Brush

You hit me right through the brains with your sleepy wits.
You are funny without even trying.
For a score, you've hold on to memories that crept unto your hair.
After two scores, you've finally brushed them off.
You are a merciless creator,
An unforgiving master of your craft.
But you never forget even the tiniest details of your offspring.
You know them even when they wear a different pair of shoes
Or don a violet-colored hat.
At times, I'm flattered when you answer me in your sleep.
It surprises me how you can even respond.
Muses only live in our heads.
It would be rare for a muse to speak in words.
Your colors leave my world tinted.
Your impact is immortal.
When you reach out in less than a minute,
I die for a second.
Your hands are the only ones that can create order
In my circle of chaos.
I need to see you again.
Whisper your affirmation to my ears
As if we're conniving a grand scheme.
We'll be the Bonnie and Clyde of our age;
But this time, we will live.
When you move, the colors also move.
When you walk, I'll tread the path with you.
There is forlorn beauty in your eyes.
Be alive in my world and don't blur me out.
The smoke gets higher.
You got me.
I dig you.

Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends

I grew up watching the Samurai X series and I am not ashamed to call myself a fan. Right now, I'm just so happy to have watched the live action movie of Rurouni Kenshin at this point in my life where I have a different understanding of things. 

When I was younger, what's remarkable for me was the philosophy on "Survival of the Fittest: The strong shall live, the weak shall die" (like this is what I seriously write as my favorite motto in slambooks). But as years went by, I eventually learned that it's not all about strength. The ones who are truly strong are those who have the will to live for the ones they love, whether they are physically able or not. The strongest ones are those people who choose to live and not merely survive.

I can' t find a better way to explain this wisdom more so I'll just borrow the words of Seijūrō Hiko: "The will to live is stronger than anything else."

Kenshin Himura, you truly are the heart of sword. Thank you for being a very big part of my childhood.

Salute the samurai.

Let her go

He

I was playing for a crowd of about two hundred at the Rizal Park. It's been five years since she left without notice, vanishing from a sea of people, never to be seen again. I was worried when I didn't see her as I crooned the last notes that day. After the gig, I left my keyboard, ran on the sidewalk and scanned the place. Maybe she just went somewhere. Took a call? Went to the bathroom?

She always stays for the last song. Why has she disappeared? I was paranoid, I know. But this time, something didn't feel right. And I was right.

She

He was far from the guy I knew before. He was a geeky and poetic boy who loves to read and write songs. Well he still does that. However now, I guess he has bloomed into the cooler version of himself. That's a good thing, ayt? When I met him, we were both looking for an adventure-- a shift from the normal way of living our everyday's. 

I'd like to believe that we made significant differences on each other's life. He helped me control my rebellious streak that surges every time I lose my temper. I made him fight for what he wants most.

He is a nice guy. I think that's the only thing that won't change in him. He might have gotten even better when I left. I always see him on TV and magazines these days. His literary music has transformed people. I was glad to know him when everything else was simple.

He

I never found out where she went. This makes the pain more hurting. Her friends won't tell me where she is. Her family, well, I never really met them. It's actually surprising that in the two years that we're together, I've never been in her home. She's a very private person. I respected that. 

But until now, I am worried. I hope she's safe and okay. I hope she doesn't stress herself too much or worry about the future a lot. 

I want to hold her hand tightly. But I failed to do that.

Just now, I again played for a crowd in a square with triple the number of the typical audience I get before I went mainstream. Not all mainstream music is bad. Same as not all indie music is good. 

After the performance, I'm given this day to sight-see. Melbourne is a nice place. But what I like more than visiting places is observing people. She used to call it 'people watching.' It teaches you so much about life, she would say. She's always amused by how people behave. She would tell me, when you spend an enough portion of your time looking at people, the patterns get clearer-- but then there are instances that people would surprise you. Rare people, she would add. Then she'd change the subject.

There's a bookstore at the corner. Might as well get in.

She

I knew back then that my job was done. He has grown into the man he has ever wanted. He learned to speak up for himself. He even agreed to try a new haircut! He became more passionate in his craft. That's how you man up for your dreams!

I love reading books. That's how we met. 

I was looking for The Typerwriter is Holy, a legit biography of the Beatniks. He wasn't looking for the same book. He was just at the other side of the shelf when he... well, that's a different story to tell. For another day, I guess.

Most of my contemporary collections are not signed copies. Not that I'm not a fan. I am. I just can't afford to lose something so important like a signed copy of Anansi Boys or a James Dean vintage mug. I don't wanna possess something that will give me too much pain when it's broken or gone.

What you can lose, better not have it in the first place.

He

This bookstore smells good. I remember us taking long walks in bookstores. That's how we defined going out.

I always hope that if I die, heaven would turn out to be a huge library or a concert hall. She does too.

When I was starting up, she was the only one who patiently listened to my music. Over and above everything, she was, and still is, my muse. 

Every time I go inside a bookstore, I keep looking around. God, please help me find her.

She

I'm supposed to pick up the special hardbound release of the series I was following. I like the day today, windy and cold. It makes me nostalgic... and sad.

I'm never gonna see him again. That was a stupid decision but I have to live with that. I had to do it anyway. Aren't we all living with something that haunts us for the rest of our lives?

Oh God. 

Will you let me see him? Even one last time?

