Put Voltes V Anime Series on Netflix

I recently read an article which acknowledges the existence of Philippine-English.  It is an English language variety that is different from American, British and Australian English-es.  Philippine English is so prevalent – thanks to the big population of Filipinos on the planet – that it has officially been acknowledged as an acceptable English language variant.  It is so unlike the other English-es that it actually has its own slang and peculiar accent.

grew up watching this!

I have long acknowledged that I learned speaking the English language during my early childhood years by regularly watching Sesame Street (a TV show in American English).  But after I have outgrown my liking for it, my learning the English language has continued thru my childhood fondness for the old Japanese anime TV series Voltes V (pronounced as Voltes Five) dubbed in English.

I can truly say that Voltes V – which was controversially banned by dictator President Marcos in 1979 due to its underlying theme of rebellion and revolution – plays a big chunk in honing my knowledge of English as a language.

Unlike the most recent rerelease of this TV anime series which was dubbed in Tagalog-Filipino language, the original one released in the 70’s in the Philippines was dubbed in English.  What is so atypical with the original series shown in the Philippines is that it was dubbed by native Filipinos speaking the English language. 

I recently re-watched the first 2 episodes of the series (thankfully available on YouTube) dubbed in English and I can truly distinguish that the English language utilized was the classic example of how a Philippine-English is along with its distinctive accent.  My way of saying “comfortable buffalo” is so different from how Americans would say it!  Ask your native-Filipino workmate and an American friend to say these words for you to know the difference.

Sad to note though, that a big number of young Filipinos now can’t speak nor write proper English may it be of whatever English language variant.  One reason maybe is because shows now prevalent in various forms of media in the Philippines are now spoken or dubbed in the local Filipino language.

I am not saying that Filipino language is a bad thing.  What I would just like to say is that knowing a second language is a weapon, a faculty, a gift.

say “comfortable”!

I can’t seem to identify an English-dubbed or English-spoken TV show in the last 10 years shown in the Philippines that became trendy or popular among the youth which can be acknowledged later on in their life as a basis of their learning another language.

If given the power, I would re-release Voltes V in Netflix! The version would no doubt be the old Philippine-English dubbed edition for the present kiddos of today to watch and learn.  And if present kids now would reject watching it and prefers some lame and boring Filipino-dubbed TV series, me and my fine Philippine-English speaking generation would definitely look forward to watching it.

The Weakest Link in Pinoy Big Brother House 7th Season

I was once a big fan of the Filipino edition of Big Brother reality show.  I was such a huge follower especially during the pilot season, I once wanted to audition and be part of the show.  But due to very long queues of people also wanting to live inside the house, I never had the courage to enlist myself or tryout for a possible slot as a housemate.

Years after, on a night that I had the opportunity to watch an episode of the latest edition of Pinoy Big Brother (now on its 7^th season), I got to view the face-to-face nominations among housemates. And from the present and remaining housemates, the majority of their reasons for nominating another house buddy to be evicted from the house was because they find this housemate as a big threat from their winning.  These housemates would further explain that the ultimate reason why they chose to nominate their nominee was because the concerned housemate was very good during physical challenges.

Physical challenges inside the Pinoy Big Brother house are mini-contests or activities in which chosen nominees for eviction battle it out to win the activity.  Physical challenges would require physical stamina and mental cleverness. The housemate who wins the physical challenge shall be saved and will not be included in the week’s nominated housemate for eviction.

the weaklings… i’m not surprised everybody are still inside the house

the under performers on the safe zone… i’m not surprised the deserving dude in this group has been evicted

the strong, witty and deserving…. i won’t be surprised that this group will soon be totally evicted, only 2 strong contenders in this group remain, they are subjected to physical challenges week after week

And true enough and due to such prevalent reasons of the present crop of housemates during the nomination night, the possible evictees on this week’s elimination are those who seem to possess huge personalities with competent mental and physical capabilities.

This makes me sad for the show because if all personalities with proficient skills, talented flairs and brilliant cleverness would be kicked out, then the Big Brother house would end up with weak, futile and absurd inhabitants!  And true enough the present crop of housemates who were saved for this week’s nomination are a bunch of weaklings, dense and dimwitted lots.

