ASAP Rocks Glorietta (The All Access Mall Tour) [27 November 2011]

Category: Wonders of Wanders

"A simple thank you would have been nice.! "  ~Gil Renard from the movie The Fan.

You’d never know the fun of being a fan until you become one.

I have a friend whose hobby was to chase celebrities to have her picture taken with them. She curated those pictures in an album in FB, making it looked like she was the star and not the other way around. She texted me to meet her in Glorietta with the highest sense of urgency; prompting me to teleport myself there in an instant. ASAP Rocks will be having the All Access Mall Tour at Glorietta, and she said that we should be there before the mall would open.

It felt like we were almost a day early! The show would not start until later in the afternoon. We asked the concierge about the mechanics of being admitted to the VIP area, and we were told to spend at least PHP 500 in any establishments within the building for us to get a stub.

Before the show
we decided to have a brunch at A Veneto Pizzeria Ristorante. My palates were craving for the chicken carbonara which has been my favorite since my previous boss introduced us here.

The little Italian resto has become our favorite place to have a great conversation over the palatable selections of Italian pizza and pasta, which made me think it would go great with an exquisite white wine. The resto was dubbed Little Italy and I recalled the movies I watched during the recent Italian Film Fest at Greenbelt. I reckoned the place could live up to its moniker if they integrated a touch of artsy Italian culture by hanging paintings in the walls and by playing some jazzy Neapolitan’s canciones in the background.

The place brought back lots of memories. This is where we had team buildings, and sometimes where we had informal FGD’s with the client manager when I was working for Reader’s Digest. This is also where I celebrated my birthday last year.

Revisiting memories is like travelling back to the past. I always taught myself to live in the present moment and to avoid living in the past; yet reminiscing the good times is as fun as watching movies in my mind. What happened in the past and what will happen in the future exist in another reality; while the present moment is the eternity. Now is forever.



The show
was about to start. When we went back to the activity center, we learned that in order to be seated on the rows next to the stage, we must purchase CDs. I couldn’t make up my mind which album I should buy; for one thing, the singers were not familiar to me and the albums of those I knew were expensive. I ended up buying Sam Concepcion’s Forever Young album, partly because he is within my age bracket and mainly because his album was among the least expensive.

We were seating on the rows near the stage yet I am having a hard time recognizing the DJ that hosts the show. Later we learned that she was DJ Chacha (mwah! mwah! tsup! tsup!) of Tambayan. While the stars are retouching backstage, the DJ engage the crowd in a mini game. My friend wanted to join but every time she rushed to climb on stage, she was outrun by others. It was so wacky. The most competitive were those from the province, whose accents the crowds were making fun of. Nevertheless, they have their moment onstage; not to mention the gift packs and a hug-and-kiss from their idols. I was awed when one of the girls leaped onto the stage which was over a meter high. Asked where she was from, she said, “From Capiz”; no wonder she seemed to fly.

Vina Morales set the energy level higher when she sang her energetic rendition of Born This Way. She was the ultimate performer! 

My favorite performance was that of Aiza Seguera’s. Undoubtedly one of the best acoustic singers in the country, she sang Ang Huling El Bimbo while playing the guitar. It was so astig! It reminded me of Jason Mraz’s concert at Araneta.  



Then we had a production number by Empress Shuck, Bugoy, and Sam Concepcion with the G-Force. It was followed by singing performances of Bryan Termulo singing a song that was unfamiliar to me; and Princes Velasco singing her own version of Fireworks; and Sam Concepcion singing the cover of his album Forever Young; and the beautiful Zia Quizon who sang Ako Na Lang; and the most awesome voice of all was that of Sitti’s, my favorite. If her album were available earlier, I would have purchased hers.

Then the crowd screamed hysterically when Enrique Gil went onstage and taught us to dougie. The crowd was mesmerized by the cuteness and charm. Above all, he taught everyone how to dougie.

Since we were the very early birds, we got a chance to have our CDs signed by the artist. I asked Karen if we could exchange albums: she should have my CD signed by Sam while I have her CD signed by Zia, but she preferred the status quo and said that it was sort of a dare.

