And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin,
Everyday I walk to school some 30 min distance. I take advantage of this by walking briskly so I can exercise everyday. But one fine day I preferred to walk leisurely to enjoy the beautiful spring afternoon. It was then that I noticed the flowers along the road -- some wild, some were not. So, today I brought along my small camera and took pictures along the way. These were some of the flowers I found. Can you name them all? a shy camellia and one rainy afternoon...
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What are the best and worst things about living in Cagayan de Oro City? Please leave a comment.
Hand Shadow Theater Click on the picture for a sample of a hand shadow performance.
to improvise with them. I purposely divert the listener away from the music. It is intended as a background music for retreat and recollection so I want them to focus on their prayer and meditation instead of the music. The music will help the listener settle down, set and atmosphere of prayer through the familiarity of the melody and harmony but will slowly divert to improvisation to bring the listener away from the music and make his prayer or meditation experience more personal. The music won't get in the way. I have this idea because I practice yoga for almost three years now. I would like to share that experience of bringing someone into prayer or meditation and being in unity with oneself oblivious of the surrounding whether it is noise or music. Ironically, this music is intended for you to listen to it at first and "not listen" to it later. The Devil's PranksThe problem was I just couldn't get started. Procrastination attack! My composition teacher used to tell us "just sit on the piano and write anything". That's what I did and it worked somehow. I made a few "sketches". Then one early morning I woke up full of inspiration. I turned on the keyboard, put on the headphone, then... suddenly, somewhere in the neighborhood a loud blast of music coming through my padded ear. I could feel the booming of the bass. It was like the speaker was pointed to my direction as the devil's prank for me. There was a wedding. In Cambodia, they play loud music the whole day from as early as 4:30 am to as late as 12 midnight on weddings and funerals. A happy music is irritating when played all day. How much more a funeral music? But all the locals seemed to have gotten used to it. Cambodia may not be a place for musicians to live. In the middle of the project I forgot my list in the church among the songbooks. The devil's prank again because there were many clean sheets of paper around but why my list was chosen and torn to be used as a memo? See the picture. On another day, the keyboard didn't work. The wire came loose so there was no electricity coming into the instrument. I had to wait for a day to get the other keyboard because the custodian was away. I blamed the devil again for this prank. I was running out of time. The launching was set on January 27, 2012 and I was going back to the Philippines in the first week of February. I only had a couple of weeks. So, I declined invitations to go on trips. I secluded myself in my room. And it worked. I only went out to eat meals. When there was a wedding or a funeral in the neighborhood, I went to a coffee shop in the market that served good coffee to edit the reverb, balance, etc. I used to jog before sunset with a Cambodian friend or just hangout with them but I stopped doing it as well. I didn't want to forget the idea while it's still accessible in my brain. Every minute was precious because we wanted to include at least 12 songs. The toughest part is during the editing because I fell asleep in the middle of the music. So, I edited the song by parts. Most of the time, it worked. To get rid of stress, I did Yoga in silence alone below the belfry at about 5pm. I could hear them playing soccer. After that, I took a shower (I adopted the Cambodian habit) and ate dinner. This was an everyday routine for two weeks. When a song seemed done, I would take a walk. Sometimes, a friend would gave me a hand or shoulder massage while we talk about stuffs --- usually about Japan... I worked with a portable keyboard. I bought a very good headphone. The keyboard was connected to my MacBook Pro through USB and I worked with the Garage Band. I haven't done a serious project before so I had to start familiarizing myself with the software, too. A very challenging job for my age. The keyboard was set on a table. The keys were small and there were only about 4 octaves. My position was not ideal for a long period of work. The back hurt. Sometimes, the pedal wasn't working. The project seemed to be impossible to finish but I took the challenge and did it. Why? The inspiration and support.
