dingdong96

My halfway house has a view of Makati. Well, Makati’s a bit far off into the horizon but on a clear day I can see Makati City Hall and my previous place of work. Point is, it’s a great view. No buildings to block the spectacular sunset and no neighbors to peek in (or peek into). And tonight, there are fireworks.

 

Over the past Christmas break I realized I love fireworks. I don’t see how anyone can stare up at a sky filled with all these bright colors and not smile. And of course a smile is always good to have and cheap (which is always a good thing as well). And tonight, thanks to our Chinese and Filipino-Chinese friends, they’re at the level of my eye (which is approximately 8^th floor plus five feet).

 

Apparently, Binondo is a bit far from here. And Makati, although rife with fireworks tonight, is too far to be spectacular from here. Oh well, I guess I can’t have it all. I just wish there were more Chinese communities here in Mandaluyong. That would probably be great, having fireworks go off just outside your window and gagging with all the smoke.

 

Well, it’s 30 minutes ‘til midnight. I’m not quite sure how Chinese tradition goes but I’ve seen some fireworks spots earlier tonight already and I’m not sure if these will escalate on midnight. I just hope our neighbor down below across the street is Chinese.

I’ve been reading a lot of Woody Allen lately. I was browsing around the bookstore over the long break looking for a good gift for a friend and ended up buying myself a great gift and for my friend something hardly lukewarm. It was a “complete” book of prose from Woody Allen, mostly short stories and essays filled with funny one-liners and non-sequiturs.

Although he’s also awarded as a director, I love Woody Allen more as a writer. From Annie Hall to Purple Rose of Cairo and even to Scoop, I’ve always loved his lines. And since buying the book is definitely more convenient than setting up a home theatre system in the toilet, I bought this for myself.

I was so excited about reading it that I couldn’t care less what happened in Macondo and put my ordeal with A Hundred Years of Solitude to a halt. I had always wondered what people found so special about that novel so I thought of having a look-see but more than a month into the book, I’d lost interest. People regarded it as some form of erotica, but I thought, where are the pictures?

There have been some contenders to my attention when it comes to books. For one, I have my whole Michael Crichton festival that I’d like to start on (which I thought would be a good motivation for me to finish A Hundred Years). Well, I’m giving it a rest and maybe I’ll finish A Hundred Years a little later.

What I’m sort of missing out on in Allen’s punchlines are some of the more learned jokes. Although I do get some of the literary references, I feel I’m missing out on some laughs just because I didn’t read as much before. Like back then, in college, we studied the great philosophers and the great political theories in Social Science 2 but I feel I only read enough to safely pass the course. Add to that the political climate at that time and how our teacher vowed not to resume classes until Erap stepped down – we ended up cramming most of the readings and resorting to Cliffnotes. The 7am schedule for these classes makes it worse – I am not proud of this but in this class, I was often late and often slept in class. And even years after graduating I get dreams, or rather nightmares, where I realize I haven’t finished the class at all and I have to go back to school to finish the course.

And so I’ve decided I’m gonna finish all these books and go back to reading (wow, sounds like a plot for an afternoon kiddie special). Finishing the Woody Allen book will not be difficult. After that, maybe a good mix of Crichton and A Hundred Years of Solitude, with the book of great political theories thrown in every now and then. After that, I’ll probably get a laugh at the Marxist references in the Woody Allen book. And I won’t wake up in the middle of the night wondering if I did fail Social Science 2.  

After the week of Jan 5-9 (or what in common parlance would have been referred to as Hellweek), I roam the cyberworld again with renewed faith and vigor. Faith that everything is all right in the world of work and vigor because vigor is a word I believe should be used often (after all, it does sound smart even with just five letters). I must say I did leave the experience unscathed but not nonchalant (or is that just chalant?) and I’m ready to leave that week as part of my history. I might even have the gall to say that I’m done, but never done for.

Issues come in from left and right (and sometimes, or rather, often from the other side of the floor) but I do have my oven mitt with me to ease the blow and pass that hot potato to someone else from the other end of the world who knows how to peel it up and serve it to me mashed and sometimes partially digested. Some tater tots pop in every now and then but they’re nothing that cannot be handled with a gentle cooling gust of 14^th floor air and gulp of mentholated Milo.

