a mixture of deranged insanity

It’s funny how you want something - you want to know something - but information seems to be unreachable.

Can easily be reached yet too far.

Every afternoon last week, we experience short but strong rains. To better describe the situation, it was a stormy downpour complete with strong winds, lightning, and thunder that only lasts for merely less than an hour or so.

We all know that in our country, specifically in Metro Manila, a few minutes of rain will definitely drown us. I’m not exaggerating for that matter. Most of us have experienced it a lot of times already, especially those who go to the poor city of Manila. For only 10 minutes of rain, we get flooded streets.

Just the other day, I came face to face with knee-high or almost thigh-high flood. Guess where? No place else than the historical España. Everybody knows that. What’s new? Anyway, I got stuck there for nearly 3 hours. Automobiles of all shapes, sizes, brands, and purposes had their hoods open, got their engines dead. Some drivers just wait for the water level to decrease in order for them to be able to cross.

People were everywhere. Some dared to walk in the black goo. Others stayed on high places although their feet were still submerged in ankle-high waters. Many of the street people even had the guts to make money out of the unfortunate situation. How? By letting others walk on their so-called bridge made of wood, benches, or hollow blocks. No pay, no pass. You cannot go to the other side without dropping some coins in the container held by someone at the start of the "stepping stones".

Good thing, the driver of the FX where I was, knew how to avoid that dirty "ocean". If not, then I would be spending the entire night there. I thought, "I would rather kill myself than walk out there if the driver lets us out when his engine dies".

Who the hell, in this great wide world, would want to walk in thigh-high flood of black waters full of human and animal crap with unknown rotten garbage of all shapes and sizes? Just imagine those unidentified swimming things slithering around your legs, getting squeezed between your toes, or worse, sucked in your pores and all the way into your bloodstream.

I don’t know. I’m getting sick with all these. Just a vision of the situation makes me want to add some sticky puke fresh from last night’s dinner in that flood along with the sh*ts and trash.

Naranasan mo na ba na may tinanong sayo pero ang sagot na gustong marinig ng nagtanong ay wala sa mga binigay niyang pagpipilian?

Magulo pero nagegets mo naman diba?

Kagaya na lang sa plane. Tatanungin ka ng kung sinong astang concerned sayo kung ano gusto mo kainin. Syempre magbibigay siya ng choices. Pero hindi na available yung mga sinabi niya.

Parang gusto mo na lang sabihin in a very sarcastic way:

"wow! nagtanong ka pa! at nagbigay ka pa ng choices ah! lupet!"

Iisipin mo nantitrip lang yung crew. At ikaw ang mapalad at napiling pagtripan. Syempre magtitimpi ka ng asar. Maraming tao, nakakahiya gumawa ng iskandalo. Akalain pang nag-aamok ka at gusto mang-hijack ng eroplano. Maraming ganyang eksena. Usong-uso.

Bet tayo, alam mo yung mga ganitong scenario. =p

I just did something very, very, very stupid.

I mean, how stupid of me to have done that!!

I feel so awful now…

I shouldn’t have clicked that tiny thing. If so, then I would still be able to live a normal life. Now everything’s ruined. It’s all gone in just a single snap of the mouse button. It cannot be undone. No way, no how.

Should I just rely on my memory to be able to retrieve what was written there?

My memory with lots of gaps in between???

I don’t think so.

F*** that s***!!!

What the hell was I thinking???

Jumping into never ending cliffs, falling down the abyss, freezing myself into ice, burning myself into ash, pulling the trigger to my head, breaking my neck, cracking my skull, cutting my throat, smashing my bones, driving a stake through my heart, dismembering my body, etc etc etc…

Killing myself - for short.

Does anybody know what this means?

Nobody. No one. Nothing.

Ano na namang kaguluhan ito? Tsk!

Delikado. Riot. Basagan ng bungo pag nagkataon.

Panu ba ko napasok dito? Patay na.

Tas panu pa ko makakatakas? Patay na talaga.

Sumalangit nawa.

What’s happening to me??

Is this the side effect of… I don’t know what?

I’m a monster, I’m telling you! A hideous creature of pure evil!

I can’t believe I have this demonic laughter… And it comes out naturally every so often… Instances? Well, everytime I see or notice something that is… *TOOT*… Sorry dear friends. I can’t blurt it out. I’d be dead meat for sure! For cruelty and utter wickedness.

Better safe than sorry. But I just can’t prevent myself from being like a "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" creature. I can’t shut my eyes or blur the things I see. This is the way I perceive. This is me. Nothing but evil and all the words that can describe it. Learn to live with it. Or better yet…

LIVE WITH IT.

i wish to awaken this sleeping medium…

Last November 26, 2006 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, we were grateful enough to catch Bakeretta-Ghost Operetta on its last day of showing.

