See what the Filipino can do…

I thought I’ve already turned my back from the advertising world when I jumped to Client side but I should’ve known… being in Marketing Services now, there’s a chance that I will still get to visit it once in a while.

One such instance was the 21st Philippine Advertising Congress held in Subic Bay last November 18 to 20. Although I would always say that the I’ve attended too many AdCongresses in my lifetime as an ad slave (ha!) it was nice seeing familiar faces, listen to great forums and talks, witnessing unique and brave performances from individuals I’ve worked with and realizing that, however “cold” the industry’s culture may be, it can still find a way to show that is has a heart.

Here’s this year’s AdCon anthem, and no kidding, this gave me all the hope that I needed.

21st Phillipine Advertising Congress theme song

English Translation: (I know that it’s a “big sin” to translate someone else’s work – well that’s how I was taught when I worked in advertising – but I’m throwing that BS away and translate anyway as most of my readers do not understand Tagalog)

 

Will you let the waves tumble you down?

Or will you face the challenge?

Will you refuse to get up on your feet?

Or will you stand up and get out from the water?

 

Will you give in to the currents?

Or will you fight the thunderstorms?

Are you losing hope?

Or will you pour all your strength?

 

What do you think the Filipino can do

To show the world?

What do you think the Filipino can do

To show the world?

Get out from the water and unite.

Change is in our hands.

Show the world what the Filipino can do.

 

Will you let fear beat you?

Or will you fight the sadness?

Are the clouds covering you?

Or are you wearing the rainbow?

 

Will you give in to the currents?

Or will you fight the thunderstorms?

Are you losing hope?

Or will you pour all your strength?

 

What do you think the Filipino can do

To show the world?

What do you think the Filipino can do

To show the world?

Get out from the water and unite.

Change is in our hands.

Show the world what the Filipino can do.

 

There’s no choosing when it comes to helping out.

Let’s all unite, brown-skinned ones.

You or me, no one is selfish.

Let the blood of heroes flow.

Red, Yellow and Blue; 3 stars and 1 sun/

Stars that shine behind the clouds can be seen.

Hand in hand, hold on, don’t let go.

What do you think?

Together, let us hold hands/

3 stars and 1 sun.

And shout…

 

Will you give in to the currents?

Or will you fight the thunderstorms?

Are you losing hope?

Or will you pour all your strength?

 

What do you think the Filipino can do

To show the world?

What do you think the Filipino can do

To show the world?

Get out from the water and unite.

Change is in our hands.

Show the world what the Filipino can do.

 

What do you think the Filipino can do

To show the world?

Weekend Playlist

John Mayer

Album: Battle Studies

Yup, it has finally dropped in record bars and in iTunes. While the actual CD has yet to reach our shores (CALLING CAPITOL RECORDS WHERE ARE THE COPIES FOR THE PHILIPPINES???) I got to download the copy from i-Tunes (special thanks to my friend in the US for ordering it for me). So for days since the release last Wednesday, the my iPod and iTunes player only played Battle Studies songs, including his performances at the Ed Sullivan Theater in NYC, Beacon Theater in NYC and Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn (this dude has some weird adrenaline, being able to have 3 concerts in one week!)

My favorites:

Perfectly Lonely

Had a little love, but I spread it thin
Falling in her arms and out again
Made a bad name for my game around town
Tore up my heart, and shut it down
Nothing to do
Nowhere to be
A simple little kind of free
Nothing to do
No one but me
And that’s all I need
I’m perfectly lonely
I’m perfectly lonely
I’m perfectly lonely (Yeah)
‘Cause I don’t belong to anyone
Nobody belongs to me
I see friends around from time to time
When their ladies let them slip away
And when they ask me how I’m doing with mine
This is always what I say
Nothing to do
Nowhere to be
A simple little kind of free
Nothing to do
No one to be
Is it really hard to see?
Why I’m perfectly lonely
I’m perfectly lonely
I’m perfectly lonely
I’m perfectly lonely (Yeah)
‘Cause I don’t belong to anyone
Nobody belongs to me
And this is not to say
There never comes a day
I’ll take my chances and start again
And when I look behind
On all my younger times
I have to thank the wrongs that led me to a love so strong
[guitar solo]
I’m perfectly lonely
I’m perfectly lonely
I’m perfectly lonely (Yeah)
‘Cause I don’t belong to anyone
Nobody belongs to me
(That’s the way, that’s,that’s the way that I want it…)

 

It’s a sad song, really, but the way he did it made this perfectly lonely predicament of mine a little bit ok.

