Wednesday, October 29, 2008

1st college semester meme.

Grabbed from Martha.

Instructions: Think back to your first semester in college. Let's see how much you remember and how much you regret.

(Out of boredom, I'll answer for both 1st semester of my two schools, hahaha.)

What section were you?
UST: ID 1-1
CSB: GG7
 
Who were your seatmates?
UST: It was usually either Kaye or Nine.
CSB: RA and Jops.
 
Still remember your English teacher?
UST: I forgot, but it was this old guy that sounded like Elvis when he talked.
CSB: I forgot his name too, but my PHILIEN teacher usually spoke with a weird English accent and wore a toupee that didn't match his real hair.

What was your first class?
UST: Graphics at 7am
CSB: Algeb at... 8am?

Best friends?
UST: Fran, Jill and Clarz were my closest friends.
CSB: My best friend Rosa was right across the street. Usually I'm with RA and JP.

How was your class schedule?
UST: So-so. My only qualm was Mondays because of the 7am class and no break until 5 in the afternoon. Yes, literally no break. My schedule on that day was 7 to 12 then 12 to 5.
CSB: Pretty good. I get huge breaks on MWF, hahaha. So I use that time to cross the street to DLSU and hang out with Rosa.

Made any enemies?
UST: None. I was too much of an introvert that I hardly talked to anyone enough to make enemies, hahaha.
CSB: None din, I guess. I was too nice when I started out, ahehe.

Who was your favorite teacher/s?
UST: None. I despised them all.
CSB: Sir Beni.

Sport?
UST: Ballroom dancing in PE!
CSB: I didn't have PE during my first term.

Back then, do you always buy your lunch?
UST: Yep. I stayed in a dorm where there was no food, so we all had to go out to buy. My bunkmate (our room is composed of 6 bunkbeds, so 12 girls stayed in the room) used to frequent Goldilocks because it's the closest.
CSB: Yep. Pao-tsin ang pinaka sikat!
 
Were you a party animal?
UST: Nope. Sobrang introvert nga eh.
CSB: Nope, but I think people thought so.
 
Were you well known in your school?
UST: Nah, takot lang silang lumapit sakin because I looked like I didn't feel like talking to anyone outside my clique.
CSB: No rin, because I was too eccentric naman daw, haha.
 
Did you get suspended/expelled?
UST: Nope.
CSB: Nope.
 
Can you sing the alma mater?
UST: Never learned it.
CSB: I've been a Lasallian since birth, of course!
 
What was your favorite subject?
UST: Design fundamentals.
CSB: Philien (Philippine Literature in English).

What was your school's full name?
UST: University of Santo Tomas
CSB: Back then it was De La Salle University - College of Saint Benilde.
 
Where did you go most often during breaks?
UST: To my dorm to sleep, to try out new food in the other streets, or to Robinson's Place.
CSB: To the library, Rosa's building in DLSU, her condo, my cousin's condo...

What color of pen do you always use?
UST: Black technical pens. I often used them in notes as well.
CSB: Black

Recited often?
UST: Nope.
CSB: Yes.
 
Ever cheated?
UST: Yep.
CSB: Yep.

Do you bring your own paper and pen?/
UST: Pen, yes. Paper, I always had to sneak out of the room to get paper, along with everyone else, hahaha.
CSB: Yes, girl scout kuno ako, haha.
 
Are you in the top ten of your class/es?
UST: I doubt it.
CSB: I had no idea.

Favorite things to do in class?
UST: Doodle. Pass notes with Jill. Write notes when I'm actually listening, especially in Art history.
CSB: Doodle.
 
Classmates you didn't like?
UST: I hardly knew anyone outside my clique enough to not like them.
CSB: *shrug*
 
Subjects with highest grade?
UST: Forgot.
CSB: It was either Philien or Bibstud.

Lowest?
UST: Graphics.
CSB: Algeb.

Ever had a crush? Who?
UST: None. I had a boyfriend back then, though.
CSB: Yes, ahehehe. My seatmate in Bibstud class that used to be in Philippine Idol, hehehe. Yes, him.
 
What's your theme song for him/her?
UST: None. Corny ko, haha.
CSB: I don't have any but I do recall what he sang in class. Quandary from Trumpets' Little Mermaid.

Which of your classes was he/she in?
UST: Wala. He was still in Zobel. Nyahahay!
CSB: Bibstud nga eh.
 
Fave events in 1st sem?  
UST: I never went to any events.
CSB: Did I see any then?
 
What are your favorite classrooms?   
UST: That corner room in the 5th floor. Plus the one in the 4th floor where we took our Philippine Art History midterms. I forgot.
CSB: D405? I forgot, basta it's somewhere there.

Do you sleep in class?
UST: Never tried.
CSB: Nope. That was the study area was for.
 
Ever thought of burning your school?
UST: Nah.
CSB: Nah.
 