And I must say I did enjoy the experience, particularly staying up for 41 hours on a weekend. No regrets there since the blares of a Lani-Regine showdown on my ipod kept me up and had me singing “Narito ako!” the next morning. And of course the LCD TV at the 11^th floor pantry was good company, even through a boring lullaby from Manilyn Reynes during a That’s Entertainment reunion on Master Showman. Talk about lost glory. I had to go home when Lovi Poe was announced as the next performance and I thought ending work couldn’t have come at a better time.

Sleeping times are unusually longer this week, with me sleepstanding and sleepturning-the-ipod-alarm-off. I’d say I’m making up for the weekend but we’re already at the end of the week and I’m definitely far beyond my sleep quota I’m quite sure I’ve left a pretty deep ass imprint on my mattress. Which reminds me, I should be getting back to the gym habit once more.

I’ve got 10 more days to make seven more appearances at the gym so I’d better plan that ahead. I’m prepping myself up for another round of the Wave so I’d better make arrangements for that too to make the next Hellweek a bit cooler. I also would want to catch up on some extra-curricular stuff and that will have to be scheduled as well (that is, never leave the extra-curricular stuff to spare time for there will never be time to spare). I’m back to cooking and eating and even have a room much cleaner (and with a rosy glow) than the way it was months ago. So I guess all is well in the world again.

So it is true, the future you are stepping into defines who you are today. It's one of those concepts usually illustrated by the coming and going of long vacation breaks, such as this one.

Remember how you felt the week of December 19^? I do. I was hardly getting any work done that week. Well, technically I did do my work (in case there are some higher management folks stalking me, Hi Higher Management Folks!). But I was certainly not in the mood for it. I regretted scheduling a kickoff and other meetings that week. Even the occasional “urgent” email bothered me (although I did still cater to these requests, Hi again, Higher Management Folks!). Why? Because I was in a Christmas mood!

We had our S2C Christmas party the week before and I was still on a Christmas high. And of course, there’s the shopping mood (although I had already technically shopped for my parents’ gifts the previous weekend). And there were the parties left and right, none of them may be formal gatherings, but gatherings nonetheless. There was the party for the old group (for all intents and purposes generous helpings of Asian fusion food at Jatujak). And then there was the party for the new group, which I had helped plan out (which made it difficult for me to concentrate on the kickoff scheduled an hour earlier). And there were the preparations for the InfoPro Taboo, which I must say was a really inspired idea.

And so, going back, the future of two work-free and hopefully worry-free weeks made me behave the way I did on the last work-week last year.

And now, what future is coming next week? Well, there’s another project activity on the night of January 9, with a deadline in preparation for that on January 5. It’s the first workday of the year and I’ve got a deadline, swell. And of course there are the expected meetings and “emergency meetings” in preparation for the activity. And what follows the January 9 activity is hardly a breather as I will be on standby more or less for all activity-related issues, whilst preparing for another activity scheduled for the Valentine’s day weekend. (Nope, not an activity I would have hoped for on Valentine’s day).

But guess what, the future I’m actually living into is a week of being prepared for the January 9 deadline. You know the feeling, stepping into a classroom knowing you have your lab report neatly typed and tucked in a folder and your assignments all done with the appropriate solutions. That’s the feeling I’d want on January 5. That’s the future I’m stepping into this first work week.

And that’s why I’m cutting this blog entry short.

Another year has passed and here’s a retrospective on what has happened to me in the world of Theater.

The year kicked off wonderfully with a two-night show of I Laugh You in CCP. Despite the busy schedule at work, I was able to squeeze this into a two-week preparation: one week to memorize the lines and another week for rehearsals (including blocking). This is my first time in this role, so unlike previous shows of Subtext, this one really needs memory-work and rehearsals. This was borne out of a predicament as the original choice for the role (who already started rehearsals earlier) could not do both shows due to a schedule conflict with taping his bit part in a telenovela.

One good thing going for me was that after so many years in Koine I had already seen many productions of this show, running since 2003, and I had frequently served as front of house for most of these. Hence, the lines weren’t new (although it’s probably the most lines I’ve memorized) and the blocking was familiar. I also knew where the funny lines are and when the audiences will be in stitches so I had an idea on how the audience would react. And I’m glad I had new people (too early to determine if I can call them fans already hahaha) in the audience, since this was my first outing as an actor in the new company. I’m grateful that friends were able to watch my first CCP show, and even more grateful that they were able to appreciate the work (“Sumakit ang panga ko sa kakatawa” – Onay).

