The End...

We just need to end it all... SOON.

Thought Bubble: Ed Sheeran's PHOTOGRAPH

They say, love is one of the essential things we need to feel for us to live. It varies to some extent from one pole to the other. It’s like for some reason validates our purpose and existence in this planet. Yes, it does make sense at some point. For all we know it, we are already feeling it. To whom? It doesn’t matter. But what if, what if we will come to a point where love – love that does exists, feels like unrequited, partial and sometimes hurtful?

Who are we running to? Who are we looking forward to keep the fire within eternally burning? Who will fix everything for our very soul? The answer is nowhere here in any of these words.

I bumped into this song by Ed Sheeran, Photograph fresh from his album x. It was a melancholy singing about how shit’s got real when it comes to love. It’s too C-O-M-P-L-E-X. It compels you to face things that we cannot really hold on to. There’s this someone who told me to write something about this song so there, I’ll try to give my two cents to Ed and company.

This song resembles different situations from different people. It is like a jab on those who are hurting, those who are hoping, and those who are just there merely standing and being themselves.

“Loving can hurt, loving can hurt sometimes
But it's the only thing that I know
When it gets hard, you know it can get hard sometimes
It is the only thing that makes us feel alive”

The first verse is very straightforward but can be interpreted to several notions. Yes, love does hurt, but indirectly. It may be the cause but never the effect – or so it goes. Most people are hurting because of losing a loved one, being left by another, or being physically hurt to that effect. It is the catalyst of all evil (you’re vindicated, MONEY!) as we do most things, whether good or bad, because of love in general. That’s my perception there. On the second line, it follows up with providing our human nature – to love and love again. We may get hurt multiple times. We may be that stupid to commit all the same mistakes, but who are we to judge? It is engineered in our veins that we are bound to love again despite everything that we had in the past. We keep to follow this route well taken. Yes, love may be tough, but at least, it is somehow worth it. The third and fourth line is just plain and simple, in order to breathe you have to love or be loved, at least. (Thanks Mom!)

No matter how douche your ex was, you will always get to find someone better. Someone you deserve. Someone who’s willing to shed blood for you – for what it’s worth. But the moment you had your first, second, and so on, there will always be memories. There are things that you will never forget. At any moment, it might leave you a smile, a grin or even a small drop of tear in your eyes. It’s that special. And love did that. You know how hard it is and how the feeling sucks for remembering something that pushed you off the cliff. It’s just that painful. You even have to fight for recuperation every single fucking day. And so you post, repost, share, the same shit that you keeps on relating to any heartbreak on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, or maybe Friendster (back when you had your puppy love then) just to ease the pain temporarily or just to get a sympathy from your bunch of not-so-real friends on your social media.

Anyhow, that’s why Mr. Sheeran said,

“We keep this love in a photograph
We made these memories for ourselves
Where our eyes are never closing
Hearts are never broken
And time's forever frozen still.”

You just simply can’t move on. You just wished that only if you could turn back time, you certainly will. If only you could keep everything under control. Only for you to find out that it was never over. That it is still the same like before. We are stuck to that ideal moments where all you think about is how to let not time pass because love made you believe that life is wonderful and you are living magically with all the rainbow and unicorn shits up above. We keep it just for ourselves. We cherish it. We own it. We want to let it play in our minds forever. That’s when hurting starts to eat bits of you. #Guilty That’s when the tears start to race down from your worn, pathetic eyes which was only used for crying over someone who will never come back. If we can always ask God for a #ThrowbackThursday every day, everyone will be sane right now.

And that’s where Ed released the chorus, either the person who left you, tells you unknowingly that there’s still a memory for you to relive. It’s not that one is totally gone, it’s just that the right time is not up yet. Keeping someone in a pocket is really hard. This can be meant for us to keep the memories in our heart even if it’s already torn apart. Sounds masochism, right? But that’s how it should be. “You won't ever be alone, wait for me to come home.” It’s either you move on and find another, hold back and die miserably or just simply wait – for nothing. It hurts. It hurts, brothers and sisters. We are meant to experience that pain and try to endure it. We are meant to be hurt. But it will never always be the case.

