My Angkor Movie

Passage to Angkor
Uploaded by imogen_ph

Presenting my Angkor movie. The file runs for 4 minutes 12 seconds. Click on "Play" to start the movie. Turn up the volume. If the video stops and starts, just let it load until the end, and then replay. It should go smoothly then. Known to work in IE (on PC) and Firefox (on Mac). Freezes up on Netscape (PC) in my case, but that may be due to a glitch in my Shockwave plug-in. I don't know about other browsers.

The song is Somewhere Only We Know by Keane.

Is this the place we used to love?
Is this the place that I've been dreaming of?

Oh, simple thing, where have you gone?
I'm getting old and I need something to rely on.
So tell me when you're gonna let me in,
I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin.
And if you have a minute why don't we go,
Talk about it somewhere only we know?
This could be the end of everything.
So why don't we go, somewhere only we know,
Somewhere only we know.

Images from Angkor # 3

Sunrise over Angkor Wat, 2/13/2007

The sun rises over Angkor Wat, the temple considered to be one of the most perfect architectural structures in the world. Built sometime in the 12th century under the rule of Suryavarman II, it took 37 years to accomplish. How many suns have risen and shone over Angkor Wat? This thought alone is staggering.

Images from Angkor # 2

South Gate, Angkor Thom. 2/11/2007

Angkor Thom or "Great City", measuring about 900 hectares, is said to be one of the largest cities in its heyday (from the 12th to the 17th century). It was built by Jayavarman VII, the most prolific Khmer god-king known for building some of the most magnificent temples in all of Angkor. One reaches the South gate through a causeway flanked by 54 gods on the left, and 54 asuras (demons) on the right, each row tugging on an end of a great naga (a multi-headed snake), depicting a scene from the great Hindu creation myth of the Churning of the Sea of Milk. On top of the 75-foot gate is a tower with four faces representing each of the cardinal directions.

Images from Angkor # 1

The walls of Nirvana are lined with apsaras.
2/11/2007, Angkor Wat, Cambodia.

On the list of the things that I will miss

Before I get into that, here's an interesting tidbit. Yesterday, Elliott fans found out that Amazon has Elliott's debut album available for pre-order. By the end of the day, Elliott sat at the top of the Movers & Shakers (which lists the top gainers within 24 hours), with a stratospheric 10,000% increase in pre-orders. (I kid you not.) This happened with no clip of any kind, no track list or any other information, not even a picture, nothing but his name. Unreal, huh? This morning, the cd cover was revealed. Behold the Elliott Yamin debut album cover. I much prefer if they had used this, though. Or even this.

Anyway. I'm finally leaving tomorrow for Bangkok. (Angkor here we come!) A couple of music events I will miss, which I hope some of you can catch for moi:

• AOL's Exclusive First Listen - a full preview of Elliott's new single Movin' On. I'm not sure whether people outside the US will be able to access it. Wouldn't hurt to try though. In any case, if AOL doesn't work, wait a bit and I'm sure the song will turn up at youtube or at numerous blogs. Go check Elliott's AOL page here.

• The digital release of Movin' On on February 13. Ah, will somebody please text me and tell me about it? *batts eyelashes*

• American Idol will offer up its "Best of the Rest" auditions tomorrow night. Keep your eyes (and ears) peeled for a Korean soul singer named Paul Kim. That's right, an Asian soul singer! Word has been good on this guy's chances. Check out his myspace here (clickie!), he has 4 songs posted there. I love his voice, very soulful, quite John Legend-y, only silkier.

• I've never paid much attention to the Grammy awards, but this time I would like to watch it. Too bad I will still be out by the time the show airs (Feb. 11 in the US). Sting will reunite with The Police for the opening number, plus John Legend, John Mayer, and Corinne Bailey Rae (who I have heard much about) will be performing together. I guess I'll catch these on youtube too.

I think that's about all. If I'm able, I will try to post from Siem Reap. Until then, ciao for the while. Will be back after a week.