The rest of the year seemed to go to a slow start afterwards, what with work starting to pile up, with the demands of my new role at work at its peak at around April and May. Fortunately, I was tapped again by Koine for a bit role in Terengati, another show in CCP but this time for Virgin Labfest 4. The good thing about this bit role is that it’s a musical (although I don’t sing except in the chorus at the end) and the memory-work is nil. I have lines, but these were already pre-recorded and synthesized to sound big since I was playing Hari ng Kalangitan.

Originally, I was supposed to be on stilts, something I thought would come naturally. Unfortunately, or fortunately for my body, the stilts idea for the role did not push through since 1. Stilts-skill did not come naturally, 2. I was supposed to be on stilts and standing still (which is more difficult than it sounds) while carrying gigantic hands, and 3. we started having a stilts shortage as the other character who did push through with using stilts ended up breaking them.

 

Artistically, this was not so fulfilling as the acting ended with the recording and the live-work was more for carrying the prop-hands. Still, I’m very happy to be part of this show since it was a really big hit with great music and great production value. We had an overture and a rousing finale number and we had kids headbanging to the score and audiences having their LSS of “Ada! Ada!” after the show. And we had people on stilts, we had a giant head and gigantic hands, we had a luminous falcon, and we had seven “naked” girls bathing by moonlight.

 

My next theater work was more of a racket, a thesis school production for the College of Saint Benilde. This was something introduced to me by a previous co-actor in Koine. The great thing about this is this is my first period piece and we dressed appropriately. It was also one of the few times that I get to do previously existing works (as I was usually accustomed to original plays). I ended up looking like Cogsworth, but so what?

 

There were some problems with the production, particularly the finances. But the problems led to great conversations and I ended up making new friends and making better friends with those I already knew. To elaborate more on the production problems, the shows were in August but I got paid September 30.

 

Incidentally, September 30 saw me doing another show, this time something familiar to me even if I had only done the role once before (as in one show). This was the binata role in the second segment in Subtext. This was difficult because of the age I was supposed to portray (high school-ish) but fun just the same as we ended up playing around with the role. Hell, I may not look high school but I’m definitely gonna act high school for this. It was also fun finding ways to throw my co-actor off her guard (and my knowing some of her kilig moments helped) and squeezing in mentioning Shake, Rattle, and Roll in the lines.

Another Subtext show followed, this time in Ten02 bar in Timog (the previous one was in Conspiracy Bar in Visayas Avenue) as we were rolling out Koine Bar Acts, an offshoot of Koine One Acts but this time (you guessed it) in bars. Time will tell if we will go on with hitting bars, especially with the economy and all.

So that was my year in theater. Despite the full-time work in the new company (and of course doing the usual newbie hataws) I was able to find time for four great productions. This will definitely go in my other resume. Now let’s see what 2009 will bring for me. Or better yet, let’s wait and see what I’ll bring to 2009.

I was on vacation leave today and yet it seemed quite a busy day. Well, busy day sitting and eating and just enjoying a mid-week day off from work.

Woke up at 8am and rushed to the gym in Ortigas. Unfortunately the group exercise schedule I had didn't match the one they're following (surprisingly I didn't complain at the receptionist about this). I jogged a bit instead, which was quite different given the view. Actually, if that particular branch had any advantage over others, it would be the view of the cityscape. So for today, as if taunting corporations and capitalists, I took a bath in full view of the adjacent office building (I trust that the gym itself designed the glass wall to be more or less unidirectional).

First movie for the day and in a long time: UPCAT. They had the Cinema One Originals thing in Robinsons Galleria, ending today, I think. I must say it was not as I expected. Instead of telling the hundreds of stories of UP aspirants, it focused on just one story which was not quite a buddy movie nor a love story. The soundtrack was good (Raymund Marasigan). The best friend character had the best lines and threw them well. Some characters were stereotypes and most of the time the script was badly done, especially with the lines during the testing scene. The twist didn't make that much of an impression to me as it wasn't worth all the secrecy and for me it didn't justify the father's resistance or wasn't consistently present.

Afterwards we had a late lunch/early dinner at Jatujak in Megamall. Love the Tom Yum, love the Moo Grob, love the Catfish Salad, love the Thai Iced Tea. Merry Christmas, Process! Best of luck in your future endeavors, Natz!

