Arnel Pineda's Journey

He's another Filipino talent making it big in the Americas. His voice has caught the attention of Neal Schon, lead guitarist of the American rock band Journey over at Youtube. And now, as they say, the rest is history. Arnel is now with the band on tour in the America promoting their latest CD album as its lead singer. Go Arnel, don’t stop believing and make the Philippines proud.

The Journey had several hits during the 80s. But the most popular among them was the song “Open Arms” which was revived by pop diva Mariah Carey in 1996. I remember it so well when this song was made as a love theme for Janice de Belen and JC Bonnin in the hit tv soap opera FLORDELUNA. I was a budding teenager at that time, kaya medyo may kilig factor na ‘yong mga eksena.LOLZ.

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Listen now to Journey's Open Arms (1982)

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Listen now to Mariah Carey's Open Arms (1996)

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FRASIER

I came to know FRASIER when I was still in the Philippines. It was his brother Niles that keeps me coming back to sit with them every night in my living room. The first time I saw them was when Daphne was about to give birth, Niles was so hilarious in that incident. There was no dull moments every time I am with them. It’s a good thing that they were so gracious enough to have the 11 years of their life occurrences be captured in DVD. That is why, I tried to get a copy of this memorabilia during my vacation in the Philippines last June.

I Survived Typhoon Ondoy

As the saying goes, truly a picture is worth a thousand words. It refers to the idea that complex stories can be described with just a single still picture. Point in case is the picture above.

You probably had already seen this from one of the attached pictures you had received from your e-mails. The catastrophic aftermath of Typhoon Ondoy "flooded" (no pun intended) the cyberworld with digital affirmation of its wrath as it passes through Metro Manila that fateful and unsuspectful morning of September 26.

This picture made me realized how fragile life can be. In a second you can be dead electrocuted from those dangling wires or be swept away by those strong currents. Its so frightening when the thought hit me. How will I decide if I am challenge with the same predicament?

Fairly enough, I had experienced a few disasters of lesser magnitude.

I had walked from the university belt all the way to Sampaloc district of Manila where I reside, right after the July 16, 1990, 7.8 Luzon earthquake. There was panic and stampede everywhere.

I had walked flooded streets of Manila countless times and also was stranded on a bus for the longest time because of it. Or when I was flabbergasted by the ash fall brought about by the cataclysmic eruption of Mt. Pinatubo when it awakened in 1991.

But, what if I am trapped in this kind of a situation. The water is neck-deep and with a strong current. I cannot be criss-crossing my feet over those electric wires. Look at that man in a black shirt, parang action superstar ang porma / he looks like an action superstar. I don't have the guts to do that. However, we really can not anticipate and underestimate the power and control when adrenalin overpowers us in cases like this. So the possibility is still there. LOLZ.

On the other hand, I can't swim either. I can not be walking in that street with a neck-deep high water. Because it would feel, for me, that anytime I will be sinking or be swept away by the strong current.

I guess the best decision for me in this kind of a situation is to just stay-put in a safer and higher grounds and just be a mere spectator of those people passing by. Look at those men in front of the PhilHealth branch office, mga uzis.LOLZ.

Thank God I survived the wrath of Typhoon Ondoy. Eventhough I was not there to experience it first hand, I could feel the worries and pain our kababayans had went through. My deepest symphaties and with much prayers goes to the victims of Ondoy a.k.a Ketsana, who as of this writing is pouring much rain in Vietnam and Cambodia.

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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

FLASHBACK Manila: Voltes V

Siguro mga taong 1979 noon nang mauso ang robot anime na Voltes V sa Pilipinas. Grade IV ako noon. Wala pa kaming tv ng mga panahong iyon kaya nakikinuod lang ako sa mga kapitbahay namin sa may Sampaloc District ng Maynila.

Sa tuwing pagkatapos ng palabas, unahan kami sa paglabas sa kalye at ginagaya namin yong eksenang kinukuha ng robot yong espada sa may dibdib n'ya at sabay sigaw ng "VOLTES V". Nakakatuwang balik-balikan ang kakulitan ko nuong kabataan ko.

Si Little John Armstrong ang paborito kong character sa limang bidang mga piloto. Bukod kasi sa murang edad n'ya at kakulitan, s'ya ay isang henyo sa pag-imbento ng mga automatons. Kakikitaan din s'ya ng interes sa mechanics, robotics at electromagnetism, k'ya naman itinuturing s'yang isang genius ng mga university professors sa istorya. Sa katunayan s'ya ang gumawa ng kanyang octopus-robot-pet na si Octo-one.

Sa bawat episode ng nasabing palabas ay may bagong Beast Fighter na kalaban and Voltes Team. Eto 'yong pinakahihintay namin na parte ng palabas. 'Yong bakbakan. Pasiklaban sila ng mga robotic powers. Pero in the end, siempre laging panalo ang Voltes Team.

Sa kasikatan ng palabas na ito, hindi maiiwasang maging iconic symbol ng early 80's ang opening at closing theme song ng palabas na ito. The best para sa akin ang closing theme. Sa mga hindi inabot ang kasikatan ng Voltes V, heto ang mga youtube videos ng mga kantang ito.

Para sa kompletong detalye patungkol sa Voltes V, click here.

Ending Theme:

Opening Theme: