November 17, 2009 at 4:47 am (Movies, Other Sites of Interest)
Tags: classic movies, indecision, lists
Self has decided to borrow a page from Rotten Tomatoes, which dared to ask Roland Emmerich (he of execrable “2012″ fame) which were his five favorite films of all time (Two of his five were those old reliables “Citizen Kane” and “Lawrence of Arabia”) Self is just glad he didn’t include “Gone with the Wind”! (But then, he wouldn’t, now, would he? Being the action director that he is!).
Anyhoo, self was inspired by the concept and will now list five movies which she thinks are most deserving of being called “Best of All Time” (Which is a totally different thing from her Five Favorite Movies of All Time, but, once again, self digresses):
- Alien
- Master and Commander
- Platoon
- The Godfather, Parts 1 and 2 (That said, self thinks Part 3 is probably one of the worst movies of all time)
- The Road Warrior
How terribly bloody self’s choices are, she just realized! And she mustn’t forget: “The French Connection” and practically everything by Kurosawa (“Kagemusha,” “Ran,” “The Seven Samurai,” among others)! And “Princess Mononoke”! Now, self can’t decide which of the above-named movies should make the cut to the “Five Best.” This is definitely harder than she thought it would be!
And here are some of self’s Favorite Movies of All Time: “Speed.” “Ang Tanging Ina N’Yong Lahat” (Saw it in Manila just this past January). The first “Terminator” movie. “Star Trek,” the re-boot. “The Painted Veil.” Stephen Chow’s hilarious “Kung-Fu Hustle.” This year’s “The Hurt Locker.” The oddly compelling Western/vampire movie “Ravenous.” Richard Lester’s “The Three Musketeers.” And all the Bourne movies. OMG, self knows this is getting out of hand. Someone, stop self before she goes bananas!
And here are some more movies, these more like “guilty pleasures” than anything else:
- 300 (Astinos liiiives!!!)
- Ever After (the movie that started self paying attention to Drew Barrymore as an actress. Also: how cute is Dougray Scott???)
- The Lake House (Keanu liiiives!!!)
Stay tuned, dear blog readers, stay tuned.
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November 13, 2009 at 6:41 pm (Opportunities, Other Sites of Interest, Quotes, Writers and Others)
Tags: Literary Journals & Websites, Publishers
Which have to do this morning with print-on-demand.
Because she is wild to find a U.S. publisher for some of her work.
And perhaps publishing (or indie publishing, at any rate) should follow the lead of the music world, which can, according to an article quoted in Luna Park, “lead to the same cornucopia for literature that the music world has already been enjoying.”
Something to think about, anyway.
Stay tuned, dear blog readers, stay tuned.
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November 12, 2009 at 1:31 am (Eavesdropping, Food and Drink, Other Sites of Interest)
Tags: Filipino food, happiness, Holidays, lists, restaurants
First of all, today is Veterans Day. So, to all the soldiers fighting for our freedom all over the world, self salutes and honors you.
Now then: It was such a beautiful day!
Self worked at the Writing Center, then had late lunch with Zack, Liza, and Jonathan in Tribu again — yum! Yuuumm! Self’s pants are so tight right now, she can hardly breathe!
She had lychee shake! And shared a bibingka with Zack!
And now she is home, giving her tummy a much-needed rest. Naturally, she begins wandering the Internet, ever in search of more news, more information, more laughs, more inspiration, more what-have-you. And she pauses for a while on Open.Salon.com. And peruses the list of posts. And here are a few of her favorites (Asterisks are for the posts that made self laugh out loud at least once) :
- Cartoon: Proust is Boring
- Springsteen Robbed of Spot on NPR’s 50 Great Voices List
- Involuntary Lactation & Other Lessons Learned in Jamaica*
- When Geeks and Nerds Cross-Pollinate
- Iraq: Ten Lessons Learned During My Brother’s Deployment*
- My Son Says He is White (about Sammy Sosa’s alleged use of skin-whitening products)
- Reflections on Two Military Cemeteries in France
P.S. to dear blog readers: Post # 5 and # 7 were written by the same person. Good going, Mr. von Hoffman!
Stay tuned.
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November 10, 2009 at 6:15 pm (Books, Other Sites of Interest, Places)
Tags: announcements, Burma, reviews, Women's Review of Books
On-line now, self’s review of two new books about Burma:
- Justin Wintle’s Aung San Suu Kyi biography, Perfect Hostage
- San San Tin’s memoir, written with Carolyn Wakeman, No Time For Dreams: Living in Burma Under Military Rule
at the Women’s Review of Books website.
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November 10, 2009 at 5:04 am (Opportunities, Other Sites of Interest, Quotes)
Tags: lists, Poets & Writers, Readings
From the Nov/Dec 2009 issue of Poets & Writers, in an article by Seth Abramson on “The Top MFA Programs”, there is a list of “Writing Classes Outside of Academia.”
