Backstreet Boys on Crack

* dies laughing *

I Want It That Way - Backstreet Boys

* For optimum viewing experience, let the whole video completely load first so that it is cached in your pc.

Sleeping Beauty - Redefined

Warning: Disturbing themes ahead.

A few weeks ago at the office, the topic over lunch was books. I can't specifically remember, but it probably started when I again squee-ed (is there such a word? well there is now) over the then upcoming Harry Potter Book 7. Anyhow, so it evolved around the Harry Potter series, so of course there were talks about other book series, like Lord of the Rings, the Wheel of Time, the Narnia collection, etc. Then we started reminiscing about favorite books during childhood and adolescence. I can't quite remember how it came to be that we started talking about weird (unusual) books we have read, and that was an interesting topic before the conversation degenerated into a parody discussion of trashy novels we used to love (and still guiltily read when we get their hands on them).

One of the weird books we discussed was Anne Rice's The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty. Or maybe I should say, the Sleeping Beauty series. Okay, I've heard of these books before and had a fair idea of what they contained (thanks to the green-minded corruption one can't help but pass through in high school). Also, having read Anne Rice's Exit to Eden, I was hard-pressed to expect that this would surpass that. Still, when one of my officemates came by the next day and told me he had brought his copies of the Sleeping Beauty trilogy, I didn't refuse. Of course I would never know if I didn't at least read it, wouldn't I? It's all in the spirit of appeasing my intellectual curiosity.

So Sunday afternoon last July 15, I settled down to read the first of the series: The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty.

Six hours later...

O-kay. Well, that was different.

To give a short overview on the book: It starts from the prince's point of view as he enters the castle where Sleeping Beauty lay in an enchanted slumber. A hundred years had passed, and according to the spell, it would be about time that the enchantment came to an end. The Prince easily cuts through all the vines and roots twisting around and enters the castle, where he steadfastly refuses to believe that there is a spell causing the unnatural sleep of all the still bodies he sees littering the grounds, until he spies the source of the enchantment: Sleeping Beauty. Apparently, the Prince is a confident (read: arrogant) man who believes everything is his for the taking, because upon seeing Beauty's loveliness, he then proceeds to rip her dress away and claim her. Beauty awakens (can't really blame the poor mite), and then the whole castle does, whereupon the Prince drags her off to a private room and continues to, er, lay his claim on her. The next day, the whole castle learns that the Prince is from that ruling kingdom and that he is taking Beauty with him as his pleasure slave. And thus starts Beauty's adventures into the realm of BDSM.

At this point, after that relatively short introduction into the "story", the book continues on to tell of Beauty's sexual trials and education. From discarding her clothes and learning to go through each day in her birthday suit (unless her masters deemed it necessary for her to wear ornaments), to meeting other princes and princesses like herself who are also serving as pleasure slaves, to being treated like a whipped dog (correction: whipping dog), to performing like a naked circus animal for the amusement of the Lords and Ladies of the castle, to being punished and learning to love the punishments - by the time you read one-fourth of the book you'll have learned that going naked, for days, is actually the least of Beauty's concerns (and yours too, if you had to go through all that). By the time you get to half of the book, you'll have stopped thinking anything of nakedness or sex slaves and have progressed to thoughts of "don't these people eat?" or "is that even physically possible?" or, more frequently in my case: "...and the point is...?". I think it was at this point that I found myself slipping into my old habit of scan-reading in order to finish the book fast, and the reason for that had less to do with eagerness-to-know and more to do with wanting-it-over-with.

It doesn't take a genius to deduce that this book will not go down as one of my all-time favorites. For one thing, throughout reading the book, I always had this nagging thought of "Okay, and then? What happens next? Uh-huh, and then?" which just increased in frequency towards the end of the book. Again, not because I was excited; I was merely impatient to read the end. I felt somehow obliged to read everything - I dunno, maybe I was half-hoping something would happen that would lift the book from the pits of drudgery.

I guess part of my disappointment would also stem from my expectations of Anne Rice's work. To be fair, there was still that sense of lush imagery that was prevalent in her vampire books. But, The Claiming somehow felt more like recitations instead of story, and maybe it was the sense of pointlessness (whew! what a word!) that really rubbed me wrong. For someone who likes to read stories, this seemed like a total waste of time.

Then again, this IS a book about BDSM, so maybe I was doomed to be disappointed right from the start. On the other hand, there's still the 2nd and 3rd book to go through, so who knows? I might still find something redeeming on those.

"I have a tendency to completely miss the point." - Katherine Winter, The Reaping

The Never Ending Quiz

I place the blame solely on Marian's feet...

http://www.flixster.com/never-ending-quiz

I'm up at 2240 points, and counting. Go on, take the challenge. *wink*

Now I'm obsessed, and not even Daniel Radcliffe apparating in front of me naked is going to tear me away from my computer screen!


