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Sunday, November 13th 2011

9:40 PM (77 days, 11h, 19min ago)

..in.between.sleep.and.awake..

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  • Background Noise: manic aeon

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Saturday, October 8th 2011

6:51 PM (113 days, 15h, 8min ago)

:What.is.a.ghost?

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"What is a ghost? A tragedy condemned to repeat itself time and again? 
An instant of pain, perhaps. Something dead which still seems to be alive.
An emotion suspended in time. Like a blurred photograph. Like an insect trapped in amber."


Del Toro masterfully blends history with the supernatural and delivers an atmospheric and haunting visual masterpiece in El Espinazo del Diablo (The Devil's Backbone). The question “What is a ghost?” in the opening sequence piques the viewer's curiosity and sets the soulful, introspective and melancholic mood of the film. 

The story unravels in 1939, the end of the three years of the Spanish Civil War. A 10-year old boy named Carlos, the son of a fallen Republican war hero, is left in an orphanage in the middle of nowhere by his tutor. The orphanage is run by the curt yet considerate headmistress Carmen and the kindly Professor Casares; both are sympathetic to the doomed Republican cause. Although Carlos receives care and gradually becomes friends with the other orphans in the schoolhouse, he is not totally at ease in his new environment and observes several peculiarities. First he noticed that the orphanage's nasty caretaker, Jacinto, is unusually watchful over one of the storage rooms in the compound. Secondly, there is a supernatural presence- the ghost of a former occupant of the orphanage named Santi. The ghost had incessantly made his presence felt to Carlos since his arrival and had gloomily intoned, "Many of you will die." 

Throbbing with the volatile climate of the times, El Espinazo del Diablo not only effectively captures the Spanish Civil War zeitgeist but also gives a glimpse of the lives that have become inextricably affected by it. Throughout the movie, the meaning and essence of ghosts are disassembled and then assembled again. And then I found myself thinking if it was safe to say that, other than the dead boy’s specter, the movie had other ghosts: people who lived and acted like they were already dead, remnants of the past or tragedies replaying themselves. 

Calling El Espinazo del Diablo a horror movie would be an understatement. Instead of the usual soulless horror movie brimming with cheap attempts at adding shock value, this film melds truth and fiction, humanity and the supernatural. It depicts what it is like to live in a country torn by civil war, what sort of characters we would meet and what tragedies become almost part of daily life. In the midst of the chaos and emptiness, we see children and grownups struggling to find peace, albeit fleeting, in the simplest things- food, toys, poetry and in one another. 

In the end, I was right to think that I’d more likely die from heartbreak than fear of this movie. This film just cemented Del Toro's place in my heart as one of my favorite directors. 



Directed by Guillermo del Toro
Written by Guillermo del Toro, Antonio Trashorras & David Muñoz

Cast: 
Marisa Paredes as Carmen
Eduardo Noriega as Jacinto
Federico Luppi as Dr. Casares
Fernando Tielve as Carlos

{view full credits here}

†††

This review is ancient, I watched this movie 3 months ago and only remembered to post it now. 



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"If you cannot be a poet, be the poem."
-David Carradine 
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Wednesday, August 24th 2011

9:29 PM (158 days, 12h, 30min ago)

word.vomit.:

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  • Background Noise: chertograd

You are a button begging to be pushed
A puzzle begging to be solved
My little oasis in an icy wasteland.

You are a tiny drop of rain
After years of famine
My false sense of freedom.

You are reward and punishment
Master and slave
My favorite game.

You are a lingering paradox:
Fabled and despised
Soft and contrived. 

You draw me in
Like a moth to a flame
I am beguiled, I am slain. 

...
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Wednesday, June 8th 2011

2:21 AM (236 days, 7h, 38min ago)

I am Jack's blog post.