Weeks ago, I noticed this poster all over the walls of the school. As a lover of horror, the scary image easily caught my eye. Upon noticing the far location and expensive ticket price of the play, my interest suddenly vanished. However, when we were assigned to watch this play at a half price, my hopes went high again.

It was my first time to set foot in the CCP. We were seated at the second row right in front of the platform. Being positioned very near the stage, I was amazed at the nice view of the set. I became excited upon realizing how so close we would be to the actors.

Soon enough, the show began. What was good about it was that it started exactly on time, which was a clear evidence of discipline among the cast and crew. As the first character appeared, I noticed the occasional use of a Visayan dialect. Our province is in Iloilo, so I was able to understand the conversations.

The story revolved around the dramatic life and comedic performances of the members of a small theater group, and how they survived the difficulties and implications of losing their beloved director. The first one to appear onstage was a serious Bitchay, played by Mailes Kanapi, which was way different from her role as the funny principal in their theater production "The Ghost in the Toilet". Thea, on the other hand, was the most dramatic character within the entire play. She was portrayed by Irma Adlawan, a familiar face we always see on TV. Though she didn’t have an alterego, her professional dramatic acting in Bakeretta touched the emotions of the audience. One of the funny alterego characters was Mr. Espiritu, played by Bong Cabrera. He was so energetic and lively onstage, but his portrayal as Raul was serious and dramatic as well. Another alterego character that I liked best was the gay version of Ms. Catuparan and the toilet ghost which was played by Randy Villarama. His acting as a gay was very hilarious all throughout, especially in scenes with Mr. Espiritu. Like all the other cast, he also had his own slice of a dramatic scene in which the most striking was when he got mad at Raul. Another most remembered character was Esting, the butt-revealing skeleton, played by Paolo O’Hara. Of course, he became the laughing matter of the play when he, as I’ve said and as we all have seen, revealed his butt. Also, everyone in the audience noticed that everytime he comes out onstage, he always carries with him something to eat like chips. Another one who stood out was the character Claudette, the original Ms. Catuparan, played by Wenah Nagales. Though she was hated by the rest of the characters and mostly the cause of conflicts in their play because of her tardiness and lack of discipline, she was still being cared for because of her asthma attacks during drama scenes, and not to mention her being the daughter of the theater sponsor. The oldest of all was Dante Balois. He played as the ever loyal Manong Kokiks and the funny "manananggal" who suffers from memory gap. Most of all, we must not forget the beloved director of their play, the reason for all their hardships, Ago. He was played by the famous actor Nonie Buencamino. By judging on what kind of director he is, his passion and perseverance to finish the play intended for children was clearly seen. He wanted to accomplish something before he dies. However, he passed away with an unfinished business. Then came the rest of his theater people who finally decided to continue what he had started even though they struggled with others who thought of quitting already. These were the main characters.

As a whole, Bakeretta was super fantastic. I loved the way they incorporated horror, comedy, drama, and musical all in one. I very much enjoyed the scene wherein 4 or 5 "sadako" creatures popped out of nowhere all over the set right in front of us. Everyone screamed and I liked it.

But what I really loved the most was the performance by the trio, Nar Cabico, Leo Ponseca, and Nicco Manalo, who called themselves the Balangaw Ensemble. Though they seemed to be just backup dancers and helpers in the set of "The Ghost in the Toilet" play, their multi-talented and highly entertaining performance during or right after the 10-minute break was simply amazing. The threesome were just so hilarious and very talented, not to mention cute, as they performed their own version of Christmas songs and other funny antics.

I hope I could see some more plays of this kind.

The first ever Student Advertising Congress was held last November 22-23, 2006 at the Aliw Theater. Its tagline was BY4Y, which means “By the Youth, For the Youth”. Dan Villa, the SAC Chairman, who said that this event was created for the 2.7 million Filipino youth belonging to advertising related courses, pioneered this.            

The purpose of this event was to mold students in communication and allied courses into quality graduates who will eventually become highly qualified and competitive advertising practitioners. Day 1 featured talks from topnotch main people of different advertising agencies and companies. The segment that got the audience excited was “Saan ka Swak sa Advertising?” In this talk, people from different categories under advertising discussed opportunities in the creative, media, accounts, production, TV network, and radio network areas of the field. The second day included the showing of the best commercials from past to present, sharing of experiences by young apprentices in the field of advertising, and late night was the awarding ceremony, which we no longer attended.                  

The entire event was indeed fulfilling for all the delegates in many colleges and universities nationwide. Being the very first advertising congress for students, it already provided enough knowledge and information about the field, aside from the freebies. Since this was only the start of holding a congress like this, its success will surely lead to more student-centered activities from other fields, not just advertising.