Ever messed with a prof?
UST: Nope.
CSB: Nah, I was very polite this term.
 
What do you miss most in your 1st sem?
UST: My clique. Hanging out at "Hard Rock," that huge piece of rock outside our building.
CSB: The original block.
 
If you could go back in time and do it all over, would you?
UST: No way.
CSB: Ditto.
 
Favorite PE?
UST: Dance.
CSB: I didn't have PE this term.
 
Where do you spot the hot girls in your school? 
UST: Why would I want to spot the hot girls?
CSB: Same question applies here. Ask my blockmates.
 
Ever gone on a field trip?
UST: Nope.
CSB: I took my blockmates to a play by Rep called Murder for Rent. They had to do a paper on it for their Aesthet class, which I didn't have.
 
Org?
UST: None. Though Frances was inviting me to with her to join Teatro Tomasino.
CSB: Let was recruiting me for YFC-CSB as one of it's first members.
 
Dorm, boarding house or your home?
UST: Dorm.
CSB: Went home.
 
If you had your way, what was your dream course/major?
UST: Maybe I would've pushed a little more and took up Painting or Advertising. Painting, preferably.
CSB: Same same.
 
First ever person you knew?
UST: I met Farrah during enrollment. Kaye on the supposed first day (which got suspended).
CSB: RA.
 
First play you ever watched?
UST: Shoot, I never got to watch a play then.
CSB: Before the term started, it was Rep's Kiss of The Spiderwoman, starring Tita Menchu. Then there was Murder for Rent.

Ever been recruited by a frat or sorority?
UST: Nope.
CSB: Nope.
 
Is it fun in your school?
UST: I only enjoyed learning how to draw and being with my clique.
CSB: Yes! I felt back home in a Lasallian environment.
 
Ever gone rallying?
UST: Nope.
CSB: Nope.
 
Did you ever dream of having latin honors for your first sem?
UST: Nope.
CSB: Nope, walang ganyan eh.
 
If you weren't studying in your present school now, where would you go?  
My cousin Val was trying to get me into UCLA or USC. If I really had my way, I would've gone to either school or Cornish College in Seattle.

What do you remember most about 1st sem?
UST: Ang hirit ni Fran na "Depende sa genes." HAHAHAHA! The corner of the library where we saw something used, hehe. Free rides with Wonmi on Saturdays.
CSB: The crazy block. Visiting Velasco Hall at least once a week. Parking in the back while waiting for Aris and Gonx. Ice skating on course card day.

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Learning how to bookbind.

Yay, a new craft! Hahaha. I was making a scrapbook this past week, but I didn't really want to spend too much on the actual scrapbook, so I decided to make everything from scratch. But as I kept on working on the pages, I still didn't know how to bind everything together nicely.

Then I remembered a couple of years ago that I saw a link from an LJ friend's blog that gives a step-by-step tutorial, so I had to search her blog for that link, hahaha. Thanks for keeping tags, Angela!

So I learned how to divide the pages into signatures, then sewed all of the signatures together before I had to glue the spine and create a simple cover.

A few pieces of paper folded together...


...transformed into a small nicely-bound scrapbook, yay.


Maybe I could turn this into a hobby. I really enjoyed putting it together.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

While sitting at a table at Kenny Rogers.

Just a thought. I keep seeing guys toting the handbags of their girlfriends/wives, no matter how small and girly they may be. I mean, what's up with that?

OK, so chivalry isn't dead. I would've taken up on any guy's offer to carry my bag for me if it's something big, heavy, and bulky. If I'm carrying some girly bag, I always decline offers like that to save the guy from embarassment, hahaha. C'mon, it's so funny seeing a guy carrying even the smallest girly purse for their significant others. And what about those girls who actually enjoy letting their boyfriends getting stared at while having those bags slung over their shoulders... Hahaha, maawa naman kayo sa image at manhood nga mga lalaki.



Hehehe, here's another photo from that same place I got that from...

Hahaha, yeah, add spice to your life... pero sad to say, pepper and gravy lang po ang available today.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Another Hogi Hall weekend.

"I didn't know na party girl ka pala," Gino had told me through text yesterday morning.
"I'm not, hahaha," I said.

Because Carlo will be leaving for Spain soon, our clique decided to have another Saturday night get-together at his house. But before then, a bunch of us had other plans beforehand.

Aris had planned to take Rosa to Ascend, and Josh and I got to tag along, especially since Josh was the one who knew how to get us in. I honestly have no flair for the party scene, but because I'm a loyal friend, I went along, hahaha. We first went to Antakya in Festival Mall for a couple of drinks, and of course I wanted to catch another round of videoke by Kim (who singled me out in passing). Rosa was more than happy to have a couple of Caipirinhas, hehehe.

