The Bird That Is Caged

The Caged Bird by Maya Angelou

                        Fresh from the performance of speech choir, I am going to tell to you that we won the second place. That's it. I'm being straightforward this time because I will be lacking the opportunity to pass English Enrichment Program if I'm not going to be straightforward to you. But do not worry, I value learning more than grades. I want you to learn something from this blog post, but I cannot promise that you will know every detail because I'm really in a rush.

                       Do not be shocked with my announcement that we won the second place because I already am. Almost all of the ABMA students who performed really did well, from the intro up to the end. They are really creepy and they have those facial expressions that will really mad you feel awkward. That is what I'm really expecting in a speech choir, something dramatic and full of emotions. They also play with the tunes perfectly, their voices weren't just that loud. Anyway, they did a great performance. I won't be elaborating our performance anymore. It's not that it is too bad to watch, it's just that it is too simple. I'm also losing hope even before we perform, but still I tried to do my best. We all tried to do our best because it's all that we can do. By the way, CpE 151 became the champions and I'm really happy for them. But just like our performance, their's is also very simple. Well, there's nothing for us to do but celebrate and just be happy. It was already done anyway. We're still one of the winners at the end of the day.

Do You Have Enough Integrity?

             I'm going to start this first with a question, "Do you have integrity to support your blockmates and friends during their speech in integrity? " That is not my point, really. A public speaking competition was held last Wednesday, on the 20th of April. 


            Before the competition, six participants from each blocks were chosen by the public speaking professors. This year's event theme is "Integrity has no need of rules." It is a quote by Albert Camus which explains that if you have enough integrity, you have no worries with regard to the artificial rules created by the society rather, you will always live up to your own set of internal rules. Rules are there to serve as a guide.

              You might be thinking that I'm saying too much about integrity. Well, I'm one of the participants for the public speaking competition, that's why. To be honest, I'm not expecting that I'll be chosen by Sir Nomer to be one of the speakers, but it has already happened. The time just flew by too fast, and it was already late when I realized that the competition is near, because we are always bombarded with school works. We're too busy on our plates on engineering drawing, written reports in technical writing, speech choir in grammar communication, exams in differential calculus, and many other. 

               Let's jump to the day of competition. Actually, I'm planning not to attend the competition because I know that I am going to lose, but I attended anyway for the sake of my grades in public speaking 1 and 2. It was fun though seeing other participants who look nervous just like me. That way, I can feel that I'm not the only one who's feeling as if you're going to faint. My heart is also beating too fast as the program is about to start. I can feel it really because it is the only thing that I can feel, nervousness. My palms were also sweating by that time. As our names were announced, I became even more nervous when Ms. Nina announced that Sir Deeno and Ms. Agaton were one of the judges assigned to our room. By that time, I thought that I'm going to get a heart attack especially because of Ms. Agaton. She always asks me in class even though I have just seated for about one minute, maybe because I'm always late in her class. Anyway, I'm used to it, that's why I'm not that happy nowadays in her class because she's not calling my name as often as she did before. It's just a proof that not all will stay the same. By the time I entered the room, I'm the only one they're waiting for. It was very quiet at that time. Also, I'm the only engineering student, everyone else are ABMA students, so I took the seat closest to the one of the walls of the room. One by one, the other participants present their speeches. They were all awesome, all of them are fluent in speaking in English, unlike me. I'm the fourth to speak. The host already called out to my name, she's actually at me in the eye while she was announcing my name, and that made me feel a little bit more nervous. And there I am, standing in front of the three judges and the other participants. When I started speaking, I tend to forgot the words that I'm going to say next, so I just do an adlib just to prevent prolongation and dull moments. I don't think it's that effective, because I tend to stutter. But as I went through my speech, I felt even more comfortable in speaking. It was not like I'm saying the words I've memorized some days before, it was like I'm communicating with the audiences withou them replying. But then, all must come to an end. I'm already stating the conclusion part of my speech. The thing is that, the situation that I have given was really intended for Ms. Agaton because in the story. I don't have enough money to pay for the jeepney driver that's why I decided to just even though I would be late for my first class. For your information, Ms. Agaton's class is always my first class and I'm always late for her class. Laughter and some happy thoughts rushed into my brain that time that's why I weren't able to recall what I'm going to say next. It took me about 15 seconds before I was able to recall it. I was not embarassed that time because I knew that it would happen because I'm always easily distracted.