The people on Sam’s queue are mostly young girls. He must have been surprised when he saw me. He addressed me “sir”. It could be because I looked older and haggard from being awake for almost 24 hours. After the signing session, I went back to the chairs to retrieve the food we took out form A Veneto earlier but it was no longer there where I left it.

After the show
we walked to the Ayala Triangle gardens at the Stock Exchange area where we could catch a bus going home. The place was crowded with people watching the twinkling, flickering Christmas lights. We decided to linger and took pictures. After just a few minutes, all the lights went off and the people applauded. We thought the show was over, but the crowd were not moving and were rather excited as though they were anticipating something. When we were about to leave, music played in the background and the lights danced to the tune. It was spectacular! Later we learned that the musical light show would run until Christmas. I was looking forward to experience it again.

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Ang Sayaw ng Dalawang Kaliwang Paa at ang mga Dagta ng Kaimito

Category: Movie Movers

[Movie Poster; from the web. I do not own the copyright.]

"With Ang Sayaw ng Dalawang Kaliwang Paa, Yapan has choreographed a delicious orgy where various art forms mingle with astounding ease."  ~Oggs Cruz.

Ang aandap-andap na lumiliwanag sa madilim at malamig na silid ay ang malabong projection ng indie film na kasali dati sa Cinemalaya ngunit ngayon lang inilabas sa mainstream na sinehan. Tinanong ko kung malabo ba talaga ang movie o malabo lang talaga ang mga mata ko. Ang sabi ng kasama ko ay malabo talaga ang movie. Widescreen kasi ang tabing, at 16:9 ata ang ratio nito; pero ang ni-project na movie ay mukhang 4:3 lang! Kaya tuloy ang mga artista ay parang ang papandak at ang tataba!

Naku, at nagmadali pa kami sa pagpunta rito!

Kani-kanina lang ay pina-uwi kami ng maaga. Madalang na kasi ang pasok ng mga calls, kaya ayon, early log out! Nagalak naman ako kasi maaabutan namin ang next screening.  Unang araw na ipapalabas ito ngayon.

Isa sa mga ayaw ko ay ang sumakay sa mga bus na de-aircon. Nahihilo ako sa baho ng pinaghalong air freshener at CFL. Dahil diyan ay naglakad na lang kami papunta sa MRT. Binilisan man namin ang lakad hanggang sa ang mga hakbang ay parang singbilis ng patak ng ulan; na-late pa rin kami.

And sinehan ay walang katao-tao. Humaba na ang leeg ko sa kakalingon, wala akong nakita. Mga ilang minuto pa lang kaming naupo ay biglang nag-stop ang movie. Tapos bumuwelo ng konti at bigla uling nag-freeze. Masahol pa ata sa mga pirated DVD. Malabo na nga ‘di pa nag pi-play ng husto.

Mahabang minuto na ang lumipas di pa rin naayos. Buti na lang kami lang ang naroon. Maya-maya ay naririnig namin ang mga pagpa-panic ng mga personel. Nakita ko rin na meron din naman palang ibang taong nanonood. Lumingon talaga ako at binilang--wala pang sampu!

Ang sabi ng mga reviews sa blog, ang Sayaw ng Dalawang Kaliwang Paa daw ay isang napakasarap na orgy ng iba’t ibang putahe ng sining: sayaw, tula, kanta, at pag-arte.

Ni-forward na nila ang movie at kahit papaano’y umusad na ito. Lumabas kaming may paghihinayang sa perang aming ipinambayad. Habang kami’y naglalakad palabas, nakita namin ang poster nito na ibinibidang nanalo ito ng BEST ORIGINAL MUSIC SCORE at BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY sa natapos na Cinemalaya Film Fest 2011

I-click ito kung gusto mong mabasa ang buod at trailer ng pelikula.

Maraming salamat sa pagbasa. Pakidagdag na rin ako sa lupon ninyo sa Google+.