Off to Ascend afterwards, and during the ride, we noticed that Rosa was already in her "happy place," hahahaha. But given that she can still teeter around without tipping over, she was still ready to drink and party. If she was game, so was I. I was just glad that I really wasn't into the whole hiphop clubbing scene, so I wasn't expecting to see any familiar face. While I was thinking that, to my surprise I suddenly find Jay in the crowd, ahehehe. As it turned out, he goes there a lot. Hahaha, anyway, the whole time we were there, drinking and dancing, Carlo was calling and texting each of us, until sometime after midnight, we finally decided to leave and head over to Carlo's.

We sort of got stuck in a little traffic jam on the way there, but we managed to make a detour. Hahaha, the whole time, Rosa was either chattering away or quietly taking a power nap. By the time we had arrived at Carlo's (Seph, Raffy and Mylah were there as well), she was super talkative and everyone had confirmed she was drunk, hehe. After brief hellos, we dug into the food as we were all starving. Raffy and Mylah had to leave after a while, so the rest of us kept eating and drinking, all the while talking about whatever things we could come up with. Aris even conked out on the sofa for quite a time, while Rosa alternated between bouts of sobreity and talking in German during her drunken stupor.

Favorite moments:
- The "Mai way."
- "...Nothing happens..."
- The stomp dance.
- The Malate experience.
- "May I have this dance?"
- The perennial best man.
- Who turned out gay?
- Almost every other conversation topic reverts to gayness.
- Everyone changes. You've changed. She's changed. He didn't.

Oh, the list goes on.

Carlo, Josh, Seph and I wrapped up sometime past 6 in the morning. Oh yeah, I love these walang tulugan talks with my boys, hahaha.

Friday, October 17, 2008

Bonding time with Nix.

It's been quite a while since I last hung out with Nikki, and yesterday in ATC was the perfect opportunity to do so. I was pretty grateful that she doesn't have training in PAL for about a week so we can just bum around.

Nix is actually one of the first few people outside my clique that I can really be myself with. I had never thought I'd be this close with someone I had worked with. When I had said that after our first production together, there would be a pretty slim chance of getting together again, she was the first person who had reacted. Due to our close bond, we've become inseparable years after my thesis days. When I stopped visiting Taft a few years ago, we still made an effort to see each other or talk on the phone til the wee hours of morning. She taught me to be more open-minded, to be more transparent, and of course, to maintain the sanity of my crazy self.

We can talk for hours talking about anything under the sun, from the most profound topics to the most mundane. And that's what we did the entire time yesterday. Seriously, Nikki is the only person I know who can possibly think of crazy questions like "Paano kaya pag square ang mga gulong ng mga sasakyan?" and really be serious about it. And not only that, she'd even analyze its possibilities (or lack of it). And no matter where we sit or stand, she never loses her poise. Nikki is the type of girl whose elbows always get in the way of your immediate space, and always has her pinky up. Hahahaha! I would support her crazy taste in well, everything (haha, just to be safe), and she'd support my indulgence in my eccentricities. So anyway, we spent the day going around the mall, eating, talking and a little bit of shopping. Typical girl bonding, hahaha.

That was an afternoon well spent.

Ooh, I didn't get to watch Leo's short that featured Nicco and Martha. Can't wait for the 25th to check it out. Hopefully I can make it in time after my EM stint in Makati.

Monday, October 13, 2008

Inspired by Lara's entry about leading men.

Lara once posted an entry in her LJ that was inspired by Lea's most recent Backstory column, which was a tribute to some of her leading men. Now both Lea's column and Lara's blog inspired me to do the same tribute to some of the men I've shared the stage with.


Ryan Flores
Hahaha, I just have to include this diva. When we did Beauty and the Beast for Greenstage, I hardly rehearsed with him because our schedules had clashed. I rehearsed with Drei, who was his understudy, instead. When he was one of my lead actors in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, he already had that diva vibe, so I was pretty relieved that I hardly rehearsed with him in Beauty and the Beast. But whenever he was there, I have to admit, he was always prepared, being the professional actor that he claimed to be. Hahaha, with that, it did make our kissing scene less awkward. If only he had learned how to carry me without letting my skirt flutter to give the audience a good peek-a-boo of what was underneath, hahaha. Funny, ang plastic pa yata ng smiles namin when we did our final dance during the closing show. "Goodbye forever, sister," we both said.


Jerald Napoles
As title role in Maria Milagros Barbarosa, I had no idea who was playing my love interest prior to filming. Je was called at the last minute. His looks fit the role like a glove. Kargador nga kasi ang itsura, hahaha. And the whole time he was there, we hardly talked, even more when we filmed our scene, but there was a lot of staring involved. I guess I sort of got intimidated by him only because I knew that he was an actor in some of Tanghalang Pilipino's plays. When he opened his mouth and sang, he also had a clear voice that was sort of a weakness of mine when it came to guys. We only got to talk a few months after the filming had finished, when we got re-introduced in TP and dated for a while.


