Cats in Manila

I AM MORE OF A MUSIC ENTHUSIAST and do not consider myself much of a film collector as much as I am of audio titles and books. I do own a few film titles, the ratio probably being 1 film/video for every 25 audio discs, a few of these musical and film soundtracks.

Embarrassing as it may sound, one of the first original videos I ever bought was when the short-lived Blockbuster video store on Matalino Street near our old dojo made the double-disc, 2-hour Cats, The Musical VCD available, something I considered quite pricey at the time, but well worth the purchase. (The video, directed by David Mallet, was shot "over 18 days" at the Adelphi Theatre in London's West End; the play, accompanied by a 70-piece orchestra.)

By its very genre, Cats, being a musical, fulfilled me both aurally and visually and fit right into my other collection of soundtracks and videos.

VCD, book and Mouser captured on Moleskine

When Cats, The Musical opened in Broadway in the early 80s, the buzz surrounding it reached Manila and developed somewhat of a cult following among some of my peers in college who were in theater. When the production was given due recognition after winning both the Laurence Olivier (1981) and Tony (1983) Awards for Best Musical, we had spent many a downtime chats about mounting our own version of it at some point (something, I am sure, we shared with several other campus theater groups at the time and with many other theater companies since Cats, The Musical came into being). We had no idea what the costs were like and we didn't care. Just thinking of who was cast and who were perfect for certain roles from among friends and familiar theater names stirred our imagination no end.

Owing to reviews of the musical I had read at some point back in college and listening to a friend's original cast recording of the Broadway soundtrack on CD (Grammy-Best Musical Show Album/1984), and the video I purchased much later, I did dream of being able to actually watch it live either in Broadway or West End. It was one of those "must do" activities I would have done as a visitor had I the chance to go to either of those places.

Original Cats West End window card (Dewynters/1981)

And the poster, yes! The first time I saw a reproduction of its poster in a magazine, I was completely gripped by the minimalist layout, and, in particular, the cat's eyes with dancers' silhouettes as pupils. Designed in 1981 by Dewynters, now First Artist Corporation PLC which also did Les Miserable, Phantom of the Opera and many other West End production advertising, the poster imagery was so strong that it remains fresh and timeless even to this day and is, no doubt, one of the most iconic visual images of the 20th century.

T.S. Eliot and cats

In my book-hunting escapades in the early 90s, I came across a copy of T.S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats [Illustrated Edition-Harvest/HBJ Books, 1982], the book on which the musical was based. Profusely illustrated by the great Edward Gorey [1], it was a real treat to have the sole copy priced at P2.50.

I love T.S. Eliot's play of words and imagination, something which, if one were unfamiliar, may seem wild but are actually accurate, sometimes dark, but over-all humane and humanistic representations of feline characteristics; also, of the funny descriptions of perceived cat inter-actions. The book was an even better read with the pen-and-ink drawings of the very imaginative Edward Gorey.

Needless to say, T.S. Eliot, since being introduced through a book from the high school library, is a favorite, one of the few poets I actually read. Like many excellent works of literature, my appreciation of his works deepened over time and was made even more special when a very good friend wrote The Hollow Men on a poster she gave me as a gift years ago. The Hollow Men still stands as one of my favorite pieces.

Chinx

It also happens that we have lived with generations of feline companions almost all our lives. Each of our cats had a back story (the ones we have still do), a name they respond to, and a distinct identity—we have a mental family tree of all our cats, by the way—that my sister and I have learned   "cat psychology" (we coined that for fun) to explain certain cat behaviors and identities to friends and acquaintances who were constantly curious about them.

We did have our Rum Tum Tigers, Our Grizabellas (Derby, JaJa, Mysteriously Mystifying Ms. T, and her kit, Ms. M), our Bustopher Joneses and our Deuteronomys, Black Cat and George. Yes, our cats were all well represented in T.S. Eliot's feline world.

