Books | The Chronicles of Narnia

In preparation for the upcoming movie, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, I've decided to read all 7 books of The Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis once again. I started last Wednesday night, and just finished the last book an hour ago.

I've reread these 7 books many times through the years that I already lost count, but I can clearly remember the moment I read the first book--I was in Grade 6 at the time, and needed just one more book to check out in order to get a new library card. I quickly scanned the stack of books, and grabbed a paperback copy of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. That was the start, and I was hooked on the Narnia books from that point on.

Compared to J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings saga, which I've also read several times, the Narnia books can be considered light reading, as each book is probably just about 1/3 thick as a Tolkien book, and about 1/6 as long as the thickest Harry Potter book.

Don't get me wrong, I love both the Narnia and Rings series, but I enjoyed the Narnia series more, as Lewis intended the books to be for children, so they're simpler to follow and far easier to understand. In contrast, the Tolkien books are darker, a bit heavy to wade through, and can sometimes be darn near incomprehensible--I actually fell asleep several times while reading The Silmarillion, LOL.

The Narnia books can also be easier to relate to, as the lead characters are British kids transported from Earth, as opposed to Hobbits and Humans who are natives of Middle-Earth in the Tolkien books.

So who's my favorite character? Aslan the Lion, of course--closely followed by Reepicheep the valiant Mouse. As for human characters, Lucy Pevensie remains my favorite among all the kids who ventured into Narnia.

Since I'm Catholic and studied in a Catholic school, I was able to grasp the many Christian allegories present in the Narnia books (like Aslan being Jesus)--it wasn't an immediate thing, but more of a gradual awareness, and it suits me just fine. Critics of the books usually blast the allegories used by Lewis, but I don't tend to overanalyze, and just enjoy the books in the way they were written.

One issue that often divides Narnia fans is the correct reading order of the 7 books. The original order, by publication date, is The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Silver Chair, The Horse and His Boy, The Magician's Nephew, and The Last Battle.

The complete set that I have (pictured above) follows this original order, but more recent sets have renumbered the books according to the story's chronological order. For me, the original order is the best, as the newer order reveals things that work more effectively as a surprise, like the Professor's true identity.

But correct order or not, it doesn't really matter, as the stories have stood the test of time, and thanks to the movie adaptations, continue to gain new generations of readers.

Film | Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

It's been almost 27 years since I saw the very first Indiana Jones movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark. It introduced one Dr. Henry "Indiana" Jones Jr., Professor of Archaeology, who also happened to be a pistol-toting, whip-wielding adventurer.

Raiders was a landmark film at the time, since it was supposed to be a homage of sorts to the 1930's pulp serials. Add in a real-life mystery surrounding the sacred Ark of the Covenant, with the outnumbered heroes winning against all odds, and you've got a winner. That film totally exceeded all my expectations, and it remains one of my favorite films of all time.

The second movie, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, wasn't that much grander in scope, but it was a lot of fun, so when the third movie came along, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, I was somewhat disappointed, since it was a bit lackluster as compared to the first two, and I was baffled why Steven Spielberg and George Lucas ended the trilogy on that note.

But as it turns out, it wasn't to be the last Indiana Jones movie. A fourth movie was announced sometime during the 1990's, but the script languished almost forever in Development Hell, and was changed multiple times. Finally, everything was ready, and production on Indy 4 began in 2007.

Secrecy surrounded much of the new film's plot and title, with information carefully monitored and trickled out bit by bit; I was glad to to hear that Karen Allen would return as Marion Ravenwood, as no other leading lady could compare to her character in the first movie.

When the final title of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was revealed, I thought it was rather cheesy at first, but realized it was still in the same vein as the titles of the previous films. The marketing hype was soon in full force, with various Indiana Jones merchandising tie-ins starting to appear.

So now that the new movie is out, how did it fare? Having enjoyed all 3 Indy movies, I was really looking forward to watching this, and it didn't disappoint--Indy is back, a lot older but still the same, and it was really good seeing Marion again.

It was really great the way the film's time frame "aged" in real time as well, as roughly 19 years pass by since the 3rd movie, placing Indy in the late 1950's by this time. Both Harrison Ford and Karen Allen look good for their age, and Ford reportedly refused to dye his hair for the movie, which made his aging look more believable since it was real, heh.

Everything awesome about the Indiana Jones films is back in this new movie--the perilous situations, the chase scenes, the humor, even the mystery that surrounds the title's crystal skull, not to mention lots of references to the previous 3 films.

I won't spoil anything here, but the ending almost begged for an appearance by FBI Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, since it was similar to the ending of their movie, LOL. But I'm glad Indy's back, and this film is by far the Best Movie of 2008 for me. Highly, highly recommended.

