Sinigang

LAST WEEK THOUSANDS DIDN’T KNOW WHERE TO TUNE IN on Primetime TV. *It’s season ender and season finale time!* This is when Tivo or Replay come in handy (so you can record one show to watch later and watch another show live that conflicts the other). Monday saw the end of Season 5 for Kiefer Sutherland’s 24 (shown in Fox). ABC station all of a sudden decided to move the FINAL EPISODE of Jennifer Garner’s Alias (which normally airs on Wednesdays) on a Monday to compete with 24.

I love both shows and never miss an episode! I hate the fact that ABC intentionally opted to clash with 24 to bid Sydney its final goodbye. ABC should have given Alias its "proper burial" so to speak and not have to flip channels back and forth. Sure enough, Sydney was slaughtered by Jack in the ratings. And all for naught!! I didn’t like the season finale of 24 at all!! It was anti-climactic. You watch the show with excitement for 22 weeks and it never fails to deliver heart-stopping, nail-biting scenes and then you get to the end, endure boring commercials, seat for two hours and next thing you know, Jack Bauer is aboard a ship possibly off to Shanghai… captive of the Chinese who never forgot how Jack invaded the Chinese Consulate 18 months ago. So begins another 24 hours for Jack next year when Season 6 returns. That’s how it is in a day’s life in Counter Terrorism Unit (CTU) Los Angeles where it seems everyone else is inept and incompetent except for computer whiz Chloe o’ Brian (my only favorite character in the show!) and government field agent Jack Bauer who saves the day in the end. Kieffer Sutherland hit a goldmine in this show making him the highest paid actor on TV. He gets $40 million dollars for the next three seasons of 24 (that’s only about Php2.1 trillion pesos!!). What makes it tick is that the bad guys never wins, in the end justice is served!

About time that Alias, after 5 years on air decides to end the quest for Milo Rambaldi’s prophecies (it sure was getting old). It seems like the right time to end it because while it has a huge fanbase it’s not just getting the same ratings when at its peak in 2001-2003. More shows have propped up and most viewers lost interest especially when the very pregnant Sydney Bristow even on her third trimester still does field work, beats the crap out of her nemesis, gets beaten back badly and even jumps off buildings and stuff. C’mmon! As Alias fans, we’ve ignored a bunch of incredulous plots, twists, and stunts but that was a stretch!

Alias fans follow the life of a college student named Sydney Bristow, who one day was approached by a strange guy offering her to join US’ most elite and secret branch of the CIA. Or so she thought. She has sworn to secrecy never to reveal what she does or who she works for until she met a guy! She reveals to him everything and that cost her boyfriend’s life. She then finds out that the office she was working for wasn’t part of the government at all but the very people the CIA has been tracking down for years known as Section Disparue (SD-6). Betrayed and confused, she goes to the real CIA for direction. So starts her life as a double agent. With the help of her spy agent dad, spy agent handler turned boyfriend, and spy agent friends, she made it her life’s purpose to defeat SD-6 and so she (they) did. But it was only the beginnning of more reversal of fortunes, betrayal, deaths, travels around the world (in 60 seconds and back!) and hundred of costume and hair color changes because SD-6 kept rebuilding using different names such as The Covenant, Alliance of Twelve, K-Directorate and The Prophet 5. All those in pursuit of a fictional 15th century guy’s lifeworks and finding out its meaning and purpose.

