Thriller Water Chocolates

August 30 - 5

Thriller Water Chocolates

Soundtrack of the Week

1. Excuse My French [2BE3]
2. Girlfriend [N*SYNC feat. NELLY]
3. C’est La Vie [B*WITCHED]
4. Holler [SPICE GIRLS]
5. Thriller [JACKSON]

Movie of the Week: Ratatouille

• The story is about a rat that wants to be a cook and indeed became one by cooperating with a man who turns out to be the son of the dead but great chef who owns the restaurant where they work in Paris, France.
• The movie I think would appeal more to children because I was a little bored while watching it. Finding Nemo is better in terms of comedy and adorable creatures that you could sympathize with. Let’s get real here. When you watch Finding Nemo you are hit with the realization that your pet fish is alive and you even get to the point where you want to release it to the ocean because the movie really got you. As for Ratatouille even if you see these rats as “adorable” animated creatures would you really feel the same way if you saw one cooking in your kitchen? I thought so too.
• The funniest scene that got the most laughs (and in my opinion really is the funniest scene) was when the pack of rats led by the muscular one kidnapped the health officer and threw him in the food vault.
• As the poster says you pronounce the title as “ra-ta-too-ee” but if you want a more genuine French pronunciation then you should pronounce the R as the French would pronounce it which requires the participation of your throat. Pronounce the R as if you were gargling. It would come out more or less as a hard H as in hha-ta-too-ee. The final oo-ee sound could be merged which would sound like the 2nd syllable in the word baduy.
• I think what makes the film funny is the irony of the rat character itself. A rat is supposed to be dirty and stuff but this particular one (Remy is the name) actually does not prefer walking on all fours because the same hands it uses for eating would get dirty. Remy also prefers food from the kitchen rather than food from the garbage, and knows how to cook because of its ability to read and watch TV.
• The animated short was also funny in a way but for me the best Pixar animated short remains to be that of the Birds on the electric power line. The animated short in this film is about alien abduction training.

• So far this film has performed well in the North American Box Office although it is quite sure that it will not be as massive a hit as Finding Nemo or The Lion King (two of the highest grossing animated flicks.)
• Oops I forgot one funny scene! I think runner up yung flashback scene ni Ego when he tasted the ratatouille that Remy prepared. The manner in which the camera zoomed to his face along with the sound effects, swak na swak! Laughtrip as in.

Como agua para chocolate: Once upon a time there were two lovers in Mexico during the civil war. Boy asks for girl’s hand in marriage but since girl is the youngest daughter in the family (there were three of them girls) her mother gave the eldest daughter’s hand for marriage instead. In short the girl stood helpless as her boyfriend married her eldest sister. The girl (TITA) could not marry because according to family tradition the youngest girl in the family takes care of her mother until she (the mother) dies. And so the eldest sister (ROSAURA) and the boyfriend (PEDRO) got married, had a son, then had a daughter named Esperanza. Esperanza married an American boy (the father of which formed the love triangle PEDRO – TITA – JOHN) and had a daughter who happens to be the narrator. And so what makes this book different from the others? The whole book is divided into 12 chapters corresponding to the 12 months of the year. A chapter starts with a recipe which is connected to a segment of the love story (kaya nakakagutom, as in) and magical realism is involved like when Tita was catering for her sister’s wedding (which should have been hers) her tears dropped on the food and when the visitors ate the food they all cried. Cool, lol. Original Spanish version available at Fully Booked Cubao.

Academics: Walang pasok nung Friday!!! That means the exam for PS 150 did not push through. A lot of students requested the exam to be moved on Tuesday but Ma’m Frago was hesitant and so the president did it for us by virtue of a Friday holiday, lol. Prof. Monsod decided to give a make-up exam Thursday next week for Econ 100.1 because 20% failed (Hoy pumasa ako, don’t look at me!).

Cebu Thriller: Almost 3 weeks at youtube, the video of “Cebu Inmates Thriller” already hit almost 4,000,000 views. Na Yahoo! News pa: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070729/wl_asia_afp/philippinesprisoninternetyoutubeoffbeat_070729005751. They also have “I Will Follow Him” (SISTER ACT) routine ata. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMnk7lh9M3o <-- link.

Future: The Economics-Second-Degree plan is slowly losing its appeal. It’s not that I don’t enjoy Economics. I even find it very useful in understanding a lot of things happening in the country. I just don’t know if I have this second degree plan because I want it or because I think I want it or because I think I need it. It’s confusing. I just think that I won’t be able to survive the much more technical side of Economics such as Econometrics and all those other half-breed Math courses. I’m also just thinking that it would be much of a hassle for me, working full-time and studying 12 units at the same time. At least if I just choose to work full-time and then have another part-time job (Translation: Work myself to death) after two years I will have earned enough to fulfill two of my wildest academic fantasies: The 5-month European Language Tour and the NUS MA. : ( On the other hand my mother is already giving me “suggestions” such as “O pagka graduate mo sumunod ka na rito ha dito ka mag apply ng trabaho.” I just can’t tell her yet that going back to Malaysia for good is not part of any of my plans A-J. I think I will really just stay here for 2 more years, be a Spanish-speaking zombie slave of an American MNC/TNC, teach Spanish part-time, be just rich enough to realize my plans and start a career at 25. Careers start at 25!