Fish Talk

Bayside of a small barangay in a top-classed municipality west of Batangas province

Where the common folks' main livelihood is fishing and the daily routinely conversation of old folks is how the catch for the night was.

Somewhere in the town proper, the millennials in their motorbikes drive to their hangout for meat binging and hard drinks.

Where on February 2020, temperature at 23.0°C (ow of 22) and the wind chill of 20 km/hour (low of 7) blowing the cold air of the bay to the roof deck tells you, the Christmas season got extended.

The days are shorter and nights are longer in the province. Time appears slower too.

The shift in pace from wild and frenetic of urban Manila  to idyllic and laid-back is a mere three hours away.

Changing Career? Not pursuing your Dreams?

On YouTube, I was exposed to a young Singaporean who excels in sports and in the performing arts. Already a champion swimmer in his younger days, he rewired himself for a 360 degree career change. Starting from scratch he shifted from athletics to the performing arts.

Now he is seen on social and mainstream media, playing the keyboard, strings, composing, writing, singing, acting, performing the spoken word. He also enlightens as a celebrity speaker.

Benjamin Kheng in his spoken word act talked about “Rich.”
-Is rich being wealthy, having a great of assets or money?
-Or having a high value or quality?
-Or deep and vivid in colour, sound or smell?
-Or is it the one that makes you whole?

Find out if making peace with the heart is the one that makes you rich.

https://youtu.be/BhHAV1z4v28

Ben shared to TEDxYouth@Singapore complex concepts on how to be competitive and to excel through rewiring, creating the movie soundtrack of one’s life, writing one’s script and filtering out the noise of discouragement and fighting the demons.

Catch the concepts of
-Relative pitch, comprehend the complexities of a sound hearing it for the 1st time
-Synesthesia, associating notes with emotions and colors and putting them in the right place.
-Negative Splitting, a competitive tool to piss people off, pacing yourself on the 1st and 2nd half of the race and going for the kill

Noise exists. How to handle them by making music with the noise, associating it with a chord and putting the noise in the right place through the heart.

In walking with the mind, one knows himself, the strengths and weaknesses and the environment he is in.

In running with the heart, it is deciding and acting at full speed the direction to pursue.

The secret is in his talk "Walk with your mind Run with your heart." (It needs patience to complete the 21-minute lecture. The key to success is there to the keenly interested.)

https://youtu.be/04-JxYnzcq0

Ben sings. One of my favorites is "The Fight Song" in collaboration with Kurt Hugo Schneider.  I quote the lines which resonate “Like a small boat On the ocean Sending big waves Into motion Like how a single word Can make a heart open I might only have one match But I can make an explosion”

“Starting right now I'll be strong I'll play my fight song And I don't really care if nobody else believes 'Cause I've still got a lot of fight left in me”

https://youtu.be/2kR3hmaikGI

Ben closes his Ted Talk with the question, “What about you? What do you want to be? What kind of legacy do you want to leave? Find the color and the noise. Know who you are and what you are made of. When the stars are aligned, let go.”

Parasite The Rich and Me

 Parasite is a Korean movie commenting on the disparity in lifestyle and culture of families at the extreme ends of the social class, the top rich and the bottom poor. Theme is anchored on social stratification to dramatize dissatisfaction, discomfort, unfulfilled needs and materialism of both social classes. The rich have the goods, skills and the cash to afford almost anything including exacting service and loyalty. The poor yet skilled family only have services creatively misrepresented deceitfully to be compensated at a premium.

Movie directed by award winning Korean director Bong Joon-ho successfully set up the lifestyle and residence of the affluent Park family to contrast agianst the hand-to-mouth survival of a poor, opportunistic yet talented Kim family in their cramped semi-basement quarter. With the stage set, the story and the drama of the social commentary unfold linearly, logically. Treatment is light, amusing and not depressing as the distressing theme was dealt with in a humorous way.

From the start, Parasite already established the class differences, gaps and the forthcoming racketeering to be committed against the privileged. Spotting opportunities for a get-quick-rich scheme, Kim family taps forgery, manipulation, schematic staging and almost anything without remorse and justification though discretely respecting the kindness accorded to them by the Park family.