Nicco Manalo
This may come out sort of biased, as Nicco is the closest to me among all of these guys. We sort of paired ourselves together as Napthali and wife in my thesis' restaging, and we thought that was that. We're pretty tight as psuedo-siblings, and I guess our rapport and audition performances for our recital of Our Town showed, because we got paired together as Emily Webb and George Gibbs. When we heard our names for the cast over dinner at Mang Inasal, we stared at each other silently, then laughed and high-fived across the table. But during the rehearsals, he admitted to not having done an onstage kiss yet, so we both compromised. Even with that, there was never a hint of awkwardness felt, plus Nicco's a very talented actor, then and now, and there's a great deal of trust between us, even though we really argue like siblings. Love you, baby bro.


RJ Camangon
In Blue Jeans, he played Alfie to my Dina. As I was his "Syotang Pa-class," he was my "Syotang Bakla," HAHAHAHA! During workshop exercises, he was always in check, always stopping to think. Roeder always had to surprise him so he would think and move faster. But when I first heard this guy sing, I fell in love with his voice. And he's got his own killer moves, plus teaches body jam before class to anyone who's interested. And no, Lara, I'm not posting the motel scene photo, hahaha. Anyway, speaking of the motel scene, we were warned about it from the very beginning when Roeder started casting us, but I guess we still sort of felt awkward about it, because RJ had claimed "that it was unnatural" for him, ahehe. But on the week of the show, we pulled it off pretty well, and got a lot of laughs for that scene alone.


Alvin Castro
The final choice for Alan to my Margaret in Nemesis. Haha, for a while, I sort of thought that the role was jinxed, because we always had a hard time looking for a guy who would play Alan. We were already hoping that Tad would be my Alan, but his other commitments suddenly became in conflict with our rehearsal schedule. Finally, Alvin finally got the role. Awkwardness galore, as for some reason, I had a tough time creating the relationship of our characters with him. There was always something missing on my part, and he was always on auto-correct mode whenever he made a mistake. But little by little, we shed our itty-bitty inhibitions as the show date drew closer. We trusted each other when it came to how we spoke and moved. I will never forget the show when he once called me by the name of Betty's character. I had to speak right away, otherwise he might auto-correct himself again.

Alvin: Alam mo bang dating scholar itong si Margaret?
Me: AKO??? Baka siya! (Pointing to Betty, who was playing Barbara)

John Baliza
He played the title role in Tartuffe opposite my Elmire. We worked together before in Beauty and the Beast when he played Roberto (Pinoy version of Cogsworth), so I already knew him then. Because he was already a friend, it wasn't pretty hard to establish a good rapport with him, and the awkwardness of the seduction scene was only funny because like RJ, it was unnatural for him as well. Hahaha, we managed to be in sync, despite the super long lines. We even devised an unspoken code whenever one of us forgot a line because he keeps forgetting his. In the end, I was the one who most often used it, hahahaha! What was hilarious about John was that even though we already knew each other from a past production, I only got to see how crazy he can be in Tartuffe. Here's to another toast!

Of course, the leading man that tops my list is the one that I haven't performed with before. Hahahaha.


Sunday, October 12, 2008

Nth "cast party" and Aris' birthday celeb.

Off to Apple's pad again yesterday afternoon, as a result of Friday morning's settlement. It seemed like we always have a sort of cast party whenever we're there. We were never without food, thanks to Apple, Pres and Chieboy's hospitality. Neil also brought pizza and ice cream yesterday, as an excuse not to question him about his newly-shaved head, ahehehe.

Updates and release of fees occurred, and as usual, none of us can't stay away because of the company. I've grown to love this group of crazy people ever since I first started rehearsing with them. My favorite part during that afternoon was (aside from the food) after Chie had slipped on this wig that he had borrowed from Jerome, when he along with Pres and Geli improvised some crazy "radio show" that evolved into two more radio shows. Hahahaha! I was supposed to leave early that time, but I couldn't help staying a bit more until a little after the 3rd "show" started.

Even though there are still pending stuff, I hope things won't end here. I did overhear some talk about doing a new show. Can't wait for that.

Back to the south to meet with Rosa. Aris had arrived last week and didn't get to celebrate his birthday, so this weekend was the perfect time to do so. Good excuse for another get-together, yay. So anyway, Rosa and I promptly arrived at 7pm, because Aris had said 7pm. But of course, "barkada time" is always at least 2 hours after the said time, so we were super early, and ended up spending half an hour at the most watching TV in Aris' room before we started getting hungry.

Ramon arrived soon after, then the rest followed. There was Raffy, PJ and fiancee Joy, Carlo (spur of the moment invite that Rosa almost forgot, hahaha!), Seph and Josh. Hehe, to satiate the almost weekly sushi craving, we mostly pigged out on tuna and salmon sashimi if we took a break from the usual two variants of pasta and barbecue.