We fast track to final season. If you haven’t watched the finale of Alias, I suggest you stop reading because I am going to spoil how it ends. Sydney gives birth to a baby girl and names her Isabelle. We find out that Michael Vaughn, her fiancee presumed dead, is in fact alive! Nadia, Sydney’s half-sister, who suffered hell ending up in coma, thanks to her dubious, opportunistic, altruist-egomaniacal father- Arvin Sloane, finally wakes up only to be dead again! Sloane, her own father accidentally kills her as they do the "No you won’t, yes I will" dance step near a fireplace in Sloane’s effort to save a precious "Rambaldi" artifact from burning and pushes her into a coffee table where a shard of glass nicked through her jugular vein. In the final scenes, we see Sloane and Sydney in a confrontation inside a cave in Mongolia where Rambaldi’s tomb is located. Sydney got hold of the Sphere of Life (supposedly the device, together with the red hovering ball containing some liquid, would render eternal life to the one who takes it), attempting to destroy it. About the same time, Jack Bristow (Syd’s father) and Vaughn shows up held hostage by Sark (Sloane’s minion). Sloane having the advantage now urges Sydney to hand him back the sphere. Syd wouldn’t give in, Sloane then guns down Jack. Syd gives up the sphere rans over to his dad and Vaughn grabs the chance to fight the guards. Enraged, Sydney shoots Sloane several times and Sloane falls into the pool of liquid from the red ball that burst earlier and dies. Sark grabs the sphere and disappears. Jack Bristow barely alive, compels Syd and Vaughn to go after Sark for the sphere. And guess where Sark is heading? He goes to Hong kong to meet Irina Derevko (Syd’s kick-ass spy mother!) In a flash, Sydney and Vaughn is in Hong kong as well. We get to see a final showdown between mother and daughter as both fought relentlessly over a piece of ball. BUT not just any piece of ball, Irina says. She tries to convince Sydney to join her because "power is the only currency" and "Rambaldi is life- through him we can live forever."

There you go, Rambaldi’s mystery lie on the glass sphere that activates his tomb and then creates a liquid from the rotating red ball- giving one immortality! Meanwhile back in Mongolia, Sloane awakens and his wounds are gone. He is ecstatic realizing that he just came back from the dead. BUT not for long, Jack wounded and dying goes down the cave with explosives. He says sorry to Sloane for not believing in Rambaldi. Sloane proudly says that he can’t be hurt anymore because he is now immortal. Jack casually shows him the explosives on his hand as he is lighting them, it explodes and shatters the entire cave closing them in. Back in Hong Kong, the two super spies are still fighting over the sphere. In the end, Irina plunges to her death as she falls on top of a glass roof. In Mongolia, we see Sloane very well alive but crying for help as half his body is trapped underneath a big boulder. He sees Nadia in his hallucination, who tells him that now, he has all the time in the world and she won’t be there. She then walks out on him.

For a feel good happy ending, after most of the shows characters are dead, we see the family of Sydney, Vaughn and Isabelle years later, with a new addition of baby Jack (after Syd’s dad). They are now living blissfully near the beach. They are visited by Dixon (coworker and friend), now Director of CIA as he asks for help of the two track down a familiar name- Sark! While the three are talking, Isabelle finds wooden building blocks in the bedroom- the same ones that Jack Bristow saw Sydney was playing with in her early years- solves the puzzle in a breeze and made a tower out of the blocks like she knew all along what she was doing. The building blocks puzzle was actually part of an aptitude test for future spy agents. It was used by the CIA before, named it ‘project Christmas’ to look for special kids with special mental abilities at that early stage. What Isabelle did just opened for new possibilities for the show or how it can turn out later. That is how Alias ends. Rambaldi’s mystery finally solved but with a new ’super’ spy in the offing as Sydney and Vaughn contemplates of either helping Dixon or remain living a quiet life…

If you get caught between Jack Bauer and Sydney Bristow, the best that you can do is surrender and join the mania!

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*Unlike TV shows in the Philippines where sitcoms and series just go on forever week after week (after week…) until their rating fades, American TV play it by season. They air different shows for specific seasons which means a show lasts four months then a whole new show begins then ends after four months and back again if it survives the ratings! The Four company ‘biggies’ on TV- Fox, ABC, CBS and NBC plan their shows meticulously and collide with each other for greater audience’ exposure.*

NOTHING LIKE A KODAK MOMENT! That’s what we exclaim when we’re taking a great photo or when we’re looking at one! Kodak is one of the most successful name brands in the world (along with Coke and yes, McDonald’s). So successful that we give our best, precious, perfect, memorable photos a name to describe it- a kodak moment. In the Philippine vernacular, its recognition is so remarkable that one would unwittingly say during picture taking: "O, kodakan mo na kami!" (Hey, take a picture of us already!) or "mag-kodakan tayo" (let’s take pictures).

