Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief book and movie review

I found a book in our house one afternoon and got curious about the title. "The Lightning thief.. hmm.. quite interesting." I said. But what stacked me the most and motivated me the most to read it is that it is about the Greek gods and goddesses. Since high school I was always fascinated by the Greek Mythology's mystical and magical spirit.

When I opened its pages, I just could not stop. Seriously. To tell you, I even brought it along during our tour in a certain subject. I was just consumed by the book. I just cannot stop. So while inside the bus, everybody is laughing and enjoying, while I am quietly reading my book. Naawa nga ako sa katabi kong friend, wala sya makasap kasi busy ako sa pagbabasa. :P

Anyway so back to the book, It is basically about Percy (Perseus "Percy" Jackson, the son of sea god, Poseidon) who is in an adventure or journey to clear his name to Zeus (Zeus, chief god of Mount Olympus), who by mistake accused Percy of stealing his master thunderbolt (master thunderbolt, greatest weapon). They (gods and Percy and his friends) assumed Hades (Hades, god of the Underworld) took the weapon so that there will be a war and his kingdom will be greater, so they made their way to go to Hades' kingdom. Percy, on the other hand, had another agenda of confronting Hades. He wants to save his mother, who he thought was killed but is actually kidnapped or taken by Hades for he knew Percy will come to see him and he wants to have something to bargain with him. I don't want to be a spoiler for those who are not yet able to read the book but I suggest and recommend for you to read it.

What I love about the book is how the gods interact with the people in the modern way. For example, where is Mount Olympus is in today's time, Where is Hades' kingdom and like. It's is really fun to follow Percy's journey along with his friends Anabeth (Anabeth, daughter of Athena, the goddess of wisdom) and Grover (Grover, a satyr and Percy's best friend and protector). I recommend for those interested with Greek Mythology to read it and be hooked up. :)

I actually watched it's movie version way before but I was not able to remember the whole story so after reading the 3rd book, I bought a copy of its movie. Since eternal, I knew and always know that the movie version is not really inclined with the book. Like Harry Potter and Twilight, the ever famous or rather world-famous book and movie, the Lightning thief movie story is different with the book story. But I mean it as, really DIFFERENT.

Why? Because the movie is basically about Percy, convincing Hades that he does not have the thunderbolt. So what is the difference? In the book, Hades is looking for another thing but not the thunderbolt. He is looking for his helm of darkness (helm of darkness, the trademark weapon of Hades) which is also lost. He is accusing Percy of taking it and used it to take Zeus; thunderbolt. He is not concerned with making his kingdom bigger, he did not even want war. Another "thing" or "someone" else is the mastermind of taking the thunderbolt.

Another thing is that Persephone (Persephone, wife of Hades, daughter of Demeter) is not around when Percy confronted Hades. Also, it is Percy, Anabeth and Grover who took or used the pearls to escape from Hades' kingdom. Luke (Luke, son of Hermes, messenger of the gods) did not gave map to Percy. And Percy did not escaped from the camp, He was supposedly in a journey with the Chiron (Chiron, half man half horse, Latin prof of Percy and the activity master of the camp) and Dionysus' (Dionysus, god of wine and the head of the camp) blessings. He was even asked to see the Oracle of Apollo (Apollo, god of prophecy) for advise for his journey.

I was kind of disappointed with the movie, though I was forever having this crush for Logan. *blush. I mean, I am not expecting them (the movie producers and director) to have another series of the book to be put in another film. Why? because I believe the "key" scenes for the 2nd book is not shown in the movie. The audience of the movie was not able to meet the tree of Thalia (Thalia, daughter of Zeus). (Sorry, I know I am a big spoiler right now but I honestly cannot think of how I could be able to point out my idea if I will not mention these). I wish the movie should have been a more magically inclined or more inclined with the book. I hope they should have made the movie more interesting by having a more beautiful script and scenes.

In summary, I just hope they have inclined the story more into the book. It is so sayang. Maganda sana kinalabasan pag sinunod nila yung book. At saka yung actors, they are not showing or they do not seem to be in the role's shoes. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing personal against them but it just seemed that their acting is kinda lame, well except for Medusa (Medusa, Poseidon's ex. Athena turned her hair into snakes and cursed her so that whoever looked her in the eye will be put into stone), I guess.

