all. evolving, at least...i hope.

hey, just because i say "pare" a lot doesn't mean i'm lesbian. the peeps at work have been ribbing me about being a closeted "tung". i know i should just let 'em, they'll tire themselves out. haha. i have a boyfriend, remember? well, jun encarnacion did have a wife. haha. nonetheless.

god help me, i want to make my second baby...

I want to make a short film. On 35mm. I think it's just about time now. To make my second baby.
But I would want to make it for the sole desire of WANTING to tell a story, to say something. I wouldn't want to make it because "it's about time", no. That would be sort of corrupting the immaculateness of the whole process of "creating"...or whatever it's called.
God knows how I want to embrace this as my life, God knows how I want to churn out stuff, but I can't seem to sit down on it, can't seem to concentrate...God knows all this, and God ought to help me. If it's time, it's time.

Just caught another film at the French Film Festival: a Sino-French co-prod, "Balzac and the Little Seamstress". Finally, a film that somehow moved me...I guess this charming, quiet, poignant little gem (set during the Mao Zedong era in China, centering around three youngsters and their coming-of-age/awakening in the communist mountains) thrusts SEX IS COMEDY down to NO. 2 in my French Film Fest list of favorites. 6 down, 13 more to go!!!!!!

Hmmm....I think I'm curious about La Petite Lili. The poster looks nice (closeup of half of a lovely girl's face). It's showing on Friday afternoon, will definitely catch it.

my two cents' take on the french films at GB3

Have seen 5 films that are showing at the French Filml Festival in GB3 these past few days:

LE COUER DE HOMMES (French Men) - Pardon my French, but shouldn't the translation be "The Hearts of Men"? Anyway, the film is about four guy friends, aged late 30s to early 60s, who have to deal with their own personal love/family/relationship problems. Think French-masculine version of such chick flicks as Waiting to Exhale and Noon at Ngayon.

As the opening film of the festival, I was kinda expecting more. Whoa, well. I guess not all French can make interesting films. This one was a big letdown. Not even Star Cinema (commercial standards notwithstanding) would give this kind of film a go. Sorry to say!

MARIE JO ET DEUX AMOURS (Marie Jo and Her Two Lovers) - About a woman who's torn between her foreman-husband and her ship-captain lover. Sigh. Sigh, sigh sigh. Is this what I braved the bad weather for? Didn't come all the way to Greenbelt for a letdown. Shucks.

Well, at least the picturesque view (film was set in the seaside town of Marseilles) almost compensates for the bad movie.

CONTE DE AUTOMNE (An Autumn Tale) - a middle-aged widowed countrywoman becomes the target of two matchmaking ruses orchestrated by her bestfriend (a glam city woman) and the girlfriend of her son (a Felicity lookalike).

Dashes of humor every once in a while, but the ending didn't sit all that well for me. The French has been known to be fond of open endings, but this one wasn't well justified. At least it's better than Marie Jo, though.

SEX IS COMEDY - about a woman director's attempt to make a sex film. Just about the best among those I've seen so far. The film, directed with such in-your-face boldness by Catherine Breillat, was also screened at the Cinemanila last August, I think. Reminds me of Living in Oblivion.

A LA PETIT SEMAIN (Nickel and Dime) - a heist flick, but no action no-brainer. A lesser version of The Usual Suspects. The ending wasn't too bad, either. The second best film of the five I've seen, in my humble opinion.

french leave

i took a leave from work today because i wanna go to the opening night of the newest film fest to open this side of gay manila. it's probably gonna be some ritzy, ditzy affair, with champagne all around and nearly everyone there aging over 25, but nonetheless. i may not be the glam, love-to-dress-up type but i'm going there for personnel, i mean personal reasons. haha.

what's "bading" in french?

how do you say "bading" in french?
maybe i should ask him that, the next time i see him. :-)