Theatrical: Strong Boy, Deaf Boy, and A Girl in an Abaya and Ayanasu (Woven)

Poster from PETA

Theatrical plays aren't really in my usual list of activities for a weekend, but art somehow fascinates me that no matter how inferior I am when it comes to interpreting movements that bear no words or a steady script, but instead rhythms and sounds that are in tune with beats that change as scenes progress. I call activities such as sitting too silently pretentious and unbearable as I am used to 'not watching stiffly', I guess. Gods, how I hate the silence each time, thus when it fills the crowd, I either break it or join it by falling on a deep slumber (I once fell asleep in CCP while a lady with such a nice falsetto tries to serenade everyone - not proud of that).

But I've been involved with people who can appreciate the beauty of movements while being silent as a wall, hence this activity. It's very different from my usual films, and so here's a review.

Strong Boy, Deaf Boy, and A Girl in an Abaya

This first part was brought to us by the Philippine Educational Theater Association. This was written by Palanca Hall of Famer Nicolas Pichay. Quick background story: this is about how three kids struggle to survive in Yolanda (Haiyan) tragedy.

Before the show, I was terribly distracted, to be honest. Everywhere around me were people who seem lively and interested, and my two friends were right there, talking as if their topics can never have an ending. Then I'm just there, checking out the ceiling, the lights, the temperature, and just sighing as if I'm the world's most problematic person. My friends tried to engage me but I'm just too not there.

Then the beats began and the lights went out except those that were focused on the stage. Dancing artists appeared from the backstage wearing black pieces of clothing. What distracted me from my distractions earlier were the way their eyes were like so focused you feel as though there's something they see that you don't. And in that moment, I've found myself engaged in every move and every shadow on the stage.

It gives that unique feeling, it was as if you're being opened by something that's powerful and interesting. The actors weren't really trying to put up a play, they're trying to let you know something that is too difficult to ignore.

Did everyone do a great job? Oh yes. Yes, especially that scene with Deaf Boy on top of the bamboos. I know it's hard to balance when you're on top of something that's narrow and moving (cheerleading days), so it must've been hella scary during the rehearsals. And the strongest feeling I've felt was during the Girl in an Abaya's moment with the villain who had a long stick, and she crawled underneath it, as if implying how the one who can whip can take advantage of anyone who can't steal the whipping tool. It was so sad I cursed under my breath (you can't exactly yell in theaters).

After those minutes watching them, I was alive again and then I started talking to my friends haha.

Ayanasu (Woven)

This one's by the Dora Theater Company (Japanese). Quick background story: this is about a family's journey after the 2011 tsunami.

Here's a pic taken by my friend:

The play was at first, comedic and normal that if you've watched lots of Japanese films, you'd really see their culture in every move, until the music changed to what sounds like mellow and depicting a harsh downfall.

The actors were really really really cute, haha. They were so good in using every muscle on their faces that if they smiled, you'd see the funny side. But at the same time, they were amazing because when things were sad, they were so consistent about it. And if those faces can't get you to feel anything, you should try seeing a doctor.

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All in all the experience was fun. I used to be in theater, did you know? Haha, it's so nostalgic in a way even if the plays I did had lines and weren't in any way silent.

After the show, we headed home. It was raining a bit, and I was tired very much, but when I reached my bed, I decided I didn't want to sleep and instead, write this.

P.S. I would like to thank The Japan Foundation Manila for sponsoring our VIP Tickets.

Movie: Transcedence

"People fear what they don't understand."

How very true - that was my first reaction upon hearing that line.

The movie was devastating, it affected me in so many levels: spiritual, professional, and personal.

Spiritual

The talk of god comes up during Dr. Will Caster's talk about the advancement of science using nanotechnology. He's a brilliant man involved in a group that is constantly looking for ways to make humanity create a step ahead in technology. During the discussion portion, someone asked: So you want to create a god, your own god? And his answer was That's a very good question, isn't that what man has always done? Which was a very good but not in a sense of humanity, morality, and spirituality, so it seems, because Will Caster got shot after this talk by that same audience member. Not shot by an ordinary gun, but a gun  loaded with a bullet that seems lethal enough to kill you in a few months.

Well, on the logical practical sense, isn't it nice to have things to work out faster, and easier? I think the purpose of intellect is to be used, otherwise, why would the god that audience member so dearly loved give this thing to humankind?

But I do get where he's coming from. And in the film, the anger from his party was coming from a reasonable background story. Apparently, someone who had been studying and pursuing the same technological advancement had tried the nanotech on a monkey, and well it didn't turn out well - the monkey 'begged for the humans to stop' so the story goes. That someone ended up dead, killed by this group who witnessed the event. If the events were for real, and not at all fiction, I would've come up to them and asked: So you want to create a god, your own god? And if they got confused and threw a why to me, I'd say: Gods take lives, and that's what you did - you took lives. Of course they'd argue that it's to save humankind, and all other life forms who'd possibly become high-tech monsters in the future, but still, murder is murder.

Professional

As an IT professional, I could say the same thing about the environment I'm in. People indeed fear what they don't understand. Why should they not? If a stranger called you on a phone and told you that you can claim a reward of say, a million bucks but you have to fill up this form, go to this place, would you not be afraid? No matter how good the promise of "nice things" brings, you'd still fear the unknown. We even fear ghosts simply because we don't understand why they exist at all, and thus theories emerge.