 

Half of My heart

I was born in the arms of imaginary friends
free to roam, made a home out of everywhere I’ve been
then you come crashing in, like the realest thing
trying my best to understand all that your love can bring
oh half of my heart’s got a grip on the situation
half of my heart takes time
half of my heart’s got a right mind to tell you
that I can’t keep loving you
oh, with half of my heart
I was made to believe i’d never love somebody else
I made a plan, stay the man who can only love himself
lonely was the song I sang, ’til the day you came
showing me a better way and all that my love can bring
oh half of my heart’s got a grip on the situation
half of my heart takes time
half of my heart’s got a right mind to tell you
that I can’t keep loving you
oh, with half of my heart
with half of my heart
your faith is strong
but I can only fall short for so long

time will hold, later on
you will hate that I never gave more to you than half of my heart
but I can’t stop loving you
but I can’t stop loving you
but I can’t stop loving you with half of my…
half of my heart
half of my heart
half of my heart’s got a real good imagination
half of my heart’s got you
half of my heart’s got a right mind to tell you
that half of my heart won’t do
half of my heart is a shotgun wedding to a bride with a paper ring
and half of my heart is the part of a man who’s never really loved anything

 

I’m not a fan of Taylor Swift, but the song hits me hard. Am I in that situation? I dunno, all I know is that the first time I heard it (One Splendid evening during this year’s Mayercraft), I couldn’t get it off my system.

 

Friends, Lovers or Nothing

Now that we are over
As the loving kind
We’ll be dreaming ways
To keep the good alive
Only when we want is not
A compromise
Ill be pouring tears
Into your drying eyes
Friends, lovers, or nothing
There can only be one
Friends, lovers, or nothing
We’ll never be the in between
So give it up
You whisper "Come on over"
Cause your two drinks in
But in the morning I will say
Good-bye again
Think we’ll never fall into
The jealous game
The streets will flood
With blood of those who felt the same
Friends, lovers, or nothing
You see
There can only be one
Friends, lovers, or nothing
We’ll never an in between
So give it up
Friends, lovers, or nothing
We can really only ever be one
Friends, lovers, or nothing
Don’t you know
We’ll never be the in between
So give it up
No we’ll never the in between
So give it up

 

Oh John, why do you have to sing these very sad songs?

 

Who Says

Who says I can’t get stoned?
Turn off the lights and the telephone
Me and my house alone
Who says I can’t get stoned?
Who says I can’t be free?
From all of the things that I used to be
Re-write my history
Who says I can’t be free?
It’s been a long night in New York City
It’s been a long night in Baton Rouge
I don’t remember you looking any better
But then again I don’t remember you
Who says I can’t get stoned?
Call up a girl that I used to know
Fake love for an hour or so
Who says I can’t get stoned?
Who says I can’t take time?
Meet all the girls on the county line
Then wait on fate to send a sign
Who says I can’t take time?
It’s been a long night in New York City
It’s been a long night in Austin too
I don’t remember you looking any better
But then again I don’t remember you
Who says I can’t get stoned?
Plan a trip to Japan alone
Doesn’t matter if I even go
Who says I can’t get stoned?
It’s been a long night in New York City
It’s been a long time since 20 too
I don’t remember you looking any better
But then again I don’t remember you

 

Aside from the fact that the song is somewhat a reflection of what he may be feeling right now, which me makes so envious, it’s the way his voice blends with the guitar. Very simple, very “Stop This Train”, very beautiful.