Movin' On indeed!

Sony/ATV has finally put up a sample of Elliott's first single, Movin' On, which will be available digitally starting February 13.

(Frack, I'll be in Angkor then. L, my friend, gift me with this one through iTunes ha? *smacks lips*)

Listen to the sample clip on youtube or at Rickey's.


`Cause you know as time moves on
I won't always be around
And I'll be gone and I won't always be down
`Cause I'm leaving it up to you
And you know this much is true
As time moves on it's gonna be gone
And I'm movin on.

I know it sounds crazy but I just can't do this
It feels like we're wasting time so I'll get to it...

[Thanks to momzcool of royalmisfits.com (formerly yaminions.com) for transcribing the lyrics.]

Addendum: The clip was originally up at the Sony/ATV website, but after several hours it was pulled. (Perhaps it was put out there for professionals in the industry, they did not expect E fans to find it so quickly.) Naturally some fans were already able to record it, so the clip is now in even more accessible sites (as I posted above). February 13 can't come soon enough.

Contemplating Rumi & Roses

"In the driest whitest stretch of pain's infinite desert, I lost my sanity and found this rose." -- Rumi

My sincerest thanks to my co-workers, oy!

[A few more rose pics in my Flickr gallery. All taken with the SE K800i.]

Miróesque Musings

L'Oiseau Mongol, Joan Miró, 1969

Happy Birthday to me.


I would like to be a dot in a painting by Miró
by Moniza Alvi


I would like to be a dot in a painting by Miró.

Barely distinguishable from other dots,
it’s true, but quite uniquely placed.
And from my dark centre

I’d survey the beauty of the linescape
and wonder -- would it be worthwhile
to roll myself towards the lemon stripe,

Centrally poised, and push my curves
against its edge, to give myself
a little attention?

But it’s fine where I am.
I’ll never make out what’s going on
around me, and that’s the joy of it.

The fact that I’m not a perfect circle
makes me more interesting in this world.
People will stare forever --

Even the most unemotional get excited.
So here I am, on the edge of animation,
a dream, a dance,a fantastic construction,

A child’s adventure.
And nothing in this tawny sky
can get too close, or move too far away.


[View a Flash version of the poem here.]

Flash poem, anyone?

You know how things turn up when you're not looking for them anymore? Well this file is something I had been trying to find for ages. Finally found it when I cleaned up during the holidays. (Good thing the diskette is still working.) A few years ago I attended a Macromedia Flash workshop. This animated poem was one of my projects. I must say, the poem itself isn't one of my better pieces, but it was rather well-suited for translation into Flash. The thing wouldn't convert into a Quicktime movie for some reason, so I just made it into an animated gif.

(Click on image to view a slightly larger version. Point the cursor on the image; if you see a "+", click again to further enlarge. The poem loops continuously. Just refresh the page if you want to see it from the very start.)

Sizing up the SE K800i

Time to size it up. Do I love the K800i or do I LOVE the K800i? There's the sleek sonavagun right there. Maybe not as attractive as the newer Nokia models (and then again it depends on one's tastes; I do like how it looks), but it sure packs a wallop in terms of features. And must I say it, the Cyber-shot label alone is enough to make me want it (ssh I've secretly desired Cyber-shots time after time). My phone no longer looks like this, though. Just today I chucked out the crystal case in favor of a screenguard and a leather case (a pink one, hee!). See, after a week of use I felt like becoming a potential candidate for tendonitis, the case made the whole thing bulky, I have small hands! Pressing the tinier buttons (like at the top and sides) was a bitch. So what the heck, goodbye crystal case. At least you got photographed.

I should also say though, it's true what CNET says about the joystick and navigation. The joystick, cool as it is, can be a bit sluggish sometimes. Not always. I don't mind it too much. As for the keypads, squished together like that, I can no longer text as fast as I used to. I actually have to pay attention to what my thumb is pressing, how about that? Maybe it'll get better with time. If not, well, maybe I'll send less text messages and looking at the bill every month will become less painful.

