Smile and grow old

Today is Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Like any ordinary day, I arrived home from work and my usual routine is to turn on the TV and catch the program Wowowee.

Today, the Willie of Fortune featured couples that are married for 40 years and more.

I found it amusing to watch old couples enjoy a noontime show, moreso, be the contestants themselves. Like what the program banners, it seeks to show the true nature of ordinary people wishing to get a shot for quick money. And the price they have to pay it to unclothe themselves from the very eyes of the Philippines and the world. By ‘unclothe’, I mean showing the world who and what they are, their life in comical satires and real-life dramas, which every Filipino and world citizen could relate to.

Again today they featured couples married for 40 years and more. With the quick introduction of the contestants, I thought I was up for a show that’s very ‘masa’ or with mass appeal as the show is always like. And certainly it was, and more. With Willie Revillame’s timely comic antics and witty but sometimes exaggerated and sensationalized/predictable questioning, the show went on with so much fun. By ‘fun’, I mean he was able to spice up the show and inadvertently reveal the best side of the contestants.

What struck me is the common denominator of a lasting relationship as shared by the contestants themselves: patience, understanding and supporting the other to bring out the best in them. Poverty is always a challenge and to last 50 years is all worth the hardships.

There were also some comical reliefs.

Wife: “……kung mauna ka mag mamatay sa akin, gusto ko sabay tayo pagkat kulang ang buhay ko pag wala ka” (if you have to die first, I want to die with you for life is incomplete without you).

Host: “O tatay, anu masasabi niyo sa sinabi ni nanay?” (What can you say about that?)

There was silence and the host had to repeat the question. In a confused tone, the husband responded: “Ayaw ko”

And the crowd went hilarious. I myself had a satisfying smile.

After the show, I thought of myself, I’m just married for more than a year. Will I and my partner reach 50 years and more? I have sworn in the holy sacrament of matrimony and I vow to keep my promise….until death do us part

La Visa Loca: Masapulan na ngata?

La Visa Loca, is the story of Jess Huson (Robin Padilla), a taxi driver with a big dream of securing a visa to work abroad and be with his girlfriend. After a failed attempt to pass an immigration interview, Jess embarks into a trip of twists, turns, sharp curves and detours that led him to finally achieve his lifetime dream. But in the process, he uncovers the treasure that would hound his very reason of living. Will the treasure keep him from leaving Philippines or will he set his dreams aside and build the future he’s always wanted right within his own backyard?

Going gaga for a Visa

Losing all hopes of someday working abroad, Jess enters into all sorts of trade just to earn money to cover for his application expenses. He bit the bait that a politician is rumored of paying for the people he beats whenever he is under the influence of alcohol. He had himself beaten by the politician’s aide, but never got a single penny for his pain. He religiously attends prayer rallies hoping for a miracle from the heavens. Until he meets a producer from Strange Planet, an international TV program, seeking to feature the life of faith healers in the Philippines.

Opportunity cost

Desperate for a good story, Jess set out an agreement to help them search for a Kristo, to re-enact the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on a Good Friday. In return, they will secure him a Visa and a work as a caregiver in the United States.

After his father (Johnny Delgado), being a former Kristo, declined to do the job, Jess went on his way in search of a willing Kristo. He found one at a reasonable price. In the course of his search, Jess discovers secrets of his past: about his mother whom he thought was dead, a mother who never came back after leaving for the United States; about his son from a past lover (Rufa Mae Quinto), a past lover willing to re-unite for the sake of the child.

Closed deal

 With a Kristo to play the role, Jess’ dream is within reach. But a series of unfortunate events took toll. The Kristo swindled them, left without any word. Desperate for a good show, the producer went wild, cursing and bad mouthing the Philippines. Without a Kristo and seeing his dream burst like bubble into thin air, Jess agreed to play the role. He was crucified on Good Friday. And he got his Visa. And he unknowingly made himself a Kristo, just like his father.

Now that his ready to leave for the United States, Jess faces his toughest decision yet-leaving his father in a nursing home and leaving his newly established family behind. He’s decided. He’s leaving the next day.

Ready for take off

On the eve of his departure, Jess heard his father, an avid radio listener, comment on the airwave expressing his regret that a loved one is leaving and that he realized his son’s worth now that he’s gone.

On his way back to the hotel to surrender the taxi he’s been driving, he had a Filipina passenger with a foreigner buddy. The woman kept of cussing her country. Jess caught her in the eye only to look into the very eyes of a mother, a mother whom he grew up presuming dead but instead left her family, married a foreigner and never came back.

