Summer Threesome Awesome

Apart from the trip abroad and summer getaways with friends which I enjoyed a lot during the month of April this year, I spent the rest of the summer burning my butt enjoying movies of all sorts, reading books, listening to music and some podcasts. So I decided to have a rundown of my top picks of everything I did this summer. Here are trios of my paboritos that had made my summer days, well, worth the bum:

THREE BOOKS

1. OUTLIERS by MALCOLM GLADWELL

This book is one of a kind. Gladwell is genius! We often attribute success to talents, hardwork and skills but this must-read book views success in a quite different angle. There is more to talents and hard work for someone to be an outlier. And it takes a lot of hardcore research and data gathering to prove Gladwell's theory. Hint: It's not genetics either.

2. THE FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET IN HEAVEN by MITCH ALBOM
I finally got the chance to read this book after buying it a year ago during my sophomore year in Medicine. Mitch Albom is my second favorite author after Coelho and I had to confess that I prefer reading books that are inspirational and in some ways, life-changing. The novel answers the questions: What happens after death? Who will you meet? It is a very moving read that tells you life is just and fair, in spite of tribulations that we encounter on earth.

3. BRIDA
For some reason, this emerged as my least favorite Coelho novel. Maybe, I wasn't a fan of magic and witchcraft. Or it was the redundant life lessons of Coelho that deserve the yawn. I got some good lines and quotes from the novel albeit the boring plot. Here's one of my favorites: "He knew that he was not her man, and she knew that she was not his woman. Nevertheless, they surrendered to their love, leaving life in charge of separating them when time came." Hindi naman halatang emo ako sa pag-ibig noh? hehe. But in all fairness, the book made me believe in soul mate.

THREE MOVIES

1. THE DEPARTED

If there is something I love about this movie, it has to be the mind-twisting and fantastic plot by the legendary director Martin Scorsese. I love how the story progressed, leaving you some questions and provide you some shocking revelations when the movie was about to end. The Departed is not your typical action flick, it is thought-provoking from start to finish. A great movie not to mention the star-studded casts.

2. 500 DAYS OF SUMMER
I enjoyed this movie because I can personally relate to it. Tom is in love with Summer, in the truest sense of the word. But Summer wasn't looking for anything serious. And the painful aftermath of moving on was all Tom had to endure. One of my favorite scene was when Tom caught Summer once and asked her upfront: "You said you cannot go into a serious relationship, but here you are, married to a man whom you just met months ago" Summer answered: "Because with him, I am sure with what I was not sure with you"Truth hurts, but it was liberating.

3. TAARA ZAAMEN PAR (Every Child is Special)

This movie is simply phenomenal. Another Amir Khan masterpiece that moved the viewers to tears. On the get-go, I didn't like how the story went. I preempted that the movie would revolve around a kid who's really lazy and dumb and some heroic character would enter in the middle the movie and change the child's perspective towards his studies. But, as usual, it wasn't the way it turned out. This movie tells us about Dyslexia and how a kid struggled with the disorder amidst the pressure the society is putting on him.

THREE SONGS

1. HELLO BY MARTIN SOLVEIG FEAT. DRAGONETTE. I heard this song twice already during a party at Republiq few months back. It took me days to finally figure out its title. This song really was made for clubbing. I don't know exactly what genre does this song actually fall but it reminded me suddenly of The Veronicas and Morcheeba.

2. EDGE OF THE WORLD BY LADY GAGA. Inasmuch as I abhor Lady Gaga's sense of fashion especially the meat dress she wore during an event which is a shitload of crap, I couldn't hate her music. After the hit Judas, she came up with another masterpiece entitled Edge of the World. This along with Speechless are my top Lady Gaga songs of all time.

3. THIS WOMAN WORKS BY MAXWELL. If I have to select three of my favorite classic singers, I will choose Maxwell, Lionel Richie, or Stevie Wonder. But if I really have to pick one, I will go for Maxwell even if I admire Stevie with all my heart. The reason is this: Maxwell got the voice I could never imagine existed. I know it was bit exaggerated but his voice was just too soothing and soulful. This Woman Works was, for me, one of the greatest songs ever rendered.