He

Letting her slip away was in all levels wrong. I should have foreseen that happening had I paid more attention. I failed to say something, to do something. And I am now paying the price. 

Please let me see her. 

And damn me if I lose her again.


*the door swivels*


Passenger - Let Her Go

23

Ganito pala ang feeling kapag 23 ka na. Hindi man ako nakapaghanda ngayon, busog na busog naman ako sa mga sulat. For me, there's no other time in your life that's greater than your birthday. Why? Because on your name day, you're reassured that your family and true friends love you so much. That they remember and treasure your part in their lives. All the kind words, thoughtful gifts, throwback memories, and solid friendship... everything is given by God. I promise to keep them safe and secured in my heart. 

Thank You, Lord, for this life. I can only live it once and I will live it all.

 

No Room for Rockstars - Never Shout Never

It's a different and difficult thing growing up on the road. For Chris, every opportunity on stage is a chance to positively affect people's lives with their music.

Rockstars are also human beings. I just felt very sad and annoyed on the part where the fans are still chasing and badgering Chris for a photo or an autograph even if he's injured. I'm a fan too and I know how it feels to see your idol. But seeing him in that terrible condition, please just let him go.

Fans, especially girls, have to understand that Chris is also human--  who gets sick, tired, hungry, sad, and most of all, who also wants to go home just like every normal person. Maybe they're forgetting that.

"Live with love!" 
-- Christofer Drew Ingle, Never Shout Never

Liberal Arts

They say that when you get out of college enthusiastic and all, you'd be totally surprised to know that not everything you learned in school is handy. You'd have to learn how to unlearn.

When I saw a copy of Liberal Arts from the DVD stack yesterday, I just know I have to buy it! It's a bonus that Josh Radnor is in the cover (I love this guy!).

Liberal Arts kicks off when Jesse (Josh Radnor), a 35-year-old charming college admissions adviser, went home to his alma mater for his former professor's retirement dinner. There, he met Zibby (Elizabeth Olsen), a 19-year-old drama student, whose kindred spirit attracted him in ways he cannot fathom. They exchanged letters and talked about stuff they like. I am pretty sure that if Jesse had lived to be a poet or scribe in the past, he'd have many clients!

They say that age is mind over matter: if you don't mind, it doesn't matter. I, myself, do not mind age gap as long as they perfectly connect with each other. Back to the movie, Jesse was later on faced with an issue he considers a moral one (if you know what I mean). It's the guilt that creeps into him before doing that spontaneous thing.

Being in his old school makes Jesse feel young again. There are some things that change over the years but we can't help it not to want to change at all. As what Professor Hoberg said, "Nobody feels like an adult. It's the world's dirty secret." We feel young but we're no longer young anymore.

When watching Liberal Arts, you'd realize that the characters in the film are the people you see in school everyday (no intention of stereotyping). There's the terror yet brilliant professor, the funny teacher/buddy, the smart kid who has depression problems, the pretty girls who love to party, etc. By the way, Zac Efron has a cameo role here! He's the wise guy with a hippie/bohemian/homeless look who likes to suddenly appear from nowhere. My favorite line of his: "There's no reason to be afraid because everything is okay."

Since it's an indie film, a special selection during the Sundance Film Fest, be assured that it's not your mainstream rom-com movie that satisfies your ending of choice. Some characters like Ana were not really built up but the film is really giving her favors. I would have wanted a particular ending for Jesse and Zibby but it's all problematic for our guy here. For Jesse, their relationship is complicated and not age-appropriate. Their minds may be on the same page but not their generation. It's indie!

In one of the correspondences between Jesse and Zibby, Jesse wrote an epiphany that rings true about life and God's presence. He said:

"The other day, I was crossing the street, lost in my head about something -- a not uncommon state of affairs. I was listening to the overture and as the music began to swell, I suddenly realized that I had hands and legs and a torso, and that I was surrounded by people and cars. It's hard to explain exactly what happened but I felt in that moment that the Divine -- however we may choose to define such a thing -- surely dwells as much in the concrete and taxi cabs as it does in the rivers, lakes, and mountains. Grace, I realized, is neither time- nor place- dependent. All we need is the right soundtrack."

Literati would love this film! Jesse is seen at the beginning reading The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy. It did not show a closeup shot of the book but if you're a reader, you'd know it by just seeing the cover from afar. There's also a mention of Blake, Wordsworth, and Franzen. For music, there's Beethoven, Mozart, and indie rock bands.

They say that when you're young, you're open to trying new and crazy things like hugging a stranger on stage, giving him a mixtape, saying you want to take things slowly but kissing him anyway, those kind of stuff!

One recurring theme in Liberal Arts is disappointment. Almost all the characters were disappointed at one point in the film. Jesse's Romantic Literature Professor Fairfield believed that "people are disappointing." This is quite true if you'd try to understand it. The real world is different from how we see it before in the classroom. After college, people go out and realize that contentment is hard to find. You try to get your dream job but after two to three years of working, you're still stuck at being a modern slave in a job you don't want. What happened? Life happened.

Liberal Arts is filled with book scenes readers would love. I feasted my eyes over the bookshelves, the inspiring Snellen chart, the library, the coffee shop -- everything!

Hope you'd watch this film. It comes in handy!


*I do not own the photo used in this blog. No intention of copyright infringement.