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But above and beyond there's still one name left over,
And that is the name that you never will guess;
The name that no human research can discover—

But THE CAT HIMSELF KNOWS, and will never confess.
When you notice a cat in profound meditation,
The reason, I tell you, is always the same:
His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation
Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name:
His ineffable effable
Effanineffable
Deep and inscrutable singular Name

~ The Naming of Cats, T.S. Eliot

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Near Impossible

Cats, The Musical sadly ended its run at the turn of this century—it closed in Broadway in 2000 after 18 years; London in 2002 after 21—dashing my hope of ever seeing it live in either of those venues and as they were originally staged.

Because of the cost of mounting a production like Cats, The Musical, a major, professional staging in the Philippines as Webber and Mackintosh had intended it was near impossible at that time, or since. It's been quoted that Andrew Lloyd Weber's Really Useful Group spent $5M to mount the Broadway production in 1982.

(If I recall correctly, the costliest Philippine musical production ever staged locally was S.K. Productions' Rama at Sita in 1999 at the UP Diliman Theater. It was said S.K. Productions' generosity resulted in spending for necessary upgrades of many of the venue's facilities for the first time since its construction, i.e. the orchestra pit, hydraulic lift and dressing rooms, among others.)

Anyhow, of all the re-staged hit plays and musicals in Broadway or West End that were ever mounted in full in the Philippines, it was Cats that was missing big time.

Cats in Manila: at last

Fast forward to 2010 and Manila will finally be able to experience Cats (Now and Forever)-The Musical with no less than Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awardee Lea Salonga as Grizabella (done originally by the great Elaine Paige/London and Betty Buckley/Broadway).
[Watch Elaine Paige's rendition of the song "Memory" here and about the character here (starting at 1:17).]

Lea Salonga sings Memory at the Cats (Now and Forever) launch, Nov09
[courtesy of Cats in Manila]

First announced in November 2009, Cats (Now and Forever)-The Musical, Manila will start its limited run on 24 July 2010 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP). And since Cats (Now and Forever) is basically an ensemble production, Lea will be supported by an international cast, notably theater actors from the UK and Australia, as well as select Filipino thespians. I didn't catch what orchestra will be accompanying the production, though, or who the other cast members will be.

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TICKET PRICES
(inclusive of 3% service charge)

Matinees

SAT (3:00 pm) / SUN (2:30 pm)

PhP 7,210/ 5,150/ 3,605/ 2,060/ 1,030

-

Evenings

TUE (8:00 pm) / WED (8:00 pm)

THU (8:00PM) / SUN (7:30PM)

PhP 6,180/ 4,635/ 3,090/ 1,545/ 772.50

-

Evenings

FRI (8:00 pm) / SAT (8:00 pm)

PhP 7,210/ 5,150/ 3,605/ 2,060/ 1,030

-

NO CHILDREN UNDER 3 YEARS OF AGE WILL BE ADMITTED

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The last time I saw Lea on stage was in Miss Saigon also at the CCP in 2000—yes, that long ago yet. Before that, I caught Grease at the UP Theater (1994) in which she played "Sandy". I remember her playing that role perfectly despite the venue being ill-equipped acoustically that, on the night I saw it, the rain outside almost upstaged the audio in the theater several times.

In recent years, I'd caught her briefly and occasionally on TV in noontime variety shows or televised specials.

It is, therefore, interesting to watch Lea on stage again, definitely more mature this time, and in the footsteps of legends. Quite a contrast to when she played "Kim" as a teenager, the role which won for her the Tony and other awards and set the standard by which all other "Kim"s are expected to uphold in the succeeding runs of Miss Saigon.

And to see the costumes, the junkyard set, the lighting, music and choreography—I am looking forward to seeing all those. Finally, in Manila. At last.

