james

BREAKING NEWS!
according to perez hilton, it looks like james mcavoy will be paying bilbo baggins in the hobbit. that's the prequel to lord of the rings for the non-j.r.r. tolkien fans.

i don't know how to react. i knew the hobbit will be coming out, one day. the trilogy's done. and tolkien fans are probably dying to see the prequel in live action, to see if it matches their imagination. and with how big the trilogy was, both the lotr producers and director knew that the hobbit will be big too. but, ugh. james mcavoy? he's not so small. and, ugh, i just don't think, he's, wah! no, no, no. it just seems wrong. i mean yeah, he probably did well as mr.tumnus, although i really don't know because i didn't and couldn't watch-but as a hobbit? i just... *sigh*
okaaay, fine, that's probably gonna bring him good honor. that's the hobbit!! my dad says it's better than the trilogy, i wouldn't know, i'm still not half done with the book-and no i'm not reading it because it's gonna be a movie, and james mcavoy's gonna be in it. i think i mentioned i am reading it in one of my david cook entries. anyway, anyway, he'll prolly play the part well. it's just, bilbo baggins is a hobbit, duh, i just. he doesn't sound so hot in the book, how will they make james mcavoy not hot? oh right. they did just that in chronicles of narnia.

but because it's jrr tolkien, the creator of middle earth, i will watch it. it won't be as good as the book, i bet, but i'll watch it. actually, we should all watch it, it is said to be the greatest fantasy epic of our time (actually that's what it says on the cover)


oh well.

doodles over writing

i can stand the heat, it's the humidity that's killing me. when i was in canada, it also got pretty hot but you don't walk around feeling sticky like you just took a lotion bath. i don't know if it's why i can't do anything this summer. maybe it's just an excuse, the weather is the same for the past 17 summers of my life. i'm just too darn lazy to do anything productive. i hate it.

i have been picking up one from my supposedly 'summer books', and i also have been able to read half of it, or 1/4, i don't know. it's just, after that, i put it down. PUT IT DOWN!! what's that? i've never done that, i'm the type who can't, and won't put down a book once i've started reading it. papa said i must be reading dull books, i don't think so, something's wrong with me, that's what i think. i may be suffering from a sudden, dire need for illiteracy! ain't that quite scary? anyway, papa said i was not entirely unproductive, after all, i've spent half my days sleeping, and the other half googling sketches and trying to learn from them. i have improved much he said.

it's scary, i kinda like drawing more than writing now. again, WHAT IS THAT? i'm the girl who's got it all figured out. well, not really, but when i was young and all the girls my age wanted to be a teacher or a doctor, i wanted to be a writer. ofcourse, i did wish i could carry a tune and awe the audience in a good way at the same time, or dance like teacher chippy from satin slippers. but for as long as i could remember i never wanted to do anything else, but to write. when i was mature enough to realize that kids my age can write better than me, i still continued writing. by the time i failed enough to realize that i can't even write better than half my class who doesn't even know nick joaquin, i still continued writing. because i love it. but now i haven't written a single thing. and i am supposed to be, atleast starting a short story for my thesis. i have been doodling my days away, and the product are not exactly exhibit-worthy. i have been filling my jordi labanda notebook with silly sketches. and my dad fueled the fire by giving me all his art materials, which are, by the way, a lot. he even gave me the coolest professional-looking sketchpad-how can i say no to that??

i am, ugh, f-o-r-c-i-n-g myself to read. i am currently in page27 of Bridget Jones the edge of reason. in beautiful, beautiful hardbound. how can i not love it? why would i rather doodle? that is the question.

well, this is long. could this count as writing?

movies

will Chapter 27 hit Philippine cinemas?? cause i wanna watch it so bad. i watched the trailer last night with my brother, and well, the first thing that caught my eyes was that Jared Leto was huge. aside from that i love the beatles, and i have to watch it. and i hated Catcher in the Rye, i found it dull, but anyway that was 4, or 5 years ago, so maybe i'll find it exciting after watching this.