On another perspective, another person will tell you that love can soothe and can “heal what has been hurt, change the fates' design, and save what has been lost” as soon as you walk by. That someone will tell you that it’s never too late to regain the trust someone has made you forbid. It’s just that the question is when, how, where, who will be that someone, but still the answer remains unknown. The lines reassured that it is ok to be hurt and the reason behind it is because if not for that, s/he may never meet you or worse, may never thought that you’re living right with that stupid creation God has ever made to be forgotten. #Bitter. Welp, only for this very reason that it is suggested that the writer wanted to make you feel that another set of memories are waiting for you to make. It is obligatory; however, it’s with someone you ought to know to be better than those who might have hurt you, that’s why, when the Pre-chorus to Chorus, you might feel that it was delivered lighter than it was first sung because it’s more of a reassurance that the memories that you have already, the one that you are keeping is already for good. That you’ve finally found your match and it’s something to live with, forever for another fixed amount of time.

We always want to have a knight in shining, shimmering armor. As aforementioned, we all want to live in a fairy tale wherein someone will protect you in the toughest call of time, lest no one will hurt you. And it’s shown here that no matter what you do (you can cheat now, honey), that even if you hurt that person, even if you have done the same thing you’ve experienced badly before, it is fine. Understanding is the key even if deep inside, hemorrhage is already felt. Even if you fall apart, which of course, you don’t wanna happen, s/he will always be there for you. Friends, lovers or not, the presence will still be there. Enveloped by all the memories you’ve made together, being a martyr will still fix this pain. You don’t have to worry. It takes one to know one.

Like what lockets are for, it is also suggested that you should put your current lover in the same place you put your former. It might be quite awkward, but that’s the place your love deserves. It can also be interpreted as to love and be faithful with someone who does the same to you. “Inside the necklace you bought when you were sixteen. Next to your heartbeat where I should be” It is analogous that the necklace you had when you were sixteen might be your first or whatever relationship you had before. Feeling that the love you have for him might not be the same than before, better wake yourself up and give the same shit. Even if you were hurt before, you’re not entitled to hurt someone innocent just to feel the type of vindication you wished you had with your ex. Better get your act straight ‘coz you are just being unfair. You don’t want to repeat the first verse just for emphasis. Just as promised, no matter how dupe you are, someone will stay for you. Someone will make you feel that love is still wonderful even without feeling too much pain.

To end the song, Ed Sheeran's Photograph told us to remember that no matter what might happen, there will always be this wonder whenever you both will remember the things you did together, embracing the feeling of how it is to be in love unbeknownst of what the future holds.

This song just leave us a note to be hopeless romantic forever as long as we find our “Best Love” (True is somewhat rare so I’d rather have the best relationship mixed with pain and joy). Life is a never ending cycle. Better love as long as you can. Better move forward as fast as it is possible since, shit is real and it will really blow every single piece of you. Let us find the true grit of this crazy little thing called love. Keep on loving,. keep on hoping. keep on ... err, trusting.

Good luck.

PS: I don’t know if everything I said here really make sense, but nonetheless, I already did what has been promised. ;)

PINOY BIG BROTHER: What Twist and Turns Should Be Thrown?

I have been a strong follower of PinoyBig Brother ever since I was a kid. I have watched most episodes except for the seasons that put me to a total ennui a lot (Celebrity 2, Teen Edition Plus & All In). Albeit the clamor and the hate with this show, I still embraced the show with all my heart. Since Kumander Nene started the revolution up until Daniel Matsunaga burned all the odds, I watched all of them being hailed as the Big Winner. They never fail to polarize the audience.

Controversy is what I think PBB’s charm. It makes people talk about the housemates and all the crazy stuff they are doing. Whether people loathe or love any season, they keep on watching just not to miss any single moment that they can talk about with their friends the following day. I will never forget Chx and Sam’s encounter, Rustom BB’s butterfly confession, Biance-Zanjoe showmance, Mariel Rodriguez’ stint inside the house, Melason Fever, the infamous PBB TEENS!, ALEX GONZAGA HERSELF (I’m very vocal of how I love the Gonzaga Sisters. I love Alex so so much. She’s terribly cute. Never fails to make me laugh), Jane’s NO COMMENT statement and many other notable moments that only happened in the big blue/yellow house – the most FAMOUS HOUSE in the world.

BEAT THAT.

