BubbleGum Crisis 2040 Quotes, Eps 01-13

"Somehow, I just can't like voomers. I don't see why they have to look like humans. They could look like robots, couldn't they?"
- Linna's friend and colleague, episode 1 -

"Such a great figure shouldn't be hidden by unfashionable clothing."
- Sylia, episode 2 -

"I like voomers. You could say I love them. They bear all of humanity's burdens, enduring physical and mental pain, so that humans don't have to."
- Chairman Rosenkroitz, episode 2 -

"If you don't have the confidence, why don't you quit now?"
- Priss, episode 3 -

"Don't misunderstand me. I don't know about Sylia but we don't intend to be champions of justice or volunteers."
- Priss, episode 4 -

"Of course I didn't expect it to be easy. But I didn't expect it to be so hard."
- Linna, episode 4 -

"Frankly speaking, if you're just another without purpose, don't risk your life."
- Priss, episode 4 -

"It's a woman, right? Why is it you become naive as a high school boy everytime you fall in love?"
- Daley, episode 4 -

"If one person is in a bad mood, as you seem to be, it contaminates the whole atmosphere of the department."
- Linna's pervert manager, episode 6 -

"Manipulating the data is similar to a human relationship. If you're not sincere or if you don't deal with it gently, it sometimes gets upset or angry."
- Linna's pervert manager, episode 6 -

"It's so sad to be unable to wear the clothes you really like."
- Sylia, episode 6 -

"The machine can't use all its power if the person who maintains it doesn't love it."
- Mackey, episode 6 -

"I don't completely understand how the hard suits work. Sylia doesn't show me the most important part. But it's just a suit. If those of us inside the suits don't work as hard as we can, the suit is just a heavy outfit."
- Nene, episode 6 -

"It has nothing to do with what you think. It's the fact that he found the place where he's comfortable."
- Nigel, episode 8 -

"Well, I don't expect the citizens to love us anyway. But are we doing something that should make us hated?"
- Leon, episode 8 -

"I see, but I don't understand someone who never feels lonely."
- Linna, episode 8 -

Reporter:
What does singing mean for you?

Priss:
To confirm that I am here and alive. I guess.

"I just don't like their way of doing things. When they have a mission as a pretext, they don't care how horribly they hurt people. I can't stand a grandstanding attitued like that."
- Priss, episode 9 -

"Have you ever seen the news tell the truth about our work?!"
- Chief, episode 10 -

Leon:
What a great partner!

Daley:
We're hopelessly linked, you idiot.

"I wonder if the place you should be is waiting for you."
- Masaki, episode 11 -

"I sell my information to the person willing to pay the highest price. It's simply economic logic."
- Kuzui, episode 12 -

"No matter what private reasons Sylia has, I think it's okay, because we're all Knight Sabers for our own reasons."
- Linna, episode 13 -

Been Through a Rough Week

It has been a rough week. I hadn't been able to muster some energy to blog around my many blogs. I didn't have the energy for work even. Last week wasn't the best; it was one of those weeks where things around you just didn't click enough to give you some inspiration to move around. I basically just worked (sloppily, if I may admit), went home, cleaned a little (and I mean a little), pig around while watching DVDs, and sleep. This cycle would repeat everyday and I just became a potato couch who saw work as a disturbance.

I guess I felt depressed. Almost every news I heard last week were very frustrating. Typhoon Frank (Fengshen) hit our country and sunk a vessel, resulting in many missing people and many deaths. My friends back in Iloilo gave me descriptions of what the typhoon did and I can barely imagine what it was like. Even the videos I found in Youtube didn't size up to what they said.

I also received news about the health of two members of my family. It wasn't exactly pleasant.

Well, if anything, I'm certainly trying to get back on active track. This blog is one of my first steps... apart from getting back to doing the household chores, paying bills, bla bla bla...

Semper Fi

After days of not posting an entry here, you'd expect me to come up with a great topic.. but all I can think of right now is "Semper Fi."

I started out a week ago on a TV drama marathon, and I had picked NCIS, a CBS TV drama about a team in the Naval Criminal Investigative Services. I had seen some episodes of the drama before, but I wasn't able to finish them all. Criminal investigations seem to be a favorite of mine when it comes to TV programs (as opposed to my sister's Desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy). I also like the addition of wit and smart humor in the shows.

So what's with NCIS and this blog entry? Well, I got the term "Semper Fi" from various episodes of NCIS and I got curious as to what it meant. I really had no idea! But it I knew it was relevant to the marines. There was an episode where a widow of a late commander said the phrase to Special Agent Jethro Gibbs, wherein Gibbs replied in a very respectful manner, "Fair winds and flowing seas, ma'am."