When Les Miserables was shown in the Philippines in January, there were many comments on FaceBook. There were those who watched it many times. There were those who complained about movie goers talking during the show... To satisfy my curiosity. I watched the interviews on YouTube. I also watched again the whole 10th year anniversary (which remained as my favorite). I came across the movie --- not the musical-- on Youtube, too. And to refresh my memory on the plot I watched it as well. Despite the hype, I didn't watch the movie. Even in Okinawa when James Bond's Falling Sky was simultaneously showing, I had to win my friends over to watch 007 instead by winning the janken game. Why I wasn't that excited to see the film? One reason is, I saw it already on Broadway in New York a decade ago. Another reason is: a friend, a musician, posted on FaceBook that "When Russel Crowe's turn to sing she could enjoy her popcorn." So, I decided to wait for the DVD release and watch it in my home theater. If I like it, I'd add it to my DVD collection. And then, I watched it a few days ago... maybe, under pressure from my FaceBook friends hahaha This is my facebook post after watching Les Mis: "Russel Crowe should stay away from Musicals. Hugh Jackman should've taken the Bishop's role (LESS singing) Anne H did well but she over dramatized the "I dreamed a dream" but she did great when she appeared as a Ghost. All the other casts were excellent especially the two CHILDREN (bravissimo)." Except for my comment about Anne Hathaway, I stand to my critique. Let me explain in details why. Russel Crowe can sing but the Javert songs were too heavy for him. Some friends argued that they should be complimented for their effort. If they were my students, or if it's a local church or town production, I would. But this is a movie with a very huge budget! Hugh Jackman can sing but his voice is not enough to satisfy the demand of Jean Valjean's songs. Because the pitches were high his wide vibrato were very obvious --- he's struggling to keep in tune and to prolong the notes. His recitative sounded annoying to me as the movie progressed. He also cuts his notes too short. And for the songs, his vibrato were too wide. What's the fuss about too wide vibrato? It destroys the beauty of the melody. Here's what an article say about vibrato. A wide vibrato is usually a lack of proper "resistance of the breath pressure" or a lack of "focus in the tone". It can also be a result of a lack of proper adduction of the vocal cords. One or all of these problems create a sound that our culture defines as "age in the voice". Source: Understanding Vibrato Vibrato is not bad in singing but it has to be controlled. Listen, for example, how singers like Celine Dion prolongs a note. The "wobble" should not be too wide. If the other actors were all singing and acting par excellence (that includes Ann Hathaway) and with special mention of the two children. Why the Javert and Jean Valjean roles were given to Russel Crowe and John Hackman? Let's talk about some problematic scenes.
ConclusionAll the cast singing were excellent except Russel Crowe and Hugh Jackman. Without them the whole musical would have been perfect. Couldn’t they find better singer-actors than them? My guess is, yes, they could. But I guess the producers wanted to give the major roles a major actor or else the movie won’t sell. The marketing focused on how hard the production was and how expensive. How Anne Hathaway had to be on a strict diet just to be thin and suffering as Fantine could be. Or how much money Russel Crowe paid the vocal trainors just to make him sing... this is how people are enticed to watch the movie especially those who are new or not into musicals.
P.S.Speaking of Chicago and Evita. Why Richard Gere and Madonna did well in these musicals that were made to film? The singing of almost all of Les Miserables songs requires a powerful opera trained singers. The role of Richard Gere in Chicago and Madonna in Evita, didnt. I later learned that in The Sound of Music, it was not Peggy Wood who actually sang "Climb Every Mountain". It was dubbed and the really singer was Marjorie McKay It wasn't a big deal because that scene was so solemn and perfect. Had they insisted on letting Wood belt those high notes it would have destroyed the mood of that scene. Having the humility to say that she couldn't do it was one of the reasons why I respect her a lot. Please leave your comment below. P.S. 2Detailed explanation of Ruthie Henshall's |
The orchestra starts with an oboe solo. Oboe usually plays a sad melody. "There was a time..." a narration of her past was sung with one note but you can hear her sing it with both feeling of joy and regret. "... then it all went wrong." Then the song starts with the harp's arpeggio... Then she sings the first stanza... "I dreamed..." her voice full of hope. Then the mood changed at "but the tigers come at night" with her singing in lower notes. Listen when she sang "tear your world apart." She changed her voice at "tear". It made that phrase different and the preparation of the "tragic" part of her song. The composer brought the melody down for the same reason. "As they turn your dream" she sounds like a helpless child "to shame---- " the melody goes up and the tension is up. "He filled my days with endless wonde" listen how she cut or didn't prolong at "wonder" she's trying to create an irony of the "wonder" and the tragedy that followed it. "but he was gone when autumn came." Notice the change of her voice quality that sounds like throaty. This is where her life changed from a happy one to a tragic one. "But there are dreams that cannot be" the composer brought the melody up to emphasize the impossibility of the dream | Notice again her "throaty" quality in the "there are storms" as her way of emphasizing the gravity of the situation of "storms that cannot wether". And we approach the climax with the violins and the soloist in an sort of dialogue. And the resolution, the tempo slowed down, the volume softer and the most difficult part of any singer to do: to sing a prolonged high note softly. And she did it all perfectly. BRAVISSIMO!!!! |
I’m grateful.
Cebu Pac is a (LCC) Low Cost Carrier. The problem with the people is that they still think this is the 70s - 80s when taking the plane is a luxury. It's not. Low Cost Carriers are all over the world and has made travel more affordable to common people. It has helped the boom of tourism and sick people can easily travel for special treatments. And look at PAL which is supposedly a luxury airline. It's food is not worth the price and it's always delayed. It’s waiting area in terminal 2 is over crowded. In short, airlines system in the Philippines sucks. The government has to do something such as: building a railway system that at least connect Manila to Leyte.
