Episode III Debate

So my friend Rich and I have been in this engaging debate concerning Mace Windu and his direction in Episode III. It's sort of a spoiler, but not really, since we kind of know what will happen by the original trilogy.

We debate about a point concerning the attempted arrest of Chancellor Palpatine. We were debating whether Mace's actions implied his possible turn to the Dark Side. My argument is that with Mace's continuing mistrust of Anakin, the Chancellor, and the Senate, that Mace been successful, he would have continued his push to "correct" the Senate, and therefore would have succumbed to the Dark Side, possibly becoming Anakin's new Master. Rich respectfully disagrees, and believes that had Mace been successful and killed the Chancellor, he would have returned to the Jedi Council and restored peace.

But what do my faithful readers think? Would Mace Windu have turned to the Dark Side if he had been successful in killing the Chancellor?

What Can I Say? I'm an Oldies Type of Guy

When I came to UCLA, I wasn't a great fan of classical or choral music. I thought it was some music some old white guys wrote for European kings that only present-day rich white guys listened to. Then came UCLA Chorale, and oh, how I've changed my tune.

Most of the credit for my transformation has goes to our conductor, Professor Donald Neuen. A few months ago my sister wrote about the "shining eyes" phenomenon, and there's no doubt that this man has it for music. The man is up on his years, but when he gets in front of the chorus, he looks like teenager who's taking his very first car out for a spin. When you're around him, it's hard to not get caught up in his energy. For anyone at UCLA who is serious about improving their singing, Music C90A is a must.

What makes his teaching-style so great is that he's just as concerned about the performance as he is about the technical aspect of singing. He indoctrinates you on the idea that a singer is 1/3 musician (i.e. you can read music), 1/3 engineer (i.e. you can manipulate your internal engineering for the optimal vocal sound), and 1/3 actor (i.e. you can feel the emotional state of the music and can communicate that to your audience). Before every song, Professor Neuen would give us a billion markings, all to emphasize the emotional state of the piece within every accent, crescendo, and decrescendo. To execute one of these pieces, which includes a chorus of over 200 and a full orchestra, requires the greatest focus and precision, and forces you to be the absolute best.

The other important aspect that Professor Neuen brings is the musical analysis. To truly understand a piece requires an analysis of the composer, the era, and the social consciousness of the audience. For example, Bach took melodies that had existed for hundreds of years, harmonized them, and pumped them up with rhythm. As Professor Neuen says, Bach brought jazz to classical music. So if you come to our Chamber Choir's Bach concert, you will notice that each movement is in a consistent tempo and with lots of upbeat accents driving the piece. For Verdi's Requiem, which the Chorale will be performing in Royce Hall, the piece was written in a period when the Catholic Church instilled a great sense of fear of death, and preached about all the horrors they would face in Hell if they did not repent their sins. Combined with Verdi's knack for operatic compositions, Requiem, which was performed during funeral Mass, is characterized by very obvious, very emotionally charged movements, from the fiery "Dies Irae" ("Day of Wrath") to humble plea, "Libera Me" ("Deliver Me"). For Beethoven, his life was full of pain and suffering. His family disowned him, his romantic relationships failed, and by the time he finished his 9th Symphony, with his famous choral finale "Ode to Joy", he was deaf. So in order for him to "hear" his own music, Beethoven could only stand in front of the orchestra and feel the vibrations in the air and in the floorboards. That's why Beethoven's music is dynamically very blunt and forceful, with no hint of subtlety. And from experience, I can tell you that "Ode to Joy" is incredibly taxing on the voice. Hopefully you'll get to hear it when I perform at the new Walt Disney Concert Hall on my birthday in July.

So if you're tired of reading about this and want to experience it yourself, here's a rundown of my upcoming performances. Just show up early for the Bach concert. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN SEEING VERDI'S REQUIEM, CONTACT ME ASAP FOR TICKETS. I promise, you won't regret it.