The Three Writers

Category: Letters of Literature

Some random thoughts from an old journal:

According to Ricky Lee, in his book Si Tatang at ang mga Himala ng Ating Panahon, there were three types of writers; and all of them must go to Quiapo.

The first one followed the footsteps of those who’ve gone before him. He reached Quiapo real quick.

The second one deviated from the usual route. He did it his way. Being a nonconformist, he was ridiculed for choosing the road less travelled. He got lost. He was robbed, mobbed and humiliated along the way. He felt weary, angry and hungry. Alone, he suffered tribulations and, like most people, he got discourage. But he gained a new perspective. He had a chance to see what most people don’t. He’d experienced what otherwise he would never had have, had he followed the conventional path. He had proved himself and learned a lot throughout his journey. He arrived at Quiapo and became a better writer than the first.

The third writer, like the second one, made his own trail. He also received the same criticisms ad he wandered around. The difference was that he never reached Quiapo. But he arrived at some place and convinced everyone that it “is” Quiapo. He was a better writer of them all.

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Another Year Gone By

Category: Matters of Minds

2007 at JG Summit

"Seize today, and put as little trust as you can in the morrow "  ~Horace

As Earth rotates on its axis in a period of endless days and nights; my life revolves in circles as a hamster in its cage, going nowhere. That’s how I feel these past few weeks.

If time is a river, and we flow with it; I’ve been drifting along for quite a while.

The last autumn leaves are falling on the other parts of the world, and the million stars are twinkling against the dark November sky as I sit here alone, contemplating about my life and the dreams that fades to black and white.    

 Today marks my first anniversary of working at 24/7. It’s been a year of taking calls, resolving technical issues of people calling from the other side of the globe. I’ve been hooked on the phone for almost five years now. I find myself wondering how to get myself untangled from these fractal intricacies. What every one of us wants is to live our lives on our own terms, unleashing the creative power within as we surf the crests and troughs of the tides of life. What a sad mixture of fate it is to live a routine laid out before us.

As we walk along the every day alleys of life, we may get thrown a shit on the face; yet oftentimes, we may pick up pieces of wisdom as we pace along. And more importantly, we may come across some awesome folks along the way; some of whom may become friends to keep.

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11.1.11

Category: Beauty of Simplicity

"It is not enough to take steps which may some day lead to a goal;

each step must be itself a goal and a step likewise." ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

Most people make New Year Resolutions a week before or after the New Year. I am not one of them; not because I’m not a fan of making New Year Resolutions, but because I am not persuaded that the year starts on January 1. I believe the year starts on the day I was born--November 1. But that’s just me, of course.

We are used to using the conventional calendar, and we probably won’t count the days and months any other way. Though we can’t deviate from traditions, we can always hold on to our convictions and crazy ideas. It’s OK to be different. It’s great to be a non-conformist! It’s cool to be a weirdo.

Last couple of years ago, I started creating a list of goals to accomplish within a year...sort of a credo. Before, the lists were extensive and covered lots of categories; but when I embraced minimalism, I made the list shorter. I called it a Minimalist Manifesto.

I was able to accomplish some but not most of the items on the list. It’s disappointing when almost all your plans did not come true. What I included in that simplified list may not be the ultimate goal of my life. Life is not a To-do check list. These are just Dares to challenge myself, and as the cliché goes: it’s just for fun. (What life is for but to experience leisure? We are here to be happy. We are here to play. The world is a big playground. They say that life is complicated. Not at all! We are created for recreation. And we don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure it out. “All we really need to know, we learned in kindergarten”. How’s that for a dose of clichés!)

Robert James Waller immortalized “There are songs that come free from the blue-eyed grass, from the dust of a thousand country roads”. In the same manner, there are lists that spring from nowhere, these are some of them:

1. Simplify! “Identify what is important and eliminate anything else”. Be a mnmlst. “The simplest things are often the truest", says Richard Bach.