One thing I'm enjoying with the K800i is how it allows for so much customization. (Pardon the ingenue, my former phones were all Jurassic compared to this. I was quite content with low-end models until I laid eyes on this one.) The sunflower wallpaper I'm using now (the one in the pic above) is one of mine (not taken with this phone, though). Uploading your own stuff is easy (once you figure it out, that is. The dang software was rather problematic, I have not been able to actually use the programs. So far I've only managed to get the computer to recognize the phone as an external drive, and I do my business through there. I am told that perhaps I have to get updated firmware.) In any case, just having the ability to choose wallpapers, themes, and so on and so forth allows for so many possibilities. I can set up my own shortcuts also, what a delight! I never was good at memorizing shortcuts devised by other people. Heh. And lookee, I can set up the phone to sound an alarm say, at 6am, and at the same time have an image of Aragorn throwing a torch at me and whispering elvish into my ear (or shouting "Fire!" or "Charge!", remember from the Battle at Helm's Deep in Two Towers? Ehrm, sorry for the random geek reference.) I mean, truly, can you see it, the myriad ways we can simultaneously automate and complicate our daily lives, huh?

Plus there are many other stuff I won't get into anymore: the multimedia messaging (I can send mini slide shows! With text and music and recorded audio and so on. Oh fun! Problem is, not all phones can receive the mms the way I set it up.), the internet access, the games, the radio, music player, the organizer, the video call! Ah sweet 3G technology, may I keep away from thee as much as possible, for the pocket's sake. Really, this thing has more bells and whistles than one has time to tinker with.

As for the camera. The slide cover at the back is smartly designed. The position of the shutter button is good, the lcd large and bright enough, and the features? Very nice. First off, 3.2 megapixels baby! Also, there are enough presets, cool shoot modes (Best Pic which allows you to pick the best out of 9 shots made with just one press of the shutter; Panorama with which you can stitch together 3 images; and Frames which can be fun), a macro mode, white balance controls, a timer, effects (e.g. b&w, sepia), etc. There's even exposure compensation, hah! As far as I can tell, the image stabilizer comes on automatically in particular preset modes (for example, Landscape). After taking the picture the PhotoDJ also lets you adjust light balance, brightness and contrast, red-eye, and add effects and text, frames and clip art. You can get very creative with your multimedia messages. The K800i also takes video, but from what I've heard it's not that good compared to Nokia. It's not a problem to me as I'm not an aficionado. Besides, if you want high quality video, use a camcorder.

Sample Picture Parade
[Note: Keep on clicking on the images to see the largest versions.]

Enough blabbering, let's have `em sample piccies. First off, the photo I posted in my last entry came out grainier than I would have liked. I thought then that it was because of the low light level and picture quality setting ("Normal" which is apparently code for "rather crappy edges").

I took another shot, this one with macro on, pic quality set to Fine. My brother said his K750 takes better pictures. So I checked the EXIF data and it turns out that ISO level (equivalent) was at 400. Unfortunately, you can't choose the ISO level yourself, the camera does it for you. Because it was an interior shot, the light level was low. Presto, grainy shot even with flash. I don't think it was camera shake because the fuzzy edges would have been uniform all throughout the pic, and the EXIF tells me shutter speed was 1/250 (0.0040 seconds). It was the same with the wider shot I mentioned above - all conditions were the same or at least comparable except for picture quality.

Another shot under the same conditions (digital zoom at 1.2x), with slightly better results:

I figured that outdoor shots should be much better (if not, sell the thing! Hee.). Here's one, shot in macro mode. Not tack sharp but for macro on a point-and-shoot, it's not that crappy, is it? For a wide shot version (macro mode off), view this.

Digital zoom 1.4x
Shutter speed 1/320
ISO equivalent 80.

Another one:


ISO equivalent 100
Shutter speed 1/2500

Pretty good I think. I mean for a cellphone, huh? (Pardon the boring subject matter, I will try to take prettier ones next time.)