Music | Fergie - Clumsy

This is one of the better, recent songs that I like, although I'm stretching it a bit by the use of the word "recent", considering that the song was released sometime last year, heh. It's by Stacy Ann Ferguson, better known as just Fergie, who's also the lead vocalist of the group called The Black Eyed Peas.

What drew me to this song was its use of an odd chirping, bleeping sound sample that sounds like Star Wars' R2-D2 on acid. The song is far from perfect though, as the sample of "Girl Can't Help It" sounds disjointed and doesn't really fit well in the song, but the catchy refrain makes it all worthwhile.



"Clumsy" also has an excellent music video which is done in a pop-up book style, the best I've ever seen this year. The video was directed by Marc Webb and Rich Lee.

Cuisine | Amici

I first heard of this place about a year ago, a dining place in Don Bosco Makati that was run by the priests there. It served authentic Italian cuisine in a very informal canteen setting, and was called Amici Di Don Bosco (translated to Friends of Don Bosco).

The place became really popular due to word of mouth and printed reviews, and pretty soon the concept was bought and turned into a franchise. Now called just Amici, the place kept their basic "pizza, pasta, gelato" cuisine concept, as well as their "self-service" canteen setting.

So when an Amici branch opened near our place in Tomas Morato, my sister thought it was a good idea to have dinner there and at the same time celebrate my niece Maia's High School Graduation.

Upon entering the place, my first observation was that it was one huge open space filled with dining tables, with hardly any room dividers or partitions. There were two counters out in the back area where you could line up and place your orders; you can also see the kitchen and ovens back here, if you want to watch how they make the food.

The interior of Amici Tomas Morato; you can see the 2 order counters at the back,
with the kitchen viewing area in the center

Once you pay for your orders, you have to get the plates, cutlery, glasses and everything else by yourself in the various storage racks available--the place is still entirely "self-service", with the waiters just serving the food to your table and nothing else.

The food was moderately priced, and was very good. Amici serves a wide variety of pizzas and pastas, but the noteworthy one for me was their excellent Spaghetti White Vongole E Gamberetti, which was spaghetti noodles with shrimps, clams, and scallops cooked in white wine, garlic, and anchovies.

I've always liked olive oil-based pasta dishes as opposed to the ones with tomato sauce or cream sauce, and this one was definitely a winner. Of course, since I can't stand clams and scallops, I had them removed and just had the shrimp, but it was still awesome without the shellfish.

Another great dish was their Roast Chicken, which was a rosemary-seasoned half chicken baked with a smattering of carrots, potatoes and baguio beans. Even though it was supposed to be half a chicken, it looked huge, and bigger than any half chicken serving I've ever seen.

Those two dishes alone made the dining experience worthwhile, even though the place tended to get really noisy as it filled up with diners. The pizzas were okay, but it wasn't crispy enough for me. For dessert, there's lots of Gelato flavors to choose from--their ice cream was certainly creamy, but I still prefer sherbets over ice cream any time.

Amici had other items in their menu that we didn't get to try, like Minestrone, Risotto, and several varieties of Panini sandwiches. I'll try those maybe next time, as a return visit seems like a must.

Film | Iron Man

After almost a year, our office movie screenings are back--the last movie we watched was The Simpsons Movie, which I actually didn't attend because I already watched it beforehand.

Anyway, our first screening for this year was Iron Man, which is Marvel's latest attempt in bringing their comic book characters to life on the big screen.

Case in point is one Anthony Stark, a multi-millionaire industrialist and inventive genius who's also a bit of a playboy, something which can be considered rare, as the terms "genius" and "playboy" don't often go together.

And just to show that Marvel prides in its depiction of "flawed" comics characters, they made Stark into an arrogant asshole, pompous and uncaring, and in the movie he's excellently played by Robert Downey Jr. in full asshole mode.

Some time ago I sort of cringed when they announced Downey was going to play Stark, as he seemed all wrong for the part--it turned out I was all wrong about him, as he's perfect for the part and the film mostly succeeds because of his performance.

As for the rest of the cast, everyone important to the Iron Man cast is here, from Stark's loyal secretary, Virginia "Pepper" Potts, his best friend, James "Rhodey" Rhodes, his business rival, Obadiah Stane, and even his chaffeur, Harold "Happy" Hogan, who's played in the movie by the director, Jon Favreau...I never did understand what the hell were those stupid nicknames for.

Some changes were made to reflect modern issues, like Stark being captured in Afghanistan instead of Vietnam, but one baffling change involves his mentor, Dr. Ho Yinsen--in the movie they turned him into a Afghanistan native but retained his Chinese name, even though he doesn't look anything like Chinese.