Before leaving, Jess thought of paying his father a last visit. Delighted to see his son, the father was ecstatic. And so the defining moment for the movie:

Father: Binibisita mo ako anak? (Are you visiting me son?)

Son: Hindi itay,kukunin na kita. Uuwi na tayo!!! (No father, I’m taking you with me, we’re going home)

The American dream

Jess is no different from most of the Filipinos seeking salvation in foreign lands, ready to risk everything for money and better future. The movie, I assume, does not, in a way or another, seek to promote the idea of working abroad, it just seeks to lay the blueprint of our core culture, colonial and yet very Filipino. But in Jess’ case, he chose to stay.

Credit

The movie, independent as it may be, is best indulged with an open heart and mind, ready to accept the jologs culture with its comical satire mixed with the well bred wit of classy and well-thought filmmaking, scoring and cinematography. The actors played a well good part on the success of the film, as I would agree that Robin Padilla did deliver the best performance in his career, away from his mainstream typecast as an action star.

In the end, watching the movie is certainly worth my money. Yes, I watched it years after its release and I’m leaving a review way behind time. But then again, it’s the very reason I watch films after the limelight is gone, for good films and movies are timeless. And sure enough, La Visa Loca is a good film.

 --------------------

picture credit is from here

What's in a name?

I initially set this blog as radikusnotes.blogspot.com thinking that this is where I will post all things I did and thought of as Radikus. Thus, radikus’ notes. I would have chosen the domain radikus.blogspot.com, but someone owns it already. If only I could request him to cancel his blogspot account and have that for myself, it certainly would serve me best, but it’s something that I certainly won’t.

What exactly is Radikus? Quite frankly, nothing for it’s just a name from a dream, probably a dream that sprung from my sub-conscious self that if I would have chosen my own name, it would be Radikus. And why Radikus? Simply because it sounds like ‘radical’.

But please, don’t get me wrong on this; I don’t despise the name I got from my parents. I certainly like it, for I know and believe that our name is the only thing influenced for by our parents in our own persona. They name us as they want us to be, and what become of us are certainly not their decisions anymore.

But radikusnotes is very apparent. So I embarked on a search, painlessly thinking for a blog name that would speak of who and what Radikus is. Thus came quaddroci with the meaning in mind as energy (chi) in a box (quaddro) or just ‘boxed energy ‘.

Quaddrochi.blogspot.com, as a friend termed it “sounded too gay” considering that this friend knows that I use the pseudonym Radikus. Not that I have anything against queerness, but she was right on that, it just doesn’t sound very radikus. Point was taken, thus I am settling with the next in my list quadradikus.blogspot.com, meaning radikus in a quadra (four sides).

Quadradikus will offer its readers a wide variety of information, mostly reviews and reactions on books, movies and pressing social, political and economic issues. You may also find blogs on lifestyle, music, travel and humor in the life of Radikus.

What you experience within the boundaries of your monitor screen is all that you will get out of Radikus. And as you read through, hopefully you will note that this is a life in progression.

Thus, quadradikus.blogpot.com is all things Radikus, and Radikus is a life in progress.

So what’s in a name? Sure you’ll have your own answer to that.

Tetsuwan Atomo is Mighty Astroboy

As a child, I grew up watching and liking Astroboy. Back then, I was amazed with the story, the character and his super robotic powers. How the image of a boy robot that flies up in the sky that extends into the universe, zooms inside the earth and under the ocean to destroy the evil monsters were very fascinating and eternal.


These images were powerful that up to these days, I can’t help but enjoy the cartoon programs. And with an animated movie set for release by the end of the year, I am as excited as the other fanatics are in the globe.



He is an epitome of childhood. The innocence and the uncorrupted mind of a child and the heart and emotion of a powerful robot create an ironic statement that 'one need not be a superhero to help save the earth; and that mind, body and heart is what humans are made of'…not just Astroboy.

Astroboy allows us to create and recreate our own childhood reveries, that life is most enjoyed through the searching and wondering of a young mind and that childhood will always be in the hearts of every adult open to explore the nature of galactic wonders.

A Newbery indulgence and its explicable pleasures

Simple, subtle and readable; these for me are the basic criteria to get a Newbery Medal and be listed in the shelf of Newbery Honor Books.

-------------

The Newbery Medals

-------------

I first came across a Newbery Medal awardee in 2005 with the book “Adam of the Road” by Elizabeth Janet Gray, which I found on sale in University Bookstore at University of the Philippines-Los Banos. A few months after, I found another honor book in a thrift shop. The two books had the same denominator; it is the story of children for children. Thus started my search to collect books with the Newbery Medal and Newbery Honor Book award seal.