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• Cats (Now and Forever) the Musical will run at the CCP Main Theater until 15 August, 2010.
• Presented by Lunchbox Theatrical Productions Ltd. and David Atkins Enterprises
• Produced by Citi in association with The Really Useful Group.
• More details can be read at its Facebook page and at its official Tumblr blog.
• Tickets at Ticketworld, and from its outlets: NBS Shangri-La Plaza, Market Market Extension, North Edsa, Harrison Plaza, Glorietta 5 / Robinsons Department Stores / Ayala Malls Greenbelt 1, Glorietta 5, TriNoma 4th Floor /  CCP Box Office / Music Museum, Teatrino Promenade (Greenhills) / GRAND SQUARE STADIUM, Sta. Rosa, Laguna / TicketWorld Head, Suite 701, V. Madrigal Bldg. 6793 Ayala Ave., 1226 Makati City Telephone: 891-9999 TicketWorld Website  
• Online purchase using your VISA, JCB or Master Card credit cards.
 

Conciliation

TONIGHT, I CAN SAY THAT I FINALLY HEARD what I can genuinely call music to my ears.

Earlier, a little past 10 p.m. I'd say, in the middle of a late-night, weekend project discussion, came a few bars of the chorus of "Pyramid" coming from the living room. Curious as to what channel the TV set was on, I stood up from where I sat to check.

To my surprise, it was a promotional clip of mostly GMA-7's prime time shows. For a split second there I thought my mother had shifted channels. Throughout what looked like a 30-second video was the chorus of "Pyramid" as sound bed.

An OTA War
You might be wondering why this 30-second experience is a most welcome breath of fresh over-the-air air.

The Filipino public has been subject to a war waged OTA for a couple of decades now, considering that the television industry is dominated by just two—TWO—networks vying for the viewership of 13 million or so households.

Like any war, the broadcast version is not at all pretty. The Filipinos' obsession with watching television average about 200 minutes daily, second only to the Japanese*. This results in a live spectacle of nasty word wars, say, between program hosts on television, which can be ugly especially on each network's other talents who, by choice or circumstance, simply report for work to do their job properly and without prejudice, yet get caught in the middle of the crossfire, later to discover their reputations besmirched in public without their knowing it.

Otherwise, when talents are identified with one network, the other network will simply refuse to give (or choose to ignore) any sort of recognition due that talent no matter the achievement he or she may have brought not just to their persons but to society.

There are exceptions, of course, like the boxer Manny Pacquiao who once allowed himself to get caught in the middle of the conflict between the top two networks (with regards to contract and airtime), nearly disrupting his preparations for a major fight; or Kris Aquino who, anyway, seems to be untouchable and "un"-criticizable despite her erratic public behavior and presumptuous ways.

The other exception is when talents, in general, are the meat of scandals, thereby making them open to unwanted airtime and unnecessary babble on both networks.

That 30-second audio clip

Why, then, does this 30-second clip smell like some kind of victory?

Charice (Charice Pempengco), the talent behind the current pop and catchy song "Pyramid", has been so synonymous with ABS-CBN particularly in the past 3 years—the equivalent amount of time she has since logged in flying from time zone to time zone to sing in venues no Filipino artist has gone to before—that the rival network, GMA-7 has chosen to simply squeak news about her. Rare is a better term for it, and in those rare moments, she merits about 30 seconds of mention (perhaps even lesser) that when you blink, you miss the story altogether.

I guess the fault does not always lie with the announcer but with management.

Anyhow, I've always wondered why that was when either networks easily stretch time in the form of entertainment news (good and bad), gossip, or both—all in the guise of some kind of enlightened talk—about other talents from both sides anyway.

Not to sound naive about how networks engage in a war over ratings and viewership, but when it comes to Charice, I have so far observed that one network drumbeats, the other almost zips its mouth shut.

I guess because the purported "mother network," ABS-CBN, drumbeats, the other is inclined to simply ignore good news only to be chatty when it comes to unfounded negative topics, like alleged issues about Charice's mother or family and such.

Her triumphs as a Filipino talent invited to grace international venues, sing and collaborate with distinguished artists abroad and bestowed with support she never really had to pull strings for, all within a short period of time, is a feat never been accomplished by anyone at her age. (She just turned 18.)