  • Mood:
  • Background Noise: where is my mind




Last night's serotonin boost was brought to you by:


This movie is gold.
No, this isn't even a movie, it's modern day gospel.
I live under a rock and I regret not having seen it much sooner.
It's like V for Vendetta, minus the faggy theatrics or a sharper (perhaps darker) version of The Boondock Saints... but to compare this to another movie would be a disservice.
I'm in love with the badassery, characters, even the soundtrack! The pacing and the interspersion of humor, nihilist musings and blood are flawless. The ending was a sweet touch.
This movie just blew my mind- which is why I'm taking pains to rant all this at 2am in the morning.



Dedicated to Dawg and his pet insomnia.




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"On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero."
-from Fight Club
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Tuesday, June 7th 2011

12:53 PM (236 days, 21h, 5min ago)

Come play with us, forever and ever and ever.

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  • Background Noise: love lost in a hail of gunfire
Remember those days when I can't wait to wake up in the morning and the first thing I do is turn on the computer and play? And then spend late nights playing the same computer game? I'm reliving those days* after Yayaa made me play Iris Online.




My character (Violaine) and Yayaa's (Ferluci).


[Click the image for full view]


[Click the image for full view]

If you play Iris Online and would love to hang out/play with us, you can catch us on the Radiant Sun server.

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*This entry is terribly late. I'm no longer "reliving those days" because I'm busy as hell.


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"Life is all pretendy until you stub the fuck out of a toe."
-thesulk
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Saturday, May 28th 2011

1:57 AM (247 days, 8h, 2min ago)

redrum! redrum!

  • Mood: hungry
  • Background Noise: Euphoria


Lately, I've been watching a lot of horror/suspense movies before bed.The pictures up there are some of my favorite ones so far. If you guess which movie each image comes from, you get a cookie.

P.S. They're not really challenging enough to bawl over. I'm just too lazy to write something about them right now.


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"We hate you. Please die."
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Monday, May 23rd 2011

5:34 PM (251 days, 16h, 24min ago)

:.mithridatism...

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  • Background Noise: venus in arms


I'm sorry for leaving. One lifetime ago.



Why Roses are Red ©2010. Original artwork by Schazmyrrh.
More information on this piece is available over here.
DO NOT COPY, EDIT OR REDISTRIBUTE WITHOUT MY EXPRESSED CONSENT.
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Tuesday, May 3rd 2011

9:43 PM (271 days, 12h, 16min ago)

Or maybe it's more like a moth to a flame...

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  • Background Noise: Jupiter Crash






This song stabs at my heart and is one of the few things
that can make me feel like I'm about to implode.

It reminds me of when I was 16.

Ah, Robert Smith, all these years and you can still break my heart.


P.S. Don't mind the weird, raspy Monty Python clip at the end.
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Saturday, April 30th 2011

10:25 PM (274 days, 11h, 34min ago)

the pleasure principle ii

  • Mood:
  • Background Noise: nothing left but me


I
t is a tale spawned from the leprous literature of the French Decadents – a poisonous book, the atmosphere of which is heavy with the mephitic odours of moral and spiritual putrefaction,”
- the Daily Chronicle

Over 120 years after it was condemned as ‘vulgar’ and ‘unclean’, an uncensored version of Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray is published by Harvard University Pres.

.:read more.:

(article via SanFranciscoSentinel.com)




*dies*
Never mind that I still have a monstrous pile of unread literature to pore through.
SOMEONE. GET. ME. THAT. BOOK.



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"A man who drinks only water has a secret to hide from his fellow men."
~Charles Baudelaire
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Wednesday, April 27th 2011

11:52 AM (277 days, 22h, 6min ago)

:.in.full.gloom..:.

  • Mood:
  • Background Noise: keep the streets empty for me
Almost a month ago, my dad bought me a Canon EOS 600D aka the Rebel t3i DSLR. My photographic pursuits are currently documented at my Flickr. If you are on Flickr, add* me up!




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*You need to be in  my contacts list to view my complete photo stream.

