The Thorn and The Blossom - Theodora Goss

The catchphrase says: A two-sided love story.  It literally is.  The book gives you two perspectives; a story told from the perspective of the two main characters who are involved in the romance.  It is bound accordion-style, so that you can read one side of the book and when you finish, flip it over to read the story from the other character’s viewpoint. 

So Brendan and Evelyn fall in love all too fatefully.  The story touches on a Cornish legend, another version of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.  In the Cornish story, the two lovers are cursed to be separated for a thousand years.  Unsurprisingly, parallels can be drawn between this legend and the situation in which Brendan and Evelyn find themselves.  However, the two of them seem to be having trouble getting anywhere with their relationship for they both have secrets to keep. 

My first impression of the book – very intriguing, especially since I have a thing for fairy tales and Arthurian legends.  Add to that the fact that the binding style was quite different from the usual.  Reading a story from two perspectives had potential, I thought.  After reading the whole thing, I must admit I was just a bit disappointed – just a bit.  The story is nice and all, comforting, easy, not really complicated.  You don’t need higher order thinking skills to get the picture.  But for me, perhaps it was too comforting, too easy, and too utterly uncomplicated, verging on shallow.  I finished reading the whole book (yes, both sides) in about two hours.  I had expected more.  I wanted to see a distinct, more dramatic difference between the two characters’ retelling of the same story.  But no, I just felt like I read the same story twice, and once would have been enough.  The two characters were supposed to be hiding secrets from each other; and while I knew that too much of supernatural hoopla would make the story unspeakably corny, I expected something deeper, much more than what had been given.  For a much better study/example on how perspective can dramatically affect a story, read Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s “In a Grove.”

I think the format of the book, being accordion-style bound, limited the story as well.  Perhaps having a thicker book bound that way would present problems, so they chose not to put too much plot/character development in the story.  I’m just guessing here.  Oh and yeah, the book had some illustrations – just four.  More pictures would have given the book the needed oomph, and perhaps add to its fairy tale ambience.  Who wouldn’t love illustrated stories, after all?  So if you like simple, easy, light romances, you’d likely enjoy this book.  I thought the book was okay, but not all that impressive or memorable.  I’ve read much better.  I’d give it a 6/10. 

The letters are dead.

In my country, letters are dead. 

The Philippine postal system is one of the most corrupt agencies of government – and mine is a country where corruption is replete and as common as the housefly.  What do they do?  They open your mail in order to see if there’s anything valuable inside.  If there is, then it will be stolen and most likely the mail will end up in the garbage.  Or they’d just make a little hole, a small tear, to peek inside, then tape the torn portion roughly and place a note that says “this letter was received in this condition,” or some such other ridiculous lie.   Every family has a story:  a letter that was delivered late by months or that never reached them at all; a Christmas card that arrived with its envelope obviously torn and then taped together again with a note that says it was “received in this condition”; important documents that have been lost (most likely stolen) or arrived in such a damaged state that they might as well be invalid; letters that were delivered to the wrong address and if not for the kindness of the strangers who pass them on to you would never have gotten to their intended destination; and so on and so forth.

You would think that in a country that has tens of millions of workers slaving away overseas the government would at least have the decency to provide a reliable service that will allow them a trustworthy venue to keep in touch with their friends and families at home.  Sure the internet is there, you might say, and no one writes anymore.  But then you probably never felt what it’s like to be so homesick and lonely, and to suddenly receive a handwritten letter from your family, or a birthday card with sincere wishes that you could be home to celebrate with everyone, or how lonely Christmas would be without you.  The internet is fast, convenient, and reliable.  But NOTHING could be more meaningful than a letter that is painstakingly handwritten, and had literally travelled a long way to reach you.  You keep it safe under your pillow, and reread it dozens of times over until you’ve memorized it, and you imagine the person who wrote it taking the time, pen in hand, bent over the paper, a crease forming on the brow as he or she carefully tries to avoid making mistakes while writing.  NOTHING beats that. 

And how about the foreigners who are here in the country for tourism, business, or any other reason - aren't the postal service employees ashamed of the embarrassment that is our postal system?  Why do we insist on saying that this country is peopled with friendly, welcoming, perpetually smiling citizens, when the first chance they get they will tear open other people's mail?  I'd say the whole situation is deplorable all around.

Nowadays if you want to write a letter and send it out, the next immediate thought is, “Never mind,” because you know where it is likely to end up – nowhere near where or how you intend it to be.  I have about ten thousand reasons to hate the way this country is being run and the people who are running it, and the tragic failure of a postal system is just one of them.  Perhaps not everybody who serves in the postal system is bad, perhaps there are a few of them who are still honourable, but until this has been proven by actual reliable service, who would be stupid enough to believe it?  And until people cannot say that the postal service is untrustworthy anymore, shame and curses upon you all who steal or open other people’s mail.