Well, since then, I have watched or been following international BBs and like its Filipino counterpart, each country’s own version makes all the noise it deserves, too. Welp, I love BBUS and BBCA (read: Big Brother USA and Canada, respectively) tho sometimes, they also have their low points (paging #BB1, #BB15 and #BBCA2). But what I can’t argue is that the other shows can really pull off a very good twists in their game [tho sometimes some twist are just borrowed to other neighbor BBs (Half Nots of BBCA2 used first in BBAU) which is definitely fine]. Also, the production value of each tasks and competitions are really an A-OK!

Note: Producers should think of new type of competitions so “BB Superfans” won’t predict the run of the game.

Being a frustrated housemate (yes, I badly wanna be a housemate) and also a big fan, I want the show to be at its finest every time, so the general public (not the fantards, ugh!) will also appreciate the beauty of the show.  Stop making PBB as a popularity vote or a Charity case. Let’s make it more than that. Wishing I'm one of the producers, I would like to throw in some twists and turns used from previous seasons and from other versions of Big Brother (Hello BB US and BB Canada!!! Hi Julie!!!) and also create my own evil twists, but first… let’s deal with some minor things here.

•  CASTING – It is usually the problem. It is always a hit or miss. The thing is, let’s just not rely with pretty faces and hot bodies. Yes we want eye candies, but I will always choose to have people with a very dark or colorful personality. DO NOT CAST ANYONE WHO HAS A MANAGER ALREADY. Do not make this game a gate to enter heaven hell showbiz (but sooner or later, that’s where you’ll be heading). As far as I know, it is within the confidentiality clause but still, EVERY SINGLE season, somebody slips. JUST. DON’T. GET. AN. ARTISTA. WANNABE. There will never be another Queen Chiu. She’ll forever be the brightest. Not anyone will come close. Also, I loathe to have the “paawa” type of housemate. Like seriously, getting another Lyca (from TVK) is a big NO! (Write a letter to Ms. Charo instead). They are simply annoying. Especially when the attempt gets to fail (calling Cheridel). Get a villain, get a fighter, drop the floaters and let people be true like don’t get too pa-cute. It’s not even cute. I will always opt to have a Wendy (PBB2) or a Baron (Celebrity 2) or even a Tricia (Teen Clash) or a Beauty (Teen Plus) just to spice up every season. They are like the least pretentious of all. Then scramble them with the “patawa” housemates like The Ryan Bang and Jason + Franzen (Teen Clash and PBB1, respectively) who really had a good run in their owns seasons, will do the works. Just to reiterate, don’t get artista wannabes. Just please. NO.
• TASKS – Isn’t it noticeable to the audience that sometimes, tasks are annoying, NEVER REPEAT a task, just NO. I think going on a very cheesy or too “FOR TV” is too much. Just NO. Also, stop doing BIG CONCERTS and ACTING WORKSHOPS, waste of a week. Seriously.
• BIG NIGHT – NEVER MAKE ANOTHER ONE LIKE WHAT YOU DID WITH THE ALL IN BIG NIGHT! People awaits the Big Night every time, so give them what they deserve. Standouts are the spoof of the Big 4 by our very good comedians, poking fun at their nuances or their “moments” during their stay is really fun to watch. Also, the Big Winner’s exit. That’s the spectacle. Just make something out of it. Seriously. Make it explosive like what you did to Ejay’s (Teen Clash) or Beatriz’ (PBB2). It is really a feast for the eyes.

So now, I will put a list of possible twists and challenges that can really make a season exciting.

