TV Recap: Glee – Ballads and Crushes

Remember those awful high school days when each important stage of your pubescent life is marked by a song? Menarche, pimples, crushes, first loves, heartbreaks, and so on? Yes, traumatic days, I know. But there is a new TV show that has succeeded in making the exercise of reminiscing about high school life less traumatic, and more entertaining.

Yep, I’m talking about “Glee”.

So, in this episode of Glee, the crisis each of our Glee Club heroes go through are elevated to stressful heights: when Mr. Schuester (Matthew Morrison) introduces ballads to the club and in pairing up the members end up being paired to fame-hungry Rachel (Lea Michelle), aforementioned Rachel falls in love with him in the middle of singing “Endless Love”.

Finn (Cory Monteith) is paired with the ever loveable, flamingly gay Kurt (Chris Colfer), who has had a crush on him ever since he defended Kurt’s honor against Puck’s (Mark Salling) bullying, and is busy hatching a plan to pry him away from the arms of his pregnant girlfriend, Quinn (Diana Agron). As the two try to search for a ballad that they can each sing to each other in the heartfelt way that Mr. Shuester intends them to sing it, they bond over Finn’s fears of being a dad and Finn ends up singing his way through his fears, via The Pretender’s “I’ll Stand by You”.

While singing the song to a sonogram of his unborn child on his laptop, his mother,who up to this point, does not know about his impending fatherly responsibilities, finds out that his girlfriend is pregnant. Pregnant girlfriend, Quinn, meanwhile, is intent on keeping her pregnancy from her very wealthy, conservative, devout, chastity-loving, abstinence and celibacy-advocating parents, a secret. During a family dinner with Quinn’s parents, in which the quarterback is invited, the quarterback sings Quinn’s pregnancy into the dinner via the song “Having my baby”.

 

I must say, during the song, the look on the clueless parents’ face, as the condescending, indulgent, self-satisfied smiles are wiped off and replaced by wonder, then confusion, fear, realization, then finally a mixture of anger and disappointment, is priceless. Say what you will about TV shows, teen shows, musicals and corny, cheesy love songs, this TV show gets points in my book for originality and pulling off a pretty heavy scene with great delicacy. Anybody who’s had to drop a bomb on their parents (be it being pregnant, being gay, planning a sex-change operation, or even just planning to move out) know how difficult it is to do so infront of them, and I give kudos to the people behind this show for succeeding in making this scene emphatic. Of course, there is no happy ending for this revelation – Quinn is thrown out of the house and she has to crash in her boyfriend, quarterback’s house. Meanwhile, while Kurt is busy plotting how best to wrest the quarterback from Quinn’s loving clutches, he still finds time to look for the perfect ballad to sing to the quarterback: Olivia Newton-John’s “I Honestly Love You” – which of course freaks the quarterback out. On the other side of the crush divide, Rachel is busy trying to win Mr. Shuester, through ballads, via Jennifer Paige’s “Crush”. Mr. Shuester replies via The Police’s “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” and that song, “Young Girl, you’re out of your mind, you’re much too young girl”.

Rachel doesn’t get the message of the song, and instead is impressed by the ballad and by her teacher’s singing that she intensifies the gift-giving and ballad-singing for him. Her unrequitted infatuation (Mr. Shuester seems unhappily married to an unsympathetic wife who takes advantages of the girls who have crushes on her husband) would have ended up tragically, had not another scorned girl, Pepper, confronted her with her own experience. She realizes she is right and thus decides to deal with the unrequitted crush in the only way unrequitted crushes should be dealt with: by accepting that the object of her affection will never return her love and by letting him go in the process. The episode ends with the club singing a nice rendition of “Lean on Me” for the benefit of Quinn and Finn. Verdict: Who can resist cheesy 80s songs mixed with the equally cheesy songs of the 90s with some rock ballads and soul thrown in? Points for including “The Pretenders” “I’ll Stand by You” and The Police’s “Don’t Stand So Close to Me”. The show gets points for including “Endless Love”, too, which brings back childhood memories of adults making an ass of themselves crooning the tune to their love ones. Must say, this might be the cheesiest song ever produced – up there with “Total Eclipse of the Heart”, both of which are karaoke gems, but both of which none of the 80s babies with ever be caught dead singing. Hence the fun in listening to it being sung with the kind of camp and amplomb it so rightly deserves.

Can’t wait for the next episode!

Quoted here last: Jessica Zafra and Conrado de Quiros on success

From Jessica Zafra’s blog post “This just in” :

“I think it’s a good policy to aim too high. It is more practical to be overly ambitious than to set a goal that is well within range of your abilities. How is this possible?

Well, if you aim low and fail, you put your talent and competence in doubt. You want so little but you still don’t get it, so maybe you don’t have what it takes.