Second movie of the day: Love Birds. I must say Boots Anson-Roa is at her best here. Well, she may have always been a good actress but never had a good vehicle in mainstream cinema (who apparently prefers teenage and 20-something couples). This is another gay film in a long line of gay indie films (a market largely exploited by Cris Pablo) but is different since it's largely the movie of the parents. It's kind of a combination of Ang Lee's Wedding Banquet, Q Allan Brocka's Eating Out, and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. And the good news is, it's not from Cris Pablo. This one has a lot of light moments and Roa's and Tommy Abuel's supporting character roles takes the focus (gladly) from the main characters who are not really exceptional.

Lastly, third movie of the day: Dose. I kind of went on a panic-buying movie spree, this being Tuesday and who knows what movies are gonna bump them off tomorrow. For the third movie, I must say I was able to save the best for last. Although this was quite unpolished in terms of continuity, the unpolished-ness of the camera works very well to set the date of most of the movie (which happened during the time when Alma Moreno and Lorna Tolentino where jiggling in Waikiki). It also made the vintage film clips look less old. Yul Servo, Irma Adlawan, and Emilio Garcia show why they continue to be indie movie favorites. In yet another gay role, Emilio Garcia makes the most of his few minutes to put him in the running again for an award (with a static shot just waiting for him to cry, which actually worked onscreen). This is being packaged as "A Personal Film from Senedy Que", with the personalization making the whole movie more effective.

So a Christmas party, three films, and an early gym time. I miss busy days like this.

 

I finally got my Starbucks planner. Not really a major goal in my life, and not even for the season. Maybe it’s just out of nostalgia, I mean, having saved enough stickers every year for the Starbucks planner, it felt just right to have one this year as well. Despite the crisis.

What crisis? I’m ultra-positive and all but I have to admit there is a crisis. Not that it’s having a major effect on me but in little ways it does. Like when I asked for a schedule of classes in Fitness First, instead of the usual pamphlet, all I got was a photocopy of all the classes in that particular branch. And in Golds, the liquid soap is diluted! (And my rebellious side shows up and uses a lot of the soap). Or even the cost cutting Christmas party in my former company, where, in lieu of the usual festive big event across all departments, usually with Gary V and Micheal V in attendance, they now have a per department feast in the office instead. As I told a former officemate, “kulang na lang potluck”.

Even Starbucks probably sees this crisis and that’s why they’ve sort of changed the planner. First, it’s definitely of lower quality than the scrapbook-like features of the previous years. Now it looks like just one of those corporate giveaways. Second, even getting the planner is so much easier (at least from what I remember). It seems it takes less stickers nowadays to earn a planner. They’ve now opted for people to go for quantity instead of quality, with three “variants” to choose from. Only a fool would go and get all three (I’m starting on my second one, by the way).

I guess aside from the nostalgia of it all, partly the reason why I’m into it is it becomes some sort of comfort food for me. That despite the crisis, there are some things we indulge ourselves with in the spirit of Christmas. Little indulgences that say that everything’s gonna be alright.

I had to put the quotation marks there because unlike the movie ad for Twilight I saw in the broadsheets today, I do know how to spell "tomorrow". I guess I learned that from writing down all the assignments in our green diary (which, looking back, was more of a planner) back in grade school. I also recall having to line up in front of class per column (where I also learned the difference of a row and a column) to have our diaries checked and signed by the teacher. Anyway, every "tomorrow" was shortened to "tom" so I knew there was only one "m" there, much like how "Philippines" is shortened to "Phil".

Anyway, so opening tomorrow is Twilight. Honestly, the movie ad with the misspelling is a turn-off and I won't bew watching this movie because of this. At least not tomorrow.

But anyway, after a long wait for a lot of Twilight fans out there, the movie's coming out tomorrow. Will they be in for a disappointment? I've had my share of disappointments when it comes to musicals turned to movies. The same goes for cast recordings I have from musicals that I have staged in my head and turns out to be not that grandiose when I see a bootleg video of it. The mind is such a wonderful and fantastic director with an unlimited budget, how could the Twilight people beat that. Well, let's see.

Also opening tomorrow is Bolt. Now that actually appeals to me more than Twilight. Let's see if this cuteness overload has some sense in it or maybe some wisdom in its lines (like Shrek, Meet the Robinsons, or Shark Boy and Lava Girl). Plus of course the fact that Bolt's a dog and I love dogs (as opposed to fish who I'd be happy just to be stared at or cats who are attention-hungry). I don't know what animal Bolt's number one fan is (the one in the bubble) but I hope he's not as irritating as I imagine him to be.