I'd say this, but not to come off as offensive - most of the time, old people are the ones who are so afraid of technological advancement. It is not just the monetary issues, I think, but the fact that it's back to zero again. It's going to take some time to go from manual to automatic. The buttons seem confusing all the time, and the screens are just too bright. The thought of being mocked by the younger generation also scares the older generation, and I bet nobody would ever want mockery on their everyday life event.

But we need advancement simply because we can't be forever stuck in manual counting. Life is a race, and whoever has a life can either run or die dissatisfied. Especially if your track is on the corporate world, you gotta adopt the trend, and adapt to it, else you lose the race.

Personal

Who doesn't fear advancement or the things we don't understand? Yes, in a professional sense it is important to not fear advancement, but in our personal lives, advancement doesn't necessarily mean things are on the positive ground.

(for example) Advancement in relationships: why should you think it is not supposed to be feared? It means commitment, time investment, etc., so why should we think all things that move forward in our lives are just pursuing the goodness?

Wrap

Sci-fis are always the best, in my opinion. From the rich vocabulary to the plot twists, they never seem to fail. The scripts are always wonderful and I tend to hang on into every word the actors say. It gets the mind working and at the end of the day, even if I get reminded about the reality that is slow and boring, I still find myself grateful for the little bit of distraction.

In Transcedence, the great people are the ones who understood each other, and are the ones who got misunderstood. I think a great deal of miscommunication took place. Will Caster should've put more heart onto that answer about creating his own god, and the audience member and his party should've used words before guns. Sometimes people are so impulsive it makes broken things look like they need complex calculus and methodologies when, really, it's just the simple arithmetic that's the key.

It's not that the scientific minds don't pay heed to souls and humanity, of course they do. But usually, the impulsive judgmental afraid minds who claim to be activists pro-humanity and morality, pull the trigger too soon and forget that they too now look like they're creating their own god by taking the laws into their own hands.

But did Will Caster and Evelyn Caster crossed the line? Evelyn did, Will was a dead man whose mind got altered upon getting uploaded. But Evelyn was a human being and here's the cliche: human beings make mistakes. Does that give "activists" the right to kill her? No, definitely not. But they do have a right to go to the authorities and work with them.

Evelyn did the biggest mistake a brilliant mind can ever do, but she paid it anyway, so I guess I don't have to hate her that much.

The Rate

4/5

Recommended?

To those with open minds. Close minds see nothing but the flaw ahead, I shit you not ;)

Animorphs: The Invasion by Katherine Applegate

The Invasion by Katherine Applegate
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

#animorphs_reread

This wasn't even my first Animorphs book, it was #2 - The Visitor (Rachel). But for this project re-read, I decided to do it in the right order. Haha.

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5 teenagers were normal until they met Prince Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul of the Andalite species.

Andalites - bluish in color; looks like a centaur (to me); has way way way advanced technology; you could say they're the heroic species because they kept on fighting the Yeerks.

Yeerks - like slugs; parasites; if they entered your head, they'll take over your brain and then you're done; antagonist specie

Prince Elfangor - his spaceship landed, or crashed, rather, at the exact time the 5 teenagers were passing by this construction site; he was badly wounded and was dying when they found him; he gave them the power to morph (an Andalite technology that the Yeerks weren't able to acquire)

Visser Three - ambitious Yeerk who wants to be Visser One soon; was able to possess an Andalite's body thus making him the only Yeerk (so far) who can morph

Controllers - human beings possessed by Yeerks in a forced way

Collaborators - human beings/species who weren't forced by Yeerks to be possessed; they sort of welcomed the idea of being possessed by them

The Invasion was narrated by Jake. Just Jake. They can't afford publishing their identities since that night at the construction site. Jake has four other friends: Marco, Tobias, Rachel, and Cassie.

Jake - the leader because as Tobias said: people listen to him and he knows how to plan; he wasn't thrilled about being in this whole mission of saving the Earth until he learned that Tom, his brother, was a Controller.

Rachel - Jake's cousin; the not-just-a-pretty girl; you don't mess with Rachel ;]

Cassie - the friend you wish you have haha; seriously this girl's really interesting and if you hate her, then I don't know what to do with you.

Marco - the funny one!; Jake's best friend; most practical person ever; his mom's dead and his dad's messed up (see funny people have terrible things beneath them); he was the last to say okay with the whole mission thing; he's smart, really, I suppose I like Marco more than Jake; he has the best lines haha; he came up with the name, Animorphs

Tobias - *sobs haha; most messed up family scenario; father's unknown; mom left him "a few years ago"; best character plot, in my opinion; he was the first to say yes to the whole mission thing; bullied at school (*sobs); favorite character

The Morphing Technology

Prince Elfangor gave the five teenagers the power to morph. It's pretty simple - you touch the animal, and as Tobias said - you have to want to become the animal - and then acquire its DNA. The DNA then stays with you, you only have to touch the animal once to have its DNA.

There is only one rule: never stay in a certain morph for more than 2 hours. If you stay for more than two hours, you'll be stuck in that morph forever and you won't be able to return to a human being.

*//spoiler//*

Tobias stayed for more than 2 hours in his red-tailed hawk morph (so yeah...) during that first "fight" with the Yeerks were they faced Visser Three again. They were able to get out of it alive, but they failed to save anyone, not even Jake's brother Tom.

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