[Movies] The Star Wars Holiday Special (1978)

As a last holiday-related review, I finally took the time to watch the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special, despite all the bad buzz about the TV special even among die hard Star Wars fans. But you know how people are when they come across a train wreck of a movie like this - you just can't help but stop and stare and see what the fuss is all about.

Finding a copy wasn't nearly as hard as finishing the show, I have to admit. It wasn't totally horrendous - but it was rather boring with significant pacing issues. I meant there are bad movies that are painful to watch and this was just a bit of a struggle to finish. I'll try to pinpoint precisely why this was so in the course of this review, which is my normal manner of trying to process something as weird as this.

It helps to appreciate that a lot of the "holiday specials" that are forced upon franchises, perhaps save for Doctor Who, tend to twist the characters into weird new ways that seems contrary to how they are normally depicted in the franchise's main movies, TV shows or whatever other medium it gets featured in. It's something that gets demanded of the franchise by the studio executives and is not typically driven by a true creative imperative.

And you know how that goes - once the demands of the business supersede the franchise's creative integrity, then you get some weird stuff instead.

[TV] Game of Thrones: Season 1

So here's series that changed the playing field for us geeks. In a period when science fiction and fantasy shows or even just geeky shows (Save Community!)  are dropping like flies on network television, HBO blows everyone away with  an epic fantasy series the likes of which has never been seen before. Game of Thrones is not your run-of-the-mill sword and sorcery type of tropey television. This is a serious drama that not only does well in trying to remain faithful to the source material but it comes with the same degree of quality and expertise that we've seen in the production of other hit HBO shows.

And it's helped start a conversation of a completely different sort - getting more people to want to read the books and discuss them and see what will happen next. The kind of people who had never even considered trying out a fantasy series are now proud owners of the box set of the first 4 books and probably have the hardbound of the latest installment in the series. And that's a major achievement that we all have to be thankful and appreciative for.

I'm not guaranteeing this is a show that will work for pretty much everyone. That would be reaching a wee bit. However this is a great way to get more people interested in the Song of Ice and Fire series and it should still get more people to appreciate the genre, just like what the Lord of the Rings movies did at the box office.

[Gadgets] The Year I Became A Kindle Advocate

Earlier this year I became the proud owner of an Amazon Kindle, the Kindle Keyboard nee Kindle 3 and I have to admit it has pretty much changed my life as a reader. I know that seems like excessively high praise, especially coming from a guy who is part of the Amazon Associates program (hello full disclosure!), but I really do believe in this product a heck of a lot. After all, I am writing a follow-up post despite already having written a full review for the device.

The main inspiration for this post has more to do with a recent string of status message updates from fellow bibliophile friends of mine about having received their own Kindles as Christmas gifts and the like and me sort of wanting to celebrate along with them. I remember how it felt like when I first had the device in my hands for the first time and started exploring what I could do with this ingenious little device.

Now one of the usual questions I get time and time again is how the Kindle stacks up against full-featured tablets like the iPad or the Samsung Galaxy tab. And my typical answer has been this - it does't. Comparing the two in that manner is just an apples and oranges kind of comparison that just doesn't make sense. People who buy iPads are after a certain degree of diversity of functions and perhaps a subscription to the Apple design philosophy. People who look for Android-powered tabs like the Galaxy want a greater amount of customization options and freedom to tinker.

What we always need to remember is that the Kindle is about reading books, first and foremost. And that sole function is what it does best.

[Books] A Clash of Kings

The book series A Song of Ice and Fire has become one of those stories that I feel like I should have read years ago, and yet never did. And while I'm somewhat late to the game mainly on the success of the HBO TV series Game of Thrones, I'm still enjoying every moment of it for the most part.

The books are not easy reads, I'll admit. The decision to tell the story from multiple points of view is not a new idea and it is one that has mixed benefits and drawbacks. On the one hand, it means that we get a richer narrative and it helps us anchor ourselves in the various stories whenever the POV switches to a different part of Westeros or across the Narrow Sea. On the other hand, it also means that some chapters tend drag a bit, especially when the reader doesn't like or feel for the character "narrating" that section of the story.

