The Amber Spyglass
9. June 2008
Tina
The Golden Compass is all about adventure. The Subtle Knife raised a lot of questions. This book is all about the heart. The third installment of Pullman’s trilogy is the longest and the most moving of the three parts.
There are three separate events told in this book. The main story is the journey of Will and Lyra. Lyra was kidnapped by Mrs. Coulter and Will saved her with the help of Iorek. In the process, the subtle knife was broken and he asked Iorek to fix it. Then they journeyed to the world of the dead where no living soul has ever gone before. Joining them in this journey is the angel Balthamos and two Gallivespian spies of Lord Asriel, Tialys and Salmakia. They have to make the ultimate sacrifice in order to save Roger and the other dead souls trapped in the world of the dead.
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The Subtle Knife
6. June 2008
Tina
The story begins in our own world, where Will Parry accidentally killed one of the men who were looking for his father. While escaping from these people, he strayed towards another world called Cittagazze and met Lyra. Suddenly, Will’s life turned upside down and he finds himself helping Lyra in her quest to learn more about Dust. In the process, he is entrusted with the subtle knife - a knife that can cut through any other matter and can open paths to other worlds. But it is not yet clear how they are going to use it. Meanwhile, other people are bent on stealing it from Will: Lord Asriel wanted it to fight the Authority, the Church wants it to stop Lord Asriel, and other children from Cittagazze want to get the knife to save themselves from the soul-eating Specters. All we know is that Will’s and Lyra’s destinies are now tied together, and they must move forward to find answers.
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The Golden Compass
4. June 2008
Tina
Turning it into a movie surely made me curious. I was immediately drawn by the concepts of a parallel universe, where the soul of a person is manifested in an animal companion called dæmons. I rarely buy new books (since I prefer to buy it second-hand), but I was forced to buy the original since this is relatively new book. I was not disappointed however, and ended up buying the two sequels in the span of three days.
It was easy to read, and I managed to finish reading it in a day. But I found myself hooked while following the journey of Lyra and her dæmon, Pantalaimon, to save her friend Roger from the hands of Mrs. Coulter. She brings with her an alethiometer, a device that tells the truth - if you know how to read it. Along the way, she met good friends like John Faa, Serafina, Lee and Iorek. Towards the end, she will discover the importance of the Dust (the particles present in all living creatures and makes the alethiometer work) and the true motives of Mrs. Coulter and Lord Asriel. But the book ends tragically, with Lyra pushing forward to another universe to rectify her error.
I advice that you have all three books of the His Dark Materials series (The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass) before starting to read this book. Personally, I think that His Dark Materials is one book chopped into three parts. So you can see why I immediately bought the rest of the books in the series.
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National Treasure: Book of Secrets
1. June 2008
Tina
I met up with my usual movie buddies from Pisay and joined then in watching National Treasure. And I say, it is good enough to keep you distracted. Not to mention that it was nice to see Paris again.
This time, they were searching for the Golden City. Yes, it is another story based on the legend of El Dorado. It started when one of the missing pages from the diary of Booth (Lincoln’s assassin) resurfaced, and it appears to lead to the location of the treasure that could have saved the Confederates during the Civil War. And the clues are found in the replica of the Statue of Liberty in Paris and the twin desks in the Buckingham Palace and the Oval Office. You would wonder how they figured out a way to get near those two desks. But there’s more! They even have to kidnap the US president to get the final clues.
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MacBook Air doubles as a knife?!
27. May 2008
Tina
Look at the pictures I found on Engadget.
What were you expecting? It is the thinnest laptop after all. Even paper can cut through skin if you are not careful.
For the record, I can’t imagine how the person in the photograph got that wound. And for the life of me, I wouldn’t even dream of using it as a bread knife. With its price tag, I would be more careful with my MBA (if ever I had one). Wouldn’t you?
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Vantage Point
27. May 2008
Tina
The story focused on the assassination of the President of the United States seen at different points of view, or “vantage points”. We get the general picture based on the point of view of GNN, the hypothetical news agency that covered the incident. Next, the film looked at the scene from the point of view of the Secret Service agent Thomas Barnes, assigned to protect the President. The scene is then replayed based on the point of view of a local cop who knew the identity of the perpetrators of the crime. Next, the film focused on the point of view of a random bystander who happened to record the incident in his video camera. Then, the incident was replayed based on the point of view of the President of the United States, and finally we see the scene once more from the point of view of the terrorists.
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Da Vinci Code
25. May 2008
Tina
Nice book. Crappy ending.
I bought this book because it is controversial. It talked about the so-called “wife” of Jesus Christ, which shook the very foundations of Christianity. It also included some sort of attack on the Opus Dei group. Geez, no wonder it became so controversial. And being a fan of ideas that defy the norm, I was hooked.
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The new American Idol is…
22. May 2008
Tina
… David Cook! Yes! ^_^
I thought Archuleta will win because of his popularity. It’s not like I didn’t want him to win. I would be okay with it if ever he won. But I’m just so glad that David Cook won the contest. Simon Cowell was forced to eat his words last night. Yay!
It’s a close fight, though. Out of 97 million votes, Cook got 56% of the votes. That’s about 12 million votes over Archuleta. Simply amazing.
Congratulations to David Cook! You deserve it.
On a side note, Reynaldo Lapuz got his wish to sing in the season finale. How on earth did he get the band and those cheerleaders to go up the stage with him?! Ahaha…
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American Idol Season 7 Finale
21. May 2008
Tina
Who can resist writing about one of the best seasons of American Idol? I’ve watched most of the episodes in this season (at least, the latter parts). I can’t even wait for the show to start airing in the Philippines (the woes of not having cable TV connection) and watched the videos uploaded in YouTube.
It’s DC (the rocker) versus DA (the balladeer). Who knows who would win the contest? They are both good in their chosen genre. This reminds me of the showdown between Carrie Underwood and Bo Bice. They are both good.
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Stardust
20. May 2008
Tina
This film was based on a book by Neil Gaiman. I’ve heard his name for a long time now, but I never really bothered to read any of his books. But after watching this film, I’m now itching to get my hands on his books. Now if only I had the money to buy it, seeing that the Artemis Fowl series is still on my to-buy list. Maybe someone would like to give me one as a birthday gift? Hmm…
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