kultura

Where Songbird fails to fly

It was undoubtedly poised for flight. Songbird was to be the only musical-variety show in a sea of reality shows, soap operas, asianovelas and the few sitcoms that have local TV’s daily primetime covered. It has as star Regine Velasquez, upon whom the label “Songbird” has been bestowed, and who is known for reinvention and defamiliarization – you think you know her and then she does something extraordinary; you imagine she’s done everything imaginable with her voice, and then she surprises you with CD upon CD of different songs; you buy her CDs, and even the way she looks is different every time. (more…)

kultura

a joyride with Marcus Highway

Marcus Adoro’s silence has given him legendary status—at least as far as Eraserheads fans are concerned.

After the breakup, while other members of the band remained visible, lead guitarist Adoro disappeared. A few years ago, a cassette tape entitled “KamonKamon” became available only to the fan who knew where to find it. (more…)

komentaryo

when judy ann and meralco fail to mix

What has Judy Ann done wrong by speaking for Meralco? She has, after all, sold practically everything.

Simply said, it is the fact that the truth she sells in the hotly contested ad is unlike any of the truths she declares in her other endorsements. In selling vinegar or ginisa mix, feminine wash and shampoo, laundry detergents and plastic ware, beer and diet pills, one can suspend belief and say, yes, those products may have worked for her, if not necessarily for others. (more…)

kultura

in defense of Ploning

Much has been said, in print and online reviews, about the narrative structure of Ploning. For some, it was a distraction, something that just made the story confusing; for others, it was there to make things more difficult or complex, given that the story seemed simple enough. Across the reviews, this narrative structure has been pinpointed as the reason for the problems with plot and characterization. (more…)

komentaryo

kaya ng powers ko! — or the patience for meralco

You know there’s something wrong when you don’t understand your bills di’ba? But of course this has been happening since forever, since I started paying my own bills. Long ago, a housemate asked: do you think Meralco’s really charging us more than it should? Sure that this was (is) the nature of capitalists like the Lopezes, I said, of course! even when I couldn’t explain how or why.

Oh but the powers of perseverance coupled with the patience of pregnancy, and bills that seem to grow expensive by the month! There’s also, of course, the continued distrust in capitalism and government. This was first published in early May of the year via www.stuartsantiago.com, long before Judy Ann Santos did the paid ad of Meralco, and dared talk about her reading of her Meralco bill, insisting that it’s the correct one. To wit, Juday says of her “meralco-is-innocent-reading”: “Yan ang basa ko. Tingnan mo sa bill mo. Maliwanag.”

E ang totoo, hindi nga maliwanag. So here’s a rundown of what I’ve figured out so far. (more…)