We can all have our own parameters for judging whether the phone we bought is nice. Or great. Or is highway robbery. So let me say it straight. For me, the K800i is a nifty point-and-shoot that doubles as a cell phone. (Yeah, you read that right.) Kewlness. I just love it. I admit it, I've always wanted a Sony Cyber-shot all along. Hah, but only as a back-up camera. (For the serious stuff, make mine Canon!) This I can carry everyday. No more days wishing you had a camera on you.

New year, old list

So. A new year, and no new list. Nope, because guess what, the list stays the same anyway. What to do this year?

Read more. Like hey, of that pile of books above, I've read only one hee. Some are half read (have acquired the curious habit of reading books simultaneously), some I've only smelled the first pages of. Yeah I smell them, what's that to you?

Exercise more, whine less.

Go on more adventures! (Yes, that's Lara Croft. Ehehe.)

Sit still and be quiet sometimes, listen. That's a bulol right there, see. I don't care much for waiting though. So nope, falafel, no Zen sittings for me, if that's what you thought.

And oh, clean more frequently. Organize your stuff! (That's pretty obvious from the photo, huh?)

Blog more.

Side note. I admit it, I once said that a camera phone is not a camera is a phone is a phone. So give me a kick because I have succumbed and gotten myself a new phone. I never did go for fancy cellphones, but the more I read about the SE K800i the deeper I fell into the trap. So yeah, I got suckered ehehe. Poor me. Yay, the camera rocks (I mean considering that it's a glorified point-and-shoot. It even has exposure compensation, see. Which I must say, they didn't point out in the manual. I discovered it by accident.). I still suck at using it though. The photo above isn't exactly impressive, put the blame on me. Picture quality was set at "Normal", I didn't know that meant 72ppi until I checked the image on the computer. I'll post one set at "Fine" next time. And my hand wasn't steady. I'm not used to tiny cameras, it's much easier to hold an SLR than a camera phone. The unit I got doesn't have an image stabilizer for still photos (it does for video though). No problemo, I'll get used to it. Probably. If not, then I'll use a tripod, hwah, that will look amusing. Big tripod, miniscule camera.

Disclaimer. Am not giving up my digital camera, of course. Make mine Canon. Still.

*comes back*

I just remembered one thing friends have been telling me I should perhaps do more, because I keep forgetting things. Now this is a hoot, because that thing is:

Make lists. Hwah!

From my postcard collection # 4

Dragonfly, Pear, Carnation and Insect (detail)
Mira calligraphiae monumenta (Model book of calligraphy);
Vienna, 1561-62 and ca. 1591-96
Inscribed by Georg Bocskay and illuminated by Joris Hoefnagel
16.6 x 12.4 cm (6 9/16 x 4 7/8 in.)

[Click image to view larger version.]

This is from a very beautiful postcard book I got from The J. Paul Getty Museum, Picturing the Natural World. The back cover notes that:

"In 1561 and 1562 Georg Bocskay, the Croatian-born court secretary of the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I in Vienna, created the Model Book of Calligraphy to demonstrate his unrivaled technical mastery of elaborate and inventive writing styles. He arranged the calligraphy cleverly, giving each page of the book an independent beauty. About thirty years later Joris Hoefnagel, a court artist of Rudolf II, Ferdinand's grandson, was asked to illuminate the manuscript. He added captivating, carefully composed illustrations of flora and fauna to nearly every page and contributed a new section of intricate designs that provide instruction in the art of constructing the letters of the alphabet. The result is one of the most extraordinary collaborations between scrive and painter in the history of manuscript illumination."

Take note that each page from the book was only a few inches wide (check out the measurement above). Hoefnagel illuminated Bocskay's manuscript (whom he had never met, by the way) in miniature, with gold, silver and vellum. The level of detail (as seen in the image above) is astounding! For more on illuminated manuscripts, go here.

