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Thursday, July 27, 2006

June 28, 2006

Blower's Daughter by Damien Rice

And so it is
Just like you said it would be
Life goes easy on me
Most of the time
And so it is
The shorter story
No love, no glory
No hero in her sky
 
I can't take my eyes off of you
I can't take my eyes off you
I can't take my eyes off of you
I can't take my eyes off you
I can't take my eyes off you
I can't take my eyes...
 
And so it is
Just like you said it should be
We'll both forget the breeze
Most of the time
And so it is
The colder water
The blower's daughter
The pupil in denial
 
I can't take my eyes off of you
I can't take my eyes off you
I can't take my eyes off of you
I can't take my eyes off you
I can't take my eyes off you
I can't take my eyes...
 
Did I say that I loathe you?
Did I say that I want to
Leave it all behind?
 
I can't take my mind off of you
I can't take my mind off you
I can't take my mind off of you
I can't take my mind off you
I can't take my mind off you
I can't take my mind...
My mind...my mind...
'Til I find somebody new

This song was used in the movie 'Closer'. There are some clips that are somewhat inappropriate but I will be focusing on the video of the singer Damien Rice and the girl named Lisa Hannigan.

For me, this song means much to me. On the personal level, this is the song me and my cousin sing all the time, our all-time favourite. When I first heard the song I felt so many real emotions put into words which I could'nt understand at the moment but I felt some kind of attraction to the song. I realized that singing it by myself with emotions sounded so much better than being conscious of how you sing, you have to know the song to sing the song.

I decided to try to understand why they wrote these words. The song is again a duet with the guy (Damien Rice) singing to a girl (Lisa Hannigan), the girl has a very small part in the song although her part is my favourite.

Its about this man who faces his old love and their relationship which faced so many trials and had so much history but ended. He confronts this girl with whom he is love with, tells her that her 'prophecies' on their future without each other were correct except for one thing. He still loves her, thinks of her, looks at her with love and sincerity; he actually knows that the girl loves still deep down inside.

The girl replies, "Did I say that I loathed you? Did I say that I want to leave it all behind?". In some ways she wanted to go back, and blame the guy for the break up at the same time. The guy just keeps on saying, "I can't take my mind off of you".

For me, this song explains so much in men and women today. All these emotions get to us. As some people say, it 'strikes a chord'. Sometimes we just need to tell what we feel, but in a good way. If you love someone go! Carpe Diem! Go out there and confess your undying love now! Before you start regretting what you did in the past.

The film had so many shots that I loved. The set was in a meadow near a beach. The wind is so strong it almost topples the girls body. For me it had this certain peace in it. There were techniques that I liked in this video. Firstly, the shots reactions on the guy's face or girl's face when they are listening to what the other has to say or actually speaking to one another when the girl is facing the sea the whole time but the guy's focus the entire time was the girl.

Secondly, I noticed that at the start of the song the guy was almost 50 meters away from the girl and unmoving. She is aware that he is there talking to her but does not turn to look at him, almost in fear. As the song progresses he keeps on getting closer and closer to the girl that at the end he is right behind her almost in direct contact. It felt like there was a reconciliation between the two in that confrontation.

Thirdly, I loved the last scene where they are both looking at the endless beautiful white tipped waves which define the solitude and peace that they feel at the moment. That moment where you find peace in getting the truth out defines the whole song after all the bottled up emotions come out. There is definitely a comforting stillness to it. It defined how much love they have for one another and how strong it really was.

~ { 6:11 AM }
aiming for the sky above;

Sunday, July 23, 2006

July 24, 2006
Noon-time shows in the Philippines
I never in my life liked the noon-time shows here in the Philippines. I would be of course talking about GMA's "Eat Bulaga" and ABS-CBN's "MTB". I never got the point of humiliating people on TV. As a kid, I would feel sad for the kids who were made to look dumb on TV and made to sing silly songs, parade in funny dresses. Now of course the old kiddie pageant shows are gone but there are some things that remain, for example things like humiliating gays, degradation of women, racist remarks.

There is this one site where some people remark badly about Eat Bulaga here is the link: Eat Bulaga

Almost all the canteens in the Philippines or even in the family home watch these noontime shows everyday. I keep thinking about what kind of influence they get from this show which keeps on degrading people for profit. I never supported their cause.

