what's playin

i've said it before - my taste in music is as so varied you can never really tell what i'm listening to whenever i've got my earphones on. i love the chamber music of the gregorian chants as much as i love bruce springsteen's pop rockin. or eminem's white rap (wonder where is he now) to the operatic charm of josh groban.

this time, i'm goin dancin and wigglin so let me share three songs with you - two upbeat tunes that i wiggle my booty on even while i'm in the office, and one with a delightfully reggae beat.

Paid My Dues by Anastacia

i luv the fullness of her voice and the song speaks of what you get when you've been bad. a bit baddy but with some lesson woven into the danceable tune. nice.

I'm Yours by Jason Mraz

he's a newbie in the music biz (started only in 2007 with his debut album The Beauty in Ugly) but he's already making waves. not a surprise coz this guy's definitely got the groove. and in this song, he successfully adopted the reggae beat into his genuinely american music. I'm Yours is one song that can lift your spirits on a cold, damp day.

Closer by Ne-yo

another hip and cool tune that never fails to make me do some funky moves. well, at least according to what i imagine. haha...

listen to these songs via the e-snips widgets below. hope you like them too....

meeting na namannnn???

In my current job, grabe ang mga meeting. Ito na yata ang kumpanyang nakita ko na kaliwa’t kanan ang meeting. There are days na halos wala akong magawa kungdi mag-attend lang ng meetings, one after the other.

Hate ko pa naman yan. I think it’s counter productive. Ang daming oras na nasasayang. But even if I don’t want to, wala akong magawa minsan kungdi mag-attend. And in all those countless sessions, may napansin ako. And that’s what I’m gonna share with you.

Napansin ba ninyo na ang mga nag-aattend ng meeting, iba-ibang klase ng tao? I mean, iba-ibang personalities. And if I’d put a tag on them, eto yon:

The Dictator – eto yong mga dino-dominate ang discussion all to himself. Halos walang makasingit at sya lang ang nagsasalita. Makes you wonder kung bakit ka pa nag-attend eh sya lang pala ang gustong makipag-meet sa sarili nya.

The Impressionist – ito yong mga taong gusto laging magpa-impress. Always trying to appear as the know-it-all guy kahit wala namang alam. Ang daming sinasabi pero wala ka namang mahagilap ng substance.

The Artist - you might see him busy scribbling on his notepad. Akala mo nagsusulat ng notes about the meeting. But look at his paper when the meeting is over. Most likely, naka-tapos na sya ng isang Mona Lisa kung mahaba-haba ang meeting nyo.

The Politician – pag may pinagtatalunan, hingan mo ng comment ang taong ito and most likely he’ll give you an answer na ikakataas ng kilay mo. He’d refuse taking sides para walang makagalit. Hindi mo maaasahan ang mga ganito pag may botohang mangyayari. Balimbing.

The VIP – he’d come late and burst into the meeting room, profusely apologizing at sasabihing marami syang ginawa o galing pa sya sa isang meeting kaya sya late. And long before your meeting is over, magpapa-alam na porke may naghihintay pang tao. Coz he’s very important at kayo ay hindi kaya kayo na lang ang magtuloy ng meeting nyo.

The Kitten – kung magsalita ang taong ito, akala mo kuting na ngumingiyaw. Sobrang hina ng boses and you have to strain your ears para maintindihan lang ang sinasabi. Either he’s so shy na magsalita o talagang ganon na ang speaking voice. Minsan gusto kong tapakan ang paa para mapa-aray at lumakas-lakas naman ang boka.

The Ghost – at least si kitten, maririnig mo. Pero etong Ghost, magugulat ka na lang and say ‘uy, nandyan ka pala’. Dahil after hours na naguusap kayo, hindi mo sya narinig magsalita. Either natutulog o ayaw magsalita dahil walang alam sabihin sa pinag-uusapan ninyo. Makikita mo na lang as you were leaving the conference room.

Well, I'm just trying to humor myself sa mga pinag-gagawa ko rito. But the truth is, minsan ako rin, dahil sobrang bored, uninterested at hate ang meeting, nagiging The Artist ako minsan. Kaya after the meeting, nakakagawa ako ng mga starts, flowers at kung ano-ano pa from repeated strokes of my pen. Hay naku, meeting na walang katapusan. We gotta use our time in a more productive manner.

condelences

gusto ko lang pong i-share ang king condolences with a very good friend, Cesar of Jeddah, who lost his dear father yesterday.

i've never met his father, and even his mother for that matter, pero halos kilala ko na sila dahil sa madalas naming kwentuhan about them. Cesar kasi was just like me whose love for his parents never takes a backseat. in whatever he does, it's his parents na priority nya sa buhay.

and i know exactly how it feels to lose someone so close to your heart. but, as i always say, the line 'they'll live on forever in our hearts' is not just a cliche. totoo yon. dahil buhay na buhay pa rin sa puso at isip ko ang tatay ko after 13 years na mawala sya sa buhay namin.