Man of Steel

In Plato's The Republic, a person's fate is determined by the social class he's born into (gold for rulers, silver for warriors, bronze for workers). It all depends on which metal is mixed in with one's soul. 

Plato's Myth of Metals suggests that we all have predestined lives. But let me share with you the good thing– in reality, there is personal freedom. We can change our destiny. One brilliant point from the Man of Steel!

Obviously, the plot of the movie is allegorical to the biblical story of God sending His only Son to earth in order to save mankind; however, mankind, in return of His sacrifices, still doubts what He is.

Superman is an alien– a hero not from earth but still chooses to be a part of the world he's supposed to be apart from. This life offers so many options– safe ones, risky ones... but in the end, it is still our own choices (not our predestined path) that will define who and what we truly are.

Bayan Ko

Among all the usual series we see on television (by this I mean too melodramatic), one TV program is finally worth the following. Bayan Ko, directed by award-winning indie filmmaker Adolf Alix, Jr., is an original groundbreaking series of GMA News TV that represents the political and social conditions of contemporary Philippines rendered in the micro-level perspective happening in the fictional town of Lagros.

Either it be a political drama or just, well, pure drama, we can always observe in all Philippine TV programs the clash between social classes— proving true the words of James Madison that the “most common and durable source of faction has been the various and unequal distribution of property.” For him, the haves and the have-nots both form their own distinct interest in society.

Indeed, the Marxist notion asserting that society shapes our consciousness explains how social and economic spheres affect what we are and what we value.

Upon his installment to office, idealistic Mayor Joseph Santiago (Rocco Nacino) faced a lot of problems. For one, he immediately found out about the wrongful actions of some municipal employees such as bribery and illicit use of government property. His other dilemmas were the proliferation of illegal gambling or “jueteng” and illegal logging. Obviously, Joseph's major problem is political dynasty led by Governor Antonio Rubio (Pen Medina), a corrupted politician.

In any unequal society, we see in the superstructure that the base is always the densest. The dominant class or the bourgeoisie is at the top exploiting what the working class has produced. Yes, the poor is getting poorer while the rich is getting richer.

Mayor Joseph refuses to receive special treatment. He would still choose to commute to work without bodyguards, sweep the ground around the municipal hall, and personally visit depressed areas against threats. Real public service, indeed!

What the citizens of Lagros need is freedom from the monopolizing power of the Rubios. As expected, Governor Antonio has “cronies,” one of them his mistress, to make sure unlawful negotiations with money-hungry associates are accomplished.

On a lighter and comical note, Bayan Ko has this, for lack of a better word, "cute" love team (Go Team KarTon!) in the persons of Congressman Anton Rubio (Ping Medina) and Atty. Karen Canlas (LJ Reyes), Mayor Joseph's smart and loyal chief of staff. The third episode of the series showed Karen confronting Anton for his pathetic lip service and his popularity as top absentee in the congress. Karen apparently showed her disinterest on Anton's good-for-nothing life. However, we later on see how Anton, through his own little ways, tries to redeem himself from becoming a croc like his father. How? He starts off attending congressional sessions.

Bayan Ko mirrors the real proceedings in the Philippine political landscape— the corrupted politicians and their schemes, especially during election where their faces on posters (and wherever they could paste it) are all over the place. Add to this the crooked road works, the glossy effect of deceitful charity, and the greed for power. All of these personal interests to acquire more property while snatching the rights and stealing the taxes of the poor are indeed a microcosm of reality.

What is alarming is how the dominant class takes advantage of the poor by letting them do the dirty work for them; thereby making these poor folks believe that their own ways to get money justify their ends to survive poverty. As long as they could feed themselves, they’re fine with it. This total portrayal of what is happening today is what Bayan Ko wants to achieve so the series can serve as an eye-opener for everybody— to inspire the wanna-be’s and to set an example to those who are already elected, especially now that the senatorial/ mayoral election is very near.

Mayor Joseph values honesty and responsibility in his personal and professional life. He truly understands the hand-to-mouth existence of his people. Sadly, Lagros is facing so many problems on education (lack of classrooms, teaching materials, and trainings), livelihood (unemployment, low investments, small wages), health (malnutrition, lack of medical facilities), and environment (illegal logging, pollution). If we'd look a little closer, the problems that are driving this town mad are the same issues that the country is facing right now.

The young mayor believes that honesty, hard work, and goodwill should be on top to help Lagros ascend to progress. If only the oppressed would collectively stand against injustice and assert their personal rights, they’d learn that the world can be fair after all. Meanwhile, the greedy and chauvinistic Governor Rubio and the other “trapos” must brace themselves for an upcoming awakening. A revolution in the public's state of mind. This may or may not be the kind of protest they do in the streets but this revolution would definitely mean a change in ideology and values of the masses.

*I do not own the photos used in this blog. No intention of copyright infringement.

In Time

There are indeed recurring patterns in the films of writer/director Andrew Niccol. To have a glimpse of his genius, let's look into Niccol’s 2011 dystopian sci-fi action movie, In Time.

Some of Niccol’s movies known for their dystopian features are Gattaca and S1m0ne. His recent work, In Time, shares a yarn with Gattaca through its obvious division in the social class. In Gattaca, when someone is born with the superior genetically-engineered gene, he becomes part of the master race; while, those who are born with disabilities are deprived of any privilege to live a better life. In Time’s concept is closer to Gattaca in a sense that it resurrects the conflict between the master and the slave, the rich and the poor.

