Zoom In: Highschool Circa '65

Yesterday, I watched the second half of the classic movie, Highschool Circa '65. But still, I got its plot.

Charo Santos, & Eddie Rodriguez were the main casts. Others were merely minors-the students, the teachers, janitor, wife, so forth and so on.
The film was about miserable graduating students, particularly the 4th yr. section 1, whom before had typical teachers (i.e. old and strict). Until Ms. Pengson (Santos) came, who was young, delicate, and composed, that changed their lives forever.
Rodriguez (I forgot his character name) had feelings for Ms. Pengson, but rumors spread inside the campus that almost wreck Pengson's teaching career. She got mad, especially when she caught that her c0-faculty members were the one who spread & ruined her name.
Students were dismayed to what the principal did. So they made some actions, enough to worn out, both in literal and figurative sense, all their substitute teachers-by putting traps & glue at the teacher's chair, and stealing the wig of their librarian.
Rodriguez's wife, played by Liza Loren, was the reason why this man was diverting his mind and heart to Pengson, because he thought that he is no longer loved by her wife, who left him and her daughter during Christmas eve-she chose other important things rather than choosing her own family. But Liza, in the end, admitted her faults (plural).

The film ended in a happily-ever-after kind of way.
Guess what happed to Ms. Pengson?
Rodriguez's wife reconciliated with her; she attended the graduation; the principal offered her to go back in school; when Rodriguez and her eyes met, the man just ignored her (so that, I guess, there would be no more problem that could possibly arise).
It's "a happily ever after" after all, right?

Trans-late

FOUND IN TRANSLATION by Jessica Zafra

I was caffeinating at the mall when a youthful lady with white hair said hello. It was Celeste Legaspi. “I’ve been listening to your versions of American pop songs translated by Tinio!” I babbled. That album came out ages ago, she laughed. “I copied it from my friend’s iTunes library last year,” I said. “Please record again.”

The music industry is so different now, she said. Commercial considerations override all others. “You could record the tracks in your house and upload them on the net,” I went on. Her daughters laughed. “She’s lazy,” they said.

When I was growing up in the 70s, Filipino musicians regularly did Tagalog versions of songs in English. Hajji Alejandro did the Bee Gees’ Charade as Tag-Araw, Tag-Ulan, and in his cover of Barbra Streisand’s The Way We Were, Rico J. Puno suddenly switched to Tagalog and turned the song into something else entirely. They didn’t cover songs the way Pinoy singers do today (note-for-note exact imitations, down to the breathing and the hand movements. Today’s most successful proponents of the full mimicry (’plakado’) approach: Arnel Pineda/Steve Perry of Journey and Charice Pempengco/Whitney Houston.) The material was borrowed, but they colonized it completely (”Namamasyal pa sa Luneta”).

The finest translations/adaptations of the words to popular songs were by the great Rolando Tinio. He’d already translated Shakespeare into Filipino, so pop music must’ve been a breeze. Take the Burt Bacharach-Hal David songs, One Less Bell to Answer and A House Is Not A Home. Every time I hear them I start giggling. Look at these lyrics:

One less bell to answer
One less egg to fry
One less man to pick up after
I should be happy but all I do is cry
(Note: Were you the lover or the maid?)

A rudimentary literal translation would begin:

Isang timbreng di sasagutin
Isang itlog na di piprituhin…

How about that Philo 11 hommage:

A chair is not a chair
Even when there’s no one sitting there
But a chair is not a house
And a house is not a home

Literally:

Ang salumpuwit ay salumpuwit pa rin
Kahit walang nakaupo roon. . .

Instead of a literal approach that would expose the cornball silliness of the lyrics, Tinio went for the literary.

Di na hahainan
Di na susundan
Tuwing siya’y may kinakailangan
Sinong hindi pa
Pasasalamat na

and

Walang nagpapalit
Sa datihang ayos ng silid
Nguni’t di magpapalit
Ang himbing ng pag-idlip…

The risible has been made poignant, and with Celeste Legaspi’s lovely theatrical delivery (very clear enunciation) it’s positively heart-rending. Remember when singers interpreted songs rather than belting the hell out of them? A lot of what passes for singing these days is actually song abuse.

The masterpiece among the Celeste Legaspi-Rolando Tinio collaborations is their version of Rodgers and Hart’s The Lady Is A Tramp. Their title: Ako’y Bakyang-Bakya. It’s not merely a linguistic translation, but an adaptation from one culture to another. The original lyrics are full of American references; Tinio placed the song firmly in a Philippine context while keeping its wickedly funny spirit.

I’ve wined and dined on mulligan stew and never wished for turkey
As I’ve hitched and hiked and grifted too, from Maine to Albuquerque

becomes

Ang hilig ko’y butong-pakwan, ayoko ng pastillas
Nagdi-jeep ako miski saan, hanggang sa Dasmarinas.

