Take This Bread

Since we do not have cable TV at home, the channel is usually set only to either ABS-CBN or GMA (ABC it is during American Idol nights, and soon, Philippine Idol). Studio 23's reception is hazy, and MTV's is worse. I can actually type right now in this entry ABS-CBN's lineup of shows depending on the day. I can even notice trends, like plugging that a show will be simulcast after one show and before another, instead of just mentioning it's time slot.

Example:
Manuod po kayo ng Star Circle Summer Kid Quest, pagkatapos ng Pilipinas! Game KNB? at bago mag-Wowowee. (Hah! Cringy)

Having no cable is not that bad, especially since I don't get to watch much television during the school year (thus, I can tell my students that "no TV during weekdays" is tolerable). However, things change when you find time to actually watch TV and kill time. You might as well get comfy with women losing inches off their desired body parts, or formulaic melodramas that try to revive careers of some stars.

Recently, I was with my brothers and cousin one late afternoon, lying on the sofa. Somebody switched the channel to ABS-CBN. Since I was waiting for the local news program, I paid attention as well to what was on air. In the next minutes, I was down with laughter.

The show is entitled Yaki-tate Japan! From the advertisement I saw before, this Japanese cartoon is about a guy who tries to perfect The Japanese Bread that will make its mark globally, just like the French bread, English bread etc. The episode I saw featured the male lead (I'm poor with Japanese names), a budding baker competing for a scholarship grant to study bread-making in France (I might be wrong, though), in the middle of a bread competition. He and his competitor have to make the best croissant (two jurors will taste their breads).

The male lead's foe possesses such confidence: he was explaining his technique while making the multiple layers of his dough, all the time declaring that his recipe cannot go wrong. Our hero, meanwhile, prepared his bread silently (using his "solar hands") and actually finished baking first. The jurors take a bite, and hilarity takes over.

The jurors fell down the floor, like cadavers, but with smile on their faces. The audience is taken aback, accusing the male lead of poisoning the motionless taste testers. He defends himself by saying: "hindi sila namatay; dahil sa sarap ng tinapay ko, napunta silang langit". What a treat! Meanwhile, the jurors are actually experiencing nirvana: they were being entertained by pretty gals dressed in bunny attires. The realization that they are not in heaven yet came when their bodies disappeared little by little.

Back on earth and in full consciousness (but not in full sanity), one of the jurors declared the lead as winner for this stage of the competition, and demanded that he eat more of the croissants to go back "to the other side"; the lead then tells him that the other juror ran away with the rest of the bread. The opponent naturally appealed; his bread wasn't even tasted yet. More funny things happen, and this is sustained until the end of the episode.

The scenes I retold are really bizarre and even exaggerated. Kababawan. But this cartoon's entertainment value is a far cry from the violence of transforming robots or alien invasions (I get tired from these shows' attempt to achieve complexity). True, there still is a hint of competition, and maybe the antagonists will resort to dirty methods. But the idea is refreshing - one episode even featured the recipe of a bread baked (?) in a rice cooker. Move over, Jang Geum.

Yaki-tate Japan! reminds me of a Chinese comedy I once saw. It was entitled God of Cookery, a competition in search of the best chef. The male lead (was it Stephen Chow?) cooked a buchi-like delicacy that's hard enough to be played as a ping-pong ball, but has tenderness deep inside (after biting, gallons of juice will splash from it). The juror also goes ga-ga after tasting sumptuous meals: imagine a prim and proper businesswoman rolling over a giagantic slab of porkchop.

Apparently, local TV can be entertaining too. At least for shallow beings like me.

Amen for Yamin

Last Week, American Idol bid farewell to the soulful Elliot Yamin. For me, this results show is the most emotionally charged for three reasons. First, this is the last elimination, and the two lucky people who had more votes will move on to the finals. Meaning, the eliminated fellow was just one show away to the grand finale (and probably a record deal). Second, even with more than 50 million calls and texts, the contestants barely surpassed each other’s share of votes: 33.68%, 33.26%, and 33.06%. Well, one can argue that it may look only a difference of 0.2%, but this translates to at least 100,000 votes. But still, statistics may conclude that the margin is near to negligible. And third, and saddest of all, the lowest number of votes were tallied to Elliot, proud son of Richmond, Virginia.

Elliot was the primary reason I glued myself to the fifth season of AI. True, I also checked out how Fil-Am Sway Penala will fair, but Elliot’s talent grabbed me early on. He may not have the personality of Taylor (or Kellie), or the confidence of Chris and Katharine, but Elliot Yamin has this certain charm, accompanied by his suave vocals, that I noticed early in the competition when every other person was rooting for Chicken Little Kevin or Ace and his eyes (both I dislike with a capital D). I seem to lean on people with the soul/r&b flavor marked on them, and to the people who don’t wear a mask.

Honestly, I cannot remember Elliot’s audition (of course, at the beginning, we are more likely to remember the awful and funny performances) but I know which song it is. Elliot made his mark in the group performance, where his efforts were applauded by Randy. He was in the same group as Sway, one of the annoying twins, and a forgettable guy. Back then, I’m quite sure his talent is Top 12 material, but I’m not that confident if he gets America’s nod too. It’s enough for me that I took a glimpse of such a wonderful voice.

During the Top 24 (12 boys and 12 girls), I was a bit worried that three of the six spots for the guys will be occupied by three Buble-ish crooners (oft-cuddled Kevin, one-dimensional but hunky Dave Bradford, and Will, who can choose nice songs) and their rivalry will be the focus of Season 5. Chris was already steady by that time, Gedeon matches the confidence of Chris, and of course Taylor, who I already labeled as the competition darkhorse, can convince people to either like him or detest him totally. Sway did not make it to the Top 6, but Elliot did, along with Kevin, Chris, Taylor, and two other contestants I regarded as jokes: Ace and Bucky. I realized then that I really cannot predict America’s pulse. But hey! Elliot’s in!