Photograph (Divine Decrepitude) by Schazmyrrh (http://flickr.com/photos/infullgloom)
Copyright © 2011 Schazmyrrh. All Rights Reserved.

 DO NOT USE, MANIPULATE OR REDISTRIBUTE WITHOUT MY EXPRESSED CONSENT.


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“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”
-Wilde
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Sunday, April 24th 2011

10:58 PM (280 days, 11h, 1min ago)

Avert not thine eyes...

  • Mood:
  • Background Noise: I Would Die For You



Set in post-apocalyptic Earth, Trinity Blood chronicles the ongoing war between the Vatican (the human government) and the government of the vampiric Methuselah race called the Empire. Some members of the Vatican and Empire struggle to establish peace but their attempts are clouded by the Rosen Kreuz Order- a terrorist organization of vampires.

To protect the human race from the preying vampires, the Vatican dispatches expeditionary executors. Abel Nightroad, the story's protagonist, is a member of the Vatican's forces. He introduces himself as a traveling priest and, although seems powerless and unbelievably frivolous, he is actually a Crusnik- a ruthless vampire hybrid that feeds on the blood of other vampires.

Vampires + post-apocalyptic fiction + historical allusions with sprinkles of political intrigue = 
'Nuff said.



Other anime I loved and featured here:
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Tuesday, April 5th 2011

11:28 PM (299 days, 10h, 31min ago)

:.what's.in.a.name...

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  • Background Noise: devil woman


A friend asked me if I knew what Acrophonology was. I didn't. The link my friend gave me said:

Acrophonology enables us to determine individualized energy patterns from a name. Letters are symbols for energy. They label the energies you possess.

Just as your fate can be identified through your astrological chart, your name carries this same insight.

In ancient times, names were given in keeping with the native's prospective path in life. The family's status and financial standing were the factors influencing names.

I found the "analysis" results I got for my name quite amusing and a lot of points were true to a creepy extent:

*My first name: You have a love of travel and adventure, and you enjoy sports. You also have a very strong sense of fair play and want justice. You have a great deal of loyalty to those you love. You have much inner strength. You have much enthusiasm with a driving attitude toward achievement in life. You can handle details well. You have a methodical mind. You must learn to give 'wise' service and not be a martyr. You have a need to be up front. You are fair-minded sometimes to the point of being opinionated. You have a strong need to be loved and appreciated. Your independence and freedom are important to you. You are compassionate, highly imaginative and creative.

*My middle name: You have a tendency to resist change. Don't miss opportunities for growth. You have a love of creature comforts, but must learn to handle money. You are soft hearted with a charitable nature. You are optimistic and strive to develop a viable philosophy for life. Your privacy is important to you. You have a rich inner life. You enjoy make-believe and fantasy. It is hard for you to forget injustices. You are relatively demonstrative in your affections. You enjoy being stroked verbally and physically. You take pleasure in your creative comforts. You try to be prudent. You have good business acumen. You want to be self-supporting. You have a sensuous nature, which you do not openly show. You need to learn faith in place of fear. You enjoy make-believe and fantasy. It is hard for you to forget injustices. You have much enthusiasm with a driving attitude toward achievement in life.

*My last name: You can be quite inventive and quite curious. Your use of reason and logic is strong. You enjoy communicating. You try to be prudent. You have good business acumen. You want to be self-supporting. You have a sensuous nature, which you do not openly show.

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You can have your own name analyzed ::here::



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“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.”
-Wilde
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Saturday, March 26th 2011

11:59 PM (309 days, 10h, 0min ago)

.:of.romanticism.and.vampires..

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When I say romantic, I mean a sensibility that sees everything, and has to express everything, and still doesn’t know what the fuck it is, it hurts that bad. It just madly tries to speak whatever it feels, and that can mean vast things. That sort of mentality can turn a sun-kissed orange into a flaming meteorite, and make it sound like that in a song.”
-Jeff Buckley





That, amongst other things, was what I had in mind when I talked about Anne Rice's vampires.
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