This is a song post

But the song is not mine. It’s from the band Fun. A lot of us know them because of their hit “We Are Young” and I’m glad I looked up their other songs. Aside from their latest(?) single, “Some Nights”, I found this song (from their “Aim and Ignite” album) very interesting. Yep, Nate Ruess can leave you stopping in your tracks and just listen to his voice and the rest of band’s ‘repertoire’ (or the lack of it). Some say Fun. remind them of Freddie Mercury and Queen. Right now, all I can say is I’m enjoying their music.

Here you go: Fun.’s Calm:

Lyrics:

Be Calm
By Fun.

As I walk through the streets of my new city
I’m back feeling much better, I suppose
I reclaimed the use of my imagination
for better or for worse, I’ve yet to know
but I always knew you’d be the one to understand me,
I guess that’s why it took so long to get things right.
but suddenly I’m lost
On my street
On my block

Oh why, Oh why
Oh why haven’t you been there for me?
Can’t you see, I’m losing my mind this time?
This time I think it’s for real, I can see

All the tree tops turning red
The beggars near bodegas grin and me
I think they want something
I close my eyes, and tell myself to breathe

and be calm.
Be calm.
I know you feel like you were breaking down.
Oh I know that it gets so hard sometimes.
Be calm.

I’m scared that everyone is out to get me.
“These days before you speak to me you pause.”
“I always see you looking out your window.”
“After all, you lost your band, you left your mom.”
Now every single crack, every penny that I pass,
says I should either leave or pick it up
But with every single buck I’ve made
I’m saddled with bad luck that came

the moment I was baptized
oh when I found out one day I’m gonna die
if only I could find my people or my place in life
a when they come a’carolin’
so loud, so bright, the theremin
will lead us to a chorus
where we’ll all rejoice and sing a song that goes:

Oh be calm.
Be calm.
I know you feel like you were breaking down.
I know that it gets so hard sometimes,
Be calm.
Take it from me, I’ve been there a thousand times.
You hate your pulse because it thinks you’re still alive
and everything’s wrong
It just gets so hard sometimes
Be calm.

I don’t remember much that night,
Just walking, thinking fondly of you
Thinking how the worst is yet to come
When from that street corner came a song
And I can’t remember the man,
The panhandler or his melody.
The words exchanged had far exceeded any change I’d given thee.

Oh be calm.
Be calm.
I know you feel like you are breaking down.
Oh I know that it gets so hard sometimes,
Be calm.
Take it from me, I’ve been there a thousand times.
You hate your pulse because it still thinks you’re alive
and everything’s wrong
It just gets so hard sometimes
Be calm.
Be calm.

2011 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 9,500 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 4 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

Love free movies? Catch the 6th Chinese Spring Film Festival*

Movie Schedule:

January 20, 2012 (Friday)
Country Wedding – 1:00PM
Lost on Journey – 3:00PM

January 21, 2012 (Saturday)
Lost on Journey – 1:30PM
Confucius – 3:30PM
Bodyguards & Assassins – 6:00PM
Ocean Heaven – 9:00PM

January 22, 2012 (Sunday)
Ocean Heaven – 1:30PM
The King of Milu Deer – 3:30PM
Confucius – 5:30PM
Bodyguards & Assassins – 8:00PM

January 23, 2012 (Monday)
Country Wedding – 1:30PM
Bodyguards & Assassins – 3:30PM
Ocean Heaven – 6:30PM
Lost on Journey – 8:30PM

January 24, 2012 (Tuesday)
Bodyguards & Assassins – 1:30PM
Lost on Journey – 4:30PM
Confucius – 6:30PM
The King of Milu Deer – 9:00PM

January 25, 2012 (Wednesday)
The King of Milu Deer – 1:30PM
Confucius – 3:30PM
Country Wedding – 6:00PM
Ocean Heaven – 8:00PM

January 26, 2012 (Thursday)
Lost on Journey – 1:30PM
Country Wedding – 3:30PM
The King of Milu Deer – 5:30PM
Confucius – 7:30PM

January 27, 2012 (Friday)
Ocean Heaven – 1:30PM
Confucius – 3:30PM
Lost on Journey – 5:30PM
Bodyguards & Assassins – 8:00PM

January 28, 2012 (Saturday)
The King of Milu Deer – 1:30PM
Ocean Heaven – 3:30PM
Lost on Journey – 5:30PM
Bodyguards & Assassins – 7:30PM

January 29, 2012 (Sunday)
Lost on Journey – 1:30PM
Country Wedding – 3:30PM
Bodyguards & Assassins – 5:30PM
Ocean Heaven – 8:30PM

 
*This year’s festival will offer free admission to the public on a first-come, first-served basis.

