your beating heart

One of the pleasures of watching television series from the US, besides the diversity and quality of the stories, is being exposed to good fresh music. It is because of my addiction to such series that I've learned to love more subtle but beautiful genre of music such as folk and post-rock.

So if you're growing tired of listening to Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, and those Korean K-Pop sensations, you might want to watch some US series to cleanse your ears.

My latest discovery was Brendan James, a singer-songwriter. I first heard him from the 8th episode of One Tree Hill S08 with his song, Your Beating Heart. But I suggest you watch him perform live. His voice, the soft music, and sentimental lyrics are just inescapable...



Your Beating Heart by Brendan Jason

Beauty picks me up then throws me to the floor;
I may never know what I was searching for.
Like a beggar on my knees,
Never knowing what I now believe.

Like a drug, I took the walk back to your door;
I had had enough, but I always want more.
There was something I was needing,
Something you were keeping.

And then, with the rest of my days before me,
I broke down and fell asleep,
To your beating heart...

'cause i have made mistakes today

I almost cried when I first heard this. Sometimes, regrets creep their way back to us without warning, and in my case, through this song.

Bearded with messy hair, monster at the piano, and a genuine voice. A true artist indeed.

Brooklyn by Wakey! Wakey!

I guess it’s safe to say
We both could use this fire escape
Cause I’ve been breathin’ ashes in
And I’ve been waiting for somethin’ to carry you away
Cause i have made mistakes today.

i open at the close

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 - Bloody brilliant, isn’t it? Or not? :P Well, personally, I like this movie adaptation. I am really glad that it remained true to the book, which was the way it’s supposed to be, so good call Warner Bros. for splitting the final instalment into two parts. The sequencing moved with the events in the book. Now that I think about it, the events were almost exactly how I pictured them in my head. Hence, I can’t really say anything negative about this movie (Geez. I am that biased!) Even the boring scenes in the book are still boring in the movie!


Okay. Positive points (since there are no negatives to be said). I really like how they managed to squeeze some element of surprise. That’s a hard feat especially to those who’ve read the book. I particularly liked the animation for the Tale of the Three Brothers. That was ingenious! I think the inspiration derived from Thai shadow-play puppetry and watercolour art. I wish I could learn how to do that kind of animation.

I am pretty impressed of how they managed to blend in comedy into dark plot of the film. Misplaced maybe but really effective. Let’s thank Ron Weasley’s comedic muscles in action for that. That recovery mission into the Ministry of Magic was really amusing!

The creepy and disturbing parts are commendable; the woman, with her body bent while hovering over the table and Nagini posing as Bathilda Bagshot were really disturbing. They made me cringe in my seat. I also liked how they translated the destruction of the locket—visually stunning. I wonder if Daniel and Emma really kissed, or was it just CG? Hmm…

The trio are really maturing in their craft, aren’t they? I felt most moved by the tent scene where Harry tried to cheer Hermione up through dancing, though at first, I thought Harry was trying to take advantage of Hermione’s vulnerability (Haha! Dirty mind talking!). Bellatrix Lestrange is just perfection. I can’t imagine anyone playing that role besides Helena Bonham-Carter.

The ending was magnificent. It maybe a little frustrating, but in way, it provokes the audience to feel that ominous events are coming. Harry has no decent wand while Voldemort wields the most powerful of all. Obvious mismatch.

Overall, I think the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 is emotionally satisfying. It’s a great way to start the end of the series I’ve loved for a decade.

hometown glory

The assisted run is just breath-taking!

Choreography: Mia Michaels

Dancers: Katee and Joshua

Music: Adele - Hometown Glory

balangingi

I first encountered this short film when I stumbled upon Jenny's blog: The Love Project. It really made quite an impact because I was able to relate to Xoo, who's character basically resonated how an atypical guy I am. And it's a pleasant feeling to know I'm not the only atypical in this planet. Haha!


Balangingi (Nosebleed) by Jason Paul Laxamana

Synopsis: Balangingi (Nosebleed) is a Kapampangan short film that takes a peek into the life of Xoo, a young Filipino "pilosopo" who is forced to attend a blind date set by his nephew. He attempts to suppress his intellectual side but gives in and shows his true color to his date.

Subtle, funny, and informative, Balangingi (Nosebleed), a Kapampangan short film, is the recipient of the ETC Best Short Film Award, 1st Philippine Digital Awards.

I wonder what it would be like to date a philosopher. Hmm...

when the dragon swallowed the sun

Why hasn't Tibet been freed? Who is keeping the movement from going forward? From director Dirk Simon, When The Dragon Swallowed The Sun is a groundbreaking documentary that examines these questions in a quest to understand why the world is still dealing with unsettled issues like the Tibetan cause and what can really be done to eradicate them.

Seven years in the making, When The Dragon Swallowed The Sun is the first inside look at the Tibetan movement to free Tibet from Chinese occupation, its internal conflicts and contradictions. The combination of full HD footage from India, China, Tibet and the US along with a prologue narrated by Dennis Haysbert and an original soundtrack by Philip Glass, Thom Yorke and Damien Rice make this the first film that presents the complexity of the struggle with such emotional impact. The film features Richard Gere, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the 14th Dalai Lama, the newly crowned 18th descendant of the Great Religious Kings of Tibet, some of the most prominent Chinese contemporary artists, and all the key figures of the exiled Tibetan freedom movement and their followers.

Source: www.whenthedragon.com

undesirable no. 1

weightless

He gazed into the eternal abyss of her eyes, searching. The answers should be there somewhere he thought; embedded deep beneath the beauty and chaos that faced him. He could already sense them—the words threatening to spill from behind her trembling lips. He fought the urge to kiss them as she starts to lose the battle to contain the emotions in her chest accumulating like fine dust. It was only a matter of time—the kind that freezes on you when you want it to fly.

They stood opposite each other as the day melted into a dark starless night. He held the girl’s hands and tried to feel the last drops of affection that might still be circulating in her body. He wanted to shake her, rack her brain, her heart. But he knew the attempt would be futile. Nothing would come out of her but impacted sorrow for breaking a heart—his heart. He didn’t need such sympathy. Instead, his soul craved for pain in the form of the most potent lie she could muster… or just the one absolute truth; anything that could shock his core and arrest his senses. But she wouldn’t give him any.

The winds began to whisper finality to the moment. Hands grew cold and pulses raced in the anticipation of the inevitable. But he was in love and in pain and everything that filled both extremes. Sadly, for the young man, irrational hope springs with love. Once it plants itself on someone, nothing else matters. Even reality plays in a blur and in a twisted series of captured moments in time. And he was in it, taking it all in heaving deep breaths.

The film finally started to roll again and time woke up from what seemed like a deep slumber. Tears cascaded from the girl’s eyes, hands clenched tightly on his. The young man couldn’t wait for the answers any longer. Hope-driven, he drew the girl closer and leaned slowly forward. He took a last glimpse of her glassy brown eyes before closing his and planting a gentle kiss on those lips he loved so much. A flickering sense of bliss engulfed him—a window in time that remained open for only a flutter of a hummingbird’s wings.

Tears escaped his eyes the moment he felt the girl’s unresponsive lips. On his tongue stuck an indelible taste of loss, bitter and paralyzing. Warmth vanished from his grasp as the girl’s hands slackened and finally left his. He was collapsing on himself. He felt weightless. He wanted to fall and crash on the ground. But he wouldn’t. The girl gave him one last look before she turned her back on him. And then she slowly walked away, mouth brimming with the only words that could’ve set him free from the weight of the love that had become his gravity.