My Safety is important than my baggage.
There’s an advertisement in Air Asia where they assure the passengers that their pilots are well-trained. Yes, the priority of these LCCs is our safety over our check-in baggages. If you’re not informed that your baggages were unloaded, complain to the manager not the ground crew. Also cooperate by bringing only your necessities and if possible, hand carry only.
Hidden charges.
I’m against this but this is their way of attracting costumers. There is no airline that doesn’t do this. For example, if I check a flight from Japan to the USA I’ll find less than US500 but when I book it it’s actually almost US1,000 because of the oil surcharge. The only thing you wasted here is the time you spent encoding your data. The bottom line, when you travel expect to spend a lot of money.
Delayed flights.
I’ve travelled a lot last year, 2011. But I only had 1 delayed flight with Cebu Pacific. From Cagayan de Oro to Manila. Airlines hate delayed flights more than we do because they’re fined for that. The problem with delayed flights is mostly caused by runway traffic congestion and some by delayed passengers. I really hate it when I hear announcements “paging so and so flight so and so is now final boarding”.
Please cooperate.
On my flight from Manila to Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, our flight was almost delayed due to two young ladies who almost missed the flight. I happened to befriend them and I learned that they almost missed the flight because they had to go to the city hall to get their papers and the bus trip was 4 hours delayed because the bus had few passengers and it had to pick up more passengers before it left their town. What I’m trying to say is, be considerate. The airlines has rules to follow. Give allowance of at least 2 hours before your departure time.
Other Flying Inconveniences.
I lower my expectation because I pay less. What upset me was when I flew with PAL to Delhi from Tokyo. Since PAL is expensive I expect the basics of luxuries such as good meal, professional service, etc. But I was disappointed. In Manila, I had to wait for 8 hours for my connecting flight and there was no place to relax and no WIFI in terminal 2. The plane stopped in Bangkok and I was left alone with the cleaners on the plane. I was shocked to know that the pillows that I hugged and rested my head on weren’t replaced. No covers, either. Since then, I sat on them. More about my bad experience with PAL here. In short, when your expectation is low you get less disappointed. I believe the price of Cebu Pacific is reasonable. What I expect from what I payed is fast and safe travel... the rest are “extras” such as the good magazine, the always polite and smiling flight attendants. And the longest flight I had with them was 4 hours only. It’s bearable.
Convenience
Cebu Pacific in Manila introduced the check-in everywhere system. It’s really helping the movement of people faster. The restaurants in Terminal 3 are cozy, the food and beverages are good at reasonable price and of course the WIFI is strong. Why is WIFI important? You will know when you miss a flight. It happened to me in Delhi International Airport where WIFI is only accessible to those who had a telephone subscription in India. I couldn’t access PAL’s site to get their telephone number and their phone number was not available in the costumer’s service.
Conclusion
For now, I will fly with Cebu Pacific because I think their service and price is reasonable. However, if they get more expensive than other airlines without improving their service then I’ll think again.
Because the Philippines is composed of small islands, our only way to travel quick is by plane and our only way to travel cheap is by LCCs. These problems could have been minimized if our government invests on train system that will at least connect Manila and Leyte.
Tip: Take the shuttle bus. For example, from Terminal 3 to MRT/LRT Baclaran it only costs P20 ($0.50).
And today, while I was busy editing some music under a tree someone suddenly sat next to me. We talked for more than an hour. I learned that he was the youngest in the family and his father passed away when he was one year old. We talked about a lot of things. He told me that he wants to take a course in protecting the environment and he wants to help clean up Cambodia. That his room is always clean and he got the habit from his mother. He wants to live a simple life but he wants to own lots of houses and that he will lend me one of the houses for free... He told me that he loves bananas. He said he doesn't ask his mother but she always sends him bananas so he shares some of them to his dorm mate. These students live in the dorms for free. Then, out of the blue he asks me, "What does "motion sickness" mean?" I explained the meaning to him and asked him why he asked. He said it was his homework and he's too lazy to look for it in the dictionary. He complained that the dictionary is English-English and the meaning has words that he doesn’t know.
We laughed.
“You owe me a banana for that word." I said.
“Ok, I can give you one. I have one......” He couldn’t find the word.
“Ripe?” I said
“Yeah, that’s the word.”
“Now you owe me 2 bananas.”
We laughed.
He went away because it was time for his Chemistry group study.
When I went back to my room, he called me, asked me to wait and he ran to his room. When he came back he brought me 4 bananas. Now, I owe him 2 English words...
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The author used to lives and work in Japan, now the Dean of a College of Music in Mindanao. For more information click here
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