Still, I recommend you to read the book. I tell you, you'll be amazed. :)

Carlito's Workshop- a nice play to learn and to appreciate art..

Well! We've been looking for a place to be the subject in our documentary (video) and after a long research and thorough eliminitaion we finally pinpointed to Carlito's Workshop. And it was all worth it!!!

A picture of us in the van on the way to Carlito's Workshop

(*wala ako dito ^_^ i am the one who took the picture)

Grabe naligaw pa kami :))

Lumagpas kami kina Sir Carlitos for i guess half kilometer :))

Anyway, pagdating namin dun we were served by a very delicious meryenda.

Up to now I can still remember the taste of the suman sa latik and their rice coffee. I swear I want to go back there just to taste those again :) *yum!

The very delicious suman sa latik ^_^

Sir Carlitos explained to us how he uses brass as his medium for his art. Those were very cool! I just can't imagine how those straight brass can be molded into shapes and turned up to be very beautiful and meaningful.
I wish I could go back there :)

Where are you now lyrics by honor society

Where Are You Now lyrics

To my favorite teacher
Told me never give up
To my fifth grade crush
Who I thought I really loved
To the the guys I miss
And the girls we kissed
Where are you now?

To my ex best friends
Don't know how we grew apart
To my favorite bands
And sing along in my car
To the face I see in my memories
Where are you now?

*Where are you now?
Cause I'm thinking of you
You showed me how
How to live like I do
If it wasn't for you
I would never be who I am

To my first girlfriend
I thought for sure was the one
To my last girlfriend
Sorry that I screwed you up
To the ones I loved
But didn't show it enough
Where are you now?

*Where are you now?
Cause I'm thinking of you
You showed me how
How to live like I do
If it wasn't for you
I would never be who I am

I know we'll never see those days again
And things will never be that way again
But that's just how it goes
People change but I know I won't forget you

To the ones who cared
And who were there from the start
To the love that left
And took a piece of my heart
To the few who'd swear
I'd never go anywhere
Where are you now?

*Where are you now?
Cause I'm thinking of you
You showed me how
How to live like I do
If it wasn't for you
I would never be who I am
If it wasn't for you
I would never be who I am
If it wasn't for you I'd be nothing
Where are you now?

^_^ loved the song.. ^_^

marriage

MARRIAGE

-- of those who are married, .. Not married .. and
soon to be married, I hope you will be touched with this story...

When I got home that night as my wife served dinner, I held her hand and
said, I've got something to tell you. She sat down and ate quietly.
Again I observed the hurt in her eyes.

Suddenly I didn't know how to open my mouth. But I had to let her know
what I was thinking. I want a divorce.. I raised the topic calmly.

She didn't seem to be annoyed by my words, instead she asked me softly,
why?

I avoided her question. This made her angry. She threw away the
chopsticks and shouted at me, you are not a man! That night, we didn't
talk to each other. She was weeping. I knew she wanted to find out what
had happened to our marriage. But I could hardly give her a satisfactory
answer; she had lost my heart to Dew. I didn't love her anymore. I just
pitied her!

With a deep sense of guilt, I drafted a divorce agreement which stated
that she could own our house, our car, and 30% stake of my company.

She glanced at it and then tore it into pieces. The woman who had spent
ten years of her life with me had become a stranger. I felt sorry for
her wasted time, resources and energy but I could not take back what I
had said for I loved Dew so dearly. Finally she cried loudly in front of
me, which was what I had expected to see. To me her cry was actually a
kind of release. The idea of divorce which had obsessed me for several
weeks seemed to be firmer and clearer now.

The next day, I came back home very late and found her writing something
at the table. I didn't have supper but went straight to sleep and fell
asleep very fast because I was tired after an eventful day with Dew.

When I woke up, she was still there at the table writing. I just did not
care so I turned over and was asleep again.

In the morning she presented her divorce conditions: she didn't want
anything from me, but needed a month's notice before the divorce.