2. Wander and Wonder! Because I don’t have a sense of direction, I don’t qualify as a traveller. I am a wanderer. A dreamer. Yes, sometimes I travel through dreams. I wonder when can we actually (in a sense of being actual) space-travel and time-travel the entire cosmos. When I say time-travel, I don’t mean going back to the past or moving forward to the future: that would be linear. The idea is to pass through time so that we can easily get from one space to another faster than the time it takes to draw a straight line between two points. But since travelling from Milky Way to Andromeda seems like distant echoes of ancient dreams, I’ll stick to wandering the earthly places in the meantime. (And, yes, some of the friends I met along the way are already exploring the heavenly places; and some are maybe scaling the depths of hell [heaven forbids]). 

I’d like to visit all the “magagandang tanawin sa Pilipinas”; those we’ve read in our Sibika At Kultura books when we were in the Grade 1. I’d like to see the wonders of the world. I’d like to walk the streets outside my country. I’d like to hear the songs the stars and the moon are singing, and kiss the lips of other languages. I’d like to savour the concoction of cultures of the strange foreign lands. I’d like to walk the places as far as eyes can see; because everything the eyes can see is just walking distance (according to one of my friends).

3. Eat, Pray, Love. Thanks to that famous book that was adapted to a movie, these three words now become inseparable.

Eat. I have to eat and eat until I gain 5 more kilos. Pray. Let’s let go of having the illusion that we are in control of our life. “Be water”, just flow. And let’s pray that we may flow fluidly. And when we pray, let’s “pray without ceasing”. Love. Well, as they say the greatest of all is love, so if you desire greatness, that’s self-explanatory.

4. Balance! We always fall. We fall in love. Falling in love with the person who doesn’t share the same feelings can be distressful. It disorients us from our proper equilibrium. We should find our balance. Let me tell you one of my biggest frustrations: I always wanted to learn to ride a bicycle. Every time I tried, I stumbled. I just couldn’t balance myself. A great scientist said that life is like bicycle, in order to keep your balance, you must keep moving forward. That’s the truth in Physics. But does the law of motion also transcend the non-physical aspects? On the other hand, the great ashram tells that you can find your balance through inner peace--meditate. Keep still. Freeze. Don’t move. Hands up. Drop your gun!

5. Think some. Learn some. Learn new skills every quarter. Among them are the following: learn to blog, to swim, to drive, and to dance!

6. Laugh out Loud! Yes, that’s one of my goals this year and in many more years to come. LOL! ROFL! Hahaha! You may be thinking about it as a cryptic for the pursuit of happiness—it is not. Happiness cannot be pursued. In a sense, it is not a destination, so you’ll never arrive at it. It is not an object of possession either. It’s a feeling. You cannot get it, you cannot find it, and you cannot possess it. It’s abstract and concrete at the same time. It’s something that you feel along the way. In a nutshell: we are not to pursue happiness, we should pursue awesomeness instead. Happiness is what you feel when you are awesome, when you are doing things that makes your soul smiles, when you are in circumstances that makes your heart jumps for joy. Happiness is what you feel when you laugh out loud, when you laugh so hard that it makes you cry. LOL.

7. Go forth and be awesome. Let’s be remarkable in everything we do, putting a heart in everything we make.

So those are the seven goals I have for this year. It is said that we are not to set boundaries but horizons. “Do not limit yourself”, a friend once said in a campsite in Mt Batulao. In Calculus, they talk about limits that approaches infinity. Yet we don’t have to have an infinite list, otherwise it will become too overwhelming. They say 7 is a good number so I simplify my list to only seven goals; and I wish to achieve them.

What’s your goal? Do you take time to write them, too? Share them in the comments below. Thanks for reading; I’d greatly appreciate it if you also share it to your friends in Facebook and followers in Twitter.  Please add me to your circle in G+

The Three Non-Musketeers

Category: Movie Movers

"Tous pour un, un pour tous" (all for one, one for all)  ~from the Three Musketeers.

