Personality Profie: Extraversion…

I just took a personality profile test a couple of minutes ago..and there were some sections wherein I completely agreed, and sections wherein I went off and said – ‘who me?’

And why am I posting this part? Because I felt it was more in sync with what I thought myself to be (needless to say, I will hide somewhere or maybe post later what the other sections said about me hehehe).

Introduction to Extraversion

Some days you want to hang out by yourself, not answer the phone, and make the world go away. The next day you e-mail everyone, schedule lunch with a friend, and try to find an evening gathering to take part in. It may be the phases of the moon, or something you ate; some days are just like that. In actuality, your desire to be with others or to be alone reflects something deep in your personality. Some of us are more comfortable by ourselves or with one or two friends, while others of us crave the crowd and can’t stand it when the house is empty or the phone doesn’t ring. The following paragraphs describe your fundamental desires about being with other people; whether you are generally an outgoing person or more reserved, if you seek adventures with others, if you tend toward assertiveness or kindness.

When it comes to Extraversion you are:

SOMETIMES OUTGOING, SOMETIMES RESERVED

WORDS THAT DESCRIBE YOU:

Moderate Amiable Laid-back

Temperate Relaxed Poised

Civil Uncommitted Pleasant

General Description of How You Interact with Others

Lucky you! You enjoy your own company as much as you enjoy the company of others. You are a great conversationalist and thrive in the wonderful kinds of connections you know how to have with your family and friends. You also equally enjoy your own company, whether sitting in a favorite chair with your book and soft music playing or meandering in the woods by yourself. You like coming home to your family or your roommate; but if no one is home, you find quiet, solitary time to be just as pleasurable. What a great combination to enjoy being outgoing and to be just as comfortable being reserved. Lucky you!!Because you are so amiable and relaxed, you are comfortable with almost any group of family or friends. Whether they are pumped up and lively or calm and subdued, you remain at ease. If someone needs to take over the conversation, you are comfortable taking the lead; you can also lay back and let someone else be in charge. If the conversation gets rowdy, your moderate demeanor will often draw it down to a more temperate level. If someone in the group loses their cool, you will most likely maintain your poise, and if they get nasty you know how to keep a civil tongue. You may find yourself out of balance on occasion. If you’re alone too much, you may need to get in touch with someone. If you spend too much time with your family and friends, you may need to sneak off for a day by yourself, to putter and read and clear your head of the noise of too much conversation. When you’re at your best, you live with a rhythm of time with others, time alone, time with others, time alone It’s a satisfying, comfortable balance. Lucky you!

Negative Reactions Others May Have Toward You

You may occasionally run into problems with other people. Since not everyone is as balanced as you are, close friends and family may get frustrated with you, or you with them. They may be more sociable and outgoing, and find you too laid-back and relaxed. They want conversations to be lively and passionate while you keep things amiable and civil. Or others may be more quiet and reserved than you, and when you’re in one of your more animated moments they may wish you would back off. You may be ready to put more energy into a conversation than they are comfortable with.And your balance may be a problem. Other people may be consistently more sociable or more reserved than you, and find you to hard to read, some may even say you ride the fence. Others may find themselves envious of your ability to be outgoing at times, and at other times comfortably reserved. If you pay attention to pick up these cues you will be in a better position to know how you want to interact with such folks.

Positive Responses Others May Have Toward You

Most people will truly appreciate your flexibility in social situations. They will like you for your amiable warmth and your willingness to engage, and for your ability to sit back and let others take the lead or the spotlight. They will appreciate ways in which you temper what could become intemperate moments; by remaining poised and relaxed when others; temperatures are rising, you keep things civil and sane.You are as good at listening and following as you are at talking and leading, and people will often appreciate your ability to adapt to the situation. Because you are sometimes outgoing and sometimes reserved, you will make most people comfortable in your presence, and they will truly enjoy your company.

– Jun 27, ’07 10:01 PM

Review (Movie): “Kamikaze Girls” (Shimotsuma Monogatari) (4 Stars)

Category:	Movies
Genre:	Comedy

Just came from Japan Foundation’s showing of Japanese contemporary films for 2007. This evening, the first offering was “Kamikaze Girls” and it was shown in Shangril-la Plaza at Crossings. They will have more films till Tuesday of next week, but for those who can’t make it, these films will also be shown in CCP and UP Film Institute.

Lifted off from their brochure:

Format: 2004/HD or 35 mm/ 103 min./Color
Director: Tetsuya Nakashima
Japanese Release: 2004

Synopsis:

Momoko (Kyoko Fuduka) escapes from the boredom of her life in her humdrum rural hometown Shimotsuma by swathing herself from head to toe in doll-like “Lolita” garb. One day she meets her diametrical opposite on the fashion scale, the surly black lipstick biker chick Ichigo (Anna Tsuchiya, winner of 2005 Japan Academy price for best newcomer) who takes a liking to Momoko’s unexpectedly gutsy nature and the two form an unlikely alliance.

