Manila Times column for 26 July 2009: "The long but inspiring road to advocacy and children’s literature"

original post here.

this pilandokan conference was fun and enlightening for me. gusto ko talaga siyang puntahan di lang dahil nagsusulat ako ng children's TV show ngayon kundi talagang genuinely interested lang ako sa state of children's and young adult lit sa atin today, kasi ito ay genre na ginagalawan ko rin sa aking pampanitikang pamumuhay at panulat.

kaya natawa ako sa komento ng kakilala kong guro sa filipino dept sa KAL, si elyrah, na kelangan daw piktyuran ako dahil rare daw ang tulad ko, na nag-a-attend ng mga kumperensiyang ganito dahil sa talagang interesado ako, di tulad ng iba na nag-a-attend o nagbabasa ng papel sa kumperensiya dahil "points" ito sa aming CV bilang guro para may maidagdag sa iyong promotions sa rank sa pagiging guro sa peyups hehehe.

yes, may ganung factor. :)

well.

ay, ito nga palang guro sa educ na nabanggit ko ay--small world--yung ate pala ng barkada ko noong college sa film, si K, na naging kumare ko paglaon dahil inaanak ko ang anak niyang si kari hehe. hm, miss ko na ang inaanak kong iyon. matalino. laging libro ang regalo ko sa kanya.

at yung binabanggit ko pala diyan na lesbian story for children, yung publisher na napag-usapan namin ay the same publisher na niligwak ang aking novel for young adults na lesbian puppy love ang tema. when i asked kung bakit nila ni-reject ang novel ko, ang sabi lang sa akin "kasi we went with the other submission." tangeeenaaaa. labo. ni ayaw sabihin nung head honcho ng publishing house yung tunay na reason. takot siguro mabansagang homophobic. well, namamana pala ang pagiging macho shit, aney. but that's another blog post :P

heniwey... enjoy!


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Sunday, July 26, 2009

THE SCRIBE VIBE
By Libay Linsangan Cantor
The long but inspiring road to advocacy and children’s literature

AT the recently concluded Second National Conference on Children’s Literature in UP, I got the sentiment that there is still a long way to go when it comes to instilling certain advocacy issues in Philippine children’s literature.

In a casual conversation with UP College of Education professor Portia Padilla, a conference speaker, she estimated that it takes about ten years for a “trend” to emerge when it comes to instilling social issues in stories written for children. For instance, she cites that today, we already have stories featuring persons with disabilities (PWD), notably the deaf. I remember when death was also a shunned issue, a discussion we had in my graduate studies class on writing children’s literature some ten years ago. But now, there are several books that feature this topic. Indeed, a good ten years after. Prof. Padilla’s estimation is spot on.

Besides various PWD issues, there are also stories now featuring issues of changing family structures, notably stories featuring children in so-called broken homes (parents are separated) and stories where one parent is “absent” because he or she has to work as an overseas worker (the so-called OFW narrative.)

Another development I am personally happy about is the articulation of domestic violence, specifically sexual abuse toward girls, in children’s literature. I just bough a 2007 publication by Adarna House entitled Ang Lihim Ni Lea (Lea’s Secret) authored by award-winning children’s writer Augie Rivera and illustrated by Ghani Madueño. The fictional story discusses a little girl’s plight of being sexually abused by her own father, as her mother is away. I know that such stories have been sadly happening in real life for decades, and it’s about time publishers acknowledged that this problem should be articulated and discussed with children, especially those who are survivors of such abuse. Such publications hope to encourage other children who are in similar situations to speak up, stand up and seek help. Hope, after all, is the primary ingredient present in any story written for children.

I now wonder about another sensitive topic, children with gay or lesbian parents, and when this will become a “trend” in our literature. There are already many western publications discussing such stories in both children’s and young adult literature, but the local scene looks bleak when it comes to this issue. Prof. Padilla mentioned a publisher’s “dichotomy” regarding the issue, as they say “we are not yet ready” for such publications but as stand-alone stories (say, those that are entered in competitions like the Palanca), they could be merited as good and radical. Yes, good and radical award-winning stories sometimes never see the light of publication because their topics feature “taboo” issues like homosexuality. Ironic, isn’t it?

A long road indeed, but not a winding one, to quote that Beatles song. Things are positively looking up, somewhat. I guess we advocates just better be patient just a bit more—and continue writing until we get read and heard.

Comments? Suggestions? E-mail libay.scribevibe@gmail.com. She is also at libaycantor.multiply.com.

bagong istilo ng panloloko sa kapwa

... hay, onli in da pilipins! kaloka ito. ingat tayo.

nakuha ko sa email. hindi akin ang font styles at colors hehehe.