When we were young and unafraid; in our hearts sprung eternal longings. We were ambitious as a bald eagle that soared the clouds above Mt. Apo. We chased for the desires of our hearts. We swung our swords up high and sought bounties in the high seas. Sometimes we fell but we were not cast down. In this battleground of life, we were warriors. We wanted to toil in the battlefield. We loved to batter the enemies’ airships with treacherous muskets. We all wanted to be musketeers! 

But as the years passed by, and the ipil-ipil tree grew taller while more candles adorned our cakes; we started to get settled (contrary to Steve Jobs’ advice from that famous commencement speech: “Stay hungry, stay foolish... Don’t settle”).

But we settled anyway, on a cool dark theatre, perched in a comfortable, cozy, black sofa chair in front of the big screen. That new exquisite couch is one of the cool additions to an otherwise ordinary Cinema. We lie comfortably on our backs, as we ate a box of pizza, washed down with calamansi juice. Never had I been amazed with the Cinema chairs until I experienced this one! I imagined I would've had slept comfortably but the whooshing of swords and booms of the muskets kept me alert.

So here we are watching a prairie scene where a country boy bids farewell to his parents. He is going to Paris to realize his dream of being a Musketeer. When his father is about to give his parting words; The young D’Artagnan cut him off, promising that he is not going to get into trouble. But his father told him that he should run into trouble sometimes. Behold, as it was quoted countless of times; to grow old and wise, we must be young and stupid.

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Ang Travel Friend Mo

Category: Powers of Poetry

Photo by JPG

Teka-teka...
Ilang bundok ang aking naakyat
Maraming pagkain ang saki'y nagpabusog
Libu-libong litrato ang nakolekta
Mga kweba, ating sinuong
Lumangoy pa tayo sa malamig na bukal,
at nagtampisaw sa batis ng talon
Sabay nating pinakinggan ang tunog ng mga kuliglig
Habang naglalakad kasama ang mga bituin
Mabangin, mabato, maputik man ang tinatahak
Sino ba ang kasa-kasama?
Tumulay pa tayo sa maliit na kable
at lumakbay sa kung saan-saan
Natulog tayo sa lilim ng hamog
Sa pulbos ng puting buhangin,
tayo'y nagtampisaw,
habang banayad na dinuduyan ng alon ang mga isda
Sabay nakita ang mga diwata ng dagat
nang ating itong sisirin
Dumaan na tayo sa mga iskinita
at lumipad ng higit pa sa mga ibon
At ating dinungaw sa bintana ang alapaap
at lumapag sa malalayong isla.

Sa paglalakbay, at pakipagsapalran
Ika'y kasama

Pero higit pa sa mga magagandang lugar
ay ang mga masasayang awitin at tawanan
Kung may mas masarap pa
sa sisig sa tuktok ng Batulao;
mapapasayaw ka rin ba sa ibabaw ng papag?
Mas may nakakatuwa pa ba sa magdamagang kwentuhan
at kantahan, at kulitan?

May mas hihigit pa ba sa mga halakhak,
May lalabis pa ba sa galak
at sa tuwa, sa pagkakaibigang tunay?

Ang mga ito ba'y nangyari kaya
Kung di tayo nagkasama?


-----
Para sa maraming summit pang aakyatin
At maraming beaches na lalaguyin
At sa maraming tea party-party
Sa maraming pictures
Sa maraming beers,
Sa marami pang 'crunchy'
Sa lahat ng walking distance
At sa walang kasing sarap na wines
--maligayang bati sa nadagdag pang taon ng pagkakaibigan.


For "songs that come free from the blue-eyed grass, from the dust of a thousand country roads"
"For ancient evenings and distant music", 
"For high plumage and southern winds",
"For the perigrines, the strangers, last cowboys."


Teka-teka! CHEERS! 

No Other Woman: The Under Cleavage

Category: Movie Movers

"Ang mundo ay isang napakalaking Quiapo, ang daming snatcher, maagawan ka, lumaban ka! "  ~Carmi Martin’s character in No Other Woman.