And then on the local front we have Scaregivers. If I do watch this it will be for Iza Calzado; so if I do watch this it's after watching One True Love (or if it's no longer showing). We have a lot of indie films the past week (indie films invaded by name stars), even showing outside Galleria's IndieSine, so even if I do get the urge to watch a Filipino film, it might be one of the leftovers from last week rather than Scaregivers.

Or this one: Eraserheads Reunion Concert. So, I guess in the tradition of showing boxing matches in cinema's they'll be showing concerts from now on. It's the fateful Eraserheads concert and I'm actually interested to watch this because I'm curious as to whether they will show the announcement part here. I've always been wondering what the fans' reactions are. Is their love for E-heads so strong that they're willing to overlook the fact that they've watched only half of the show? Or that the tickets they got from scalpers online or braving the E-heads crowds last August 30 is now replaced by a short movie line and maybe a half-empty cinema (as everyone else is watching Twilight).

So which one will I get to watch this week? Well, let's wait til "tommorow".

I’ve been catching a few Body Combat classes at the gym lately. It’s definitely a fun way to sweat it out. But what motivates me to throw all those punches and do all those kicks for an hour? Is it the energizing soundtrack blaring through the gym’s speakers? Or is it the thought of the pounds I’ll lose for doing this 1-hour full body workout? No. For me, it has to be Billion Dollar Baby.

That’s what I call the woman in front of me. She looks like she’s in her fifties based on the lines on her face but she’s probably a bit younger than she looks. She dons a full sports attire: she’s got a headband that complements her dyed hair and wristbands that match her tank top. She’s got this irritating voice, like someone selling fish in the market, and even sometimes sings with the tracks (“Let’s see how far we go!”). She comes in late and chooses to stay uncomfortably close to me (people who know me know I’m territorial) that I could swear on a good kick my foot would be an inch away from her head. She sometimes is a beat behind so I end up being too wary of my kicks and punches. She loudly complains after every track but still stays on for the next. She looks like Annabelle Rama at the gym.

I know, I’ve created a monster out of her. She’s probably this sweet funny person out in the real world. I’d probably feel more guilty if I had someone I know in my mind while doing uppercuts and roundhouse kicks. I’m sure you wouldn’t want me to walk up to you and say, “Hey, I thought of you during Body Combat yesterday”.  Well, better her than you, right? :)

Doesn't it piss you off when someone in the movie you're watching gives away the ending? Or maybe when a movie review in the papers or in someone's blog gives away too much? Well, in this case, it's actually funny:


Don't say I didn't warn you. But looking at the twists in these movies in a glance makes you think, what else is there to do? There's a fine line between a good twist and deus ex machina. And of course the twist has to be logical and still believable and yet something extraordinary that it makes you look back at the whole movie and say, "Oh, so that's why...".

How about we make a Pinoy version? Some good twists I know of come from Reynafilms but I haven't heard from them in a long time. Indie movies can dare make these twists and are sometimes expected to make these twists to stand out.

I tried coming up with a list of Filipino movies I've watched but I can't seem to find a good source of one so I'm making up something (and I don't think I'll reach a hundred). Here goes:
1. Mila - Mila dies.
2. Tanging Yaman - they all live in peace
3. American Adobo - they're all friends again
4. Mga Munting Tinig - they win
5. Ang Tanging Ina - noone dies
6. Duda/Doubt - they get back together
7. Sigaw - Iza is a ghost and freed by Richard
8. Feng Shui - they die based on the year they were born in (year of the rat, etc.)
9. Volta - Volta wins
10. Super B - Super B wins
11. Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros - the father dies
12. D' Lucky Ones - they end up together
13. Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo - they stay together
14. Manay Po - they're all gay
15. Ang Cute ng Ina Mo - they end up together
16. Apat Dapat, Dapat Apat - Candy remains dead
17. Kubrador - she dies
18. Azucena - they eat the husband
19. Inagaw Mo Ang Lahat Sa Akin - Maricel wants to be molested by her father and accidentally kills him
20. Abot Kamay ang Pangarap - the baby accidentally gets killed
21. Ang Lalaki Sa Buhay Ni Selya - she chooses Ricky Davao, Allan Paule dies
22. Ligaya ang Itawag Mo Sa Akin - one of her regulars is a priest
23. Selda - they get it on
24. Ang Lalaki Sa Parola - he's gay and the lighthouse woman is homosexuality
25. Pasan Ko Ang Daigdig - Sharon kills Kadyo
26. Bituing Walang Ningning - Sharon gives turns her back on being a star
27. Sana'y Wala Nang Wakas - Sharon's father dies and they reunite
28. Nang Iniwan Mo Ako - Sharon remains alone
29. every other love story - they end up together
30. every other action movie - they beat the bad guys
31. every other comedy - happy ending

Don't say I didn't warn you. Some of the twists might still be worth watching. But then again, my memory sometimes fails me so the twist I indicated may not be the twist. Or maybe the twist is saying that the twist I indicated that is not the twist is indeed the twist.