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Mahalagang Paala-ala sa ating mga kababayan na nagsisikap na makapagpundar ng salapi para sa kanilang pamilya.

Narito ang isa sa karumaldumal na gawain ng mga tiwarik na alagad ng batas para sila ay magkamal ng salapi sa masamang paraan.

Kung kayo ay kumakain sa anumang restaurant o fastfood at halos ilang linggo pa lamang nakakarating galing sa ibang bansa ay mag-ingat kayo sa ganitong scenario....

Habang kayo ay kumakain, may pwe-pwesto sa tapat ng lamesa ninyo na isang tao (babae o lalaki) at ito ay kakain din. Kalimitan ang suot ay parang balikbayan din, malimit itong gagamit ng cellphone at malakas magsasalita para makuha ang atensyon mo, at parang laging nagmamadali.

Bigla itong tatayo at a-akto na nagmamadali, maiiwan sa table ang susi ng kotse niya. Dito ay dapat kang mag-isip nang mabuti dahil sa oras na kunin mo ang susi at ihabol sa labas ng fastfood o restaurant para iabot sa umalis na customer, pagdating mo sa labas ay hindi mo na makikita ang taong ito. Sa puntong ito ay babalik ka sa loob ng fastfood or restaurant. Biglang may lalapit sa iyo na isang magpapakilalang pulis at sasabihin sa iyo na ikaw ay suspect sa carnapping, at bubulungan ka na huwag mag-ingay at sumama sa labas dahil nandoon ang complainant; at may tatayo pa na apat na tao sa loob ng fastfood o restaurant at magpapakilalang mga intel agents daw. Dito ay malilito ka na at mapipilitan kang sumama sa labas dahil marami na sila.

ITO AY ISANG MALINAW NA FRAME UP

Kapag kayo ay nasa labas na, dito na magaganap ang pagpilit sa iyo na sumakay sa kotse nila upang ikaw raw ay dalhin sa presinto; subali't dadalhin ka nila sa isang lugar na halos walang tao at doon ka tatakutin na ipame-media ka at sasampahan ng kaso.

Ito na ang simula ng pag-alok nila sa iyo ng ibang option para hindi ka makasuhan. Ito ay ang pagbibigay mo sa kanila ng pera. Una ay hihingan ka nila ng P500,000.00 hanggang sa makipag-negogiate ka sa kanila.

KAYA PO MGA KASAMANG MGA BALIKBAYAN AT OFWs, MAG-INGAT PO KAYO SA PAGMAMAGANDANG LOOB KAPAG NASA PILIPINAS. IWASAN PO NINYONG DAMPUTIN ANG ANO MANG BAGAY NA MAIIWAN NG MGA KUSTOMER NA AGAW-PANSIN.

IPAALAM PO NATIN ITO SA LAHAT NG ATING KAMAG-ANAKAN, BALIKBAYAN AT OFWs, AT MAGING SA MGA KAMAG-ANAK NATIN NA NASA PILIPINAS.

HINDI PO TAYO NAMUMULOT NG PERA PARA NAKAWIN SA ATIN NG MGA WALANG-PUSONG NAGPAPAKILALANG ALAGAD NG BATAS ANG SALAPING ATING PINAGHIRAPAN. PATI PO ANG MAGANDANG PANGALAN NG ATING BANSA AY KANILANG SINISIRA.

Ito po ay naiulat na nangyayari sa lugar ng Bulacan, Laguna, Antipolo, Bataan, at Quezon City.

Mag-ingat po tayo palagi at manalangin sa Diyos.

Manila Times column for 19 July 2009: "Who’s afraid of the big ‘bad’ critic?"

and now for today...

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

original post here.

i am actually citing the thingamajig that happened at the philippines free press magazine, one of the oldest magazines in the country with a high reputation when it comes to its literary section. aba, dahil lang kay adam david, nagkagulo sila wahehehehehe. i root for adam hehe dahil kami lang yata ang nag-a-agree about a certain book he reviewed... but that's another blog post :).

