[ 02033005 2.22am | hauru no ugoku shiro ]



what happens when you fall in love with someone who doesnt exist?
charming, pretty to death, dark and mysterious.
pity he has a stupid name. come on... what kind of name is "howl".

the movie was somewhat fragmented and had strange scenes and loopholes here and ther. however, i put it down to misayaki's interpretation of the book and his own creativity.
his fairytale land is absorbing and his characters are well done. mostly. calcifer, the witch of the waste and sophie in particular.
howl has his glam image spoilt by having a strange scene thrown in. you cant look at a character the same way after you've seen him throw a tantrum over hair colour, or if you've seen his butt as he droops in a posture akin to drunken stupor. which is a waste. i really kinda liked his cool, mysterious, charming image.

watch it for : great animations, kimura takuya's voice over, howl's gorgeous looks. good soundtrack. if you end up falling in love with howl, dont blame me. just join the queue.

"whats the point of living if you're not beautiful!"

[ 28022005 3.32am | match. ]

reflecting on our match today against the senior team. lost 4-2, but we sure put up a good fight.
i'm wondering about the expectations-respect thing. ok, for those not in the know, these are how chong (coach) key phrases. you dont pressure yourselves with expectations of how you are to perform, rather, you perform to your max, enjoying the game. you give respect to your opponents, but you make sure you dont let that respect overwhelm you into playing like a wuss.

anyhow, it was a really strange match. it felt odd to be up against the senior team who basically taught us most of what we know. it was odder to realise that they dropped to 2 lines, making us seem like formidable opponents.

in truth, i cant say who was more 'scared' to meet the other. i certainly know both sides were keyed up, hyped up, and sending ra-ra emails to and fro. they couldnt really afford to lose to us, and we didnt really WANT to beat them... but yet we wanted to.

i guess it was partly a measure, for us, as to how much we'd progressed as a team. our skills and our 'connection' as sarah puts it. we definitely dont have the experience and stickwork that the seniors have, but we love the game and the team, and that kinda makes up for alot.

it was a sweet game, really. they all have blue wristbands from us now, and the usually cordial game end talks were all hugs and congratulations.

for now, we're looking forward to meeting them again in the playoffs.