The Bear Bitch’s Project

(care of harrypotter.com)

"My good opinion, once lost, is lost forever" - Mr. Darcy

In my book, there are few things more serious an offense than speaking ill about my country. You can insult the politicians all you want but don’t dare say anything against the Philippines in general. I know full well that its completely "third world", and that Manila is polluted and noisy, but honestly, mind your manners and keep your opinions to yourself unless you want me to punch your teeth in.

I’m not in denial. Like I said, I’m quite aware of my country’s faults, but for some reason, verbalizing them hits me like a personal insult. I guess its like insulting my mother or something. It has the same vibe as:

"Yo Momma is so fat, she . . ."

"Now, don’t you talk about my Momma like that!" (rolls up sleeves)

So its not surprising at all that top on my list of "People Whose Head I’d Like Served to me on a Platter or at the tip of a Spear" is Claire Danes. When she said all those awful things about the Philippines back in 1999 I swore to myself that I would boycott her projects till my last breath; it was the very least I could do since I couldn’t very well fly to Hollywood and eat her still-beating heart in the marketplace like I so desired. Being the lousy-ass actress that she is, it was quite an easy feat to stick to my promise - until now.

Claire Danes (Zeus, strike her down with lightning) is starring in the movie adaptation of the book Stardust by Neil Gaiman, a book that I really, really like, have read 2x, and whose movie adaptation I’ve been anticipating since it was announced.

Bloody effing hell!

Yes, I know it has been 8 years since she made that "ghastly" comment about Manila but her quasi apology (i.e. reinstatement of her opinion masquerading as an apology)  was just so insincere and inadequate that it was just laughable and I simply cannot force myself to forgive and forget however much I’d like to see the movie.

I’m practically doubled over in frustration. On the one hand, I’m dying to see a book I love translated to the big screen, but on the other hand, I’d rather cut off my pinky toe than pay $7 towards a movie starring that *ahem* witch. At one point I tried to find a loop-hole; maybe i could just wait till they release the movie on DVD and then rent it from the public library - that way I would not be contributing to the Box Office and DVD sales of the movie . . . but it would still go against my principles. Sigh.

It’ll all boil down to curiosity vs. principles.

Will my curiosity get the better of me or will sticking to my principles hold out? Stay tuned.

The thing about living in the States is that I’m almost completely deprived of good Brit Pop. When I was home last Christmas I was shocked to see new Take That and All Saints CDs on the racks at SM. When I e-mailed Lynch about it she laughed and said that they’ve been reunited for quite a while already (obviously since their reunion albums were already on the charts).

I felt SO out of it.

Thank goodness for VH1.

Yesterday they aired the 6 hour Concert for Diana. I actually only watched it for (my beloved) Duran Duran but was treated to a whole lot of other great stuff as well.

I absolutely love Duran Duran (and I was pleased to learn, so did Diana. Apparently they’re one of her favorite bands) so its no surprise that I thought their performance (Sunrise, Wild Boys, and Rio) along with their interview was the highlight of the whole concert. I especially enjoyed Simon’s anecdote about Princess Diana checking out his butt at the gym. Can’t blame her: Simon Le Bon’s hot.

The next part that I enjoyed a lot was the Andrew Lloyd Webber set, pretty much because 2 and a half songs were from Phantom which was also a favorite of Diana’s. What can I say? The princess had impeccable taste I was quite disappointed that Michael Ball didn’t perform even though he was interviewed. I like Josh Groban a lot and was glad that he sang All I Ask of You with Sarah Brightman, but I would have preferred it if Michael sang instead. I guess his new ‘Santa Claus’ look would have made for an awkward Raoul. Speaking of Sarah Brightman, what was with that performance? I could barely understand what she was singing. I’m sure what little I could understand was because I’ve memorized every word of the song. She didn’t enunciate well at all. I expected so much more of her; being the original Christine, and all. It seemed that Andrea Bocelli, who doesn’t speak much English at all, spoke so much clearer than Sarah. I was very disappointed in her though I generally enjoyed the ALW set.

I was extremely pleasantly surprised when Take That took to the stage and though I wasn’t familiar with the new songs they sang, I enjoyed them just the same. I quite liked Patience; it was Gary Barlow at his best. But I was just thrilled (or "chuffed" as they say in the UK) when they sang Back For Good and it must be said that seeing Prince William dance and sing along was just priceless!

Other memorable appearances: Boris Becker and John McEnroe (both looking really spiffy in leather jackets), Gillian Anderson ("Oh my god!!! It’s Scully!").