nangyari na rin ito dati sa akin. when i was writing for herword.com eons ago--an affiliate of businessworld--my editor asked me to review a certain shakespearean adaptation being staged sa ccp that time. so atak naman ako at may-i-watch with a friend. lo and behold, buti na lang kasama ko ang friend kong "partner in crime" sa pagchachaka ng nga fangeth na shows hahaha. hamfaaaaangeth lang ng ginawa ng direktor! nasayang ang mahusay na translation ng yumaong si rolando tinio. so needless to say, after my review was published online, nagsulat ang direktor ng "letter of pikon" sa editor ko hahaha. at dinedma lang ng editor ko, binigay sa akin yung letter (dahil printed out pa talaga with the direk's signature, hindi email) at yun na yun. hahahaha. naitago ko pa 'ata yun somewhere dito sa files ko... hahahaha! sa ganun na siyang ka-legend sa philippine theater scene, napipikon pa rin pala ang direktor na iyon sa mga reviews. bakit kaya di niya isipin kung bakit PANGETH ang dating ng play niya instead of attacking us reviewers? oh well. one word: ego.

hay. buhay kritik. buhay manunulat. masaya siya!!!!

Sunday, July 19, 2009

THE SCRIBE VIBE By Libay Linsangan Cantor Who’s afraid of the big ‘bad’ critic?

In a relatively small artistic industry where everyone usually knows each other, how could writers give honest reviews of artists’ works without thinking of offending them? Should writers even think about offending, at all? Shouldn’t writers just do honest reviews, period? This is a tricky situation, especially here in the Philippines. Months ago, I stumbled upon a controversy like this in a magazine publication, where their hired resident book reviewer incurred the wrath of the friends of authors whose books he reviewed. But his publisher and editor deemed his reviews as publishable, and hence they let the reviewer “do his thing.” This ended in misunderstandings, and the reviewer ended up leaving his post in that magazine. This, for me, was a big loss, given that the reviewer is known to write honestly and calls a spade a spade. If a book is bad, he will write why, and how it became bad. In short, he justifies his reviews, as any good reviewer should. If a reviewer merely gives all praises for a certain work, then I don’t call that a review or a critique, but a “praise release.” The industry is so full of that, so imagine my lament when this honest reviewer was let go just because he spoke truthfully about some books. Editors hire writers to do reviews because they believe in these writers’ capacity to give honest and important insights about the work being scrutinized. Some publications—no matter who’s writing the review for them—are sought after because the publication’s reputation in dishing out criticisms is respected in the industry. Some writers even seek the opinion of some critics first and even ask for their insights to be put in their book blurbs. There’s nothing wrong with that. But being branded a “bad reviewer” because you criticized a book honestly is another matter. It’s like a writer or an artist can’t accept some truths or differing opinions about their works; pikon, even, as they get irritated by the negative criticism. When this happens, the subject of the bad review often “attacks” the reviewer, questioning his or her credentials, if indeed he has the “right” or “k” as we say it in Filipino to “properly” review someone’s work of a certain stature. I guess in a way, I agree with this, but this is also being snobbish, actually. Does this mean that if a reviewer doesn’t have the proper artistic background, his or her opinions about a certain artistic work are invalid? What about the so-called common people who merely enjoys these artistic works? What if you ask them for a “review” and they give an honest opinion? Are their thoughts invalid just because they lack the background? Let’s think about it. Comments? Suggestions? E-mail libay.scribevibe@gmail.com. She is also at libaycantor.multiply.com.

quoted for Harry Potter mania chenelyn

catching up with reposts here.

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the manila times ran a story on the popularity of harry potter in time for the film release this week. the reporter contacted me as a resource person.

sa dami ng tanong niya at sagot ko, natatawa ako kasi one-liner na lang ang ending na pull quote na ginamit from me. hahaha! buhay pull-quote indeed...

my friend jovan enjoyed more pull quotes, though, because of her membership to that hogwarts society thang hehe.

enjoy! will watch it tomorrow when the weather behaves a bit.

