Moonlight Over Paris

A title of a love song for a blog about the movie Heneral Luna? Leave a comment below if you know the connection of the title with the movie. (have a try Ms. Eliz) Even if you did not watch the movie, you will get the idea behind the title if you know a little bit about the history of the Philippines. (or in other words, if you just listened to your Araling Panlipunan teacher) For those who have not seen the movie, I really recommend it. But please, try to obtain legal copies for you are missing out on a masterpiece. (no to piracy)

So let my start my review of the movie Heneral Luna by saying "at last, a Filipino movie worth my money". I'm not saying that our local movies are bad, its just that our local movies this past few years somewhat cannot match up with the international scene. (not just Hollywood movies but all around the world) Either it has a good story but poor production, bad story but good production or bad story and bad production. Its like the "art" was taken away and its sole purpose was to just rip us off. But that was not the case in Heneral Luna. You can say that the production was top notch because of the 60 million budget even that, Heneral Luna is still on a class on its own. Its like watching an old school The Walking Dead in some of the scenes. Story wise, even with some timeline inaccuracies, (according to my research aka Wikipedia) I think it was a necessary change in order to make Heneral Luna fitted for the big screen. Mix it up with good acting from the lead and you will get a masterpiece. With that said, I give Heneral Luna a 10/10 rating. 

I also recommend everyone to watch the 1998 movie Jose Rizal starring Cesar Montano if you got inspired by Heneral Luna to know more about our heroes for I also gave that movie a 10/10 rating. :)

Since this is my blog, I can do whatever what I want with it. (at walang makakapigil sakin) here are some pictures of me and my friends when we watched Heneral Luna.

Gentlemen Only, Ladies Forbidden

"Gentlemen Only, Ladies Forbidden" is a false backronym of the word GOLF which is really derived from an old world meaning "club"

I've been a fan of golf since my early "teen" years. Followed the scene, but not as a hobby since I played the sport for only about a year now, to my regret. I really wish that I picked up the game sooner, as this sport requires a lot of flexibility and dexterity (only old people can relate). It may not look like it but in my opinion, golf is one of the hardest sports in the world. I do agree that if you compare a pro golfers physique to another athlete (lets say a basketball player), it is not that gorgeously looking that you might expect from a pro with only a few with exemptions (Tiger Woods). But they make up for it with a very strong mentality on how to play the game.

The game of golf is played by hitting a ball with a variety of clubs in a series of holes with as few strokes as possible. It can be played by only one player but in my opinion, playing solo defeats the essence of playing the sport as most of the fun part comes from sharing the experience with others.

Hitting a stationary ball with a club seems like an easy thing to do as this is what you mainly do in golf. But even when you compare it with baseball in which you have to hit a fast moving ball, hitting balls in golf is way harder. You need to be consistent with your swings. And being consistent in golf is not an easy thing to do, even pros find it hard to be consistent. Things like keeping your head steady, have a soft but firm grip on the club, keep your eye on the ball, to not bend you left arm on the back swing is just a fraction of all the things you should remember in your every golf shot. To have that mental toughness to remember all of those things every time I play keeps my heart pumping for more.

 To sum it all up, the thrill and the kind of pressure it gives to yourself or even just the joy and experience all in all as soon as you walk on the first hole is what makes the game of golf so beautiful.