and i know Cesar will have the spirit and love of his dad in his heart just as long.

to you dear friend, my deepest sympathy. cry it out. let your heart bleed. but try to celebrate with your dad who is now freed from the hardships of a mortal existence. he went peacefully and that says a lot. and in the end, just remember that having his spirit guide you in all your days is something more magical. you'll see.

no. 12: raindrops and nostalgia

Umuulan na naman (yup, umuulan din po sa Saudi for those who doesn’t know). Magbabago na kasi ng season at yong dating init ng panahon ay mapapalitan na ng lamig. And in between these extreme seasons, laging may transition na nangyayari. Magsa-sandstorm muna saka bubuhos ang ulan. Then change weather na, either from summer to winter or vice versa.

Hindi ako madaling ma-homesick but whenever it rains, feeling ko nasa Pinas ako. And it brings back memories, fond or otherwise, ng mga experiences ko about rain. Let me share some of them with you.

Pitter-patter…
When I was still young, hindi ko natandaan na nakaranas akong maligo sa ulan. Sakitin kasi ako noon, madaling sipunin. Kaya while other kids na kapitbahay ko ay nagtatampisaw sa ulan, ako nakapanood lang sa kanila. Madalas nagpapa-anod lang ako ng bangkang papel sa kanal ng tubig na galing sa bubong namin. Or, paglalaruan ko ang pusa kong si Turnino, ihahagis ko sa ulan at tuwang-tuwa akong nagpi-pipitlag ang mga paa pagtakbo pabalik ng bahay. Pero kahit ginawin ako noon, enjoy na enjoy naman ako dahil malamig ang hangin. Ang sarap matulog at hindi na kailangan ng pamaypay o bentilador (na wala naman kami). Ang masarap pa, parang music yong patak ng ulan sa bubong naming yero. Minsan maglalagay pa ako ng empty na lata sa mismong pinapatakan ng tubig galing sa bubong. At yon ang ini-enjoy kong pakinggan hanggang makatulog ako. I still cherish those memories. Simpleng buhay. Simpleng enjoyment.

Hayyy… hirap ng buhay.
After High School yata yon and it was summer break bago ako pumunta ng Maynila para mag-college. Nagkataong tag-ani ng palay. Mabait naman akong anak (hehehe) kaya tumulong ako sa Tatay at Nanay ko na maki-ani ng palay sa kabilang baryo namin. Hapon na at pauwi na kami, pareho kami ng Tatay ko na may pasan na sako ng palay habang bitbit naman ng Nanay ko ang mga gamit namin. Saka naman biglang bumuhos ang malakas na ulan. Eh tatawid kami ng isang bundok. Nagkadulas-dulas ako lalo na nong pababa na kami. Kaya ang Tatay ko ang nag-buhat ng palay na dala ko. I was such a whimp. At ang Tatay ko, ganon kabait. Yan, na-miss ko na naman si Ka Lando.

Ulan sa Sentosa.
1995 nang mag-tour ako sa Singapore. All by myself dahil nag-back out ang kasabay kong magbakasyon na dapat kasama ko sa Singapore trip (it was a side trip on my way to Manila from KSA). Pero kahit mag-isa ako, tinuloy ko yong tour. It was my second day in Singapore nang sumama ako sa Sentosa tour. At the end of the trip, sumakay ako sa cable car from Sentosa papunta ng Mount Faber where our tour bus was waiting. At the start of the ride, marami akong kasabay, 7 or 8 yata kami sa isang car. Pero bumaba sila lahat doon sa terminal na nasa gitna nong dagat. And I was left all alone on the second segment papunta sa Mt Faber. Biglang-bigla naman, bumuhos ang ulan na may kasamang malakas na hangin. And the cable car was swaying mad! It was really scary. Pero kahit ganon ang experience ko, I’d do it again (cable car ride) pag napunta ako ulit don. Sana lang wag nang umulan ulit.

Barefoot on Buendia.
Back in 99 nong nagta-trabaho pa ako sa Makati, pauwi na ako isang hapon nang biglang bumuhos ang malakas na ulan. Buong Metro Manila yata ang inulan ng malakas and in just a couple of hours, baha na halos lahat ng kalsada. Even Ayala Avenue was not spared. Ang masakit nito, tumigil na ang ulan pero tigil din ang traffic. Bumper to bumper ang mga sasakyan at walang umuusad kahit isa. 5pm ako lumabas ng office, spent an hour na magpatila ng ulan and another hour trying to find any form of transpo para makauwi. Nong wala talaga akong masakyan, naglakad na lang ako since dela Rosa lang naman ako uuwi. Pwedeng lakarin. Kaso, baha nga lahat ng kalye. At nanghihinayang ako sa sapatos kong medyo mahal (medyo pa-sosyal kasi sa Citibank Towers ang office namin). No second thoughts, hinubad ko si sapatos at medyas at naglakad ako sa Buendia Ave – barefoot. Na-realize ko na lung gaano ako ka-stupid ng maka-uwi ako ng bahay. What if nakatapak ako ng bubog or pako? Stupid di ba? Anyways, pagdating ko ng bahay, nakita ko nga sa Tv ang mahabang traffic na hindi lang pala sa Ayala at Buendia, even the entire stretch of EDSA all the way from Baclaran to Cubao. Ganon pala ka-grabe yong sitwasyon.

