Journals
Friday,Dec 31 2004, 09:04:06 PMdisaster in southeast asia We are witnessing...
disaster in southeast asia
We are witnessing one of the greatest natural disasters that ever faced the 21st century. An earthquake of considerable magnitude measuring 9.0 on the Richter scale hit Southeast Asia. The earthquake originated specifically from the Indian Ocean, creating tsunamis that devastated countries within a 3,000-mile radius of its epicenter. According to the reports I’ve read, waves reached 30 to 40 ft. high and traveled at around 500 mph against coastlines, dramatically altering the geography of some countries (getting hit by cars running at 75 mph would unimaginably pale in comparison to getting plundered by violent waves traveling at 500 mph on rapid successions).
Every time I watch the news, the death toll continues to rise. Last week it was 11,000 and last night, CNN reported there were already as much as about 135,000 lives (and counting) confirmed to be lost, not to mention people who are still missing as of the moment. Unfortunately, a third of these numbers are reported to be children. It’s not the earthquake per se that’s responsible for these numbers; it’s the repercussions of the disaster. According to CNN, possible epidemics due to unclean water resources may boost the increasing number of fatalities in astronomical amounts.
Upon learning this terrifying news, I immediately recalled this terrible earthquake in the early 1990s when I was still in the Philippines. The earthquake, registering about 7.5 on the Richter scale, claimed the lives of thousands of people especially in Baguio, the city that was affected the most. In comparison to Southeast Asia’s current disaster, the earthquake I’ve experienced is considered to be “moderate,” and I could only imagine how powerful and frightening this recent earthquake is.
Just as surely, this tragedy speaks to me in so many ways. I have always believed that there is a reason behind everything, and great disasters such as this one don't just happen. I have this strong Biblical belief that earthquakes are the manifestation of the Lord's anger as stated in the book of Job 9:5-6:
“He who removes the mountains, and they know it not: when He overturns them in His anger; He who shakes the earth out of its place, and the pillars of it tremble;”
After analyzing the intensity of this mishap, I realized that no matter how powerful a man is, without God in his life, he’s nothing but a mist that disappears unpredictably on the earth’s face.
Thursday,Dec 30 2004, 07:55:56 AMhouse of flying daggers [IMAGE] [IMAGE] [IMAG
house
of flying daggers
I’ve just seen the film “Hero,” and it was fantastic. Although I appreciate how its story unfolds creatively through a series of seamless flashbacks, I still didn’t love Hero as much as I loved “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” which still ranks as the best in my martial arts movies list. I prefer “live” action instead of passive story telling, that’s why. Nevertheless, Hero’s visuals were awesome; kudos to that.
Last week, while on my routine Net surfing, I’ve found out that director Zhang Yimou has produced yet another movie, “House of Flying Daggers,” similar to the likes of Crouching Tiger and to his last film, Hero, which was just (amazingly) recently released this year. I’ve watched its preview on the Internet for numerous times, and I just can’t get enough of it; it’s simply awesome.
The characters’ uncanny ability to toy with gravity, the graceful fighting skills, the rich display of eastern culture... these are the characteristic qualities present in films of this genre I find truly hypnotizing. Ever since I was a kid, I have always enjoyed watching oriental movies. Oftentimes, I imagine how fun it would be to have heightened reflexes in which you can dodge arrows, or even bullets, as if it’s child’s play. Man, if the police could do that, crime rates would no doubt decrease substantially.
Enough daydreaming.
Ok, so House of Flying Daggers has a trailer capable of making any die-hard martial arts movie fan salivate like a mad dog. That makes me wonder: Would this film even be as half as good as its trailer promises it to be? And how is it going to compare to Crouching Tiger? Well, that remains to be seen.
Going to the theatres is not my thing, and I know it’s too soon to watch out for its DVD release, but I hope this film is worth the wait. My craving for surreal martial arts needs to be addressed.
**gets up and
“HIYAAAH!”**
Thursday,Dec 23 2004, 03:43:42 AMempty, gone, nada Perhaps you’re wondering...
empty,
gone, nada
Perhaps
you’re wondering what happened to my page.
Well, that makes the two of us.
The first time I logged in yesterday, everything was fine (and by “fine”
I mean all of my journals were still here), but then when I went back to my page
after I’ve done some Net searching, all of my journals went missing, and the
boxes for the background image URL and header/footer HTML were empty, as if an
electronic flash food wiped away my page.
Everything was gone… NADA!
I was
kind of disappointed, but I’m handling this misfortune quite well. I’m not mad or anything, just
frustrated. And this is what I feel like doing right
now:
Nah,
just kidding. I’m not THAT
desperate to the point of smashing my own computer. But I’m still wondering what exactly
happened yesterday, the day my web page died. Ah, the pain, the emptiness, the
heartache, the “mind” ache… Ok, I better stop this. I’m overreacting.
But the
question remains: “What happened?”