Midway, the struggle expands not just between the rich and the marginalized family but by two poor families serving the rich, the Kims and Moon-gwang and husband Geun-sae. The fired cook displaced by the maneuvering of the Kim family returned stretching the stratified story with sub plots, surprises and interesting violent twists.

While simplistically, Parasite is about the poor family infiltrating and creeping into the rich's house; the rich dependent on the labor of the poor, parasitism is more appropriately applicable to them. The rich man's wife needed someone to do household chores and a sounding board, their daughter needing a tutor and a sexual partner, the young son, artistic coach and the husband, a driver.

Parasite leaves you devastated with senses assaulted thinking the rich are different from you and me. Parasite is a story told well, movie crafted well and portrayals acted well by Koreans with a universal appeal of what being human is. Each human being has talents with burdens to bear. Common between the rich and the poor is a family to care for. Collectively it is the family that binds the individuals, father and mother concern for their young son and daughter, son and daughter finding opportunities for their mother and father and the mother looking after the welfare of her partner.

Regardless of stature though, the family has shared struggles. The struggle which initially was light and amusing evolved into a dark, bloody, tragic state without any clear closure.


What is clear though is life is more painful for those at the lower strata of the society.

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I got jolted by the movie Parasite, scared by the two marginalized Parasite families and amused with one scheming Korean family especially when initially I was the only moviegoer in the 100-seater cinema house.

I left the room devastated with my senses assaulted thinking are the rich different from you and me? Or do the yous and mes face more exciting lives?

A story told well, movie crafted and portrayals acted well  by Koreans with a universal appeal of what being human is. Each one of us has talents with burdens to bear. Collectively it is the family that binds but the unit too has shared struggles regardless of stature.

Penta. The 5-week Learning Curve

It happened so soon. Searching for Christmas songs this 2019 on YouTube initially led me to Hallelujah. Further recommendations exposed me to their Christmas songs too many to count.

Even the transition from bass singer Avi to Matt was chronologically traced which hooked me eventually to the Sound of Silence.

Sometime this January 2020, I was told that as part of the world tour, "Pentatonix The World Tour Live in Manila", Araneta in Cubao would be their final destination for the leg.

Initially not that interested but constant reminders from social calendars, FB and prompting from colleagues increased the probability of watching. Eventually work schedule allowed. Even the Corona Virus epidemic allowed a mass gathering.

Just on the concert date 8 February, I bought tickets assured that the artists have arrived and the concert is pushing through. I watched initially for the sound to compare studio recording and live rendition and secondarily for the live concert experience.

I was glad that halfway, the sound system improved after Kevin's solo cello performance capturing better the nuances of the 5 singers’ vocal renditions in harmony.

From zero knowledge in December to a deeper familiarity on their group and personal lives in January is 5 weeks, a short learning period span. Credit that to technology for global linkage and a rich source of reference.

The 2020 concert was their 2nd in Manila. From the repeat goers and the crowd's chanting for their favorite singers and songs, the group has clearly established a fan base. For me, from zero base to attendance to a live concert in 5 weeks which put me relatively at par with them is a feat.

I wished that even in February 2020, Pentatonix devoted a segment on Christmas. They too were silent on the Simon and Garfunkel cover. The concert listening to 5 talented singers in accapella live supported by technology  for a visual illusion was an enriching and a lightly enjoyable musical experience.

Mitch delivered the high notes as tenor. Matt did a run and danced a lot with Kevin. Not much beat boxing done by Kevin but he sang, moved and played the cello and did beat box simultaneously. Scott led most of the time. Young mezzo-soprano Kirstie harmonized providing the feminine touch.

After the well-attended and appreciated live concert of the a cappella group, I am now back to YouTube watching in a HD set-up without a face mask to check on the PTXperience-Pentatonix: The World Tour 2020 episodes for additional learning and appreciation of multi-Grammy awardee singing group.

#PTXManila2020 #PTXTheWorldTourMLA