Ignite Speech Competition

Honestly, I didn't expect I'd win...

I think my trainer, Sir Daroy, didn't think so as well...maybe... I didn't show him my power point presentation until the competition. We did a run down of my speech and he thought it was great, though I didn't know if he was trying to be nice or trying to be sarcastic, either way, I didn't get the message. Though he told me something clear, "Something entertaining, Benj". That was a lifesaver. I have poor public speaking skills, and as a debater, I am more confident of talking about politics, economy, and nationalism. I was supposed to discuss how the Church, certain cultural traditions, and liberal democracy itself  play a part in hampering state progression. Close shave, huh?

It was a sleepless night for me, the night before the competition. Why the procrastination you say? Well, the entire weak was hectic for me. I was the leader of our class' speech choir competitions and rehearsals were killing me since we had to adjust to the ever changing schedule of our "special" or rather "challenged" mates. I was also busy finalizing and catching up with dues, after all, it was finals week, judgement week. Anyway, I was busy editing my speech, well, I completely changed the damned thing to fit twenty 15-second slides under five minutes. It was around 12:59 that time and I told myself when the clock strikes morning, I'm hitting the hay. To my regret, I didn't. I had to finish my speech and begin with my power point presentation. I didn't want to disappoint Sir Daroy who had utter faith in me, and I didn't want to fail myself. I wanted to win, but if I had to lose, I'd make sure I lost presenting and delivering to my standard. By 0430h, I was done. I shut my eyes for a couple of minutes to wake up in the blast of my alarm, and yeah, as expected, it's 0530h.  So I ate little and began with my hygienic activities. Once I was all dressed up, I rushed to school.

It was a very unlucky strt of the day for me. I hitched a ride in a UV  Express in BF Homes. I shut my eyes to have a short nap to catch with my sleep, and like a (female dog), I woke up at Star City. I'm about a mile two from the Heritage Hotel -my original drop zone. So I ran and ran, and ran until I found a jeepney terminal that would bring me to Heritage via Taft Ave. The traffic was horrible since the roads were narrow and just my luck, market day. Once at Metropoint, I hopped in a jeepney to school. Damn, was EDSA congested like souls in purgatory. My detour took me about an hour or so, but thankfully, I wasn't late for the program.

I was the last speaker for the ignite. That means there are four other speakers whom I should observe to determine how (effed) I was. I underestimated the competition, they were REALLY GOOD, especially the first speaker. She was discussing about certain struggles and glories of being a daughter of a military officer. It was an honor for me to compete with her because her father was an Air Force pilot who graduated from the Academy. She prepared for her speech very well. She had a calm, subtle, soothing voice, and her transitions were smooth. Also, she closed her eyes (I believe) the entire speech, and she not once looked at her slides, she was perfectly synchronized with her presentation.

I barely memorized mine so I said that I'd just wing it. What I had that the others didn't was an "entertaining" speech. I wasn't confident that mine was better, it wasn't haha. I was confident because I knew mine was different. I  knew that I had to deliver this speech as lively as possible, I had to make the audience, especially the faculty and judges, to shake their  limbs. And surprisingly, I did.

I got really pumped up  when I realized that the crowd was responding to my  questions and gestures. They laughed at my jokes and puns, my class was cheering for me, and I even noticed the faculty clapping halfway my speech. When I  saw Sir Daroy clap, I told myself  "Mission Accomplished". 

I have already met my trainer's expectations, now it's time to go for the kill.

Speech Choir Competition

"And the true reward he's seeking is the glory of a smile", "And the laughter of his children is a joy worth toiling for". So short but makes so much sense.

Well what can I say. After a big loss in the Speech Choir competition we can still beam up a bright smile like children on Santa's lap. We have done our very best and we will keep on doing so until we lay to rest. Dramatic much? Well it's true. When we graduate in the near future and be thrown out to the cruel realities of life, we would fight with all we have got, bearing not the APC standard but the standard that we have set for ourselves.

The only depressing thought about this is the fact that not everyone gave it their all and the majority paid for it. I don't want to snitch but I must call it as I see it, after all, if there's anything I have learned in the Academy is Honesty which is significantly essential to the Honor Code, again, I digress.

