So it's been a few weeks since I bought my camera and lately I crossed the bridge to understand aperture, shutter and exposure more. It's pretty good that I did though, because at least it gives me more confidence to use my camera, plus the great shots don't hurt.
Anyway, yesterday Riez, Jam, MJ and I watched Prince of Persia, and I don't know if it's because I read the reviews first, but I thought the movie was entertaining, though I'm not sure if it's the most intelligent movie I've watched. It didn't really have a point in the end, and it had too many turns that I was actually confused as to the point behind the Sands of Time. Yeah, I was THAT confused.
But what we did afterward made the day even better. We drove all the way to Pasonanca and ate at Myrna's. I tried their new BBQ Chicken pullover panini and I thought it tasted GREAT.
To take the edge off our heavy bellies, MJ drove us farther up Pasonanca. Instead of taking the usual road to Abong-Abong, MJ took us up a different path that led us to a point higher than Abong-Abong! There's nothing there but a stretch of road that leads God knows where, and the mountainside where we parked. The view was amazing and the pictures we took made me love my camera even more!
I definitely need to work on my angles more, but I think I'm on my way. Anyway, we also went to the Pasonanca's hanging bridge and ended the night with dinner at Jam's place. But that trip up the mountain made my day. Traveling is definitely something I would like to do more in the future. There's just something about being yourself in a totally new place, discovering the extraordinary in the mundane that makes it so....inspiring.
I just had to post this video because I would like to think of this as a sign - today, I watched two fitness trainers say the exact same thing about Core workout vs. "Abs" workout. The first one was on E!News this morning, when a celebrity fitness trainer talked about a star's secrets to having a toned bod. And this is the second one:
I was even thinking of buying my nth exercise equipment from a friend (as advertised on the Home Shopping Network), but I thought maybe I could give this 30 day "routine" a try. Hmmmm...i just hope I won't get bored/uninspired easily. Just looking at my big gut in the mirror makes me want to jump onto that road and jog like there's no tomorrow. But I don't know, somewhere along the way, I get distracted and eventually wean from my "habit". Geez, I need somebody to whack me on the butt.
I'm not really as excited as I hoped to be when the AI finale rolled in - maybe because I'm not really excited with the top 2. Actually, the last time I intensely championed for my bet was around two years ago...when it was David Cook (my bet) vs David Archuleta. And I kind of get it now. During AI 5, I expected Chris Daughtry to take the prize, and well, America voted him off. So when it was Cook's time I was happy that finally a rocker won American Idol. Flash forward to two years later...another commercial guitar playing dude won - Lee Dewyze. This season could have seen the second coming of Alanis Morissette in Crystal Bowersox. But it was obviously the third coming of the rocker.
Speaking of which, it was way freaky when they had a duet! They sounded so alike! Hmmm..maybe the comparison to Alanis isn't exactly a good thing. Anyway, America has its reasons for liking Lee Dewyze more. Reasons which I'm trying to, and probably understand now.
It was pretty obvious that Crystal was the early front runner during the semi-finals and the first few weeks of the finals. She cranked up great versions of "You can't always get what you want", "Me and Bobby McGee", "People get ready" and "Long as I see the light". Essentially these were the songs I really remember. These are great songs, and I actually had her pinned on the Folk genre simply because she just gives off more of the Indie spirit than teenage wasteland. In the same way that America chose Kris Allen over Adam Lambert, they chose yet another safe, semi-conservative choice with Lee.
But I have my own reasons for wanting Lee to win. Lee obviously has its own merits - both in performing and being relatable. I really didn't think much of him during those times when I waited for another Bowersox performance. But when he overcame his shyness, I finally looked at him as THE one to beat. "Treat her like a lady" was my all-time favorite song of his. But what made him endearing is obviously his whole "transformation story" from being a paint salesman (which the producers just LOVE to remind us of) to being on American Idol. The judges said it themselves when they told Lee that he's the kind of person the show was designed for - somebody who needed a break. I'll be honest though, I think Crystal didn't relate as much to America when she sang her finale song, the title of which I can't remember right now...Lee, although kind of generic, probably won commercial America more with his upbeat tune.
Now it can be said that American Idol the Icon is gone - with Simon and Paula taking it with them. Paula was obviously right when she said the show will go on...but I'm not sure if it's still the show I grew to love for seven years now.
Oh well, for Lee, "it's a beautiful day" indeed, and don't worry, I'll probably download his album off isohunt, and probably Crystal's too. I just wish next year will be about another genre of music - like RnB or Folk. I hope America has had it up to here (pointing to my head 5 feet and 9 1/2 inches off the ground) with pop rock.
I'm getting into the habit of jogging really well. My dad and I have been circling Pasonance a couple times this summer, and today marks the first time that my lower body strength helped me endure jogging non-stop around the "oval" - from the gates of the butterfly garden, around the water district and the pools and ending at the same gates.
Anyway.....it was raining so I couldn't take pictures. When we got home though, there was still some brown rice left over from yesterday, and my aunt cooked Vigan sausages that my mom brought home. It. was. amazing. I got my Panasonic lumix GF1 and took some pictures.
I have to work on my macro shots though. I'm not sure if the camera can't take good macro, or I'm just good enough. I hope it's the former. haha
I still haven't read the whole manual so I'm not sure what else this baby could do, but so far, I'm amazed at the results and it photographs like a dream...and a dslr.
Ok so screw my pent-up feelings of sadness and self-pity and make way for the American Idol finale! wohooo! Brownouts made it hard for me to catch a decent episode of last week's performance night, and I only got to watch Lee and Crystal's performances on youtube just now.
Here's my take on this: Even if i'm rooting for Crystal, Lee's performance of "Hallelujah" was amazing, and if last week was the finale, this song would've been his acceptance speech
But I'm really not counting Crystal out of the game as of the moment. Since a lot can happen tomorrow, I'm expecting her to bring out the big guns and sever America's jugular tomorrow. So the bottomline is...itwon't be an Archuleta - Cook, or even an Allen - Lambert competition, since Lee and Crystal are cut from the same indie - guitar singer cloth. Either way, excitement isn't really bubbling. But it's still THERE!
I'll definitely be waiting for Lee and Crystal to make the moment count and impress, ahem, me. I hope the electric company would cooperate!
