Sexbomb and Spaghetti

Someone forwarded me this in my email and I pitty the author of this piece, tsk tsk.......

Friday, 25 July 2003

I can die now. My life is complete. I have heard the latest sexbomb girls album in its entirety and now I have heard everything. My deepest thanks to my mom for choosing to live in a neighbourhood where the people are so 'giving' they will allow you to hear their cd collections for free,at 6 in the morning! every single fucking day! Oh you dont understand it do you? To wake up every single day to the sound of girls who are better off cheerleading than singing; to hear songs about pasta going up and down and sideways and what the hell does it all mean?!!; to hear the words laban and bawi in varying intensities e.g. la la la la la la labaan!! ba ba ba ba ba ba baweeee!!! LAAAABAAAAN! BAAAWIIII! AWWWW! AWWWWW! AWWWWW! YES! YES! AWWWWWWW! It is an experience you should not miss. It can serve both as an alarm clock and my ongoing experiment on the limits of human patience. I recommend it highly.

In the spirit of sharing, I will try-emphasis on try- to review the first single off the album. why only the first single? well, because I dont feel qualified to review the whole thing, that job is reserved for a music critic with a triple masters degree in philosophy, nuclear physics and forensic psychology;The album is that , dare i say it, PROFOUND.Actually, its beyond profound, its....its.... words fail me.

Here goes nothing. The title of the single i assume is 'spaghetti.'The title alone is pure genius. Spaghetti as we all know is a favorite among pinoys of all ages. The message the title is trying to send out is:the sexbomb girls are not only for kids but for all ages.

The song starts with a sound straight from a kiddie carousel or those old owner-type jeeps which plays muzak while parking or backing up. To the ninitiated ,this may mean a lack of imagination on the composers side but alas, the truth is, that intro is meant to appeal to our neotenic(?) urges. In a world filled with stress and anxiety , the intro lulls us into a trance and brings us back to feelings of childhood without worries. It hypnotises us into shedding our inhibitions; to be innocent and childlike once more. Subliminally preparing us for the wrath of the killer chorus.

Suddenly, a guy who suspiciously sounds like Joey de Leon starts counting from 5 to 8. Why the numbers 1 to 4 were left out is anybodys guess. It is one of the mysteries of this song that may never be unravelled, rivalling that of JFK's real killer.It could be part of the bible code.

This is then followed by the girls themselves screaming " Makinig kayo!" Obviously a paean to that very famous Marc Antony speech that goes like;
"Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears." this is the girls way of
introducing a bit of Shakespeare to their unsuspecting public.

There is no stopping the girls now.

Apir tayo ( give me five?) ( let us appear?) Sumakit ang ulo ko (my head aches) sumakit ang dibdib ko( my chest aches) sexbomb(3x) Apir tayo sumakit and bewang ko( My waist aches) sumakit ang tuhod ko(my knee aches) sexbomb(3x) The girls are obviously suffering from an existential kind of pain. It is a pain so deep it transcends both the physical and the metaphysical worlds. To give high fives while experiencing a severe form of arthritis and ulceritis is a metaphor for the superficiality of everyday living where outward appearances are more valued; where everything is based on 'pakikisama' even if inside you feel like being eaten alive by amoeba. As long as youre presentable and maintain a good, albeit hypocritical ,realtionship with everybody its okay even if you are suffering inside. oh the humanity!

Here goes the chorus: Spaghetting( still in their shakespearean mode of inventing words, the girls decide to make the italian word spaghetti a tagalog one by adding ING.) pababa pababa ng pababa( going down going down going down) spaghetting pataas pataas ng pataas( going up going up going up) this may sound like a tour guide of an elevator but it isnt. REALLY. Another metaphor for lifes little vissicitude, the girls are obviously referring to the circle of life you dense person you!whatever goes up must come down is what theyre trying to say. Life is but a cycle with high highs and low lows.The spaghetti theyre talking about is US! yes! you and me! Its about being boiled and cooked and overcooked.Its about being paired with cheese and hotdogs and other ingredients that are not supposed to be there. Its about being eaten! Its about being part of a society where everything is the same yet different. Its about being accepted even if youre too sweet or too sour or too spicy. Its about survival .its about adapting Its about LIFE.

Man, these girls and their songs are like the most complex things to ever come out of the pinoy music scene. Ive always thought Radiohead is the most cryptic band there is but now I know im wrong. I have been enlightened.

Listen and you will be, too.

Thank you,

Elaine Santillan

Leadership

"The Power of Leadership Storytelling"
By: Melissa Delin

Heroic Leadership Stories: A Hero For Daisy
Congress passed Title IX on May 22, as part of the Education Amendments of 1972, stating:

"no person in the U.S. shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, or denied benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any educational program or activity receiving federal aid."

While Title IX was designed to provide equitable treatment of men and women in all aspects of education, it has gained particular notoriety in athletics.

Chris Ernst, a two-time Olympian rower, was captain of the Yale University women's crew team in 1976. She led a team of women who were hardy, fit, and wholly committed to their sport. Although women's crew had only been in existence at Yale since 1972, the team had already captured second place at the national championships in 1974 and third place in 1975.
The Yale University boathouse was not equipped with women's locker room facilities so the university made temporary provisions; during the 1974 and 1975 seasons, the women took post-practice showers in a trailer which lacked hot water and electricity. In 1976, the school provided the team with a new trailer, but dawdled in securing the proper zoning variances. When the men and women began outdoor practices at the Housatonic River in late February, the women's trailer's plumbing and electricity remained unconnected. After grueling early-morning practice sessions, the men took hot showers in their locker room, while the women were forced to wait on the bus with frozen hair, soaked clothes, and chilled bodies.

Ernst, along with her teammates, rightfully resented having to endure such conditions. The women rowers were beginning to catch colds and illness would negatively impact their performance. Ernst and two cohorts decided to stage a protest. They planned a daring action, wrote a 300-word statement, and contacted a reporter from The New York Times. On March 3, 1976, just before practice was scheduled to begin, nineteen members of the Yale University women's crew team marched into the office of the Director of Physical Education, Joni Barnett. Lined up in two military-style rows, the women stripped off their clothing to reveal the words "Title IX" inked onto their bare chests and backs. Ernst read her statement, including: "These are the bodies Yale is exploiting. On a day like today the ice freezes on this skin. Then we sit for half an hour as the ice melts and soaks through to meet the sweat that is soaking us from the inside. We sit for half an hour with the chills… half a dozen of us are sick now."

The New York Times ran the story ("Yale Women Protest a Lack of Crew's Showers") and the matter gained immediate attention. The university was shamed into urgent action; eight days after the protest, the women's trailer was made usable and Yale announced that it planned to build "a permanent locker room for the women similar to the one that the men crew members have" ("Yale's Women Crew Get Locker Room," The New York Times).