                At least, I felt relieved after the delivery of speeches. I think I don't want to feel that way again. But I do not regret presenting my speech because it will be a part of my unforgettable experiences. The good thing is that, I weren't able to make it to the finals. It may be not god for you, but it was for me. I don't want to present my speech again. Fortunately, Naps made it to the finals. Unfortunately, he didn't won either. It is the experience that really made me happen during the event. And that is the most important thing.

Thoughts Into Words

                      Slam Poetry is a type of competition where people read their poems without props, costumes, or music. After performing, they will receive scores (0-10) from 5 randomly selected judges. The judges can be anyone: they don’t even need to be poets! Scores are awarded based on how much each judge likes a poem. The purpose of this judging process is to make poetry participatory for everyone. Slam Poetry doesn’t need to be a specific form of poetry. 


                     The English Resource Center recently organized a slam poetry competition where the participants were given a limited time  to voice out their thoughts in a unique way. It's also a way for the students to be able to share their experiences and stories to other people without any hesitation. This event also helped the participants in gaining self-confidence.
                         

                         For this post, I'll be a little biased because one of the groups who participated in the Slam Poetry Competition are friends of mine. I've seen how hard they've practiced for the said competition and the efforts they made with Ms. just to be able to perform on stage with a presentable piece.

                        There were like 10 sets of participants, each alloted with 3 minutes to perform on stage.

Only five supporters from each group were allowed to join and watch the event held at room 415. One of the things I like about the event is the food, because there are snacks intended for the audiences. I and my friends, Andrea and Hannia, made it to the event to support two groups by that time. The first one is the group of Cylord, Jem, and Naps. They are actually my blockmates. The second one is a duo of Jamie and Paola. We also supported them because they are also engineering students, and for your information, there are only two courses in engineering that are being offered in APC. I can say that all of the groups that I watched performed well, but there will always be a bigger room for improvement. One of our bets, the group of Cy, Jem, and Naps, however won the second place. I can say that all of the winners are all deserving.

Reference:

http://www.powerpoetry.org/actions/5-tips-slam-poetry

It's Ben's Big Day at APC!

                  Do you know Benjamin Alves? Well, I do not assume that you know him personally, but maybe you have any idea of who he is. Let's just call him Ben.

                   Ben may not be that famous, but I've already seen him on television. That is when I was browsing for channels and I just decided to watch on channel seven. I was really surprised knowing that he'll be visiting APC.

                    Our whole class was excused on that day, March 18, Friday. I thought that we're just going to be the audience for the slam poetry, but as we entered the MPH1, we discovered that we're going to attend a birthday celebration for Benjamin Alves. There, we learned that he used to celebrate his birthday at different institutions for some reasons. Then, the three groups who won in the slam poetry competition performed one by one and were given prizes. He too recited the poem he made years ago. The poem is actually excellent and I admired him for being good in poetry. It's not surprising though, because he was introduced as a graduate of University of the Philippines with honors.

            

     I liked the event even more because we were given delicious foods for us to eat. Also, we were given souvenir caps and a chance to take picture with him. It was fun being a

part of his birthday celebration, but it was obvious for me that he was not that happy. The audiences were not that lively and energetic. Also, the event has some dull moments. It was also a little embarassing when one of the players enumerated ABS CBN actresses, knowing that GMA network is the organizer of the event. I just hope that he really had a great time celebrating his birthday despite of all the flaws in the event.

                                                HAPPY BIRTHDAY Sir Benjamin Alves!

Charoterang Isprikitik Umappear ka Vakler

            Do you want to watch and laugh?

            Then here's a movie that will surely make you laugh out loud from the start until the very end.

             Introducing, Zombadings 1 : Patayin sa Shokot si Remington or in english, Remington and the Curse of Zombadings, is a film directed by Jade Castro and was released in the year 2011.