*blink*

Wait, on second thought...

How Evil Are You?

Looks like I've got a long way to go... *goes off to rampage*

You Are 42% Evil

You are evil, but you haven't yet mastered the dark side. Fear not though - you are on your way to world domination.

How Evil Are You?

What City Do You Belong In?

I knew it! Now to find myself a filthy-rich Frenchman...

You Belong in Paris

Stylish and expressive, you were meant for Paris. The art, the fashion, the wine! Whether you're enjoying the cafe life or a beautiful park... You'll love living in the most chic place on earth.

What City Do You Belong In?

The Last Supper

I went with my work family to dinner last Friday night. It was a sort-of unplanned get-together that was a success exactly because it wasn't obsessively planned. Not to shoot down the feelings of the faithful few of our web who work tirelessly to organize our shenanigans :) (really, I'm in awe of their endless well of patience), but, there's much to be said about just going out there and doing it. *strike Maito Gai pose*

Anyway, the point of this entry was not about our awesomeness (yeah, especially me, wink, wink), but about... the dinner experience. Oh my. Simply... divine. Three days later and I still sigh over the memory. Okay, I'm crap with food names and titles, so I'll just describe what we ate. (It is advisable at this point to move back a little from your computer screen to avoid having drool drip in the middle of your keyboard.)

There was calamari - fried to a delicious, golden crisp, there was luscious shrimp swimming in this yummy, brown, salty-sweet sauce (it kinda reminded me of adobo sauce except thicker and sweeter; maybe teriyaki sauce, but thinner?), there was crab with thick, juicy meat - the kind that had you desperately tearing through its shell heedless of torn fingernails in search of the succulent meat, there was tahong (this one I gave a pass after tasting one - just me, I guess, since the others were plowing through the heap at an alarming rate), and sinigang na isda - the fish was some kind of pink-skinned monstrosity with teeth that looked uneasily like human ones... but the soup was wonderful. Mmmmm, yes.

It was a testament to how hungry we were that the first few minutes after the food was served there was practically no sound at our table save for the clinking of utensils that were soon enough discarded as everyone dove into the food with bare fingers. I could just feel the barely restrained impatience as arms crossed over one another and platters flew left and right, over and under. If you weren't quick, your arm could get dripped on as somebody reached across your outstretched arm and dipped their morsel into some sauce. And I swear I'm not exaggerating when I say we literally plowed through the dishes, seafood allergies be damned. I quickly felt myself getting full and fretted about not getting my fair share of everything in sight, until somebody helpfully told me to leave off the rice. Turned out to be an excellent suggestion - more room for the delightful cuisine.

Half an hour later, you could tell the urgency had faded by the way everyone was now talking to one another - as opposed to the monosyllabic words that passed for conversation during the first half hour, like "Shrimp!" and "Crab!" and "RIIIIIIIIICE!!!". The initial hunger faded, chatter had permeated the dinner table, allowing everyone to get their second wind. And yes, there would be a second wind, judging by the speculative looks cast on the remaining food on the table.

When we finally declared ourselves finished, wonder of wonders! There was still some food left on the table! It was the calamari - which makes sense since, as everyone put it (and quite scornfully, I might add): there was plenty of it being served in the food parks near our workplace. So in the face of novelty, good ol' calamari went ignored. Well, what could I do? There's only so much food I can put away (and the shrimp was sooooo yummy).

Ironic - that when my friends first bought the raw materials they worried if we'd be able to finish them all. Turns out their fears were unfounded; to quote one of my dinner mates: we all ate like we were death row inmates given a feast for our last supper. (Lucky thing there were only 12 of us, not 13, and none named Judas.) It was quite funny actually - that supper. And fun. Been a long time since we laughed like that; well, it's been a long time since we got together like that. Ahhhh... Food for the stomach and laughter = food for the heart. Can't complain, really.

Oh, and Dampa @Macapagal? I will be back.

Obligatory First Post

Okay. I've moved again. From Friendster to Spaces to here. Hopefully this will be the last, or if not last, at least one I'll stick to for more than just a few posts a year. Hopefully, this time I'll get into the habit, and stick with it. Hopefully, I'll also pick up my gym habit (anyone get the connection here? no? well then *slinks away*).

Ahhh... It's not New Year, but I find myself wishing for a lot of things. From the practical to the frivolous. One of my all-time favorites wishes is that I won't need sleep. Without the side-effects, thank you. And no, I don't mean the caffeine-induced wakefulness variety - as in, a real, honest-to-goodness no-need-to-sleep. Could probably use one of those right now - it's 2.30 am and I'm puttering around the internet, setting up my blog. And of course I need to be at the office by 8am. Ain't life grand.