I know for a fact that most people like watching these noon-time shows because of the game shows that they have , for example: "Laban O Bawi" or "Meron O wala". How can we forget the infamous or famous "Wowowee".

I can never forget the horror of opening the television and seeing dead bodies on the first channel I saw. It was so scary seeing ULTRA chaos. I thought of how sad the families must be to lose a loved one in a stampede, I couldnt believe it when the people who were inside the arena, after knowing of the stampede, still wanted to have the game show aniiversary. I am glad that at least some people made amends with what happened.
I remember the people being inteviewed on TV after the stampede. They were waiting for days for this event because of the free tickets, which caused the stampede. It's all very depressing to pass by that place and remember how many people suffered that day.

I can't see the point of seeing the Sex-bomb dancers dancing very provocative moves and making children copy it too. Im not very pleased with what they wear and what they say sometimes.
What i'm trying to say is that maybe just maybe if we didnt do all these actions of humiliating people on televison, or seeing very sexy women dancing would there be any difference in the Phiippines today? I know that not a day goes by that some people dream of coming on those shows in the hopes of being famous or getting rich. I think that sometimes it just becomes a hope that you cannot have and here you are left with embarassment and humiliation.




~ { 8:48 PM }
aiming for the sky above;

Friday, July 21, 2006

June 22, 2006

A long time ago when I was still a kid, I loved Evanescence. Call it 'rebelliousness', but I really liked their music. Now of course I realize their music freaks me out. I was listening to the radio one fateful afternoon when I was in 6th grade and I heard the DJ mention the words 'Amy Lee' and 'Seether' so my ears perked up so I listened in. This video is called "Broken", by Seether feat. Amy Lee.

Here are the lyrics:

Broken
I wanted you to know I love the way you laugh
I wanna hold you high and steal your pain away
I keep your photograph and I know it serves me well
I wanna hold you high and steal your pain

'Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome
And I don't feel right when you're gone away

You've gone away, you don't feel me, anymore

The worst is over now and we can breathe again
I wanna hold you high, you steal my pain away
There's so much left to learn, and no one left to fight
I wanna hold you high and steal your pain

[x2]
'Cause I'm broken when I'm open
And I don't feel like I am strong enough
'Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome
And I don't feel right when you're gone away

'Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome
And I don't feel right when you're gone away

You've gone away
You don't feel me here anymore
In the video it shows mainly two main characters one being the guitar guy (Seether) and the angel girl (Amy Lee). The location for the shooting looked like an abandoned trailer park/desert/junk yard, there is smoke rising from the back, like after a battle.

The song was sung in a duet, although they were saying the same words it seemed like they were calling out to each other. For me the two people could have been lovers who were separated from each other maybe on their own initiative but in the song they realize that they are so lonely without one another. In the video they're eyes never met, nor did they acknowledge each others presence it also seemed that they were always walking around this torn-up battle field looking for something or someone. My favorite part was when they were right beside each other but separated by a wall. For me that wall signified maybe their differences, doubts and troubles but there they were right beside each other not seeing the other person.

There is this one part of the movie that I question, it was the burning scarecrow at the end of the video. It might be a symbol of forgetting the past and seeing each other again, or it might be a symbol of moving on from this current relationship.

This whole video symbolizes the human nature of the need for companionship and the loss we feel once its taken away, this 'need' has changed some people into bitter people or it could turn you into a happy content person seeing the bright side of life being the companion by your side.

Seether ft. Amy Lee (Evanescence) - Broken




~ { 8:20 PM }
aiming for the sky above;

Sunday, July 09, 2006

Bench Billboards and the "Bench Fever '06"

When me and my friends were in our schoolbus we passed by this big billboard owned by Bench in commonwealth. We normally enjoy looking at new styles of clothing or how the models posed, but just recently about a month ago we were shocked to see the new billboard of Bench being the "Bench Fever".

The billboard had two sides of it, on one side it is two guys wearing nothing but boxers and a disco ball on the background. On the other side, it was Alessandra de Rosi wearing very skimpy underwear and it looked like she was pole dancing on the chain of the disco ball. We were very disturbed. I dont have the exact photo's of the billboard but I have a few examples.



