105.9 Retro FM

Listening to FM radio has been one of the many constant pleasures that has not been totally eradicated by advancements in technology and availability of free data at the click of a button. Especially in a place where digital information is not readily accessible to the majority of the population. In that regard, free TV and radio are still the main form of entertainment and news-gathering sources for most Filipinos. 

 Growing up in a province from the mid-80s to the late 90s, free TV and radio were the only electronic means I could link up to the rest of the world. Cable TV was not even available to our place by the boondocks and the net was a decade away from being a household commodity. All the information about pop culture and the trends in music (that I was starting to really get into) were supplemented by back issues of magazines, paperbacks, and comic books from second-hand bookstores, rentals, and local flea market sales.

All this time the radio in the room was on, constantly tuned in to the local rock station churning out the latest 'alternative' single after the next. And going to classes in the city meant commuting and being subjected to the more traditional programming of other stations the drivers favored. One of the noticeable things about that experience is that while I was totally indifferent to what I was subjected to on a daily basis, I have observed that most of the songs these various mainstream stations aired during the late afternoon and early evenings when I was on the way home from school, were singles I heard as a toddler and still continue to hear at the same span of time even today.

The usual songs you'd hear from these stations' programming at dusk were what I jokingly called 'jeepney hits'. Usually tracks from the early 70s to mid-80s slow rock, disco, folk music, new wave, synth-pop, Italo, and Pinoy novelty songs  dominated the air during early evenings. So it's not uncommon to hear Air Supply, Queen, Starship, Boston, Yes, Duran Duran, America, Toto, and the rest at this time.

I ignored it back then, too caught up in being a music snob to appreciate them. It's only after a few years, and being away from the place that I grew up for so long made me appreciate them when I heard the very same type of programming in a different place. Thing about music is that it brings you back to specific events when you hear a familiar tune. I even wrote about it a few years ago.

The good thing about having a station like 105.9 Retro is that it provides listeners an option to be in that zone anytime they want to without interruption. For a few minutes or even hours in a day, the familiar tunes you heard during happier times in a place you called home brings you back like a welcome time traveling vessel.

Batman V Superman

I normally shy away from doing a movie review because I'm not a critic. But there are just some things out there that I feel strongly about and just have to get out of my system. Just an audience member who paid for something that I hope could entertain me for a short period and maybe provide a bit of escapist route from the mundane routine of the real world. 

And what better form of escapism than watching a superhero movie. I liked Man Of Steel despite the negative feedback it had from fans and critics alike, and I was willing to give the sequel a shot depite my reservations about Ben Affleck's casting in the Batman role. Nothing against Affleck (I'm a big fan of Argo) but something about him seems off when cast in things like comic book/sci-fi/fantasy genres. His appeal seem to work best in fiction still grounded in reality; where suspension of disbelief is at a minimum.

I saw the film and left the theater with my ears ringing but with no definable reaction to it. I commented on the trailer in Youtube a few months ago that despite my doubts about it, I'd still see it. It's not fair to judge a movie because of its trailer. Sometimes I hate that my instinct was spot on.

To blame it solely on the miscasting and somewhat off-putting characterizations of the main characters --- Affleck's Dark Knight and Jesse Eisenberg's Lex Luthor (Totally off-tangent characterization and casting. You'd think Eisenberg wandered into a Joel Schumacher superhero set.) --- would be short-sighted. The blame goes to director Zack Znyder and his writers. I liked David S. Goyer's works (Nolan's Batman Trilogy/Blade) but this time I'd have to concede with what most critics have been whining about: It simply sucked. You'd think that after the existential angst of Man Of Steel, Superman would at least have grown a bit of sense of humor and wit about his outsider status. But instead we're subjected to the same scowl and dilemma that's already bordering towards the superhero brand of self-pity.

If there's a single word to describe the whole mess, it would be sloppy. I was astounded by how detached and indifferent I was to what the characters were going through the entire time I was sitting there. And I do not take that lightly. I was misty-eyed watching the second trailer of the upcoming Jeff Nichols feature Midnight Special. That was a two-minute sampler that  managed to evoke more emotions in me than the entire two hours I sat through Znyder's balls to the wall royal rumble that  is starting to look like something that Michael Bay would do.

The entire movie gave off that vibe that execs at Warner Bros were pressuring the production team to cram everything in one movie to get their Justice League franchise up and running. It was a case of too much, too fast. And in order to do that, sacrifices in story-lines and character development had to be dropped. All three protagonists (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman) could have died and I---and I believe some people---could not have cared less. It was that bad.

Drop the brooding Christopher Nolan treatment. It worked in Batman precisely because that's how Batman is. To use that very same formula on other characters will be a sure-fire way to churning out a real turkey.