And The Show Goes On
Ah, it’s good to be back on The McVie Show.
Last Wednesday I wasn’t feeling well, so I decided to take the day off. The day before I had entered Orlando in the casa to have his aircon fixed. So I had the whole day to myself—trapped inside the house. Instead of watching TV or cable or the supplementary documentaries in the Star Wars: Revenge Of The Sith DVD, I decided to reread “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”. My one-day sick leave however turned into three days (the flu strains these days are becoming more and more virulent) so after finishing “Goblet” on Friday I plowed through “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” over the weekend.
It was good for me to reread the two (they’re the longest among the current six Potter books, if I’m not mistaken) because there were many details that surfaced again, details that I either glazed over the first time I read the books (yup, I was trying to finish the books as quickly as I could that at times my eyes would glaze over the words), or I have forgotten already.
For instance: who among you who’ve read the books would remember that Albus Dumbledor has a brother? Yup! Aberforth Dumbledor is also with the Order of the Phoenix. J.K. Rowling was very circumspect about the sibling; Moody described him as somewhat a strange fellow and that was it. I suspect he’ll figure prominently in the last book, but that’s just me.
Also, I’m even more convinced that Snape is really one of the good guys. His role in Dumbledor’s “death” (I shall put it in quotation marks first, because I’m not totally convinced that Dumbledor won’t return in one form or another) is, I believe, a staged one, designed to fool Voldemort and his Death Eaters.
Before I had this idea that maybe Harry and Voldemort would both die in the end. After reading “Phoenix” I think that J.K. won’t have the heart to kill Harry. Darn.
* * * * *
Friday I was able to get Orlando back, thanks to my brother who picked up my car from the casa. However, since I still wasn’t feeling very well I decided not to go to work. But after two days inside the house I was dying for a change of pace, so in the evening I went out to watch a play in Katipunan. The play is “Nasaan si Kaliwete?” which is a didactic piece of agit-prop theatre that doesn’t just pound its message on the viewers’ heads, it hammers it scene after scene after painful scene. It didn’t help that some of the students are of the “intense equals loud” school of acting, so they were shouting their lines the whole time. The whole play sounded like a rally instead of a theatrical piece, which I guess is exactly what the production is all about. But after hearing the third anti-rich line uttered (I mean, yelled) in the play, my ears decided to shut off.
Someone should really write a play about rich folks complaining about the poor, just for a change of pace. I bet it’ll be a lot quieter, the dialogue bitchier with double entendres, but just as cruelly biting.
* * * * *
When you’re stuck at home with no option of just grabbing your car keys and going off somewhere, it’s amazing how the small details that you often take for granted suddenly figure prominently in your consciousness.
For example: toothbrushes. For the longest time I’ve not changed my toothbrush at home. I think it’s already with me for more than a year, but I’m not sure now that I forget when I actually bought them. Well, since I now had the time to notice how old it was, I decided to buy a new one. I couldn’t believe the range of options for toothbrushes one has: soft, medium or hard, slanted, multi-level, multi-layered bristles, angled brush, easy-grip handle; etc. There were so many that I decided to buy two, Colgate and Oral-B. The former I’ll use at home, the other is for the office. It’s an amazing feeling using a brand-new brush for the first time—it felt like oral raspa. (Not that I know how raspa feels like, of course.) For the first time in months I felt like my teeth were actually being cleaned. Of course most of it is psychological, I’m sure.
I also realized just how important it is to actually rest, as in mental, emotional and—most importantly—physical rest. Before whenever I had vacation, I’d end up driving off to somewhere. Now, driving relaxes me mentally and emotionally. (I’ve learned to be patient and understanding to stupid drivers—it’s more than defensive driving, it’s zen driving!) But I often forget how physically tiring it is—until we reach our destination. Then the fatigue sets in.
But last week I was able to experience the utter bliss of being physically still. Well, not exactly very still but I was lying in bed most of the time reading a book, my only movement limited to shifting my weight often to keep the blood circulating. It was a very welcome break.
I really should get sick more often.
