grand Cirque and SMALL miracles

When we were in Macau last 2008, I missed seeing Zaia, a resident Cirque du Soleil show in Venetian, Macau. Ever since then, I made a solemn vow to myself NEVER to lose a chance of seeing any Cirque du Soleil show. I even dedicated a page for it on my vision scrapbook!

The Universe must be listening attentively to what I’ve been praying for daily, because lo and behold, over a year ago, the performing troupe brought its first Cirque show in Manila.

Since it would be my first Cirque show, I wanted to invest a good seat. However a part of me kept on poking my practical side to not throw more than a couple of thousands just for the show. So what I did was, I tried my luck in joining a contest! Hah!

Thank God for Sun life’s 116^th anniversary because they decided to give 116 free tickets for Varekai as part of their company’s celebration (not to mention the ONLY company who give away free tickets!)

As you may now have guessed, I am one of the 116 winners of the said promo! They gave a pair of tickets for each winner! You can imagine how happy and excited I was! I was literally in tears when I finally got hold of my precious free access. (you can’t help being tears when God graciously answer your humble wishes.)

I’ve never been to circus before so watching Varekai was like a double treat for me. When we arrived at the venue, we’re awed by the magnificence of the tent that stands 66 feet high which can hold more than 2,600 spectators.

I enjoyed my first Cirque experience that I made a promise to work extra hard and save more to watch more of Cirque’s show in the future.

So imagine how delighted I was when I learned that Cirque will be returning again here in Manila, this time with their longest running troupe, Saltimbanco! 

So even with a tight budget, I managed to get myself a general patronage ticket. That’s how sold I am in seeing the show. Unlike last year, I don’t care much if I’ll be seating at the farthest end just so I can watch it. 

But you know, God is really good! He knew that this is special to me so He surprised me with a little miracle. My seat was upgraded to Lower Box area which is a notch to VIP seats by the way. What are the odds, right? I suppressed a squeal of delight!

It would be unfair to compare Varekai to Saltimbanco. The two are completely different from each other. While Varekai was more serious and dramatic, Saltimbanco was full of colours and fun!

As expected, Cirque has given us a show beyond words. The tickets may be expensive but the show was well worth the price. It was truly spectacular, something na you have to experience for yourself. 

 Lomo lomo pic for posterity sake

And I'm keeping my fingers crossed that another Cirque du Soleil show will come to Manila next year. Hopefully it's the Michael Jackson Immortal touring. Hihi

Calma!

By now, people must have already seen Brave so I wouldn't waste going into details of the whole plot.

I knew I was going to watch Brave the moment I saw it's trailer NOT because of Merida's wild ginger locks NOR the fetching thick Scottish accent BUT rather because of that Celtic song that wafts around the background of trees in all sizes, tamed and untamed grasses in different hues of green, rocks in peculiar shapes, solid high cliffs and other details of amazing landscape of Scotland's stunning visual. The music sends chills down my spine and is AS breathtaking AS the location of the movie!

But more than the Gaelic soundtrack, I have to admit that my interest is piqued with the question that has been posed demandingly:

(Er, would you?) Any movie with a theme of following your dream and/or changing your predetermined course will sure to captivate ones attention. I have to say na Pixar have successfully created a curious movie trailer. The less than 2-minute teaser sounded like spectators are bound for a great adventure with the sound-bite epigram:

Altho I was not at all disappointed with the movie, there's a small part in me which I felt like I had been tricked. There'd been many version of the trailer and I was lead to believe that the plot is about some magical adventure of a young girl against great forces of evil. Never did I thought that it was just about some family squabble (particularly a mother and daughter) with er, some magical twist. But I loved how alarmingly rebellious Merida had been and how her flaming red, dishevelled hair was a metaphor for freedom and wildness. And so I forgive Pixar for the trailers which double-cross many.

As I go out the movie house, I contemplated with its title, why it was named brave. I initially felt that the movie was not able to give justice to the true definition of the word. But as I mulled over, I realized that yes.. somehow it did.. well, it actually did!