In Time tells the story of how Will Salas (Justin Timberlake), a guy from the ghetto, was gifted a century’s worth of time by Henry Hamilton (Matt Bomer), a 105-year-old elite from New Greenwich. In Time was set in a universe where the one percent (of the population, meaning the upper class) owns the 99 percent of the world’s time. Meanwhile, the 99 percent or the rest of the public literally live second to second— 1 versus 99. Yes, it’s very much like Occupy Wall Street.

When Will’s mother Rachel (Olivia Wilde) timed out due to the unexpected fare hike, Will decided to go to New Greenwich to change things, to exact revenge, and to right the wrong. In the movie, when a person reaches the age of 25, he stops aging (just like in Hollywood) but the bad part is, he is only given a year, projected in the glow-in-the-dark timer in his forearm, to live. These numbers are a countdown and somehow resemble the marked digits of the victims in the Holocaust. When somebody times out, he or she just drops dead anywhere in the ghetto which again echoes how the Jews died in the concentration camp during the Nazi period.

In the film, time is the currency— proving true the words of Benjamin Franklin, “Time is money.” It also gives new currency to Karl Marx’s idea that “moments are the elements of profit” and Henry David Thoreau’s opinion that “the cost of a thing is the amount of what I will call life which is required to be exchanged for it, immediately or in the long run.” In Time is a world of struggle and pain, knowing that most of them cannot have enough time to savor the moments; and their lives only depend on how much time they can earn, beg, borrow, or steal.

If we view In Time as a text for structuralist activity, we can relate the framework of its consequent events to a larger and universal model of narrative structure. The recurring patterns can be regarded by looking at the intertextual connections. By using structuralism, we can readily detect how the story would flow, or end.

In the movie, Will kidnaps Sylvia Weis (Amanda Seyfried), daughter of a wealthy businessman in New Greenwich, a place where the rich don’t run because they’ve got much time in store. But Sylvia fell in love with Will transforming her from being a kidnap victim into a dependable accomplice— robbing banks and giving time to the poor citizens of the ghetto. Now we see a Bonnie & Clyde – Robinhood hybrid.

Bonnie and Clyde were famous outlaws, notorious for robbery in America during the Great Depression. In the film version of the couple’s lives, their first meeting was portrayed as adventure-at-first-sight. When Clyde tried to steal the car of Bonnie’s mother, Bonnie decided to run with him as a partner in crime because she is fed up with her life as a waitress. Meanwhile, Robinhood, as all we all know, steals from the royal palace then gives his loot to the poor. This morphed Bonnie & Cylde – Robinhood destiny reflects the same structure or narrative flow of events for the Will & Sylvia goodwill scheme.

In Time is a metaphor for the widening gap between the rich and poor. In structuralist view, we live in a world where we think in binary, where we deal with binary opposition.  The movie pictures a world (a lesser version of ours) where there is extreme capitalism and class struggle.

In the course of In Time’s release in 2011, science fiction writer Harlan Ellison filed a lawsuit against the makers of the movie due to plagiarism. He claimed that In Time was based from his own short story Repent, Harlequin! said the Ticktockman.  Ellison said that In Time appears to have a similar plot with his dystopian short story. Repent Harlequin!, written in 1965, tells the story of a man chased by the Ticktockman (in the movie, it’s the Timekeeper) for allegedly breaking the rules. After watching the film though, Ellison just dropped the case voluntarily giving no further comments.

Back to the film, the obsessed hunt by the Timekeeper Raymond Leon (Cillian Murphy) reminds me of Javert in his quest to finding Jean Valjean. In Time has the same structure as Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables in terms of the manhunt obsession. In both texts, we see a law officer moving heaven and earth just to catch an innocent man accused of being an outlaw. By un-structuring the model, we can now learn how this will end. Same goes to local television series where you just change the names and locations of the characters, but the twists and conclusion are the all the same.

These multiple texts inside In Time might have different backgrounds but what is amazing about structuralism is when we try to un-structure the whole framework, we find that these texts are unified in a coherent system similar to our own way of thinking and living.

In a world where time is money (just like in the movie Waterworld where plants, paper, and soil are the currencies), people are forced to move at a pace beyond normal. In our time now, people "kill" themselves to earn more money (or time) but ironically, they lose quality time with their significant others. The things we own eventually own us.


*I do not own the photos used in this blog. No intention of copyright infringement.

Cavort with Angels

Alberto Florentino’s drama Cavort with Angels lays down the story of two sisters who sell love to men as a means of living. They were left orphans after the war and this has become the life they have been meaning to survive since then.

The drama opens with the seventeen-year-old Lita bringing a man inside the tenement room she shares with her elder sister. The place was described as small and dingy, containing scanty furniture and it only had a single narrow window wherein one still has to find a good spot just to take a look at the sky.

Picturing this out, we are revealed to the truth that the sisters are in a dire economic state. Plato, one of the pioneers of classicism, made mention of mimesis or the imitation or representation of truth. There are two kinds of mimesis: the good and the bad. Good mimesis mirrors the truth and Plato’s version of the truth is idealistic, meaning all things should be bright and wonderful. Meanwhile, bad mimesis is a reflection of the depraved world. Cavort is undoubtedly a bad mimesis. Just like other dramas written by Florentino such as The World is an Apple and Cadaver, readers are exposed to the different faces of poverty.