No other choice but to linger for a while. The rain is still pouring heavily outside making it impractical to go home yet. The bookstore doesn’t seem inviting either. I better roam around first. I notice two old people talking to the cashier at the Cinema’s ticket counter. I nose around, pretending to check what’s Showing. The old man hands an ID and signs the log sheet. In Makati City, senior citizens can watch movies for free. It’s sort of the Country for Old Men “Ganito kami sa Makati!”

A few minutes later I am inside the Cinema; the earhty-smell permeating the air.

Then the film rolls. The gorgeous Anne Curtis occupies the big screen as you try not to drift to the dream land of fantasy where Anne is your mistress. And you teleports to a care-free, high-flying resorts lifestyle of the character Anne portrays.

No Other Woman: a cocktail of fashion, butt shots, under cleavage, feisty bikini cat fights, and the all time one-liners.

The new box-office hit, eclipsing the previous top grossing films like Tanging Ina and Tanging Yaman; fulfils the viewer’s fantasy of “bawal na pag-ibig”, with the sexy blend of trendy fashion, carefree lifestyle, saucy bed scenes, and a lesson or two about the consequences of having an affair. It effectively connects with the viewers.

Aside from joining the gig of infidelity movies of the quarter (My Neighbor’s Wife, Friends with Benefits, etc.); it brings to mind the recent incident involving the much-publicized confrontation between a woman and her cheating husband in one of the malls in the metro. That video went viral and was even commented upon by one of the characters in the movie citing that women today are becoming more aggressive in fighting for their relationships. In the movie, the women are portrayed as strong individuals battling for their love. The battle is not like the low-class, violent confrontations we witness in real-life; but a contest of wit and character, and a cat fight with a touch of style and fashion. It’s a sparring of showcasing who has the trendiest bikinis and the exchange of sharp one-liners (a staple of tagalog box-office movies).

No Other Woman is a story about a gorgeous resort heiress, Kara Zaldriaga (Anne Curtis) who lives by the mantra: no strings attached. Living a liberated lifestyle, she gets into relationships with men and leaves them the moment they fall in love with her—a violation of her “rule”. She meets Ram Escaler (Derek Ramsey) -- a young business man building a family--who is there hoping to grab the contract to be the furniture supplier for the resort. She gets involved with him; and as her luck turns out, he is a married man. She dismisses the idea that they are having an affair stressing that she is not his mistress. One would only become a mistress if there are emotions involved. They are just two consenting adults having fun. Yet as the consequences unfold, the two becomes too attached to each other, sinning deliciously. Kara inevitably falls in love with Ram and ponders the question: “What would you do if the man you’re in love with is already married?” She vows not to give up without putting up a fight. Earlier than that, she boasts that she is not a mistress and never will be. It makes one recall the line by John Lloyd Cruz in his hit movie with Sarah Geronimo: “I am not jealous, I was never jealous! Ngayon lang.”

The meek yet feisty Charmaine Escaler (Cristine Reyes) discovers that his husband is having an affair. Encouraged by the witty Carmi Martin (Charmaine’s mother who’s sharp lines becomes viral), Charmaine decides to assert her status being the legitimate wife and fight for her marriage. Cristine Reyes is criticized for not faring well like Anne does in terms of acting, “sexy-ness” and looks. Yet, one would be in awe at how stunning and ravenous she looks on the confrontation scene in pool side; where the two hot girls clad in their two-piece’s are about to have a cat fight. Kara, on the other hand, wears a snake-skin printed bikini, that exquisitely shows her under cleavage (or Australian cleavage as defined by Wikipedia); to which Charmaine bitch-slapped, “Bikini mo ba yan, o balat mo?” There’s no argument however, that the movie is all about Anne Curtis—it’s her shining moment. And it’s not surprising that the “princess of all media” is would be the new box-office queen.

