|
WILL is
a rookie and he is undergoing an initiation out there in
the oil rigs, with men described as roughnecks.
The task
given to him requires physical strength and the audacity
of a stuntman. There is a big difference, though,
between this rookie and a stuntman: the stuntman is
doing actions for special effects required in a film,
while Will, the rookie, has to do a task that is
expected to have an effect on the job.
The
story of Will is part of the profiling made by Discovery
Channel of oil riggers, probably the least-known
component of the phenomenon called the oil industry. Oil
as an energy source is ubiquitous. It forms part of our
consciousness about this earth and the dangers and
bounties lying beneath its deep seas and soil.
We use
oil every day and we become anxious about the fact that
it is a finite resource. And yet our knowledge is
focused—and also limited—to its supply, familiar and
accessible through the many gas stations in our towns
and cities. We do not know that behind the production of
oil comes this band of women and men who seem to take as
given—and take for granted—the danger and dirt and
difficulty of their jobs. As the producers put it, the
individuals working in the oil rigs are out to “steal
black gold from the seabed.” The word “steal” is
particularly interesting as it underscores the present
politics about Nature and its tremendous wealth not
really belonging to us. At best, we are the stewards
and, in such position, we constantly negotiate with
Mother Nature our need to tap the power and potency of
her resources.
The
presentation from Discovery Channel takes off from the
impact of the Nature-ordained calamity coming in the
forms of the two hurricanes, Katrina and Rita, which
smashed
New Orleans
and, in the process, devastated main oil fields and,
with it, some 121 platforms and rigs. The aftermath saw
148 oil and gas pipelines, as well as major refineries,
severely damaged. One can imagine if these problems are
not being addressed, how its impact on fuel prices would
be.
Discovery Channel’s ‘Oil, Sweat and Rigs’ brings us what
observers call one of the greatest industrial
recovery-and-repair operations since World War II. The
operations combine technology and science and the guts
and grit of human beings whose bodies and will are
pushed to their limits.
The show
brings us to the front lines of recovery operation with
oil riggers. There is no comfort zone at all in this
world of workers who have to be with one another 24
hours a day. The prospect is scary. One group is about
to repair the gargantuan legs that support the rigs;
another is given 10 days to work on the pipelines and
allow oil to flow one more. In one episode, the repair
had to engage a worker for the first time. In the middle
of their work, one of which was to repair pipelines more
than 300 meters beneath the ocean, they retreat to their
quarters to put on more protein in their bodies.
Will is
the center of attention. Will he be able to hack the
job? This job that does not have failure as option?
‘Oil,
Sweat and Rigs’ is the untold story behind things like
soaring prices and resource management. It is an epic
story that manages to show us how out there, with waves
that can go as high as nine meters, are human beings who
work in tremendously dangerous situations but never
cease to be human. And Will, the rookie, encourages that
warmth and bonding with the roughnecks teasing him and
playing pranks in the face of nonnegotiable deadlines.
Discovery Channel’s ‘Oil, Sweat and Rigs’ premieres on
February 26 at 10 pm, with encores on February 27 at 1
am, 8 am and 2 pm; March 1 at 9 pm; March 2 at midnight
and noon; and March 4 at 6 pm.
‘The
Drums of
Japan’
A
DIFFERENT kind of danger, one that is of the sensual and
rhythmic kind, is going to be presented by a group of
drummers from Japan. The drummers will all be playing
the odaiko (literally, big drums).
In
Japanese culture, drums figure as central instrument.
They are significant instruments in Noh and Kabuki, and
manifest themselves in various forms and sizes. In the
presentation ‘Wadaiko: The Drums of Japan’, the
instrument takes on massive proportions, its dimension
made even more appealing and awesome with the players
demonstrating a playing that can be described as
kinetic, fervent and frenzied. Drums in Japanese music
challenge our stereotypes of such music as serene and
nonintrusive.
Daida,
the grand-prize winner of the 2007 Tokyo International
Taiko Competition, performs in this presentation.
Taiko means drum. Critics describe the group as
exploring “the dynamic reason behind taiko’s
popularity through stirring powerful beats which touch
the heart.” For lack of a better term, Ryo Shiobara will
be the solo performer. He graduated from the Japanese
Academy of Moving Images. In 1999 Shiobara studied
kagura, a Japanese ritual-performing art unique to the
Ina Valley in Nagano. It has been written that
Shiobara’s dedication to this art form led him to the
realm of body and physical expressions, developing a
respect for the physical.
‘Wadaiko: The Drums of Japan’ is brought to the
Philippines through Japan Foundation Manila, The Asano
Foundation for Taiko Culture Research and the Embassy of
Japan. As with the previous programs from Japan, the
Shangri-La Plaza is cooperating, providing the venue
through its Streetscape, Shangri-La Plaza Mall, in
Mandaluyong, on February 23 at
8 pm. The show will be taken then to
Baguio
on February 24 and 25 at the Baguio Convention Center
and at Bloom on Session Road. |