Haven't we been all looking for the next Lea Salonga or similar other artists of calibre before her like the jazz singer Marlene de la Peña, she of superstar status in Japan since the late 70's with about 30 albums to her name, and Pilita Corrales, "Asia's Queen of Songs" and first Filipino artist to sing at the Ceasar's Palace in Las Vegas Nevada?

We've heard about how Filipinos through the years have tried, with a lot of heartbreak and misfortunes, to break into the western music industry, and not many of them making it quite successfully as the names above have. There have been sad stories of how fellow Filipinos in the US have taken advantage of homegrown talents, thereafter crushing their hopes of even opening a show as a result of deceit or mismanagement.

What's admirable about Charice is how she, at pre-legal age, has maintained composure and propriety throughout what can be considered more than a big deal: she has kept the trust and confidence of the very influential Oprah Winfrey who, just by her guts, gambled on a talent—at that time unknown and, more seriously, foreign and not very articulate in English—and helped open up opportunities only dreamt of by any other artist, both established and unknown.

Contrast this to what may have been an earlier manifestation of a Charice in the person of Jocelyn "Banig" Roberto, so far the only homegrown singer to have ever won the International Star Search contest in the US and got the whole local industry excited in the 80s when her talent was recognized in the US and actually made several appearances on American television, sang the American anthem in the NBA and recorded an album.

While their early career paths are strikingly similar, their personal lives are lived differently. For one, "Banig" has stayed in the US for good (she now writes songs for other artists), while Charice has chosen to keep her Philippine passport and call her country of origin her home and instead travel abroad for commitments. She is not any different from other overseas Filipino workers in that sense except that she is, so far, the youngest of them.

Handling "luck" in a tug-of-war
Charice has handled her "luck" very well so far despite what is an apparent wait-and-see attitude among her own fellowmen back home, particularly in the industry she's from: "wait" for what comes next, and "see" how well she handles her rising fame, perhaps even to the point of wishing her some degree of failure. It is an unpleasant thought, but it's a fact.

Even Charice's most loyal followers, those who have supported her from her contest days as a child, are of the opinion that she gets the raw deal even from the very network she is attached with, ABS-CBN: bad make-up, bad wardrobe, bad audio, or that she simply gets cut off in the middle of a phrase or line while singing. She was also once labeled bratty for coming in late to the very noontime show she comes home to after arriving from abroad just hours before, and in the process attracting all kinds of unsolicited advise from talents across networks, on radio and in the papers about being "professional" and "staying humble".

Probably the worse accusation this young singer got, along with another artist who has had an international break, Arnel Pineda, is being labeled nothing but copycats and likened to monkeys (perhaps a circus monkey is what was meant) by no less than Freddie Aguilar on television. Another is when Charice was insinuated to have lied through her teeth in a newspaper column by a noontime host on GMA-7 when she said in a taped interview aired on ABS-CBN that she would have been part of the Michael Jackson UK tour had it not been for his untimely death. Both these incidents happened in 2009 just weeks from each other.

Still, Charice has taken these negative comments and prejudgment all in stride. Surely she must have hurt but never once did show it publicly. I suppose there is never a bigger ball thrown around the network gossip mills than the diminutive Charice particularly in the past 3 years.

Conciliation is music to the ears
Sometime in the last quarter of 2009, I thought heard the strains of Charice's earlier US-release single, "Note To God", played briefly on GMA-7's Eat Bulaga just before commercial break. A singing contest for kids in said the program was being held at that time, and surely my ears were not mistaken about getting the somg right. Perhaps the show's spinner got the chance to sneak in the audio in the hope of getting away with it. After all, the single had just been released in the US and merited Charice a slot at the top 10 on the iTunes store, a first for a Filipino artist. Had the spinner gotten the green light from management to play the song, however, would have been a sign of a good sport.

Therefore, when I heard the chorus of "Pyramid" played on GMA-7's program promo clip last night, I thought it was, at last, an extended hand of conciliation. It did not matter that it was but a snippet of the song. What matters is that petty rivalries are set aside, even for brief moments.