original post here.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

‘Harry Potter’ casts his magic spell, again

By Angelo Cantera, Reporter To the Filipino fans of Harry Potter, their favorite boy wizard has definitely “grown up.” From being the protagonist of author J.K. Rowling’s children’s novel about a young wizard’s road to heroism, he has definitely evolved into a cultural icon whose story was told through seven books and, so far, six film adaptations. And as the latest of the six films, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, makes its worldwide debut, his followers say that his magic still remains enchanting as ever. Apparently, it is enough to inspire a number of them to don elaborate robes, carry broomsticks and even discuss his story in the classroom. “The story is popular because it has a wellstructured narrative and a creative re-imagining of things already familiar to us,” a Palanca winner and literary columnist, Libay Cantor, told The Manila Times. “People are always after a good story, no matter what genre they like.” As an educator in De La Salle University (DLSU)-Manila, Frances Sangil has been talking about Potter’s “magic” for five years. And while she doesn’t train her students to use charms or brew potions, the 34-year-old teacher has been educating them through the spell Rowling cast upon the world with this best-selling series. “The literature department of DLSU-Manila has a very strong cultural studies and popular culture track,” Sangil told The Times. “We’ve been offering electives such as speculative fiction, fantasy, crime fiction and gothic fiction, among others. We want students to talk about the things that matter to them and problematize contemporary literature. An elective on [Rowling] was then inevitable.” Handling about 40 enrollees every time the class is offered, Sangil’s methods involve incorporating practices done in the books. Like the students of Potter’s magic school, Hogwarts, she sorts her students in different “houses”—a procedure of grouping learners based on their characteristics—and she also administers exams that she affectionately calls “OWL,” a term based on the “ordinary wizarding level” exams that were given to Potter and his school mates. “I don’t teach them how to curse people or make potions,” Sangil said. “I merely discuss the importance of a very popular series that happens to be about magic.” Saying that the series is “probably the literary saga of this generation,” she also tells her class to discuss what she thinks is Rowling’s greatest contribution to an era where children spend most of their time in front of the computer to surf the Internet and play online games. “Through him [Harry Potter], she [Rowling] got an entire generation of kids into reading again,” Sangil said. The ‘Pinoy’ Harry Potter Sangil is also a member of Hogwarts Philippines—a community of Filipino Harry Potter fans that was established in 2001. As an online group, it is a venue that allows the series’ aficionados to meet and share their love for the magical world created by Rowling. And while most of the interactions among members happen online, they also do offline activities like launch parties where they welcome Harry Potter books and films, by donning costumes popularized by the novels and outreach activities like book drives that benefit orphans. Currently, the group has more than 1,000 members all over the Philippines and around the world. And despite the preconceived notion that Harry Potter was written for children, the group also has a broad age bracket with members being as young as 13 and as old as 45. “I’ve always been a fan of the series,” 34-year-old freelance artist and Hogwarts Philippines member Jovan de Ocampo told The Times. “I’ve always been a fan of the book since I was in Grade 7. But I only became an active member of Hogwarts Philippines after I enrolled in the class of Miss Sangil.” 23-year-old Kitkat Torres, also told The Times. Accused of practicing witchcraft Sangil and the other members of Hogwarts Philippines, however, admit that despite all the mild mannered enjoyment they’ve been having through the series, they have encountered opposition and criticism. According to them, the cliché of judging a book by its cover remains present, with some people berating them for their taste in literature. Some even accuse them of practicing witchcraft. “In preparation for the film release of Prisoner of Azkaban [the third Harry Potter book,] we had a story telling session for kids.” Sangil said. “Suddenly, there was this guy who said in a very condescending tone ‘So, that’s what you teach kids nowadays.’ I already knew what he meant when he said that, so I asked him if he has read the book and he said, ‘I don’t have to read the book. Look at you, you’re dressed in robes telling children about witchcraft.’ So I replied, ‘Sir, look at the kids, they’re having fun, they’re reading books, is that such a bad thing?’” “I get the impression that sometimes, people think we get together to brew potions and cast spells. We don’t do that,” 22-year-old Rona Angeles said. “When we get together, sometimes, we rarely even talk about Harry Potter.” “What’s unfair is that whenever most people judge Harry Potter, they would see a hundred page book and only see the cover,” 22-year-old Francis Romero also told The Times. Romero said that critics of Harry Potter books don’t look beyond the magic of the boy wizard. In the process, these people don’t see the positive values Potter’s books impart to its readers. The magic continues As the sixth film adaptation of the Harry Potter makes its world debut in theaters today and in the Philippines Thursday, the fans of the boy wizard cannot help but share their excitement even though most of them have already read all seven books of the series. Angeles said that somewhere along the line, Harry Potter stopped becoming a children’s movie and the characters became more human. Now that the Harry Potter’s destiny has been decided with the publishing of the seventh book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and the film franchise is set to end in 2011, the boy wizard’s fans cannot help but accept that reality. But still they remain optimistic that the series can become a classic. “Star Wars survived, right? It survived decades. Harry Potter can do that too. I’m not sure if it’s going to be something like Lord of The Rings but I definitely think that it will have a long shelf life,” de Ocampo said.

UP Film Institute's Change of Management

official notice to all:

This is to announce to everyone the commencement of the terms of the new UPFI management.


Effective July 1, 2009, here are the changes:

-- The new UPFI Director is now Prof. Eduardo Lejano, Jr.
(succeeding Prof. Anne Marie de Guzman).