If I am a housemate, I would nominate the weaklings inside.  I will nominate the spineless and the doormat.  I will propose that the weak and feeble be kicked out from the house.  They don’t deserve to win!  I will let the strong and clever stay.  It is because I wanna be surrounded by people with tough and stalwart personas, I wanna be hemmed in with people with brilliant minds and clever thinking.  These are the types who deserves to be the Big Winner!

what happened???

In the past season, Pinoy Bog Brother was a big deal because you are viewed as the earthling who has the impeccable wit, the amiable social skills and the agreeable personality that represents what a true Filipino should be.  But if the present reality show would continue to slant the show on how weaklings are gonna win, then I would no longer want to be the Big Winner of the Big Brother house.  Winning is like saying you’re the weakest housemate and that people commiserates with you.  The reason why you won is because people feels sorry for you!  That sucks!

Thus, if this is how the game is gonna be played and how the show is gonna turn out, I’m pretty sure, those who has been evicted from the Pinoy Big Brother house are so very happy that they have gone out.  This only means that these should-be-glad evictees are not the weakest link of the show!

And for me, I am as glad as that of the evictees, because I am no longer hooked by this show!

Hala! Labas ka na dyan! Daliiii!

The Superbook Knows That Love Always Wins

A considerable amount of my time growing up during my pre and early teen years was spent by watching the original cartoon animation series The Superbook.  It is an anime series that chronicled the events in the Bible’s Old and New Testament.

joy, chris and gizmo

The Bible in its written form can be so intensely deep and enormously ornate in words, idiolect and terminologies.  Because of this, its thoughts, teachings and philosophies can be at times so difficult to understand.  Because of this, The Superbook then was my early basis and reference on how to understand the stories and teachings of the Bible.

And from among all episodes of this valuable anime series during the 1980s (including its re-runs dubbed in Filipino language), never did I saw Christian, Joy and their toy robot Gizmo encounter an episode that being gay and falling in love with a person of the same sex or gender is a sin.

Maybe it is because the creators of The Superbook series knows that it does not take a person to read, know and understand the Bible to realize that falling in love is not a sin.  I guess The Superbook creators knew that love is universal and that love is beautiful.  I guess The Superbook knows that there’s no book on “how” and there’s no book on “who” when in comes to love.

The same thought that this music conveys…

Ay lab Superbuk! Ang kumontra, Chaka!

66 Perry Street, Manhattan

the “now-iconic-apartment” address

66 Perry Street, Manhattan is my most desired apartment destination on my on-going New York adventure.  This is because this is the very address where an open-minded and independent New Yorker with unique fashion sense lives.  Her name is Carrie Bradshaw.

66 Perry Street, Manhattan is the very apartment where Carrie would write the various relationship spectrums she would deal with in life.  These relationships would focus on herself, her colleagues, the people of New York and of course her friends.  Their names are Charlotte, Miranda and Samantha.

picture muna

the perry street neighborhood…

carrie bradshaw (not my photo, of course)

66 Perry Street, Manhattan is the very apartment where deep contemplations were carried out.  It is also were the moments Carrie’s happiness as well as loneliness were assessed.  This is where the complicated and entangled situations with the love of her life are pondered upon.  His name is Mr. Big.

66 Perry Street, Manhattan is the now-iconic-apartment where I and a young friend Amiel (sweet kikay niece of Jhong) went to so as to take a photo of ourselves to prove that we indeed were big fans of the movie and tv sitcom series Sex And The City.  Other apartments were equally gorgeous (if not more than gorgeous) and were without the restrictions to step on the stairs.  Channeling our inner Sex And The City vibe,  we of course took the chance to pose and take some photos…

photo shoot from nearby apartment

who are the people in your neighborhood???

Glitz en glamor ang peg…

Reasons Why Marlisa Punzalan is the X Factor Australia 2014 Winner

Never did I posted anything about the new X Factor Australia winner, Marlisa Punzalan, while the show was running.  It is because I don’t want to cause any sumpa (curse) or negative effect to her fate and universe.

x factor australia 2014 winner

But honestly, I have been watching this young lady ever since the X Factor Australia has started this year.  I know for a fact that she is actually the first one featured during the audition segments of the show.  I followed this newly concluded talent show, maybe because of the reverberating feelings of joy and my overindulgence in its 2013 version when the superlative Dami Im won.