Thing is, I do not expect Charice to even be allowed (by her network) or be invited to promote her first international album live on other networks other than that which she calls her home (ABS-CBN may just be too possessive to share the talent it once wrote off as "not having enough star power". Her consolation is that she happens to have very sincere supporters in her home network, even in the times when her star power was still dormant), though to be proven wrong would be the best sign of "unity" the broadcast industry would ever show publicly. That would be such sweet music to the ears.

Postscript: Grateful and a wild album launch grind
Charice had just turned 18 on May 10. In the 3 years she's been flying in and out of the Philippines, she has worked her lungs out in engagements and schedules that do not even come close to a diplomat's. She'll sing and give it her all in spite of a bad cold; she'll dance to please despite fatigue. She deserves to be recognized for her hard work at her age and, more importantly, congratulated for standing in as the other parent-provider of her family while maintaining the time to savor teenage life and just be herself.

Filipinos are wont to handle rags-to-riches situations badly. Charice is the type of singer whom many will love AND hate, yet how many can lay claim to the achievements she has had so far? How many can genuinely say that they have taken care of their good luck and fame to not let these slip away too soon? How many can really handle their dreams coming true in such a short time?

Charice celebrating her 18th with kids from World Vision in lieu of a debut party.
[IMAGE: Michael Varcas from manila_bulletin account/twitpic]

Charice's self-titled album was released worldwide a few days ago, and has since established records that put the Philippines on the international music map: landing at no. 8 on Billboard's top 200 in the week ending May 16, 2010. Before that, the carrier single's "Pyramid" remixed versions have topped the UK dance charts in late April and scored high rankings in Europe as well.

Prior to coming home to celebrate her birthday with underprivileged children belatedly on May 22nd, she was in about 5 key US states to promote her album, opening with a 5th appearance on the Oprah show in Chicago on May 11, a day after her birthday, and ending on a high, profound note with performances for the annual Power Of A Dream gala in Washington D.C., where influential members of the entertainment, civic and political arenas in America were in attendance.

In Manila, she launches her album tomorrow, May 23rd, then flies to Japan to record for Warner (Japan), after which she goes back to the US and Canada to do more promotions and fulfill commitments in June and July.

Charice is fortunate to have all of these coming at a young age when her active body can hack upside-down weather conditions and killer schedules and still get to experience being celebrated by fellow Asians in Asia, Filipinos abroad and by foreign audience for her successes.

We were given one chance at giving Charice a break when she sought for it but we missed, and I guess all we can do to give back is wish her all the best, as we should do each other every time.

I see her always being grateful for our support and doesn't seem to demand for much more.

It's not too much to ask, is it?

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"CHARICE" the album is now available in music Philippine stores (CDs) and online.
The "Pyramid" remixes are available from iTunes as downloads

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*data from the Nationwide Urban Television Audience Measurement (NUTAM) and the Asia Television Advertising Coalition (ATAC)

Just the second time in 4 elections since 1986
that my index finger was stained with
indelible ink. Let's see how long it will stay.

Change?

As of 10 pm today, May 10, 2010, the "partial, unofficial" results reported by networks show Benigno Aquino III leading the presidential race, followed by former president Joseph Estrada, once ousted for plunder,  judged guilty not by the Senate tasked to look into his alleged wrong doings (e.g. coddling family and favored friends, for instance) but by a popular uprising he refers to as a revolt of the rich and the few.

For vice president, Jejomar Binay leads. Coming into power as the late Pres. Cory Aquino's appointed officer-in-charge of Makati immeditalely after EDSA, Binay had since been running the city alternately with his wife for the past 20 years.

The 12 slots for the Senate are filled by actors and politicians whose names and faces had done the rounds once before, not all of whom did anything significant and meaningful towards the upliftment of the lives of the 50 million or so Filipinos in terms of laws that firmly put in place their rights and privileges, strengthen institutions and benefit society at large.