-- The new UPFI Academic Coordinator is Prof. Roehl Jamon
(succeeding Ms. Libay Linsangan Cantor).

The old "upfi.academic@gmail.com" will no longer be used.
You could reach the Academic Coordinator at the new email
upfi.academiccoordinator@gmail.com.

You can reach Ms. Cantor at her personal email libaylc@gmail.com
or through her multiply account at libaycantor.multiply.com.

-- The new UPFI Theater Coordinator is Prof. Yason Banal
(succeeding Ms. Avie Felix).

The old "upfi.adarna@gmail.com" will no longer be used.
You could reach the Theater Coordinator at the new email
upfi.theatercoordinator@gmail.com.

You can reach Ms. Felix at her personal email avie.felix@gmail.com.


If you have any academic or theater-related concerns,
please contact the newly-appointed professors directly.

The account of com> is still currently up
and will still be moderated by the new faculty coordinators.

You can also add up the newly-created Facebook page of UPFI at the following link:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Diliman-Philippines/UP-FIlm-Institute/100469631389?ref=s

Thank you very much for your continued support of UPFI.

-----------


and the unofficial notice to all:

yeheyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy! hahahahaha.

freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeedommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

hahahahaha!

wala lang. after three years, dami ko kasi gusto gawin. una, simulan ang bagong nobela. um, yes, bago, kasi yung una, er, sige na nga, ire-revise at polish pa. maybe next year, who knows? :)

and then, gala! as in, travel! so kaladkarin niyo na ko sa mga nais niyo akong kasama na lugar teehee... so check na ang baguio. up next, la union beach! and then... i still have that hong kong offer. sige sige, might get that. hehe. hmmm nate-tempt akong sumabit sa plano ng isa diyan na asian backpacking tour chuva. kung kaya ng budget, why not? hehehe.

i'm also starting my PhD. soon.

well, wish me luck! la vita e bella, indeed. :P

workout!

Manila Times column for 12 July 2009: "Of writing and proper online research skills"

original post here.

this column stemmed from an incident that happened to me at the pinoywriters yahoogroups kung saan matagal na akong subscriber. napapansin ko lang kasi ang dalas na ng katamaran ng mga writers regarding research. okay sana kung tamad lang e, kaso wala pang modo. alam mo yun? iba kasi yun e.

gudlak na lang kung magtagal sila sa industriya na yabang muna ang inuuna kesa skill or respect. hay... iba na talaga ang freelance writing landscape ngayon. kay yayabang na ng mga utaw...

THE SCRIBE VIBE By Libay Linsangan Cantor Of writing and proper online research skills

With the advent of the Internet, one would think that researching would already be easy for writers. Sometimes it is easy, alright—too easy, in fact, that some writers tend to become too lazy to exert extra effort in their research, or even show basic respect for people from whom they ask help. In some writers’ e-mail groups I subscribe to, I often encounter writers who pose queries for everybody, hoping that someone would answer them. Sometimes this is a good practice, but there are times that this is not. If a writer is just searching for hard-to-find facts they need for their articles, then asking people in an e-mail group is understandable, given that, we assume, she/he has already exhausted all other avenues possible in obtaining what she/he is looking for. But if the writer makes this the first step, then that is just plain laziness. Sadly, though, there are writers who are like this. There are also times when writers ask for respondents if they need case studies that could provide information relevant to their article. Because of the anonymity in the online world, some writers tend to forget one basic thing—respect. I experienced something like this before. There was a writer who needed money scam stories for an article he was doing for a financial publication. I e-mailed and inquired about the kind of scam story he needed, hoping I could help by telling him about a small-scale money scam I encountered before. I was just surprised by the brazen attitude he used in answering me. He just plainly told me, “Okay, so what’s your story?” as if he was doing me a favor by listening to me. Ignoring the lack of decorum, I again asked what kind of financial scam he was looking for, because what I had was a small-time scam story, and he again emailed me a one-liner saying he was looking for big time scams. And that was it. No “thank you but what I am looking for is . . . ” type of feedback. He just literally dropped me and stopped emailing when he found out that I didn’t have the information I was looking for. This experience just made me shake my head. If this were ten, even five years ago, he wouldn’t even have the luxury of looking for respondents that easily, and thus he wouldn’t have that arrogance to just dismiss people so easily if they were not “useful” to him. Writers should still learn how to respect people they encounter online or offline, because they will never know when they would actually “need” those people in the future, perhaps as a respondent again, a willing case study, or maybe a liaison to something they will need in the future, whatever that would be. And, more importantly, whether they need people or not, writers should just be respectful to all. But I guess this is a challenge in the online world. Comments? Suggestions? E-mail libay.scribevibe@gmail.com. She is also at libaycantor.multiply.com.

why i will miss michael jackson (hodgepodge of thoughts and recollections)

michael jackson died at the age of 50. man, the idols of my youth are now in the middle of their lives -- given that we only live up to a hundred.

but michael will live longer than that, thanks to his music, and his legacy.

yes, may ganung factor.