It was so hilarious how we remembered to invite Carlo. We were just talking about this old photo of our entire clique (the most complete one that we posted in the yearbook) and about how to edit it (don't bother asking why, hehe). By the way, I had just remembered that night that Carlo used to be part of Sisig, the Dawn's alternate band in TP's production of EJ. Too bad he had quit before the band got hired to do the show. Hehehe, we also got Joy to tell us the story about how PJ had proposed to her.

"Sabihin mo kay Carlo na ngumiti siya pag dumating na siya."
"He wanted to go to People's Palace..." (Uhm... PJ, wala sa Tagaytay ang People's Palace. Palace in the Sky, maybe?)
"Toast... to PJ and Josh...AY SHET! JOY pala!"
"So nag-bowling din kayo? What is it with Tagaytay?"

Aside from all the quips and jokes, we managed to look back at the good ol' (and innocent? Haha) days, we even got out the yearbook from when we were seniors in high school. Wahaha, I was ready to laugh at each of the clique's "Most Likely To" and "20 Years From Now." Crazy. But of course, I love these people. Same day next week, you guys.

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Look back. What do you/we remember?

Last night, Maika sent me this text message:

FLASHBACK!

Text me one memory we had together. The 1st one that pops in your head. Keep this going and see what the remember about you.

I immediately replied with a memory of the two of us hanging out together in her dorm, McDo Taft, and the now defunct AKU. My goodness, the memories came rushing back. As we were texting each other, we both couldn't believe that over 5 years had already passed since then.

I turned it into sort of exercise, reminiscing what I could, both good and the bad. Yep, even the bad. I smiled at the memory of it, and didn't have any regrets of anything that had happened. Remembering the bad stuff meant that I managed to go through it and survive.

So I, in turn, also sent the same message to my friends. Every reply triggered a memory, usually something funny. From the replies I got, here are some of my favorites.

Betty: Nung nag mother and daughter day. (Mamma Mia pa ang pinanood namin na movie, hahaha. By the way, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!)
Cindy: Sandal mo sana ang ulo mo sa ulap... (Uhm, Cindy, hindi ba unan yun instead of ulap? Hahaha, Blue Jeans days will never fade.)
Dingdong: You wearing the pink hairband with the antennae. (Randomness during Tartuffe rehearsals. I just found this fuzzy hairband in one of the seats. In retaliation, I told him that my memory of him was his Cogsworth-looking wig in the play.)
Dyown: ZsaZsa Zaturnnah days. (Syempre, dito nabuo ang BFFs, hahaha!)
Trency: Early birds behind CCP. (During the summer, Trency and I always found each other hanging out at the South Entrance before class. At first we used to just study and rehearse scene, but then it evolved into small talk.)
Geli: Nung first time tayo nagkita sa rehearsals sa San Isidro na super "po" ako sa inyo nina Jojo. Hahaha! (Tama bang patandain pa ako lalo? Ahehehe. I was actually surprised to find out that they still sort of knew me from before my thesis was supposed to collaborate with their college org.)
Mia: Doubt! Hehe! (I can never forget the "chatroom" established over the headset, and how Bea had caught me lying on the prop bench--ready to sleep, I might add--from the other side of the stage. And of course, those quotable quotes.)
Lara: My top of my head memory. Corsets! When we helped each other. Classic! (This was how we became "breast friends." Hahaha.)
Lav: At Nemesis with you adlibbing because your co-actor flubbed a line. (My goodness, I was always in check while acting with Alvin in Nemesis because he always automatically corrected himself whenever he made a mistake. Thank goodness we managed to make things a little funny when I sort of improvised. And I was super duper glad to see Lav and Arni in the audience after not seeing them in 2 years.)
Nicco: Umuuwi tayo magkasabay tapos nagsusulat sa pad ko habang nasa bus. (Hahaha, I was always his human diary, especially when it came to his dreams and heartaches. We even made a special blog together just for certain thoughts and evolved into another blog with Drei.)

I was supposed to write a "back on this day" blog entry. But this is much better. What about you? What's the 1st memory you can think of of us together? Or you can share a memory of your own from any year at this exact time.

By the way, I heard that Marj just gave birth to a healthy baby girl. Congrats, Marj!

Thursday, October 9, 2008

In the waiting room.

The title just sort of describes my state of mind right now. Not really related to the rest of this blog entry, hahaha. Anyway. Waiting. Waiting for things to be resolved. Waiting for at least a couple of things to happen. I've been jumping at things for some time now that I've been told that I need to stop doing so. So now I'm slowing things down. Lie low and wait.

I was chatting with Lara a few days ago about that "ilang factor" Betty and I had talked about at least once or twice a couple of years ago. I have to admit, I do recall a lot of "ilang factors" right on up until the day of the show at St. Scho. Then came the late night chats, get-togethers at Apple's house (I only got to go twice), and lost some of it. I guess. So maybe I'm not really that tight with certain people, if not most. But even in that short duration of time that I spent with these crazy people, I'd always stick up for them.

