Valentine's Erotica Series, No.3

I'm glad to have responses to my invitation to submit erotic writing. Which means more and more people are reading this...oh good! :P

Since it's not valentines' anymore, it might not be appropriate to call it valentine's erotica series...but the name sticks just because. Hehe. Here's another one from a friend. Might have to ask him first if he wants his name up here.
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(Image from Sgt. Gooch)

A BEAUTIFUL MORNING
by: ____

A sign drifts above your head, linking meanings
to images – perhaps, like how you should
pull the sheet up your legs, or sit up straight against
the pillows. Lying half-naked in this undisclosed
situation, with your knee bent in the angle that it is,
to me seems like a strategy. It's too early in
the morning after all, to be looking at me like that.

You are a random act. Such genius in your
disregard for what already is seductive. And
in paying no attention to how you look at the sunlight,
or that fragile gesture of tilting your head, you immerse
me in questions of stare
or caress.

I will imagine you bare. And as I consult and engage your
movement, I will utter a thousand words that will mean
all the things in the world – except surrender. To lead you
to awareness that in so whispering, a flicker must send explosions
elsewhere (just elsewhere). So that only in knowing your
tease shall it ever all make sense.

Nevertheless, despite this quietness that defines us,
I will come up with a plan.

Stream of Thoughts on the 2009 Oscars

Like a good consumer, all the hype with the Oscars had got me watching movies more and more these past few weeks and made me anticipate the awards show more than ever. I've been trying hard to fit in watching nominated films in a tight schedule (which mostly consisted of eating, sleeping and cramming), whether legally or not (haha, and in that case the advertising didn't work as they expected). Made some predictions but failed to account for them on paper or in my personal space here, the closest would be a comment i made in GPA's blog, which i made in order to earn brownie points for a shoutout on air in his radio guesting.

Anyway, it turns out that most of my predictions were so dead on to the point that i considered changing careers (to what, movie critic? bleh...artista no!). I wasn't able to watch the show live as we had our locgov project in the morning (very successful btw...). So i relied on velvet's replay in the evening , but was so sleepy after the Jai Ho performance already and didn't finish it. But I found a way to watch the rest of it, just as I found a way to watch the nominated movies without having to payup..wink wink.

Why Slumdog won most of the awards. My theory is tone and treatment. Maybe the Academy has had enough of the usual Hollywood-formula movies and it was very novel to have tapped Mumbai's local talents.

Best Picure, no contest. It was quite predictable that slumdog will win it by the time the technical awards were given out. But it may also had to do with plot, original unlike Benjamin Button's (adapted) and the theme universal [EDIT: pareho pala silang adapted, sorry my bad], not as serious or controversial as Milk. Or simply, that Danny Boyle is just so cool. Hehe. It was the whole packaging, really . And! It was so charming to bring the little boys and little Latika to the show. Who wouldn't want to see them on stage by closing time... It was a Hollywood fairytale and the Academy will not pass that up.

Heath Ledger, I told you so. And as I just said, the predictability ups one level when Heath won, the 2nd to win a posthumous award. Members of the Acadamy have a flair for drama and who wouldn't want to see the family thanking them for honoring their beloved and immortalizing his art.

Sean Penn, the only American among the major awards winners. But then again, America being the land of milk and honey (until now?) where all dreamers flock to, it would just be inevitable. I suddenly remember Gangs of New York for some weird reason. And the American Tale. Hehe.

James Franco. He is my new crush--pogi, funny, talented, versatile...and will make a good trophy wife (see Milk).

Red Carpet. I liked these the best: Penelope Cruz, Kate Winlet, Sarah Jessica Parker, Evan Rachel Wood, Marisa Tomei and Miley Cyrus. Please don't argue, it's just personal taste. (Although Kate Winslet, Evan Rachel Wood and Miley Cyrus were on redcarpetfashionawards.com's worst dressed for various reasons. pout. others were on the best dressed list.)

Penelope Cruz in vintage Pierre Balmain Haute Couture.

Kate Winslet in YSL Atelier/.

SJP in Christian Dior Haute Couture.

Evan Rachel Wood in Elie Saab Spring 2009 Couture.

Marisa Tomei in Versace Atelier.


Miley Cyrus in Zuhair Murad Spring 2009 Couture.

The Show. All in all, it was very very entertaining! Hugh Jackman's surprise performances were hillarious, my favorite was him dancing to "i haven't watched The Reader". The Pineapple Express reference was also my favorite (James Franco the pothead watching James Franco in Milk was just so cute). On a more serious note, the way they presented the major awards was very overwhelming, it's like honoring the dead (sorry for the term hehe). It must have been awkward for the presenter to be gushing about someone just in front of him....and I wonder how awkward it was to be sitting in THAT close to the stage.

So there...my random thoughts about Oscars...I would now be channeling back to my regular lawstudent mode, until I get the time to watch the other nominees. :)

Milk (2008)

Rating: 5/5 stars
Genre: Drama

After I watched this, I knew Sean Penn would win the Best Actor Oscar. He is such a brilliant actor here.