But beyond that, I really enjoying reading this second book in the series, primarily because I've become quite the Tyrion fan. You have to acknowledge that he's an extremely well-written character and in many ways is practically the protagonist of this book. And as far as reluctant heroes go, it's hard to better than our little Imp.

[Movies] Happy Feet Two (2011)

I have to admit that I'm the type of person who laughs at cat videos and other depictions of animal cuteness. And while I don't spend hours and hours searching the web for movies of that nature, I concede that I'm vulnerable to such hilarity. But more than cats, I seem to have quite a thing for penguins. Strange, yet true.

When the first Happy Feet movie came out, I was totally blown away. I mean come on, it was a beautifully animated movie that involved cute penguins singing and dancing. And I'm proud of the fact that I'm total musicals geek and stuff like this just really tickle me pink.

So I had somewhat high hopes for this sequel to the original movie. After all, they had already stumbled on a pretty good formula for success, a movie formula that I'm more than willing to put money into. But when we finally sat down for the movie, it was quickly apparent that this sequel wasn't going to recapture the beauty and brilliance of the first movie. Instead it opted to go down the sad road of Hollywood sequel syndrome.

I suppose it could have been much worse, but still it also could have been a lot better.

[Movies] Make the Yuletide Gay (2009)

As the LGBT movie industry matures past the basic "indie" stage, it's interesting to note how the newer movies are starting to fill the other niches we've all come to know and love in traditional movies. So beyond the comedies and the moody dramas, newer pink films are taking up the other aspects of the movie industry with mysteries, horror movies and even zombie flicks.

Make the Yuletide Gay is exactly what the title implies - it's an LGBT-themed Christmas movie. Because of course every troubled queer teen needs an inspiring gay story for the holidays, right? And this movie was sort of an attempt at that, and yet a fairly good one if I do say so myself.

And yes, I admit I made sure to finally watch this movie in order to be able to post a review just in time for the holidays. I'm kind of campy that way, I know, but how could I resist? Regular readers of the Geeky Guide know that I reserve Sundays for my LGBT-related posts and reviews and to have Christmas fall on a Sunday? Too perfect for words, hehe.

[Holidays] Merry Christmas Geeky Friends!

Here's a quick holiday message from Optimus Prime for all you geeky readers of the Geeky Guide:

MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE!

[Movies] Revolutionary Road (2008)

In early 2009, I had finally picked up a copy of Revolutionary Road given the accolades it had received after its release. However early 2009 would also prove to be a rather turbulent time for me personally and watching a movie about a break-up is probably the last thing on your mind when you are also going through a break-up.

Fast forward to the present and I found myself alone the other day given my partner had a company Christmas party to attend. It seemed just about a good a time as any to watch the movie and finally scratch this item off my bucket list. after all, this is a Sam Mendes film we're talking about here after all and that certainly deserves the investment of time.

And while I can appreciate how beautiful the movie was and the artistry behind it, a part of me just couldn't fully relate to the story or appreciate what was going on. Maybe that's more because of my personal situation and just how happy I am these days that watching a relationship fall apart after the romance is gone is hard to handle or fully get into. And even my break-up wasn't as bad as what these two had to go through.

[TV] Mike & Molly: Season 1

When my sister recommended this series to me, I had some hesitation about this being a show that I'd actually like. But over the years my sister and I have had quite a few areas of overlap in terms of interests, so it was only fair to give Mike & Molly a decent chance.

What I wasn't quite expecting was to be so instantly hooked on the show enough to watch the entire first season straight through over the course of a few days. And I enjoyed pretty much every minute of it.

In hindsight, I feel that a lot of the reason this show works beyond the writing, which is sort of a requirement for any show, is the fact that the lead actors have such amazing chemistry together. I know that seems a tad cliche in terms of any sort of review, but for any movie or TV series that's founded in the concept that there's a romance at the heart of all this, the lack of that chemistry means the death of that show.

The show is pretty self-aware of the fact that it gets to explore the often dangerous areas of jokes about weight, jokes about cops and even jokes about school teachers. But the show manages to balance all this out in a fairly tasteful manner that remains entertaining across a fairly wide demographic.