Kuya Paolo and i watched Juno last night. i found it funny. well, Shadowcat's character is funny. endearing, in a gawky kinda way. i love it. and i also love Jennifer Garner. so, i love it.

blankets over jay chou

i will always, always be a jordi labanda girl. but still, i can't help but have my artist of the month raves. this month, i am addicted to craig thompson. because not only does he look, in some angles, like adam levine, but he does some amazing drawings. plus plus some good stories too. i just finished one of the 9 chapters of his graphic novel, Blanket. i do read mangas, but this is different. it's more profound, in a way that i will never be able to describe when asked to. he's really wonderful. the art is wonderful and to prove this, this is my favorite part from Blankets:



i am addicted to art. not necessarily painting, actually when i'm asked if i want to learn how to paint, the answer is simple and consistent, i don't. i really just want to learn how to draw, and to draw like thompson and peyton. yes, peyton. the one who most probably can do the same kind of art if not better, is kuya ouel. he's laguna's top five best artist and La Consolacion's hall of famer for winning every art contests he joins. but he's now, uhm, let me see, an unpracticing illustrator. ofcourse it's okay, after all God remembers, and if he goes to heaven God will definitely remember that he did not draw on earth from ages 24 onwards because he became a father and God's mission worker. seriously.



my brother Paolo, on the other hand, can sit all day infront of his photoshop and come up with the best print advertisements in the country (oh yes, i love bragging about family) but make him draw and his credibilities will soon crumble. don't get me wrong, he is a good painter, he after all graduated fine arts, best in thesis, in UST. but he just draws the most distorted faces, unintentionally.

seriously, my family draws the worst faces. except kuya ouel. papa's an amazing artist. but he doesn't draw recognizable faces either. he calls this, his view from his window (in malaysia):



and kuya rammil, oh yes, he draws! on his table, on scraps of paper, on wherever. he once drew Jesus on the back of my sketchbook, as a carpenter, with enormous biceps. whaaaat is thaaat? hahaha! check this out:



my mom, does albums. again, seriously. my mom is addicted to photographs, when we went to canada, during the pre-digicam era, we came home to the philippines with 15 rolls of films. my mom is not as vain as i am, but she does have picture of her feigning drying her hair in every hotel room we've been to. and we've been to A LOT of hotel rooms.

but anyway, as they are all amazing in their own genres, in whatever medium, i trace. I TRACE. i traaace. i love tracing. but i would also love to draw on my own. i draw, mediocre stuff. such as this one:



okaaaaay. i copied it. i did it on my own. but i copied it. grr..

i was supposed to write about Jay Chou's Secret. but never mind. maybe later.
i'm going to leave for a while. ima buy myself a sketchpad, my second this year, and fill it with mediocre stuff. atleast it's my own style, distinctly mediocre.
WHATEVER.

kafka and haruki: the current men of my life

Suddenly and quite inanely I’m interested in Japanese literature. It is to be expected of Ehm whose biggest dream is to go to Japan but not of me. hahaha. Well, I did pick out a book on Japanese poetry from the library ONCE. But that’s kinda it. the one to blame for this sudden addiction is without a doubt, Kafka Tamura. I’m inlove with the character, haha! Not only was I checking out Haruki Murakami’s website but also wikipedia-ing the tale of genji and the tales of moonlight and rain. I was thinking of how the Japanese style f writing enthralls me, only to find out that haruki murakami’s style is a bit on the western side. It’s amazing, the way he writes. You could tell how literate Murakami is with literature and music. If you see the way he looks, there is no way of telling that he is as good of a writer he is. May sense ba yun? Hahaha!

kafka on my mind

FINALLY! I was planning to say just that, but there’s a whole story behind this book. I wanted it when I was still in high school, it was hard to find it back then. I’ve chanced upon it once in Glorietta, it was also P300+ then, but my pocket was empty. When I was in Malaysia, they had a big Haruki Murakami sale at Chapters, and they had Dance, Dance, Dance , Norwegian Wood and The Elephant Vanishes, but no Kafka on the Shore. What funny, funny luck. I want to read his other works too, but I want to read Kafka first and well, I bought the Beckham book instead. I read one of his short stories though, its something about a boy and a girl, twas as oddly illustrated as it is written. But I love it. And now, hay, may kafka na rin ako! And Johnny walker will no longer be just the liquor my dad won’t allow me drink, but a cat-eater. hahaha! and colonel sanders- a pimp! i just love it!

I love kafka like crazy. i’m still on page 335 though and I can’t wait to finish it. Infact because of my darling 15 year old kafka, I still don’’t have a speech for tomorrow. Yikes.