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TV or not TV

NO longer a question for my old geezer mom who tuned in to “radio gaga, radio ka-ka, radio blah-blah” back then… she reasoned that the noise box don’t demand you to stay off household chores to get an earful. You can still keep busy and get things done.

Too, newscasters Harry Gasser and Angelo Castro are no longer around, you’ve got to have a cast-iron tummy to tough through execrable timbre and tenor of voices spouted by the likes of… uh, they’re handsomely paid for such hideous ear-wrenching blabber… networks putting money where the mouth is but golf clubs, irons would do, ought to be used more often in putting, preferably whacking their mouths… or braining ‘em.

Kahit kasuka-suka’t kasuklam-suklam man ang tilaok, busina o ilandang ng halitosis nina, uh, dapat maging asero talaga ang sikmura.

Kaya mas mahihilig sa panonood ng ninenok.

Napanood ang “Kinatay” nina Bing Lao at Brillante Mendoza, and it pointed up impressions of evil as dim, drab, dingy, so banal and threadbare.

Gano’n din ang umukit sa isip nang mapanood ang “Virgin Forest”—bigay ng Dennis Fetalino ang kopya-- nina Uro de la Cruz at Peque Gallaga… warm bodies and dead bodies can be desecrated like nobody’s business.

Nakahugot sa Internet ang isa kong anak ng pelikulang sinawsawan ni John Woo, “Jianyu, Jianghu” (Swords and Rain, Rivers and Lakes… Reign of Assassins) nina Gu Long, Su Chao-pin… alam ng anak na mahilig ako sa ballet, sa mga kuntil-butil ng disenyo ng mga kagamitan at likhang anyo sa paligid, pati matatawag na sprung rhythm ng wikang Cantonese.

Sa kuwento, pinag-aagawan ang kinatay na labi ni Bodhidharma, monghe mula India na nagpakilala ng qigong sa China… samut-saring sining ng pakikihamok ang nahalaw mula qigong, paraan ng taimtim na paghinga at pagsisinop sa daloy ng qi or life force sa mga panloob na bahagi ng katawan… apparently, the monk knew nurturing of stem cells to regenerate dismembered body parts.

Namumutiktik sa kasistehan ang obra, kaya madalas napapahagalpak ng halakhak… even the assassin who uses poisoned needles went to lengths turning up noodles for excellent eating quality, such passion for culinary craft…

At bawat tauhan sa kuwento, may gawaing sinisinop… walang batugan… walang nakatunganga’t walang magawa.

Pero matindi ang hirit kontra karahasan… kahit magagap ang lihim na paraan sa pagsisinop ng katawan ni Bodhidharma, habambuhay na mananatiling walang silbing tao kung pulos karahasan ang nasa puso… why, an Egyptian grimoire relates how a person’s heart— entire life including—is measured against a feather, uh, a heart suffused with light is worth a treasure, it turns out.

Magaan sa dibdib na panoorin ‘to, payak na pagdiriwang sa bawat gawaing pangkabuhayan, maringal na pagdiriwang sa makabuluhang pamumuhay… at may indak ng mahinahong sayaw kahit pagsuong sa buhay at kamatayan.

Just like my old geezer mom who applies herself to workaday tasks and turns up more alive and light-hearted.

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