For more commentary on this art piece, check out the Getty Museum website here.

A Christmas tune for y'all

Simbang-gabi sa Gesu

I’ve never liked Michael Buble (his singing puts me to sleep, and I hate how he did Kissing a Fool and I don’t care for his A Song for You, pardon to the fans), but this -- ! Christina Aguilera's version is too melismatic for my taste, and Kelly Clarkson's is alright I guess, but a tad too girlish. Now this, Michael's Buble's Grown-up Christmas List, I FLOVE.

Merry Christmas you all! Enjoy the holidays!

War of the Worlds Musical Redux (or Why I Love youtube!)

Back in January I wrote about the staging of Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds Musical in the U.K. (My blog accounts are here, should you like some background info.). The sold-out tour was completed in April to very appreciative audiences (as far as I can tell from the reviews in the web). And while I wasn't looking (that is to say, in November), the dvd was released. I want THIS. But woe, it's only available in Amazon UK. (No, I don't think I'll find it in uhm ah you-know-where. *wiggles eyebrows*)

So the other day I began searching all over the web (not really all over, just the usual places I go to find stuff, which, might I note, rarely fail me) for mp3s and videos of the live show, but nary a one was to be found. Until today, hwah!

I love you youtube, and I love you generous fans who share videos with those of us who for some reason or other have missed stuff we like. (My most effusive thank you to TrockRon of youtube, hey!)

I've seen only a few of the videos I list here, so I'll comment only on those details that I saw. There is a screen on stage where the audience watch a continuous series of images which complement the story that unfolds in front of them with the use of a live orchestra and band. Singers are clad in period costume, and they not only sing but act out their parts. As I mentioned last time, the production planned to resurrect Richard Burton. Or more aptly, Richard Burton's head. He is right there, floating, narrating. And he looks creepy. Apparently they took an image of a young Richard Burton and then superimposed it on a look-alike actor who lipsynched the narration. Consequently, the movement is mostly in the mouth. The eyebrows do go up and down from time to time, and the eyes blink. This image was projected onto a huge plaster head on stage, but the face looks flat. So you get strange. And then again I'm seeing this only on video. Perhaps it looked better live. I wonder how those unfamiliar with the musical reacted to the floating re-animated Burton head with the wiggling eyebrows? I read that they also went ahead with their plan of having a life-size tripod on stage hovering above the actors. I haven't seen the video yet where this appears.

One of the things I had been looking forward to was Russell Watson's performance. Russell the opera singer (actually he's more of a crossover artist), with no theater training whatsoever, took on the role of the famed madman, Parson Nathaniel. Having watched Spirit of Man on youtube, I can see why some were less than happy about him bringing his operatic singing style to the role (I should also report that most reviews I've read declared his performance as "stunning", "excellent", and "outstanding".). Spirit of Man is, after all, one of the rocking-est songs in the musical, and fans are bound to have heard the passionate version of Philip Lynott a hundred times over. You know how some fans tend to be, nothing can be better than the original. Perhaps Russell’s tenor didn't quite ring mad enough for some audience members. Notice for instance, the sustained last note in “When the demons arrive the survivors will envy the deaaaaaad”. Wooah I'm sure that sounded great live and I might have been compelled to stand up and applaud, except that the number would have barely reached the middle by then and it wasn't meant to be an aria, yah? In any case, I like Russell's voice so I'm sure I'll like his version better as I listen to it more and more.

As for the acting, it can still be improved, but it wasn't bad. And to think of what he was going through then! You see, I just recently found out that Russell had been suffering from migraines during the WOTW tour, pains which later progressed to excruciating headaches and impaired vision while recording his new album Love Affair in Los Angeles. Russell was then diagnosed with a brain tumor and had to undergo surgery sometime in September. He’s now reportedly recovering well, and is set to defend his title in the UK tv reality show Just the Two of Us (a celebrity duets challenge; funny how they should have a whole show about something we regularly see on Philippine tv, eh? You know, celebrities who dare to pretend they can sing, and do so with real singers.). Btw, before I move on, Rusell’s makeup in the youtube vid looks awful, what the frack, does a madman have to look like that? *posts nice picture of Russell to erase bad make-up from memory*

Ok I've babbled long enough. Here are the wondrous, fabulous youtube WOTW linkies!