10 years before the Philippines even declared its independence from Spanish rule, George Eastman, an American high school dropout in his mid-twenties, developed the first snapshot camera in 1888, sold it in the market with the slogan,  "You press the button - we do the rest." He called the camera "Kodak." 

Over a century later, you’d think that with the dawning of the digital age, Kodak will have seen its demise. But no, they’re fighting the battle and they’re winning their share of the digital market because they know just how to win it. Ever since, Kodak’s ad campaign formula has always been tapping the human emotions. Their TV ads always capture the moments. It makes people smile, feel inspired, nostalgic, makes one mellow down, puts one in a good mood, even makes one shed a tear or two. Watching their ads, admit it or not, pinches your heart in ways you can’t describe.

Their products which tap the ‘normal’ people as well, not the computer geeks or tech savvy, are always all about simplicity. The point and shoot concept of their digital cameras, the easiness of their easy share printers and of course their still ever reliable basic film cameras that have withstood the test of time are as popular as ever.

Not to be left behind, Kodak is active over the web! Aside from its own website at Kodak.com, they have their own kodak easy share gallery where you can upload digital pictures, share, edit and print them online. Its new interactive commercial is making raves in the internet as well. The idea is that one can add up to five personal photos to be included on the ad and be able to watch and share the commercial in its entirety as though the photos were part of the real ad. The online Kodak commercial is a clone of their highly notable TV ad featuring a bunch of kids brought in to a photo gallery to view pictures of ordinary people in ordinary/extraordinary situations. The curator is admonishing the kids to calm down and stay quiet and listen. "Listen to the pictures," he says. He’s asking the kids, "Can you hear them? The pictures are talking… The pictures are saying keep me. Protect me. Share me… and I will live forever…" He’s saying this as a soothing storyteller set over a melodramatic instrumental background that heightens its notes to his every word. And in the climax of the ad, you find the back of your hair raising and you have goosebumps all over and you just want to cry… At least that was the effect I got the first time I watched it. I added my personal pix and you can do them too! See how the ad affects you and let me know!

http://createyourown.kodak.com/cid=392d717292ae8c2715

For as long as people are taking pictures and keeping memories either digital or in print, we’ll always have our kodak moments. Kodak is definitely here to stay and rightfully so.

12 June 06 . Bloggers note: Unfortunately, the link to the commercial is no longer active.  I didn’t realize it was only promotional. When you click the link, it will direct you to Kodak’s website. Oh well…

Act I

I HAVE A CONFESSION TO MAKE and I wasn’t even gonna admit to it if not for 2 unexpected things! I have been a ’secret’ follower of this huge popular reality show on TV. I won’t admit to it if you’re not family or closest friend! And I won’t even talk about it or join in conversation because reasonable (duh!) and cultured (gimme a break!) adults find reality TV shows as

a.) an insult to one’s intellect, b.) a complete embarrassment for the contestant who would do anything and compromise everything he/she stands for just to have fame and fortune! c.) a manipulation of TV networks to play with human nature and expose it to millions of viewers and earn big bucks while at it! d.) just a way of making easy money for tv networks and its contestants and e.) just for kids or for brainless people or for couch potatoes.

Am I reasonable? Am I cultured? I was trying to fit in that mold but thinking about it now- I don’t give a crap! If an average of 40 million Americans vote and watch the show week after week and if millions around the world catch the show on cable, I don’t think that’s stupidity, maybe madness but can’t call us brainless!

I’ll admit it. I’ll even blog about it! I AM an American Idol addict (–until tonight!)!! I have been following it religiously only since the last season but what can I tell you? It has captivated me that I followed every episode of Season 5 down to tonight’s outcome of who remains and stays on the top 3. And yes, I vote every Tuesday night people!

But boy, am I really blown away by tonight’s results! I am so ticked off that I might just drop watching it as quickly as I was gotten hooked to it!

Chris Daughtry is eliminated tonight! The ONLY talent who stood out amongst them all since day 1. The frontrunner all along, everybody’s favorite and bet and even Simon Cowell predicted could win (if Kat McPhee didn’t also have that being the only female left in the competition advantage!). This guy’s voice is amazing and his personality and intensity onstage, magnetic! He is even better than Bo Bice! He should have been making records already! The result was as unbelievable as Carrie Underwood winning over Bo Bice in Season 4! That raised my doubts over the show’s credibility.  Whatever happened, the judging wasn’t right. It was unfair for chris who so deserve to be at least fight for the title in the finale! He didn’t deserve to go. He should be in the final 2.