I was talking to my mother about it and she was horrified to see the billboards. For me, kids seeing these very graphic photo's at the age of 5 or 6 really confuses them, it makes them wonder why are they not wearing it out in the open.I know that maybe kids might not care about it but for them to be used to seeing these pictures which are very close to pornography around them is very bad.

Bench actually promotes buying tickets to seeing the modeling of their underwear in their show called "Bench Fever '06". Bench also sells DVD's of the past years show and I believe will also sell this year's too. I am very disturbes. Because of these photo's kids at young ages become gay seeing men wearing almost nothing at all. It makes young girls want to be like their idols who are wearing skimpy bra's and panty's. I am shocked.

I was reading an article about the show which was a commentary on what happened at the show last June 30, 2006.

I quote the article from Inquirer written by Dolly Anne Carvajal.

The new Bench undies are flirty and sporty. But it also has classic white and elegant black designs. They look too good to be worn under clothes.

As in previous Bench shows, it wasn’t only these that the audience had come to see, but also the celebs who did the catwalk. Some standouts were John Estrada, Keanna Reeves, Wendell Ramos, Ruffa Mae Quinto, Jay-R and Richard Gutierrez, not to mention the King and Queen of Bench—Richard and Lucy Gomez.

It was a visually delightful mixture of Kapuso and Kapamilya stars.

Ai-Ai de las Alas brought the house down, when she playfully touched the crotch of some male models.

Here are some examples of the photo's taken from the show:



As Dolly Anne Carvajal mentioned people go there looking for their favourite celebrities and getting all excited at seeing them in their underwear. I guess for me its just really bad media getting to see these things everyday. It causes people to have impure thoughts or actions even.

I quote what she said about Ai-ai de Las Alas playfully touching the crotch of another male model. People would now think, "Oh okay, since she did it maybe I could too". For me its just downright sinful what they Bench Corporation is doing. They should have stuck to whats right and true being, not showing these photo's on billboards to the public and not haveing these modelling shows.

I further quote:

Most enthusiastically applauded were Richard Gutierrez, Jay-R, Sam Milby, Christian Bautista, and PBB teen winners Gerald Anderson and Kim Sue Chui.

Joey Marquez and his ex-Alicia Mayer seemed to ignore each other on stage. He only had eyes for his daughter Winwin who also modeled some numbers.

The grand finale was the appearance of ’70s idols Sister Sledge and Village People who sang anthems of the funky decade. It was anticlimactic, though. But all in all, it was one groovy evening. Everyone went home as “carriers” of the contagious fever.

Seeing young people at the age of 16 or 17 doing these modelling shows makes me outraged. Now people wont know what ir "right" or "wrong". But to be fair with the Bench Corporation their marketing strategy really did fly. It really worked for the Philippines. We are all attracted to the billboards and always go looking for Bench boutiques in malls. I commend them on a very successful project. No doubt their sales will go up. Dolly Anne Carvajal also said that she enjoyed the show, being it 70's. She loved the music and really felt the "fever".

I believe that it was a good way of marketing but a bad way in terms of the how far they went crossing the line of ethics. I think it would be better if they promoted it in a not so strong way. Kids and adults alike have a certain effect on them, including me, seeing all these photo's.





~ { 4:06 AM }
aiming for the sky above;

Hello Ms. Platon!Welcome to the Media Log of Camille Armas!

 I am really excited to start this Media Log since it is a blog and is more practical for me to access. In my Media Log blog I will be reporting on articles in magazines or newspapers, commercials, movies, TV shows, billboards and books. Most of what I will write will be on movies I have seen since I don't have cable at home, although I will still be posting some entries about commercials and TV shows.

 I will write about the effect of what I read, heard or seen had on me or what I believe will have an effect on people of different ages in the Philippines and in the world. I will be focusing also on the emotions I felt when watching this movie or seing this commercial. Most of what I will be writing on aside from the effects the movie or commercial did to me will be what I think the producers should do to change the principles in the movie or what they should have done instead and what the consequences of what they did will be. I will be more of a critic here.

So there. I will be very open in my Media Log Blog. I hope you enjoy!

~ { 2:47 AM }
aiming for the sky above;