I don't know exactly, but something there told me that "Semper Fi" wasn't just any phrase for the marines.

So, of course, I looked it up. Turns out it is very important for the marines. It has actually become the motto of the United States Marine Corps since the 1880s. And it's not just the American navy. The Dutch, Canadians, Brazilians, Swiss, even the Chinese, and many others also use has "Semper Fi" as a motto.

Knowing how many of the countries has used this as a motto made me feel stupid because I only knew about this now. ^_^

Semper Fi is actually short for Semper Fidelis, which is Latin for "Always Faithful." This has been a slogan and motto for many families and entities around the world before it was adopted as a motto for the marines. Semper Fi signifies the dedication and loyalty that the Marines have for the navy and their country, even after leaving the service.

I am so hooked to NCIS right now. After that, I'm gonna be watching season 3 of Bones so I may not frequent this blog as much as I'd like. ^_^

Kaka's Luca Celico Leite Is Born!

He's so cute (as are all babies, I know!) and by looking at his parents, he's bound to be a handsome one when he grows up. Ricardo "Kaka" Leite and wife Caroline celebrated the birth of their son Luca Celico Leite just this Tuesday, June 10! Mother and child are doing great and the whole family is obviously excited and very happy.



I'm a little late on the post, but, what the heck, I'm still a fan! So.. Congratulations to the family!

European Football's All About the Money Now

Fame and money can really turn people to greed and arrogance. This is what I see with all too clearly as Ronaldo finally stated his stance on his not-too-unpredictable move to Spanish team Real Madrid.

Despite Manchester United constantly telling everybody that striker Cristiano Ronaldo will stay with Old Trafford, the Portuguese star player goes on to tell the world:

"I would like to play for Real Madrid but only if it is true they are ready to pay what Manchester United ask of them."

Cute. Real cute. It was like he was just playing hard-to-get these past few days, trying to get the highest bid on him to set place.

Ronaldo's not the only one at fault for European football starting to look like a money-grabbing sport. A lot of players are being bought and sold among the European teams. The managers are starting to look like hungry wolves to me, and the players becoming their pups drooling after the money.

Togo striker Emmanuel Adebayor, who is reported to have agreed to join AC Milan despite previously insisting that he would stay with Arsenal, admitted to stating how money makes the world of soccer go round. Here's a clip from the dailymail UK article.

The 24-year-old returned to his country this week to receive the BBC African player of the year award where he insisted moves abroad were fuelled solely by cash.

He said: "If you move, it is about money. When we were young we played because we love the game and we were passionate about it. But now, when you reach this stage you are thinking about the Champions League and big things like that.

"Whenever I come back to my country people love me. If I didn't go to Europe for money, what else would it be for?"

He also said something that made me cringe a little at the people who should be inspiring football/soccer lovers like me:

"If you gave me the option of playing beautiful football and winning nothing, or playing ugly and winning then obviously it would be the latter.

"You are judged on what you win. We play in a great team with a great manager, but we don't want to play beautiful football just to put smiles on the faces of the fans."

That's another player on my football/soccer hate list.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian Review

As a fan of epic fantasies and magical worlds, I wasn't about to pass up the opportunity of watching The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. I was impressed with how the movie crew revived The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe and was excited how they would do with Prince Caspian.

It was intriguing for me when it was released that Ben Barnes would play the role of Prince Caspian. The original story was about a child prince, after all. I believe that C.S. Lewis' goal was to portray the hero as innocent and pure, thus the character of a child.

But Ben Barnes is no child (quite obviously). One reason I can think of why the child prince was transformed into a grown-up Prince Caspian was to market the movie a little more. I think everybody can relate to the pull of an actor's presence in a movie. My sister definitely felt it with Ben Barnes cast as Prince Caspian. I doubt if she would've been as excited as she was if Prince Caspian remained a child in the new movie.

Having a grown-up Prince Caspian also modifies the audience market of the movie. Maybe the crew wanted to have more adult movie-goers to like the film. The Chronicles of Narnia is meant for children but with a grown-up hero featured in the stories, the audience market becomes broader.

Not that I am complaining that Ben Barnes was given Prince Caspian's role. He still pulled off an innocent childlike charm onscreen. It also made the story more believable for me. I mean, even when reading the book, one would be skeptic to think that a child would win in battle against his uncle and an army. It did say in the book that he was near that to Peter Pevensie's age, so they sought out somebody who could match up to William Moseley in terms of looks and charm.

