The mountain every gay man wants to go to

*taken from thecia.com.au

So like every gay man in this planet of ours (I'm not sure if there are gay Martians) has been waiting for the release (no pun intended) of Ang Lee's "Brokeback Mountain". Based from Annie Proulx short story, this movie had so much buzz (well mostly in the gay community) even before the movie was made. Maybe because of the casting of Heath Ledger and Jake Gylenhall but I think the reason why people made a big deal about it is because its not your stereotypical gay movie; its just like any other run on the mill love story except its between two men.

I was fortunate enough to see it during its first week of limited release ( and I mean limited, only 5 theaters in LA, NYC and SF). The Boyfriend-Chris and I went to "The Grove" in West Hollywood...after getting stuck in the parking structure desperately looking for parking (refer back to a post about Christmas in LA) for 45 minutes, I made an illegal turn and squeezed my car in a space fit for those tiny European cars. I was hoping for a lot of previews but it turned out that we missed the first 5 minutes of the movie and since we were soo late, we got the worst seats in the theater (front and center aka neck breakers/nausea inducer). As a consolation, at least we were closest to the screen during the sex scenes (hehe just kidding).

Below is my take on the movie which contains some spoilers so for those who doesnt want to find out what happened... dont read below.






The Boyfriend pretending he's a cowboy.










I was deeply moved by this movie. I didn't expect too much from it because I hate getting dissapointed after all the buzz. Well I wasn't dissapointed at all. The cinematography was great, all the actors did a fine job (Heath for being a convincing cowboy, Michelle for really showing the pain of knowing that you're husband is doing hanky panky with another cowboy, and Jake for being just plain adorable). I didnt know that Jake's character (Jack) was going to die at the end, it was painful to watch Ennis (Heath's character) in the last scene of the movie when he was hugging the last tangible memory of his love for Jack. Although there was alot of hype about their sex scene, I thought that the movie wasnt all about that, in fact, it was better to see these two guys show affection for each other during the more quiet scenes of the movie when they're just talking. I think the best quote in the movie was given by Jack (Jake) when they had an argument as to where they're secret tryst was leading to. Jack said Ennis, "I wish I know how to quit you". This quote summarized their situation. The love they have for each other is just too much that they just cant seem to get rid of each other regardless of the risk and the people that they're hurting by not being truthful.

Ernesto's Travels: Boston

This past year, I did a lot of travelling. Im going to post some of my favorite pictures. To enlarge, click on each picture.

* Best Friend-Nat and I spent 3 days in Boston. We visited Other Best Friend-Roy and also just to explore Boston in autumn. Top left-right:(1)State Capitol (the dome is bling-blingy), (2) a gaslamp in Beacon Hill (I want to move there), (3) Public Garden lake, (4) Nat doing a Michael Jackson dance move (hehe no, she's just enjoying the breeze), (5) foliage and some random statue by the Charles river, (6) Gravestone of Sam Adams (hmmm beer), (7) a display against the war in Iraq, Copley square was filled with shoes of the soldiers who died those of Iraqi children and woman. (8) Facade of a building used for the filming of Cheers (Where everybody knows your name), (9) Three pinoys in Harvard (part of the plot of taking over the world refer to yesterdays post), (10) Real World Boston's house (or should I say firehouse which is now a community center of sort), (11) BF-Nat and I enjoying the warmth of "Dunkin Donuts" coffee (delish)...

I love it when I'm productive

I woke up late and decided that theres no point for me to go to work today coz I'm sure I'm not going to accomplish anything. I stayed home and watched one episode each of "The Amazing Race" season 7 dvd that I just bought, "Project Runway" season 1 and original "Real World New York". By noontime I was able to pry myself off the couch, got out of my pj's, decided that I'm going to actually donate three bags of clothes, 2 pairs of shoes, and my old bike (I meant to do it for almost a year now). I chose "Out of the Closet" to be the recipient of my unused stuff since most of their profit helps people living with HIV/AIDS. After accomplishing that, I went back home, did 2 loads of laundry, finished wrapping gifts, started cleaning my room (dusting, throwing away unnecessary junk, vacuum, watering plants etc.), cooked dinner and now getting ready to go for a jog. Here's some pictures of what I did.




After spending a whole lot of money, I then spent hours wrapping all the gifts ( I hate irregular shaped objects).


I so need to go to Reality-tv-addict anonymous....I'm spending way too much time watching tv.

Filipinos are taking over the world!