Nagareboshi 流れ星 (2010)

Nagareboshi (流れ星) is a Japanese drama that aired in 2010.  It starred Takenouchi Yutaka and Ueto Aya, among others.  I finished following the series the other day, and I really liked it.  It’s a romance embedded in a family drama, but unlike others of this kind of story, this one paid more attention to the family aspect of the theme. 

Kengo (Takenouchi) has a younger sister who is in urgent need of a liver transplant donor.  Risa (Ueto) is a girl forced to work in the sex trade in order to pay back debts accumulated by an extremely irresponsible older brother.  Kengo first meets her when she goes to the aquarium where he works to find some solace from her troubles by watching the calming motions of jellyfish drifting their lives away.  Later on, Kengo manages to rescue her from a suicide attempt.  It is then that Kengo proposes a disturbing and quite scandalous contract.  It is a fake marriage where Risa would “marry” Kengo so that she may donate her liver for Kengo’s sister.  Kengo in turn will pay off all of Risa’s debt.  Things get even more complicated when they start developing genuine feelings for each other, as well as when they are confronted with inevitable troubles, mostly coming from Risa’s creepy brother.

I like the way they treated the story.  More than anything else, it was about how much one is willing to sacrifice for the sake of saving the life of a beloved family member.  They used the stark difference between the two older brother characters (Kengo and Risa’s brother), and Risa’s character of the long-suffering younger sister to give this theme the impact and depth it needed.  I also liked the overall pace of the story.  It only had ten episodes, which was two episodes short of a usual drama, but it was more than enough to let the story play out well-paced and quite gracefully.  The actors were very effective – especially Risa’s brother; he was such a genuine creep, I wanted to strangle him with my bare hands every time he shows up on screen.  And of course I have a very special place in my heart for Takenouchi; he is just impossibly handsome and a great actor, too. I think I could listen to his voice all day and not get tired of it. I think (good) Japanese actors and actresses are awesome.  They are rarely overacting (unless they are playing a role that’s supposed to be exaggerated), and they are more often than not believable and compelling.  I recommend this drama to you, and I hope you’ll appreciate it as much as I did.  Enjoy!

Don't you just hate it when...

a perfectly good, maybe even awesome, song reminds you of some REALLY bad memories?  The songs in this list are all great - in my opinion, at least - but they are attached to people and memories I would really rather erase from my brain storage altogether.  During those times when the associations were made, it didn't matter.  I was just enjoying the music and enjoying the moment.  But now when I hear these songs being played, as much as I still love them for the music and am still compelled to sing along to them, being reminded of the memories and regrets attached to them makes me wish that I never heard them at all.  Listening to them now, no matter how groovy or sing-along-able they are, leaves a bad taste in my mouth. How I wish that I could rewrite my memories just to redeem these songs.  

1. Matchbox Twenty - Unwell

2. Wild Cherry - Play That Funky Music

3. Edwin McCain - I'll Be

4. U2 - Original of the Species

5. Nickelback - Far Away 

To the one who

left some books at the gate:


I regret to inform you that I already bought my own copy of those books last month.
The books you left at the gate will be given away. 


Before you do something similar again, I strongly advise you to 
BE SMART and ASK FIRST.

Psychic Detective Yakumo （心霊探偵八雲）

I just finished watching this anime series.  心霊探偵八雲 (Shinrei Tantei Yakumo) was released in 2010, and was based on a novel by Manabu Kaminaga.  They also adapted the same story into a manga (Japanese comic book series), a live action drama series, and a stage play, I think. 

The story revolves around Yakumo, whose left eye is a demonic red colour and with which he is able to see the spirits of the dead. Because of this “affliction” he chooses to keep to himself and tries to isolate himself by being quite abrasive and anti-social.  Things begin to change when he meets Haruka, a girl who heard of his rumoured psychic abilities, and came to consult with him regarding the possession of her friend by the spirits of some dead.  Haruka is the first person Yakumo met who thinks his red eye is beautiful and who doesn’t behave as if he’s some kind of freak.  They solve her case, and from then on the connection is made.  As the series progresses, we meet the other characters whose lives are intertwined with Yakumo’s.  As more and more strange cases are thrown their way, they begin to discover that the master manipulator and perpetrator of these crimes is actually someone who is targeting none other than Yakumo himself. We get to know more and more about Yakumo as his mysterious past is slowly unveiled and he begins to change into a much kinder person who is more accepting of himself and of others.