However, there is a point to consider with regard to Florentino’s way of writing his dramas. He does not use the vernacular, instead, his characters are eloquently speaking in English given they were not educated in formal schools. His characters are oftentimes from the slums, either urchins or prostitutes. Doreen Fernandez (2004) in her article “Philippine Theater in English” stated that Florentino’s works were eventually staged in Tagalog translation and years later, the playwright himself declared an end to his writing of dramas in English. Dante Alighieri, in his De Vulgari, believed that there is beauty in the common speech. Alighieri suggested that the readers (or public) must be given confidence to participate by using language to elevate their status and make the arena of understanding literature a level playing field.

Florentino has a way of using metaphors and parallelism. Firstly, Lita thinks she and her sister are human cockroaches when she said “in the day they hide in dark corners but at night they come out and roam all over the place to feed on left-overs.” Subsequently, Lita has this pet rat she calls Mariquita (derived from “marikit” or lovely). Her elder sister tried to kill this rat several times yet Lita is secretly gathering all the rat poison in a tin can saying she has “collected so much poison— enough to kill every mouse in the city.” They say that in the chase between the cat and the rat, the rat most likely wins; because the cat is only after its food while the rat runs for its life. In the drama, we see the parallel fates of Lita and Mariquita in the third act.

Is there a sense of the sublime in Cavort with Angels? Somehow, yes. Longinus posited that a reader enters the sublime when he/she is transported. But judging whether a work is sublime or not is mostly subjective. Now we shall try to see which part is sublime in the drama. Cavort means dance or gambol. So what does it mean when one says dancing or horsing around with angels? The sisters may have been the angels, without wings, who struggle to pay the rent, and only go out with strange men when the light is gone. Lita, who hopes for a better life, is the angel who eventually perished, pale and cold, when the night faded out.

In classical literary theory, as postulated by Plato, the function of poetry (or in this case, drama) is to delight (dulce) and instruct (utile). Cavort certainly does not bring delight since it’s a heavy and dark read. On the instruction part, Plato does not agree with the end justifying the means. The sisters are living as prostitutes to survive and when the elder sister confronts Lita of her hallucination and hopeless dreams, she makes it appear that prostitution is the only choice they have to live with. Analyzing this drama in the classicist perspective, Plato would not approve of this being staged. Hence, Cavort with Angels would be censured. Plato supposed that bad mimesis corrupts people’s minds and weakens their souls. For him, literature with this kind of mimesis must fall within the bounds of censorship since the text “engenders laxity of morals among the young.”

In the olden times, or even now, people go to the theatres or cinemas to find catharsis. As per Aristotle, catharsis is the purgation of negative feelings, clarification, or purification of the soul. In Cavort with Angels, a reader could sense that a tragedy is looming by just looking at the parallel hints and symbols. Just like the rat, everyone wants to get rid of it by laying traps and it takes great caution for the rat to stay alive. Lita is like the rat Mariquita who was still not able to escape the reality that the world can still be so cruel even with bad things pouring free of charge. Cavort is cathartic because it places the readers in the shoes of the character, making them experience the struggle, and eventually helping them purge those feelings of pity (for the poor life they can relate with) or fear (should this tragedy happen to them).

Horace’s view on drama asserted that a play must not be shorter or longer than five acts. This is to show that a writer is not too deficient or self-indulgent in his writing. However, Florentino divided Cavort into three scenes. Horace then must have regarded him as a playwright who must have been in need for more words. But of course today, Cavort’s structure could give theatre artists or filmmakers the freedom of interpretation since it is not too tight in its style; it doesn’t even follow Homer or Virgil in their use of meters but just the common way of speaking. But then again, the only pitfall was Florentino’s use of the foreign language.

However, Cavort met Horace’s view on the sincerity of emotion. He believed that “as the human face smiles at a smile, so it echoes those who weep: if you want to move me to tears, you must first grieve yourself.” A reader can only express so much sympathy for the sisters; especially for Lita who was not able to realize the hope (false it may be) that always springs from her own soliloquys when alone.

This piece of art by Alberto Florentino transports us into that claustrophobic room of two fallen angels whose lives were like abandoned bricks that continue to crumble after the war. Lita and her elder sister danced with strangers and men who speak of false promises making the drama Cavort with Angels a window for us to witness the narrow and ostracized world of poverty and prostitution.


*I do not own the photo used in this blog. No intention of copyright infringement. 

The Three Kings

How does one write about a certain event in history if he has not really witnessed or experienced (first-hand) the occasion by which he is subjectively expressing in poetry?

Of course there have been age-old accounts and other traditional stories one can read but there is also what we call poetic imagination. And this is exactly what Ricaredo Demetillo did in his poem, The Three Kings.

It is implied that the three magi are the ones speaking in the poem— recounting their journey to finding the Child of God; however, there is no mention of Christ or Jerusalem or Herod in the poem. Demetillo used the power of imagination not just to chronicle (in a brief way) the story of the “three kings” but also to give us the privilege of hearing what he assumed to be the thoughts of these men. If one doesn’t know about the Bible or the Christian history, it would have made a different interpretation.

One of the features of a Romantic literature is the obscurity of time and space. As per Edgar Allan Poe, an American romantic writer, the reader must be put into some distant and vague past to “alienate [him] from the everyday world and to thrust him toward the ideal and the beautiful.” This is also for the sheer reason that the writer wants to concentrate more on the theme and atmosphere.

