When cars collide

I remember hearing laughter, then frantic horns blaring, screeching tires then BAM!

I check my friend, Bev, beside me if she's alright. She said she is. We get off the cab and take photos of the wreck. The photo above doesn't really give an exact image of the wreck of the cab we were riding. We walk to the nearest shed. I thank God that Bev and I are safe.

I don't remember panicking right at that moment. But when we get on an FX headed for home, that's when things dawned on me.

I could have died. Then a thousand more scenarios play through my head. I arrive home and head straight for my parents room.

I wake up and prepare for work. I ride a cab. The driver steps on the brake. I find myself slightly nervous whenever he does that.

Dear Iskolar ng Bayan,

WATCH THIS:

I am only one but I am one. I cannot do everything but I can do something. What I can do, I ought to do, and with the grace of God, I WILL DO IT. (Monsod, 2010)

Ikagugulantang Niyo!

I remember sitting in the front row of the Guerrero Theater. I remember laughing the whole night. I remember wanting to watch it again. That was in 2006. On October 2, 2010, at 3 in the afternoon, I sat on the second row waiting for the same show I watched four years ago to start.

When I learned that Dulaang UP will restage Shock Value and that my awesome Theater 12 (the one and only academic class besides PE na streetdance na naka-UNO ako yeaboi!) professor, Dexter Santos (pictured below), is part of the production, I knew that I should watch the show by hook or by crook.


Unfortunately, Sir Dex wasn't part of the show I watched. Instead, the original Ritchie that I watched four years ago played the part. Matt Deseparasidos was played by Jojit Lorenzo pictured below, instead of the Andoy Ranay who I watched before.

The show isn't for the conservative type. Beside me was a lola accompanying her apo who is a student of UP. During the infamous bed scene where Matt is caught having sex with Jason, lola exclaimed to apo, "Hija, ano ba tong pinapanood natin? Bakit kayo pinapayagan manood ng ganito?" I was laughing so hard both on the scene and lola's remarks! That day will always be marked as "The Day Shock Value shocked Lola"

Shock Value is a satire of the Philippine media and how it has exploited itself among other things. Underneath the surface, it is more than just gay sex and network wars. Amidst all the laughter is the reality that the industry is a flawed one.

I want to watch Shock Value again... and again... and again. Yes, it's THAT awesome.