She requested that in that one month we both struggle to live as normal a
life as possible. Her reasons were simple: our son had his exams in a
month's time and she didn't want to disrupt him with our broken
marriage.

This was agreeable to me. But she had something more, she asked me to
recall how I had carried her into out bridal room on our wedding day.

She requested that everyday for the month's duration I carry her out of
our bedroom to the front door ever morning.. I thought she was going
crazy. Just to make our last days together bearable I accepted her odd
request.

I told Dew about my wife's divorce conditions.. . She laughed loudly and
thought it was absurd. No matter what tricks she applies, she has to
face the divorce, she said scornfully..

My wife and I hadn't had any body contact since my divorce intention was
explicitly expressed. So when I carried her out on the first day, we
both appeared clumsy. Our son clapped behind us, daddy is holding mummy
in his arms. His words brought me a sense of pain. From the bedroom to
the sitting room, then to the door, I walked over ten meters with her in
my arms. She closed her eyes and said softly; don't tell our son about
the divorce. I nodded, feeling somewhat upset. I put her down outside
the door. She went to wait for the bus to work. I drove alone to the
office.

On the second day, both of us acted much more easily. She leaned on my
chest. I could smell the fragrance of her blouse. I realized that I
hadn't looked at this woman carefully for a long time.. I realized she
was not young any more. There were fine wrinkles on her face, her hair
was graying! Our marriage had taken its toll on her. For a minute I
wondered what I had done to her.

On the fourth day, when I lifted her up, I felt a sense of intimacy
returning. This was the woman who had given ten years of her life to me.

On the fifth and sixth day, I realized that our sense of intimacy was
growing again. I didn't tell Dew about this. It became easier to carry
her as the month slipped by. Perhaps the everyday workout made me
stronger.

She was choosing what to wear one morning. She tried on quite a few
dresses but could not find a suitable one. Then she sighed, all my
dresses have grown bigger. I suddenly realized that she had grown so
thin, that was the reason why I could carry her more easily.

Suddenly it hit me... she had buried so much pain and bitterness in her
heart. Subconsciously I reached out and touched her head.

Our son came in at the moment and said, Dad, it's time to carry mum out.
To him, seeing his father carrying his mother out had become an
essential part of his life. My wife gestured to our son to come closer
and hugged him tightly. I turned my face away because I was afraid I
might change my mind at this last minute. I then held her in my arms,
walking from the bedroom, through the sitting room, to the hallway. Her
hand surrounded my neck softly and naturally. I held her body tightly;
it was just like our wedding day.

But her much lighter weight made me sad. On the last day, when I held
her in my arms I could hardly move a step. Our son had gone to school. I
held her tightly and said, I hadn't noticed that our life lacked
intimacy.

I drove to office.... jumped out of the car swiftly without locking the
door. I was afraid any delay would make me change my mind...I walked
upstairs. Dew opened the door and I said to her, Sorry, Dew, I do not
want the divorce anymore.

She looked at me, astonished, and then touched my forehead.. Do you have
a fever? She said. I moved her hand off my head. Sorry, Dew, I said, I
won't divorce. My marriage life was boring probably because she and I
didn't value the details of our lives, not because we didn't love each
other any more. Now I realize that since I carried her into my home on
our wedding day I am supposed to hold her until death do us apart.

Dew seemed to suddenly wake up. She gave me a loud slap and then slammed
the door and burst into tears. I walked downstairs and drove away.

At the floral shop on the way, I ordered a bouquet of flowers for my
wife. The salesgirl asked me what to write on the card. I smiled and
wrote, I'll carry you out every morning until death do us apart.

That evening I arrived home, flowers in my hands, a smile on my face, I
run up stairs, only to find my wife in the bed - dead.

The small details of your lives are what really matter in a
relationship. It is not the mansion, the car, property, the money in the
bank. These create an environment conducive for happiness but cannot
give happiness in themselves. So find time to be your spouse's friend
and do those little things for each other that build intimacy. Do have a
real happy marriage!

If you don't share this, nothing will happen to you.

If you do, you just might save a marriage.

Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they
were to success when they gave up.

--special thanks to

KRISTEL BERMEJO REA for sharing this story to me.. :)