Momoko consoles Ichigo after she suffers a broken heart at the hands of the local pompadoured lothario and uses her embroidery skills to embellish Ichigo’s biker uniform for the graduation ceremony of a respected senior. In return, she takes Momoko to the best Lolita boutique in the city where her sewing skills gain for her a chance to work for her favorite designer. However, Ichigo’s fellow delinquents don’t take kindly to her friendship with Momoko, which leads to a final showdown with the gang boss. Severely outnumbered, Ichigo looks doomed until the loyal Momoko rides to her rescue. A mildly surreal, frenetically comic journey into Japan’s youth subcultures based on a graphic novel by cult manga creator Novala Takemoto and directed by TV commercial Tetsuya Nakashima.

My review:

After reading the synopsis above, my idea or impression of what the movie was going to be turned out to be quite different in reality. I don’t know if it was the subtitles misleading me.

However I do know what I like and enjoy, and this film has all the trademarks of what I expect from Japanese comedy films – I would not know the film terms, but there is a section of some anime to explain the story (kinda like the “Kill Bill” movie), there is the section of flying cabbages, head on collision and Momoko floating around (kinda like the “Kung Fu Hustle” movie), talking to the camera directly to explain the situation, exaggerated and ludicrous love scenes etc.

The costumes made my eyes spin..all those laces and frills and curls and blonde hair dyes and biker chick fashion…on an aside, I wonder why in the world Japanese clothing seem so outlandish nowadays..and to think they really had a nice sense of kimono fashion before..oh well *shrug*

But the twist and turns of the story were fun and unexpected, although a bit obvious to an old hand at Filipino dramas like yours truly. Again, the friendship between these two unlikely girls is at once funny and touching. And the scene where Momoko lectures her mom on happiness and not giving up on it makes you think again of how a parent lectures their young..this time its just the younger person doing it…ironic eh?

That pompadoured guy made my eyebrows rise to the heavens…but its something I would expect from a manga drawing. All in all the characters are over the top sometimes, but this is what you can expect from a comedy story like this. There is a good mixture of shots flowing in and out..so its not boring, since the shift from one scene to another used different techniques but I suspect its what made my headache pop out (or it could be the lack of food before watching the movie).

It is a happy ending of course (for awhile though I thought the opening scene of our Rococo-era-loving heroine flying upward into the heavens meant her early demise) – for almost all characters concerned, from her obaa-san (grandma), otou-san (father) and the other main characters (her okaa-san or mom didn’t win the beauty contest though, which made her dad really happy..nope, they were already divorced)…all in all not a lot of loose threads to make you unhappy with the plot…some yakuza, yanki, finger-cutting, vomiting ala anime style, pink outlandish bentos and food..

See I’ve just joined a Japanese club at my current company, and though it was because of love of anime and manga, I’m glad I didn’t pass up the opportunity to watch this Japanese film festival.

Personally I would have enjoyed a whole week of Kurosawa-sama’s films (think “Ran”, “Seven Samurai”, “Rashomon” etc.) which I have always loved even before I fell in love with anime. Picture a purring cat…but I just found out that contemporary films are also quite good..quite unexpectedly I must admit.

Other movies coming up this week (I don’t know if I can view the others though, I prefer sleep and food):

* Shangri-la (Togenkyo No Hitobito)
* Blue Spring
* Out of this World
* Hotel Hibiscus
* Inochi
* No One’s Ark
* The Stars Converge
* Harmful Insect

– Jun 21, ’07 12:08 AM

 

Japan Foundation Manila Library – Manga Collection

Category:	Books
Genre:	Comics & Graphic Novels
Author:	different authors

I’ve just read that JFM has increased its collection of books and will begin lending these out soon…yehey! Approximately 80 titles/900 books of Japanese manga and 100 J-Pop CDs have been acquired to add to their collection. Some of these manga I have either read or seen the anime. I will only list here those which I am familiar with and I will not review each and everyone in detail but at least will give you an idea of the story. There are other sites out there in the wide world of internet who can give more in-depth reviews (besides, I have lesser time nowadays).

* Slam Dunk

I saw the anime and read some of the manga. This falls under the sports manga genre. Hanamichi Sakuragi joins Shokoku high school basketball team. this is a very hilarious anime series which was responsible for my learning basketball terms and there were times during my grad school days wherein this was a big stress-reliever for me as I kept laughing my head off on their basketball antics. I’d recommend it for boys…and girls (who are a bit more sportsminded) but for me the lesson here is more about friendship and determination. *giggles girlishly*…gwapo ni Rui-san..hehehe…oi, pero di yan yung reason I am recommending this ha!

