Take Me or Leave Me

Earlier this week, the song I'll Cover You from Rent's soundtrack played in my head for no apparent reason.  Suddenly, I felt depressed.  I don't know why I felt that way considering how lovely the lyrics are, but I did.


When one song depresses me, I counter it with more songs, and one of those is another piece from Rent.




Every single day,
I walk down the street
I hear people say: "Baby's so sweet!"
Ever since puberty
Everybody stares at me,
Boys, girls I can't help it, baby.
So be kind, and don't lose your mind
Just remember, that I'm your baby


Take me for what I am!
Who I was meant to be!
And if you give a damn,
Take me baby,Or leave me!
Take me baby or leave me!


A tiger in a cage
Can never see the sun.
This diva needs her stage, baby,
Let's have fun!
You are the one I choose,
Folks would kill to fill your shoes!
You love the limelight too now, baby!
So be mine, and don't waste my time
Cryin', "Oh honey bear are you still my, my, my baby?"
(Don't you dare!)


Take me for what I am!
Who I was meant to be!
And, if you give a damn,
Take me baby, or leave me!


No way, can I be what I'm not!
But hey, don't you want your girl hot?
Don't fight, don't loose your head,
'Cause every night who's in your bed?
Who? Who's in your bed?
(Kiss Pookie?!)


(It won't work!)
I look before I leap.
I love margins and discipline.
I make lists in my sleep, baby.
What's my sin?
Never quit.
I follow through.
I hate mess but I love you.
What to do with my impromptu baby?
So be wise, 'cause this girl satisfies,
You got a prize, so don't compromise
You're one lucky baby!!!


Take me for what I am!
(A control freak!)
Who I was meant to be!
(A snob yet over attentive!)
And, if you give a damn!
(A lovable droll, geek!)
Take me baby or leave me!
(And anal retentive!)


That's it!
The straw that breaks my back!
I quit!
Unless you take it back!
Women,
What is it about them?
Can't live, with them or without them!


Take me for what I am
Who I was meant to be
Who I was meant to be
And, if you give a damn
and if you give a damn you better
Take me baby or leave me
take me or leave me
Take me baby, or leave me
Guess I'm leaving, I'm gone!

I saw the musical when it was performed here and this song was one of my most anticipated.  I'm having a hard time looking for the local performances though, because they are at par with the Broadway cast, in my opinion.


Somehow, I can relate to both players sentiments in this song, but I identify more with Joanne.  


Who do you identify with?  

Offline

I'm going offline for four days.  It may probably include twitter. 


I have an early morning flight, but I've yet to pack my things.


I need the vacation.  Specially the change in scenery. 


I think I'll try defying gravity.  :-)

Battalia Blood Bath

I'm lost.  The directions given me were clear, and the taxi that brought me there knew the landmarks I mentioned.  But that was as far as I was able to follow.  I am in front of Magsaysay High School in Cubao, and across from me, on the other side of EDSA, was Nepa-Q Mart.  But I can't find Victoria School.  And the three locals I asked also did not know where I wanted to go.


There was a place called Victoria, one of them said, but it's on a different side of town, quite a ways away from where we were now.


It was still early though, and my instincts tell me that I'm close, so I walked around at bit to gather my thoughts, and decided to get lost for a while.  And thus, my adventure began hours before the play officially started.

A few minutes' walk, and a couple of t-junctions later, I found out what I was looking for -- the abandoned Victoria School -- the site of the promised blood bath I was to partake with that night.

Battalia Royale is a play loosely based on the novel Battle Royale by Koushun Takami, about a class of high school students drugged and abducted, and pitted against each other in a kill-or-be-killed, last-one-standing, battle to the death.  I have always wanted to see the show ever since I heard about their performance at the CCP.  Due to scheduling problems and work *cough*audit*cough* I wasn't able to attend their performances.  As luck would have it, a friend had a friend who happened to have and extra ticket for the show.  Though I had other plans for the night, I wasn't about to pass up an opportunity, given the reviews I've read online.

And what an adventure it was!  It was raw; it was dirty; it was definitely bloody.  It was so much fun!  I was near enough to see much of it unfold and was lucky enough to evade all the gore.  Others weren't as lucky and ended up looking like a survivor of a massacre.