The first stanza of the poem is quite analogous with the Genesis’ introductory verses wherein there is darkness in the beginning and the use of “we” and “three” which could also connote the Trinity. But as the reader goes through the entire poem, it is revealed that it is really the magi who are narrating their intuitive experiences as they wade through the shadows, encountering cunning leaders whose material interests are rotting. The following lines describe how the magi have always known (or felt) King Herod’s evil motives towards the Savior: “Rulers were sly. They bent, politic, to our words, But all the time we sensed the fox-tongue shape their words. One saw they had such vested interests that they would rather slaughter innocents.”

In the poem, intuition is used frequently by the narrators. We see this in Demetillo’s use of words such as “inkling” and “sense.” In Romanticism, intuition and emotion are more important than the intellect. For the English poet William Wordsworth, poetry is the “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings [that are] recollected in tranquility.” Therefore, we can understand that although it focuses on the primary emotions, the thoughts are contemplated in a long and deep manner before being translated in actual composition. In addition, Poe asserted that the sole province of art must really have a direct impact on the emotions.

Demetillo created an image of splendid merriment inspired by nature when he wrote: “How celebrate the miracle of light? By day, the bonfire of the sun; By night, the lustrous drowsiness of stars, And in our thoughts, light merging into light, Word cradled by the word.”

A romantic poem or story finds the extraordinary in ordinary things we see every day. Its purpose is to delight and instruct its readers with the use of common language and poetic thoughts and values coming from familiar happenings in a person’s life.

In stanza 8 of The Three Kings, we see the expectations of the magi in the lines: “What did we hope to find? A kingdom’s heir perhaps deep-canopied, Pillowed by proud love on downy coverlets?” But what they eventually witnessed was a humble nativity where they “kneel before truth cradled in the homely fact.” Indeed, it was humility they learned anew when they realized that their worldly expectations were not met. It was really wisdom, coming from their own mortal ignorance of how God really works, that finally came unto them.

It is delighting to read The Three Kings in a romantic point of view given Demetillo’s focus on the sensory which reflected more life. Its fresh metaphors and simple language made it more captivating since we are delving into a more personal account of how the three kings have “seen and understood.”


*I do not own the image used in this blog. No intention of copyright infringement.

My Gramp's an actor

By George, I thought he was Clint Eastwood!

Okay, lemme tell you a few things about this old hag who really looked like that Hollywood film director (and actor) of The Bridges of Madison County, Million Dollar Baby, and Gran Torino. I call him Lolo.

First off, he's my Mom's Tatay. Second off, he's such a badass grandpa that most of my recollections of him are his sentence enhancers (I mean, the swears) and endless capers.

Lolo Tirez and my grandma had an arranged marriage when they were teens! Wow. He went through the Japanese occupation alive though he didn't get to finish his studies because of the economic and social turmoil. But mind you, Lolo has always been the man who finds ways. Such tactic he has! You know those characters in films who need only sniff the air to know when a storm's coming? He's like that! Really street-smart.

Recently, I've just watched Trouble with the Curve starring, of course, Clint Eastwood and Amy Adams. It's a movie about relationship (Trivia: Most of Clint's films are!). Father-daughter, to be exact. Sometimes, kids don't understand why their parents did what they did until they're mature enough. Gramp and Grandma bore 8 kids and the rest is history. I don't know everything but when I tried to put the bits and pieces together, I reckoned that as the years passed, Lolo and Lola eventually grew apart.

Last summer, when I saw him, he has changed a lot physically. He got thinner and looked pale and sick. But his spirit was still the same! My old hag can still swear "God demmit!" :')

He confided that he wants to go home but he and Grandma are still on LQ mode (gosh) although I still believe they love each other. Dad and I insisted to walk him to his house but, of course, he's proud and stubborn. But we're more stubborn! Before we left his abode, the last words I told him were "Lo, tama na yang inom ah." Then I hugged him, never knowing that'd be the last time I'd see him alive.

This December 23, we received the sad news of his passing. We can't believe it. How can we? It's so, so unexpected. And it's almost Christmas Eve! Somehow I feel like Lolo had just waited for December 21 to be over so he can say "I survived the 'end of the world' you bastards!"

He swears a lot, yes. He is stubborn, yes. But he's also a survivor. He has natural humor. His smirk resembles that of Clint Eastwood. And he's my one and only badass Lolo!

I heard Mom telling her siblings over the phone, "Bring him home." It rips my heart to hear her cry and it's more painful to finally realize that there'd be no more Lolo Tirez to visit, to speak and joke with, to eat star apple with, to cheer for as he climbs a coconut tree to get me some dessert, to sing with during reunions, and to embrace before going back to Manila. :'(

I know he is with God now. But his restless and playful soul will definitely storm the peaceful place above with laughter! May God bless his soul.

Lo, no swearing in Heaven, okay?


*I do not own the photo used in this blog. No intention of copyright infringement.

It's the end of the world and we know it!

Today is Thursday, 20th day of December 2012.

Tomorrow, they say, would be the End of the World.

First things first. I don't believe this is my last night. However, I must admit that after I've watched the movie Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, I was disturbed. Why? Because I was kinda hopeful that the expected plot would change— but true to its premise, everyone would just die in the end!