However, if you overreach and you don’t achieve your goal, it will be viewed as a case of wanting too much rather than a simple failure due to insufficient skill. Even if you really do lack the skills and are a complete twerp. People will see the ambition first…”

read more of her post here…

And Conrado de Quiros backs it up in his column, “There’s the Rub” on inquirer.net:

Success…build confidence…As you can see from Pacquiao today—he is more confident than ever. But isn’t the opposite true as well? Doesn’t confidence also produce success?

You have to wonder on a broader plane if that is not the thing that has held us back from making the kind of giant steps Pacquiao has…

I have a friend who was thought of being aggressive and boastful by his classmates. Not surprisingly, he made it big in America.

Of course there’s a level at which frankness becomes bluntness, assertion becomes abrasiveness, outspokenness becomes loudness. You get a lot of that in US airports, a stunning contrast with Narita where the personnel are awesomely polite but just as awesomely efficient. But just as well there is a level where obedience becomes submissiveness, respect for authority becomes mindlessness, and patience is no longer a virtue. Certainly they can stand in the way of the dogged pursuit of greater goals, or giant dreams.

Read more of de Quiros’ column here.

Hmmm….Is this why I probably have difficulty finding a job? Because during interviews I exude a confidence that may border on arrogance? Because I refuse to be less ambitious? Because I believe in something more than just corporate things?

If so, this makes me feel better. I am on the right track.

You should too.

 

Jobhunting, Pinoy Style 4: When you’re over the hill, it’s all downhill from there…

Here’s a little-known, oft-ignored truth about the Philippine job hunting process that you need to know:

Once you get past 30, you are gone. Kaput. You are dead to the workforce. You are the pariah of the job market.

When you are over the hill, it’s all downhill from there.

This was  something I had noticed only when I had turned 30. Before that, the job market was my playground. I could have any and every job on the market and not worry about being… too old.

30 is now the new 50.

Consider the following:

1. Fastfood crew – must be from 18-24, and at least in second year college, because you need to be a student in order to agree to work for peanuts for what is essentially an underpaid job.

2. Cashier – must be from 18-24, and an accountant, which I don’t get, as anything person with only grade school qualifications can figure out the ins and outs of the cash register. It doesn’t require you to balance the books or check the profits.

3. Salesclerk – must be from 18-24 and a graduate of a four-year course, although I do not see why you need a degree to be a salesclerk and why a younger person is a better salesclerk than an older one.

4. Movie usher – must be from 18-24 and a graduate of a four-year course, because you need a degree in physics to figure out where to sit moviegoers in a movie theater

5. Waitress – must be from 18-24 and a graduate of a four-year course and! with pleasing personality (whatever the hell that is), because your degree in accountancy will help you get the orders right.

6. Driver – must be from 18-24 and a graduate of a four-year course and must have experience in driving. Although I do not see why they shouldn’t just be trained na lang.

7. Call center agent – must be from 18-24 and a graduate of a four-year course, because lord knows that degree in nursing will come in handy when you are trying to deal with an irate customer from the American South who can’t work his computer or modem.

8. Government clerk – must be from 18-24 (well, 28, because they’re more inclusive that way) and a graduate of a four-year course, because that degree in political science will come in handy when you are trying to pocket government money for your own good.If  you want a higher position, you’ll need connections. And money. And a whole lot of favors to call on.

I could go on and on, but you get the idea. The only areas where you can get in without an age limit, is in university. But in the uni, you need a master’s, a doctorate and pretty much other diplomas that will guarantee you are qualified to spoonfeed students with mindless fodder.

So, as you can see, either way, you are f*cked.

Meanwhile the government goes on and on about how the unemployment rate in the Philippines is so high. And wonder why it is high. And then go on and post new posters with their faces on it, proudly saying this is where my taxes go.

So as you can see, when you are over the hill, it’s all downhill from there.

Wednesday: 3 more days to go…

I hate goodbyes.

I’ve always hated goodbyes.

When I left my hometown to come to London, I did not even say goodbye to a number of people. When friends leave for overseas, I do not go to bid them goodbye.

Today I did not go to Oxfam. I had a headache and I felt some nausea coming on, so I thought it best to sleep it off first. I went there after, but by then, it was the afternoon guys I had caught there and the manager. I missed the morning guys. I said goodbye to the afternoon ones, and already I felt a bit bad.  Perhaps as the day to my flight approaches (or D-day, as I am wont to call it), I will feel even more sentimental about things. I really will miss London.

7 days….!

I have packed everything now save what is on my back. I thus have no bed sheet, no pillows, no blankets, no kitchen utensils, no pots and pans to cook in. I have thus resorted to covering myself with the mattress and sleeping on the carpet to keep myself warm. I have resorted to eating canned goods and heating them up in the backyard. Since I’ve packed my spoons and forks, I’ve resorted to eating with my hands as well. I try to minimize my use of clothes since I’ve packed all of that away already, along with the necessary toiletries. I don’t do laundry anymore also. I don’t want to open the box anymore because we’ve already sealed it with duct tape and packing tape – an art form that I had only recently learned. That means no showering as well. Sure, there are more flies hovering around my window waiting to pounce, but hey! small price to pay for readying yourself up to go home. My only consolation now is that I still have my laptop, where I can wilf for Lisa Ray/Sheetal Sheth fan vids (which are actually better than the actual movies, because they go straight to the naughty bits) as I count the days to my flight home.