[Google] Santa Claus Is Tech-Savvy

Every year Google has various gimmicks for the holiday season such as being able to track Santa Claus on Google Earth or the option to leave Santa Claus messages on a special hotline. But man, this year's gimmick is a heck of a lot of fun!

Initially Google made it possible to send your friends and relatives voice messages from Santa, for as long as they live in the US or Canada and you also have a US or Canadian phone number. I managed to test this out with a friend, and it worked out rather well. However the geographic limitation was a bit of a bummer.

But today they announced that you can now send video messages from Santa as well, and these YouTube hosted messages can either be posted on your Google+ page or send directly to the recipient via email.

I totally geeked out on this today and send a few close family members and friends some rather zany messages from Santa. Totally awesome way of celebrating the holidays - go try it out for yourself at SendACallFromSanta.com!

Happy Holidays, fellow Google Geeks!

[Books] The Unifying Force (The New Jedi Order Book 19)

I finally did it! After years of reading the books (on and off, I admit), I finally worked my way through all 19 full novels and 3 of the ebook short stories that span The New Jedi Order series of Star Wars novels. It certainly took a lot of time and effort and quite a bit of book-hunting as well (yes, I admit I own paperback copies of all of the books) but now it's finally over.

It's kind of creepy to think that I first started reading these books in my high school / college days and only finished it now. That's quite a long period of time.

This review is primarily meant to discuss the final book in the series - The Unifying Force, although it will be inevitable that this will lead to other discussions on the series as a whole. After all, the final chapter in any extended story is meant to tie up loose ends from other parts of the series and leave us with a sense of closure at the end of things.

And to be fair, this was quite the ending. While the last few books leading up to the grand conclusion of things were rather lackluster in terms of writing and general substance, this last book felt more in tune with the rest of the series and did a fairly decent job of ending the whole story on a decent enough note.

Plus things made sense, too. And one can only imagine how difficult a challenge it is to achieve that kind of an end across so many different books as written by so many different authors.

[Movies] Attack the Block (2011)

It's rare that a movie truly surprises you anymore - Hollywood is stuck in a mire of remakes and rehashing of old ideas. But when they do surprise you, then the movie stands a decent enough chance of being good, especially in today's market. But you'll rarely see that kind of creativity and ingenuity from the established studios these days.

So from across the seas we have Attack the Block, which is a movie with British origins. The movie generated a lot of positive buzz in the geek section of the blogosphere and the general web given how impressive it was despite talks of it running on a rather limited budget. For a movie that seemingly came out of nowhere, the end result was certainly impressive, even for me.

Movies like this, while not perfect, are still vital to the future of the movie-making industry. More than financiers and the kind of logical support that studios provide, what we really need are creatives to write the stories, direct the movies and put all the pieces together to come up with great stories like this one. And that's what this movie really has going for it - a great idea brought to life by a director who knows what he wants and how to achieve it.

[Technicolor Musings] Fighting HIV / AIDS is ESSE

Last December 9, 2011, our company clinic partnered with The Love Yourself Project to facilitate an HIV / AIDS 101 learning session for members of the leadership team. It was a pretty productive 4-hour session and I have to admit that I walked away with a lot of good information and new insights on HIV / AIDS, its prevention and other information. I feel a lot better equipped to answer HIV / AIDS related questions now and it only seems fair to spread the word and get more people on board with the right ideas when it comes to this virus.

One of the biggest takeaways for me was the concept of the acronym ESSE for trying to figure out whether or not you may have exposed yourself to increased risk of HIV infection. And if there's one thing everyone should know when it comes to HIV prevention, this is probably one of the bigger ticket items.

ESSE, depending on your school of thought, typically stands for Exit, Survive, Sufficient and Entry among health practioners and HIV educators. All four conditions need to be met in order to ensure infection.

EXIT refers to whether or not infected blood, semen or vaginal fluid found a way to leave the body of the person living with HIV.

SURVIVE refers to whether or not the infected medium was subjected to an environment that it can survive. HIV cells do not survive for long outside the human body and exposure to air is particular lethal to it along with other temperature changes.

