Misery

I was wandering around the DVD collection of the Wellington City Library when I came across this DVD. I snatched it up and headed straight for the counter!

Misery is a movie which my friends and I rented back in high school and watched on a weekend. It is classified as a horror film. Which is strange, really, when you think about it, because it does not have zombies or chainsaw massacres, but when you finish watching the movie, you will know you have experienced a different sort of horror!

The story is about Paul Sheldon, a famous novelist, who has just finished his latest book and with the manuscript on hand, was returning to New York. He had a freak accident in the winter snow, however, but he was "luckily" saved by former nurse Annie Wilkes. Incidentally, she is also Paul Sheldon's number one fan! Surprise, surprise. She keeps Sheldon in her house while she reads up on the manuscript and... and... oh, I can't go on! I hate doing spoilers! Which is why some of my friends also hate my story-telling ability (or lack thereof). I go all excited about a story and work it up to an exciting level and then I would suddenly feel like not continuing the story anymore. Like what's happening now.

Anyway, that's good for you because you can pick up the DVD and watch it and enjoy! When we watched that film, we had friends over and one of them said he usually falls asleep so he asked that he be left alone if this happens and just wake him up when it's done. But they sat right through the movie, even eliciting shouts in all the proper moments. Heck, I know how the story goes and yet I also couldn't stop getting all worked up about the movie!

It's horror based on the human psyche. You can never truly know just how ugly human nature can get, given the right (or the wrong?) motivations.

Kathy Bates (as the nurse) really did an awesome job in this film. Whenever her name is mentioned, my high school friends always remember Misery and say, "you're my number one fan." And of course, kudos to Stephen King for this crafty film!

Technorati tags: movie

Weekend gardener week10

Week 10 (I skipped a week 9 update) should complete my first venture with vegetable gardening, which was a moderate success! Moderate because, like I said in Week 8, some plants made it, and some didn't.

On the success side, my lettuce is growing rather well! This is the batch in front of the house.
Even the ones behind the house has put up a last-minute rally and has finally decided to make me happy.
Sad to say, I was beaten by an army of green worms for my broccoli batch. What is ironic here is, the lettuce was said to be quite a sensitive plant and will not survive frost or winter. And with winter approaching, I simply crossed my fingers and hoped for the best. But for the broccoli, the packet said it was a robust and sturdy variety, able to withstand the winter cold, and is resistant to a number of pests! I had the utmost confidence in the broccoli. :-(
The tomatoes did not fare favorably too. They just kept growing into slender stalks then turned yellow and moped away. I am considering ending their misery and plant something else instead in the pot.

The squash, though, and its accidental planting, is still going strong. Although, it looks like it stopped its growth spurt and biding its time.
I wonder what vegetable I will plant next?

Technorati tags: Baguio

National Certificate in Horticulture

This course is open for New Zealand Citizens and Permanent Residency holders. This is supposed for the April run (and April is fast rolling away!) but the website does not actually state any deadlines so I it will not hurt to ask.

***

The National Certificate in Horticulture is a Level 4 self-paced distance programme, delivered on-line, with practical work-based components. In addition, students are encouraged to attend the workshops and seminars offered throughout the programme.

This programme is for those who are interested in horticulture (home gardening, nursery management, soft landscaping, etc.) as a hobby, or for business or future employment. This programme is delivered on-line and therefore very flexible, although we also organize workshops and supplemental lectures from time to time. This is at no cost to NZ citizens and PR's since this is subsidized by the government.

To know more about our program, please visit The Taratahi Agricultural Training Centre website

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Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book

This is my first ever Neil Gaiman book. I have heard of his name before, and is synonymous with his critically acclaimed Sandman series. Which is a graphic novel. Or a series of graphic novels, actually. Other than that, I did not know much about Neil Gaiman. So I was surprised to see his name emblazoned on this novel. Intrigued, I borrowed the book as my bus companion.

The story is about a kid named Nobody Owens whose life was spared through the most mysterious of circumstances. The book explores his development in his strange surroundings and his adventures within the confines of the very limited space he was safe in. As to why he was called Nobody is something I would like you to discover for yourself.... it is truly a wonderful journey that I would like you to personally uncover.

The book is very engaging. Richly described, unforgettable characters. I loved reading the book! It was indeed great introduction to the work of Neil Gaiman. I have, in fact, borrowed some more books under the same author and I look forward to more adventures!

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Where is Session Road?

