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Yes, you read the title right. Spiderman lives under my roof. Well, at least my spiderman. My spiderman is better-looking than Toby Maguire and is a genuine superhero. But the truth is, I get scared everytime I watch him climbing walls or jumping on teeny tiny rocks. My eldest son is a wall climber. At 13, he’s actually short for his age. It’s this disadvantage that wows audiences everytime he competes in wall climbing. I do try to look composed and confident everytime he climbs. What he doesn’t know is that I’m a bit scared — not only because he might injure himself but also because he might not make it to the top and get heartbroken. I know this because I see the look on his face when he falls before he completes a climb.

I guess the worries of a doting mom is normal. The dilemma is whether I show him I worry or I stay tough to prove I have confidence in his skill. Problem is, if I am too tough, he might believe I don’t care enough. Only one thing I am sure of — I always tell him how proud I am no matter what the results of his climb. Read the rest of this entry »

My eyes begin to water while I stare motionless at the LCD screen of my laptop. If I start drooling, people around may just have to lift me together with the chair to rush me to the hospital. These cataleptic moments of mine are exactly the reason my friend suggested I join PayPerPost to take me out of the doldrums. Writing reports for 10 years now in a company dominated by Cruella de Vil has taken its toll on me. Not even imagining the boss to look like Shrek’s wife, Fiona, can make me smile these days.

Look who’s smiling now? My blog just got the nod from PayPerPost. I guess I owe this life-saving wake up call to a friend whose previously comatose existence was likewise revived by PayPerPost. More than the money, the opportunity adds a bit of zing to a monotonous life. White-collar jobs do pay the rent. But doing it for years can turn anyone into a zombie sometimes. Read the rest of this entry »

Since I already got around to writing about the Oscar Nominees, I thought I might as well announce the winners of the recent Golden Globe awards. Although winning a Golden Globe does not provide assurance of winning an Oscar, it does give an advantage. Besides, the Golden Globe segregates its awards for drama and comedy/musical while the Oscars seem to imply that a comedy has to work twice as hard to be able to win over any drama. No pun intended for the prestigious award, but it does seem to favor drama over comedy if you study its history. I can only remember a few movies that got the nod for best picture which does not conform to the usual standard. Those I can remember were Beauty and the Beast (animated) and Chicago (musical).I will just provide winners for the major awards. Here we go:

Best Motion Picture (Drama) – Atonement

Best Motion Picture (Comedy/Musical) – Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Best Actor (Drama) – Daniel Day-Lewis for There Will Be Blood Read the rest of this entry »

I finally finished helping with the captions for a friend’s coffee table albums today. It had to be special. Mediocre words were not acceptable for these albums. These will hold the last memories of her 2-year old daughter, Julianne, who passed away April last year.

I can still remember the hollow in the pit of my stomach when I got the call around 2 am the day Julianne left us. Even with only a few hours sleep, I was wide awake when they told me she was critical at the hospital. I called my friend after I got the news. She could barely speak. The only thing I remembered was that she told me the doctors assured her that her baby was responding to medications. I comforted her and told her everything will be fine. After the call, I knew I couldn’t sleep anymore. I rose from the bed, pacing back and forth while I made my silent prayer. A few more calls with other friends were made to make arrangements for our trip to the hospital. But before I even finished dressing up, the call that brought me to my knees came. Julianne was gone. Read the rest of this entry »

Oscar season commenced when nominees were released as Hollywood braces itself for the actual ceremony on February 24, 2008. As expected, there are very few blockbusters on the list. It has been known that the Oscars rarely favors commercially successful films. Most of them I haven’t seen yet and they look quite promising.

Included among the best pictures in 2007 is Atonement which stars Keira Knightly, James McAvoy and Saoirse Ronan. It is a film adaptation of Ian McEwan’s romantic novel which features the drama about a fledgling writer, Briony Tallis, who, as a 13-year-old, irrevocably changes the course of several lives when she accuses her older sister’s lover of a crime he did not commit. Through a terrible and courageous act of imagination, she finds the path to her uncertain atonement, and to an understanding of the power of enduring love. Atonement has the advantage of already garnering the best film award in the Golden Globe and seems to be the heavy favorite. Another promising nominee is Juno. The main character, Juno (Ellen Page), is a 16-year old girl who gets herself pregnant and she finds foster parents for her unborn child. The movie explores the life of a teenage girl trying to cope with the consequences of irresponsibility. The story’s twist happens when Juno spends time with the prospective parents of her unborn child and develops an unusual closeness to the future dad which puts everyones plans into to the brink of chaos. Other nominees for best picture are Michael Clayton, There Will Be Blood, and No Country for Old Men.

Meanwhile, nominees for best actor are George Clooney (Michael Clayton), Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will Be Blood), Johnny Depp (Sweeney Todd), Tommy Lee Jones (In the Valley of Elah), and surprise entry Viggo Mortensen (Eastern Promises). I’m rooting for Johnny Depp, of course. It’s about time versatility and eccentricity gets recognized in the Oscars. For best actress, the nominees are Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth), Julie Christie (Away from Her), Marion Cotillard (La Vie En Rose), Laura Linney (The Savages), and Ellen Page (Juno). It is worth noting that Cate Blanchett is likewise nominated for Best Supporting Actress in the movie I’m Not There — one of the last movies made by the late Heath Ledger.

The list for other nominations is quite long. If you are interested in the other categories, just check them out in www.oscar.com. Last year’s movie releases seem lackluster compared to previous years. Unforgettable movies comparable to The Sixth Sense or The Lord of the Rings have been rare lately. I want movies that will either take my breath away with the ending or something that will make me resist closing my eyes with the cinematography or FX. I hope this is not a sign that Hollywood is running out of ideas. Otherwise, we all get stuck with sequels to Harry Potter or Spiderman.