Hansel and Gretel Musical in Manila

Lang, Andrew, ed. The Blue Fairy Book. New York: Dover, 1965.

Hansel and Gretel was one of the stories that enchanted me when I was little. The story goes that Hansel and Gretel found a house in the forest made of bread (and sugar?) owned by a very old woman. The old woman, was in truth, an evil witch who pretended to be a good old dame to lure the children into her house.

Not long after, Hansel and Gretel found out that the witch had viciously planned to eat them so they fled her sacchariferous house unharmed.

How they outwitted the witch and how that story really ended escapes me now. All I remember is how amazing that hardbound book was with all the colorful pictures in it.

Whatever I know about Hansel and Gretel at this age come from faithful translations of Grimms’ Fairytales. We all reach an age when we discover that so many of the fairytales we knew as kids were sugar-coated and far from their original version.

One of the required readings in Fantasy and Science Fiction: The Human Mind, Our Modern World, an online course that I took up last year, was Children's and Household Tales by the Grimms’ brothers. What got me thinking was whether to let our children read the child-friendly versions of Grimms’ fairytales or let them wait until they’re ready and allow them to enjoy the English translations of Children's and Household Tales.

My husband and I decided that introducing them to a few chosen original Grimms’ tales was a good idea as we cherish genuine literature. We’re saving Jacob and Wilhelm’s other dark tales for when they’re older.

Musicals: Moments When We Embrace Happy Versions of Grimms’ Fairy Tales

Lyric Opera of Chicago

Watching musicals is certainly delightful and educational. They are also the kind of entertainment that we want our children to indulge in. Musical theater productions for children are created to fascinate and stir the imagination of young minds.

Children also develop appreciation for theater if they are adequately exposed to it. In an article at education.com, it interestingly mentioned that theater plays a major role in global literacy. (More on the positive effects of theater on children later.)

Although we want to remain faithful to the original version of Grimms’ fairytales, the whimsical, colorful and gleeful presentation of Grimms’ tales in musical plays should be embraced by families. There is so much about theatrical interpretations or adaptations of stories that open wide, shimmering doors into a magnificent world for children. The story itself is just a part of an entire magical world that they become a part of, so yes, Grimms’ fairy tales in musical should not be missed.

Hansel and Gretel: A Children’s Musical

Director Luigi Nacario and Musical Director Eugene Belbis will be presenting their interpretation of “Hansel and Gretel” in a musical on June 8, 2014 at the Eastwood Mall Atrium at 3 p.m. The musical will feature the CampArt Kid Actors.

Nacario’s “Hansel and Gretel” won the 26th Aliw Awards for Best Production for Children and the 2013 Broadway World Philippines Awards for Best Book, Lyrics for a Filipino Musical.

For details, you may contact Megaworld Lifestyle Malls Concierge at 709-9888, 709-0888 or 0917-8380111.

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2014

Mars One: A One-Way Ticket

Photo Courtesy of Mars One

Would you ever consider moving to Mars? Asking this question takes me back to a time when the idea of traveling to another planet was pure fiction. We are a Twilight Zone-obsessed family and we've always believed that most of its story lines will happen sooner or later in real life. With Mars One sending people to begin a colony in Mars, we are left with little to the imagination.

My mother thought I was going bonkers when I told her over breakfast the other day that a private company called Mars One has been accepting applications for Mars since last year. Around 4,000 people from 177 countries have already qualified with the US having the most number of qualifiers. I couldn't blame her. Although I have heard of Mars One and its mission to begin sending people to this small planet in 2024, a part of me still find the whole idea too out-of-this-world (excuse the pun). I didn't think it was actually going to happen in my lifetime.

We were lucky to be at the Astronomy Week Celebration at The Mind Museum on February 22. The line up of events were indeed worth every minute of our time. The highlight for me was Cafe Scientifique's “We are Going to Mars!' It was an interactive exchange through Skype between Arno Weilders and the guests. Arno Weilders is the Co-Founder and Chief Technical Officer of Mars One.

Live Skype exchange with Arno Weilders

Weilders gave a brief introduction to Mars One and then went on to answer questions from the audience. The questions ranged from what kind of government the first inhabitants would have, how conflicts would be resolved, what kind of food would be available, and what would the source of water be, among others. The last one was a question from a little girl in the audience.

Mars One launched its selection process in April 2013. It is a rigid process that requires an applicant to have five key characteristics such as resiliency, adaptability, curiosity, ability to trust, and creativity and resourcefulness. Applicants should also be at least 18 years old, which is what is considered the legal age in most countries.

“It will all be up to them,” Weilder said, when he was asked about conflict resolution. “There is a 20-minute delay in communication between Mars and Europe and it will be impossible to manage Mars' inhabitants from the Earth,” Weilder added.

