The concert took place in Andrea Bocelli\'s hometown, Lajatico. The venue was not exactly in the city itself, but in an open air amphitheater in the middle of the Tuscan hills.It looked like it just came straight out of a painting
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Posted by astrid on Feb 8, 2010 in
movies I went to Potsdamer Arkaden this morning, getting tickets for Berlinale. I arrived there a bit less than 10am (when the ticket booth opened) and the queue already looked like this:
Not that long, I know, but there were 4 lines of this length 
. Although, to be honest, I was still quite sure about getting the tickets based on my experience last year. Unless the movie and the time slot picked was extremely popular. By extremely popular I mean every single person in front of me would want to see it.
Two hours later, I got the tickets I want for the day 
Just two movies for now because we could only get tickets 3 days in advance. I also managed to stick to my list and not be tempted with movies with almost sold out tickets. Go me!
I also managed to create a list of movies I’m interested in. You can find it here.
Tags: Berlinale, Film Festival
Posted by astrid on Feb 8, 2010 in
movies It was quite a daunting task to go through the list of movies as there are over 300 of them. But I wanted to go through each one of their description, trying to make sure I wouldn’t miss anything I’d love to see.
This year I wanted to see uplifting movies, something that would inspire me or take me to a world of imagination. So it wasn’t very surprising that most of the movies I end up putting on my list were from the Generation section, which was more geared towards younger movie goers.
Here is my list, in no particular order:
- Knerten (Twigson). From the synopsis: “Strong? Yes. Brave? Yes. A twig? Yes. Ordinary? No! Because twigs like Twigson don’t grow on trees.Twigs like Twigson exists in fantasies and play with you in the woods when you find it hard to be with everyone else.” I’m sold.
- How Much Does Your Building Weigh, Mr. Foster?. I’m somehow always fascinated towards architecture. I love looking at buildings, imagining what was in the mind of the architect when they came up with the idea. Norman Foster designed the dome of Reichstag in Berlin. I would love to know him and his work better.
- En ganske snill mann (A Somewhat Gentle Man). It’s hard to say exactly why I’d love to see this one. But I guess I like the black comedy, and the contrast of an ex con trying to be a good person.
- My Name Is Khan. This one has quite a buzz already. I know Shah Rukh Khan (the leading actor) from his Bollywood movies, so I guess I’m interested to see him on the screen playing someone with an Asperger syndrome.
I also wanted to see the short films section since it would be quite hard to see them in cinemas otherwise. Will update this section soon!
Tags: Berlinale, Film Festival, movies
Posted by astrid on Feb 6, 2010 in
books 
The Gift by Cecilia Ahern (2009)
When I picked up this book, I was actually hoping for a light chicklit read. I think it does look like it thanks to the book cover, and the author’s previous books I’ve read (P.S. I Love You, Where Rainbows End, Thanks for the Memories) kind of falls into that genre.
I like Cecilia Ahern’s previous books and I wish I could say I was pleasantly surprised to what I found reading it. I couldn’t. The good part is the story was easy to follow and it does flow nicely. The problem is I couldn’t get pass the cliché in the story and most of the characters. To me, it felt too much like I was in a classroom, being taught a lesson of what I should and should not do in life by a teacher who likes to point fingers.
I do like inspirational books and I read quite a few of them. This one just doesn’t deliver it. It’s simply not inspiring to me. I found myself finished the book and thinking… what’s the point? Even if a lesson of finding out what is important in life is what you’re looking for, there are better ones out there. Ones that truly inspires you and touched your soul.
No, I couldn’t get myself to recommend this book. But if you want to read it, by all means read it. And if you like it, please let me know, maybe there was something I missed.
Tags: book review
Posted by astrid on Feb 3, 2010 in
health Started off in an Informatics major and ended up being a writer means half of my life is doomed to be in front of a computer. In other words, my chance of having a back problem is severely high. It’s like a time bomb going tick tack on my life watch. Uncool. That’s why I’ve been trying to improve my posture in any way possible. I do back strengthening sports like yoga and pilates. I make my workspace ergonomic and comfortable.
One problem I had with my laptop is that it’s fairly small that I would have to hunch when it’s on the table. Pain pain pain. Then I decided to get me a notebook riser. However, I would also need an external keyboard and I am very picky on keyboard. The only external keyboard I like is the apple keyboard, which ate all my budget so I end up with this:
Seemed like a good temporary solution, even though the ‘temporary’ had turned into more than a year. And now I kind of want to read the screenwriter book. Fortunately for me, I found a nice notebook riser on sale on Amazon and it arrived yesterday! So here’s how my workspace looked like now… TADA!
Bliss 
.
Tags: health
Posted by astrid on Feb 2, 2010 in
movies It’s almost that time of the year again in Berlin. A time for my perfect winter blues remedy. Well, actually second perfect after a trip to somewhere warm, but you get the point. It’s almost time for Berlinale Film Festival.
What is it, you asked? It an annual film festival in Berlin, which happens to be the largest in the world in terms of audience and ticket sold. There will be a selection of around 400 films, running in many movie theaters in Berlin, from 11 – 21 February 2010. Overwhelming? Yes. And such a money drainer too 
… but it’s worth it.
The program for this year is up at Berlinale Programme, where you could also buy the ticket online later on if you want to avoid the queue. There is also a synopsis of each movie and workshop.
Now the crazy task for me is to choose which movie we’d like to see. I was hoping there will be some Indonesian movies since last year there were a couple of them. But unfortunately this year there’s none 
. I would also like to watch some movies in the Competition section, some short films, and hopefully some movies from France and Japan. But above all, I will try to choose uplifting movies. No depressing stuff for me please!
I’ll post my list of movies before the end of the week. If you have any suggestions of movies (movies from your country, your favorite director, actors, or something you’ve already seen, anything) please do let me know in the comments section . In the mean time, a red carpet picture from last year .
Tags: Berlinale, Film Festival