These predictions I've been hearing lately got me pretty tensed! For I know this time, there'd be no arc. Should this doomsday really happen, we'd all be passengers of the Titanic!

Everyone's sort of "confessing" online. Fun stuff! :) But I do feel the tinge of seriousness (or bitterness) in most of my friends' posts (and mine, hehe). Well, it's not bad to tell the truth (or half-truth).

I remember before, the public was so troubled with the coming of the Millenium. You see, that was 12 years ago! And now, they say that since the Mayan calendar will end on December 21, this would mean an end to us all. Before we go into that, haven't we asked, would it not just mean an end to a cycle? So definitely, there'd be another cycle!

Either it's the end of the world or not, I think it's high time that we reflect on our present thoughts and previous actions. Are we living our lives right? Or are we just merely surviving?

Why is it that we always wait for something extreme to happen before we realize that we haven't done enough yet? We like those last-minute confessions. And I'm guilty of that.

Have you shared enough love? Have you showed enough care? Have you given enough time? Whichever your case is, I hope you make the effort to go beyond "enough."

Let's give this moment of contemplation to ourselves. It's never too late. God only knows everything and I am holding on to that.

Now here's a fact: It's really the "end of the world" once you've stopped living your purpose.

P.S. It's 5 days to CHRISTmas! And we'll all be fine. :)


*I do not own the photos used in this blog. No intention of copyright infringement.

Jingle Bell Rock

It's the season to rock our nights away! Sharing this cool Christmas Carol from the Canadian indie band WALK OFF THE EARTH. Enjoy!

Eating Fire and Drinking Water

Arlene Chai begins Eating Fire and Drinking Water by giving her readers a hint on who Clara Perez is:

 "I was someone hungry for stories; more specifically, I was someone who craved after facts. It is easy now to see where this hunger came from and how it determined my choice of profession. I was, you see, at the start of this tale, a person with no history. I had no story of my own."

By just reading the protagonist's thoughts, we get the idea that Clara’s past is unclear. She is an orphan-turned-journalist who reports on the "usual" fire and police stories. Her character is very much similar to the primetime drama series on television: A girl who’s at lost in her world, searching for identity, trying to connect the dots of her past.

In this book, Chai weaves the threads of Philippine (with a mix of Chinese) culture, politics, religion, familial ties, and supernatural stories into one tapestry. 

Arlene Chai is a Filipino-Chinese writer who migrated to Australia during the Marcos administration. Abroad, she wrote more oriental stories that became bestsellers like The Last Time I Saw Mother. It is understandable that Chai is writing from a point of her own historical reference and that her displacement has not decreased her Philippine flavour in writing. 

Eating Fire is full of "Chinese Talk" or tales of interest ranging from the ordinary rumors to the most bizarre stories seen in the red stone of power passed through generations.

The personal stories of Clara’s kin were put against political events like the First Quarter Storm. By doing this, Chai was able to translate into words the traumatic experiences of our people in those times. She was also able to highlight the significance of student activism in the persons of Luis Bayani and Laslo Jimenez. 

Likewise, the book portrayed the brutal treatments executed by the deadly hands of some eccentric powerful men like Colonel Santiago Aure who believes that killing is an art. Aure can be compared to Colonel Amor in Rosca’s State of War who prefers "to fuck the soul." Eating Fire was set in such a milieu where there was an extreme clash between good and evil.

Meanwhile, Clara’s search for her personal history is rightly connected with the national history of the Philippines. It is obvious how Chai is trying to equate the quest of her characters with the national identity of the nation seeking freedom and genuine democracy.

I'd like to share Stuart Hall’s take on identity:

"Identities are made within the discourses of history and culture and are therefore not an essence but a positioning. Identity is a matter of 'becoming' as well as of 'being'— It belongs to the future as much as to the past."

Just like Clara, our people who went into a state of oppression are in need of connection and recognition. That being part of a society who struggles to better itself is far better than being associated with nothing at all. Clara, who earlier writes stories of other people, became her own story. We could only say that there really is a tapestry where every person's story is interwoven. 

Truth: There is a plan behind everything that happens.

Stainless Longganisa

Tulad ni Bob Ong, akala ko rin langgonisa ang tawag sa "longganisa" until mabasa ko ang libro niya tungkol sa pagsusulat.

Paninindigan kong informal ang blog na ito dahil iyon din naman ang style na ginamit sa libro. Papakahirap pa ba 'ko?

Ang Stainless Longganisa ang pangatlong likha ni Bob Ong na nabasa ko. Una yung MacArthur na tungkol sa mga magkakaibigang sabaw ang mga pangarap; pangalawa naman Ang mga Kaibigan ni Mama Susan na naimbyerna lang ako dahil matakutin akong tao.

Kabibili ko lang ng Stainless nung Sabado kasi nabanggit ng kaibigan kong si Rossielle na tungkol daw ito sa pagsusulat. Sakto naman dahil medyo pinapatos ko ngayon ang mga ganitong klase ng babasahin. Inaatake na naman ata ako ng frustration.

Matagal-tagal ko na ring di nabasa si Bob Ong. Nung una kong buksan ang MacArthur, tawa ako nang tawa. Marahil ay noon lang ako nakapagbasa ng balbal na libro. Sabi ko, astig 'tong writer na 'to! Subalit noong isang araw, parang na-disappoint ako sa Stainless. Mapakla yata ang banat; parang hindi na ko nasasabik o nagugulat sa mga sinasabi ni Bob. Epekto ba 'to ng katandaan na hindi na gumagana sa 'kin ang style niya o sadyang nagagaguhan na 'ko sa kanya ngayon at hindi ko yun napansin noon? Pwede ring bad vibes lang talaga ako.