Self has heard of most of them, except for the one in Huntington Beach (Tebot Bach). Here’s the list, from p. 88:
Gotham Writers Workshop, New York City
555 Eighth Avenue, Suite 1402
New York, NY 10018
Grub Street, Boston
160 Boylston Street, Fourth Floor
Boston, MA 02116
The Loft Literary Center, Minneapolis
Suite 200, Open Book
1011 Washington Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55415
Richard Hugo House, Seattle
1634 Eleventh Avenue
Seattle, WA 98122
San Diego Writers, Ink, San Diego
P. O. Box 34374
San Diego, CA 92163
Tebot Bach, Huntington Beach
P. O. Box 7887
Huntington Beach, CA 92615 – 7887
Writers At Work, Los Angeles
4022 Fountain Avenue, Suite 202
Los Angeles, CA 90029 – 2220
The Writer’s Center, Bethesda, MD
4508 Walsh St.
Bethesda, MD 20815
(Self is reading here, Feb. 19 2010! Stay tuned for more details)
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October 13, 2009 at 7:04 pm (Opportunities, Other Sites of Interest, Sayings, Surprises, Writing, short fiction)
Tags: contests, first times, literary awards, Literary Journals & Websites
Yesterday was quite an amazing day as self got the absolutely amazing news that a story of hers was a finalist in a flash fiction contest. Self’s been trying for years to get into this journal, with no luck. And now she’s a finalist?
The prize was $500.
Unfortunately or perhaps just unluckily, the story was “Appetites,” which is in the current issue (# 31) of cool website Cafe Irreal.
Alas! She had so little faith in her chances (or is perhaps too much a creature of impulse) that, yes indeed, amazing as it may seem, she submitted the exact same piece to the contest and to Cafe Irreal, which published it. (Then again, dear blog readers, what are the odds? Of you becoming a finalist in a contest? Given the fact that there are hundreds of writers equally or perhaps more talented than you, all of them also submitting to contests? Isn’t becoming a contest finalist then akin to the rich man going through the eye of a needle, or whatever analogy the Bible used to illustrate the difficulty of getting into heaven?)
Self had to withdraw from the contest, today.
Here are a couple of thoughts that presented to self:
There is always a first time for everything. So now self has the unique honor of knowing how it feels to have to excuse herself from a contest in which she has become (quite improbably) a finalist.
Also: What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger? Hopefully?
Stay tuned, dear blog readers, stay tuned.
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October 4, 2009 at 1:43 am (Brain Cloud, Movies, Other Sites of Interest, Surprises)
Tags: comedies, desserts, Edward Norton, Goldilocks, Saturdays, weather, weekends, Whole Foods
Why do the weather newscasters never warn us when to expect a weekend of blustery, bone-chilling wind? You can be sure that when they say it will be hot and sweltering, it won’t be. And when they say it will be cool, that’s when it will be hot and sweltering.
Today, self’s hands and lips are sooo chapped. She and hubby went to see “The Invention of Lying” at the downtown Century 20 (Five Stars! Ricky Gervais killed! Also, there is a short appearance by Edward Norton, and what’s so cool about his one scene is that it’s not immediately apparent that it is Ed Norton — I looked up the movie on IMDB, and after scrolling down a seemingly endless list of actors and actresses, I thought I’d made a mistake. But no, there was his name: the very last on the list, and even then the entry says only “uncredited, unconfirmed.” What convinced self that it was indeed he was the voice. — Edward, hurry up and make more movies! Self misses you!). Self nearly froze on the walk from the car to the theater (Very interesting: there were hardly any people in the audience, but of the few hardy souls who were there for the first screening of the day, two were deep into books, and one was using the Read the rest of this entry »
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September 17, 2009 at 3:19 pm (Books, Other Sites of Interest, Quotes, Voices, Writers and Others)
Tags: announcements, reviews, Women's Review of Books
Dear Blog Readers,
Amy Hoffman, editor of esteemed Women’s Review of Books, sent me this message yesterday and I was so very excited and happy to get the news. Here’s her letter:
September 16, 2009
I’m writing to introduce you to WRB’s new blog!
Each week, WOMEN=BOOKS will feature a new post by a WRB reviewer or book author. Visitors to the blog can comment, building a network for intelligent debate about everything from women in the military to abortion rights to childcare to sex trafficking. Blog comments are refereed, making the site a safe place for the discussion of controversial topics.
Women’s Review of Books has always been about jumping barriers: between feminist academics and political organizers, theory and practice. WOMEN=BOOKS is extending the range of WRB’s print edition, expanding its audience and deepening the conversation about ideas, politics, and women’s lives.
Here’s the link: WOMEN=BOOKS
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September 9, 2009 at 8:12 pm (Calls, Food and Drink, Gardening, Movies, Other Sites of Interest, Quotes)
Tags: Fall movies, Filipino food, Goldilocks, lists, novels, reading, restaurants, reviews, Salon.com
Today, the 2nd Thursday of September 2009, was all about the following:
- fresh pandesal from the Goldilocks next to Mountain View Costco. There is nothing, nothing better than fresh, hot, buttered pandesal (unless it’s hot pandesal dipped in condensada — Oooyyy!)
- Also, lechon kawali. Also, puto and cuchinta (though these last two items are for the dinner on Saturday, so self better not eat them)
- chatting on the phone (a long time) with Kerry, who she’s known forever, but sees in the flesh only about once a year.
- planting three Ajuga “Mahogany” in the front yard, and killing four baby snails.
- reading Andrew O’Hehir’s review of “9″ on Salon.com (Self can’t figure out whether he recommends Read the rest of this entry »
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August 29, 2009 at 5:19 pm (Movies, Other Sites of Interest, Quotes)
Tags: lists, reviews, summer movies
Just for fun, self will avoid downtown RWC Century 20, and list only those movies showing in indie moviehouses.
Adam: with Hugh Dancy, who plays someone with either Asperger’s Syndrome or Tourette’s, sometimes self gets the two mixed up because of Motherless Brooklyn (Everyone, write a story about Tourette’s, quick!!! If only self had access to Read the rest of this entry »
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