I'm not making sense, hahaha.

I logged in to my PinoyExchange account this morning and opened my inbox of private messages. There were some messages in there that came from a couple of YFC brothers I was pretty close to. And it was dated way back in 2001. They were both commenting on my rant that I had posted in my blog. I had ranted about their juvenile behavior, at how they acted pretty pious whenever they're obligated to do so, and act otherwise outside or even within the perimeter of our org's cubicle. I had never showed to them that I was pissed off or even annoyed at them, as I have been one of the org's prominent members in the beginning. I always went out of my way to take care of these people, and they treat everyone else like doormats or someone below their status.

An excerpt from Raphy's message:

You can't really say that you are too weird or too different for them to handle. We are all weird in our own ways. If they can't handle yours, then it's their loss. Maybe because their culture settings and upbringings are different from yours, but that's just that. But I believe that they really treasure your uniqueness from them. It's very hard to be associated in a group and to be recognized in a group. But it's way harder to be recognized as an individual. The only consolation is knowing that you will have personal fulfillment knowing that people know and respect you for who you are.

...I also told her that aside from her and you-know-who, there are two other sisters that I'm glad to be starting to relate to: one of them is ***** and the other is you. I think it was *** or *** who dubbed me as the "male version of Hogi". I found that comical, but I was flattered knowing that I have a sister in the community that I could relate to based on personality alone. And that was reason enough for me to say that I you are the type of "down-to-earth" people that I'm proud to be friends with. You don't really need to have a common bond with the others to be able to relate to them at first. It takes an extra effort to go up to the person and start a conversation with them.

It's a really crappy situation that we are all in, but it's what we have and it's up to us to make good on it. If they still don't like you by then, it's their loss becuase they don't appreciate your importance and the good things in you not only in the community, but as a person. When you do decide to stop keeping yourself scarce, I, as a brother in the community and as a friend, will support you.

God Bless.

Oh my gosh, I can't believe I've already been addicted to blogging back then (2001). I've been blogging for over nine years. Interesting.

Hahaha, I guess I'm just trying to make myself feel better during this gloomy and rainy day.

So on to some good news. I received a text from PJ early yesterday morning. He's getting married in January! Yahoo! Congrats, Peej!

Another bit of good news. A little project at the end of this month, yay. Thanks, Mandy!

Monday, October 6, 2008

Actors Company in Lab.

Got to catch the last show of TP Actors Company's recital yesterday. It's been a while since they last had a recital. The last time I actually saw one was a couple of years ago. The last recital (for Voice) they had last season didn't count, as my back was turned to them because I was tasked to be Paolo's page-turner, hahaha.

Arrived at CCP at the same time as Tad did (which was at least a couple of hours before the show began), as we rode the same shuttle, so we had lunch together first. OK, cheesy comment. I actually missed quality time with Tad that I was pretty giddy at the simple action of putting my hand in his, heeheehee. Anyway, after lunch, we bummed around in the LT lobby for a while with Riki and Chrome, taking advantage of the wifi internet.

When I left Tad in the LT dressing room with the rest of the AC to prep up (well, Anna was taking a nap and Russ was clowning around), I went with Shing to the Conference Room so we can find the best place to sit. Eventually we just hung around, goofing around with Max, then Betty.

Showtime. Tad and Kat's piece, Tragedy for Two, was up first. It was quite an interesting adaptation from Antigone, which I read only once for world drama class. OK, so I may be biased, but Tad's performance was pretty impressive, even though he said that everyone's energy was lower that day compared to the night before. I always knew that Kat is also a brilliant actress, thanks to her training, but I guess Tad overshadowed her a bit sometimes. Yet her actions were pretty clear.

After the first intermission, Bong and Wenah were next in The Lover. I remember Tad recommending this piece this summer when Mimay was hunting for a play we could do (just in case Nemesis didn't push through). I've always admired Wenah and Bong as actors, so their recital piece didn't disappoint me at all. I first thought that they were doing the original English piece, but I loved that they shifted to and from Filipino and one other native dialect (Bisaya?). Haha, I still can't get over Bong's Freudian slip, which also provided foreshadowing to his chorus role in the next play, HAHAHA.

Baby B was the third play after the second intermission. I've seen the staged reading of this play during last year's Virgin Labfest, with Anna as the title role. Tara took on the role of Baby B this time, Anna as Amy, and Riki reprised his role as Buddy. Russ played several types of customers, and Chrome was the Dupang guy. Tad, Kat, Bong and Wenah completed the ensemble, resembling phantoms from The Rocky Horror Show. Hmmm... maybe I just got used to the staged reading so I saw a pretty different Baby B that Tara had interpreted.