I had one problem with Ben Barnes' performance, though: his accent. I don't see why he needed that accent in the role. Being British would be enough. I don't think that there was anything in the book, too, about Telmarines having an accent like that. It was distracting. I find it amusing that he modeled the accent after Mandy Patinkin's Inigo Montoya because I'm a fan of Inigo Montoya. But, really, I didn't like it on Ben Barnes' Prince Caspian.

The Pevensie cast was impressive. They're not that accomplished as actors and actresses yet, but they definitely have the goods. All four certainly improved since The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Prince Caspian zooms into the development of the Pevensie children, especially that of Peter's and Susan's. Well, the two elder Pevensies won't be coming back for The Voyage of the Dawn Treader so I guess it was only fair for them to have the spotlight in this movie.


I do not blame the arrogant turn that Peter's character had taken. I think it was only fitting that it was inserted in the movie because it made the characters more alive. William Moseley definitely carried the role pretty well. You can see by the look on his face in the fistfight scene how he's grown up from someone who used to be the High King. Anne Popplewell's Susan Pevensie is being emphasized as a strong modern woman. She's present and fighting in the battle scenes and also has this romance with Prince Caspian.

The romantic turn of the story was predictable. Of course. This love story really would never work. But it made the movie more moving and sensitive. What would an adventure movie be without love somewhere in between two characters that can look right for each other?

Georgie Henley reprised her role as the youngest Pevensie. She is still the Lucy we know, full of faith and understanding. Skandar Keynes as Edmund Pevensie had the least exposure in the movie among the Pevensie cast. His role, though, perfectly brought out what was meant to be brought out in the film: his older brother's immaturity and arrogance. In Prince Caspian, Edmund has become mature and steady, as opposed to his traitorous role back in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.


The direction and storyline of the film needed more flow. I've thought of this many times over movies, but movies based on books should still be given more substance even if it is already a given that the audience knows how the story goes because of the books. I mean just because everybody already knows the story doesn't mean the film should be done in a somewhat pinched manner. The movie is already above two hours, I know, but I am willing to sit for more than that if it would have taken more for the movie to flow fully. I'm not saying that the movie was incomplete story-wise; just that there were times when I thought they just jumped to the next scene without a little transition.

Overall, though, I enjoyed the movie. The scenery and settings were impressive and beautiful. I expected nothing less from the special effects and I wasn't disappointed. It's not as brilliant as The Lord of the Rings trilogy, but it is still one of the must-see movies of the year!

My Top 5 Dog Breeds!

I like dogs. My family and I had three dogs over the years and only one still lives. She's old now, though, and I know that home will become lonely without her. We were able to cope with the loss of our two other dogs because we still had her, but we just can't change a dog's life expectancy.

Nevertheless, I'm hoping to have another dog. While my top five dog breeds aren't common in my country, it doesn't hurt to hope that maybe I'll come across one someday.

1. Great Dane: It’s the gentle giant, the Great Dane. It’s the tallest among the breeds, yet it is kind, sweet, and affectionate. It doesn’t bark much, and it’s a very dependable dog. It is a very able watch dog. It’s presence can be intimidating with its size, but its intelligent and earnest expression speaks of its tenderness.

2. Siberian Husky: Watching Eight Below inspired me, and made me love this dog very much! It has wolfish features, yet this breed is hardworking, dependable, and very affectionate. The Siberian Husky is a people-oriented breed and is great with other dogs, too. It is also active and intelligent, as well friendly and easy to get along with.

3. Alaskan Malamute: If you put a Siberian Husky and an Alaskan Malamute in front of me, I’d have a hard time telling which is which because they look almost exactly the same to me. The Alaskan Malamute is also wolf-like, although they have a softer features than the Siberian Husky’s sharp ones. This breed is also hardworking and dependable, and sweet-tempered and affectionate.

4. Chow Chow: I like big dogs that are affectionate, and the Chow Chow is one. This dog is big and furry. I have seen one close, and its size was daunting (I can just imagine how I’d feel if I’d see a Great Dane!). Its notable features are its blue-black tongue and straight hind legs. This breed also has a reserved personality, so you have to socialize it with other people, dogs, and household pets. This breed is also on of the breeds that has a sad history. In China, the Chow Chow wasn’t only used for guarding things and pulling carts. It was also used for its meat and fur. It also lacked a single master, and this dog is the one-master-only type.

5. Collie: I like dogs with lots of fur, and the Collie has it. The Collie is also a kind and even-tempered breed. It’s also very devoted to its owner and family. We can all relate to this as we remember the movie Lassie. I just have a problem with herding dogs having a habit of nipping at people’s ankles. The collie is easy to train, though, and can outgrow this habit.

I got my top 5 among the Top 50 Dog Breeds at Pet Bandits.