Tag: February 6, 2009

MINUS the stage, plays can also be appreciated. This is what Stage Presence: The Philippine PEN Anthology of Drama (UST Publishing House, 2008), a compilation of plays touching on issues about the family, cultural beliefs and identity, romance and politics, written by seasoned and budding playwrights, proves.

BOTH, a new face and an old

gaze, hold a special pod.

Capsules to be filled

with tastes of memories—

never touching the brim—

all from some first glimpse.

Some seem sweet

so easy on the tongue

others scream

bitterness

from inside.

The delectable ones

I had in the past

took their toll and left

a sought-after taste.

Only a few were a quench

for my thirst. Most were

HINDI sukat akalain ni Michelle Ann Ngu, nasa ika-apat na taon sa kursong Communication Arts, na siya ang makatatanggap ng Rector’s Literary Award (RLA), ang pinakamataas na parangal sa ika-24 na Gawad Ustetika Patimpalak Pampanitikan na ginanap noong ika-6 ng Disyembre 2008 para sa dulang “Good Mourning.”

Dalawang taon na ang nakalilipas, ipinasa ni Ngu ang naturang akda sa UST Office of Student Affairs (OSA) para sana sa taunang produksiyon ng Artistang Artlets, ang opisyal na organisasyong panteatro ng Faculty of Arts and Letters, ngunit hindi ito inaprubahan.

PARDON if this sounds like an advisory, a dressing-down, even iconoclastic or technical.  I would like to offer a toast to collegiate students and teachers of our dear alma mater to get up with beams of light from the Aquinas sun with renewed passion and vigor.  

Of all the saints, St. Thomas Aquinas is the most holy among the intelligent and the most intelligent among the holy according to our parish priest in Sto. Tomas, Batangas.

Let me ground you first with these originations, if you please.

“UNORTHODOX, physical and devastatingly effective” was how Time correspondent Eben Harrell described the game that brought tennis’ hottest property of late to the ATP tour summit in a preview article for the just-concluded Australian Open.

JOURNALISM did not preoccupy me in the past. I’d rather focus on sports. I had wanted to be an athlete rather than a journalist. But when I incurred a dislocated right knee and had to undergo surgical realignment in 2006, I became resigned to the fact that I would never become a full-fledged athlete taking on grueling trainings and competing in tournaments.

But instead of brooding over my dashed athletic dream, I joined the Varsitarian as a sports writer.

I WAS shoving sketch pads in my bag after discussing a book design proposal with Mr. Alejandro Consolacion II, titular organist of the Union Church of Manila, when he suddenly made a gesture for me to sit beside him in the organist’s chair of the pipe organ console. “I want to play something for you,” he said. I fumbled as I took the seat, careful not to touch any of the rather complicated knobs and switches of the console.

MAHATMA Gandhi’s words, “Be the change you want to see in the world,” may be the best New Year’s resolution for a world now feeling the full brunt of the global financial crisis last year. The words may also be relevant in the light of the sweeping changes that have been happening, such as the inaugural of Barack Obama as the first black United States president.

THE GENERIC prescription to relieve an ailing nation from its economic malady requires more than just constitutional overhaul.

Yet short-sighted congressmen from the administration ranks, who are pushing for House Resolution (HR) 737 which seeks to allow foreigners to fully own businesses and acquire land in the country by amending the economic provisions enshrined in the 1987 Constitution, do not seem to get the point.

POVERTY is both the problem and the solution, said Pope Benedict XVI in his New Year’s Papal message.

“The birth of Jesus in Bethlehem reveals to us that God chose poverty in his coming to be among us. Love for us has moved Jesus not only to become man, but to become poor,” the Holy Father said in his homily at the St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome last Jan. 1.

He added that the Holy Nativity is not just a perfect example of evangelical poverty, but it is also a fundamental school of life for every man.