 

Yes, this is an apology

Lately, I feel my followers on Twitter have been barraged by so much negative vibes. I really cannot blame them. Sometimes I feel the urge to stop being too full of anger towards the universe. It’s hard though. There are things that just make you snap no matter how much determined you are to shut your mouth, or on this case, to refrain from tweeting.

Being too mad is not fun at all. You are too consumed by your feelings that you are blinded by more positive things in life. You are too focused on your hurt that you fail to notice the hurt of other people around you. You are too engrossed on other people’s faults that you forget your imperfections, too.

If this is just a phase in my life—one of those instances that I just need to let the world see my other side—then I am lucky. I can still spread the love, the optimism and the kindness to the people around me. I want to believe that this is just a stage that I can overcome.

But this is also a part of me that I need to embrace because in doing so I can understand myself better. So do I need to apologize for being me? I don’t think so. I think I just need to say sorry if I’m using the wrong venue of letting the world know my feelings. So here it is: I am sorry (please do not use a former president’s intonation when you read this, haha).

I’ll try to do better next time.

Of trust and betrayal

BETRAY*

(transitive verb)

1: to lead astray; especially: seduce

2: to deliver to an enemy by treachery

3: to fail or desert especially in time of need <betrayed his family>

4 a: to reveal unintentionally <betray one’s true feelings>

b: show, indicate

c: to disclose in violation of confidence <betray a secret>

*from: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/betray

One of the tricky parts of any relationship is giving your trust to another person and actually hoping that he or she will never betray you even if you know deep in your heart that this is not impossible.

Ah, betrayal. They say that when one is betrayed, it will take time for the wound to heal to the point that sometimes relationships cannot be spared from the damage.

All of us are familiar with the feeling, all of us experienced betraying and being betrayed. If we are the betrayer, what we feel is our conscience reminding us of our wrong doing. If we are the one betrayed, what we feel ranges from shock to anger to utter disappointment and doubt.

Why does it feel wrong to betray someone? It’s because we have been trusted yet we disregard  the one who trusted us by stabbing him/her on the back. Worse, if we betray him/her for our own selfish reason, one that will lead to our advantage yet leave our friend/loved one hurt.

Why does it feel bad to be betrayed? It is not just because something happened because someone ditched us. It’s more of the fact that you TRUSTED that person to be true to his/her word YET he/she failed you. What’s worse is when that person SHOWS NO SIGN OF GUILT from the heinous act that he/she made against you. It’s not the secret that he/she divulged that causes you pain, it’s the fact that he/she did not honor your pact to each other that pisses you off. It’s the way the evil deed was executed that shocks you. It’s the fact that he/she had the gall to put it upon him/herself to share classified information that only you have the right to divulge that angers you. It’s the fact that you thought you could trust him/her only to find out you couldn’t that gets you disappointed. It’s the naked truth that there are secrets that are not safe with him/her that now casts doubt on the relationship.

It’s not the subject of betrayal that pains you. It is the ACT ITSELF.

How do we deal with betrayal? How do we ask forgiveness and forgive in return? How do we build—and manage to—trust again? How do we pretend everything’s okay?

Thank you 2011!

I must say, 2011 was one of the best years so far. A lot of things happened to me, a lot of blessings and challenges came my way. I know I cannot cover all of them but here’s my attempt in justifying why 2011 was a great year:

More assignments, more stories. 2011 gave me more opportunities to go out of my comfort zone and make my own stories (thank you for the trust!). Some of the memorable articles were those on emergency and disaster preparedness (my first major story), the concert business and the Travel Expo (it was my first sit-down interview). I was also given the opportunity to write our column. It was also a year where I finally got to go to Cebu and Davao and meet new faces in the process.

Deeper friendships, extended networks. This year, I was able to know better the people I work with everyday and extend the relationship outside office hours. Friendship was established. I also got to spent valuable time with my rusher friends. A group of them, I got to spend time watching movies every Saturday night, giving birth to what we called the SMB (Saturday Movie Buddies). Going to events also allowed me to meet new people in the same industry I am part of.

The Script's concert in Araneta was EPIC ( photo from the band's twitter page)

Better music appreciation, great concerts. I swear, 2011 was a crazy year for me when it came to going to concerts and live shows. It was a year of realizing one of my dreams–seeing my favorite acts live. I was one of the people who said ‘thank you and goodbye’ to Sugarfree. I never thought I would enjoy Fra Lippo Lippi during their Valentine’s Day concert. I discovered my love for Yellowcard after going to their presscon (until now, I really feel bad that I didn’t catch their concert). My birthday week was capped off with an amazing concert of The Script. I was lucky to catch Maroon 5 when they went back here. It was my first time to see Sandwich and Kjwan perform live. The Westlife Gravity Tour was a blast from the past. And of course, the top two concerts for me were Train’s and 30 Seconds to Mars‘. Train capped off this wonderful concert year for me. And the best part of it? I got picked by Patrick Monahan to be on stage with the rest of the Trainettes! Crazy, right?