I think Filipinos has a hidden plan to take over the world. We are everywhere! Just today, I went to my favorite coffee shop and I was served by a Filipino. The attendant at the parking lot at my work...Filipino. The driver bitch who cut me off on Sunset Blvd....Filipino. OK not being too repetitive...Filipinos are everywhere here in LA. I think the invasion will not be through numbers but probably by using our best asset....Filipino hospitality. The majority of Filipinos overseas works for hospitals as nurses and care-givers. Tons work at airports, hotels, cruise ships and other types of human services, technical and professional jobs. It seems like the plan would be to take over by being very nice and hospitable, then hypnotize the rest of the world! Haha...i know its ridiculous. Kidding aside, I'm surprised as to how many Filipinos are spread out all throughout the world. For example, I have extended family in the middle east, Japan, friends in Europe, Australia etc. When I was lost somewhere in Florence, Italy, a Filipina nanny told me how to find the correct bus and where to get the bus token (weirdly enough we didnt speak the same dialect; she spoke Visayan while I can only speak Tagalog so we had to use English and some broken Italian). It still fascinates me how far wide the Filipinos have dispersed themselves around the world.

Highlights/Complaints/Praises and other random blah of the day

Highlights:
*The bum who hangs out by my favorite coffee shop ( Silverlake Cafe on Glendale Blvd.) started a heated debate about politics (or something like that) with a tree. I wonder who won?
*Left work early today. I had lunch at a Filipino "turo-turo" (literally means; point-point. A type of fast food restaurant where food is pre-cooked and you just point at it) called DJ's Bibikanghan on Vermont Ave. I love Filipino food and that place never dissapoints (especially for such a cheap price)
*I then went to Hollywood and decided to stop by Borders bookstore on Sunset and Vine. There I found a copy of the newly released dvd for season 7 of the Amazing Race (I'm so not gonna get any sleep). A quick stop at Bed, Bath and Beyond, I then walked around the block and followed the walk of stars (the one where each star is dedicated to some "famous" person). In a not so glamorous spot, I found Michael Jackson's star. Poor guy, he really is becoming so unpopular now that even his star is not in the best location( smells like pee too).



Praises:
*For the Salvation Army bell ringers in front of groceries stores etc. I know they get a certain percentage but standing out in the cold (and asking for money without really harassing people) can be tough.

Complaints:
* I can not stand the potholes in LA roads. Theres one on my street and its so deep that if you dont maneuver around it, your tire is going to get stucked in it. LA roads are like a teenager going through puberty...all pimply.

Christmas in L.A.

I can't believe its that time of the year again. I swear I just finished eating last years fruit cake! Anyway, as I was wrapping gifts for my family (I tried not to look at the receipts coz I spent way too much this year) the local news had a special feature about Christmas in L.A. They showed the good things about celebrating the holidays here in the southland but completely ignored the bad things. Here's a short compilation of the not so good things in LA during the holidays:

*Traffic around commercial areas/malls is beyond comprehension. As an evidence. I took this picture while I was looking for parking at the Grove in West Hollywood. I looked for almost 45 minutes (and I drive a sentra I can only imagine how long it took to find ample-sized parking for people who drive suburbans and other gargantuan vehicles). There were times when a line of cars were all just sitting there for 5 minutes completely stucked! I understand that these same issues happen in other cities but since Los Angelenos are practically slaves to their cars, the traffic is 100 times worse.

*Yes the weather is great but I sure would like to experience a "white christmas". But I guess I shouldnt complain coz Im sure the rest of the country would prefer to be thawed out during the holidays. On a side note, I can not stand seeing people on the street/cars all bundled up like theres a freaking blizzard outside. Especially today. This lady looked like she was going to go skiing in Aspen, complete with a scarf, a beanie and some ugly uggs (sp?). Lady, it was freaking 80 degrees this afternoon...don't be too dramatic.

*One last thing, overly decorated houses... only in LA will you see a giant cactus tree wrapped in christmas light... very LA.

Me and Lil' E (My Dad run out of ideas and decided to name us both after his own name...thus I'm Ernesto #2 and Lil' E is #3...I know a bit narcissistic huh)

Here goes nothing!

After spending a whole lot of time reading other people's blogs...I'm finally going to give it a try. I already know its going to be my new addiction so its quite unfortunate that I wasn't able to resist the temptation. So here goes nothing....

A little bit about me:

*24 years old born in the year of the COCK (that makes me giggle like a 5th grader)
*Spent the first 2/3 of my life in Olongapo City, Philippines
*The remaining 1/3 (wow I can do math).... I lived in Vallejo, California and now in Los Angeles
*After 4 years at UCLA, I went across town and I'm currently a graduate student at USC doing my Ph.D.
*I have 2 sisters(younger and older), a baby brother (a cutie patutie sp?), my dad and my step-mom (and probably 5 million cousins/aunts/uncles.... i lost track of how many and that doesn't even include illegitimate kids )
*I'm a walking contradiction; I will not run a red light even if I'm the only car in the intersection at 2 in the morning but on the other hand I will insist that I have less than the required maximum number of groceries so I can use the fast check out lane (even though I have a full cart).
*Some days I feel like an artist trapped in a scientist's body. Then there are days when I feel like a big black woman trapped in a skinny Asian guy's body!
*The rest you'll just find out in my random blahs. (quick caveat; I didn't do well in my English classes so don't expect perfect grammar or though-provoking entries. I will however, try my best to spell everything correctly because that is one of my pet-peeves.