*

my aunt had a copy of this album
in cassette tape format.
lagi kong ninanakaw sa kuwarto niya
para patugtugin sa sala.

i am a child of the '80s, meaning i was born in the '70s and had pop culture consciousness awakening by the time the go-gos, madonna, cyndi lauper, duran duran and spandau ballet burst into the scene. some of my kahenerasyon were into punk - punk's not dead!!! some were into new wave and all those glorious synthesizer sounds of depeche mode et al. but i was into pop. unabashedly, unashamedly into pop. panganay ako, wala akong kuya o ate na mag-i-impluwensiya sa musical preferences ko, kaya i had to discover them for myself. and, by default, we all start with what's popular. so pop it is.

yup, pop. top40, top of the pops, top of the charts, billboard 100, casey kasem, america's top 10, rick dees, all those things. a wonderful invention called the walkman came into being in that decade, and i had one, of course. a cute technology called the cassette tape was slowly overcoming the vinyls of my childhood, and it coincided with the popularity of the walkman. imagine carrying your favorite music in a box-like thing where the speakers were so small that they were as small as your ears, even smaller. you can carry your music wherever you went. heaven.

but before i got engrossed into the tape technology, i was also into vinyl. my family, given that our last name translated into "singer" or "a soloist in a choir," was into music. we were all music lovers, and all of us had our set of favorites, and clashes, of course. the usual old generation vs. the new generation of sounds still abound. i was six years old in 1979, and my then single aunts were gaga over guys like leif garret and shaun cassidy and other guys with farah fawcett hairdos (hay farrah, sumalangit nawa, but that's another eulogy). me, dedma! kebs ko sa mga da-doo-ron-ron-ron pakyut songs ng mga puting 'merkanong 'yun.

that age, a suitor of an aunt once gave me a vinyl, a 45rpm, the smallest kind, featuring the opening theme song of voltes v. we became friends for life -- or until the courtship period between him and my aunt was over. at six, i was happy memorizing and singing along to the words of this japanese anime show at the time when i didn't even know what "anime" meant. yes, i didn't know japanese either. but voltes v i know. i can still recite the dialogues. "fatherrrrrr!" sabi ni big bird. crush ko si jamie, yung nasa paa ni voltes v. at di ko pa alam na lesbiyana ako that time. hm. i shoulda known.

four years later, i was in grade five, and this new thing called music video was slowly being played on tv. i never knew what it was; i just saw singers singing but not on the stage, and they were shot as if they were in a film, sometimes emote to the max, na di bagay, and that glam make-up! sometimes they acted, too. sometimes the visuals were nice, sometimes i just watched because i like the song or the singer.

and then i saw "billy jean," the music video. wow. that was something.

"billie jean" was sung by michael jackson. i liked michael already before this song, because he already had many popular songs, even when he was with his brothers in jackson five. i also remember him singing when he was still a kid, and that was cool. but "billie jean" was something else. it was monumental.

i am a child who likes lights. i don't know where that came from, but i just do. so when i saw michael jackson walking around, dancing, prancing, and everything he stepped on or touched lighted up in that video, that got to me. i wanted to know how on earth they did that! before this video, i already liked michael because his songs are very danceable. i betray my last name and always say i should have been surnamed bailar instead of cantor, because sing i do not, but dance i do. a lot. so with the dancing, the infectious pop tunes, and then the lighting tricks, i was totally mj-hooked. because of this video, i partly wanted to become a filmmaker, because i wanted to know how they executed it. the man was a visionary.

my vinyl album of this actually had a
"winner of 8 grammy awards" sticker on it

early that year, the grammy awards came. and the album from where "billie jean" came from just won 8 grammy awards. wow! achievement! he also performed there, i remember. yes, i remember watching the awards in 1983. and i remember asking my mom to buy me an LP vinyl (the big kind) of thriller when we passed by a record stall inside a department store in cubao. and she did. so aside from the 45rpm voltes v single, the thriller album is my second most prized vinyl possession in my life. it played endlessly that summer of '83, as we danced while we celebrated my 10th birthday. i have pictures to prove that, but i don't think i want to share my fashion statement of that year with you all just yet. :P

