I’m currently at page 132. Each chapter was devoted to a certain character who would shape HBO’s sequel to “A Game of Thrones”. The book opened with a comet slashing through the sky, bringing tides of sorrow and fear to the seven kingdoms as their respective leaders and houses try to seize control of the Iron Throne. A background on the three Baratheon brothers – Robert, Stannis and Renly – was provided through Maester Cressen, who acted as their keeper when their father died at sea. Everything else are waiting to unfold. The story was quite unpredictable – you don’t know who would die or live to see the end of things.

We don’t know what would happen to Arya, a princess in boy’s clothing and the youngest daughter of Ned Stark who can duel with a sword, shot an arrow and ride the horse even without equestrian helmets, after she narrowly escaped persecution from her dad’s enemies. There’s a slew of characters that would play major roles in the next season: Jon Snow (Kit Harington), Cersei Lannister (Lena Heady), Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage), Lord Baelish (Aidan Gillen), and dragon lady Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke). Stannis Baratheon (Stephen Dillane), the sorceress Melisandre (Carice van Houten), Margaery Tyrell (Tudors alumni Natalie Dormer) and the loathsome manipulative daddy Lannister, Tywin (Charles Dance) would be introduced and given more airtime in the next season.

Let’s see how the story would unfold from where we have left it – the spoiled brat boy who became a king, the traitor Baelish, the Baratheon brothers, the lone survivor of the Targaryen clan, the fate of the Stark boys and the witty dwarf Tyrion Lannister. Of course, everyone wants Tywin, the equally cunning twins Cersei and Jaime, dead. One thing for sure, alliances will be forged and broken, and heads will roll as usual.

While waiting for season 2 to debut, a trip back to the popular books of George R.R. Martin, “A Song of Ice and Fire”, would definitely fill in the gap and make the wait worthwhile.

But so far, none of the recent romantic movies were able to survive the cynics’ critique, not even the taste of mere moviegoers. I’ve seen “One Day” which starred Anne Hathaway & Jim Sturgess and the 2006 flick “Griffin & Phoenix” of Amanda Peet & Dermot Mulroney. The only difference between the two, aside from the obvious age differences of the cast members, was that Hathaway and Sturgess took 20 years (or equivalent to 20 Julys – their fixed dating anniversary) to realize that they were meant for each other. Peet and Mulroney took less than a year and a dinner date to figure that one out.

Both movies injected some humor and wit. But somehow, they failed in that department as they came in either too melodramatic or tried hard to be funny and cute. The stories dragged until the end where they killed both heroines – and my sanity too.

Next time, I should choose my seats wisely. Especially if there’s a wedding scene. I can’t help but check on Bella’s eye shadow, and wonder what the entire set would be like if documented by wedding photography raleigh nc -style. The place was so pretty.

The movie installation of the fourth Twilight book by Stephenie Meyer called “Breaking Dawn” was all about a Victorian-inspired honeymoon where you have a guy who apologizes for his bed manners (you know) and keeps his wife under the sheets (okay). If you’re the type who wants some bed action, stay at home and watch True Blood. Because Twilight, my friends, is for kids.

The two-week honeymoon ended up with an unusual pregnancy. Bella was already carrying a vampire fetus in her belly who feeds on her blood and bones that she became Skeletor. Some people argue about the scientific logic of this particular incident. How can a living thing and a non-living thing produce a living organism? I don’t know. They just fed Bella cups of blood to keep the baby from eating her up. These things happen only in the Twilight universe and Meyer has her own interpretation of science.

Then the uproar at camp Jacob. The pack was upset over Bella’s pregnancy and plan to be immortal. I didn’t understand why as this was the part where I was deciding whether to watch with my right eye covered or just faint. What I remembered from the pack’s Disney-talk was that Jacob was some sort of a werewolf royalty. And he was “imprinting” the vampire baby, Renesmee, and saw her in a vision as a grown-up girl. If he can’t have the underworld’s most coveted Bella, why not the hybrid vampire baby? Therefore, Edward is going to be Jacob’s father-in-law. And in the end, someone is going to be a vampire. And then perhaps, a war? You know, usually in the movies such as this, someone really has to die.

This universe is so predictable. But then, if you want to take your mind off something, stop over-analyzing things. Just watch.

Anyway, whatever the storyline was, money continues to flow into Meyer’s account and Steward and Pattinson remain the undisputed teen couple with high incomes.

I wonder when The Vampire Diaries be made into a movie. In the meantime, I liked the Muppets parody of the Breaking Dawn.

Every seat in every cinema near me was sold as early as 3PM. Because I couldn’t waste anymore time going to ATC and risk another hour in the ticket line, I have decided to see Harry Potter in an SM Cinema. The cinemas are located on the top floor, near the gadget lane where salesmen have been pitching about “the source has the htc new release” and mobile bargain finds. The SM Cinema here smelled like an overdue car perfume and stale popcorn, not to mention the air-conditioning was so poor.

The highlight of the entire movie experience happened when the audio went off 10 minutes before the end of the movie. For about 5 minutes, we were treated to a silent movie and almost everyone started howling like packs of not-so angry wolves ready to eat the operator alive.

“Rewind! Rewind!”

“We will not leave this place until you rewind it back to where Voldemort died!”

“Pirated!”

“Now who’s got the remote control? Accio remote!”

“I want my P40 refunded! Now!”

Now the theatre manager finally showed up and asked, “What was the last scene?” Then the reel operator played it back twice to where Harry broke the Elder Wand, and the viewers protested. Finally, he got the scene right, right where Voldemort died after a fantastic battle of the wands.

What was that? Ha ha ha!

So I don’t know if I’ll get lucky with my movie-watching today, as people here in the south have gone crazy over the last Harry Potter movie, and the fact that we only have few good cinemas here, like those in Alabang Town Center. My friend was suggesting to try Sureseats but without my ever reliable document scanning machine/printer at home, subscribing wouldn’t even make sense. Unless I go to a mall internet cafe to print.

Anyway, see you later, muggles. It’s 3D or another week-long wait.

The artist, Lucy Knisley, painfully created a summary of all 7 Harry Potter books in 7 different cartoon series, which I think was fun, and really nice of her to share. I am not an HP book fan, except for the Deathly Hallows which I bough last year, so it helps to be reminded of what had transpired in the first 5-6 books. (Which makes me feel old now counting the years and seeing these cute actors grow up from mere 9 to 11-year-old kids to 20-something. If it’s like an expanding waistline, I would be needing fat burners.)

If you are not a fan, I warn you that there reading through Summharry might spoil the fun when you see Deathly Hallow part 2.

One spaghetti strand almost escaped through my nose when I saw Willie Revillame’s guests on his TV show. The parents of the macho-dancing kid, Jan-Jan, surfaced in the middle of a controversy to defend themselves and of course, Willie. I just couldn’t believe what I heard that night. Some people are indeed willing to bring themselves down low and make a fool of themselves in exchange for, what, P10,000? And why, for the life of me, is Willie still on air??? That guy is out there obviously to make money for himself in the guise of helping people.

I rest my case.

So here’s a tribute. Made this at the time of her death. It’s just bad that my brother said, during our trip to home depot looking for a hot tub cover, that this one looks like Keira Knightley. (Ha ha.) I’ll just work on a good one this weekend and post it.