A week before the grand finale, I already had the impression that this young lady will win.  The reason is not because of her tender age, nor her looks and neither her amazing talent.  Three coherent reasons rolled up into my mind right after the semi-final round.

Winning the Toughest Battle

This is because during the semi-final bout she defeated Reigan Derry, the most excellent and the most seasoned among all contestants in this series.  I cannot imagine how perennial favorite Reigan Derry being beaten by the other 2 finalists, Brothers 3 and Dean Ray.  Reigan with her incredible pipes would easily beat these two other finalists to smithereens in case Dean or Brothers3 would be at the bottom two and perform back-to-back with her.

best showdown of the series!

Thus, before the grand finale, Marlisa Punzalan has already successfully hurdled the hardest challenge she would be faced with during the entire run of the series.  For me, the semi-final round was actually more exhilarating than the grand finale.  The grand finale was just a matter of confirming Marlisa’s crown.

Australia’s Enduring Love for the Underdog

When Marlisa got into the finals, everybody thinks that she would simply end up being a third placer.  Even judge/mentor Redfoo after the semi-final round immediately predicted that Dean is the one to beat.  Even online betting website SportsBet predicted that Dean would be bestowed the 2014 title.  Dean Ray exhales the funky rock of breath trough out the show that is why everybody expects him to win.

the three rays of sunshine…

funky rocker!

Nonetheless, the whole Australia was gearing Brothers 3 to possibly snatch the title from Dean because these “three rays of sunshine” got the ever reliable cutey-boyband formula.  Also, they have been identified halfway through the live shows to have received the most number of votes.  Moreover, it would have been a very good promotional angle of story in case the first ‘wild card’ contestant wins the show.  Thus, Brothers3 and Dean Ray prior to the grand final were considered the un-proclaimed winners.  They were simply the Goliaths of the program!

But Australians (like Filipinos) love an underdog.  They would not let a simple-looking lady lacking of self confidence be simply in the side light.  It is of human nature to feel that those who have less power are deemed virtuous and noble.   Human beings in general love the underdogs because each of us knows what it feels like to be a loser, to be brushed aside or to be a David in a world full of Goliaths.

Let me cap this reason with Ronan Keating’s beautiful wisdom when he was commenting on Marlisa’s performance during the semi-final, which illustrates Marlisa being an underdog.  That he is still faithful on the thought that not all good girls finish last.  That statement I suppose struck a nerve to the whole of Australia.

Shining at the Right Moment

At the initial phase of the show, Marlisa exhibited good performances but nothing spectacular compared to other contestants.  I particularly loved her performance during the boot camp portion of the program, Jessica Mauboy’s Never Be The Same.  But during her performance in front of John Legend, who would assist Ronan on picking his top 3 contenders for the live shows, she faltered big time.

During the first few weeks of the live shows, she was simply sailing through. Viewers and even other judges/mentors were particularly concerned because Ronan could not seem to tap the right song that would best fit Marlisa’s age, tone and range.

She was lucky enough that other contestants gave inferior performances compared to her.  She even performed the worst performance in the whole show when she sang Lady Gaga’s Paparazzi while suffering from severe illness, in which, she was nevertheless praised by the judges for her guts and professionalism.  During these times, other contestants were delivering the best performances of their lives.  They were peaking at those moments.

Unfortunately for these other contestants (except for the shoo-in Reigan Derry), they failed to sustain the high points in their performances while the show near its end.  Fortunately for Marlisa, she seems to simply just starting to oil up.  She was gaining confidence in her stage presence, she was starting to feel the mood/s of her song/s and Ronan is commencing to realize and tap the exact songs for her.  She was slowly peaking up!

She only sparkled at the last four or five weeks of the entire series.  I totally agreed with Danni Minogue who was stuck to her seat and would hardly stand up after every Marlisa’s performance week after week.  That Marlisa’s rendition of Sia and David Guetta’s Titanium performed on the 9^th week of the live shows was truly Marlisa and Ronan’s game changer.  The Titanium performance of Marlisa made Danni stood up to her feet and cheered for the young lady!

All throughout the TV show, Marlisa seem to be the last contestant to shine.  And what is so amazing about her shining is that she was able to sustain it and even progressed further every week!  Australians then realized that something special was with this young lady.