The pace of the series is good enough, and the storyline holds enough mystery that carries you well to the last episode – there is never too much information revealed to make it predictable at any point during the series.  I also liked the soundtrack; I found it fitting with the mood and tone of the story.  Character development is where my peeve lies, especially with regard to the villain.  The villain’s persona went largely ignored and I was left with too many unanswered questions.  How did he get to be the way he is?  What were his motivations?  Personally, I really like it when a story is as much about the villain as it is about the hero; or when the lines are really blurred between these roles.  That’s not the only problem here either.  All the other characters, except Yakumo, are pretty much flat and stereotyped.  But then, I suppose the story is supposed to be all about Yakumo anyway, so.  I’d say this anime is pretty entertaining and interesting.  It wasn’t boring, but it wouldn’t be in my top ten.  Give it a try, maybe it’d be more to your taste than mine.  Have fun! 

Allan Quartermain - H. Rider Haggard

I’ve kept this book waiting on my shelf for the better part of two years.  I’d bought the copy out of sheer curiosity, and because it was being sold quite cheaply.  The curiosity began in 2003 when they came out with the movie “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.”  At that time, I didn’t know that Allan Moore had made a graphic novel series on which the movie was based.  But the idea of putting together several central figures from beloved and memorable literary classics in one highly commercialized mash-up of a Hollywood cash cow seemed quite intriguing to me.  So I saw the flick, was sufficiently entertained, and left with an itch to read or reread the books where those characters came from. 

H. Rider Haggard wrote “King Solomon’s Mines” and “Allan Quartermain” in the late 1800’s.  I don’t know much about this period, but I assume that Haggard was one of the founding fathers of the adventure genre (correct me if I’m wrong).  There have been so many stories, movies and TV shows that featured the character of Allan Quartermain over the years.  He is a very popular example of the British gentleman-adventurer.  In these two books, Quartermain takes the voice of the narrator as he tells the stories of the many challenges and daring adventures that he undergoes. 

Surprisingly, Allan describes himself as a coward, preferring to run away and confronting only when there is no other recourse.  In the books, his actions are often motivated by financial needs, but in Allan Quartermain he set out adventuring for a deeper reason and well, just for the heck of it.  He has plenty of respect for the Africans – calling them brave and noble.  I never encountered a line that seemed derogatory towards them.  The book has what you could only expect from the genre – perilous quests, girls in need of rescuing, battles against hostile tribes, near-deaths by starvation and being eaten by monstrous crabs, underground rivers and deep-sea volcanoes, falling off of cliffs and waterfalls, being sucked by whirlpools, war and battle, jealousy and betrayal, and (of course!) a long lost kingdom of riches with stunningly beautiful princesses to fall in love with.  Allan Quartermain has it all.  But this wouldn’t be a classic if it didn’t have anything meaningful and timeless to it, and there were plenty of these.  Here are some of my favourite lines from the book:

At the very beginning, he grieves for his lost son. “December 25.  I have just buried my boy, my handsome boy of whom I was so proud, and my heart is broken.” I love how simple and honest this sentence is.  It being unembellished all the more adds to its emotional impact, knowing that this grief comes from a man you assume to be a hardened, heroic adventurer.

“Civilization is only savagery silver-gilt.”

“Man’s cleverness is almost infinite, and stretches like an elastic band, but human nature is like an iron ring.  You can go round and round it, you can polish it highly, you can even flatten it a little on one side, whereby you will make it bulge out on the other, but you will never, while the world endures and man is man, increase its total circumference.”

“So when the heart is stricken, and the head is humbled in the dust, civilization fails us utterly.”

“Although she was at an age when in England girls are in the schoolroom and come down to dessert, this ‘child of the wilderness’ had more courage, discretion, and power of mind than many a woman of mature age nurtured in idleness and luxury, with minds carefully drilled and educated out of any originality or self-resource that nature may have endowed them with.”  As a teacher, I cannot ignore this line.  I have a niggling feeling that it is TRUE – that we are essentially educating our children OUT of their creativity and originality, turning them merely into what we think society deems “productive.”  The fact that the author observed this and wrote about in the 1800’s is just wow.

This is a beautiful description of a sunrise: “…till at length the east turned grey, and huge misty shapes moved over the surface of the water like ghosts of long-forgotten dawns.  They were the vapours rising from their watery bed to greet the sun.  Then the grey turned to primrose, and the primrose grew to red.  Next, the glorious bars of light sprang up across the eastern sky, and now between them the messengers of dawn came speeding upon their arrowy way, scattering ghostly vapours and touching the distant mountain-tops, as they flew from range to range and longitude to longitude.  Another moment, and the golden gates were open and the sun himself came forth gloriously, with pomp and splendour and a flashing as of ten million spears, and covered up the night with brightness, and it was day.”

If you are into this genre, or you happen to like adventuresome characters like Indiana Jones and others like him, reading H. Rider Haggard’s stories and getting to know Allan Quartermain will prove worthwhile.  Enjoy!

