Perhaps the problem lies in the thinking that being complimentary of something means being complimentary of everything about it. So, no, this isn't a puff piece. This isn't an analytical piece, even - I am too lazy for that now. I'm likely to ramble, even.
And yes, it's worth also noting that not everybody likes this show; that some people think this show is the problem with Philippine television; that it harbors some old-fashioned thinking, if not an old-fashioned sense of entertainment; that it exploits poverty for entertainment; that it launched the political careers of people who probably shouldn't have launched political careers. Some most likely just don't like it to the point of disgust.
Still, you have to give credit to Eat Bulaga! for lasting forty years - the closest thing Philippine television has to an icon, if only for sheer longevity. Like perhaps tens of millions of Filipinos, I don't know of a life without Eat Bulaga! It's always been there, at lunch time, on the television, six days a week, so much so that I may have taken it for granted. It's been around for so long it transcends the television network it's on (although, again, it's been on three - the rare example of an independent production on our airwaves). It's been around for so long I was shocked to realize that its three main hosts are close to their seventies.
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7/30/2019
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7/28/2019
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Two nights ago I was daydreaming about what I would do if I won the lottery. Not necessarily those blockbuster jackpots; even the tens of millions of pesos ones will do. Maybe I can finally get the things I need for the flat, like a fridge.
Just hours later, Rodrigo Duterte would unilaterally ban the lottery, and all of the other gambling operations of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, citing massive corruption in the agency.
It certainly was swift. Yesterday I saw photos of police closing down lotto outlets. That seemed a bit drastic; you'd assume those kiosks who did nothing but the lotto - and I'm sure that's every kiosk - would close it down themselves, because, well, what else can they do? They may try to sell tickets but the system will be offline. Then again, drastic is the brand the president rides on. Decisive is the brand the president rides on.
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Just hours later, Rodrigo Duterte would unilaterally ban the lottery, and all of the other gambling operations of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, citing massive corruption in the agency.
It certainly was swift. Yesterday I saw photos of police closing down lotto outlets. That seemed a bit drastic; you'd assume those kiosks who did nothing but the lotto - and I'm sure that's every kiosk - would close it down themselves, because, well, what else can they do? They may try to sell tickets but the system will be offline. Then again, drastic is the brand the president rides on. Decisive is the brand the president rides on.
Read more »
7/22/2019
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"I'm here if you want to talk" is something I've heard a bunch of times before.
More often that not, though, it feels like I can't. It feels like, when I do, nobody will make the time for me. Well, perhaps they would, but half-heartedly. Oh, here he is again, whining about his problems. And I get that. Nobody wants to hear about other people's problems, not if you have your own to think about, and especially not if you have none to think about. You'll try your best to appease him and then, maybe after five minutes, you'll just leave the conversation, and hope he assumes you're busy, and understand.
Yeah, I do. That's why I write these things. The consequence is, I still look like a guy who just whines about his problems rather than get to work on them. But then, what really is my problem? I'm awake at half past one in the morning, uncomfortable, and in this quiet I realize that I feel alone. But you're in a relationship. And it's not a loveless one, no. But even if people insist you are loved, you will feel alone. It's not something I can explain. It's not something I think of all the time. But it's half past one, and I am awake when I shouldn't be, and I feel alone.
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More often that not, though, it feels like I can't. It feels like, when I do, nobody will make the time for me. Well, perhaps they would, but half-heartedly. Oh, here he is again, whining about his problems. And I get that. Nobody wants to hear about other people's problems, not if you have your own to think about, and especially not if you have none to think about. You'll try your best to appease him and then, maybe after five minutes, you'll just leave the conversation, and hope he assumes you're busy, and understand.
Yeah, I do. That's why I write these things. The consequence is, I still look like a guy who just whines about his problems rather than get to work on them. But then, what really is my problem? I'm awake at half past one in the morning, uncomfortable, and in this quiet I realize that I feel alone. But you're in a relationship. And it's not a loveless one, no. But even if people insist you are loved, you will feel alone. It's not something I can explain. It's not something I think of all the time. But it's half past one, and I am awake when I shouldn't be, and I feel alone.
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7/20/2019
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It's not exactly my curiosity about how the Americans - no, wait, sorry, how mankind - managed to bring one of their, our, own to the surface of the Moon, but rather, my curiosity about how television covered it all. Thankfully there are many nerds like me out there, who managed to be alive at the time, and more importantly, record the whole thing, or most of it, on tape. Certainly they recorded the most important moments - the moment Neil Armstrong, after having to take control of the lunar module when he realized their designated landing spot was too rocky, finally announced that they have touched the surface; the moment Walter Cronkite broke his usual composure, shed a tear, and said, "oh, boy!"
And you felt that, not just because the moon landing - and, first off, I've no space for your flat-earth Hollywood-studio theories - is, and remains, the most important human achievement ever, but because it really is a win considering all the chaos that the decade brought.
Okay, I'm seeing this from the American perspective, because that's what I've been watching for the past few months, without realizing that fifty years since the event is just around the corner. I've seen clips of Walter Cronkite talk about tensions with the Soviet Union, about the slow burn that was the Vietnam War, about the assassinations of Kennedy, King and Kennedy. If you're an American who lived through the time, you would have thought, man, it is a bad time, huh?
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And you felt that, not just because the moon landing - and, first off, I've no space for your flat-earth Hollywood-studio theories - is, and remains, the most important human achievement ever, but because it really is a win considering all the chaos that the decade brought.
Okay, I'm seeing this from the American perspective, because that's what I've been watching for the past few months, without realizing that fifty years since the event is just around the corner. I've seen clips of Walter Cronkite talk about tensions with the Soviet Union, about the slow burn that was the Vietnam War, about the assassinations of Kennedy, King and Kennedy. If you're an American who lived through the time, you would have thought, man, it is a bad time, huh?
Read more »
7/06/2019
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"Shit happens," neophyte senator Bato dela Rosa said, defending policemen - who he used to lead - who conducting an anti-drug operation that killed a three-year-old girl alongside her father.
For days this has been the subject of new outrage amongst the critical crowd, leading, of course, to his remarks being amplified further and further.
"Shit happens," you are constantly reminded.
Read more »
For days this has been the subject of new outrage amongst the critical crowd, leading, of course, to his remarks being amplified further and further.
"Shit happens," you are constantly reminded.
Read more »
Niko Batallones writes The Upper Blog.
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