* * * * *
P.S. – More Baguio pictures—actually bigger and clearer, I should say—in The McView Point, my phlog. Visit http://www.phlog.net/user/joelmcvie
Last Wednesday I wasn’t feeling well, so I decided to take the day off. The day before I had entered Orlando in the casa to have his aircon fixed. So I had the whole day to myself—trapped inside the house. Instead of watching TV or cable or the supplementary documentaries in the Star Wars: Revenge Of The Sith DVD, I decided to reread “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”. My one-day sick leave however turned into three days (the flu strains these days are becoming more and more virulent) so after finishing “Goblet” on Friday I plowed through “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” over the weekend.
It was good for me to reread the two (they’re the longest among the current six Potter books, if I’m not mistaken) because there were many details that surfaced again, details that I either glazed over the first time I read the books (yup, I was trying to finish the books as quickly as I could that at times my eyes would glaze over the words), or I have forgotten already.
For instance: who among you who’ve read the books would remember that Albus Dumbledor has a brother? Yup! Aberforth Dumbledor is also with the Order of the Phoenix. J.K. Rowling was very circumspect about the sibling; Moody described him as somewhat a strange fellow and that was it. I suspect he’ll figure prominently in the last book, but that’s just me.
Also, I’m even more convinced that Snape is really one of the good guys. His role in Dumbledor’s “death” (I shall put it in quotation marks first, because I’m not totally convinced that Dumbledor won’t return in one form or another) is, I believe, a staged one, designed to fool Voldemort and his Death Eaters.
Before I had this idea that maybe Harry and Voldemort would both die in the end. After reading “Phoenix” I think that J.K. won’t have the heart to kill Harry. Darn.
* * * * *
Friday I was able to get Orlando back, thanks to my brother who picked up my car from the casa. However, since I still wasn’t feeling very well I decided not to go to work. But after two days inside the house I was dying for a change of pace, so in the evening I went out to watch a play in Katipunan. The play is “Nasaan si Kaliwete?” which is a didactic piece of agit-prop theatre that doesn’t just pound its message on the viewers’ heads, it hammers it scene after scene after painful scene. It didn’t help that some of the students are of the “intense equals loud” school of acting, so they were shouting their lines the whole time. The whole play sounded like a rally instead of a theatrical piece, which I guess is exactly what the production is all about. But after hearing the third anti-rich line uttered (I mean, yelled) in the play, my ears decided to shut off.
Someone should really write a play about rich folks complaining about the poor, just for a change of pace. I bet it’ll be a lot quieter, the dialogue bitchier with double entendres, but just as cruelly biting.
* * * * *
When you’re stuck at home with no option of just grabbing your car keys and going off somewhere, it’s amazing how the small details that you often take for granted suddenly figure prominently in your consciousness.
For example: toothbrushes. For the longest time I’ve not changed my toothbrush at home. I think it’s already with me for more than a year, but I’m not sure now that I forget when I actually bought them. Well, since I now had the time to notice how old it was, I decided to buy a new one. I couldn’t believe the range of options for toothbrushes one has: soft, medium or hard, slanted, multi-level, multi-layered bristles, angled brush, easy-grip handle; etc. There were so many that I decided to buy two, Colgate and Oral-B. The former I’ll use at home, the other is for the office. It’s an amazing feeling using a brand-new brush for the first time—it felt like oral raspa. (Not that I know how raspa feels like, of course.) For the first time in months I felt like my teeth were actually being cleaned. Of course most of it is psychological, I’m sure.
I also realized just how important it is to actually rest, as in mental, emotional and—most importantly—physical rest. Before whenever I had vacation, I’d end up driving off to somewhere. Now, driving relaxes me mentally and emotionally. (I’ve learned to be patient and understanding to stupid drivers—it’s more than defensive driving, it’s zen driving!) But I often forget how physically tiring it is—until we reach our destination. Then the fatigue sets in.
But last week I was able to experience the utter bliss of being physically still. Well, not exactly very still but I was lying in bed most of the time reading a book, my only movement limited to shifting my weight often to keep the blood circulating. It was a very welcome break.
I really should get sick more often.
* * * * *
P.S. – More Baguio pictures—actually bigger and clearer, I should say—in The McView Point, my phlog. Visit http://www.phlog.net/user/joelmcvie
posted by joelmcvie at 10:02 PM
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