Monday, June 6th (Week 10), 8 PM
UCLA Chamber Singers
All-Bach Concert featuring Cantata #4
Jan Popper Theater, Schoenberg Hall
FREE

Saturday, June 11th (Week 10), 8 PM
UCLA Chorale with Angeles Chorale,
American Youth Symphony Orchestra, and soloists
Verdi's Requiem
$10 (if you contact me ASAP)
Regular price: $40, $30, $20

Thursday, July 7th
Beethoven's 9th Symphony
Walt Disney Concert Hall, Downtown Los Angeles
Price TBA

It's Over

And such is the last time I will strap on a bahag in front of a full Royce Hall audience. It was a great SPCN. It wasn't perfect (for the first time that I can remember, we had NO guitarist for the Samahang Theme Song), but the crowd was hot, and the SPCN participants brought their A-game that night, including Nick Tang, who took some AMAZING pictures of our show. But the highlight of SPCN for me, and ranks up there with the highlights of my LIFE, was standing on stage before the show...


...with my roommate, the SPCN Coordinator, Sean Canullas...


...and my other roommate, the current Samahang President, Marc Loresto...


...to introduce, for only the second time ever (with the first honor going to Nathan Lam), the first Pinay to be elected USAC President, the beautiful Jenny Wood.


When Marc finally announced Jenny's name and she came on stage, the crowd just blew the top off Royce Hall and just went ballistic. To be there as 1,700 people came to their feet to celebrate Jenny's victory, the feeling was just indescribable. It was a magical moment in Samahang history, and like so many other moments, I don't know what I did to deserve to be there, but I'm simply amazed and humbled by the fact that I could be there to witness that historic occasion.

So, one Royce Hall performance down, another one to go, as I await June 11th, where I'll be with UCLA Chorale singing Verdi's Requiem. Heh, my spine just got tingly all over.

Let It Be Known That a Queer Pinay...

...is now the President of the Undergraduate Student Association Council at UCLA. Congratualtions Jenny Punsalan Wood!

Congratulations and thanks also need to go to Jeannie Biniek, Todd Hawkins, Tommy Tseng, and Peter Bautista. You all make me so proud!

When Principles Are Compromised

For all the non-UCLA student readers, I apologize for all the UCLA-specific stuff; these are crazy election times and well, I gotta do what I gotta do.

Anyway, the subject of this rant is "When Principles Are Compromised." Whose principles? Well, none other than the Bruin Democrats. The Bruin Democrats are probably the biggest hypocrites at UCLA, and I would argue are a bigger threat to progressive work on this campus than all the Bruin Republicans and racist bigots combined.

Their website would make you think that they support progressive issues. They want "Stability in Iraq." Check. They want to prioritize "Public Education." Check. "True protection of the Environment." Check. Support "Gay Marriage." Check. Progressive platform accomplished.

Yet for all their talk, what have the Bruin Democrats done? If they prioritized "Public Education", why haven't they lobbied the UC Regents or the State Senate about rising fees? If they wanted to support "Gay Marriage", why haven't they contacted Queer Alliance or passed out petitions for marriage equality? If they cared so much about the environment, why didn't they tag team with the Sustainability Coalition?

Instead of all those things that they could have done, what actions did they feel better pushed their platform? They decide to tag team with the Bruin Republicans and support Bruins United. That's right folks; the same Bruin Republicans who held an affirmative action bake sale to ridicule efforts to increase the numbers of minority youth at the university. The same Bruin Republicans who launched a campaign to de-sponsor MEChA because they felt MEChA, a champion in organizing the Chican@ youth in education, was a racist organization. The same Bruin Republicans who had a chair, while the 2002 USAC election results were announced, yelled at the students of color "hate me because I hate you!" That's right folks, they together support, Bruins United, the slate that opposes both the progressive students of color slate (Students Power!) and the environmental slate (Future Front).

But why would the Bruin Democrats do such a thing. For one reason and one reason only. Money. When it all comes down to it, the primary push for the Bruin Democrats is so they can get a bigger slice of student fees, which they believe are unfairly distributed to cultural organizations, like Samahang Pilipino.

Now I'm not arguing the critique of the process of funding student organizations, but if that's what the Bruin Democrats really care about, then the future of the Democratic Party is in really, really awful hands. And you wonder why the Democratic Party is quickly degrading into "irrelevant third party" status? Just look at the Bruin Democrats, and you'll find your answer

Don't Forget USAC Runoffs!!!!

I'm a UCLA alumnus, so I can't vote, but if I could I'd vote for...

Jenny Wood for President!
Jeannie Biniek for External Vice President!
Working for Student Power!

