When the songbird sings

I hardly copy/paste forwards, but this one sent by Jane is worth blogging. I don’t know if Oprah really said these words, but the original author notwithstanding, these lines should be shared and remembered by women.

Right, this also works for men. Just replace the pronouns with her or she, men with women. However, to borrow a few words from Susan Nikaido, let’s just say that “it happens on both ends of the gender spectrum. But let me state it from my own female perspective.”

• If a man wants you, nothing can keep him away.
• If he doesn’t want you, nothing can make him stay.
• Stop making excuses for a man and his behavior.
• Allow your intuition (or spirit) to save you from heartache.
• Stop trying to change yourself for a relationship that’s not meant to be.
• Slower is better. Never live your life for a man before you find what makes you truly happy.
• If a relationship ends because the man was not treating you as you deserve then heck no, you can’t “be friends”. A friend wouldn’t mistreat a friend.
• Don’t settle. If you feel like he is stringing you along, then he probably is.
• Don’t stay because you think “it will get better.” You’ll be mad at yourself a year later for staying when things are not better.
• The only person you can control in a relationship is you.
• Avoid men who’ve got a bunch of children by a bunch of different women. He didn’t marry them when he got them pregnant, why would he treat you any differently?
• Always have your own set of friends separate from his.
• Maintain boundaries in how a guy treats you. If something bothers you, speak up.
• Never let a man know everything. He will use it against you later.
• You cannot change a man’s behavior. Change comes from within.
• Do not make him into a quasi-god.
• He is a man, nothing more nothing less.
• Never let a man define who you are.
• Never borrow someone else’s man.
• If he cheated with you, he’ll cheat on you.
• A man will only treat you the way you ALLOW him to treat you.
• All men are NOT dogs.
• Compromise is two-way street.
• You need time to heal between relationships. There is nothing cute about baggage. Deal with your issues before pursuing a new relationship.
• You should never look for someone to COMPLETE you. A relationship consists of two WHOLE individuals. Look for someone complimentary, not supplementary.
• Dating is fun…even if he doesn’t turn out to be Mr. Right.
• Make him miss you sometimes. When a man always knows where you are, and you’re always readily available to him, he takes it for granted.
• Never move into his mother’s house. Never co-sign for a man. Don’t fully commit to a man who doesn’t give you everything that you need.

“’tis a sigh that is wafted across the troubled wave
’tis a wail that is heard upon the shore
’tis a dirge that is murmured around the lowly grave
oh, hard times come again no more”

— “Hard Times”, Eastmountainsouth, Elizabethtown OST

1. Abe blogged about a guy’s Tips on how to “hack” Coke vending machines. I haven’t tried it and I don’t think I’d like to, but if anybody figures whether the tips work please tell Abe about it.
2. A must-have for every writer, Strunk & White’s Elements of Style is now online.
3. According to Jane, today is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Read this guide on the duties of the state in addressing violence against women (PDF).
4. The alleged rubout issue involving members of PNP Traffic Management Group and three ’suspected’ members of the Valle Verde Carnap Gang hogged the limelight two weeks ago. Was it shootout or rubout? You be the judge. Here is the raw footage (streaming WMV) taken by the UNTV crew near the site of the, uhh…murders? Click here for the UNTV report (WMV) which analyzes what the TMG revealed to the media vis-a-vis the raw footage.

Two Sundays ago will always be one of the best Sundays Rome and I shared together. The morning started with a sumptuous breakfast of sauteed corned pork with olives and cheese-and-tomato omelette, which I prepared after he decided to free-write about getting accedentally serenaded with cello by a neighbor. Lunchtime was spent at the Corteses in QC to celebrate the birthday of Rome’s mom.

On our way back to Manila, we decided to spend an afternoon walking around Binondo-Quiapo-Avenida area where we bought cocoa bars, egg tarts and check the pirated dibidis. Best of all, we purchased some amulets beside the Quiapo church. I bought a cross for myself and we bought a pair of “kambal-tuko” amulets (para daw hindi kami magkahiwalay, sabi ng matandang tindera). I’m planning to buy strings for the amulets as they’d make for good necklace pendants.

The evening saw us at the CCP watching an operetta by the Hungarian Theatre Opera which showcased crowd-pleasing pieces. It was a performance that I wouldn’t mind watching over and over again. Too bad, they had only had a one-night performance.

We capped the night with a dinner at Yellow Cab Pizza with Sef, a Lifestyle writer from BusinessWorld.

I have seen Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire twice, first last Friday evening after listening to my urge for malling instead of watching a play, and then last Sunday with the Titans people since the Caltex badminton tournament was postponed for a week.

It is good that the HP films grow with the fans. In each installation of the series, Harry grows (as does actor Daniel Radcliffe) as well as the treatment of the film based on JK Rowling’s wildly successful books. ‘Goblet of Fire’ is a big leap from the kiddie treatment that HP 1 and 2 received and the adolescent stage that film 3 showed. Instead, Harry falls in love and gets his heart broken; Hermione receives flattering attention from a star athlete–something which drives Ron jealous even when he allows himself to be enchanted by a veelah’s kiss. However, the biggest reasons why this installment may not be recommended for children anymore are the fear and cruelty factors: Harry Potter gets face-to-face with his arch-nemesis Voldemort, someone gets murdered right at the story’s beginning, two more die towards the end (though, one of them is only stunned in the book), someone’s cuts his hand off, Ku Klux Klan-like Death Eaters raid the international Quidditch cup, and graveyard scenes, among many things.