All in all, it was a pretty good show. I have to agree with Sir Joey Ting that TP needs to do shows like these to showcase what the Actors Company can do for Tanghalang Pilipino productions.

Congratulations to the TP Actors Company!

Randomness #N.

Just a thought. I feel as if I'm riding a bicycle down a hill, and my brakes are out. Even though it's pretty exhilarating to be riding at top speed and feeling the wind in my face, it's pretty scary as well as the ride gets out of control.

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Was watching Drumline the other night. I remember wishing that I could drum like that. Too bad I quit lessons before I developed the consistency. I did catch Jason Weaver doing the same thing I used to do when I play, which was saying the each sound of the beat out loud, hahahaha!

I just love that quote by Orlando Jones (Dr. Lee) to Nick Cannon's character saying that instead of making  the other guy look bad, he made himself look like a jackass, hehehe.

I also just realized then that the curtain call used in Kudeta was part of the final drum-off(?) in the last scene, as the first piece played by Morris Brown. Coolness.

Was texting Jojo during the entire movie as we were both watching it, hahaha.

The following night (last night), it was with Lara, as we both watched Knocked Up.

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Pulled out my old video camera and noticed that some of the V8 tapes haven't been labeled yet. My goodness, one of the unlabeled ones that I found were just rough cuts of the birthday greetings I made for Maika. Hahaha, I was laughing out loud when I saw my part as well as Peachy's. I really have to transfer these to CDs.

Saturday, October 4, 2008

The day was supposed to be boring, haha.

I was supposed to spend this entire Saturday just bumming around in my room, channel-surfing, online surfing, or just sleeping, hahaha.

Then early this afternoon, I got a call from Rosa, who happened to be a couple of blocks away from my house at Mocha Blends. As it turned out, Aris had dropped her off there while he goes off to Perpetual Help hospital for a general checkup. Even while she's armed with her German language homework, I knew it could get pretty boring hanging out for at least a couple of hours alone, so I walked over to join her for some girl talk over coffee and carrot cake.

Hahaha, good thing I did get off my bum and go to Mocha Blends. Otherwise, Rosa would have gone crazy over there. Aris arrived a little over a couple of hours later, starving, so the three of us headed to ATC. Hehe, Aris had his fill as he hadn't had any lunch yet, and Rosa curbed a craving that she couldn't exactly describe. I, on the other hand, finished 3 pieces of samosa that Rosa had bought earlier that day. Yummm. Then after we had our fill, of course I couldn't resist the call of Timezone, so I introduced Rosa to the game Drei and I got addicted to, hahaha.

Killed a little more time around the mall before we finally headed home. Thanks for the afternoon, Rosa. Can't wait for next week. Belated happy birthday, Aris!

Friday, October 3, 2008

Festival of Raw Artists.

Re-post from Toff's blog...


ARE YOU IN?!


Tickets are at 250 pesos on a first come first serve basis.
Please email us at friendsofrep@gmail.com, text TOFF at 09178908633 or reply to this post.


DATE: Friday, October 17, 2008
TIME: 730 to 10 PM
LOCATION: OnStage Theatre, Greenbelt 1
STREET: Paseo de Roxas
CITY/TOWN: Makati, Philippines


This showcase features actors Tara Tambunting, Christine Escudero, Marisse Borlaza, Farida Kabayao,Dingdong Rosales, Gabs Santos, and Kenneth Keng.

forArtists is a showcase of original, raw and innovative works by fresh Filipino playwrights Ino Habana (Stiletto Club) Recipient of Ateneo's Loyola Schools Awards for the Arts for Fiction and Joshua So (Portraits) fromDe LaSalle University (Batch 2007). 

This ONE NIGHT ONLY event will be a collaboration of theatre artists and aims to provide them with the opportunity to develop and exhibit their material on the REP stage.

This year Friends of Repertory or simply F.O.R was re-launched as a partner of Repertory Philippines (REP), comprised of theater performers and aficionados from various backgrounds and orientations. The group holds together for the love of REP and the long-term goal of instilling within the Filipino a key appreciation of theater and the performing arts.

With the aim of raising theater awareness and bringing the experience of theater to a broader audience, F.O.R.'s forArtists will highlight Repertory Philippines' thrust in building a theater industry that can provide actors, directors, designers, choreographers, musicians, dancers, and all those who would like to work in theater the opportunity to do so.

forArtists will continue F.O.R.'s mission to open up avenues in which all theater and non-theater- oriented members of the community may interact and collectively recognize the importance of theatre in society today.

Directing the plays are first time directors Jejie Esguerra for Stiletto Club and Jenny Jamora for Portraits.




Visit our facebook page and sign up through the guest list: forArtists at Facebook  or go to http://www.new. facebook. com/event. php?eid=26173884 428&ref=share

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Rehearsal of POC's La Boheme.

La Boheme is the greatest love story ever sung. So I was told.

