Wednesday, August 06, 2008

Yesterday's Long But Enjoyable Day...

.:Good Times To Kick Off...:.

After doing Rev Up on Campus 99.5 from 3 to 6 in the morning, I dropped in next door to hang out with Mo, Mojo, and Grace Lee for their show, and I noticed Mojo wasn't in the best of moods as he was a tad, nay, quite angry at some kid, refusing to give him ticket because his brother did something mean to Mojo.

Even Mo Twister, who's normally the mean one among the three, was actually asking Mojo to lighten up already and give the tickets. First of all, it wasn't even the kid who insulted Mojo, but his brother, and he shouldn't be obliged to rebuke his brother, particularly when he's younger.

It was a fun show all around, especially since they had lots of people in the booth to keep them company, as well as Mo's newly neutered dog, who was snoring in the booth while catching some sleep. Heh. It was pretty fun, and we even exchanged talks about how I first met Mo during his joint album launch party with Chico and Delle all those years ago in SM Centerpoint, and the fact that I rarely listen to radio during the morning show nowadays because I'm more inclined to go to sleep instead and all that...

In any case, Robi the Rascal actually showed up on the show as an impersonator for Tokuda, the 73-year old Japanese porn star. Ah, Japan. Never change. I was especially amused by how he tried flirting with Grace Lee, talking about her "Mount Fuji's", among other things,and how he'd like to star in a movie with her, like "The Devil Wears Nada" or "Crotching Tiger" or something. He was hilarious and you could see Grace Lee was especially disturbed by the concept of old people sex, and was stunned when "Tokuda" asked her:

Will you do it with me if I were younger, like, 69?

.:Happy Birthday, Charo!:.

After the show, I met up with a client and ran into James from WAVE's sales team, and we talked about my current concerns in radio. Having said that, I then headed off to Charo's house, to see her since it's her birthday. We had a great meal, and the T-Bone steak where we ate at was awesome and affordable, plus we swapped very intriguing stories that I almost wish I could forget about... Damn, Charo, you threw me for a loop! Heh.

In any case, it was a great day spent with a good friend, and here's hoping that the JGL can get together again one of these days. It's been wonderful being able to celebrate Charo's birthday, and it was definitely great because Charo does bring out the gourmand in me... the thousand-layer lasagna just sounds positively sinful.

.:On Characters...:.

Yesterday, Mojo was lamenting that he was being hated by listeners and by the 14-year old kid as a person and not seeing through the fact that he was merely "portraying a character" on the Good Times radio show.

Mo went Batman Begins on him, by reminding him that it's not what he is inside, but what he does that defines who he is. And let's face it: on air, Mojo is flamboyant, and a tad confrontative. Mo had some choice words to describe him instead, but I'd rather not use that.

But it does beg the question... was Mojo right in taking offense that his "character" was taken as who he really was? I personally vouch for the fact that Mojo in general is really a nice guy in person, but his radio persona is slightly different albeit it's an extension of who he really is. When people don't "get it", ala how people who think wrestling is real genuinely hate the bad guys, do we have the right to take offense if we are attacked as if our character was really who we were?

Yes and no, I suppose. Being on radio doesn't require a character as it were, and anyone can tell you that. Unlike being a TV actor or a pro wrestler, the "character" you portray is a character you insisted on. Nobody went there and said this is the role you'd play, and how you choose to ask is simply concordant with how differently you carry yourself when you're on air. By dint of this, since the listeners only know you by what you do on the air, then it's easy to understand why they will make judgments about you based on what they hear.

I think that while there are cases where you can't just judge a person, such as in the context of a movie, it's also unavoidable that how one conducts himself in a public venue, whether radio or online forums, is also an indicator of who you are, no matter if this is merely one facet of who you are. If Mojo didn't want to be hated for the character he felt he was merely portraying, then he should've shown to his listeners more and more who he really was rather than his so-called character.

As Mo put it, if you decide to be an @$$ on the air, then don't be shocked when people hate you for being an @$$ even if you're a real saint off the air. He also took it as a chance to poke a bit of fun at Grace Lee, who despite not being uber-innocent, turned out to be rather "boring" on Forbidden Questions, considering the fact that she did nothing but tell the truth... heh.

Grace Lee was cute today, though. She had no idea what it meant for NBA during the off-season, asking if they literally played basketball "off the court"... which just cracked up everyone in the room. She's smart and witty, but she's not sporty, I guess. =P

But then, really now. Mojo's a great guy. It's too bad people don't get to see that about him often enough.

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