Credits & Prologue (something that isn't found in the Jeff Wayne WOTW), where the Martians plan their attack on Earth. I'm not sure if this scene connects with something else in the production (have not seen the whole thing yet), but for me, the original intro was good enough to start the story. The creepy floating head of Richard Burton is visible already, at the left side of the stage, albeit in shadow. I'm no expert, but the CGI reminds me of video games from several years back.

Part 1 (The well-loved Eve of the War. If you can listen to only one track right now, this is it, this defines the musical WOTW. The creepy floating head starts to talk here.)

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4 (Justin Hayward sings Forever Autumn. Sublime!)

Part 5 (Thunder Child ought to be in here.)

Part 6 (Parson Nathaniel makes his entrance at around 7”; Spirit of Man starts here.)

Part 7 (Spirit of Man continues here)

Part 8

Part 9

Part 10

Part 11

Part 12

Part 13

Part 14

Part 15

Part 16

TWOTW Musical Live: How it started

Found this web radio thingie

Le'mmesee now... *tinkers*

Hwah it works!!! *claps with glee* (You have to click on the play button.)

Nifty, eh? Stumbled upon radioblogclub.com, searched for some tracks, joined the site (it's free!), played with it a bit and presto hey, I got me a track bar! You can also listen to music from the site without joining. Uploading files and creating your own playlist is a little bit more complicated from what I gather, but that track bar above? Took me 3 minutes ;-)

Oh, in case some of you are wondering what Elliott looks like these days (and just so I can take a jab at the lookist nasties who kept harping on his imperfect teeth during the AI5 days - eat your shoes, you!!!), here are some recent pics. He got his teeth done, sat on a dentist's chair for some 20 hours for dental work that normally would have cost $50,000 (lucky E, the dentist offered his services for free). I'm not liking the hair but the boy is looking nice. (And still, it's the voice that melts.)

Elliott's This Christmas above is available from iTunes, and is doing rather well. Who needs the AI crown? Bah. Last I heard, there might be an announcement of a record deal soon. (A couple of weeks ago he did announce a publishing deal with Sony at his myspace page. Who knows, maybe they know something we don't? Might he turn out to also be a gifted songwriter? Why ink a publishing deal otherwise? Rather unusual, that.)

(Special thanks to L-Dub of Yaminions for gifting me with This Christmas via iTunes. *hugs*)

Unearthed photo files # 1

Orchard Road Mural, Singapore

Angkor: Damned if you do, damned if you don't

So my friend falafel, worlds away, `neath the middle-eastern skies (whenever she manages to go out, that is), e-mails me and remarks, “Have you heard, seems Siem Reap and Angkor are sinking.”. Eek. So I googled it and sure enough, this article states that there is growing concern among experts over the hotels that have been sprouting like mushrooms in the city known as the gateway to Angkor.

National Geographic Traveler’s November/December issue features this article (Pssst my Angkor companions, check this out, see those tourists sprawled over the temple steps?) and this telling image on page 112:

(View larger version here.)

Incidentally, a Destination Scorecard survey recently conducted by Traveler and its National Geographic Center for Sustainable Destinations with George Washington University asked 419 well-traveled experts worldwide to rate 94 World Heritage destinations according to aesthetic appeal, quality of tourism management, social and cultural integrity, overall outlook for the future and such other criteria. (Check out the full criteria list here.) Angkor earned a dismal score of 48, dropping 4 points from its 2004 score. (To think that just 5 years earlier I was drooling over an Angkor article in Traveler’s 50 Places of a Lifetime special collectors' issue. *sigh*) A score of 48 means that the site is in moderate trouble (all criteria medium-negative or a mix of negatives and positives). The experts say that yes, Angkor and its environs rate high in aesthetics and conservation efforts, but very poorly overall in terms of sustainable tourism and destination stewardship. As in the article I mentioned above, the magazine reports that the water table has become “so depleted by hotel wells that it is destabilizing the foundations of the ruins”. So yeah, Siem Reap and Angkor may be sinking.