Some of my blockmates don't seem to be in the same level or degree of dedication to the performance as with the others. Some don't show up during practice, and when they do, they just sign the attendance and leave. What's worse is that there are those who stay the entire time during practice but don't participate at all. They even don't cooperate with the leaders and other members. These are the people that barely contribute to the presentation at all and even have the nerve to demand "participation" in the group for the sake of their grades which I doubt that even Buddha, Allah, or Christ can help them. They are like parasites. Latching on their host, they think of nothing else but themselves, their survival, without even stopping to think that when the host dies, they die alongside with it. When one person messes up, everyone's part of the picture. What turns my stomach the most is that these people can actually stand the idea that they are practically dragging the whole class down as they are nothing more but carcass, corpse, dead weight, decay. It's saddening that not even I, nor 3 other leaders can influence them to cooperate. It's sad that I left the academy thinking that the people there were savage, and here I am, forcing adolescents and young adults to listen as if they were infants of less evolved primates. INTEGRITY and RESPONSIBILITY, two simple words that don't necessarily require an individual to be a cadet to learn and incorporate.

At the end of the day, certain matters shall be dealt accordingly and improved in the future. As of now, we still stand proud that we have presented with complete  resolve in the face off an unbearable obstacle.

The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall

Ah, it's been so long. A month has passed since I last blogged, or so I think. 

Anyway, I"M SO EXCITED to talk about this one... THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA AT THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL!

Honestly, I don't know if my judgement is of any weight in value since I have never witnessed a musical play (Philippine literature such as Ibong Adarna, Florante at Laura, etc aside). This is the first time I have watched the Phantom of the Opera at all! But I must say it was superb! It was awesome, fantastic, amazing, and magnificent! It's supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, and that ain't even a word, Mary Poppins! I was going to say "magical" but let's leave that to the kids and Disney, but I  digress.

Pardon me for not summarizing the story, it would definitely bore you and make this blog boring, and I do not want to contradict my excitement and kill the momentum so I'm just going to tell you how beautiful it is. Of course, I'm going to use my "professional" judgement as a Speaks member.

First, the actors. They did a splendid job. Their vocalization, their voice projection, their expressions of emotions, their gestures, everything was spot on. It is true that it takes a lot of time to rehearse this but it isn't as simple as being a movie actor. What they present on stage is pure, raw talent. There are no multiple takes nor are there any editing teams and soft wares to delete mistakes and add special audio and visual effects. What the stage actors present to the audience is nothing but days, weeks, months, and years of honed skill, dedication, and perseverance, and yes, the audience feels it.

Next would be the setting. The stage may be a big place, but it isn't big enough compared to a small room with green screen. Props have been made specially for each and every scene. Everything was handcrafted. Everything was made to be engraved with detail and precision, which overall makes the setting all the more realistic, but what really astounded me was the transitions. Ah yes, the transitions killed it. I noticed that whenever the scenes transitioned, the props where set in place as quick and as smooth. The stage lights would be cut for about three seconds then BOOM -another scene with another set of props are set on stage waiting for the actors' dialogues to commence. Ah, it was brilliant.

Lastly, the music. Jesus, take the wheel, the music was breathtaking. I didn't realize till the halfway through the play that the stage had a balcony or "second storey". It contained the orchestra. Dozens of musicians led by the orchestra master or whatever you call the awesome old dude with the stick blasted away the roof off the place with such mellow, smooth, fast-paced, thrilling, or whatever kind of music that accompanies the mood or theme of the scene! It was pure, raw music as well. There were no DJ's to mix recorded pieces, nor were there any editors as well that smoothed out "rough" parts. It was entirely MAGICAL. There, I said it, MAGICAL. It's just something beyond my belief that people can do this... people can actually combine and fuse together different forms of art and literature such as music, speech, and drama. It may be a pity that most people don't appreciate works of art like this one. Nonetheless, I am proud and honored to have witnessed such a beautiful piece, part, and parcel of heaven imparted to my life. So this is what the one percenters call "Theater".