*

so i am a person who likes to dance, but i have no formal training whatsoever, at least early in my life. but i have this knack of easily following dance routines just by watching the choreography closely. i don't know where that comes from either (must be from a past life? three seers already said i was a gypsy in a past life, an artistically-inclined one), but i still have that up to now. and a pastime of ours in our teen years was watching music videos and imitating their dance routines. how did we do that? a burgeoning interest in video recording that my family had helped this interest - betamax taped tv shows from the air, and later vhs. so through that, i learned the dances. michael jackson, later his younger sister janet jackson, and later her choreographer-turned-star on her own, paula abdul. Thriller was on heavy rotation in our vinyl player, Bad was nagasgas na sa cassete player namin, same with janet's Rhythm Nation 1814 and paula's Forever Your Girl. yes, i can partly do the moonwalk given the right shoes (the trick is the shoes and how they slide), learned the routines of janet's "miss you much" and taught it to my high school friends which we used as a production number in a school program, and took up tapdancing as one of my PE2 subjects in UP because i wanted to replicate the opening sequence of paula's "straight up" video. okay, hindi ko na-achieve yung huli kasi kulang pa kami sa tapdance lessons, but what the hey. i can still kick-ball change with taps, a bit.

but learning michael was something else. mahirap, kaya pag nagawa mo, sobrang sarap! i almost got an asthma attack just by learning "smooth criminal" pero di na-achieve ng byuti ko ang patented niyang anti-gravity lean. that was just magic. so i was contented to watch him from Bad onwards. yes, i can dance "thriller" and "beat it" and that now famous "billie jean" routine (though i hesitate to grab my crotch...) at happy na ako doon. i was still a fan, even up to the Dangerous album... and tour. the music videos of that time were also awesome. the man was really a visionary. he knew the importance of the image with the music.

lavish, yes, but befits a king...of pop, lalo na.
he's not just the king of pop, pero siya rin ay
king of pop culture.

syempre may concert!

*

i like listening to music, but i love listening to live performances of music even more, lalo na concerts. at an early age, my parents introduced me to the joys of watching an artist perform live on stage. siyempre pop pa rin ang leaning. i remember watching a family of singers called the jets at the araneta coliseum. i also remember watching this puerto rican boy group named menudo at the same venue, with this cute new member named ricky martin who was about my age at that time, more or less, at lagi siyang naka-pink polo! pink! pramis. kakulay nung mga pink polo ni danton hehe. i'm just saying.

as i grew older, my taste in music changed, of course, but it was still predominantly pop. so yes, i saw singers i admired live in concert, like my angst goddess alanis morissette, and singers i liked at the time they were likeable, like debbie gibson "lost in your eyes" pare, sankapa!), and mc hammer (yes i was into rap, so sue me). sometimes napipilitan din akong manood ng concerts dahil kelangan kong sumama for one reason or another, like that vanilla ice concert that my high school friends wanted to watch, and that new kids on the block that my sister was gaga over before. sige na nga, charge it to experience na lang... but when my friends wanted to watch "the real milli vanilli" i drew the line. dedma. away na yan, teh.

we also watched local artists, and i couldn't forget the first time i stepped into the very first structure of kuh ledesma's music museum in greenhills (before the first fire). we watched apo hiking society in a sit-down dinner-type concert of sorts. that was great. pero there's a vague memory of another thing i liked in that museum, given that it originally was a museum -- i think i saw a michael jackson sequined glove on display there. or was that an imitation of his glove as part of gary v's costume on display there? i couldn't recall. basta it was a museum and it had such things on display there. correct me if i'm wrong about the glove, though.

so the glove. the gloved one. eto na. HIStory tour. live in manila. Dangerous yun album na pino-promote niya ata nun, tapos eto ngang compilation history album chenes. december 1996 siya dumating dito, if i remember it right, doon sa lupalop ng paranaque noong si joey marquez pa ang mayor. humongous concert area, kung saan naroon ang SM mall of asia ngayon, i think, or thereabouts, at siyempre ga-dangkal lang ang nakita namin ng kapatid ko kay michael, kasi 10k ang tickets sa harap, and in 1996, that's like 20k today. who has 20k to shell for a concert? certainly not us purita kalaw ledesma peeps. so masaya na kaming naki-dance-dance at nakita at nagtititili noong 1996 sa likuran kasama ang daan-daang purita like us. kebs! i just wanted to see michael moonwalk live, in front of my eyes, and i did. i am at peace na after that. well, i think we brought papa's binoculars, so nakita ko rin siya kahit papaano, white skin and all. and the cleft chin.