Love triangle, Extra-marital activities, and car accidents

Ram (Derek Ramsay) serves a cautionary tale about infidelity and its consequences. He is just a man trying to build his career and family whose reputation got tarnished when he yields to temptation. One single adulterous act almost ruined his dreams, his marriage and his life. Derek Ramsay’s movie is somewhat similar to that of her real-life girlfriend, Agelica Panganiban’s movie (with Aga Mulach and Maricel Soriano)—A Love Story. Shown in 2007, A Love Story is also about a love triangle involving extra-marital affairs. The difference is that, in No Other Woman, the characters are not presented as victims but strong individuals battling for their love.

It also makes us recall I Love You, Goodbye. A 2009 Tagalog movie of almost similar theme—starring Gabby Concepcion, Angelica Panganiban and Derek Ramsay—where Derek’s character was run over by a car. His death ends the infidelity, and makes the characters come to their senses; which is similar to what happened in No Other Woman, except that in the latter, he survived the car accident. It’s so formulaic of romantic tragedy to have the characters die in a car crash. Now it brings to mind Anne Hathaway’s character in One Day and Luis Manzano’s character in In My Life.

No Other Woman shows the cliché about men being weak creatures that easily succumb into lust of the flesh and that adultery is a violation of one of the Ten Commandments. And in marriage, there should be no other woman.

Several miles away, in Quezon City a boy is trying to convince his parents to watch a movie with him. His parents are not persuaded so he took a ride to the nearest mall--the one where that infamous shooting incident took place. When he presents his ticket, he is asked to show his ID to prove his age. (Though the movie is rated A by the Cinema Evaluation Board; it is rated R-13 by MTRCB). When he enters the theatre, he is surprised it is half empty. He can only hear the suppressed giggles of the invisible crowd concealed in the dark as the characters throw their one-liner. But when the light switches on, he realizes that the Cinema is almost  full.

It is the first time he watch a movie alone. He goes home to tell his little adventures. I remember, I watched the movie by myself, too. Thanks to the downpour.

Then he asks: “Ano ba ang mas mahirap kalaban, ‘yong putang mahirap o ‘yong putang  mayaman?”

I am compelled to answer: “Pare-parehong puta lang yon. Yong mayaman bumibili ng Hermes sa mall; yong mahirap, bumibili ng Hermes sa Greenhills”.

Thanks for reading. Please circle me in Google+.

Image Source: google images

Illusions of Reality

Category: Letters of Literature

"What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly."  ~Richard Bach (Illusions).

"If nothing ever changed, there'd be no butterflies". ~Unknown.

The tweet.

Since I can't think of anything to say, I posted it it in my Google+.

Celene got a very interesting thoughts about it.

It started with a tweet from a friend who asked me to ponder on a quote which struck me as a coincidence since I posted the same quotation in my Facebook status at the height of end-of-the-world brouhaha. I reckoned it’s from one of my books so I scrambled to find it. Then, there it is! Included as one of the maxims in the Messiah’s Handbook & Reminders for the Advanced Soul—a kind of a bible for masters—is the same quote she was asking me about. I brought the book to the office and read it between calls, during breaks and even during team meetings; yet I couldn’t fathom what that quotation means. I put the book inside my cute backpack and went home after my shift. While sitting in a jeep, I felt something cold on my thigh and was horrified that my trousers were wet, like I peed on my pants. My bag was dripping. I realized I didn’t properly close my supposedly leak-proof water bottle. Everything inside my bag was soaking wet. The Illusions, a thin paper back absorbed most of the water and became a damped fat book.

Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah

The book is a journal of the adventures and reflections of a pilot who flies an old biplane both as a passion and for a living. The narrator, Richard is a skilled mechanic and a pilot. He is doing his hobby in solitude until he meets Donald Shimoda, another barnstorming pilot who identifies himself as a reluctant messiah. From then on they become partners in their trade, travelling from town to town selling rides—three dollars for ten minutes in the air. As they rest between flights, they talk about the ways of life, and exchange wisdom about reality. Donald is a weird guy who later becomes Richard’s teacher. Donald got tired of his celebrity status and would like to quit being a messiah. It is probably the reason why he passes his knowledge to someone who may be a potential successor. Since then, they fly biplanes together. Richard benefits from the team up, raking more money than what he is able to make before.