And that is no doubt the X Factor.

Ay nyu it…

Gorgeous Judges

Nowadays, every country seem to have their own franchise or version of The X Factor, Idol, The Voice or ‘name-a-country’ Got Talent.  With the continuous popularity of these reality singing contests season after season along with the continuous diaspora of the Filipino race in every corner of the globe, it is no longer a big surprise if one or two or three of the show’s contestants are Filipinos or of Filipino descent.  And because of the innate singing talent, Filipinos around the world has been wowing the planet.

And every time a Filipino joins these contests, the whole country tend to celebrate and be more than proud every time the Judges would either love, praise and exalt the talent they just heard.  I actually at times gets so whacked every time I read the dog-tired “Proud To Be Pinoy” comment on Facebook or Youtube.

Anyway, because of these happenings, I along with a lot of Filipinos got to see personalities and celebrities around the world judging these reality based singing contests.  Thanks to Youtube and Facebook.

Let me clarify, this write-up is not about my fellow Filipinos with killer pipes.  This is about the judges of these fabulous contests.  So far, via Youtube, I have seen and watched celebrity judges from Bulgaria, Italy, Great Britain, The Netherlands, Australia, USA, Israel, China, Canada, Spain, Poland, Norway, Taiwan, Ireland, Thailand, Austria and New Zealand.  It is because these are some of the countries where at least one Filipino has joined.

ronan, danii, redfoo and nathalie (photo taken from au.lifestyle.yahoo.com)

Anyway, going back to the judges!

For me, the most gorgeous set of judges ever is from Australia.  They are the Season 5 and presently running Season 6 of X Factor Aussie version.  They are the clean cut Ronan Keating, the brunette Danii Minogue, the afro Redfoo and the blonde Nathalie Bassingthwaighte.

I have seen them throughout the whole season of season 5 and all I can say is that these four are simply oozing with gorgeousness both inside and out.  If I am to join a singing contest, I would be joining the contest where all these four will be judging.

They are the only set of judges in a reality singing contest who gave a contestant more than a standing ovation.  The four super impressed me when all of them stood on top of the judges’ desk to jump and applause over a contestant’s unbelievable performance!

Their comments may it be a denigration or accolades towards a performance looks and feels so sincere.  They judge the performance not the person.  What’s so good about their criticisms is that they express it not in a very cocky, arrogant or harsh manner.  Even though a performance may turn bad, these judges always have something positive to say.  Thus, rejected contestant walks out of the stage unhurt and actually goes home happy and inspired.

They’re the living example of charisma, great sense of humor, confidence and intelligence mixed into a gorgeous looking group.  They got amazing bags of sex appeal and looks so comfortable with each other.  They look like they are truly having fun.  No drama, no palaver, no non-sense.  I don’t know if it’s the differing hair but for me, they just blend perfectly.

Hurrah tu dis hurado!

The Heirs: What Crown Are You Trying To Wear?

lee min ho

The Heirs strikes the balance of sunny stories about love, career, family and friendship.  This super hit TV series late last year in Korea has invaded Manila.  And it has kept me wide awake very late at night for the past week.  I watched the irresistible Tagalized (dubbed in Tagalog language) version episodes via iwantv.com.

I guess the main reason why I am so hooked with The Heirs is because of its impressive story line.  What I most especially liked in the whole series is that the story was anchored towards a short phrase written on the essay journal by the main character played by Lee Min Ho during the early episode of the series.  He wrote, “One who wants to wear the crown, bears the crown”.

This simple phrase encompasses all life issues encountered and resolved upon by all characters in the story.  And it was remarkably enlightened later on at the latter end of the story that life is a choice through a simple question as raised by the main character’s teacher by asking, “What type of crown are you trying to wear?  Was it wealth, fame or love?”

The TV series has not yet concluded in the regular programming here in the Philippines and the last few Tagalized episodes are not yet available in iwantv.com.  But because of its infectious and compelling story, I could no longer wait.  I searched the net for the last few episodes and found a couple of video-sharing websites that has the original Korean version with English subtitles.

As soon as I finished all the episodes which made me further realized that all is good in the world, I headed down to the nearest Korean store and bought myself this…

i got the green one! yummy!