The Newbery Medal is considered as the first literary awards for children and one of the most prestigious book awards for children in the United States. It is granted to authors who have distinguished contribution to American Literature for children and for the runner-ups that deserve the honor as well. To be awarded a Newbery, the book must be published in the United States, must relate to a child audience and contribute to literature.
Books are just one of my fetishes, for a good book does not only fulfill the craving of an eager mind but also satisfies the heart of a hungry soul.
Again, Newberys are simple because of the plots, storylines and settings that relate to children; readable since these are stories of children (with adults mostly in supporting roles); and subtle because these convey the lessons in life that are important in developing the morals of young minds which adults oftentimes miss and needs to be reminded of.

No free lunch…just some Bona experience

Something is brewing at the Leaders Coffee Bar. And guess what was served?

“Prepare it hot or with ice, frothy or black, mixed it with cream, milk or chocolate or just plainly sweetened or brewed. Enjoy it with a company or spend time alone with it on cold and rainy days. Better yet, simply treat it as a trusted friend ready to calm and relax you, keep you awake and most of the time, to keep your senses working.”

Drinking coffee is not something that I enjoy alone. I’d prefer having it with a company, mostly over breakfast with my wife. But now that her doctor prohibits her from taking it, I don’t get to drink as much coffee now as I used to. And even though the company I work with offer free unlimited coffee, I don’t get to indulge with it that much. That’s because the coffee taste so ordinary and the preparation is calibrated by a machine. My wife prepares better coffee.

And as part of the company’s fifth year anniversary celebration, each employee was treated to a different coffee experience. Something was brewed at the Leaders Coffee Bar-the Bona Coffee Company served free brewed coffee with choice of muffins or oatmeal cookie.

Bona coffee is brewed coffee, served hot or iced and is best enjoyed with their chocolate-walnut or banana-cinnamon muffins. This comes as a welcomed treat for someone who is not an avid coffee drinker. In every cup served, coffee lovers or the not-so-avid-coffee drinkers are treated with the distinct taste of brew.

Again, I am not much of a coffee lover but I definitely enjoyed this. Again, the company is celebrating it’s fifth year anniversary that culminates with a Family Day on August 28, 2009…and yes, just like our unique Filipino culture, coffee is best enjoyed when shared with a family.




-------------
For more info on Bona Coffee Company, you can check their website at www.bonacoffeecompany.com

wun manong: Tie a yellow ribbon

I am opening this blogsite on the day a former Philippine president died...Corazon Aquino.

I got home early from work today and as part of my usual routine, after changing clothes, I immidiately turned on the TV and getting ready for breakfast. Upon checking on the show, I was surprised to see 2 TV anchors discussing things about former president Aquino. The kind of show that the station does when there is something special or a big event is happening. I did not immidiately got the point. I even asked Bernadette, the househelp, if the president was dead..she said no and she's not aware.

I knew it coming that she will eventually die, but not this quick. She's been suffering from colon cancer, but she died of cardio-respiratory arrest.

Cancer is something that is close to my heart and to my family. My aunt Rhodora (motherside), died of cervical cancer and another aunt, Elizabeth (from my fatherside) is currently diagnosed of Stage IV breast cancer. Last week, we had a word from her doctor that she's not getting any better and we're only hoping she gets better. A priest has also administered the sacrament of annointing the sick.

I may not know the pain that cancer brings to the patient, but I can certainly relate to those people with relatives suffering from cancer. The pain when you see the patient enduring the medications is not for the faint-hearted, moreso, during "failed" recovery process. I say failed because after all the theraphy, medicines and hospital bills, they will eventually die.

But the good thing about cancer is that it is symbolic into binding families and relationships. Just like what the president did. And in my case, I knew I love my aunt but I never knew that I really loved her so much.

I am not a historian, quite frankly, I almost failed my Philippine history class. I hate memorizing names and events. But when you speak of Corazon Aquino, you synonymously speak of EDSA revolution, military coup attempts and the color yellow.

Like a mother to her countrymen, she endured 9 coup attempts during her presidency and was the strongest force who bought back democracy to the Philippines. But more that these, the greatest achievement of that yellow colored dresses would be on how she united the people of the Philippines even after her presidency and during her civilian years after.

Again, she was a mother, a wife and an ordinary woman until her husband made history...and along with it she carved her own place in the books and in the hearts of the people.