Me and the rest of the Trainettes during Train's 2011 concert at Smart Araneta Center (Special thanks to Astroboy and Ron for the photo)

Patrick takes a photo of the crowd (Train live in Manila). Yes, that's me beside the guy on black!

Of course, the concert that turned my world upside down was that of 30 Seconds. I never really expected that they would do a concert here that soon! Going to their show was one of the major decisions I had to make. I mean, back then, I didn’t have friends who dig TSM the way I did so it was hard getting someone who would really go with me (no second thoughts whatsoever). Prior to the announcement of the concert, I remember telling myself that if ever TSM and Linkin Park would do a concert here, I would make it a point to be in the section nearest the stage/VIP.

30 Seconds to Mars' Tomo, Jared and Shannon during the presscon at Edsa Shangri-La

Jared performing an acoustic number during TSM's rainy concert at Trinoma Open Park.

I bought my ticket even if I know it would entail me going to the show ALONE. I tried joining contests to get VIP or meet-and-greet passes and got lucky to win a pass to the presscon. It was surreal. It’s that “so-near-yet-so-far” moment! I was seated two rows from their table just mesmerized by the band’s presences, taking photos of them while trying to calm myself. During the day of the concert, I prepared myself to be rained on (it was July, we were having typhoons left and right). In the end, I was proud of myself. I went to a rock concert all alone (although I met with friends afterwards); braved the rains and the wild crowd; lost my watch and busted my camera ; and lived ONE OF THE MOST AMAZING NIGHTS OF MY LIFE.

With friends during the 16th Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta

Going places, exploring things. I mentioned above that 2011 allowed me to finally go to Cebu and Davao. Even though the trips were work-related, I enjoyed them just the same. I never expected to be going to these places this year and for that I am thankful. I also got to join my friends in watching the 16th Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta in Clark, Pampanga and the World Pyro Olympics held at the Mall of Asia. I spent my Holy Week break touching base with my high school friends and visiting The Grotto in Bulacan. I enjoyed watching Kaos, Rent and Cirque du Soleil’s Varekai (and the best part: it’s free!).

With Chico and Delle

2011 was also the year The Morning Rush turned 15. I was lucky to be part of the anniversary celebration, being a rusher since 1996. TMR has been a great part of my high school life and I’m glad the show is still growing strong. They even came out with a book (which I heard is selling like hot pancakes) and the community of the show’s listeners is just getting bigger as days go by.

I know that 2011 was not a perfect year. I know there were times that difficulties tested my faith and patience. Not only once did I give in to temptations, to my temper, to my carelessness. Yet the positive events in my life overtook the negative. And for this I am truly grateful.

Thank you, 2011. Let 2012 be better, if not the same.

I know it will.

“Helping Mindanao NOW” —A Benefit Concert for Sendong Victims on December 26 at the Rockwell Tent

Some of the country’s top artists and musicians have come together for a special fund-raising concert for the victims of typhoon Sendong. The show is set on December 26, Monday, from 6 p.m. to 12 midnight, at the Rockwell Tent in Makati.

The entrance fee is P500, but everyone is enjoined to donate as much as they are able. Sagip Kapamilya of the ABS-CBN Foundation will take charge of the funds generated.

More than 20 artists and bands have pledged performances for the night. Among these are The Company, Noel Cabangon, True Faith, Aiza Seguerra, AMP Big Band with Skarlet, Luke Mejares, Guarana, Aquarela, Dulce with Jetto Aquino, Ivy Violan, Music Making Company, and more, with David Celdran giving the event introduction.

Rockwell has provided the venue for free, and a good number of sponsors and other volunteers have made the event possible in a very short span of time. All have been moved to do their share to help out the thousands who are suffering from the aftermath of the storm that cut across vast areas of Mindanao last December 16 and 17, particularly Cagayan de Oro and IliganCity.

The proceeds will be used to help the more than 280,000 individuals being served in and out of evacuation centers, out of 380,000 affected persons in 13 provinces, according to reports. Over a thousand people have been killed and hundreds remain missing, making Sendong the deadliest cyclone to hit thePhilippinesin the last 12 years. President Benigno Aquino has declared a state of national calamity as a result of the devastation.

In the spirit of Christmas and brotherhood, don’t miss  the “Helping Mindanao Now” benefit concert. Bring your family, friends and big hearts to this worthy cause on December 26 at the Rockwell Tent, Makati.