I have conspiracy theories going on in my mind at this point. Like the way Bo Bice lost over the less talented, Carrie Underwood! I don’t think it is America’s votes making the decision. It is still the network and those bigwigs who think they know what’s best for the show, has the final say! I couldn’t get through voting on Chris last Tuesday- at all! His 2 numbers were just busy all the time! I tried my cell, tried my home phone. Nothing worked! I tried voting for McPhee, Elliott and Taylor and I got through!! Not easily but I got through!! For 2 hours, I personally tried and I couldn’t make a single vote for Chris. Now tell me if the show isn’t somehow rigged! Obviously, Chris got the lowest votes because for some obscure reason, his numbers are busy or was it intentionally blocked?! Sure, the results from texts and calls would show he got the lowest votes but that’s because nobody could get through to his number! Or his votes were regulated to just a certain percentage so everybody else’s name will move up.

After tonight’s show I don’t think I’d have the same energy and confidence to continue watching it. I am turned off by tonight’s results. I’m not sourgraping. I don’t even know Chris Daughtry! It’s just sad to see such a talent leave. I’m sure he’ll get record labels wanting to sign him up right away. He’s going to be all right. In fact, he might be better off not having won American Idol because if you’re gonna be a rocker, it’s kinda lame that you won it through that show. I mean the crowd that he would draw are certainly not from the American Idol crowd but more of the Greenday, alternative kind of groups. Anyhow, I still couldn’t understand how THE most talented contestant in a talent show would be voted off just like that with 3 others remaining. I just don’t get it! Do you get it?

Act II

I am having PMS so I’m just going to bitch some more! I went in to check americanidol.com online. A Jasmine Trias video interview (under video clips: Where are they now?) talking about the Philippines and her uhh, success there caught my eye so I clicked on it.

This is the first time I’ve ever actually heard her on an interview. I watched her on and off while still in the Philippines during the American Idol Season 3 and she got eliminated soon after. And I never saw her since then! The interview just kinda rubbed me in the wrong way. Was it just my PMS or her soo bubbly, "I’m self-conscious but trying to be cute persona" or her sardonic undertones if not her shallow charm during that 3 and a half minute clip?! I didn’t like the way she described events just because she was showing her true colors, I guess.

Basically she said she had no idea that American Idol was being shown there ‘internationally’ (Naimbento na kaya ang cable noong time na yun and we could pretty much watch anything from anywhere around the globe! Sa Honululu ba may cable?!); That she was huge there, and so when she got there, "I was completely shocked… When I arrived at the airport… it was a mob scene. I was actually scared… for the first time!" "Definitely the most surprising for me was the Philippines," she continued on. Did she mean that in a good surprising way or in a bad, ’scary’ way? Then she talks boringly about a ‘mini-movie’ she did with abs-cbn (a hugely popular Philippine TV network). That she’s been getting a lot of offers and she’s gonna do a full movie. So "it’s kinda good practice (for me)." If you’re gonna use the Philippines as your playground err training ground for your US dream, you gotta be more sincere than that interview. I don’t know how she’s doing in the Philippines but knowing how "mababaw" our dear kababayabs could get, I won’t be surprised if there’s a shrine up now in Cavite for her! Or if Arroyo has declared a Jasmine Trias Day in her behalf!

While her self-titled album turned apparently Gold (50,000 copies?) in the Philippines. So far, the album sold only 12,000 copies here in the US. While she wants to make it big here in the US, she better hold on good to what she has going for her in the Philippines because that might be her only way to remain in the public eye. The US market is so competitive and unlike the Filipinos, they are so easily bored with lukewarm talents. She should be more grounded and level-headed because if she’s not careful eventually, the pinoys will just get tired of her too and she needs her pinoy fame to stay in the business.

Are you reality TV crazed yet? I advise you, don’t get caught on it. It’s addictive.