radikalchick.lit

on friendship and sisterhood #beforeiforget*

there are friendships that happen later in one’s life, even with people whose names you’ve known for years, that girl who was always just the girl-who’s-the-ex-of-a-friend, or that one you’d see at gigs. you could’ve studied in the same university and college, but remain as nameless faces, or faceless names. a measure really of what else we were doing, how friendships can be as limiting as they are liberating. and how sometimes age and timing — if not twitter — might be exactly what one needs to find kindred spirits. (more…)

kultura

the anxiety of rain: on Rak Of Aegis

It was difficult to imagine a musical that could use Aegis’s diverse discography, one that spans 15 years of the band’s existence, and seven albums. From posters and press releases it was clear that PETA’s Rak Of Aegis was using the song “Basang-basa sa Ulan” as center, with the obvious premise of … uh … rain to tell what would be a painfully contemporary story for nation.

It was difficult to be optimistic, but it sure was easy to get excited. I was sitting after all on the balcony, right side, and from where I was I could clearly see the members of Aegis below, sitting on the second row. Not even an ill-behaved little girl who should not have been brought into the theater, could ruin that image of the Sunot sisters singing and laughing along to the musical that lives off their music.

via rakofaegis.com.

That’s getting ahead of the story. (more…)

komentaryo

Criticism: not (fun) in the Philippines*

The world knows of the Philippines by now, for reasons other than a senator who refuses to admit to plagiarism, being the setting for the bustling Asian city in “Bourne Legacy,” and a cybercrime law that might be the worst piece of legislation against freedom of expression since the world wide web.

There was a time when we could call out the Western eye for gazing at us exotic: the ones who eat duck fetuses, the pretty brown-skinned girls with wide smiles and a fascination for, who fascinate the, white man. In these times of transnationalism and globalized cultures though, these assessments might be closer to being correct. (more…)

kultura

some waiting required: on “Wait Until Dark”

the thing with expectation is that it can be your undoing. for watching theater, i refuse to listen to the soundtrack of a musicale, or to read the script (when available) of a play, lest i start singing (or saying those lines) out loud while sitting as audience. sometimes though, the poster, the press release, is all one needs to build excitement.

that is true for Repertory Philippines’ Wait After Dark. sold as a suspense thriller, one could also only be excited by a cast that was thrilling in itself: Joel Trinidad, Jamie Wilson, Liesl Batucan … how could anyone go wrong? but as the curtains closed on Act 1, i wondered: where does the fear lie? (more…)

kultura

Dolphy, national artist*

It’s difficult to imagine childhood without Dolphy, even when all he was to me was the image of a father on television, even as who I identified with was Maricel Soriano or Claudine Barretto playing his daughters in two different sitcoms, across two different generations. At some point this father image became interwoven with that of Enteng Kabisote, father to Aiza.

The images are real to me, the characterization of fatherhood that was protective but had difficulty providing, that was faced with the rich mother-in-law who disapproved, that struggled financially but had a posse who depended on him, underground as the economy was that they all created and fueled. (more…)