Wait, I almost forgot:
32. Himala - walang himala!

If I were to write a novel, I’d consider myself to be more like Michael Crichton than anyone else. I see myself taking my scientific background and making these little theories or phenomena into something interesting to my readers. I’m quite sure I’ve learned a thing or two during Biology or Chemistry class back in high school and I’ve had my fair share of daydreams. After all, isn’t that how Michael Crichton came up with the idea of cloning dinosaurs through blood from mosquitoes preserved in tree sap? Or how he came up with a virus that didn’t affect a crying child because of all the acid in his body? At least that’s how I’ve imagined it was when he wrote Jurassic Park or Andromeda Strain.

For a geek like me, he was probably the first author I’ve ever read of my own volition. He’s no Chinua Achebe or Amy Tan but he definitely hooked me page after page as I sat in awe, making that amazed face (cue John Williams music). His words and my mind made a far better movie than Steven Spielberg ever did. And that’s where I’d want to bring my readers, if ever – to a world in your imagination that could happen because of the wonders of science. Nothing magical or supernatural but somewhere logical.

As they say, write about something you know. I don’t know much about history and I may not have the will to do all the research. But I definitely know my science and even if I’ve gone to different worlds (e.g. the arts, the corporate world, and the real world), the flame still burns.

Michael, you’ll be missed. I’ll probably go out to the nearest Book Sale and get my hands on all other books you’ve written, just to further affirm what a great loss you are to the literary world. You may not be a Pulitzer Prize winner but you’ve brought people like me to new worlds through your books and that’s what matters. Rest in peace, dude. Say hi to the dinosaurs for me.


Bibliography:
1969 The Andromeda Strain
1972 The Terminal Man
1975 The Great Train Robbery
1976 Eaters of the Dead
1980 Congo
1987 Sphere
1990 Jurassic Park
1992 Rising Sun
1994 Disclosure
1995 The Lost World
1996 Airframe
1999 Timeline
2002 Prey
2004 State of Fear
2006 Next

Movies and TV
1972 Pursuit (A TV movie)
1973 Westworld (Director)
1978 Coma
1979 The First Great Train Robbery (Director/wrote screenplay)
1981 Looker
1984 Runaway
1989 Physical Evidence
1993 Jurassic Park (co-wrote screenplay)
1994 ER (Creator/Writer/Executive Producer)
1996 Twister (co-wrote screenplay)

Is there something fundamentally significant about December 13 that elements of the universe conspire to make various activities converge on this date?

1. A wedding of a friend. Who is getting married to another friend. Both are my batchmates in high school, making the event doubly special.
2. An acting job in Lipa for a friend of mine. Originally slated for the weekend of December 6, this was recently moved to the week after. Hotel and accommodations all paid for, and of course a modest talent fee. The piece itself is a bit exciting because it's not a comedy so it's not something I was used to.
3. Batch 96 outreach activity and Christmas Party. I had fun the last time we had an outreach activity (or at least the last one I joined) so I was looking forward to joining the annual Christmas thing with the streetkids. And of course the endless tsismisan during the Christmas party is something to look forward to as well.
4. I hear one of the company events is also looking into this date.
5. Possibly a work-related activity is also happening on this date. Although not totally my responsibility, the support from my teammates from a previous implementation is quite a motivation to do the same for them.

And the winner is...#1. Well, I might get to work something out but my main activity would be #1. It's not about priorities, it's about being my word. I already said yes to this and that's something I find valuable. There's no resentment in that, it's just being true to my word. And if I keep being my word, my word becomes a source of power, something people can count on. As in, yes, I'll be there. And yes, I'll do this. And yes, it'll be the cleanest one ever.

