derpinsel.com - pixels, stories and texts by angela solis

Underground

First of all, I just want to say that this is not my typical book entry wherein I comment about what I think of the characters, of the writing style, etc. While I do read a lot of books, only a handful of titles that I own really move me, and I can say that this book hit the right spot. I am glad that this is my last “read” for the year for what I am going to say in this entry is going beyond than my regular review.

I read Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche because I want to see how Murakami writes outside his “comfort zone.” But what I get from this book is not what I was really looking for in the first place, in the sense that I really didn’t pay much attention to Murakami’s writing style. Instead, I learned something more important, and is appropriate to be my last entry for this year.

I have no idea about the Tokyo Gas Attack prior to reading this book. After reading, I just thought to myself that in some cases, even the countries that we think highly of can be also caught off-guard with certain circumstances. More »

Ex Libris 2006

I am currently reading Underground so I guess I’ll include it in my 2006 reading list? Anyway, this was my last year’s reading list. I only read a couple of books but I read lots of manga/graphic novels this year. More »

After the Quake

It’s been a month or so since I finished reading Murakami Haruki’s After the Quake so I kind of forgot what I am supposed to say. I should have written my thoughts about the book a long time ago instead of letting it pass. Knowing that I don’t really like remembering stuff in my head, I am sure that I will forget it. I’ll try my best to recall my comments about this book, and specifically about the stories that I really liked.

Anyway. This is the first time that I read Murakami’s short stories, so I cannot really decide whether I really like him as a novelist or as a short story writer. But After the Quake only has six stories in it, so it is not hard for me to pick the ones that I really like. The stories all have the same theme and atmosphere as his other novels (that I have read, so far), the only difference in After the Quake is that the stories are based from Hanshin Awaji Daishinsai in 1995. Probably there are some scenes and events in real life that are present in the book, but nevertheless most of the stories are magical and sometimes out of this world. More »

Bahrain vacation photos

My parents got me a scanner/printer/photocopier/fax machine for Boxing day. I managed to find some of the printed photos that we were able to bring here in Canada, and one of these was the photos that we took in Bahrain in 2003. My father worked there for 18 years and when I was able to go there after I graduated in high school.

Here’s one copy of the photos wherein me (age 16) and my sister (she was 8 at that time) posed for a picture at Bahrain’s Arad Fort. Some photos are also available in here.

Happy Holidays!

I just got home from work, and I won’t be able to send e-mails to everyone (or even bloghop), but in any case, I wish everyone a fun and safe holidays!

A booklover’s Christmas

Kuya Adrian left WA last Wednesday and I think he’s already in the Philippines, celebrating the holiday with the family after around 5-8 years. Before he left though, I received his card together with two GCs from Amazon Canada (for me and my sister). We placed the order right away, and I’m happy that I got the package already.

I ordered Haruki Murakami’s Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche while my sister got a copy of Lady Grace Mysteries.

Before that, I treated myself and bought a pair of winter boots, Prince of Tennis Volume 16 and Nodame Cantabile Volumes 1-3.

Christmas Party

My first Christmas Party after 3 years. To those people who came in, thank you very much!

Boys Love

Boys Love (2006)
I shouldn’t have expected so much out of this film. Boys Love (starring Saitou Takumi and Kotani Yoshikatsu) disappointed me. I think the movie is too short to contain all the strong emotions that developed between the two characters. I actually think that the movie was rushed. Such a waste of talent.

What made me feel bad about this film is not the lack of sex scenes (which was a surprise, considering the fact that there are a lot of sex-oriented doujinshi in Japan), but the idea that there’s a lack in character development. Ate Len gave her piece of mind when I told her about my thoughts of the movie, and her comment gave me the impression that certain BL storylines have the same formulaic plot, kind of like your typical shoujo story. I have noticed that in this film, Kotani’s character is somewhat “under” Saitou’s command. I am not sure if most of the romantic relationships in the Japanese society have this idea that there’s a stronger person dominating the relationship. It feels awkward to me because I don’t think that that should be the case.

I believe that these two guys are really talented since I saw them acting at Musical Prince of Tennis, and I think that the movie was trying to make the ending really emotional. But it kind of failed in some parts, especially when one of the crucial scenes made my head scream, “Call 110, stupid!” That scene really killed my whole impression of the film, and it’s not even funny.

Technorati tags: Boys Love, Saitou Takumi, Kotani Yoshikazu

Ultraman Max

I finally get the chance to find the tracker for Ultraman Max, although the subbed version is only up to episode 22 (the whole series has 40 episodes). I already got three episodes and I won’t be able to finish downloading at least 10-15 episodes until the end of the year. At least I have enough time to do so since it’s almost my winter and semestral break. More information about Ultraman Max can be found here.

Finally, I realized why Ultraman’s stamina lasts for only up to 3 minutes. It’s because he’s an alien, and since he’s just borrowing one’s body, (in this case, Kaitou Touma) he cannot stand to be that long on the earth’s atmosphere. Kind of disappointing if you ask me, but in some ways, it’s heroic, because Kaitou and Ultraman Max risk their lives just to save Japan from evil monsters.

Okay, para talagang sineseryoso ko ‘tong palabas na ‘to.

Technorati tag: Ultraman Max

Second term courses

Finally fixed my schedule for second term. I dropped my independent reading class and replaced it with an elective class (ANTH2230) so that I don’t have a huge gap between my classes. I only have 9 courses left before I finish school on 2008.