rate your parents: a tribute to our ever reliable gene-donors...

(Disclaimer: This article is not intended as a blog post. It was more of a "sharing" post intended for some people at another venue other than this blog which explains the bilingual unedited form...hehe, this post might be on a limited time, i might get reprimanded for disclosing this here because of its "too" personal nature, bwahahahahaha..)

as for people marrying at a very early age (my mom was 18 when she got pregnant, and 22 tatay ko) with no jobs then, well i think they did a pretty good job as parents. they are not perfect but they raised me in a way that i am way past 23 and still single, hehe...

like any young couple, pinagdaanan din naman nila yung mga typical stories of "hindi pa napagsawaan ang pagkadalaga at pagkabinata", not to mention my erpat's black sheep reputation. naalala ko pa when i was just five or six, we used to live at my grandma's house kasi wla pa nga kaming sariling bahay nun: when i was left at our room the whole day tapos both of them would come home drunk at magsisipagtulugan nalang, hihihi...nevertheless, di sila nagkulang sa akin. those times, my mom taught me my ABCs (my session kami pag hapon kasi stay at home pa nanay ko nun, mga 1-2 pm, babasahin namin yung "Sleeping Beauty"storybook na bigay ng tita ko) and my erpats was my math teacher (pag gabi or sundays, he would close the wooden jalousies ng room at instant chalkboard na). they were pretty patient on doing that kasi inisip daw nila noon na dapat maging magaling ako sa skul kasi they were not sure if they really can even send me to college (kasi they were thinking baka maging loser sila for the rest of their lives, hehe)...but slowly they came to their senses and eventually nung hiskul ako, naging okay naman, my erpats already had a job which enabled my mom to go back to skul and became a teacher. i was already free sa skul nun kaya menos gastos. dun na mejo nag okay pamumuhay. ako lang din kasi isa, natrauma daw sila sa pagpapalaki sa akin (not that im pasaway, but sa responsibility involved)...kahit ako nga, at this point, di ko pa naiisip mag asawa, how much more magkaanak. it didnt turn out so bad for them, for us, afterall...and definitely they did not become losers as what they were thinking then...of course meron pa rin namang mga buhol2x along the way, but the 24 years of marriage, and both are now quite active at our local church-that is already a feat for them...

my parents are not the doctors, the lawyers, the academicians or the richest in town, they are just any other "in-their-40s" parents out there, but they are the best, not perfect though, they have their own flaws too... sila yung tipong dahil maliit nga yung age gap namin, mashado kaming nagkakaintindihan. sila yung parents na tamad at di mahilig magluto, yung tipong pipiliing mag order sa labas kesa magluto sa bahay. we practically grew up together kaya ngayon, we treat each other more like friends. minsan nkakalimutan kong parents ko sila pag nag uusap kami, hihi. since i had no siblings (which means when id outlive them ill have no immediate family anymore), they raised me to be self reliant & independent, adaptation skills super emphasized. kaya nga nagtataka yung iba how come pinapayagan nila akong magliwaliw kahit ako lang ang nag iisang anak. hehe mashado kasi nila akong naiintindihan..kahit nag overstay ako sa UP ng 2 years nung college, may mga konting parinig at tanong, pero di nila ako tlgang pinressure na grumadweyt, hehe..

we had our "not so good" episodes din naman, but at the end of the day, yung tipong ang maalala mo lang are the good things. super dami kasi naming napapag usapan e pag nasa bahay ako, from world history, to pop culture, to political affairs, to psychology, religion and spirituality with my erpats, and with classical music, showbiz, (love)life and times of people in the community (including mine), and responsibilities with my ermats. hehe kaya di kami matahimik sa bahay eh, usap kami ng usap. and ang pinakabonding moments namin ng erpats ko ang movies sa HBO while ukay2x shopping at the nearby tiangge ang kay ermats. haaay....

for all those i give them a 10....

i miss them. now that i am in manila and in grad skul, i cant wait to go home to davao this break. sana i could give them a good report about school. sila yung pinaka inspiration ko. cant wait to get home. sana time will come, i can give them what they have always dreamed of when they were younger, yung di nila nakuha because of me: a travel/tour for my erpats somewhere na may memorial ng WWII, and a piano for my mom. she learned to play it when she was only 10 or so, but never had the chance of owning one...
haaaaaay.....

Transformers: From Metal Busters to Blockbuster

When the trailer of the recent blockbuster movie Transformers was released a few months back, I was a bit intrigued as to how Hollywood would turn giant robots into a live-action movie, and make a hit out of it. The big screen adaptation of the sci-fi cartoon series proved to be much more than I expected, even far beyond most people have thought it would as it reached the top spot in the blockbuster list.

Transformers was directed by the Michael Bay, the man behind the Bad Boys series, Pearl Harbor, Armageddon, among a list of other films that would surely ring a bell for the action-flick fan. It was based from the toy franchise Transformers and revolves around the storyline of two factions of robots from another planet, the heroic Autobots headed by Optimus Prime, and the Decepticons led by Megatron, its nemesis. Their continuous battle against each other became the central theme of the cartoon series released in the 1980s and early 1990s, which also became the rally point of the story of the movie.

Placing a science fiction into the “Earth” setting sure creates a whirlwind of storylines and plots which is a light-year away from reality as depicted in the movie. From fictional government agencies and gigantic finds hidden beneath the Hoover Dam, the movie is not intended for the questioning moviegoer. The unwavering battle of the good robots against the bad ones brought to earth by their pursuit of a certain magical cosmic cube called “The Allspark”, was intertwined with stories of adolescent pursuits and heroic acts. This concoction of plots and subplots from the “real” and the “science fiction” part added to the movie’s appeal and dramatic effect.

One of the noteworthy highlights of the movie is of course the superb graphic effects that showcased the robots in their majestic grandeur. No one has ever seen such grace in movement with such gigantic machines. They have masterfully made use of the slow motion effect that made the battle and chase scenes more excruciatingly breathtaking. They also have made use of the camera’s full potential by providing the audience the best shots. With an outstanding cinematography, no one would ever think that the main characters Sam Witwicky (played by Shia LeBeouf) and Mikaela Banes (played by Megan Fox) were talking to a dummy while shooting.

Aside from the effects provided by the camera, the background sound also made its mark by providing the perfect ambience for every scene (for instance, rock tunes rendered the scoring for some of the fight scenes). These of course made the movie more thrilling. The flow of the story will not be that effective without the comical antics by the actors, specifically LeBeouf and Bumblebee, who gave most of the amusing remarks. Thanks to the screenplay provided by Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman and John Rogers which incorporated all the emotions that one could ever think of.

On the other side, the amount of time allotted for fight scenes somehow got the bulk of the movie and of the camera. The shots of the scenes, especially towards the end of the movie, became scattered and somehow made some robots vanish in an instant without any explanation. The anticlimactic death of Megatron was also a bit sudden and uncalled for. I was expecting a death that would create more impact as the robots end but it wasn’t exactly satisfied. However, all these were overshadowed by Michael Bay’s brilliant direction.

Indeed the makers of Transformers did a great job in creating a highly entertaining movie that would surely be enjoyed not only by moviegoers of all ages. This is a movie worth recommending to those who would want to experience pure action-packed pleasure. It sure deserved that standing ovation it got from the crowd when I watched it a couple of weeks ago. You might want to after you watch it.