* Naruto

I saw some anime eps, its still going on, but I have not read the manga or translations. I am familiar with the characters though. The unlikely hero is Naruto Umazaki, a hyperactive ninja who dreams big. He wants to become his village’s strongest ninja. Other characters are Sakura and Sasuke, other ninjas in his village. I like Naruto’s spirit..the “never say die” thingie and his friendship with Sakura and Sasuke..even if sometimes things get bad, he is still a great optimist. The anime now is filled with filler eps but the manga is still ongoing. Lesson here is friendship among unlikely people. While I have not seen all eps, its also action-packed, hence my colleagues before who had children also watched this…pero ang dami ng eps sa anime..mauubos pera mo sa pag collect nila. I’d recommend this as good reading for elementary students – siguro boys mas gusto to coz of the ninja-action…

* Honey and Clover

I have not seen the manga being sold here, but I will check out a newly-heard (for me at least) store in Robinson’s Galleria one of these days and see if they are selling these. I have seen a lot of the anime eps. This is a story of a group of art college students and how they deal with love, graduation, job hunting and discovering themselves on their journey. I think more mature individuals would appreciate this..for high-school student ages and upwards but its geared towards young girls (shoujo manga).

(intermission: there is what you call “shounen” manga and “shoujo” manga. The first is for young boys and the latter is geared towards young girls)

* Death Note

I’ve been meaning to watch the live action movie and the anime..but sadly only managed one ep. I’ve heard its good though – this from my other anime-crazy ex-office colleague who has the patience to download anime eps. Its about a high-school student who picks up a supernatural notebook by accident, but guess what, its the God of Death’s notebook..so..as you can imagine, if you write somebody’s name on it..ayun..dedbol yung tao..hehehe…its not horror though, but I would think this is better off being read by older children…

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While this was not in the list of the article about what JFM acquired, I would like parents to be careful if they get hold of “Yami no Matsuei” or Descendants of Darkness. I personally like the story very much (I read the complete translations and the manga is unfinished, plus I’ve seen the anime) and its wonderful manga art too..but the hints of male-male relationship may be a bit difficult to explain to younger kids. Its not drawn for all to see, but there are hints that there is some sexual tension going on…well maybe kids may be too young and innocent to pick up on it, but let me tell you that the first time I found out that there were stories like this.

I was a bit shocked and could not imagine myself reading it. There is what you call “yaoi” or yung straight out na male-male and there is “yuri” which is of course female-female. For the translation of the manga (not yet being continued by the author, this is the site -> http://www.theria.net/archive-top.html)

Later on I did force myself to read this and Gensomaden Saiyuki (4 males, but its not an orgy, its more of friendship though fanfics make it a pairing between Sanzo and Goku, and a pairing between Hakkai and Gojyo) and it wasn’t so bad, but this will depend really on you and how open-minded you are.

YNM is about the life of a particular shinigami (guardian of death) who works in a department under the King of the Dead. Weirdly though, it reminds me of X-files because the main characters are agents who try to unravel these mysteries of dead persons who wind up in their department when its not their time to die. The main baddie-boy (who looks very handsome) Dr. Muraki seems to have set his yes on the main shinigami Tzusuki, who sounds scatterbrained and just has his eye on sweets, but is actually very powerful. So… imagine the hints on Muraki and Tsuzuki, then Muraki and Hisoka (his young partner murderered and cursed by Muraki), Tzuzuki and …..well you get the idea…

Oh yes, for the other story which I like – Gensomaden Saiyuki has very nice music…sometimes the anime eps are of poor quality but overall not bad, and its based on the classic story “Journey to the West’….remember the monk, pig, monkey king and …the river-monster or kappa if I am not mistaken. Its more about friendship between these 4 unlikely group of characters, and you have the usual characters of a broody person, a hyperactive person, a calm person and the perverted playboy…hahaha..go figure. They go on a quest to stop the awakening of this monster..and they ride on a jeep which turns into a dragon..and there is some reinarnation, plus the Goddess of Mercy seems to be a hermaphrodite with a great sense of humor…really, I cannot explain it to you unless its a more detailed chat. Anyway, in the anime, there is no all out relationship..its just they get teased by each other on the pairing…and since Goku seems so attached to Sanzo sometimes if you have a naughty, imaginative mind…you would think something is up…but I think its really more of playing to the gallery. Being the logical person that I am..I was shaking my head at first – why on earth don’t they just take the airplane to the west if its such a big thing to stop the monster? ewan…this and the Gold (unlimited ba?) credit card of the monk in a setting which looks like old medieval China (do they have electricity here) is just something you can pass off as one of the wonders of manga.

– Jun 20, ’07 11:16 PM