Layering

Netnet Camomot .

A US-BASED friend said she prefers cold weather over the summer heat here. At least for the cold weather, one can always wear a sweater, jacket or layers of clothes. For extremely hot weather, one can’t walk around Cagayan de Oro in a two-piece string bikini, can she?

I was even in my usual black or navy in the midst of summer since my closet has only those two colors. And then, I’d bring my red tote bag to soften the effect of my, hmmm, winter colors.

June also happens to be the month when the new school year starts, so, expect more traffic on rainy days but what students are looking forward to is the showing of “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” where dinosaurs will be featured again, with much thanks to the latest updates in technology.

What has remained impossible, though, despite CGI is the reunion movie for Sharon Cuneta and Gabby Concepcion—no high-tech whatever can make that come true until both will kiss and make up, er, at least co-star in a movie that their fans have waited for. Yup, wishful thinking but they can dream, can’t they?

For a while there, Ate Shawie and Gabby were the epitome of “Reunited, and it feels so good” in their McDo commercial. But since “truth is stranger than fiction,” perhaps their sweetness in the TV ad was merely an illusion.

Well, President Rody Duterte kissing a married Filipina in South Korea was definitely not an illusion. Upon seeing a photo of that, the Pinoy couldn’t decide whether to swoon or croon. Croon with “I kissed a girl and I liked it,” although the song that has been attracting a lot of attention is anything from Moira dela Torre whose popularity may threaten insecure singers who are blessed with talents that are merely an illusion.

Celebrities and politicians may have that same fear of losing their relevance in a fickle society. Fame does have its perks, that is, if you consider being stalked by the paparazzi as a perk. But there will come a time when the famous face begins to hide behind a mask with the hope he can now buy groceries in peace. Once the fame is gone, however, he will do anything and everything to bring back his glory days again.

Any celebrity or politician should be wary of leeches and parasites that will always cling to him for as long as he remains relevant. Once he’s old or sick, the leech and parasite will then seek for luck with some other personality who has the potential to become popular in the near future, preferably next month, or how about tomorrow?

The applause is reserved for the incumbent, whoever is in-charge or has managed to remain relevant today. The Beatles, for one, will always be popular, they’ll never go out of style. And that requires loads of talent, public-image ploys, marketing strategies, business know-how, and the intelligence to make the impossible possible. Talent alone isn’t enough. And fame without talent is an empty kind of success that will easily vanish once the public image team has exhausted all sorts of ploys to keep the image alive and kicking.

I gotta feeling there’s a millennial wondering, Beatles gyud? Yes, you can guess a person’s age through his favorite music. While listening to Japanese Breakfast, I had to ask my bro, Who’s that? Spotify does help in discovering new music, all you have to do is click. Don’t be stuck with Barbra Streisand, The Carpenters, Whitney Houston unless you’re joining a singing contest where there’s a need to show off your multi-octave vocal range. Hey, even Jake Zyrus a.k.a. the artist formerly known as Charice has stopped making birit. Hmmm, of course—his new look won’t be a good match anymore for Houston’s “And I will always love you.”

Each band or artist, from The Beatles to Japanese Breakfast, has an interesting history to share. If you’re not interested in both, then try to watch the “Foo Fighters: Back and Forth” on Netflix. The Foo Fighters’ founder is Dave Grohl who used to be the drummer of Nirvana, so, “Back and Forth” opens with that fact.

Each of us also has a history. Sometimes we explain ourselves, sometimes we don’t. When other people start mentioning several layers of wrong info and names, should we correct them? Hmmm.