Friday, December 19, 2008

A note on power

I feel that everyone needs a boost of motivation every now and then. Actually, I could really use that myself most times, to lift spirits, to be extremely optimistic and highly inspired. Reading Rewan's post somehow made me a little motivated to really strive for what I want. It also triggered a memory of a quote shown to me by someone very smart.

I was told that this quote is from Nelson Mandela's inaugural speech. But, I just read somewhere that it was originally written by Marriane Williams, who I know nothing of. No matter who wrote or said it, it has meaning and the power to move nonetheless.

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

I do believe that we are powerful beyond measure, and there's no need for us to be afraid of that power within. There is absolutely no reason why we cannot achieve what we set out to do. We can live our life however way we want and make our dreams come true.

What a nice thought.

N

Monday, December 15, 2008

between here and there

input and out. I need to work on both.

You observe and you think and you ponder. Jane said it. We live now. Not later, not in the future as we tend to think and want to. Where am I now? I'm between here and there (maybe even literally). I am waiting and making people wait. I shouldn't make people wait.

So, observe what? I guess, as cliche as it might be, the answer would be life. It might not be the present life. Definitely not the future. It could be the past. Even though now is an un-inspirational point in time, I have to make something out of it. I need to make it a point to soak in more information.

I am not the type of person who concludes things in my mind. I watch a movie and I get ideas and thoughts from them. And they stay that way. Ideas and thoughts. It doesn't get out, no output. I could not write reviews and opinions. Well, I might have opinions, but when I focus on it, to figure out what I think to put in words, what I thought about something, all I can find is...VOID. Hence the title and possibly original purpose of this blog.

I need to learn to observe and churn out some sort of contribution. I need to have thoughts on things and put it in words. How else can you translate this life? To tell it? That's my aim, telling life, as honestly as possible, but with a few twists and turns of course. So I have to learn.

N

Friday, December 5, 2008

marathonia

My marathon started on Tuesday. This post is by no means a review of any kind, merely opinions I guess. I am useless when it comes to reviews. I am void of thoughts. I saw all the following movies alone. heh.

First was 'Australia'. I thought it was decent. The cinema wasn't full, I was comfortable. I had room for my legs, which was good. I found it just okay. I wasn't bored. But I wasn't moved or feel connected to it either. It was an OK experience. However, I did something exciting last night. We went to ATLAB. This is where most, if not all films are developed and/or color graded in Australia. They were working on 'Australia' while I was there. They also had heaps of film rolls lyring around, waiting to be sent to cinemas. I saw 'When the earth stood still' film rolls. How cool is that?! I got a small souvenir, a strip of 35mm film roll. Jakun!

Later that night, was the opening film 'After School'. This was a huuuuge treat. This was probably the best movie I've seen this year. Everything was just brilliant. The acting, the marvelous plot, the beautiful color of film, etc. Everything. ... I can't find the trailer on youtube. How sad. I wonder how you guys are going to find this little gem. Haha. Too bad.

The next day, Ichi. This was good too. It wasn't astoundingly brilliant like after school. But, it still has its own merits. Ayase Haruka is simply beautiful. She doesn't have to do much, just stand there and look pretty. And it works! Storyline was pretty slow but I was indulging the fact that I'm watching a Japanese movie in a theatre. It was also quiet. I couldn't eat my bag of chips that I snuck in. Overall, it was a pleasing film.

I cheated with ALWAYS 2 and Welcome to the quiet room. I saw both on Crunchyroll.com. Bad bad. But, that's because I couldn't go watch it in the cinema. I had work. I wished I'd seen ALWAYS 2 in the cinema. It's just breathtakingly beautiful. Also because Horikita Maki is in that. You guys might want to check out ALWAYS first though. It's on crunchyroll as well.

Next one is tommorow, Kabei. This might prove to be yet another good one. With the likes of director Yoji Yamada, famous for Daremo Shiranai (Nobody knows), and also one of my favourite japanese actors, Tadanobu Asano! Ahh...it's going to be great!

Apart from these movies, I've also rented out 5 DVDs last night. I watched one this morning (Miss Potter) and there's 4 more to go. The marathonia continues!

Also, I've been busy coming up with ideas for short films. I've finished writing one. We'll see how that goes. I'm writing a second one now. And there's 3 more ideas in my head. Slow and steady, pen to paper, slow and steady. Exciting times, just can't wait to get back and get things going. It's just a matter of time.

N