Do you thirst for fame? I do

 

Leonardo DiCaprio once said, “Fame is like a VIP pass wherever you want to go.”

I think that is one good explanation why a lot of people want to be famous.  Next to fame are perks and privileges and a shot to great fortune and power.  In today’s world that just about anyone who knows how to use the internet can get some attention after a few clicks and uploads, fame can be a gift to anyone at any given moment.

We have heard of the stories of Charice, Arnel Pineda, and the even thr Cebu Dancing Inmates.  Who would have think that simple videos posted online via Youtube will changed their lives and gave hope to millions of ordinary people who dream of someday, they too will have their taste of stardom.

Well, I do thirst for fame? But the "Fame" I can enjoy for now is a 1980's movie that can still inspire generations who'll watch it. I was inspired to watch it again after I had nice blast-from-the-past chat with fellow blogger Hana Abello about how great classic movies are--- the ones that sell stories and a great cast instead of movies these days that reach the stratospheric box-office earnings because of jaw-dropping special effects.     

More than 30 years ago, an American musical film that follows a group of students through their studies at the New York High School of Performing Arts was released.  Fame stars Irene Cara who played the role of the young and talented Coco Hernandez, one of the outstandingly gifted students who gave everything to polish their skills and talent as they struggle to excel academically in the demanding school. 

In this movie, the lead actors went through trials and adversaries as they make their way to their common goal of making it big someday.  This film also somewhat serves as a friendly warning to those who want to enter showbiz that there is no fame without pain. 

One of the more memorable scene in this film is the musical performance of the theme song of the movie, also titled “Fame”, through a grand production number of the students dancing in the middle of busy street of New York City creating a huge traffic jam as a result.  The scene showcased the true meaning of being young and free.  There is something about the song that makes you want to dance.  That’s why it’s not surprising to be a favorite in videoke sessions.  The tune won an Oscar Award for Best Original Song.  The film also bagged the Academy Award for Original Music Score.

For the sentimental fools like me is the acoustic version of Montgomery (Paul McCrane) for the song “Is It Okay If I call You Mine” which echoed though quite empty hallways on one lonesome night at New York.  It will remind you of those times that you want to tell someone special of what you really feel but he/ she is not around to hear you.   

But my personal favorite is the part when Coco played the piano and sang the melodramatic “Out Here On My Own” which created a me-against-the-world feeling for every person shown in that scene while she’s singing.  I’m sure most of you would agree that there are moments in our life that we felt we are alone all by ourselves.

What I also love about the film is that the viewers were not presented with a candy coated conclusion on the journey of the main characters just to have that feel good ending.  Instead, writer Christopher Gore (who also wrote for the Fame TV series in 1987 before his untimely death a year later) gave a rude awakening to the dreamers.  

Coco fell prey to a man pretending to be a film director who forces her to undress in front of the camera.  Some of her friends were also as unlucky.  Ralph got swell-headed with the instant success he got and eventually failed in the end.  Hillary accepted a spot with the San Francisco Ballet and needed to have an abortion.  The good news came to Leroy who got his dream of being accepted in a top dance company after he graduates.

The last scene of the movie was a group performance for the finale “I Sing the Body Electric” during the graduation rites.  I was hoping for another take on the main theme song but it was still a good way to end this roller-coaster teen flick.  The students gave there all as if it was their last performance as artists.  It was an ending with a bang.

Fame was not a big box-office success but it was critically-acclaimed and even spawned a TV series and a spin-off, a stage musical and a film remake last year. The remake featured young Filipina actress Anna Maria Perez de Tagle, granddaughter of local TV music icon Sylvia La Torre. It also deals about a group of a talented group of performing artists who were faced with the many obstacles in their search for their goal: Fame.

30 years have passed and we have witnessed how the world changed drastically.   But there are still things that have remained like man’s thirst for fame as he trek this journey called life.

Did I mention that Leonardo DiCaprio once said that fame is like a VIP pass wherever you want to go?

I love you, is that okay?