The movie resonates with many kinds of bravery that perfectly equates with its title which obviously points to Merida who have displayed a lot of boldness and have done (tho some childish & silly) many fearless, daring stuff. Despite her brattiness and stubbornness, we can commend Merida for her bravery to break with the silly, old tradition and standing up for what she believes is good for herself. For following the wisp which is a metaphor to “fate” and thus creating her own legend story. And for her setting aside pride, admitting her mistakes and forgiving completely and thus mend the bond which is probably her greatest display of bravery.

And altho the ending was like a cliche, with the usual and-they-lived-peacefully-and-happily-ever-after ending, I would still recommend you to go on and watch the movie. After all, it's Pixar's first female-centered movie ever. Plus, it made me obsessed with their Celtic soundtrack. And with that I thank Brave :)

So here you go folks! One of the gorgey songs to ever grace to my ears..

 

PS

And you know what the word "calma" in Gaelic is??? tumpak! BRAVE!!! And look! We can actually use both words in one sentence!

How Interesting! *winks*

the dweeb blogs again..

My head’s been plague with a contagious last song syndrome as I write this. Know that cheesy cliché from that Semisonic song, Closing Time? ..that every new beginning comes from some other beginnings end. (I know whooo I waaant to take me hooome!!)

And yeah folks, say a woooot for me . I am turning over a new leaf. New beginning. Clean slate. Fresh start. Wooohooo!! Welcome to my new abode, homies!!

As I write this, I am thinking of my long defunct 1 year old blog which was once filled with randomness of my irrelevant life. I've been on hiatus from writing for quite a long while and It was unfortunate to not able to document the almost-happened, didn’t-happen and actually happened experiences during those gaps.

Ive been racking my brain out on an awesome, one of kind yet catchy and simple domain but I’ve come up with so many ideas: hotdweebisin, nerdfighteriaLV, LVsweeklyvolcanopress, lvthejohngreenfan, vlogbrothershalfsister were just some of the ideas I come up with  (and if it's not obvious enough, I am a shameless self-proclaimed nerdfighteria member that is trying hard to live up to our number 1 rule i.e.

Well, actually I just thought that a kick a** domain will make a kick a** come back. . Haha And as you may now probably realize, I've a knack in making things complicated. Soooo.. to make things LESS complicated, I decided to give my new blog a simple (which btw, still pass as a kick a**) domain: lanyrvargas.blogspot.com I knoooowww raaayyyytt!??! How original!

Though I failed to be clever on giving my new place a kewl domain name, at least under the blogsphere standard, I still feel like a victor for coming up with a kewl blog name:

TADAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!

One of my most favorite word in the world is nondescript. Keso keso as it sounds, it hold a special place in my heart. Amazingly, I realized, yet unexpectedly, that I've created an oxymoron or a self-contradictory phrase. Because rara avis means.. extraordinary. Look!!!

How geek eh?

And oh, you might also noticed that puny little red bug on top. Got the inspiration from Kafka's book The Metamorphosis. (Why?? Go figure! READ THE BOOK!!!) Awww, that little lady bug.. isn't she the cutest??? So there. I am giving my self a light pat on the back for my unpredictability. Lesson learned?? Don't judge the bug este the blog by its domain name.Teehee.

Coincidentally, today is Harry Potter's birthday.  And I, therefore, solemnly swear that I am up to no good. winks. Help me with a little ritual my fellow muggles and let's raise and toss goblets y'all!  Here's to thousands of future wonderful stories to send.

Quote of the day:
“Everybody has a secret world inside of them. All of the people of the world, I mean everybody. No matter how dull and boring they are on the outside, inside them they’ve all got unimaginable, magnificent, wonderful, stupid, amazing worlds. Not just one world. Hundreds of them. Thousands maybe.”
― Neil Gaiman, The Sandman, Vol. 5: A Game of You

P.S.
And on that note, ladies and gentlemen I say.. "WELCOME TO MY UNIMAGINABLE, MAGNIFICENT, WONDERFUL, STUPID, AMAZING WORLD! haha

I thank you, BOW.

DFTBA.