The script was very natural and well written. Heavy drama and a very controversial topic. This movie has moved me and may have changed my perspective. On that note alone, a very effective medium for advocating homosexual rights.

P.S. James Franco would make a very good trophy wife. Also Diego Luna.

QQ: "How do you teach homosexuality, is it like French?"

Rotten Tomatoes: 93/100
IMDB: 8.1/10

Knock Knock...Obama's Elf

Nick Carter says "I'm Back"

And we welcome him back...
No drooling on your keyboards please, it's not waterproof.

Featured in People Magazine's February 2009 issue, he tells the readers of his life while he was off the spotlight. Very dramatic. Or just look at it even if you're not interested in the story.

See related articles in perezhilton.com and justjared.buzznet.com.

Push (2009)

Rating: 3/5 stars
Genre: Science Fiction and Fantasy

If Chris Evans removed his shirt then this would get one more star.

The movie has a nice and cool mood and treatment but the plot has holes and seems illogical at sometimes,. Very familiar too if you've watched Heroes (was it the division or the company?).

Shifters move objects with their minds, but need hand movements to complete the effect. Watchers see the future and prefer to draw them rather than write a line or two even if they admit to being crappy artists. Pushers persuade their victims by puting images in their heads that are mistaken as true memories. But it will take them at least 5 seconds first, with the blackening of the eyeballs, just enough time for a smart enough potential victim to think he is in danger and run away as fast as he could.

Nonetheless, the movie was enjoyable. A good date movie, guy enjoys the action, girl enjoys Chris Evans.

And the setting is in HK, very cultural. :P

QQ: "What did i just inject myself with?" "Kikkoman Soy Sauce."

Rotten Tomatoes: 25/100
IMDB: 6.9/10 (Really?)

Tablenapkin Entries - She says she is charmed by him

She says she is charmed by him, like round coffee stains on magazines or lipstick marks on porcelain cups do. Things that she finds fascinating until much later, when after seeing them every so often, eventually turns into mundanes and itches her to find the next novelty, like a day-old balloon caught on a lamp post or chalk marks on the pavement. And by the third cycle she would only realize by then that either she would run out of wonder or that everything simply has turned plain already, that she wishes she had, from the beginning, chosen to keep her round coffee stains on magazines or lipstick marks on porcelain cups, instead of those old chewed gum under the mats or dog shit passed off as fertilizer.

Step Brothers (2008)

Rating: 4/5 stars
Genre: Comedy

f you are a fan of Will Ferrel, like I am, then you'd want to watch this one. For those who are not, you might find this as another one of his usual crass tongue-in-cheek humor comedies. You might think you've seen it before. But then again, I am his fan and I will watch whatever he makes. Even the youtube clips.

A man and a woman meet, get married, and both have troubled sons which they still take under their wings. The step brothers are two 40-something-year-olds acting like ten-year-olds. The punchline that really killed me was they even shared a room. It's so funny, i'd watch it again and still laugh as hard.

QQ: "I tea-bagged your drums."

Rotten Tomatoes:55/100
IMDB:6.8/10

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (2008)

Rating: 4/5 stars
Genre: Romantic Comedy

Michael Cera is awkwardly cute. :)

As I expected, the movie was very much like Juno. The feel, the look, the actor, the acting...

The gay bandmates were such scenestealers.

What makes the movie so charming is the plot. It's an emo-kid fairytale-- ordinary looking celebrity daughter finds silent rockband member-boy, falls in love but must overcome some obstacles before that, i.e., getting over the ex and ending a pseudo relationship.

Good soundtrack. Might download it sometime. (legally?)

QQ: "The world's been broken to pieces and it's our job to find them and put them back together again." "Maybe we're not supposed to find the pieces, maybe we are the pieces."

Rotten Tomatoes: 72/100
IMDB: 7/10

Table Napkin Entries - Cappucino, Non-fat

He enters his favorite coffee shop. His new girl in tow. “I’ll have a cappuccino, non-fat,” “I’ll have one too.” He’s just elated at the thought of having her in his usual routine. The hum-drum spiced up by a beautiful girl and possibly the greatest love of his life.

She enters the coffee shop he raves about. Following the lead of the hand that holds hers. “I’ll have a cappuccino, non-fat,” “I’ll have one too.” She’s been there before. With a boy who she used belonged to. But now part of her new routine, she’ll likewise make new memories, with a beautiful boy and possibly the greatest love of her life.

Mini Camera Replicas

New things to add to the endless wishlist.
(I know, camera nanaman.)

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Minox Leica Mini Digital Edition Camera

Rolleiflex Mini Digital Camera

MINOX Mini Leica 5.0 Digital Camera

Valentines Erotica Series, No. 2

Water Baby
by Roogy

Right through glass I took a peek inside.
The graphic novel shop had cloud decorations,
I never fancied comics much,
But I think I fancied you.