Zoom In: Bedspacers

Bedspacers is a Joey Gosiengfiao film, who is also known for directing Temptation Island, Underage, Katorse, et cetera.

This late 70's movie is about college students who have different issues, such as dirt, sex, & money (sounds like a TV show, yeah?).

Alma, Rio, & Amy are bedspacers. Al, Mark, & Orestes are also bedspacers. But their boardinghouses are different, but are just facing each other. That's why when they need to flirt, it's merely a breathing distance to their place.

Alma is a prostitute; she does that to pay her tuitions. She is expelled by the school when Rio catch her having sex with a male student in a classroom.
Rio pretends to be a rich girl to chum up with the elites, especially with the male ones. The secret is revealed to Alma & Amy when her mother, played by Ms. Anita Linda, comes to their boardinghouse with two chickens & bundles of vegetables. Amy is a poor girl from a province; she is sent by her mother to study in U.E. because all their neighbor's children studied or are still studying in Manila. Amy's virginity disappears when Orestes makes love with her. She gets even pregnant and when Orestes is about to walk out the earth-because he is coward to face his responsibilities-she cries too hard, but her landlady brings her to an abortionist, played by the late Ms. Mary Walter, with a black suite and a black shades to match; and when she sees a sharp instrument that is about to put into her vagina, she runs away.
Orestes, as I said, makes Amy pregnant but he marries her in the end; but at the end of the film, both of them didn't graduate. Through Orestes , Al discovers that Alma was a prostitute.
Al is a brilliant student, in fact he always gets the highest scores on their exams. He is in love with Alma but, like what I said before, he is crestfallen when he knows that she is a bayarang babae. The love the he feels for her didn't stop him from accepting her (that's love, indeed).
Mark is also a poor student but her mother is doing everything for his-like always borrowing money fom others and selling their land- just for him to have a quality education (wish I had her). One time he came late in class that made his professor angry, then he defends himself and it is where his brilliance comes out; because of their argumentation, he has been warned that he might get failed (stressor no. 1). He is part of a stage play where a grouchy main cast, played by Ms. Laurice Guillen is included (stressor no. 2). When Mark is feeling tired, both mentally and physically, he talked to her directress, played by Deborah Sun, and gets a bolt of inspiration-through giving words of wisdom and through kissing. And through that, the play becomes successful. Mark continued to win Deborah's heart like by giving her three roses in the library, but the lady resists because she doesn't want to have an emotional problem (stressor no. 3). That's the time that the three stressors gather together enough to commit suicid; he jumps in a high building then dies.
The ending of the story is graduation.

Music, Memories, Magalona

Yesterday in Music & Memories, the show showed a video clip of Francis Magalona giving tribute to his father, Pancho Magalona, who was also an actor during the golden age of Philippine cinema, and died last 1998. Now, Francis, the king of Pinoy rap music, is being given tributes-tributes that he deserves.

True-blue artist
True-white heart
True-red-alert rapper
True-yellow-brilliant mind
True orange (ito ang gusto ko!)
The many colors of Francis M.

Hot & Cold

The weather is so hot it converges to my cranium.
I have cold; it's an irritating thing.

Birthday Bop

Thank you for those people who greeted.
It is appreciated.
And I'm not yet dead.
I'm not yet dead.

Not Shaken, Not Stirred

Last week, Edgar Cruz, editor of Stir, and I exchanged text messages about him, writing, and showbiz. When my load went down to zero, I used Chikka, there where Sir Ed replied. And when my sister opened the said web-based messenger, she told me that someone replied, that read, "I leave your comment on Monday".
To my surprise, I saw my comment along with the lawyer, director, writers, and people whom I don't know. Love it.

Time Of My Life

Last year, My letter to the editor appeared in The Manila Times, the country's oldest newspaper. It was also last year where I submitted my letter to The Daily Tribune, but it wasn't published.

Bookshelf: The Courage Consort

I've read the book The Courage Consort by Michel Faber.
It's easy a read.
It's a three collection of three novellas, such as Nine Hundred & Ninety-Nine Steps; The Fahrenhiet Twins; and The Courage Consort, which gives the title of this book.

Pets Marching On

At home, we have a duck, a chicken and a rabbit.

Bookshelf: Adventures In A Forgotten Country & Wuthering Heights

Two different books.
Two different nationalities.
Two different genres.
Two different centuries.

Same place where I found it-at the O'Brien Library.
Same week when I found it-2nd week of February.
Same emotion when I found it-joy.

Adventures In A Forgotten Country by Kerima Polotan-Tuvera.
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte.

Bookshelf: The Catcher In The Rye

I'm reading the book "The Catcher In The Rye".
I found this 1945 book in our school library.
True, sometimes your dreams come true.
The author of this book, J. D. Salinger, is the favorite of my favorite author, Jessica Zafra.

Bakit Blogging-Ganito?!

Masaya ako sa pagsusulat-sa papel, sa pader, at dito sa aking ika pitong blog account;
Pero, 'di ako masaya sa aking buhay. Hindi.