after that, di ko na sinubaybayan ang dance moves niya, pero i still admired what he did with the music video genre. he was such a pioneer and a visionary that the MTV music awards renamed their yearly video vanguard award -- the highest honor they give to an artist who contributed much in the evolution of the music video -- into the michael jackson video vanguard award. yes, i saw those awards shows kung kelan ito naganap dati. i had the habit of taping music awards shows dati for my video collection. i still have that on vhs.

still after that, the eccentricities kicked in. dedma lang. he is already an icon, at kahit ano pa mang kawirduhan ang naganap sa life niya, i think it's understandable, given the kind of icon he is, and the kind of life he had. and i don't want to remember him that way. mas marami akong memories na better than the latter years, and i'm happier with those.

*

so bakit ko nga ba mami-miss si michael? magaganda kasi ang mga kanta niya. magaling siyang magsayaw. artist siya, e, visionary in his own right. wala yatang tulak kabigin sa mga kantang pinasikat niya. kahit nga yung chummy chummy na "heal the world" e gusto ko rin, kasi totoo ang sinasaad ng kanta. lalo na yung "man in the mirror." basta. the man was talented. humongously. and such humongous talent na nawawala sa earth ay talagang big loss.

wala akong cable so di ko mapapanood ang memorial niya live sa cnn. i don't like watching tv these days during weekdays, kaya mami-miss ko rin ang replays sa local news nito. okay na ko na mapanood ito o makakita ng photos sa internet. okay na ko dun.

ayokong masyadong malungkot these days, kaya ito na lang ang outlet nun.

ito na ang tribute ko kay michael jackson.

gusto ko tuloy magsayaw.

*

okay fine, i'm watching cnn on facebook now. shyet. now i'm sad. :(

goodbye michael.

Manila Times column for 05 July 2009: "Rewriting culture with the King of Pop"

they spelled my name wrong. sa online at least. ewan ko sa diyaryo. titignan ko bukas.

anyway, just to deviate a bit. i had to write about MJ. anyway, ngayon lang. sa susunod, back to regular programming na.

original post here.

THE SCRIBE VIBE
By Ay Linsangan Cantor
Rewriting culture with the King of Pop

I’m sure the people of my generation—and the other generations that Michael Jackson influenced—are all mourning and grieving his death. The King of Pop is dead. But still, long will the king live—through his music, his dance performances and his visual innovations. He got me on all counts.

As a filmmaker, I was awed by how his music seemed to have “mini-films” to promote them whenever they showed it on TV in the 1980s. Some singers just had clips of them singing in a stage lighted with the usual lights, dressed impressively and smiling with charms turned on high in front of the camera. Michael was different. He had those, too, but he also had those innovative mini-films, which was to be called “music videos” later on. The Thriller album produced many of these music videos that now remain as classics of the genre: the ghostly but danceable “Thriller,” the teen angst-filled “Beat It,” and of course, the one that got to me, “Billie Jean.” I was so intrigued by how the things he touched and the areas he stepped/danced on lighted up. The moment I saw that, I began wondering how on Earth they did that lighting thing—and thus, my love for cinematography was born. This is part of the reason why I pursued filmmaking in school. I liked how he pushed the limits and experimented with new ways of presenting the visual image, to the tune of his catchy music.

Like my parents, I was an avowed music lover. Growing up, I listened to whatever they listened to. They had their own set of favorites that also became my favorites, like the Beatles and Abba. Of course I was hooked to the pop music of my generation by default. But our tastes all merged when it came to Michael Jackson. We all liked him, since the day he was with Jackson Five when he was small, up to the time he came out with thought-provoking songs like “Man In The Mirror” and “Heal The World.”

These days, savvy marketing makes an artist known throughout the globe, artists with less than stellar talents but have huge publicity machines. With Michael, talent came first before the marketing, before publicity, before any hoopla. Those days, pure talent made an artist shine, and the universe just automatically picks them up and puts them in a constellation for all of us to see, admire, and hopefully use as inspiration in doing good work like he did. Yes, he did that, despite the negativity that surrounded his later life. But that’s just part of being human, I think. The man rewrote music, in a way, and he definitely redefined pop culture as we know it. So take it from his words: “Heal the world. Make it a better place for you and for me and the entire human race.” We all need that now. Thanks, MJ.

Comments? Suggestions? E-mail libay.scribevibe@gmail.com. She is also at libaycantor.multiply.com.