Nothing excites me more about an upcoming movie musical than a good trailer. And in second place, a great publicity photo:


I've heard tidbits about this in the past but I never really listened because I know it's so far off that there may be cast changes or worse, a pack-up. Now that there's a photo, I know everything's final and we'd get there someday. So we have Judi Dench, Penelope Cruz (seated), Marion Cotillard, Sophia Loren, Stacy Ferguson (seated), Nicole Kidman, and Kate Hudson. One word: powerhouse. And Daniel Day Lewis is the man who has all these women (plus two more, making Nine).

I'm hoping the movie has all the songs intact to make it quite a legitimate screen adaptation, although I never liked songs of Nine. Well, I guess it's time to take out those cast albums again and have a second listen. I have the one from the revival with Antonio Banderas (who I had thought was a shoo-in, having been nominated for a Tony in the revival, and having done Evita before). In some forums, they were looking for a defining or a semi-popular song, and unlike Seasons of Love from Rent or Not While I'm Around from Sweeney Todd, I can't think of one from here. Well, hopefully something pops out when I get into Nine mode.

I saw this in arthur's blog and I thought it might be interesting to see which matinee idol or which Hollywood hunk I looked like. Unfortunately, the results were not what I expected:

 

Thought I'd might as well have a little more fun so I had this:

And in case Woody Allen is looking for a new lead:

About a month ago, we had this little informal dinner with some of our customers. Incidentally, some of the people I’ve been working with were in the country so it was a great opportunity to introduce myself and for the first time talk face to face with some of my customers.

One of the games we had as a sort of “icebreaker” involved giving virtual gifts to the rest of the people in the room. People were given a budget (well, some were given unlimited budget) and wrote what they’re giving to people on index cards. The index cards were then distributed to the giftees at the end of the night. Some people were very creative, working out being generous while staying within their budget. Some went all out on an unlimited budget and gave anything they could give under the sun. In any case, it reflects how these people know me and their intentions.

Here are some of the virtual gifts I received:
1. VIP seats in RENT the musical
2. Lifetime Supply of Palanca Awards + Fully Loaded Theatre
3. Produce your own dream play
4. Lifetime ice skating lessons
5. 1 year’s supply of Propolis spray to keep his singing voice in action, plus I’ll buy tickets to his shows
6. You’re such a fun person. I give you a new PSP so you can enjoy your late work doing mySAP.
7. My gift to you is my “APPROVAL” for all the mySAP moratorium and urgent request =P

Some of the index cards had the name of the giver. Some were anonymous but I knew where these came from, basing on the way I knew the giver.

I love these gifts. And I’ll consider this as using the “Law of Attraction” – so thoughts or intentions are going to make these real. So I thank you all for these gifts.

P.S. Christmas is coming up. At this point, I no longer accept “virtual” gifts or index cards. FYI :P

There was an article yesterday in the Inquirer about a Multiply stalker who keeps regularly visiting some people’s sites. His animated avatar shows him to be this creepy guy and is then followed by “I have visited your site” or something of the sort. His name, or at least the name tied to his account is Pablo Banila.

Just out of curiosity, I checked my own viewing log in Multiply. I remember seeing a similar avatar previously but I wasn’t quite sure if it was the same one. I had thought it was some stranger or maybe a friend of a friend who just chanced upon my site. Apparently, he has, under several of the pseudonyms mentioned in the article: theblackbetweenthestars, blackbetweenthestars, carrotperfume, (I tried checking his multiply page in return and all I get is a message saying the user does not exist.)

I’m not quite sure of the intention of the newspaper article (it was in one of the feature sections, lifestyle or maybe the society part). What’s actually weird is the way it was written like it was just some journal entry and yet it was printed and the picture of the poor fella in the broadsheet like some “Wanted” person. The writer poses questions about the identity of the Pablo Banila and gets nowhere. It’s definitely interesting in a mysterious sense, but in a respectable newspaper, I don’t think so. Has the writer run out of things to talk about? Or is this just some Halloween special?

Honestly, I find it flattering if someone gets to read my blog or visit my site. Hence, my friends, I appreciate your dropping by. Here are my thoughts, here are my stories. So the next time I see you, we have something to start a conversation with. Or maybe we quickly get over the “So, what’s happening with you?” part since I’ve seen you read my blog and we proceed to what’s happening with YOU. Or better yet, if I get to read your blog as well, our minds as well as our conversation could go to farther places. Imagine just how much more we’d get to know of each other if we already know so much.

Reposting this as someone actually requested more videos of me in other roles. A friend, of course.
This one, though not an actual video of me but our organization was way back when we were in Kamuning. Main feature was on the kids and the foundation itself. But if you look real closely, you'll see me vocalizing and in rehearsals at the end.