***

The album, as a whole, is about love that was unclear, gone, taken for granted, and longed. It’s like a storybook that reads itself aloud, whole-heartedly. That’s probably the best and only way I could describe it.

Efren Peñaflorida…

Mabuhay ka!

He believed…and so did we.

The greatest boxer of all time did it again. Salamat, Manny Pacquiao.

Where I should be before I die

Callao Cave in Cagayan Province.

 

Glitter WARNING

Good thing My Man (yeah I have one, in real life, so please allow me to call him “My Man”) doesn’t know this blog site of mine, or else, he’ll say that I’m one crazy fan.

Anyway… GLITTER FX, ON! (If only I had one)

Blog Promotion

“Discovered” a blog site by someone who was once the king of the universe and is now the queen of reality.

Meet “13”. He’s She-Ra in this world that’s far greater than Eternia. He’s the princess of power, who holds the sword of protection.

 

Diving the wrecks of Coron

My 3rd time in Coron this year and, hell yeah, this time, it wasn’t because of work (but I missed the 2nd day dive because of a deck I had to prepare – oh well). This trip was a special one because it was my first ever wreck dive session.

After a few hours of paranoia and anxiety attacks, it was down to our first wreck, the famous seaplane carrier Akitsushima, one of the few ships that was still intact, given that the damages didn’t cut the vessel in half, and that the body’s sheet did not disintegrate even if it bore huge holes, marked by the bombs that penetrated it. As it was my first wreck, I didn’t know what was in store for me. At first I thought it would be dark as Dave, my buddy and instructor, asked me if I brought a flashlight (which I didn’t have), but as descended, I followed and held on to the marker’s rope (beautifully and naturally decorated with colorful creatures and sea plants) as instructed, and saw, right in front of my eyes, a spectacular structure that has settled underwater for the past few decades.

We went around and saw its crane, the bomb cylinder, it’s deck and surprise appearances by a lion fish and a huge cuttlefish.

Next was the Taiei Maru. It was a small freighter which landed on it’s starboard side making it easy for us to see the boiler without having to penetrate. I wasn’t really that happy with the dive because I couldn’t control my buoyancy.

My dive buddy was our instructor, Dave, and woohoo, he led me inside a sunken ship on our last dive for the day, the East Tangat Gunboat. Thinking that I’d get creeped out, we went to the covered part of the deck and the hull, where huge Yellow Fish live, and surfaced, with me still having 1,000 psi. Seeing that I still had time, I asked if we could go back, even if it was already dark. After a few seconds of being in a state of shock, Dave agreed and we went back in, penetrating all areas we can fit in. He even let me hold on to his extra flashlight for me to see how creepy it could be. Let me remind you that my imagination do run wildly, but for that particular moment, I only admired what was right in front of me.

And as an added bonus, another huge cuttlefish made it’s special appearance, even bigger than what we saw the first time.

Photo by Paz Santos of Diveshoppe

In total, I went to 3 wrecks. The first 2 were a bit of surreal for me, but the last one, the one Dave and I went back to, was something real and will remain in my memory bank for the rest of my dive life. Not only because the ships were full of history (Japanese crafts), but it helped me realize that I’m not afraid of ‘em, not even one bit.

SORD is a brave girl, after all.

Oh, and for the fish lovers out there, yes, we saw a lot of these:

 

Photo by Paz Santos of Diveshoppe

Hachiko teaches us what loyalty really is all about

This is the story of Hachiko, an Akita dog, whose bond with its owner remained strong until death (of both owner and canine).

WARNING: It’s heartbreaking AND heartwarming.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Hachi: A Dog’s Story (doggies.com)
• Video: Hachiko The Loyal Dog (cbsnews.com)

First Impressions…

should not even last for a second.

Have you ever met someone who, at first, added on to your stress because of his incapability?

For sure you did.

But have you ever sat down, talked to this person, and then realize, “Hey, he may  not be the brightest person in the room, but of all the people here, he’s the one trying to do his best to make it right”?

Life can really be so confusing.