This is the HP movie with the tightest story-telling so far, featuring a balanced interspersion of funny, serious and thrilling scenes that climax at the Riddle graveyard. In this respect, writer Steve Kloves and director Mike Newell (of “Four Weddings and a Funeral” fame) made a good job of putting together all the significant parts of an 800-page book into a two-and-a-half-hour movie.

Still, what works for the popularity of the film may also be its weakest point: one should have read the book to fully appreciate the story, as exemplified by the appearance of Cedric, the Riddle’s caretaker and Harry’s parents while he was dueling with Voldemort. Dumbledore called it “Priori incantatum” without explaining the very phenomenon that saved Harry’s life for the second time, nearly mirroring what had occured fourteen years ago when Voldemort used the same deadly spell on him. Those who have read the book of course know what it is.

Radcliffe’s portrayal of Harry Potter just gets better with each film, and his performance in film four proves no exception. He managed to writhe convincingly painfully while Voldemort was telling the world about how great he was; he made the audience laugh whenever he was around Cho Chang. The bathroom scene with the cheeky Moaning Myrtle was a classic, not only because he took his shirt off. Nah, he’s too young for my taste but it surely sent tons of pre-pubescent girls giggling with delight.

Emma Watson and Rupert Grint did well as Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, respectively. My only problem with the two actors is that their chemistry seems weak, being a possible couple in the next installations of the film. Watson has better chemistry with Stanislav Ianevich who played Bulgarian seeker Viktor Krum, more so with Harry himself who in turn will be Ginny Weasley’s third (or is that fourth?) boyfriend by book 6.

The characters played by Maggie Smith (Minerva McGonagall), Alan Rickman (Severus Snape), Robbie Coltrate (Rubeus Hagrid) were significantly reduced, while the two other tri-wizard champions Viktor Krum (Stanislav Ianevski) and the veelah from Beauxbaton (Clemence Poesy) said only three lines each. Cedric Diggory must have suffered the same fate if his character were not that of Cho Chang’s boyfriend and Harry’s co-champion in the cup. And what of Harry’s bullying enemy Draco Malfoy? I almost forgot that he was even in the movie; the ferret received more attention than the wizard character.

Brendan Gleeson as Mad-Eye Moody swept all the scenes he appeared in. He was simply able to create that over-powering presence that it’s hard to ignore him in a scene even when all he was doing was sulk at a dark corner. On the other hand, I am glad that the director gave Dumbledore a warmer characterization in this film. He doesn’t seem too far-off, so to speak, and that is only what’s required of a character that practically stands as Harry’s mentor and guardian.

Muggles and wizards alike may question Voldemort’s power, but no one can contest the fact that Ralph Fiennes is an acting god. He is just wonderful as a grieving husband in The Constant Gardener and as effective as the vilest, darkest, most fearsome wizard, You-Know-Who.

And the Hungarian Horntail? Merlin’s beard, it could act too! Don’t miss this very warm creature. Go you filthy mud-blood Muggle and see Harry Potter in the moviehouse.

CD signed by Rockstar:INXS contender, Mig Ayesa

“Killer Queen” CD signed by Constantine Maroulis of American Idol talent search

“Constantine Maroulis is a character straight out of an American sitcom: a street-savvy straight-talkin’ Brooklyn native—the kind you like off-the-bat— who, along with brother Athan and sister Anastasia, loves his Greek family (the Constantine name is making sense now) and all its ethnic quirks, tries to find love and dreams of making it big with his talent for acting and singing. Think Everybody Loves Raymond meets My Big Fat Greek Wedding, except it’s for real.

“In person, the man who classifies his genre as “honest music” comes on as easy with his soft-spoken Brooklyn accent and his grungy black shirt ironically emblazoned with the words, “Rock Royalty.” Maroulis confesses, “I’m just a shy person, but I’m glad for all the attention.

“The rocker next door is a confessed “theater geek,” having graduated Bachelor of Fine Arts in Boston Conservatory. With one foot in acting and another in music, Constantine Maroulis promises to, “F**kin’ rock harder than anyone.”

“Well, MiG Ayesa may not know it but he may be giving Maroulis a hard time to keep his claim. Contrasting both their recorded renditions of “Bohemian Rhapsody,” Maroulis is soulful and intimate while Ayesa is funky and moving.”

Also read: ROCK!

I talked to Keng yesterday. It had been months since we got in touch so if not for the fact that we had our respective tasks to finish yesterday, chatting would have taken the better part of yesterday afternoon. Guess what we talked about for most of the time? His pet dog, a shih tzu.

“I know when to hang around and comfort them, when to leave them to themselves; when to listen to everything they have to say, and when just to shrug and tell them to snap out of it.”

“As a historian, I have learned that, in fact, not everyone who reaches back into history can survive it. And it is not only reaching back that endangers us; sometimes history itself reaches inexorably forward for us with its shadowy claw.”

A man is as great as the dreams he dreams,
As great as the love he bears;
As great as the values he redeems,
And the happiness he shares.
A man is as great as the thoughts he thinks,
As the worth he has attained;
As the fountains at which his spirit drinks
And the insight he has gained.
A man is as great as the truth he speaks,
As great as the help he gives,
As great as the destiny he seeks,
As great as the life he lives.

— C.E. Flynn