Choosing the abandoned school as location for the play was a novel idea.  it added a palpable dread and an ominous feeling to the whole set.  And with an almost full moon shining, the final sequences were lent more tension no amount of dramatic lighting could ever replicate.

Considering its a play about children killing each other with us, the audience, egging them on, and at times, cheering the inventive and manipulative acts of the killers, saying that I loved the performance might mean admitting my sociopath tendencies.  But I do love the play, and seeing it made me think how long I would, given the circumstances, be able to hold on to my humanity.

Poor social skills aside, will I play the game, or will I wait until pushed to the brink before I unleash my inner animal?  Or will it be too late, and I end up one of the casualties?  Maybe I will never know, and that would be a good thing.

Battalia Royale held its last performance last Sunday, but given the rave reviews it has garnered, I doubt it will be the last we will see of it.

Pag-ibig Pa Rin

O musang marikit at kaakit-akit
Ibahagi sa akin mga katagang ninanais
Diwa kong hapo ay 'wag bigyang pasakit
Sa paghanap, paghalaw ay naghihinagpis.

Sa pagkamangha sa nasilayang komediya
Na halaw sa likha ng Dakilang Makata
Tuloy ay naisip na tumipa sa letra
At magpugay sa dula sa lengua Tagala.

Sayaw at galaw ay kagilagilalas
Sa halaw ng himig na buhay at wagas
Puso'y napako sa aking namalas
Na siyang dahilan at nagbabalagtas.

Pag-ibig, pag-ibig at pag-ibig pa rin
Kasumpa-sumapang pag-ibig, salarin
Tatlong kaharia'y napailalim
Sa dusa at dugo at waging malagim.

Salamat sa aking mga katoto
Na nag-imbitang manood ng teatro
Orosman at Zafira, aking ginusto
At nagbigay kulay sa aking Linggo.

Ngayon ako, sa inyo'y nag-aanyaya
Huwag palampasin yaring naturang dula
Inyo itong antabayanan
Sa kuta ng mga Iskolar ng Bayan.

Muna'y lubayan ang banyagang produkto
At ang pilak na tabing na ating gusto
Kayo ay magmadali ng husto
Ang dula ay lamang hanggang dulo ng Agosto.

Cinemalaya 09: The Rapture of Fe

Cinemalaya has been hailed by some as the most important film festival in the country today. It plays host to limitless independent talent, and it isn't surprising that films that are finalists in the Cinemalaya find their way -- and win -- in most international film festivals.

Last year's film 100 found its way to the Pusan International Film Festival and won the Audience Choice Award, while Pisay from Cinemalaya 2007 won for itself the Grand Jury and Audience Choice Awards from the 14th Vesoul International Film Festival.

This year, Cinemalaya will showcase as one of its ten finalists, Alvin Yapan's The Rapture of Fe.

"The film stars critically acclaimed stage and film actress, Irma Adlawan as Fe, a former OFW forced to come home due to the negative effects of the global financial crisis. Coming home, she is met by her husband’s resentment and subsequently, his abusive nature.

Dante, Fe’s husband will be played by Nonie Buencamino. Her loyalty to her husband now becomes oppressive as a younger lover, Arturo played by television star TJ Trinidad, offers a fantasy for escape. Amidst all these, baskets of black fruits keep appearing mysteriously by their doorstep.

In a society where violence still remains unimaginably real and covertly present and an economy that has become dependent upon the fruits of her labor, the film attempts to redefine the concept of freedom for the Filipina who has to rely on her imagination to survive." (theraptureoffe.com)

Visit their website here and witness how an artist's vision is translated into cinema. You can also help in achieving the artist's goal by donating to their cause. Producing a film is no cheap feat, after all.

Shirking Responsibilities: A Year of Movies and Stuff

38 movies, 1 concert, 2 plays, 1 cheerdance competition; and it still doesn't quite sum up what I had been up to the past year. It was fast; it was fun; it was tiring; it was heart-breaking at times... but it certainly wasn't boring.

I am reminded of a line from Ally McBeal by John Cage: "If you look back at your year, and it doesn't make you shed a tear -- whether happy or sad -- then consider that year wasted." I may have done quite a few (well... a lot actually) mistakes during 2008, but wasted, it isn't.

I just hope that I remember my lessons and not repeat those same mistakes.

Here's hoping for a better year than the year that was past... even though it's a month late in the celebrating.