             The movie started by introducing a boy named Remington who has a habit of teasing people whom he thinks are gay. Whenever he met gays, he would start shouting "Bakla!" at them. But one day, he met an old weeping gay at a cemetery and started throwing insults at him. In response to the boy's bad behavior, the insulted man suddenly cursed him that by the time he turns 21, he would become a gay.

              Just to share with you, I've already watched the movie when I was so young. That's why when our class watched it in the AVR, I already have the idea of what's going to happen throughout the movie. The memories are still fresh even though I watched it so many years ago. I consider it a memorable movie for that reason.

              The story jumped to the year when Remington is already a young lad. By that time, the number of murder cases started to increase. It turns out that majority of the victims are gay, and all of them looks as if they were electrified and they have the afro style of hair. His father and his father's friends are all gay-haters. They think of them as entertainers or people that are meant to be laughed at. On the other hand, his mother works as a policewoman(she's one of the policemen working on the murder cases). Hanah, a beautiful young lady from the same town, caught his attention and she started to become a part of his life from that day on. Obviously, he fell in love with this girl that he worked for the restoration of the girl's house just to be able to get closer to her.

               Then one night, a man attacked him and started shaving the hair in his body. He woke up hairless after that, and the whole happening seemed to be just like a dream to him. Another attack followed, and this time, the man pulled out his tongue. Again, he woke up

from the dream-like situation. This time, he started speaking the gay language. Also, he started dressing up women's clothes and walking like a gay. Well, he get startled whenever he realizes himself speaking in gay lingo, but he can't help it. In the last attack, the butterfly tattoo on the man's chest was transferred onto his. That part of the movie is really disgusting not because the acting skills are not good, but because it's gross. Later on, he started falling in love with his best friend instead of Hanah. As Hanah's feelings started to grow for Remington, the more Remington is affected by the curse cast upon him. 

                 It was soon  discovered that one of his father's friends is responsible for the killings happening in their town. The gaydar was invented by a nerd student for animals but it was stolen from him. It works like a gun and it can detect any gay that is within its reach(radar). His father killed one of his friends accidentally using the gaydar when he and his friends got drunk. That happening was kept secret among themselves.

                 Remington knew that he must do something, so he asked for his friends' help(his bestfriend and Hanah) They first went to the cemetery where he first saw the old gay in

order to locate where he lives at present time. Upon their arrival, the man told them that he cannot remember ever meeting Remington. But because of his persistence to lift up the curse, the man soon admit that he is the one who cursed him. Remington begged for his help and they learned that someone must replace him for being gay. But there's an exception to the condition, the replacement must be a virgin to gays and must be a true man in all ways. Of course, it became hard for them to find a replacement because much of the people they asked weren't able to satisfy the given conditions.  Before I forgot, the man who helped them in finding out the solution to their problem was killed by the friend of Remington's father. As a revenge, the caregiver of the

man raised the dead gays from their grave and they turned out to be zombies. Well, their looks didn't look horrific. They're just like filthy people walking lazily with their arms stretched out. These zombadings wander around the streets of the town and they harm whoever is in their way by eating the internal organs of their victims.

           
               Here we are to the resolution of the story and perhaps the most touching part. Remington's father volunteered to be his replacement. After that, the zombadings stopped killing the villagers. His father then became gay, but that didn't stopped him from fulfilling his responsibilities as a father. For Remington and Hanah, they became closer to each other than ever before. Also, he don't have any feelings for his bestfriend anymore. The story ends with a boy who saw an old gay, but instead of teasing or insulting the guy, the boy praised him.

                  Honestly speaking, I do not recommend this movie for very young audiences because of some scenes that may not be suitable for them. The movie however, conveys a message to the viewers. There is nothing wrong about being gay. You're still a human no matter what and therefore you always deserve respect from all of the people. Even though the movie is indeed entertaining, I can say that the movie was not able to give justice to the story. The movie didn't became persuasive in terms of explaining to people that gay people must not be laughed at or maltreated because at the end, some of the zombadings were just involved in weaving hats. That part for me, is intended for them to look like they're comedians. It may be one of the comedy movies that really made me laugh, but I'm always taking into consideration the story or the plot of the movie and whether or not it makes sense. I can say that entertaining is good but it is not enough.