SUFFICIENT refers to whether or not sufficient quantities of the infected medium are present for risk of infection. Saliva may have HIV cells present but typically they are not in sufficient quantities to prove as a risk of infection. However any direct blood-to-blood contact is typically deemed a sufficient quantity regardless of amount.

ENTRY of course refers to how the infected medium will entry the other person who does not have HIV / AIDS. This typically means contact with the bloodstream, thus typically we need to consider whether or not the person has any open wounds or sores that have been exposed to the infected medium.

Image by AJC1 via Flickr

For example, if a person living with HIV cuts himself while swimming in the same pool as you. While blood may exit from your friend, the medium isn't friendly for the survival of the likes of HIV (given the temperature difference and of course the chlorine) so chances of you getting infected by drinking the water are negligible.

Then there's the question of oral sex which comes up all the time. For the average person the risk is very low since there are no immediate entry points for the infected semen to penetrate and your stomach is full of acids which makes for an environment that reduces the virus's survival chances. However if you have bleeding gums or open sores / lacerations in your mouth, then there is a risk of infection, albeit still a lower one.

Of course ultimately you need to get tested to determine whether or not you actually have HIV cells present in your body (the discussion regarding signs and symptoms of HIV is rather moot when you really get down to it), ESSE remains to be a good guide to consider your risk factors and whether or not you should freak out because you sat next to a person living with AIDS at the cafeteria. At the same time, it also gives you a good basis for rethinking how you treat people that you know to be living with HIV / AIDS. You're not going to catch it just be being friends with them or shaking their hands.

Educate yourself and disspell all those HIV / AIDS myths! Being informed is the best way of fighting this virus and helping bring down the incidents of infection in the Philippines and around the world.

Note: In case you didn't get it, the title of this post is meant to be a pun. ESSE? Easy? Get it?
Gah, I know, I know - I should leave comedy to the professionals. =P

[Movies] Rat Race (2001)

Rat Race reminded me a lot of the older brand of comedies that used to dominate movie theaters. The ones that generated sequel after sequel like Airplane! or even The Naked Gun, however this one just wasn't as funny. If anything, it's clearly one of those movies that relied on the sheer number of comedians involved to make it work as opposed to having a decent story to tie everything together.

Admittedly, we only watched this movie as a weird offshoot of my recent hankerings to watch A Fish Called Wanda. From a Six Degrees of Separation mindset, the only actor in common is John Cleese. that's what I had to work with at the time - it's not much, but I'm not afraid to admit the tenuous link here.

Perhaps this was a classic case of having too many cooks involved in a project, metaphorically speaking. All are decent enough comedians in their own right with their respective brands of humor and acting styles. But when mixed all together like it was in this movie, the result just left a weird taste in my mouth,

[TV] Neverland (2011)

I'm not quite sure what the Syfy channel is trying to accomplish with its recent string of reimagined fairy tale inspired movies / mini-series. I think they had still managed something decent when they came out with Tinman, as inspired by The Wizard of Oz. But then Alice (obviously based on Alice in Wonderland) was a bit of a disappointment for me and not even the geek credibility of Felicia Day could quite save Red: Werewolf Hunter, as inspired by the classic Little Red Riding Hood story.

So yeah, clearly they haven't been keeping geeks like me happy. They start out with some pretty decent premises behind the show, but then the full implementation tends go into weird directions. And Neverland is about adapting the Peter Pan myth - so that's a pretty serious piece of children's literature to tackle.

Despite the past issues, my biggest reason for watching this mini-series was the fact that they had managed to get Bob Hoskins to play the role of Smee, just like what he did in the 1991 movie Hook. He was amazingly good in that role (and Dustin Hoffman wasn't all that bad either) and I was totally game to see him reprise the role, even if within a different creative universe, in a manner of speaking.

[Google] Socializing Google Products

 

 When I first reviewed Google+ back in July, I stated that I didn't feel it was a Facebook-killer, nor was that the goal. Recent moves by Google to introduce Google+ related elements into their other products clearly supports this idea, and the whole thing fascinates me to some extent.

Okay, okay, it fascinates me a lot - you know I tend to go batty for almost anything that Google does.