Hindi ko masabi. Pero pinilit kong tapusin ang libro. Sayang ang 150 ah! Nung kalagitnaan na, unti-unting tumatalab ang magic ni Bob Ong. Ayan na naman, bigla na lang akong natatawa sa mga anecdotes niya on writing. Lalo na yung part na gusto niyang magmakaawa na bilhin naman yung libro niya. Pati noong nagpakalbo siya at bigla siyang binigyan ng nanay niya ng 200 pesos na tipong sinusuhulan ang katinuan niya.

Ang pinakagusto kong bahagi ng Stainless ay yung pagpapahalaga ni Bob Ong sa ibang writers at yung pagiging totoo niya sa sarili. Oo nga, wala namang taong perpekto pero mortal sin na talaga yung wala kang gawin para tuparin ang pangarap mo. Gusto mong maging writer? Simulan mo nang magsulat!

Lahat naman ng tao, parating may sasabihin. Maganda man o hindi ang marinig mo sa kanila, tumuloy ka pa rin sa plano mo. Kung ano ang talentong ibinigay, hasain mo lang nang hasain.

Sabi nga ni Bob:

"Ang importante meron kang mga mambabasang nabibigyan ng inspirasyon sa mundo. Magsulat ka para sa kanila, hindi para sa mga kritiko."

Humihingi ako ng dispensa kay pareng Bob kung nadamay siya sa pagiging BV ko. Mali kasi ako nung mag-expect akong instant tawa na naman ang makukuha pag binuklat ko ang libro niya. Pero natawa naman din talaga ko sa bandang huli. Baka sad lang talaga ako lately kaya ganito 'ko, naghahanap ng aliw!

Anyway balik sa Stainless, hindi lahat ng sinasabi ng libro o ng ibang tao, lulunukin natin. May utak tayo para i-proseso kung makabubuti ba ito o hindi. Ang mahalaga naman talaga ay hindi ang opinyon ng kung sinong Poncio Pilato yan kundi ang kung ano talaga ang sigaw ng puso mo. Yak, cheesy!

Kung tulad ni Bob Ong, kelangan mo rin ng basurahan sa nagtatae mong ballpen, wag mong pigilan ang tinta, ikaw lang din ang madudumihan. Sumulat ka lang. Maging ikaw man ang maging sarili mong kontradiksyon sa huli, eh ano naman?

Tumatanda tayo at mas nakikilala natin ang sarili habang tumatagal. Mas naitatama rin natin ang mga pagkakamali. Malay ko bang longganisa pala yun!

Frankie baby

Last night, I unzipped my early Christmas gift from Dad: a Lumanog guitar! Yeeey!!

I've been meaning to have this since last month and I so love it already! My fingers are hurting right now but I won't stop 'til I can play like a boss. :)

Welcome home, FRANKIE!

The Fault in Our Stars

Everytime I'd hear Rihanna singing, "We found love in a hopeless place..." I'm reminded of John Green's melancholic and humorous novel, The Fault in Our Stars.

It was sadly "hopeless" in the sense that our protagonists know they aren't gonna live for long and that they cannot do anything about it. Our star-crossed lovers Hazel Grace Lancaster, a sixteen-year old thyroid cancer patient and Augustus "Gus" Waters, a seventeen-year old amputee, are clearly aware that one of their feet is already in the grave.

Hazel Grace doesn't really socialize with other teens and she is usually forced to attend the support group where other cancer patients and survivors are sharing words of encouragement. For Hazel, this routine is even more depressing. She'd rather stay at home, watch America's Next Top Model marathon, and read "The Imperial Affliction" over and over again. The support group might be the unlikely place to find Mr. Right but Hazel Grace found Gus in that place she hates.

The title of the book was inspired by the famous line thrown by Cassius in the play Julius Caesar written by Will Shakespeare. It goes like this: "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, But in ourselves, that we are underlings."

What would you do if you are caught in that very limited space between life and death?

For Hazel and Gus, they'd just live their dreams! With all the cancer perks (as they call it), they'd fly into places real and surreal. Aware but not minding that time is running out fast. One of them can "game-over" all of a sudden.

In death, we write eulogies for the departed. But what is the use of those kind words and praises if the person's already gone? The dead won't hear it. Neither would he cry on that heartfelt message nor laugh at the fun mockery. Nothing from the dead.

But I'd like to give John Green a shout-out for reminding us that there is always a way to show love!

It's never too late to say "I love you" or "I'm sorry" or "Thank you." No matter how hopeless it may seem, there is still something sunny that comes along! Everyday may not be good but there is definitely something good in every day.

Even if we don't become heroes before we die or even if we do (in our own ways), what makes the period of living on earth worthwhile is to know that we matter to a life of, at least, one person. 

The Fault in Our Stars is not about cancer. Hazel is not her cancer; Gus is not his, either.

The Fault in Our Stars is about an eccentric girl and an aggrandizing bastard who found true and electric love in a hopeless place— that "infinite" space between life and death.

Read it, okay?


*I do not own the image used in this blog. No intention of copyright infringement.