Of course, the highlight of the film is the Iron Man armor in all its incarnations, as well as Stane's Iron Monger suit, which are all shown in full CGI glory that they all started to look fake and tiresome towards the end.

The movie was conceived as the first in a trilogy, and some elements in the film have already started to foreshadow future events. In fact, there's a short, important scene that occurs right after the credits roll that could very well be the basis of the upcoming sequels.

As far as comic book adaptations go, Iron Man gets it right in its first outing, unlike the laughable borefest that was The Hulk, or the unbearable crap that was Ghost Rider. Hopefully, its sequels also don't degenerate into an incoherent mess like the X-Men movies--but somehow, I doubt it. Marvel has a way of overmarketing their superhero franchises too much that they ultimately become annoying, and I have a feeling a sequel to this movie will end up the same way.

Gizmos | Stitch CD Player

This Stitch CD Player has to be the funniest and most bizarre product design I've ever seen this year. Stitch is the blue alien critter that looks like an evil, nasty mutant koala from Disney's Lilo & Stitch movie that came out in 2002.

The Stitch CD Player from Runat, showing Stitch's face in all its grinning glory

Made by Runat of Japan, who manufactures assorted Disney-related merchandise, the CD Player uses Stitch's mouth as the CD tray--just open his mouth wide and pop the disc in. Buttons on his teeth serve as the player's controls; I don't recall Stitch having teeth that yellow though...

Playing a CD--check out that huge mouth with all those teeth, hehe

Lilo & Stitch remains one of my favorite Disney animated films, as it practically defied everything that was supposed to be in a Disney cartoon--there were no annoying musical numbers, it had sci-fi overtones, and the lead character was hardly cute and prone to acts of extreme violence.

The movie also had a unique look and feel, with watercolor backgrounds, no sharp angles in sight, and was set in Hawaii with lots of Elvis Presley music. It's probably the last good Disney cartoon I remember, as the ones that came after it were all forgettable.

Sadly, Disney ruined the Lilo & Stitch franchise by releasing inferior direct to video sequels and an animated TV series, which just wasn't up to par with the original movie.

But it looks like they're about to reinvent Stitch, with a planned Japanese anime version soon--maybe that's why Runat released this Stitch CD player only in Japan, to prepare for Stitch's second coming?

Poor R-wave Progression

Sometime last March, we had our required company annual medical checkup. Now I usually hate anything that has to do with doctors or hospitals, and the annual medical checkup is probably the worse of the lot--it's where they poke, probe and do stuff to you that does nothing beneficial except remind you of your mortality.

Based on previous experience, annual checkups sponsored by companies are usually held in express medical centers that aren't even hospitals; for this year we had our checkup in a place located inside a shopping mall--yipee.

It was the same thing all over again; people being herded like cattle from place to place, like some kind of assembly line where you have to get weighed, give blood, subject your upper body to an x-ray scan, and so on.

I also had to take an electrocardiogram, or ECG, further stretching out the entire process to several hours; by the time I was done, I was already starving, and in a really cranky mood.

Weeks later, while most of my results came out normal, my ECG had not so normal results: "Left axis deviation; poor R-wave progression V1-V3", it said, and to consult a cardiologist for further evaluation.

WTF??? That was my first reaction; I know that I'm a prime candidate for heart disease due to my age, but I refused to believe there was something wrong with my heart--ever since my Dad died from heart & diabetes complications, I tried really hard to live out a healthier lifestyle by eating right and exercising whenever I can--I can walk a long way without running out of breath, and while I get the occasional chest pain, it's probably due to my stomach problem and not heart-related.

But fear and doubt can be a terrible thing when it continues to gnaw at you inside, and for several weeks I let it overcome me, until I ultimately decided to consult a cardiologist, who took another ECG test; the "poor R-wave progression" thing came out again, and she recommended some more tests: a complete blood chemistry test, ultrasound, and 2-D echo.

The blood chemistry test was a piece of cake--I've done this several times before, and the only thing that annoyed me about it was the dark needle marks that linger on your skin afterwards.

I didn't enjoy the ultrasound, as they had to use this cold, sloppy gel on my lower chest and stomach as they moved the probe around; it felt very uncomfortable.

As for the echocardiogram or 2-D echo, I've had one before, in 2002, it's pretty much the same as an ultrasound, but focusing more on the upper chest area.

A week later, the test results came in, and all involving the heart were normal, which made me really, really happy. I'm still not sure what caused all this "poor R-wave progression" crap, and at this point, I don't care.

The important thing for me was that my cholesterol levels were normal, which I can probably attribute to eating healthy foods (particularly oatmeal), and while my glucose levels were approaching the edge of the normal range, it's still not enough to make me a diabetic, yay!

So here's to a healthier life...until next year's annual checkup.