[Books] The Last Lecture

Most of my book-buying funds tend to go into various works of fiction. I can't quite explain why this is so - perhaps I rely on the internet mostly when it comes to reference titles and the usual sort of self-help style articles whenever I need instructions or a little motivational boost of sorts. Or maybe it has more to do with how my mother raised me to be rather self-sufficient and pretty confident, so I've found little value in going into inspirational or motivational titles all that much.

I can't pinpoint precisely when I heard about The Last Lecture, and by this I mean the video and not the actual book that we're discussing in today's review. However when I did hear about it, it certainly sounded like a fascinating story. But for one reason or another I never got around to watching it - I just don't really spend long periods of time at my computer watching YouTube I guess. I'm normally too busy writing.

I only found out that a book had been made based on the lecture after I tried exploring the Kindle Owner's Lending Library using a trial membership for Amazon Prime and noticed that the title was part of the lending collection. So this was my first (and thus far only) book that I've borrowed from Amazon, and it was certainly a most rewarding read.

[Movies] Never Let Me Go (2010)

I first encountered Carey Mulligan in the Doctor Who episode, "Blink" - which remains to be one of my favorite episodes of all time. Besides how cool the episode even among non-Doctor Who fans, the episode was carried amazingly well based on Carey Mulligan's talent as an actress. She brings a certain quiet intensity to almost any role she brings to life and I do enjoy watching her movies, even when she's not in the lead.

But this one did have her more in the spotlight, and we're all the better for it. The movie was certainly a thoughtful one, but I suppose that's what is to be expected given it's origins as a book. It's a bit odd how I had not heard about this movie until the moment my partner finally loaded it into our media player.

While the author was actually raised in Britain for the most part, some aspects of this story would make a bit more sense in a purely Japanese setting or something. Or maybe I've just read too many Haruki Murakami novels or something.

Regardless, the combination of such a strong story with the kind of acting talent that Carey Mulligan brings to the table did make for a very provocative movie experience.

[Books] Unmasked: Erotic Tales of Superheroes

So for my birthday this year I had decided to set up an Amazon Kindle Titles Wish List to make it easier for friends and family to figure out what to get me and to continue to expand my modest Kindle library. The list includes a wide variety of titles including different science fiction and fantasy titles and some LGBT-themed books as well.

While I would never purchase a book of erotica for myself given you can find stuff like this on the web for free, I figured it would make for an amusing addition to my wish list. Plus at the time it had modestly good ratings and it involved superheroes - geeky and gay at the same time! So it was bound to be win-win, right?

Unfortunately, that was not the case with this collection, and it scares me to consider the fact that there's actually a sequel compilation of stories. Good grief!

I'm man enough to admit that I've read my fair share of gay erotica on the web and a modest amount of superhero-themed gay erotica as well, so I do have a decent point of reference here. And a lot of the stories here were just plain bad and not in a good way. But hey, at least it was a gift.

[Blogosphere] Blog-rolling!

This week marked the launch of my new personal blog and domain, RockySunico.com, which marks my formal exit from LiveJournal after more than 8 years of blogging there. Given that, I find myself now open to building a new blogroll for the site given LJ used to limit you to about 15-20 links even on a good day.

If you're interested in getting on the blogrolls of any of the three blogs that I manage / write for, here's what you need to know:

The Geeky Guide to Nearly Everything

This blog features a more dynamic blog roll that rewards you more if you have new updates and sort of forgets you when you have nothing to say. I tried to focus on more conventional blogs and not so much the big names that have a gazillion updates a day - it gives everyone a better chance of getting featured.

Baduy Pride

This is the co-blog that I write with my partner, Tobie Abad. It's really meant to celebrate our relationship together so the blog naturally has an LGBT tone to it. Thus the blogroll on this site is more focused on listing other gay blogs of interest. I'm definitely open to adding you to the list even if I don't know you all that well - we have to support the LGBT community after all, right? The blogroll is a static page, accessible from the site's main navigation bar.

RockySunico.com

The blogroll here is more focused on site supported by people that I actually know in real life or have maintained some degree of a significant online friendship. I'm not quite up to solely marketing-driven link exchanges at this site since this site has no advertising and is not concerned with monetization at this time. The blog utilizes Blogger's new Dynamic Views template, thus readers have the option to change layouts when reading. The blogroll here is also a static page, accessible from the site's main navigation bar.