• CHANGE THE FORMAT. Throw some HOH (Head of Household), POV (Power of Veto) in a much classier way. HOH has been done before in Double Up and Unlimited although done poorly, as well as POV (read: InstaSAVE) in All In in the most pathetic manner. Level up the playing field by making the competitions less dramatic. Just watch other BBs for clues with what I’m talking about. This can stir up the game.
• REMOVE THE TEXT VOTES. Well not totally. Remember how Myrtle won over Joj and Jai because she has more fans? Like seriously? Giving the absolute power to the audience can be a little dangerous (look at what happened to Loisa and Pamu, All In and Double Up) since this can make others who vote too furious, too. Well, it has some good points too!
• BBN (POWER TO NOMINATE) – Make it a staple. But not for too long. People knows who to stay and who to go.
• BBE (POWER TO EVICT) – To be frank, this put Daniel to the top. If not for the angry Loisa fans who BBE’d Jane, she could’ve won the race (well played, Maris’ fans ;P). This is too powerful. Producers should know tho when to pull this off or not. Don’t make it a staple coz a good player might go out without us noticing it.
• PANDORA’S BOX. This was done in several BBUS seasons (BB 11-14) and it made a major change in the game (Ian’s Golden Power of Veto). Just to stir the pot, put some houseguests that has been evicted out, or automatically nominate and possibly evict a housemate. That sounds fun right?
• SABOTEUR.  This says it all.
• COUP D’ETAT. Simple. The holder of the Coup d'Etat has the power to overthrow the Head of Household's nominations. This is very ruthless. Throw it in whenever the needs arise.
• JURY. This is when you need my previous selection. Everybody wants to be part in the jury (this only happens if PBB lets it happen). When someone needs it, let the people vote for who will have the power. What I propose is make it like what BBCA2 did. A 7 people jury will be enough. Let the people cast the vote. Make the previously evicted housemates and Philippines (who will get the highest votes will be the vote to cast), who are part of the Jury, will decide which of the remaining housemates will win.
• FACE TO FACE EVICTIONS. A format can be, the public and the HOH will have their nominees (3 or more in case of tie). As soon as eviction comes, they should tell their reasons. Sometimes, all you need are balls. At the first few weeks, they can throw each other under the bus, by evicting each other FACE. TO. FACE. No holds barred.

 I also suggest some twists I thought of that could be interesting.

• HOUSEHOLD SHUFFLE. I certainly think this will be evil. For two weeks which will be randomly made during the entire run, this twist shall take effect. At maybe week 3-5, pull the first shuffle wherein the current HOH and nominations will be void and at random draw (or any possible twisted twist you can imagine), a new HOH will be crowned and get to pick nominees, excluding the previous HOH and nominees, just to hurt their game. HAHAHA. Then as soon as they entered jury, the madlang people (yes, you guys) will get to choose the HOH, the nominees, and the POV Holder, so that the power might be shifted. I don’t know how they will ever play the game without playing safe.
• BLIND NOMINATIONS. This is just a way to defer the predictability of the game. The public will vote of a number randomly assigned to choose who they will nominate. It will also be the same to the HOH, s/he will pick a number that corresponds to his nominations. Another heinous plan to break out alliances. They need to start to open their eyes. Hahaha.
• WHEEL OF FATE. It all lies with one wheel. Everything is meant to be chaotic. (I don’t know, I’m just that brutal.) But isn't it funny that while all the housemates think that the wheel basically controls their fate, it’s the public who will decide who will get what in a spin, except for the last spin wherein it will be randomly picked by the HOH – an Automatic Nomination/Eviction awaits which will put a larger stake for them. They need to be HOH for a guaranteed safety. Well, it could also be done in such a manner wherein the public can’t vote and just let everyone gets what they deserve especially the Auto N/E. The main theme is anyone’s fate relies on one or no one.
• DOUBLE TROUBLE. Double Eviction? No. 2 in 1 Housemate? No. It will be twisted when we level up the Merry-Go-Round x Musical Chairs game. Start with their original partner à la Amazing Race, be it Lovers, Relatives, Friends, etc., and on the next couple of weeks, partners will revolve with one after another. 2 Doubles nominated, but only one of the Doubles will remain, the other half will be eliminated, voted by our dear Safe Doubles. Then the Remaining Singles will have to switch partners with the reigning HOH (or maybe throw some twist yet to pick any innocent couple) and for several weeks, they will be partnered with their alliance and non-alliance. The catch is, the least they expect it, a DOUBLE DOUBLE ELIMINATION or a simple DOUBLE ELIMINATION (The existing nominated couple will be evicted and not 1 per nominated couple) will come to place. This is exhilarating!
• FANS VS FAVORITES. This has never been done to in BB History. If Survivor can pull it off, why not BB?
• ALL STARS. This has never been done in the Philippines, so gathering all the memorable housemates and putting them to the test will be priceless.
• BIG WINNERS. Why not let the BEST play the BEST GAME EVER? With proper execution of the tasks here, surely, it will be EPIC.

The producers can freely pick this up (I am open for commission. Kidding!) as I really love the show and want to have a viewing pleasure every night. I want to see people really play and not just merely rely heavily on their looks, star material and their background. I really hope this could reach the management of PBB, Direk Lauren, Endemol, (CBS oh gee!) and anyone in charge.