In an impoverished country which relies solely on tourism for its lifeblood, it's no wonder that money is prioritized over preservation and sustainability. Even as Cambodia still suffers from the trauma wrought by the Khmer Rouge in the late `70s, those in government continue to fatten their pockets with the fruits of a continuously growing tourism industry. In the meantime, its citizens, most of them ethnic Khmer, descendants of the proud, highly-cultured society who built the famed temples in ancient times, struggle to eke a living out of the ruins of their heritage. (I cannot say how sad it is that I mean that literally.) Children work during the day selling books, postcards and souvenirs around the temples. A lot of young people, I imagine, are studying to become tour guides as one stands to earn a decent income in that occupation. Aside from hotels, ranging from budget guesthouses to the expensive boutique and five-star resort and spas, karaoke bars and who knows what other recreational establishments, are built every day. Siem Reap is fast losing its character as it is literally overrun by busloads of tourists (that includes those coming in planes and taxis, too. *cough*) I read elsewhere that a few years ago, horror of horrors, there were plans of installing a cable car network in Angkor. Let’s hope they never try to take that up again.

So my overly eager footfalls may well contribute to the continuous defacement of one of the world’s most remarkable man-made wonders, and my very arrival at Siem Reap to the irreversible loss of its old-world charm. Great. Damned if I do, damned if I don’t. Perhaps. National Geographic, UNESCO, I’m counting on you. Pardon me if in the meantime I still go anyway. I don’t want to have to go to a theme park, darn it. Cable cars? Presposterous.

From my postcard collection # 3

Recently sent from Bordeaux, France. Acquired at Venice. (Thanks Ninfa!)

Fritellino drawn by Maurice Sand, published in 1860. Commedia dell' Arte character wearing a mask and a plumed hat. Beard. Wooden sabre.

Happy Feet: Don’t Pan the Penguins!

“I saw an animal do that once, but then they rolled him over and he was dead.”

~ one of Ramon’s mariachi buddies, on Mumble’s singing

One word to sum up the movie: Delightful.

What I liked:

• Need I write it down? It’s about penguins. Penguins are fascinating, and always adorable. Oh, except for Danny de Vito in the Batman movie.

• Mumble is extremely adorable. I didn’t realize that Baby Mumble’s voice was not Elijah’s until I checked the cast list. In any case, Elijah Wood, himself somewhat odd-looking, is a good choice to cast as one set apart from all others by his less penguinly looks and talents. I thought it an amusing touch to make Mumble’s coloring such that the tuxedo effect was more pronounced – yeah, all penguins do look like they are wearing tuxedos, but Mumble more so, with a bowtie and grey vest. Tuxedos and tap dancing, hee.

• The music. They had me at the 1^st scene. The Norma Jean and Memphis opening duet was so fabulous it reminded me of Moulin Rouge. Gloria’s Somebody to Love at the graduation had me giggling the whole time. (Pretty good singing too, hey!) Pop, R&B, blues, hiphop, even some gospel, so much of the music was fun and enjoyable.

• Ramon and his merry band of mariachi misfits (the tiny Adelie penguins) provided many of the laugh-or-cry moments that I loved in the movie.

• The pathos. Naturally it can’t top National Geographic’s March of the Penguins when it comes to dramatizing the Emperor penguins’ journey to the most inhospitable of environments to bear their young, but I also found Mumble’s own struggle to express his individuality easy to relate to, and touching. `Course, those who aren’t into anthropomorphism might not agree.
  