And of course in all cases, it's only polite that you link back.

[Movies] Fierce Creatures (1997)

After watching A Fish Called Wanda, it was inevitable that I eventually watch Fierce Creatures. While the movie isn't an actual sequel, it does happen to feature almost the exact same cast in another quirky comedic setting created by a similar creative team. Obviously the producers figured that they might hit paydirt twice with generally the same elements in play.

I can't say that was entirely true - the movie was indeed enjoyable but it didn't quite surpass the prior movie. I know they're not directly connected in a franchise, but the need to compare is inevitable.

To be fair, the movie still had a lot of great moments. And that's probably something inevitable given the talent involved in this production - and I'm not just saying that because I'm a major Monty Python fan. But I suppose my main challenge was the overall story - it just wasn't as gripping as the last one.

Of course comparing a crime caper story with this somewhat more generic comedy is probably an apples and oranges sort of case.

[TV] Being Human US: Season 1

When I first watched the original BBC version of Being Human, I had mistakenly expected some sort of a comedy since placing it in Cardiff seemed inherently funny to me. But despite initially watching the show for all the wrong reasons, the resulting series was gripping, intelligent and surprisingly fresh. And I was all the more glad for that kind of television.

Fast forward to 2011 and a US version of the show finally airs via the oddly named Syfy channel. The news of this adaptation already had me nervous as to what might be done to the show. I know it seems like too much of a snobbish generalization when it comes to US adaptations of British shows tending to be bad, but then there are those times that they do work out rather well. Thus the only way to really find out for sure what the show is to be like, it requires one to suspend judgment.

And that's never an easy thing.

It's curious to think that this show still made an effort to follow the original series. While the British version only spanned 6-7 episodes (depending on how you count the pilot), its US counterpart lasted 13 episodes. Thus I leave it to you to figure out where all the extra material came from.

[The Web] Don't Feed The Trolls!

Internet trolls have been around ever since the first BBS platforms came into being. While we often praise the benefits of how much more connected everyone is to one another through chat, email and all that good stuff, this has also led to us being increasingly exposed to the diverse opinions of others. Through sheer statistics, that means a lot of potentially good and bad conversation right there.

Before trolling was something that was primarily limited to web forums, news groups and later email groups. But with the rise of social media and the domination of the likes of Facebook and Twitter, exposure to internet trolls is now higher than ever. And worse, we're no longer dealing with the traditional trolls that would hind behind some persona or forum handle - sometimes it's your own social media contacts who seem to be living under a bridge - and they've certainly developed a taste for goats.

Even of the best of us will eventually lose their cool to a troll at one point in time or another. It can't be helped - they live for this sort of thing and do their best to target the most emotionally heated subjects in order to get a rise out of you.

There's a very fine line between healthy intellectual discussions and mud-slinging trolling sessions. And in the world of social media, everyone stands the risk of falling into troll tendencies as well.

[Books] Ready Player One

When I had first heard about this book, I have to admit it sounded like too much of a gimmick or some well-crafted piece of consumerism designed to target unwitting geeks who would be inevitably drawn to this title. But given the fact that Ready Player One was written by the man behind the geek classic movie Fanboys, that did help lend it some geek cred.

Then the reviews started pouring in, and they were pretty glorious. So I knew I had to get a copy of this book. Initially I had been tempted to settle for a Kindle version of this title, but in the end I felt I made the right decision to go with the hardbound version. The book is totally worth the extra cost and the needed shelf space - a problem that I feel I'll be forever cursed with as a somewhat bibliophile.

Yeah, I may be in a bit of denial about my book-collecting habits. But only to a very limited degree, I'm sure.

Back on point though, this book was definitely a fun read for me, but I fear that may be more because I'm a geek and not necessarily from the perspective of your average reader. After all, this is a rather niche novel that celebrates geek culture centered around the 1980's. That's a pretty targeted group when you think about it, one that may limit the success of this title or perhaps guarantee it in the right circles.

[Movies] The Adventures of Tintin (2011)

As mentioned in my tribute post last month, I'm a major Tintin fan. And thanks to my partner, Tobie, I now have a complete collection of all 24 main books, the adaptation of his first animated feature and now I even have the official movie art book as an early Christmas present.