Change, "pagbabago", is the most used, most abused word throughout the campaign season. All candidates wore a badge that screamed "pagbabago!", short of having this badge enlarged such as to make it look like a speech bubble stuck to their heads wherever they went, in case anybody missed it.

Change! they screamed. Change from our current situation, they say, of widespread poverty and corruption. How that would be, however, was lost on many of them because it did not matter how  change could be achieved. It mattered more that they said it the loudest, the most frequent, the angriest. "Change" became, to me, the promise that weighed the most, yet, little by little, transformed into the most hollow.

Change! For a Filipino public that they say has matured, grown tired of corruption. Change! For the Filipino hungry for new leadership! Change! Towards a path of a better tomorrow.

In the weeks before election day, surveys upon surveys showed that, for the Senatorial slots for instance, the popular names were constantly topping the lists; popular names of actors and scions of politicians who themselves were not [known to be] agents of change. Back then were glimmers of hope, however, albeit hidden in the pockets and linings of robes that, on the outside looked crisp and untainted but were actually reused or recycled rags sewn together haphazardly.

As election results are becoming apparent, the face of what will become the next Philippine government is slowly revealing itself as being too familiar for comfort. The surprise in all of this is not that our collective hopes for real change was to be realized promptly, with a little help from technology, but that the nightmares of the past we thought we had buried are coming together taking a life of its own.

Change? Wait, where are the agents of change? They're there, midway down in the list of candidates as voted by the "mature" Filipino voters hungry for a new leadership that will lead them to the path of a "better tomorrow". Yes, the "mature" Filipino voter slung by mud or thrown into the slime with the candidates throughout the campaign, no thanks to the power of media and its mouthpieces.

Anyway, who did they kid?

The "only" mature thing the Filipino voter did in the last 24 hours was to trust an unknown system, prepare their journey to the polls armed with a lot of patience and brave the unforgiving heat, some goons and a lot of glitches. For that, they, and all election volunteers and workers, are to be commended.

(continue reading here)

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[This topic is related to the Philippine elections. All my election-related posts can be read on my other blog, pedikabpolitics.blogspot.com]

IN ILOCANO, AS IN MANY PHILIPPINE LANGUAGES, "trapo" means rag. And, like many words integrated into the myriad of Philippine languages, its origin is Spanish, meaning cloth, dust cloth, cleaning cloth, rag. In the local context, "trapo" sometimes means a very dirty, almost useless piece of cloth not even fit for cleaning: a throw-away.

Hence, during the Marcos era, politicians subservient to the dictator and his cronies, who consented to suppression and chose to keep their mouths shut for fear of reprisal, or simply coasted along, with similar-minded politicians, to live life comfortably and without risk despite widespread repression and lack of freedom for the general public, were called "trapo" by their critics, the media and citizens who saw things and led life differently. A traditional politician, in other words.

"Trapo" is a shorter form for the earlier name-call "tradpol" like tadpole, i.e. legless, mindless baby amphibians squiggling aimlessly in murky waters. My guess is, those who later coined the word "trapo" saw the term more appropriate for the traditional (and "traditionally corrupt") politico, and in deference to the aquatic larvae, which, in later stages of its development, are actually helpful to our survival as humans.

Trapo, the political name-call, has outlived Marcos and is very much in use today. It not only includes politicians identified with Marcos but politicians of all ages and affiliations who belong or are perceived to condone the status quo.

The trapo is not expected to have an open mind or risk their social and ideological positions. They are believed to be exclusive (as opposed to being inclusive), are neither adaptive nor progressive. They are the "same old-same old", "been there done that" bench-warming, grandstanding public servants content with the "old ways" of doing things. They are the political godfathers and patriarchs who bequeath their positions in government to their descendants or whose progeny audaciously await such inheritance.
(continue reading here)

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[This topic is related to the Philippine elections. All my election-related posts can be read on my other blog, pedikabpolitics.blogspot.com]

Blogger/Blogspot [still] has backend image upload problems (5 days after report)

I posted (to my Blogspot blog a few minutes ago), of an entry that took all day to finish only to discover that Blogger/Blogspot had been having troubles with uploaded images in what it calls "image backend problems" since late March 2010.