Kailan kaya mabibigyan ng tuldok ang buhay kong puno ng hirap at pasakit?

Lagi nga namin sinasabi ng aking kaibigang si Bibs, "ganyan talaga ang buhay". At minsan pa nga'y sabay naming kinakanta ito-kahit ang boses ko'y parang tunog ng isang lata na gamit pangsulat sa blakbord.

Bakit laging ganito?

Poem-Poem: What We're Up Against

This poem is written by John Gallaher, which is featured in Verse Daily.

Read.

Enjoy.

Here we go:

What We're up Against
On the way home from the funeral
we stopped for lunch.

Lunch was like the singing. Lunch
was like the flowers. The hole,

where we all began standing around
each other's buildings, eating,

and bringing more buildings with us.

When the air started thinning,
we sang that living was like this. We sang
for the ambulance

in front of the house. We waved.

The doctors stood around
mumbling
and checking off racing forms.

You breathed out and out
over the back wall you made
out of coke bottles.

Someone in the other room
was playing a piano.

What are we going to do now,
we asked, placing sandwiches

in front of the empty seat
over and over,

until that's all there was.

Zoom In: Tisoy!

Moment ago, I saw the comedy film, "Tisoy!", produced by N.V. Productions, or Nora Villamayor Productions (if you don't know this lady producer is, well, she is Nora Aunor).
This film was directed by, no less, Ishmael Bernal, who also directed "Himala" (CNN's Best Asia-Pacific Movie Of All Time).
Starring: Christopher de Leon (who was also the Executive Producer), Charo Santos, Jay Ilagan, Marian de la Riva, Bert "Tawa" Marcelo, Direk Sioxy Topacio, Dexter Doria, and more.
I liked the scene when they [the lead characters] were stuck on a traffic. I laughed so hard I cried.
And finally, Nora Aunor appeared during the last scene.

Bookshelf: The Empty Chair

I borrowed a book from Bien, my boardmate, and he lent me "Empty Chair" by Jeffery Deaver.
To be perfectly honest, I'm not big for crime & suspense-thriller books. But I read "Hardy Boys" series by Franklin Dixon (it's part of my reading backlogs).
I have still 400 pages to read before I give it back. Patience is a virtue.

Home Living

I came home yesterday morning. I'm supposed to take the exam, but the
money that my mother sent me was not enough to pay my tuition.
Crisis.

But then, I'm happy to be at home. I miss my family.
Love.

What will happen next?!
Uncertainty.

Three Things To Throw

I have three things to throw:

1.) The date that is showing on my blog is late for one day. So adjust.

2.) I want to die. I'm ready, I'm ready (not in a Spongebo- Squarepants-kind-of voice). I wish, as the wind blows, I would be flown away-without feeling the pain when I hit the place of course.

3.) Nothing more actualy.

Truly, Madly, Deeply

I'm in rage;

Truly, madly, deeply.

Roar! Roar! Roar!

Backfighters should be stirred.

Roar! Roar! Roar!

Yes, Yesterday!

Yesterday
I was not that physically tired, just mentally and emotionally.

Yesterday
I attended the mass, and I saw my ex-crush, namely John Christian, who immediately became my crush again aha-ha-ha!

Yesterday
I went to Sarah Grace's house. I missed her. She offered me foods.

Yesterday
I slept early, still mentally and emotionally tired.

I Know Year

This day is the beginning of a new year.
new hope, new loops;
new triumphs, new trials;
new fun, new frown.

This 2009 through God's help, I'll be just fine. I pray. Help me to pray.

This is another fixed time to be aware that challenges are glued to my life. I'm used to it, but still feel down and tired.

This is my new style of writing here on my blog. Writers Ellen Hopkins and Rosie O' Donnell are under my skin and muscles.

This I say Happy New Year to everyone, and good-bye.

And So This Is Christmas

Merry Christmas to all,
and to all God bless.

Yet Another Not-So Happy Christmas

Sigh...
I'm depressed.
I'm bumped in a hump-as always.
Anyway, Merry Christmas!
God bless us, everyone.

Give Peace A Chance

Last Week I was with my friends, then suddenly I saw Myka and Joseph, she hugged me and I hugged her back. I said sorry with sincerity to match. The reason-the only reason-why I decided to make peace with her, was because I wanted peace. Enough said. Though, I would not retract the things I said before. Ever. I protected my bestfriend Chelay, and my views mattered-like in The View.

P.S. I know friends come & go. So be it. Good bye, good bye.

Bookshelf: Still Talking

I'm currently reading Still Talking by Joan Rivers.
I love her; I hate her wrong grammars.

I'm Back Again ( I Really Hope)

I can't write not because I have nothing to write, but because I don't like to.
Many happened already, it even seems like it is happening over and over again. Well, I'm used to this kind of life-up and down, down, and down, and down. I Pray to the Father that the table will turn very soon.
God bless us all.