only in Bahrain: Lets ENTER the ENTRANCE

Metro Markets. A small grocery store in a community where my flat is just a walking distance away. The acrhitecture is unique with its intricate geometric facade details. Though the clock is out of scale with respect to the whole structure, I like everything about it, except for this one foible.

Come, lets ENTER the ENTRANCE and see it for yourself.

Marcus Gabriel's Dedication Day

This is my son, Marcus Gabriel at seven months old.

Though his name is of ancient Roman pre-Christian origin, my son's name should be associated with the Gospel writer Mark the Evangelist. And the suffix name Gabriel refers to the angel of God that apeared to Mary.

My wife has been referring to him by his petname Tatus.

"Si Tatus ang lakas uminom ng gatas."

"Si Tatus tinotopak na naman."

"Si Tatus ang lakas umiyak, ayaw magpatulog."

That's how my wife would refer to our son in her usual SMS everytime I checked-on how he is doing. I don't know how it came to be that way. Pero para wala ng mahabang diskusyon, nakiki-Tatus na din ako...

"Hon, musta na si Tatus?"

Last month, Tatus went on sickbay and was diagnosed with amoebiasis. He was confined for almost 10 days at two different hospitals. We were both so worried of what might happen to him. But with much prayer everything went well. Praise God!

Soon after that, the old folks has been harassing my wife regarding the reason why my son got sick. They were saying that it is because Tatus hasn't been baptised yet. With those kind of people around her, my wife got so paranoid and so worried that Tatus might even be possessed with evil spirits which according to her are very prevalent in their place.

So finally, after the long wait, Tatus was dedicated to the Lord last April 19 at the San Miguel Christian Church in Bulacan. With Tatus in the picture above was the Officiating Pastor Wilmor Trinidad.

en now presenting da Mommy en da Baby but wer is da Dadi?

WELCOME TO THE CHRISTIAN WORLD TATUS!

FLASHBACK MANILA: Nadia's Theme

Thanks to the wonders of Youtube. I am able to tracked down many old songs that I came to like from my childhood days. One of which is Nadia's Theme. It was a piece of music composed by Barry de Borzon and Perry Botkin, Jr.

The melody was originally composed by the American duo as incidental music to the 1971 movie Bless the Beasts and Children and was originally titled "Cotton's Dream." Two years later, Botkin wrote a reaaranged version of the piece for the American soap opera The Young and the Restless. The show debuted on March 26, 1973 (wikipedia).

It was only during the late 70's that I came to hear this masterpiece. My mother was an ardent radio drama series fanatic at that time when we don't have a television set yet. I could always hear this song being played in between drama sequences as it fades slowly in the background. Malungkot 'yong melody. Parang matutulala ka kung papakinggan mo s'ya. Pero at the same time nakaka-relax din the longer you listen to it.

Back then I don't know what was it called. I guess it was the least of my concern, I am too busy running around the neighborhood of Sampaloc District. But the melody got stucked on my mind since then, until just recently that I came upon this Youtube channel and saw this song among the uploaded videos. And when I played it on, YAHOOoo!

I immediately sent a private message to the channel owner and I asked for the mp3 file of the song. He was kind enough so I got it the following day. Thank you very much kabayan :)

At ngayon ko lang nalaman na Nadia's Theme pala ang title ng kantang ito. Natanong ko tuloy sa sarili ko kung sino ba itong si Nadia at nagkaroon pa s'ya ng sarili n'yang theme song.

It turned out that the melody was renamed "Nadia's Theme" after ABC television network Wide World of Sports lent the music for the montage of Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci's routines during the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympics, but Nadia never performed her routines using this piece of music (wikipedia).

About one month after the 1976 Olympics, the song was released as a single by A&M Records. It soared up to number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart by December of 1976, in part because of its association with Comaneci. The following year it received a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement (wikipedia). O di ba panalo talaga.

You can download the music from here and see the Videography below:

1971 - Theme from Bless the Beasts and Children

1973 - Theme from The Young and the Restless

1976 - Nadia Comaneci Montage, Montreal Summer Olympics