Lucky me

What a way to jumpstart my week. I was on my way out of the house, in my usual work morning semi-stupor, when my cell phone rang. It was a landline number I didn’t recognize, so I picked it up expecting a work-related call. Instead it was Vito, my favorite DJ from my favorite radio station KLITE 103.5, calling to tell me I had won 4 CDs for betting on the right tandem to win the Amazing Race 9. For a few seconds I was dumbfounded, because a) Vito was calling me, b) I NEVER win anything, and c) he was asking if he could put me on air. So for 10 minutes I was on the radio talking about how I loved that the Hippies won, the priceless dejected look on the Frat Boys’ faces when they came in second, and Phil’s barely disguised mirth over their defeat. By the time I put down the phone, I was in a daze again. I won a radio contest! I had been happy enough that the Hippies won, so this was really an extra treat. Here’s hoping my luck holds out until Thursday, when AI results are announced. *crosses fingers*

* * *

Flashback to Saturday, Mall of Asia opening: The day passed by in a busy, tiring blur. We got to MoA around 10AM, did some last-minute preparations in our 2 stores. At 11AM Archbishop Rosales celebrated Mass (which we skipped), and around 12NN GMA arrived for the ceremonial ribbon-cutting (boo, hiss!). We went to the department store to check on our 4 areas, then grabbed a quick lunch at Congo Grill. At 2PM my aunt brought a priest to our 2 stores for our own store blessings (standing right in front of the priest, I got splattered in the face with Holy Water, and I immediately thought of the Wicked Witch of the West screaming "I'm meltiiinnnggg..."). I attended to hordes of customers in our Ep shop until roughly 5PM, then we went to the Hypermarket to check on our 2 areas there. By the time we clambered wearily into our car to go home, the straps of my normally comfy Hush Puppies heels had seared painful lines onto my feet. The exhaustion was eased by the gratification brought about by our excellent sales that day, and getting to see, speak with and shake hands with Marc Nelson again, wehehe.

* * *

All right, you knew it had to be coming. It's time to write my inevitable review of The DaVinci Code, the movie that has the world talking and Christendom in a fit. Aside from my low regard for the Catholic Church and other religious fanatics, I find it laughable that there's so much hype and controversy surrounding the movie, when the same furor didn't seem to exist during the time Dan Brown's book was published. Ah, the power of Hollywood.

But I don't even want to talk about the brouhaha plaguing (or boosting?) the film. I just want to talk about the movie itself, and how it was much better than the book (there you go, Fara ;p). I didn't enjoy the book that much because quite frankly I think Dan Brown's writing sucks. His narration always states the obvious, and is peppered with so many bits of betcha-didn't-know trivia that he comes off sounding like a pompous know-it-all. So the movie was a huge improvement because it took Brown's characters and plot, the elements that made his book bearable and even enjoyable despite his poor style, and used them as ingredients for an entertaining suspense flick. It made me forget why I didn't like the book in the first place. The casting was most superb, and the supporting characters especially gave outstanding performances that almost eclipsed Tom Hanks's well-modulated turn as hero Robert Langford. Paul Bettany and the great Ian McKellen, in my opinion, deserved the most applause for nuanced but powerful acting in their roles as scary albino Silas and crafty scholar Teabing, respectively. It was also nice to see Audrey Tautou in a mainstream Hollywood blockbuster-- this pretty madamoiselle has more talent in her left pinky than most American starlets have in their silicone-enhanced racks.

One more thing I loved about DaVinci: it was rated R-18, so there were no noisy kids in the audience. So thank you, uptight Catholic censors. Now that's what I call a blessing in disguise.