[NOTE: if you do not see the image below, it's probably because the problem still is still unresolved as of this post]

No, it hasn't been resolved and I did post to Blogger's support forum just before this [Posterous] Blogspot entry, thus:

"Posted an entry a few minutes ago and did a work-around:

uploading the image to a 3rd-party image hosting site from Blogspot's image source, then linking the image from the 3rd-party site into the post in the hope of circumventing Blogspot's "backend" problem but I still got a blank space where the image is supposed to be.

Otherwise, all other images and videos in older posts appear fine.

Hope the problem is resolved very soon."

FYI.

[cross-posted]

Good Friday

It's sunny and quiet this afternoon.

"Quiet" is relative. Occasionally, the sound of a tricycle's motor breaks the lazy, afternoon peace. The second hum of a plane above is fading away, a car passes at intervals. The only consistent noise is from the chirping of the birds above me in the yard, about three types of birds busy chattering the day away. I wonder, I've been missing the mockingbirds swooping down our cats. They've been absent, to my knowledge, for some two weeks now. And yes, the cats--Poochoot and Chingkwit are talking to each other just moments ago, wondering why I am where I am, between the Marcos mango and MJB lanzones trees.

I'm hoping by changing my location this afternoon, I am able to savor the peace, be one with birds chirping and, like them, catch some breeze. I'm using Writeroom for this, too. I haven't used this app for some time and today seems to be the best time for it. There's some getting used to writing on Writeroom, like the cursor placement, for instance. Otherwise, it's fine for days like these.

Unlike most people, like my relatives in the compound, we pretty much spend the Holy Week at home. It's actually something I look forward to. In the past years, though, the anticipation was mixed with anxiety especially because we had very little neighbors nearby and theft was prevalent on these types of breaks (the others being All Saints' Day and Christmas breaks).

This time of year, we would usually have Rudy, the extra hand, come around to help clean the garden. Rudy is now employed by the chapel a block away and can only spare time very rarely. If he wasn't around, the garden activity would be shared by my mother and I. This time, there's very little room for even a decent home clean-up because of deadlines that have piled up which I hope to tackle soon.

Vow/Pledge

When I turned off the computer at 1 a.m. today (Good Friday), the last thought I had was to not turn it on and just try to spend all Friday doing the usual stuff. Well, to "try to stay away from the computer", at least. Guess again.

Anyhow, it was an unbearable heat as 3pm approached. I maxed out what's left of the single-digit battery life and put the computer to sleep about an hour ago.

My grandmother always said that it will always be hottest at 3pm of Good Friday and she is almost always correct. ([Folk] Catholic) traditionalists equate this to a mortal's sacrifice which, by comparison, is miniscule to Christ's crucifixion.

For some reason or other, 3pm on Good Friday really is HOT, apparently more so because everywhere — whether in the city or in the provinces — is still. It's somewhat of a magic hour and the heat that envelopes around 3pm becomes mystical in that way.

In about an hour from now, I anticipate the neighborhood to 'come to life' as it were, and everywhere else within my radius will be back to business. Proof of this is the chatter emanating from our adjacent lot neighbor, newly moved-in and excited with what my 'hood has to offer.

Last night, Maundy Thursday, was like another ordinary evening for them. Anyway, I gave them that as I saw no reason to be grouchy on Holy Week and be the unwelcoming neighbor.

Changes

The changes in my neighborhood are not at all gradual.

We'd normally hear the faint, fleeting pabasa (the chanting of the Passion of Christ by devotees) from somewhere on cooler, still evenings like last night's. Last night, the local cheap bar a few blocks away was in operation and their patrons, torch singing their lungs out to the heavens, seem to have vowed to be the counterpart of Christ's scourges.