If you look at the current map for Baguio City at Google Maps, you will notice that Session Road is nowhere to be seen. It is misidentified as Governor Pack Road. I was looking through the process of how to notify Google Maps about this... it's either you notify the map provider for that area, or notify Google itself. But I have not found the necessary links so far... will keep looking though.

Technorati tags: Baguio

Weekend gardener week08

We are now on the last few hours of our four-day vacation. Incidentally, week eight is also supposed to be the time when the lettuce can already be harvested. I am quite happy with the way the lettuce at the front of the house has turned out. They're looking crisp! It's a good thing that I spread the seeds in various places, or I would have been stuck with the stunted lettuce at the back of the house.
I will start gathering leaves within this week to make salads and sandwiches.

Last week, I mentioned that the broccoli was being attacked. I have found out what was causing it. Worms! They start as very small, green wiggly things that elongate into huge, crawling creepies of destruction. I am not sure if they eventually turn to butterflies but they are devastating the broccoli and so they must go. I would never have noticed them had it not for this one large worm - around half an inch - crawling on top of one of the leaves! I turned the leaves upside down and there they were, his smaller cousins. I spent a better part of the morning putting an end to their destruction.

Strangely enough, they are not fond of the lettuce, and leave these well enough alone.

On the brighter side...
At the onset of winter, it is truly wonderful that we still have flowers abloom in our garden. This view below, for example, is from our kitchen. We have an abundance of flowers dotting the greenery outside.


Technorati tags: gardening

McDonald's Spider Man and Hello Kitty Happy Meal

I had been collecting Happy Meal toys back in the Philippines, the last of which was the entire set of the Star Wars toys that came out at the same time as the Star Wars CGI movie.

We no longer go to McDonald's that much, though, but this is the closest we have come to completing a set again after so many months. The SpiderMan series had four characters in it. We were able to get three. And in one occasion the Johnsonville branch ran out of the toys we still did not have and so we got a Hello Kitty watch, hoping to swap it with another kid. Or Jo-Lo can give it to a friend.

Technorati tags: Happy meal toy

Weekend gardener week07

So... how is my veggie gardening venture turning out after week 7? Let's look at it at the bright side. I would say it was a moderate success because...

The lettuce at the back of the house is finally starting to see some growth! That's the row at the background. The squash is also looking fine, although I would have thought it would be crawling by now.

Unfortunately, something's ravaging the broccoli! Most of the leaves have holes in them. A couple even has a lot of leaves gone! I have looked under the leaves but did not find any worm or pest so far. Darn!
It's a different story with the pots in front of the house. The lettuce are growing just fine, and so are the broccoli!

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Adopting Venus

The Venus Flytrap, Dionaea muscipula, is a carnivorous plant that catches and digests animal prey—mostly insects and arachnids. Its trapping structure is formed by the terminal portion of each of the plant's leaves and is triggered by tiny hairs on their inner surfaces. When an insect or spider crawling along the leaves comes into contact with one or more of the hairs twice in succession, the trap closes. The requirement of redundant triggering in this mechanism serves as a safeguard against the spurious expending of energy toward trapping other, non-living things which may not reward the plant with similar nutrition.

Wikipedia entry

I saw some small pots of the Venus fly trap at the Warehouse in Johnsonville a couple of months ago. I have been familiar with carnivorous plants for a long time now principally because I find them amazing. I have seen pitcher plants in the wild back in high school when we were tramping at the Mountain Provinces. I also remember gingerly dipping my finger onto a venus fly trap, although I can no longer remember exactly when that was.

I wanted to buy one pot when I saw the Venus fly trap but at almost $8.00, was quite expensive. I said to myself, if the price will drop to a dollar or something, I will buy one. Sure enough, it did last weekend. Unfortunately, the price dropped because the plant was already in an advanced state of failing health. A number of blackened leaves surrounded the core, a lone trap trying to reach out. Jo-Lo and I grabbed it and soon we were heading home with it.

The Venus fly trap was grown in sphagnum moss. I googled about this plant only awhile ago as introduction to this post. But I learned that it favors swampy environments and - this is the bad news - it is a difficult plant to grow and propagate. For one thing, you can never truly simulate a swampy environment at home, and it is rather picky about the soil (or lack thereof, hence the sphagnum moss). What I did though is get some rich soil and plant the fly trap into it, sphagnum moss and all.

The Venus fly trap is housed inside the sun room, and has been with us for a week now. So far the lone trap is still reaching out and I think it is also experiencing some new growth. But the trap is so small I don't think it can catch anything at all. In fact, the plant itself is quite small. At any rate, I hope it pulls through and grows more traps.
Technorati tags: gardening