The first chapter of the book looks like a facsimile of Richard’s greasy journal which attracted me to buy the book from Booksale. The story is a follow up of the best-selling Jonathan Livingstone Seagull and carries almost the same tone. It appears like the narrator in the novel is Richard Bach himself. Richard Bach is said to be the descendant of Johann Sebastian Bach, the famous baroque composer.

The Illusions can be likened to The Alchemist in terms of allegorical representation. Richard Bach uses the student-teacher relationship to convey his philosophical views in the book. A pilot in real life, it is said that the story is about his earlier days in flying, and that the two main characters in the story are two versions of himself—one being the young and adventurous Richard, and the wiser and content Donald.

After serving in the air force, Richard Bach became a real-life barnstormer. He also became a technical writer for a magazine about flying. His novel, the Illusions was published in 1977 (according to Wikipedia). The novel features quotes from the Messiah’s Handbook: Reminders for the Advanced Soul, which includes the passage my friend tweeted abut.

Caterpillars and Butterflies

The narrator challenges our perception of reality. What we consider a reality may just be an Illusion. Reality, as is implied in the quote, is a matter of perspective: “What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly.”

You may view time as a liner concept, as in History, or like a Facebook Timeline (when I hear ‘timeline’, what comes to mind is my Plurk timeline); or you may view time as a cycle, a metamorphosis, or (as an oriental philosophy of) reincarnation. I favour the latter. Change, as the cliché goes, is the only thing that is constant. What about the PI, the PHI and the e; and other mathematical and physical constants we know? And what about stupidity? Or corruption in the Philippine politics? Aren’t those constant, too? OK, maybe change is not the only thing constant then.

Change can either be beneficial or detrimental—usually, it is both. Change, then is a matter of perspective. And when you say change, you will most likely think of a butterfly, a mariposa. And when you think of a mariposa, you will most likely think of Rustom. (I actually think about Keana urinating in the PBB garden). Seldom does one think of oneself as a caterpillar. We prefer to associate change to a butterfly, which resembles a positive transformation—how’s that for a better perspective!

It all boils down to whether you are the master or the caterpillar. If you are a gross, squishy little creature; you will find change as unlikely, depressing, the Dark Ages, the end of the world. But if you are the master, you will flap your wings and fly with it, like a butterfly hopping from one colourful flower to the next, you will savour the sweet nectar of the morning blooms. When the day turns to dusk, you will find yourself restful. As the darkness turn to dawning, you are full of excitement. When the clouds cover the sun, and thunder rolls as you walk down the beach; you are thankful that you don’t need to apply sunblocks anymore. When the storms of life come, your spirits does not wither and your hopes springs eternal knowing that there’s a rainbow always after the rain. And there’s a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow!

It started with a parable about a village of river creatures that clung tightly to twigs and rocks at the bottom of the great crystal river. One of the creatures got bored of clinging endlessly and decided to let go letting the currents take him wherever it’s going. It was difficult for him at first. He tumbled and fell; and the other river creatures ridiculed him for what he did. He refused to do what everyone was doing and allowed the current to lift him. He was free like a bird. When the other river creatures saw him, they thought they saw a miracle, a saviour; they begged him to save them. But he replied: “"I am no more Messiah than you. The river delights to lift us free, if only we dare let go. Our true work is this voyage, this adventure."

In their adventures, Richard saw Donald made the wrench float in the mid-air. We can lift ourselves above the clouds if we will ourselves to do so. We don’t need biplanes to fly. And we don’t have to go somewhere else to find a messiah. As the beginning and ending of the book say: “There was a Master come unto the earth, born in the holy land of Indiana…” We don’t even have to search the town and swooped down to meet the messiah. Maybe we just have to look within ourselves. Have you found your messiah?

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Sources: Wikipedia and the book itself (Illusions: The Adventures of the Reluctant Messiah by Richard Bach). Thanks also to Celene who give her more than two-cents on the subject. Follow her at Google+.