• The animation. Eat your heart out, Pixar, those are darn life-like fluffy feathers! Check out the grey down on the baby penguins. And very smooth, fluid movements. Fear not though, you’ve got one over Animal Logic where it comes to facial expressions (Animal Logic or whichever of the two other special effects companies they employed, that is). The filmmakers relied on music to convey emotions, not so much on characters’ visible expressions. To be fair though, how can you do that with only beady penguin eyes, a beak and a whole lot of feathers? Not that Mumble's eyes are anywhere near beady, nor Elijah's. They could have taken advantage of those clear blue pools, imo. (No one can beat Weta’s Gollum yet where emotions of CG characters are concerned, though.)

What I willingly overlooked: the booboos

• The abrupt transition from Mumble in Penguin Park to his return home. Surely they could have done that better? I would have loved to see a National Geographic reference.

• Apparently Lovelace is a rockhopper penguin. (Yes, there is such a creature, check it out here.) Robin Williams is great as a rock-hopping mad guru figure. Thing is, there are only 2 species of penguins that live in Antartica, and rockhoppers aren’t one of them. Well, they could have written a backstory for him, say Lovelace stowed away on a ship to Antartica... nah, too Madagascar, that. Well any long-travelling guru and such and such story then. (Heh, Lovelace should have been Latino too, rockhoppers live in South America.)
  

• Some critics gripe that the movie tried to be everything all at once: it was advocating for the environment, it was about being different, surviving in the Antartican wilderness, about love, loss of innocence, coming of age, humans' continuing domination of the planet, the cruelty of uprooting animals from their natural habitat, etc etc. Yes, it was ambitious to try to convey all that. But who cares if it worked in that respect or not? Happy Feet is about penguins. Who doesn’t like penguins?
  
  
  
  
  
  Interesting detail: Steve Irwin, the late crocodile hunter, provided the voice for Trev, one of the humongous elephant seals who Mumble and company spoke to as they approached the ocean. The movie was dedicated to Irwin.
  

R. Hidalgo St., with arms wide open

Several months ago I read an article about the local government's plan (based on John Chua's initiative) to rehabilitate what was once widely popular as Quiapo's camera street. For the clueless, R. Hidalgo in years past was as synonymous to cameras as Raon was to electronics. (Still clueless? Never mind, just take my word for it.) Nowadays photographers who know of Hidalgo can be classified into 2 categories: (1) the uh *cough* most experienced, i.e., the mature ones *cough* and (2) the more persistent and dedicated hobbyists and professionals. Some photographers have never even set foot on Hidalgo, opting to get their gear elsewhere. (A common misperception is that cameras sold there don't carry warranties.)

I went there last Saturday to buy replacement batteries for my camera (I have killed my original batteries after 2 years of use, pretty good I guess), and I was surprised to find that I could actually see through to the end of the street. Ah, so that's what it looks like. Ehehe.

Whereas before, navigating your way through involved skillful slinking and maneuvering between crates, kaings, bilaos, banigs, boxboard sheets, make-shift stalls, and carts filled with all manner of items for sale -- say fruits, vegetables, garments, underwear, toys, plasticware, custom jewelry, fashion accessories, crafts components and other knick knacks -- in addition to the continuous surrounding human traffic moving at varying rates, from leisurely to quick-paced to so annoyingly hurried that you'd get pushed and pulled from and to every direction, now you can actually walk in the middle of the calle with both arms stretched! No more intimate, sweaty hobnobbing with every Kulas and Kulasa you pass by. In place of all that clutter now are streetlamps and benches. And oh, the ground is paved with brick tiles. All still quite ugly, but hey, there's air!

So now, if you're in R. Hidalgo and a pungent smell assaults your nose (meaning it's somewhere close), but you're standing in the middle of the street with so much space about you, chances are, it's probably you.

For directions to R. Hidalgo St., Quiapo, go here.

Disclaimer: I'm not actually suggesting that you go there stand with arms stretched out, particularly if you have something expensive-looking slung over your shoulder. That sort of thing might well be an invitation to get robbed.