American author Karen Sunde once wrote, “To love is to receive a glimpse of heaven.”

I would like to believe that even individuals who have a heart of stone will agree with that statement.  I’m sure at least once in our lifetime, each one of us has experienced this crazy thing called love.

Whenever the month of February comes, we can’t help but get bitten by the love bug or at least feel the need to be in love when this time of the year comes.  How can you escape the big billboards, mall displays and a shower of cheesy yet sweet pick-up lines that announces Valentine’s Day?

Here are some cool trivia that you might want to know about the celebration, love, relationship, men and women, the heart and other things worth embracing.

The V-Day

Valentine's Day is an annual commemoration held on February 14 celebrating love and affection between sweethearts.  According to history.com, the day is named after the Christian martyr named Saint Valentine, and was established by Pope Gelasius I in 496 AD.  It is traditionally a day on which lovers express their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards. The day first became associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished.  Modern Valentine's Day symbols include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid.

Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus

How can you tell a man from a woman? Well, one easy way is to check the buttons of their shirts.  Men’s shirts have the buttons on the right while women’s shirts have the buttons on the left.  And you can also tell by looking at their eyes.   Women blink nearly twice as much as men.  We can make a list on how to differentiate a guy from a gal and can go on hours discussing it but the bottom line is with the magic called love, people will still find the one for them. And check this out: every day 200 million couples make love and 400,000 babies are born. This will remind us of Wet Wet Wet’s hit Love is All Around.

What’s in a love song?

The oldest known love song was written 4,000 years ago and comes from an area between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in Western Asia.  In the Philippines, the tradition courtship of serenading women called harana became popular in the 1920s. It is mostly practiced in rural areas and small towns. The man, usually accompanied by his close friends, goes to the house of the woman he is courting and plays music and sings love songs to her. The harana shows strong Spanish influences, as the rhythm of the songs usually performed for the serenade are derived from the Spanish tango or habanera, albeit the tempo for the songs are much slower.

Can this be love?

Falling in love can induce a calming effect on the body and mind and raises levels of nerve growth factor for about a year, which helps to restore the nervous system and improves the lover’s memory.  Love can also exert the same stress on your body as deep fear. You see the same physiological responses—pupil dilation, sweaty palms, and increased heart rate.  People who are newly in love produce decreased levels of the hormone serotonin —as low as levels seen in people with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Perhaps that’s why it’s so easy to feel obsessed when you’re smitten.

Date Movie

Leonardo Dicaprio and Kate Winslet’s movie Titanic which was released worldwide in 1997 is the top-grossing romantic film of all-time with over $600 million of ticket sales.  The total production cost of the film was around $200 million compared to the $7 million actual cost of building the colossal ship Titanic in 1912.  Also, did you know that The Titanic was the first ship in the world to use the SOS signal?    

Matters of the Heart

Christiaan Neethling Barnard, a South African cardiac surgeon performed the world's first successful human-to-human heart transplant in 1967.  The more interesting story is while on a holiday vacation in Cyprus in 2001, Barnard died after reportedly suffering a heart attack. Here’s a dose of fun facts about the heart: The human heart creates enough pressure while pumping to squirt blood 30 feet. It takes about 20 seconds for a red blood cell to circle the whole body. Your left lung is smaller than your right lung to make room for your heart.

Kiss Me

Kissing is said to have originated when mothers orally passed chewed solid food to their infants during weaning. Another theory suggests kissing evolved from prospective mates sniffing each others’ pheromones for biological compatibility.  Here are some random trivia about this great mouth experience….Men who kiss their wives in the morning live five years longer than those who don't… French kissing involves all 34 muscles in the face…People are more likely to tilt their heads to the right when kissing instead of the left (65 percent of people go to the right!)…. The longest kiss lasted 46 hours 24 minutes and 9 seconds between Thai couple Akekachai and Raksana Tiranarat.  Now, if you want to beat the record, the perfect time to do it is on Heart’s Day.

 Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone!