Lea Salonga, thanks for showing the world the Filipino talent

I woke up to a slow, cold, Friday morning. It's a holiday for schools so here I am thinking what to do.
Went to Youtube and tried looking for songs to sing along with.

While checking the song On My Own, I saw a clip that was shot during the actual play. I am no big fan of musicals but after hearing Lea Salonga sing this Les Miserables number, I can't help but desire to watch the whole musical.

Lea Salonga proves to the world that you can amaze and give goosebumps to the audience without having to belt out high notes. Pure raw singing prowess.

SUN KA PA? EH DI SA SIKAT!*

SCT Elections are up once again and this time Sikat asked if I could be their Faculty Adviser. When I saw the line up of the students running, and when Ria Tagulinao approached me, I can't help but say yes despite the amount of stress I am coping with right now.

I believe in what these students can do.

I personally believe in the SCT elections because it allows the high school students to get involved in social responsibilities such as voting.

May all the students vote the candidates who shall offer a clear mandate and plan of action for the incoming school year.

Of course, I would have to be a little biased by saying that the candidates under the Sikat party shall deliver well as proven by their list of achievements.

Here they are: SUN KA PA? EH DI SA SIKAT!

(Thanks to Sir Velarde who shared this very witty campaign slogan used by former SCT President Kat Usita)

Matters of the Heart: Inflammations and Balloons

No. This is not going to be another emo post or a rant about the pains and perils of loving. This time around, I shall refer to the actual organ: the heart.

You see, I was born a blue baby. I have a congenital heart disease which until very recently I referred to as heart murmurs. Last Saturday, Dr. Norberto Tuano diagnosed me as having Ventricular Septal Defect.  I was not surprised because I have been reading up about the possible reasons for my heart murmurs ever since I could understand medical jargon. So when Dr. Tuano told me that I have VSD, my speculations had just been proven true.

So he requested me to undergo tests for the heart so he could get to know more of my disease and the status of my heart.

And so, after two decades, I visited once again the Philippine Heart Center. After undergoing the ECG test, I had to talk to a cardiologist. Dr. Frederick Gabriel asked me if it was my first time to undergo these tests. I told him that as a baby I might have but as an adult, yes it was the first time.

He then started lecturing me, as if I were a high school student, about the complications of my case, what form of exercises I can have, and the choices I have for the inevitable cardiac operation. He started by reiterating what I already know: that cardiomegaly, or enlargement of the heart, is a result of my VSD. Moving on, he added how an operation is needed right away. I stopped him and asked, Do I really need operation? My parents knew about this already and they should have done it before, right Doc?"

He matter-of-factly said, Well, maybe they thought I was too young and the operation might not be successful. Moreover, he said, at least you are already on that age, where I can decide for myself.

When he said that, I thought that operation is not really needed.

But even before that sobering thought finished forming in my head, Dr. Gabriel explained what can happen if I don't work on my heart disease as soon as possible: my toes, fingers, belly, and testicles will inflame, the skin surrounding my mouth will turn dark. And to make the ride of understanding my disease more enjoyable, he even created a metaphor of heart diseases.

The heart, he said, is like a balloon. If there is something wrong with it, it will get larger and larger until it either pops because of too much pressure, or it will just breakdown and release all the air out.

A round of applause. Amazing comparison. Delightful.

While waiting for the 2d Echo, I was trying to let everything sink in.

Basically, it sounded to me like the cardiologist was telling me that I have no option but to undergo operation. The only question is, what kind of operation.

I just have to wait for the results of the tests this Friday. Let us wait and see. Whew.

Life at 25. This is it. Now, I have to start eating like an herbivore.

Diet. No workouts for me, no yoga. Simple aerobic exercises.

Whoever out there can resolve these matters of my heart, message me.

Expert: 3 Ampatuan massacre victims had shattered skulls - Nation - GMA News Online - The go-to site for Filipinos everywhere - Latest Philippine News

Expert: 3 Ampatuan massacre victims had shattered skulls
MARK MERUEÑAS, GMA News02/16/2011 04:04 PM

An expert witness in the Ampatuan murder trial on Wednesday said the three massacre victims he autopsied all died with shattered skulls due to gunshots from a heavy firearm.Senior Inspector Dr. Felino Brunia Jr. told a Quezon City court that he already found a huge portion of journalist Jose Duhay's skull missing after it was "totally blown off" his head.The medico-legal expert from the Philippine National Police (PNP) Crime Laboratory also said Duhay, a reporter for the local newspaper Filipino Chronicle, sustained eight gunshot wounds all over his body.The most fatal of the wounds was the one that literally blew off his skull, caused by a bullet that entered through his left jaw and exited through his head and created a wound that measured 27 centimeters (cm) by 15 cm.

Read more Expert: 3 Ampatuan massacre victims had shattered skulls - Nation - GMA News Online - The go-to site for Filipinos everywhere - Latest Philippine News.

2011 Grammy Winners

The Grammy's this year did not really surprise me except for Lady Gaga's half-abysmal, half-fantastic "entrance" in the red carpet via a polycarbonate egg. Surely, the win of these artists Arcade Fire and Lady Antebellum surprised me a bit, but hell yeah, that's how it is sometimes in Hollywood so that does not really count for me as news.

I also expected Esperanza Spalding to win because she is jsut simply an awesome musician.



Courtesy of http://resources1.news.com.au/images/2011/02/14/1226005/567705-53ed-annual-grammy-awards.jpg

 Happy though that Eminem, Rihanna, and Bruno Mars received awards. They are the artists I was banking on would really take home a Grammy this year.

2011 Grammy Award Nominees & * Winners


Record of the Year:


* Need You Now, Lady Antebellum
Nothin' On You, B.o.B. feat. Bruno Mars
Love The Way You Lie, Eminem feat. Rihanna
F*** You, Cee Lo Green
Empire State of Mind, Jay-Z and Alicia Keyes

Album of the Year:

* The Suburbs, Arcade Fire
Recovery, Eminem
Need You Now, Lady Antebellum
The Fame Monster, Lady Gaga
Teenage Dream, Katy Perry

Song of the Year:
* Need You Now, Lady Antebellum
Beg, Steal or Borrow, Ray LaMontagne and the Pariah Dogs
F*** You, Cee-Lo Green
The House That Built Me, Miranda Lambert
Love The Way You Lie, Eminem, feat. Rihanna

Best New Artist:
* Esperanza Spalding
Justin Bieber
Drake
Florence and The Machine
Mumford & Sons

Best Pop Vocal Album

* The Fame Monster, Lady Gaga
My World 2.0, Justin Bieber
I Dreamed a Dream, Susan Boyle
Battle Studies, John Mayer
Teenage Dream, Katy Perry

Best Female Pop Vocal Performance
* Lady Gaga, Bad Romance
Sara Bareilles, King of Anything
Beyoncé, Halo (Live)
Norah Jones, Chasing Pirates
Katy Perry, Teenage Dream

Best Male Pop Vocal Performance
* Bruno Mars, Just the Way You Are
Michael Bublé, Haven't Met You Yet
Michael Jackson, This Is It
Adam Lambert, Whataya Want From Me
John Mayer, Half of My Heart

Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals:
* Hey, Soul Sister (Live), Train
Don't Stop Believin' (Regionals Version), Glee Cast
Misery, Maroon 5
The Only Exception, Paramore
Babyfather, Sade

Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals:
*Imagine, Herbie Hancock, Pink, India.Arie, Seal, Konono No. 1, Jeff Beck & Oumou Sangare
Airplanes II, B.o.B, Eminem & Hayley Williams
If It Wasn't For Bad, Elton John & Leon Russell
Telephone, Lady Gaga & Beyoncé
California Gurls, Katy Perry & Snoop Dogg

Best Dance Recording:
* Only Girl (In The World), Rihanna
Rocket, Goldfrapp
In For The Kill, La Roux
Dance In The Dark, Lady Gaga
Dancing On My Own, Robyn

Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals:
* Tighten Up, The Black Keys
Ready To Start, Arcade Fire
I Put A Spell On You, Jeff Beck & Joss Stone
Radioactive, Kings Of Leon
Resistance, Muse

Best Hard Rock Performance:
* New Fang, Them Crooked Vultures
A Looking In View, Alice In Chains
Let Me Hear You Scream, Ozzy Osbourne
Black Rain, Soundgarden
Between The Lines, Stone Temple Pilots

Best Rock Song:
* Angry World, Neil Young
Little Lion Man, (Mumford & Sons
Radioactive, Kings Of Leon
Resistance, Muse
Tighten Up, The Black Keys

Best Rock Album


* The Resistance, Muse
Emotion & Commotion, Jeff Beck
Backspacer, Pearl Jam
Mojo, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Le Noise, Neil Young

Best Alternative Music Album

* Brothers, The Black Keys
The Suburbs, Arcade Fire
Infinite Arms, Band Of Horses
Broken Bells, Broken Bells
Contra, Vampire Weekend

Best Rap/Sung Collaboration:
* Wake Up! Everybody, John Legend, The Roots, Melanie Fiona & Commo
Nothin' On You, B.o.B Featuring Bruno Mars
Deuces, Chris Brown, Tyga & Kevin McCall
Love The Way You Lie, Eminem & Rihanna
Empire State Of Mind, Jay-Z & Alicia Keys n

Best Rap Song:
* Empire State Of Mind, Jay-Z & Alicia Keys
Love The Way You Lie, Eminem & Rihanna
Not Afraid, Eminem
Nothin' On You, B.o.B feat. Bruno Mars
On To The Next One, Jay-Z & Swizz Beatz

Best Rap Album:

* Recovery, Eminem
The Adventures Of Bobby Ray, B.o.B
Thank Me Later, Drake
The Blueprint 3, Jay-Z
How I Got Over, The Roots

Best Country Collaboration With Vocals:
* As She's Walking Away, Zac Brown Band & Alan Jackson
Bad Angel, Dierks Bentley, Miranda Lambert & Jamey Johnson
Pride (In The Name Of Love), Dierks Bentley, Del McCoury & The Punch Brothers
Hillbilly Bone, Blake Shelton & Trace Adkins
I Run To You, Marty Stuart & Connie Smith

Best Country Song:
* Need You Now, Lady Antebellum
The Breath You Take, George Strait
Free, Zac Brown Band
The House That Built Me, Miranda Lambert
I'd Love To Be Your Last, Gretchen Wilson
If I Die Young, The Band Perry

Best Country Album:

* Need You Now, Lady Antebellum
Up On The Ridge, Dierks Bentley
You Get What You Give, Zac Brown Band
The Guitar Song, Jamey Johnson
Revolution, Miranda Lambert

See news here.
Photos of the Grammy's here.

of cakes and of healing hearts

The chocolaty, sugary taste that bursts in your mouth as your lips and tongue lavish the richness of the tastes that emancipate the soul of memories that have rested deep within the recesses of the heart and the mind which now lingers in the present consciouness as the saccharine tastes overpower the sanity of the present senses.


Courtesy of http://gallery.clickthecity.com/albums/userpics/10002/chocolate-kiss_devils-food-cake.jpg.


























It has now come to this point, to this very moment, that rampaging thoughts drown the calmness and stability of the presently existing sense of tranquility and steadiness.

I long for this palate to be junked, erased, eradicated.

Return to innocence*, to the point of division, to the forkroad.

Welcome a new beginning to this that never really knew any ending.

Rockstars

Previous members of the champion Philippine All Stars dance group regrouped and formed an extra hotter group:

Rockstars.

Coming Soon: Paul! Paul! The Musical repeat

Once again, witness the lies, the truth, and the story of Paul Reyes

Paul! Paul! The Musical

Watch out for updates on audition and rehearsal dates.




Video made by Katerina Gohh.

my resurrection

my resurrection

crippled by meandering thoughts of shattered souls
stripped off of the essence of bestowed love
longing lingered, lurking into my nightly prowls
beats of the heart ached with every throb.

homed by your velvety kisses and embraces
elated by beauty showered by your passion
songs that serenade me of your warm graces
tortures eradicate with your every motion.

in your precious heart, love keeps me sound
to the heavens I pray for no other beginnings
to our hearts I say at last we found
in our souls, constancy welcomes no endings.


my resurrection by Tim Decano is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at theapollonian.blogspot.com.

Coming Home: SPCP 40th Anniv Variety Show

Witness the unveiling of the secret, oral history of St. Paul College Pasig.

Relive Paulinian life through songs and dances.

Join us in Coming Home: the SPCP 40th Anniversary Celebration Variety show featuring guests 3AM, Indak, UP Manila's Indayog, UP Street, Rockstars, Phil and James Younghusband and other celebrtity guests.

Coming Home. February 11, 5 P.M. SPCP TENT

For ticket inquiries, you may contact Cheska de Luna at 09228127571.

This is one of the reasons why RH Bill should be abolished

A large population is not the reason for having an impoverished nation. Think about it: the greater number of people you have, the larger workforce you have, thereby translating into a higher GNP and GDP, which in the end will save the economy.

The RH Bill which, among others, intends to affect the number of child births in the country, need to be seriously processed and thought over, if not entirely abolished or scrapped.

An editorial written by Robert Patterson shall shed more light on my point. Here is an excerpt of his editorial:

How Roe v. Wade aborted America's economy

By: Robert W. Patterson 01/22/11 8:05 PM

 

When thousands of pro-life activists gather on the Mall Monday to protest Roe v. Wade, few in Congress or the media will connect the dots linking the Supreme Court's invention of a constitutional right to abortion 38 years ago to the economic crisis a generation later. 

 

The new GOP-controlled House of Representatives will certainly salute the marchers and may even call for reversing the 1973 overreach. Yet even as Republicans focus on scaling back spending and a debt limit that has nearly doubled in six years, few seem to understand that the Court deserves greater blame than big spenders for bringing the United States to a financial breaking point.

As former Jack Kemp aide John D. Mueller quantifies in his groundbreaking new book, Redeeming Economics, the Court's construction of an unrestricted right to abortion muffled American economic performance by profoundly disrupting marriage and fertility patterns.

Mueller likens the effects of Roe on baby boomers to the impact of World War II on their parents, only in reverse. Unlike the war, whose aftermath produced a boom in family life and child-packed neighborhoods --creating, per French writer R. L. Bruckberger, a "humane economy" that made America the envy of the West -- Roe ushered in a marriage and baby bust that has sucked the life-blood out of the economy.

Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/op-eds/2011/01/how-roe-v-wade-aborted-americas-economy#ixzz1D97sN2JU

Putting Humor in News: the Manix Abrera Way

Manix Abrera, a world-class Pinoy artist, has come up with his own take on daily news and current affairs: by putting humor into news.

Manix Abrera is one of the most promising artists in the Philippines' comics industry. Let us all support his efforts in making the citizenry knowledgeable of current events through his wit and humor.

For more of these comic strips, visit this site.

Pacman's LA House

"This is our house, so we got to put our pictures." Oo nga naman. You are absolutely right there, Manny.

Simple, stylish home. Smooth accents.

Support the Palawan Underground River Bid to belong to New Seven Wonders of Nature

Mother Nature may need more than just the 3Rs or the 10Rs from us. At least, that's true for the bid to put the Palawan Underground River as one of the New Seven Wonders of Nature.

Through a simple text message, you can aid in the campaign for our country to become part of this prestigious list.

Simply text PPUR, PPUR7, or PPUR15 to 2861.

The underground river is competing against 27 other finalists including the Dead Sea, Mt. Kilimanjaro, Grand Canyon, Jeju Island, and Angel Falls.

So start texting now. Your Php 2.50 may just be the very reason for the inclusion of the Palawan Underground River in the list of the New Seven Wonders of Nature.

of butterflies and swans: a Black Swan movie review

You are lying on your bed and as you watch Nina Sayers transform from being the delicate, fragile White Swan to becoming the riveting, breathtaking Black Swan you find yourself sitting up and holding your breath, wondering where you are going to be taken next into this deep swim.

And like swimming for 1500 miles, the story and screenplay started off really quietly; plunging to a slow, smooth dive. As you swim along, you find that the water smoothness is becoming too comfortable, a little roughness is needed. And so you are kept interested watching the whole movie. The screenplay made us all swans - stretching our necks, wanting, waiting for more.


Inside, butterflies attack me in my tummy, as I find myself revolted by what I was seeing on screen. And it is definitely and absolutely not because of an abysmal performance of the actors. Rather, I found myself being pulled in by the Black Swan, swallowed and hypnotized by the enthralling depiction of Natalie Portman's role.

As the movie ended, I find myself lying on my bed and pillows, trying to process what had just happened, trying to check that my sanity is still intact, and that I had just finished watching what could be one of the must see films of this decade.

Kudos to Director Darren Aronofsky and to the writers Mark Heyman, Andres Heinz, and John McLaughlin.

just trying to be inspired

I closed my eyes and felt serenity
with ecstatic thoughts
of your voice
whispering kisses and hugs
of your body
caressing promises and hellos
of your eyes
piercing every bit of my soul
of your lips
imprinting love that energizes my all.