Tamang tama ang lasa…

Undercover Boss Makes My Heart Melt

It’s the reality show that doesn’t have a loser because no one gets eliminated.  It’s a reality show that is not a contest but everybody in the end turns out to become a winner.  It’s a reality show in which auditioning is not needed.  And lastly, it is the reality show in which the setting is not in a controlled environment.  I am talking about the Undercover Boss shown here in the Philippines under Solar News Channel.

Undercover Boss talks and tackles what real life really is.  As in the real life!  It’s as genuine as it can be about family, work, hobbies, dreams, personal struggles, frustrations and aspirations.    Aside from the boss being subjected to actual physical labor, what I like most about this show is how people’s passion and drive to succeed are presented, may you be a boss or a simple employee.  I see Undercover Boss not a show about job or work but more about human relations.  It is about social and interpersonal relations between human beings.

jeff platt, ceo of sky zone (a goodhearted prince of generosity)… the last episode that i have seen and made me copiously weep

Each episode is a true heart melt-er! Especially during the ‘boss reveal’ portion of the show.  These bosses would shower their deserving staff with gifts, opportunities and brighter future.   Niagara Falls would always gush out of my eyes and there would always be a lump in my throat at the end each episode because of the moving and exceeding generosity of those featured bosses.  These business owners or corporate executives just turn out to be real life angels sent by some heavenly gods!

Call it a great marketing device, but because of these moving kindness, every time I finished watching an episode I would always want to try out the product or service of the company that was featured.  Too bad (or call it fortunately) these companies does not run business here in Manila.

Masarap maging mabait. Pramis.

Enlisted To The Dami Army

got this from dami’s
facebook page

It’s official.  I am an enlisted personnel of the army, The Dami Army that is.  I have done this by pressing the Like icon button of her Facebook page and posting this article into this blog.

I followed the progress and features of this year’s X Factor Australia initially by being so mesmerized by the Jai Waetford audition, this year’s first audition feature.  But during that same first day of audition-features I was equally impressed by the most awkward looking lady singing Hero by Mariah Carey as her audition piece.

But I totally became a fan when she performed during the bootcamp portion of the competition.  There was a major mishap yet she rose to the occasion and performed a very beautiful number.

She actually was dropped from the competition because of this.  Yet fate I guess is truly on her side to become one popular artist because she was the one who got a surprise call when one of the finalists backed out from the show.  From then on, I continued looking after how Dami Im has performed in the contest.

Dami Im is the personification of “awkward” being “the new awesome”.  Her inelegance and gawkiness is so fresh and captivating.  What is so damn great about Dami is when she starts singing her un-polish-ness just disappears right before your eyes and transformation into a remarkable singing talent just comes into sight.  You would not believe that the awesome voice is actually coming out from such an awkward, down-to-earth and naive-looking lady.

As of this writing, she just passed through the week 4 of the finals singing Roar by Katy Perry…  Here is Dami Im singing a disco hit of the late ’70s, her live performance during the week 3 of the finals…

I guess her magnificent talent is coming from the pureness and sweetness of her heart.  If she gets eliminated in the program, I think it is because she is too good for X Factor.

Shayn, shayn, shayn Dami!

Game of Thrones: A Hauntingly Entertaining TV Series

It must already be in the hundreds if I have tallied and counted the number of times I uttered the words “grabe”, “shocking” and “galing” while watching the episodes of the great HBO tv series Game of Thrones.  These do not include the occasions when I sighed, gasped and screamed while watching it.

The series is so biting and disturbing in a great sense of these words.  It will definitely bring sharp chills on your spines.  All the elements of backstabbing, manipulation, double-dealing, erotica, greed and brutality are present.  The show never holds back!

Unlike a usual TV series where the lead stars are expected to remain alive and be the main and principal characters throughout the whole show, in Game of Thrones characters are dynamic and evolving.  It is unexpected that right in the middle of the story, the lead character (who you thought was the lead character) would just suddenly meet a brutal death.  Or the character you’re starting to like would unexpectedly become a horrendous iron-handed protagonist.  And amazingly, these characters would literally go down and dirty!

For those who have not watched it, I must say that you are missing a hell of a lot.  I swear to the old gods and the new that Game of Thrones is hauntingly entertaining.  This show definitely ranks right up there as masterworks of ingenuity and wild imagination.

Pugot kung pugot! Patay kung patay!