For the first year, they will be feeding on canned goods that will be sent with them on the first trip in 2024. The trip will take somewhere between eight to nine months and they are expected to land in 2025. Other crucial details about the first trip have not yet been revealed.

When asked if he was ever tempted to apply, he answered, “Yes, it did cross my mind, but I have two young kids and I don't think it would be fair for them.” Weilders quickly added in jest, “I'm not very good at dealing with stress so I don't think I'd qualify.”

Even if you wanted and decided to, there is no guarantee that a family will be allowed to travel together. It will still depend on the result of individual assessment.

What really sends chills to my spine is that the trip is a one-way ticket to Mars. No return trip...ever. To me, it is a real-life closing credit to an episode of the Twilight Zone.

Cure for Mondays is a top homeschooling Philippine blog, best mommy blogger, top Asia women's blog, best homeschool website, family issues blog
Mars One, Mars, Arno Weilders, The Mind Museum, Twilight Zone, fiction, earth, science news

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Photography Workshop by Ronald Garcia

Ronald Garcia gives a lecture on Basic Photography to kids at Cypress Towers

Saturday, 8:57 AM. Today's “Moms and Kids Day” and the photography workshop by Ronald Garcia starts at 9 AM.

Good grief, three minutes to the event and Cole was still in dreamland while I was between checking my mails and giving in to the demands of the little one who was running around and grabbing everything she could with her chubby little hands.

“Coleyyyyyyymolleeyyyy! It's 8:57!” Even Mr Young bolted up from the bed and asked why the alarm didn't go off.

“My fault. Forgot to set the alarm,” I confessed.

Cole jumped up from the bed, took a really quick shower, grabbed his camera and ran out the door. Good thing the event was just at the clubhouse 22 floors below and 10 short leaps away. He got there thinking he was very late for the workshop but then he was actually the first kid to arrive at the venue.

“Thank God they did not play 'Gangnam Style' while we were waiting for the others to arrive,” he told me earlier tonight.

“What kind of music did they play then?” I asked, amused and very much grateful that the kid has grown good taste in music. Mr Young and I would never forgive ourselves if our soon-to-be 11-year-old listened to the trash that half the population on this planet listen to these days.

“Mostly Diana Krall.” So I was informed.

I was the one who got there late because I had to give Attika her morning bath. When I arrived at the clubhouse Ronald was halfway through the workshop but I was able to pick up a lot of things (mostly things Mr Young already taught me many times before, but then being a good student's never really been part of my scanty positive traits). I was mostly interested in taking good photos of moving subjects—an area where I mostly fail. I've never taken any photography lessons and curiosity played a great role for me today.

Apart from being a great photographer, it turned out that Ronald could also work really well with kids. His lecture was delivered in a language that kids and all the other attendees were comfortable in even when he got to the more technical part of photography.

It got me thinking for a second there. It's wonderful that people are so much into photography now, even giving birth to the word “cam-whoring” and whatnot. In a conversation with veteran photographers Rod Banzon and Manny Fernandez years ago in the editorial box of the Big C Magazine where I was Lifestyle Editor, they expressed their heartache over how photography's been lambasted by the advent of digital cameras. Today, everyone who can afford a digital camera is a photographer. I still wouldn't place that as a parallel statement to Robert Fulghum's “Anyone who sings is a singer.”

I found this poster on Facebook and anyone who understands what the bitching is all about would give this one a resounding “like”.

Cole picked up the hobby four years ago. His first camera was an instamatic analogue camera (with an underwater casing) and his first photos were of a rally in UP, then our humble homestead. Mr Young, otherwise known as his dad, had given him his first lessons and those lessons continue at present. Lucky for us I guess because we have a professional photographer at home. Mr Young completed his professional training in the war zones of Mindanao prior to his stint as stringer for CNN and BBC when we were still in college.

“Mr Garcia asked me what got me interested in photography,” Cole told me.

“And?”

“I told him you're a photographer and so I also got interested in it. I also told him you gave me your camera.”

No, no, no, a photographer I am not. I have had some bouts with luck when my photographs were published. I also try sometimes, like a happy little fish (I've some photos here). But to my mind, a photographer is strictly somebody who's had formal training. So clearly, I'm not one of them. I'm just another one of Mr Young's absentee students.

By the way, it was also Cole's first photography workshop and he said that he had so much fun.

I think young people should be taught the value of appreciating an art form by exposing them to the right source of knowledge.

It would also help if they got their information from experts such as multi-awarded photographer Ronald Garcia and allow them to decide on their own if they want to pursue it or not. All this as opposed to just handing over to them an expensive piece of equipment and letting them do things all because everyone else is doing it.

Just my two cents worth.