Inevitable as it was at the given time,
I stepped into the store with intent,
then glanced at this shelf and that shelf,
And pretended to read the titles off the spine.

I'm not a comic kind of guy, I said.
But can I see that one that says "Water Baby?"
And are your eyes really that brown?
Or are those contact lenses?

As close as less than inch you said I could peek.
Take off the covering and touch the pages,
I mentioned I was captivated by the cover,
And your shy and dreamy smile.

I pointed to another thing and asked nicely
Can I please see that too?
I promise to be careful,
I won't crease a thing or two.

Fragile soft thing in a white tank top,
Enchanting but a little bit urban.
Can I see you again sometime?
We'll talk about books and toys,

And promise,

I won't crease a thing or two.

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Participate in Ria's valentine's project. Contribute your erotic writings (hahaha!) however silly or serious. It's all for fun. Don't forget your pseudonym. riacarmela@gmail.com

10 Privacy Settings Every Facebook User Should Know

Posted by Nick O'Neill on February 2nd, 2009 11:00 AM

Everyday I receive an email from somebody about how their account was hacked, how a friend tagged them in the photo and they want a way to avoid it, as well as a number of other complications related to their privacy on Facebook. Over the weekend one individual contacted me to let me know that he would be removing me as a friend from Facebook because he was “going to make a shift with my Facebook use - going to just mostly family stuff.”

Perhaps he was tired of receiving my status updates or perhaps he didn’t want me to view photos from his personal life. Whatever the reason for ending our Facebook friendship, I figured that many people would benefit from a thorough overview on how to protect your privacy on Facebook. Below is a step by step process for protecting your privacy.

1. Use Your Friend Lists

I can’t tell you how many people are not aware of their friend lists. For those not aware of what friend lists are, Facebook describes them as a feature which allows “you to create private groupings of friends based on your personal preferences. For example, you can create a Friend List for your friends that meet for weekly book club meetings. You can create Friend Lists for all of your organizational needs, allowing you to quickly view friends by type and send messages to your lists.”

There are a few very important things to remember about friend lists:

• You can add each friend to more than one friend group
• Friend groups should be used like “tags” as used elsewhere around the web
• Friend Lists can have specific privacy policies applied to them

I’ll touch on each of the things listed above in more detail later. A typical setup for groups would be “Friends”, “Family”, and “Professional”. These three groups can then be used to apply different privacy policies. For example, you may want your friends to see photos from the party you were at last night, but you don’t want your family or professional contacts to see those photos.

Using friend lists is also extremely useful for organizing your friends if you have a lot of them. For instance I have about 20 friend lists and I categorize people by city (New York, San Francisco, D.C., Tel Aviv, etc), where I met them (conferences, past co-workers, through this blog), and my relationship with them (professional, family, social, etc).

You can configure your friend lists by visiting the friends area of your Facebook.

Read more here.

Inauguration in Lego

This amazed me....

(www.boston.com link)

But this amazes me more!

(Scene 360 Illusion link)

Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008)

Rating: 3/5 stars
Genre: Romantic Comedy

Watched this movie belatedly, as this was in the theaters around summer last year.

Jason Segel (Marshall in How I Met Your Mother) apparently wrote the movie. It's a funny movie, but it's all too familiar, i think i've watched it on tv somewhere (where did he star again?), otherwise, there are too much episodes like this in real life. I guess when your watching as a third (uninterested) person, getting over someone would be really funny. There's some frontal nudity if that would be a plus...but i guess it wasn't haha.

Kirsten Bell (Veronica Mars) is just too cute in the movie, effective for the role too, the all-over-her-head ex-girlfriend. Mila Kunis, cute and all but honestly, she should stick to That 70s show (like the rest of the cast who never really made it beyond the show) and voice-ing for Family Guy. Russel Brand steals the show though.

3 stars because (1) i like "Marshall" by default (2) the setting is in Hawaii and (3) witty humor. If it weren't for those things i would not have even finished the movie.

Rotten Tomatoes: 84/100
IMDB: 7.5/10

Valentine's Erotica Series, No. 1

Craving
by Shirley (not her real name)

A man of the world
yet untouched
by me.
The thought just enough
to keep this mouth wanting
to part the lips as if waiting.
Desiring
to lick off the heat from your skin
and to hear you cry out my name
again and again
until you forget that you have been
with anyone else.
To get you intoxicated in my aura
that in the morning
you are left with nothing
but a bittersweet taste
and a constant craving.

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Participate in Ria's valentine's project. Contribute your erotic writings (hahaha!) however silly or serious. It's all for fun. Don't forget your pseudonym. riacarmela@gmail.com

Funny Superbowl Ads

First one is my favorite. :D

The People's Mario

I grew up loving this game but never getting past stage 8 or so, coz i never had the patience and there were no memory cards then.

From the author:

"Based on that silly Rumor saying mario had subliminal communist propaganda. (communist-mario.com)

My 3rd flash, done in 2 weeks, lots of experimenting in this one.
The hammer was used because he had one in Donkey Kong, also it aided to the style."

Got the video here.