BULFINCH’S MYTHOLOGY

Front cover of Bulfinch's Mythology

Bulfinch’s Mythology is a modern abridgment by Edmund Fuller. This contains three volumes of Thomas Bulfinch’s three books: 1. The Age of Fable, 2. The Age of Chivalry, and 3. Legends of Charlemagne.

QUOTE: THE FAULT IN OUR STARS

“There will come a time, when all of us are dead. All of us. There will come a time when there are no human beings remaining to remember that anyone ever existed or that our species did anything. There will be no one left to remember Aristotle or Cleopatra, let alone you. Everything that we did and built and wrote and thought and discovered will be forgotten and all of this will have been for naught. Maybe that time is coming soon and maybe it is millions of years away, but even if we survive the collapse of our sun, we will not survive forever. There was a time before organisms experienced consciousness, and there will be time after. And if the inevitability of human oblivion worries you, I encourage you to ignore it. God knows what everyone else does.” -          The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

WHERE DO THE GOOD ADS GO?

I’ve been seeing this TV commercial in a local channel which is operated by a religious group for a month now.  In fact, one sure reason I click back to the channel because of the TV commercial itself not the daily programs. Unlike any other commercials running in the other stations, it does not require TV enthusiast to spend a centavo. Surely the company or the organization that put up the ad would not be able to measure the effectiveness of the campaign through consumer’s rating. They probably pour out their unerring trust upon us to recall the things that we might have forgotten.

The advertisement is divided to different series according to a value. The first time I saw it I thought it was a teaser for one of their program. I was not always on that channel so I let it deliver.

   

A group of football players enter (I think they are, because they are big guys carrying that helmet easily associated to a football player and they a have a paint of stripes on their face.) in a locker room talking to each other loudly, certainly about their game. Then the camera pans to an old man answering a phone call, he turns to the group and handed the phone to a big guy. Big guy get the phone.

Big Guy: Hello.

  

Pause (The caller is talking.)

Big Guy: Right now?

  

Big Guy pauses and started singing Itsy Bitsy Spider (If you ever been a kid of course you know what Itsy Bitsy Spider is.), while doing the action – you know. Other players stopped talking and walked towards Big Guy. Then the scene shift to the location of the caller. It was her sweet little girl, giggling because her daddy granted her request.

Little Girl: I love you daddy.

Big Guy: I love you baby.

At the end of the phone call the other players started teasing him. But it was good teasing. They all started laughing – real happiness. In fact one of the guy, laugh showing of a missing tooth. In which, I think added reality to the story.

Big Guy: What? That was my little girl.

It ended with a text that encourages everyone to pass on LOVE.

Now, that was something I did not see often a father passing on his love to his daughter without feeling awkward. The love was presented in a manner that we already now but in a different situation. It was in a TV commercial. Flicking back to the regular channel I watched I wonder where the good ads go.

I am very well informed on how an advertisement should be. The very first it was conceptualized by the creative team either from the company’s marketing department or a creative agency. The moment it was approved and waiting for the feedback of the consumer.

I am very much aware what works in public consumer. Those are the advertisements that run on the popular channels. They are very effective. The endorsers are worth paying for, the tag line is good in which I adore the creative team for such thinking and good execution. In fact, I buy some of the products that I used because it was well presented and explained in an advertisement.

Well of course, we see ad that manifest love and other values in the popular channel. But what I am missing much are the ads that do not worry about the return of the investment (ROI). An advertisement that would simply reminds us of something we have forgotten. An advertisement that would make our money’s worth. An ad that strikes us unintentionally on whatever we believe.

Perhaps, it is timing I am failing to see.

BRAVE

        On my way home I saw a kitten in the middle of the road, a road full of speeding cars and busy people. The kitten was trying to cross the lane but cars won’t let him. He was wet and trembling a sign that he struggle the heavy rain this day. I knew he is afraid but still he pursue to cross the lane. When he saw a car approaching he stop and bent his head. Probably, drivers do not notice this little fellow because they just speed up to catch the green light. When the car is gone the kitten he would rise his head slowly – slowly, and take a hurried walk.

I witnessed him make it into the middle of the road after surviving with the four cars. Unfortunately, I was not able to know if that little fellow manages to survive. The jeepney that I am riding was being called for illegal parking. That fellow must been very hungry. He must been aiming for the leftover foods at my side of the road.

Whenever I passed by the street I still remember that incident. I wonder if he survives. Knowing that he make it in to the middle without being hit if he continue being brave and determined. I know he would live. 

TABAROTI

   As an aspiring writer I am always curious. I always question the possibilities. I always ask the unusual. I always try to find the answer in books, internet (all reading materials), and if I happen to be curious when I am at my highest confidence I am unstoppable.

    I first saw the word imprinted in the jersey of my college classmate. At first, I thought it is a simple nickname he invented. Just like how most Filipinos form words. I was guessing it comes from taba (fat) and roti (an Indian bread). See how the words relate? The thing is my classmate is not fat so the name does not suit him.

   When I asked him about the meaning of the word I was with my friend Grace (I was lucky she was curious too). I told him about my theory. Turns out I was wrong. He explained that the word means peasant.

    Then I have a new question. What is the origin of the word? This new question does not stop me from creating a piece as a token of my appreciation. As for the answer the answer of my next question, who knows, I might find it here.

TABAROTI

Anong meron sa lansangan

na ginawa mong kanlungan?

Bakit aking kaibigan,

ikaw ay nasa mundong pilit kong iniiwasan?

Linisan ang konkretong tahanan

Tumuloy sa bangketang mailap ang hapunan

Malambot mong kama ipinagpalit

sa kartong kasukat ng paslit

Kahanay ka na ng mga sawing – palad

Marahil ay nalakbay mo na ang buong siyudad

Sa paningin ng mga taong ‘di alam

ang iyong tunay na pinagmulan

Nakikita ko ang saya sa salu – salo

Kasama ng mga estranghero

Ngunit hanggang kelan ka makikisali?

Ano ang hahantungan ng iyong pagiging tabaroti?

Nariyan ba ang  puwang na iyong gusto?

May hinihintay ba na llimos ang iyong puso?