Dog days

I just love my dogs.  Such adorable darlings.  

Baraq, 3 years old

Hachi, 1 year old

Baraq, 3 years old

Hachi, 1 year old



Snow White and the Huntsman

I have always loved fairy tales, and I always try to look for good retellings and versions in different formats – books, film, games, etc.  This movie is the nth Hollywood retelling of the classic fairy tale.   I got to see it Saturday night with my family, and each of us gave mixed reactions to it.  Spoilers ahead – be warned.

I think it did try to stay true to the mood and theme of the original – perhaps too much so.  It came off as a tad bit too juvenile and shallow story-wise.  I was expecting something darker, more sinister, and more aggressive.  The hype that surrounded it was all about how this was not another damsel in distress situation, that here was a heroine who was brave and had some spunk to her.  And while it did try to present Snow White as a girl with some fight, the way the film unfolded still would have appealed more to a much younger, less critical audience.  And there were just too many incongruities all over it. 

For instance, that scene where she prays “The Lord’s Prayer” was so out of place.  Why would they include something so markedly Christian (specifically Catholic) in a setting that was supposed to be a fairy-tale world of pagan magic?  And there were no other signs of any religious persuasion anywhere else save for that one scene, which made it all the more awkward and questionable.  If they really wanted to show the girl as this virtuous, spiritually pure character, it would have vastly been more preferable if she instead prayed for courage and strength in her own words addressed to her late parents. 

And then there was the Huntsman and the relationship between him and SW – how did that happen?  Of course I expected some sort of romantic development to happen there, but it turned out that the people who were making this film didn’t bother to show just how the development came about.  Besides, they portrayed the Huntsman as someone who was supposedly drunk all the time.  How could any young girl fall for that?  Sure, he gave her the protector/defender figure she sort of needed, but anything more than that there was nothing.  How did the Huntsman fall for SW?  Only because she was pretty and there was some magic thing going on with her?  That’s all?  Wasn’t he portrayed as someone who still grieved deeply for his lost wife?  His grief was so shallow as to be overcome by just that?  The Huntsman was a flat character.  It was cool that he remained unnamed, though.

The only saving grace for me was (of course) Charlize Theron as the Evil Queen.  She played the role to perfection.  She was vicious and pitiful, terrifying and stunningly beautiful all at once.  Awesome.  At least they gave her role the attention and detail it deserved; presenting the rationale for her madness makes you feel sorrow and pity for her even as you await her inevitable defeat. 

The soundtrack was good, the cinematography very nice indeed (several times I was reminded of LOTR), and the visual effects were brilliant especially whenever the queen was doing what she does best.  All in all, definitely NOT the best adaptation of the fairy tale that’s out there.  If you want a really good take on the tale, I recommend “Snow White: A Tale of Terror,” a TV movie that was released in 1997 starring Sigourney Weaver and Sam Neill.  Now THAT’s how you adapt a fairy tale: look at the story from a different perspective, lend it a different mood, remove what is shallow and give the audience something dark and mysterious to anticipate.  Compared to this current version, the 1997 movie is ten times more impressive and unforgettable.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOlQ75fhWKE&feature=colike

Other versions of Snow White that I really like: (1) the original Grimm Brothers tale (of course), (2) Snow by Tracy Lynn, and (3) Mirror, Mirror by Gregory Maguire.  Read them and be awed, and fall in love with fairy tales all over again.

A Case of You - Joni Mitchell

Just before our love got lost you said
"I am as constant as a northern star"
And I said "Constantly in the darkness
Where's that at?
If you want me I'll be in the bar"
On the back of a carton coaster
In the blue TV screen light
I drew a map of Canada
Oh Canada
With your face sketched on it twice
Oh you're in my blood like holy wine
You taste so bitter and so sweet
Oh I could drink a case of you darling
Still I'd be on my feet
oh I would still be on my feet
Oh I am a lonely painter
I live in a box of paints
I'm frightened by the devil
And I'm drawn to those ones that ain't afraid
I remember that time you told me you said
"Love is touching souls"
Surely you touched mine
'Cause part of you pours out of me
In these lines from time to time
Oh, you're in my blood like holy wine
You taste so bitter and so sweet
Oh I could drink a case of you darling
And I would still be on my feet
I would still be on my feet
I met a woman
She had a mouth like yours
She knew your life
She knew your devils and your deeds
And she said
"Go to him, stay with him if you can
But be prepared to bleed"
Oh but you are in my blood
You're my holy wine
You're so bitter, bitter and so sweet
Oh, I could drink a case of you darling
Still I'd be on my feet
I would still be on my feet


* I'd been listening to Tori Amos' version of this song a lot.  It's  so melodic and heartfelt, a truly memorable piece of music.