These are two beautiful people who have already done some amazing stuff on campus, helping put on the UCSA Student of Color Conference, lobby the UC Regents concerning student fee hikes, and educate the campus on the Expected Cumulative Progress. They're gonna continue to rock this campus, and would be amazing USAC members if they got in.

I'm also calling on anyone who can flyer to please do so! These are two amazing people and they need and deserve all the people power we can muster! So get out there and represent!

Vote at my.ucla.edu, starting today @ 7 pm until Thursday 7 pm.

There's not much time, so get out there!

Why Jimmy Carter...

...was the greatest American President of our generation.

Why It Won't Get Into the Daily Bruin

"No Daily Bruin reporters were present at the rally" and therefore, "it was not possible to confirm exactly who said what." OK, the rally is fucking 30 feet away from your office, with amplified sound, and a mess of folks are out there, and there were NO DAILY BRUIN REPORTERS?!? What kind of loser-ass paper is this?!?

It May Not Get Into the Daily Bruin...

...but I'm posting on my online journals to at least reach out to the UCLA community about the shit that's flying during our student government elections. The attacks against "Students Power!" people have hit me personally, and there was no way in Hell that they were going to stop me from responding.

Enjoy.

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Shameful Attacks Hurt Democratic Process

By Randy Bautista

Ideally, the USAC undergraduate elections are a celebration of the democratic process, where students who wish to improve campus life run for office, hoping to implement their plans for a better UCLA. However, the shameful attacks against several students involved with the election have brought a viciousness that compromise the integrity of this valued tradition.

The shameful attacks I am referring to are the attacks targeting USAC presidential candidate Jenny Wood and the vicious heckling targeting the students participating in the Speak Out Wednesday afternoon. This past Friday, Wood was verbally attacked on UCLA Radio by an opposing USAC president, who wished to “smash her face into the ground.” At the Speak Out, hecklers wore “FUCK Students Power!” T-Shirts, and calling a Students Power! supporter a “chink” who should “go back to the fields.”

It’s incredibly shocking that such words could come from UCLA students. How does UCLA, one of the most racially diverse and socially progressive campuses in the nation, breed an atmosphere that allows such hateful speech to breed? But what is most disturbing about these incidents is that the targets are students who genuinely want to improve campus life.

Running for USAC is not easy, and the students who participate in the election process have tremendous courage. They sacrifice countless hours creating their platforms, participating in debates, flyering, reaching out to the student body, all in the effort of serving the campus. Some of us may disagree with their plans, but such critiques should be made in a desire for their success, and not their failure. Such malicious attacks compromise the safety of these students, and ultimately, it is the UCLA community that loses. For the sake of our community, students must confront these acts of hate. And one of the most powerful ways students can do this is by participating in the USAC elections themselves.

USAC is an incredibly powerful vehicle for change. USAC represents the undergraduate student body, and the students who sit on USAC set the tone for the campus as a whole. Therefore, students should be critical of those running for USAC. Do they reflect your values? Will they be active in creating a climate supportive of all students? Will they challenge acts of racism? Sexism? Homophobia? Your knowledge of the candidates and their platforms, your engagement in student issues, and your conscious effort in getting the right people into USAC will help bring integrity back to the USAC elections, and help push this campus in the right direction.

Every student at UCLA has a responsibility to breed an atmosphere of support and acceptance for all members of our community. As a recent alumnus, and someone who has tremendous love and respect for UCLA, I challenge the student body to become conscious agents in this community of support. Get involved in the USAC elections, and bring integrity back to the democratic process.

Bautista is a recent alumnus and former President of Samahang Pilipino.

Performance Updates

Even though I'm out of school, Spring Quarter is still hectic with performances. All promise to kick ass.

Samahang Pilipino Culture Night
May 14th, 6:30 pm
Royce Hall
FREE

Lapu the Coyote that Cares
Theater Show
Either Week of May 23rd or May 30th
Location & Time TBA
FREE

UCLA Chamber Choir
singing the Bach Cantata #4 and the Bach Mass in F Major
June 6th, 8 PM
Jan Popper Theater (Schoenberg Hall)
FREE

UCLA Chorale
with Angeles Chorale and the American Youth Symphony
performing Verdi's Requiem
June 11th, 8 PM
Royce Hall
$10 (if you contact & pay me ASAP)
Tix normally $40, #30, & $20

Please comment or email me if you're interested in attending any of this very coolio, mostly free events.