Another seeming unbeliever was the night guard on duty just by our gate, he with his radio and copious singing confidence who thought the quiet neighborhood he was tasked to watch over was his stage. Perhaps he was encouraged by the racket of my new neighbors. Perhaps he thought everyone else had escaped the city. Whatever it was, it sure was not entertainment. In the spirit of Holy Week, though, I thought of giving him a 'deadline', beyond which I sure would have stormed out of my gate in my jammies like I once  did. Fortunately (for him), he turned the radio down and did shut up at 11pm.

Holy Week channel surfing treat: OnSet

Maundy Thursday and Good Friday early evening provided me with a bit more "self" time to channel surf local television stations.

I remember during the pre-cable days when all local stations were off (as in "offline", in computerese) and almost all stations were static that the only choices were black-and-white re-runs of Moses, El Cid, Cecil B. DeMille's The 10 Commandments or live telecast of church service of the Seven Last Words.

With cable services in the early '90s came 24/7 broadcasts of all sorts of programs.

Thursday and Friday this year, however, gave me a different treat. Since unplugging years of subscription to a local cable provider after a tragic event identified with its mother network (and availing of internet service anyway), we have had to content ourselves with shows on free channels.

The Holy Week (re)treat was by way of an information-rich program on Net25 called OnSet: The World Class Filipino Artist. The one-hour interview program features Filipino world-class artists hosted by Eunice Mariños and is recorded at the CCP's Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino.

I'm not sure whether what I saw were re-runs but I pretty much didn't mind. I caught mezzo-soprano Clarissa Ocampo on Maundy Thursday's segment and Coke Bolipata earlier this evening, Good Friday. In between interviews were live performances ("impromptu," as the host said of one of Ocampo's performance), with piano accompaniment.

The show ends with the guests being asked about the artists' contribution or role to society.

I find OnSet very refreshing in the midst of the predictable telenovelas, repetitive game show formats, shallow gossip programs and party-themed screaming competitions that purport to be variety entertainment shows on both major networks.

In fact, I thought these major networks would be the ones supporting the arts in a big way by coming up with something like Net25's OnSet, even if it meant hard selling the idea to sponsors to make it viable, but no.

Eunice Mariños at least gives its guests time to answer good questions no matter how formatted. In comparison, many hosts of interview shows, especially celebrity hosts, are always self conscious and  draw attention back to themselves instead of giving their their guests the limelight or allowing them to finish their statements.

Mariños could, however, do with a little more mature way of handling her interviews by sounding less like a high school student — sometimes flustered, sometimes excitable — and more like a poised, generous host (a fine example is Boots Anson-Roa). If Mariños does find the chance to enroll at Clarissa Ocampo's voice seminars as she said she would, I believe it would do her a lot of good.

Too bad OnSet ends without the usual closing billboard as I wanted to catch the pianist's name, the show's director, set and lights designers, writer, and other credits.

Otherwise, the early evenings of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday spent watching the two artists on OnSet was kind of spiritual in a self-respecting kind of way. I came back to the computer writing this with renewed Filipino pride.

this is the end of publishing

This video link was posted as a re-Tweet by designmeme (/designmeme), aka Stuart Robertson an hour ago while I was offline.

The Future of Publishing from PenguinGroup UK.

From the Penguin blog, credit goes to Zoe Uffindell of Khaki Films, for coming up with Penguin's own advocacy video as inspired by other effective short films with a similar message and treatment.

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Penguin Group: How difficult was it to achieve this effect? 

Zoe Uffindell: It takes a creative professional writer, patience, and several days to achieve something like this - a bit like a huge jigsaw that you have to paint as well as put together!  The voice-recording and editing of the text was a case of finding just the right voice, and pacing it right. (from here)

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As always, the best way to get a message across, really, is by telling it simply — something I continue to learn and would wish to master.

The message of the video resounds with so much clarity and, coming from a print and publishing design background plus a love for imparting the value of and respect for the printed matter, it is something that touches a deep chord within me.

Great video!