The girls are a bunch of talent too: Paris Bennett wowed the judges early on with her homage to the great old songs. Beautiful Katharine McPhee can effortlessly carry a tune. Mandisa is a powerhouse. Lisa Tucker seems to lack the depth of Mandisa and Paris, but Simon said she has the X-factor. Kellie Pickler is perky, and it worked for her for a time. Melissa rounds up the six girls (haha).

In arguably the most competitive season, I was hoping Elliot will reach as far as he could, so that more people will notice his talent, and I can hear him sing more and more. I really wasn’t optimistic for him, for he never really went far from his shy self unlike his rivals, but Elliot being himself was enough to catapult him to a Top Three finish. Accompanied by talent, of course.

In a field where some already had albums with their bands, and some other had joined other contests, or sang in a choir or weddings, Elliot was virtually a beginner. Knowing that he is allergic to most things, that he is practically deaf in one ear, and that he easily cries makes him easier to relate to. He is not your catalogue boy-next-door, and his teeth are another story. But he accomplished something that the others cannot or did not: Growth. Whereas others were becoming predictable, or tiring too watch, or showing their bad side week after week, or has ran out of cards to play, Elliot was a mean machine, improving after every show (even with occasional Bottom 3 scares), impressing us with unpopular song choices, most of which are almost impossible to sing with both pizzazz and restraint. But he has the ability and to passion to render his music with ease.

And we are impressed, big time. I still cannot decide which song he did best; I like most of them. His Moody’s Mood For Love was the proof of Elliot as the vocal royalty. His Somebody To Love reminded us that he has an amazing range and rage, and he too knows how to have fun and sound astounding at the same time. His A Song For You showed us his heart, no less.

Perhaps most will identify that Elliot’s night was the Elvis night. He had three words for the other three contestants: Bring It On. He conquered the stage with magic and showed that he too is worth the adulation of many and the praises of the judges. His If I Can Dream was lovely, masterful, and of course soulful. And if we thought that he’s done already, we were wrong. Elliot pulled all the stops for Trouble, pushing the competition higher than ever. Result: Elliot was in the Top 2, and Chris Daughtry sang his last song.

I don’t want to sound bitter, but I thought the judges and Clive Davis did not choose the right songs for Elliot. Or maybe they did, but they had magnificent choices for Kat and especially for Taylor. Elliot appeared tentative and stiff, but he performed well anyway. Maybe it was hard for him to top his Elvis performance. Maybe the nerves got to him also. Or maybe he realized that “hey, I’ve gone too far already,” surprising himself with his achievement, the simple man that he is (the last one sounded like I know him personally. haha).

When the screen showed that Elliot Yamin will leave the competition, I wasn’t really surprised, but I was sad. Looking at the tribute, I was amazed by what he has accomplished so far, winning more fans, impressing the most established of artists. He deserves the title American Idol, maybe more than the finalists. I had a bad day, just like the background song says. But this is not the end of Yamin and his E-Train; this is just the beginning.

I’m not about to say now which person I prefer to win, because this entry is not about Taylor or Katharine. This is for Elliot. I can say that he can truly inspire, from the songs he gave life to, or his life so far. There will be more seasons of American Idol: there may be better contestants, more splendid audition clips, more powerful singers, more deviant characters, more successful future recordings. But because of Elliot Yamin, the American Idol scene is now totally different: one that is laid down with heart and soul.

The Blog Wagon

Yes, I recently joined the blog bandwagon. A summer dedicated to practically nothing at all led me to the decision to try this medium. But, less than a week after the blog’s inception, questions started bothering me, but I tried my best to answer them myself:

1) What will my blog be about? Well, I'd rather that this blog take me to a certain direction that I will not dictate right now. Maybe today I will share my views tightly-guarded political opinions, the next day I'll be shouting to the world (wide web) my craving for an unpopular song. I don't want to be limited by a single perspective; rather, I'll try to be as eclectic and dynamic as possible. If I can discuss current events with enough gusto, I will. If I want to resurrect age-old questions (or has-been celebrities), I will. Hah! My own corner of the cyberspace.

Perhaps easy topics (for me) to write about are: Mathematics (surprise! Look at the first post), music, lyrics, human interactions, celebrities, events, random thoughts, and nothing at all. I still have reservations on posting my favorite so-and-so, for I might convince you to make them your favorite so-and-so too, and we will soon be walking reflections of each other. (Such great expextations...)

I want to write spontaneously.

2) What will be the tone of my entries? This depends on my mood. I can be ecstatic or sarcastic, sad or mad or glad, poetic or apathetic. Or even attempting some rhymes. There is a part of me to make this blog serious and revolutionary, but I'm afraid I still have to discover more along the way. For there is ALWAYS something more, something else, to learn.

3) How cyber will this blog get? Right now, I'm not inclined to put a lot of technological effects because at a certain point, I'm ignorant with computers. Haha. I'll focus more on the words that I will input (thus the blog's name).

4) Will this blog be 100% gramatically correct? I wish! Although I have, for the past years, embarked on a serious effort to write in English with proper tense, grammar, and semantics. Perhaps the best way to do things right is to actually do it.

5) Will entries always be in English? Hindi po.

6) How do I want my blog to be perceived? Well, I hope nobody gets mad if ever I have personal ramblings. Ideally, I want to inspire, but there won't be any conscious effort on my part to do so. I want to be funny. To draw sympathy or opposing views. To be charming. To transcend social stratifications. Hah! Looks like I'm headed towards politics.

So there. This will be exciting. I hope.

Pilot

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