Zombies are better off than capitalists

I've always been drawn to zombie movies, since I first saw George Romero's the Dead movies and the numerous interpretations of the genre particularly that of Max Brooks (World War Z), Alex Garland (28 Days Later & 28 Weeks Later) and Robert Kirkman (The Walking Dead).

I find it interesting because it reveals a side of humanity that puts into question highest boast of civility and order amidst chaos. It makes us put ourselves in the shoes of the characters and ask the same question of 'what will I do given the same circumstances?'

Zombie movies function as a mirror to our collective values and pretenses on matter of survival and being human. It dares to put us in the middle of the tension between living to fight another day in an eternity of living dead; asking us whether it is actually us the survivors who are the real walking dead for we are no longer different from the zombies who are driven by the primal urge to press on living at the expense of others lives.

It is on this theme of the zombie movie genre that I find Yeon Sang-ho's Train to Busan a welcomed contribution to themes advanced by the zombie genre. I find it special because it saliently functions as a Marxist social commentary to the conventions of class relations, that is more relatable than George Romero's take on the idea in his movie Land of the Dead.

Before Sunset: a linguistic deconstruction of love

Sometime during the early 1990s Richard Linklater, made a movie entitled Before Sunrise, that told this story about an American named Jesse and a French girl named Céline, who meet on a train and disembark in Vienna, where they spend the night walking around the city and over the course of one night, and lead to their revealing more about themselves than they normally would, fall in love and make love and the following day vowed to meet again after six months. The film’s ending leaves audience to decide for themselves whether Jesse and Céline will actually meet again in six months –a fine test of a person’s perception of romantic love.

I think this film is worth reviewing since beyond concepts of romance and youthful idealized depictions of love the movie Before Sunset speaks a great deal about the anxieties that I feel are also facing a lot of us who have been quickened by the reality that what is ‘ideal’ and ‘perfect’ are illusive concepts that we may never really be realized in this life. I would like to think that this perhaps is what makes the movie Before Sunset quite remarkable because it strips us of this romantic illusion of relationships that pop culture constantly bombards us with in the media. It shows relationships as complex interactions of people, circumstances and decisions that we have to live with.

Carrying on the divine conversation

Summary and reflection on Nicholas Wolterstorff’s 4-part article series entitled: The God Who Speaks

The view that God is speaking as this has been somewhat of a contentious topic among the present theological landscape, in light of this I would like to tender a summary of four articles written by Nicholas Wolterstorff entitled: The God Who Speaks.

Using Augustine’s conversion story Wolterstorff, pushes forward a thesis that the God of the Bible is very much a speaking God. By weaving Scripture with Augustine’s conversion, He argues that God spoke to people as reported in Scripture, he argues: God spoke to Augustine by way of a child’s sing-song; and God spoke by way of Scripture itself; lastly God spoke, above all, in and through Jesus Christ. The God of Scripture the God of Christian experience who spoke in diverse ways and on many occasions to human beings.
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Solidarity!

A review of Gustavo Gutierrez’s We Drink From Our Own Wells

Publication information
Title: We Drink from Our Own Wells: The Spiritual Journey of a People
Author: Gustavo Gutierrez (Translated by Matthew J. O’Connell)
Publisher: Maryknol, Orbis Books, 1983
Pages: 181

Gustavo Gutierrez is probably the best-known liberation theologian as he has written what remains to be the classic exposition of this movement, A Theology of Liberation: History, Politics, Salvation the book that has permanently altered our modern theological landscape, by challenging us to hear the Gospel message from the “underside of history,” from the perspective of the poor and the oppressed.

Born in Lima, Peru, Gutierrez is of Native American heritage, being of mixed Quechua descent he earned degrees in psychology and philosophy (Leuven), and obtained a doctorate at the Institut Pastoral d’Etudes Religieuses (IPER), Université Catholique in Lyon. Ordained as a Dominican priest in 1959, he lives and works in a poor slum in Lima, dividing his time between pastoral work and teaching at the Catholic University[3]. He holds the John Cardinal O’Hara Professorship of Theology at the University of Notre Dame and has been a professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru and a visiting professor at many major universities in North America and Europe.

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Rancid: ...And Out Come the Wolves...

A couple of weeks ago in a forest area a couple of miles outside Jakarta I was playing Rancid's Roots Radicals in an acoustic guitar together with a young Indonesian computer hacker doing the lead guitar part and a Dutch anti-nukes activist singing the vocals, we weren't able to finish the song though since the other folks who were with us then insisted that we ought to play a song that they all know and could sing along to so we were then forced to play Oasis' Wonderwall instead.

What's interesting with that jam session is that it reminded me of an afternoon sometime in 1996 where in the midst of a summer storm I along with my friend Jarme (who was my constant record shopping buddy at the time) bought two of the most influential records at the time, as it would determine the musical direction that we'd individually pursue in the subsequent years.

Oasis: What’s The Story Morning Glory?

Released during the time of the infamous Battle of Britpop (which is the unofficial title given to the 1995 singles chart battle between Blur and Oasis.) The success of Morning Glory catapulted Oasis from being a successful Britpop band to being one of the biggest bands in Britain. (It's also noteworthy that in spite of the apparent victory of Oasis in the Battle of Britpop, Blur would a year later strike back with a vengeance through their self-titled album, which I would hopefully write something about soon)

I remember getting the knack to buy this record because I was able to watch the video of Wonderwall, on the now defunct Citynet 27's sporadic broadcasts of music videos from Channel V.

The Smashing Pumpkins: Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness

I do not know of any person who doesn't like the Smashing Pumpkins and I mean who wouldn't?

I mean they're absolutely brilliant who else but the Pumpkins could get away with disavowing the punk rock roots shared by many of their 'alternative rock' contemporaries, instead the group pursued a diverse, densely layered, and guitar-heavy sound, containing elements of gothic rock, heavy metal, dream pop, psychedelic rock, arena rock, shoegazer-style production and, in later recordings, even electronica.

But what's also amazing about them is that the band is also a juxtaposition of front man Billy Corgan's grand musical ambitions as articulated with cathartic lyrics that have shaped the band's albums and songs. In fact, former bassist Melissa Auf der Maur once commented: "Everyone knows Billy doesn't need too many people to make a Pumpkins record."

That being said I would like now revisit the best audio introduction to The Smashing Pumpkins: Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, which is a double album that they released back when I was in Junior High, the album was praised by critics for its ambition and scope. But to be totally honest I never owned a copy of this record I got the chance to listen to it when my classmate Jarme bought it at a Radio City branch in SM North Edsa's Annex Building, which I later borrowed for about 6 months or so.

The Sex Pistols: Filthy Lucre Live

I must admit that I still feel guilty for acquiring this record as this tape was bought with money that was supposed to have been used to purchase my high school Citizens' Army Training uniform. I originally bought this out of interest for the punk anthem Anarchy in the UK whose tune was quite elusive to me back then when I was still getting deeper with my fascination to punk rock and the landmark bands that have colored its history, with The Pistols being counted as one of the more famous bands in the genre. The album was recorded live at London's Finsbury Park on June 23, 1996 during the band's Filthy Lucre Tour.