I am going home and there’s no going back. Especially as I have spent 400 quid on a non-refundable ticket. So all you folks (Filipinos or otherwise, but mostly these random Filipino strangers who feel inexplicably entitled to give me unsolicited advice) who want me to stay, let me just say these things right now:

1. No, I don’t do care work, child care, whatever. I don’t do fastfood work either. I know that kind of life fulfills you. But it doesn’t do it for me. I would do it if I get to keep the child  or I get to keep my cute Indian (female) co-workers (who all seem to look like Sheetal Sheth) at the end of the day, but since I cannot, I might as well go home!
2. No, I don’t do TNT (Filipino slang meaning “to stay in a country illegally”).  That clandestine,arcane life of dodging immigration officers, coming out only to work at night, staying in seedy flats, windows all boarded up, and always looking behind to make sure no-one’s following you, is not for me.
3. No, I won’t do cross-country. Because why would I go to another country to be treated like a second-class citizen, when I can just go back home and be treated like that there?
4. No, I do not want to marry some random English guy just so I can get a permanent residency (are you listening, random middle-aged Filipino lady at the flight centre?). I’m not that desperate. Besides, why would I marry for a visa? I’d marry for (loads of) money, yes, but not for a visa.

For those folks back home who think I am just a carefree bum here – you are a jackass. You don’t know what it’s like to be living, studying, working abroad, under harsh conditions, so shut up.

Now that I have that off my chest, let me just say, thank you for those who have been reading my blog. I am excited to see friends and family back home, and I finally have an epiphany.

During months of being holed up in London, attending West End workshops, studying management, writing, working, watching movies and TV shows, reading books, going around galleries and museums, blogging, and so on – something came together yesterday. Something that makes so much sense to me now. I suddenly know what to do.

I won’t tell you just yet. But I will once I’ve hit touch down and it’s off the ground.

Can’t begin to tell you how excited I am.

(Points for you if you get the tone of this post. haha!)

Life Lessons learned while living in London

1. Never exceed the use-by date.
2. Always check the use-by date.
3. You can only eat so many burgers.
4. You can only eat so much sardines and beans.
5. Cooking is easy. To figure out. If you put your mind to it. You just hope for the best.
6. The microwave is your best friend.
7. Never leave home without your tube map.
8. Never leave home without any map, period.
9. Know how to read maps.
10. Sat-navs and tom-toms help you get lost more accurately.
11. Be prepared for anything. Especially on weekends, when the tubes are down.
12. Have a plan B. Be prepared to resort to it, if need be, even if it means going back home to start all over again.
13. Never be afraid to start all over again.
14. Safe is for sissies. Risk is for winners!
15. Duct tape can pretty much patch up anything.
16. Never rely on British movies (or books) for cultural education about England.
17. The Stone Henge is a bit less majestic up close.
18. Travel light. Anywhere.
19. Avoid wearing accessories that may set off detector at airport.
20. Wear nice socks so when they ask you to take your shoes off at the airport, you won’t be embarrassed at toes sticking out of socks.
21. Important things to bring anywhere: underwear, shades, water, sunscreen.
22. Look good on your passport photo. Remember – that will be your photo for the next five years, or until your passport expires.
23. Your passport is your security blanket.
24. You can live in a shoestring budget. If you want to. Seriously.
25. Know how to budget. Know how to handle your money.
26. You will be surprised at the lengths you are willing to go to to survive under harsh conditions.
27. Charity shops are your best friend.
28. A laptop and an internet connection are necessary things for a person living overseas.
29. Being abroad is not what it’s all cracked up to be.
30. You find kindness in the least likely places.
31. You can find art and beauty in the most unlikely places.
32. The best things in life really are free.
33. Arriving at your destination can be very anti-climactic. It is the journey itself that really does matter.
34. If you let people walk all over you, they will.
35. Just because you are from a third-world/Southern country doesn’t mean you are any less human, intelligent or less deserving of respect.
36. You will fly millions of miles into another country, cross oceans and continents – and rediscover your own self, your own identity, your own sense of self-worth and self-respect.
37. People are the same pretty much everywhere you go.
38. Cities are all the same. It’s the people that matter.
39. Decide and decide now.Firmly.
40. Don’t hesitate.
41. Never think you deserve any less.
42. Fight for what you want. More importantly, ask yourself if what you are doing now is what you really want.
43. No matter what you do people will always judge you.
44. You can never please people, ever.
45. Sometimes plans don’t always work out.
46. Sometimes you can be in love with a person and it still won’t work out.
47. Love isn’t the only thing necessary for a relationship to survive.
48. Letting go sucks. Moving on sucks even more. But growth doesn’t.
49. Never settle.
50. Act!
51. Nothing is impossible if you put your mind to it. And most importantly -
52. There is no place like your home country!