Pambansang Kasuotan

      Kami, mga Pilipino, ay naiimpluwensyahan ng mga Espanyol at Amerikano sa maraming mga taon na ang nakakaraan. Ang mga taong ito ay nagpakita ng kanilang wika, sining, musika , sayaw , damit, at kultura. Ngayon ako ng pakikipag-usap tungkol sa mga pambansang damit ng Pilipinas.

               Maraming mga uri ng mga filipino damit ngunit sa ngayon ako ay nagpapakita sa iyo ang Barong Tagalog. Gaya ng ipinakikita ng larawan sa kaliwa , ang mga panlabas na damit ay tinatawag na barong ( maaaring tinatawag bilang baro ). Ito ay pagod sa loob ng isang Chinese shirt tinatawag camisa de Chino . barong ay maaaring gawin mula sa tatlong tela: pina , jusi , at saging. Ang pina tela ay nagmula sa pinya dahon; Ang jusi tela ay nagmula sa abaca dahon; at ang banana tela ay nagmula sa dahon ng saging.

            Maaari kang pumili ng anumang uri ng damit. Ang pagiging iba't ibang ay mabuti dahil ang bawat tao sa bawat iba't ibang mga wika ay maaaring magpakita ng pagmamahal sa kanilang bansa.

THE BARREL (Parody of the Cask of Amontillado)

       The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge. You, who so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however, that gave utte---

        “What is wrong with you? Talk,” The furious Officer Joe shouted.

        “All right, calm down.” I replied impatiently.

        “Enough talk. What happened to the victim two years ago?” The curious Inspector Brian asked as he ate his sprinkled-strawberry doughnut.

         “Just give me a minute.”

        “We’ll be right back,” They went outside of the investigation room.

     Now where was I? Oh yes, Fortunato, that scoundrel.

          

          It was about dusk, one evening during the supreme madness of the carnival season, that I encountered my friend. He accosted me with excessive warmth, for he had been drinking much.

          I said to him --"My dear Fortunato, you are luckily met. How remarkably well you are looking to-day. But I have received a barrel of what passes for Amontillado, and I have my doubts."

         “WHERE ARE THE BARRELS!?” A guy wearing blue shirt with “P” screamed and ambushed our conversation.

         “THEY’RE NOT HERE! Go somewhere else.” I replied with madness.

         “Fine then.” He ran off to the carnival and sought for his “barrels.”

         “Now like I said before, I have a barrel of what passes for Amontilad—“

          “Wait,” Fortunato stared with his beady eyes, “You say that the Amontillado is real so that you can lock me up in the death chamber while I’m drunk?”

           “Uh, no…”

           “Great, let’s find this Amontillado.” He was so eager to find the Amontillado. As he took his first step, he immediately fell.

            I slap my face with regret. Then I carried him to the Wayne Mansion. I fired all the attendants except for Alfred for I have trust in him.

           

              As I arrived at the mansion, Alfred was there, waiting with the tea my mom makes.

              “Alfred, I’ll be down stairs, making the archive.”

              “Of course, sir, I’ll keep that in mind. Let me remind you there are still chambers that haven’t blocked yet. So I recommend caution as you go.”

              “Thanks, Alfred.” I thanked him for reminding me and so I continued to do what is right for me.

              

                 As I carried Fortunato within the catacombs, I heard a rumbling and tumbling from first chamber. It became louder and louder. Then an adventurer wearing a brown leather jacket with the whip attached to his jeans walks down from the chamber to the other.

              “GET OUT OF THE WAY!” He shouted as he was holding a weird relic around his arms. The rumbling became stronger as the boulder chases him endlessly. Then the rumbling stopped and I continued to walk towards the death chamber.

               As I arrived at the death chamber, I put Fortunato down on the ground to make sure everything was in place.

                  “Amontillado,” he said.

                  “Yes, Amontillado,” I replied as I was preparing the bricks.

                  “Amontillado,” he said once more.

                  “Yes, I know, Amontillado,” I replied yet I can’t handle his annoyance any longer.

                  “Amontillado,”

                  “SHUT UP, BEAR!” I grabbed him and locked him with chains for the annoyance by presence of naivety.

                  I left him there for good and cover the death chamber with bricks. I wish that I will never see the existence of his face again.

                  “Hey, you have a visitor.” Officer Joe disturbed my darkest thoughts as he brought the visitor.

It was Doc Brown, my old classmate from the high school years.

                   “Morning, Montresor. I see you dilly-dally this morning.” He said.

                  “Yes, I did, my old friend.” I replied with a tinted grin.

                  “Hey, Monty, I have something for you.” He handed me a letter.

                   “A letter?” I didn’t ask who wrote it. My mind was blown as I read it from someone I hate the most.

                   “Someday, your death will cost a fortune,”

HOW TO WIN A JINGLE COMPETITION

             

             

I have experiences with jingle competitions in the last couple of years and it’s not what I expected. It’s tough not only for my batch but also for the other batches when it comes to the criteria of a jingle. Here are some of my few suggestions:

              A LYRICAL MEMORY – This is one of the basic suggestions we’ve been receiving for the last couple of years. For the people who have short-term memory loss or those who always forget something, its fine. No one is perfect and it’s not deniable. When it comes to memory, it takes each second to remember and analyze the situation. The same principle can be applied in a song. You need to remember one line before going to the next line. Just don’t scan it in a fast pace because you might have the difficulty in memorizing the song and probably stutter the lines.

            THE VOICE – Every time I join the competition, one of the reasons is my loud hoarse voice. Everyone in the group must sing as one. To do that, every voice needs the balance between loudness and clarity. Loudness is important because the audience needs to hear the song from afar. Don’t try to shriek like a bat and squeak like a fairy. People might think that you’re trying to cast a voodoo spell. When it comes to clarity, the words must be heard clearly. If there’s a fast tempo in the songs, don’t speak gibberish because people might get attracted to you instead of listening to the song. These two traits are needed.

            THE ACTIONS and FORMATIONS – This competition might get dreary unless an action is needed. Actions can be simple as a dove and firm as an eagle. Each action should be exaggerated so the jingle can show a pleasing message to the audience. Formations should be compatible with the actions and comfortable with the performers. No one wants to flip over in a narrow aisle or wave the arms upwards in a constricted pyramid.

              Sometimes things aren’t surely expected but we taught ourselves to accept failures. “Men shaped themselves with defeats, not victories.”

Compass To Nowhere

The soul roams into the woods

But its feet are dreary

At the boulder, he stood

As no direction to tarry

Its eyes are misled

within the fog along the river

Its thoughts have misled

By a treacherous fiery quiver

The sun kept stirring the flames

At the table of four
Until it sets for the thanes
Which lefts nothing to store

The dark was filled with the stars
It followed the gleam to somewhere
Trust no compass
For it sends you to nowhere

Beyond the Oblivion

As the shattered mirror
strikes the broken heart
It bleeds by its horror
and can't end without a start

The eyes sees nothing
but a void within
The touch held something
yet none sense between

The mirror tried mending its shards
even with a touch, it became more fragile
As no flutes with no bards
and no roads with no mile

No figures were in my observation
because their hearts are soulless
That is beyond oblivion
Of me being useless