Got to watch Philippine Opera Company's rehearsal of La Boheme yesterday evening, courtesy of Lorna Lopez. She and Karla Gutierrez invited bloggers to watch yesterday's rehearsal and in return, we get to post our reviews and reactions. Sounds like a pretty good publicity deal, haha.

We were told that the run would begin at 8pm, but I arrived pretty early to hang out in the lobby. Good thing for that, because I found Sundee and Santi, and they told me that the run would begin at 6pm. Immediately joined them in the house a few moments before the curtain rose to begin the first act.

Of course, it didn't really help that Sundee was sitting next to me and kept commenting and comparing each scene to a scene in Rent, harharhar. Santi was pretty much quiet, simply saying at the beginning of the show that he doesn't understand the entire Italian libretto and admitted that he hasn't seen Rent.

Anyway, with the direction of Floy Quintos and music by the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of international conductor Helen Quach, this version takes us to modern-day Manila, instead of the usual 19th-century Paris. The first act takes place in a penthouse owned by 4 friends--Marcello, Rodolfo, Colline and Schaunard. Of course, if you knew the entire story of Rent, you'd know that these 4 people could also be Mark, Roger, Collins, and Angel, respectively. Anyway, I actually loved how the set was designed. It really showed the condition of the penthouse, right on up to the roof. A projector from behind the scrim projected an image of a Manila skyline, complete with the moon and clouds moving from time to time. When another character, Benoit, comes in, Rentheads would automatically assume that it's Benny, and yes, he's there to collect the rent. To compare this to the musical, I actually liked how the four friends first welcomed Benoit, letting him drink beer/wine (that Schaunard had brought in earlier in the act) before throwing him out without paying the rent.

Of course, when Marcello, Colline and Schaunard go out and leave Rodolfo in the apartment, sure enough, Mimi enters the scene with a candle. Sir Floy had mentioned that this situation is very familiar to Pinoys, considering we still have blackouts and he even joked that we're most likely the only country that still uses candles, hahaha!

On to Act 2, which seems to take place in some public marketplace. I assumed that it was a nightspot somewhere in Malate. Harold, who was in that scene along with the huge chorus, had said later that the scene was along Manila Bay. Close enough, hehe. One thing that upset me in this act is that there were too many people. The place was too crowded and it felt like the crowd was pouring out of the stage. Given that, we could hardly find the lead characters in the scene because there was too much going on. Well, what did help a little was that the entire chorus was in black in white, leaving the lead cast decked in their colorful costumes and highlighted by follow-spots. Yet, the crowd was really too distracting. Maybe if they moved a little slower, it could help highlight the actors.

The third act was Sir Floy's favorite act, according to him. I did, too, haha. Taking place in an abandoned carnival where prostitutes and tambays hang out, the scene/act was about love that you can't live with and can't live without. I love the quartet of Mimi, Rodolfo, Musetta (yep, you got it--Maureen) and Marcello. One couple reconciles, while the other quarrels. As the scene progressed, I remember Bobby once mentioning that in musical theater, time is warped. Even though this is an opera, I do believe this is a pretty good example, because Rodolfo and Mimi bid each other farewell for the entire second half of the act.

We return to the penthouse for the 4th act. Again, Sundee inputs that this is the part where Collins manages to break into an ATM with Angel's help near the end of Rent, because Colline and Schaunard enter once again with food. Of course, that was before Rodolfo and Marcello lament over their lost loves. As the four friends goof around, there we go, Musetta enters with an ill Mimi.

This is where Sundee keeps complaining as to why Rodolfo and Mimi are smiling, when everyone knows that the latter is dying. Harold sort-of paitently explains that maybe they were remembering something good between them in the past, which is exactly what I was also thinking. Goes to show that you should do more research, Sundee, haha. You said that you've been listening to this opera since you were still in the Navy.

Anyway, this doesn't have an ideal ending as opposed to Rent, because Mimi actually dies. I do believe that the last words in this opera was Mimi's name, cried out by Rodolfo. And after she dies, our attention is suddenly turned to the backdrop, as all of the billboards in the skyline had changed to photos of the actress/singer playing Mimi.

One thing I have to say, I love how opera singers can project their voice. All throughout the run, I overheard Santi and Lorna, on separate occasions, say that since what we had seen was just a run, they still don't have their lapel microphones on. But upon hearing those voices, who needs them? I already knew that they won't be using any mics, and they're performing in the CCP Main Theater. Huwaw. May this be a good example to actors who get too dependent on their microphones, hahaha. I remember Miss Tess endlessly getting us to project inside the Little Theater during our acting workshop.

Considering that this is only a run-through, the orchestra was stopped several times by Helen Quach. Haha, so it's not perfect yet, but I have to applaud everyone who was involved in this production, especially Sir Floy. Thanks to you, Sir, for taking the time to talk to us right after the run.