I do hope the video loads because it's really old and might be deep in the database of the site I got it from

So I was on my third bottle of beer when Mike Sandejas (director of Tulad ng Dati) started sharing about a past experience. Occasionally, Bembol Roco (um, Bembol Roco) would chime in with a punchline as well as an insight on Filipino women. Robert Sena (Miss Saigon) would then sometimes react, speaking from experience in his marriage to Isay Alvarez (Miss Saigon), who had just left the room. Then Dingdong Novenario would butt in with insights of his own.

True story. Except perhaps for the me butting in. But it was really an experience for me to be having drinks with these amazing people. You hear Mike sharing from his heart – go buy Tulad ng Dati, now out on video (and in some cases sold out), it parallels his own experience. Then you hear punchlines from Bembol Roco, who, although definitely not mainstream (but you must admit he’s become a household name) is considered one of Brocka’s babies and is certainly one of the greatest actors of Philippine Cinema. Then, Robert, the overall host walks around making the other guests feel welcome.

I missed the part where they shared their experiences that are theater-related but based on the conversation I caught, these are ordinary people in the sense that they are flawed and they get into ordinary people circumstances. But extraordinary in the way these experiences, these emotions, these realizations get translated into each of their own artform.

I realized I’ve much still to learn and to learn from these people makes the journey more interesting. I graduated 2001, got a job 2002, went into my first workshop in the latter part of 2002 and became a full-fledged theatre actor by 2003. I’ve been in the industry for five years now and find that growth continues, learning continues.

I look forward to the next conversation. It may involve the same people or it may not. Either way, if all goes well, then Dingdong Novenario will now be butting in. And someone else will be blogging about it...

There are some things that you’ve seen on TV or maybe in the movies that looked quite simple enough. And yet when you get the chance to do it, nothing seemed to come naturally.

Back then, I thought walking on stilts would be a cinch. Sure, I’d fall the first few times, maybe get a bruise or two. But then by the second or third day, I’d get the hang of it and it’ll be just as if I was born with it. I got to try them out when we did Terengati for Virgin Labfest 4 in CCP. I didn’t fall. Neither did I learn.

I thought it’d come naturally. Good thing the director changed his mind and relieved me of the pressure of learning it. It’s a good thing because I was not only supposed to walk on stilts, I was supposed to be holding onto and signalling with two giant hands while on stilts. (The stilts we had were different from the one I’ve seen before in Batibot --- this one had no handles!).

And then there’s ice skating. I consider myself quite graceful. I mean despite this size, I can move (or so I would like to believe). After all, I did once refer to myself as a dancer (and I’ve got a section in my resume to prove it). So I also thought ice skating would come naturally and that I could do turns within the hour. Well, as it turns out, fear of slipping and looking like a fool in a mall took over me and I was limited myself to baby glides. So, overall, I didn’t learn to ice skate.

Finally, I found something I did for the first time that I was actually good at. It was my first time and I didn’t even know that that’s what’s in store until I was already in front of the crowd with the other players. But no turning back. The apples were released and go go go! It’s a good thing the food was running late so I was taking that opportunity to grab a quick bite:




Photos care of Marco.

There’s a Trick or Treat activity in the office today AND a fire drill.

So imagine the kids being paraded by their mommies and daddies, wearing their beautiful costumes, thinking they’re frightening enough. And then the alarm goes off and the Emergency Response Team starts shouting instructions. Suddenly all the other adults start shuffling out of the office and into the stairway.

“Mommy, why aren’t we using the elevators?”
“Shut up and hold on to my hand.”

And while the alarms keep blaring and the people keep shuffling down the stairs, we have some enthusiasts who rush down the stairs as if there’s a real fire. And then there are the jokers who can’t seem to quietly go down the stairs and either act as if there is a real fire or start heckling their fellow jokers.

And in front of the building, where the crowd has gathered, if the organizers prepared for an elaborate fire drill, there are big fire trucks with their blinking lights. And possibly an ambulance and some people assigned to act like fire victims. If they are a bit more extravagant, there’ll be people rappelling down the building. And in the crowd of grumbling employees and amidst the honks of cars following a diverted traffic flow, a little girl dressed as a fairy finds she’s holding on to someone else’s hand. She cries for her mommy and grows up remembering the “office” as a hostile noisy place.

Sorry, nasty imagination. Happy Halloween, kids! I’ll bring candy tomorrow to make up for this.