So yeah, I'm just a wee bit of a Tintin nerd, I can proudly admit. And obviously my partner is such an enabler.

When news of this movie came out, I have to admit I was rather scared. Like many other Tintin fans around the world, the books have an almost sacred quality to them. It's hard to expect anything less than near perfection from any depict to translate this amazing comic into a movie, what more a CGI / motion capture extravaganza like this one.

To be fair, to have the likes of Spielberg and Jackson behind the project did help assude some doubts. after all, if you can't trust the people behind movies like Indiana Jones and The Lord of the Rings to handle a creative work as important as this one, then it becomes very difficult to respect the rest of what we hold to be true when it comes to movies.

[Technicolor Musings] HIV / AIDS Awareness Groups in the Philippines

Image via Wikipedia

December 1 marks World AIDS Day, a time when people can unite and send a strong message of support to those who have already contracted HIV / AIDS while at the same time promoting greater awareness and more responsible practices to prevent the continued spread of the virus. For many countries, including the Philippines, December is also AIDS Awareness Month. The most well-known image associated with the HIV / AIDS advocacy movement is the red ribbon.

It's interesting to note that there seems to be a bit of an increase of HIV / AIDS advocacy groups and movements in the country - something that can be inevitably connected to the continued rise of reported cases in the country despite the global reduction in the growth rate of infections. The statistics are pretty alarming, and I don't see the need to re-state them right now. Regardless of the numbers, HIV / AIDS will always be a very serious concern for the LGBT community and all those who practice unsafe sex and the sharing of needles and other infection risks.

I've previously written about the "fear" or "stigma around getting tested for HIV / AIDS as my own little bid to start promoting HIV / AIDS awareness and responsibility, but of course there's a lot more that can be done to effectively fight this and get the community back on the right track.

With the 2011 Manila Pride March having completed yesterday, this seems as good a time as any to try and document some of the more prevalent / visible HIV / AIDS advocacy / support groups out there for those who are looking for ways to get involved in the fight against HIV / AIDS.

[Pink Scene] Pride of the Orient: The 17th Annual Pride March

Today's the day of Pride March 2011! This year's theme of sorts is Pride of the Orient and is the 17th Pride March in the country.

Assembly point is at the Remedios Circle (Malate, Manila) and registration starts at 01:00pm. The march itself begins at 04:00pm and the after program begins at 06:00pm.

Join us as we celebrate diversity and show our support for the Filipino LGBT community!

For those who are curious about the parade route, you can refer to the map below:

For other participant reminders, check out this link.

See you there and HAPPY PRIDE EVERYONE!

[Movies] A Fish Called Wanda (1988)

A Fish Called Wanda is one of those comedies that is often referenced in various movie reviews as one of those films that everyone assume's you've seen, at least in my experience. And despite the amazing amount of talent involved in this movie together with two Monty Python alumni, up until recently I hadn't had a chance to watch it.

I can't even remember what prompted me to start thinking about this recently, but I figured it was high time that I rectified things and thus I got around to it. I got a copy of the movie to watch with my partner and one morning we gave it a go.

Despite feeling a wee bit dated, the movie was still pretty funny and I can now safely say that I better appreciate it's appeal. It's more than just another movie with a stellar cast that relies on its actors to sell the movie. Instead, it's a highly entertaining piece with a twisted yet engaging story that happened to have some great talent involved in the production.

[TV] Parks and Recreation: Season 3

Parks and Recreation is clearly one of those shows that could have very well died in its first truncated year and yet managed to turn things around for the better. Based on the first season alone, I never would have followed the show. But since I did stick around, things just got better and better and now I can admit that I'm pretty hooked on the series.

I'm sure that I wasn't alone in thinking that this show was just going to be a rip-off of The Office or something. But over the years the show has grown and developed and has pretty much come into its own.

I doubt any of us could project the effect that the addition of Rob Lowe and Adam Scott at the end of season 2 would have on the show as a whole, but it all worked our rather well. This season had them more or less officially joining the permanent cast, and I think the show was all the better for it.