Well, these are just a few of the experiences na naaalala ko pag umuulan. How about you, may mga memories din ba ang ulan sa yo?

life... death.... and everything in between

So it’s Nov again. At sa ating mga Pinoy, Nov 1 is always observed as the day of the departed. Although sa totoong buhay, Nov 1 is All Saints Day at Nov 2 ang All Souls Day. Naging tradisyon na lang ng mga Pinoy na pagsamahin.

Nevertheless, eto yong mga panahon that always makes me think kung ano talaga ang nangyayari pag namatay na ang isang tao. Totoo ba ang sinasabi ng mga doktrina ng ating kinamulatang relihiyon na mayroong buhay beyond our mortal existence?

Or should I be more practical and believe that death ends it all and nothing lies beyond your last breath. And neither Heaven nor Hell is nothing like what we usually painted in our minds. Or, at the risk of sounding radical and irreverent, ask something like - does it even exist?

Kasi, sa totoo lang, sino ba talaga ang makakapag-patunay na merong life after death? May namatay na ba at nakabalik sa mundong ito at nagsabing he has been to the gates of heaven? Or has seen Satan welcoming him to the depths of hell? Wala pa di ba.

So how can we believe something like that kung wala talagang proof? And all we have is our faith, base sa kinalakihan natin at pinaniwalaan natin? Faith in what we believe is true dahil yon ang tinuro sa atin. Yon kasi ang sabi ng Bible. Yon kasi ang sabi ng Pari. Yon kasi ang sabi ng mga magulang natin.

Ok, sabihin nating walang life after death and we all end up as a ghostly spirit as soon as our heart stopped beating. Then, what happens? Saan pupunta yong spirit? Sa Heaven if you did good during your lifetime or Hell if you spent it otherwise? Again, why? Dahil yon ang sabi sa atin ng Bible, ng Pari, ng matatanda at ng mga magulang natin?

But isn’t it one big blackmail? I mean, hindi ba’t parehong-pareho lang yon ng mga pang-uuto ng Nanay natin sa atin nong maliit pa tayo? “Sige anak, pag nagpakabait ka, ibibili kita ng laruan. Pag naging salbahe ka, papaluin kita.” O kaya yong sabi ng Tatay natin na “Anak, pag first honor ka, ibibili kita ng bike. Pero pag bumagsak ka, humanda ka sa sinturon ko”.

We are told to do good and be good para ibigay sa atin yong gusto natin. Otherwise, we don’t get the prize and instead, punishment ang ibibigay sa atin. Yon ang sinasabi kong parehong-pareho. May kakabit na threat yong kundisyones. Pag mabait ka, sa langit ka pupunta. Pag masama, sa impyerno ang bagsak mo.

O sige, sabihin nating nagpaka-santo ka, malaking mag-abuloy sa simbahan and was doing lots of charity works. But at the back of your mind, you’re doing it all dahil meron kang hinihintay na kapalit. In fact, you look at everything you do as an investment. Na bawat ginagawa mong kabutihan, binibilang mo na para kang naghuhulog ng coins sa piggy bank. And in the end, ang gusto mong ROI ay ang mapunta sa langit.

Do you think it’s gonna get you to where you wanna be?

Why can’t we just do good things because we know in our heart and our mind that it is the right and good thing to do? Just do good things to our family and to the community as a whole na walang selfish motive. Yong gusto lang talaga nating maging mabait na tao, matinong member ng society without fixating on what happens to us in the after life. Coz again, naron yong paniniwala ko na if you do something good na may hinihintay na kapalit para sa sarili mo, it’s just as bad as doing something bad.

And what happens if it turned out na walang langit, walang impyerno. And after you gasped your last breath, naging spirit ka na, wala na palang kasunod. Wala yong inaasahan mong welcome party ni San Pedro sa yo with matching pearly white gates and singing angels? Natunaw yong inaasahan mong ROI. So you’ll turn out to be one sour spirit? Tatambay sa mga balete at mananakot ng mga inosenteng tao?

Tapos makikita mo yong mga taong buhay na nakakakilala sa yo, pinag-uusapan ka at ang sabi “Naku, kunwari lang naman mabait yan pero sa totoo lang, kurakot yan, manloloko, rapist at gangster pa. Mabuti nga namatay na.” Well, for me, yon ang impyerno. Patay ka na nga pero wala kang iniwang mabuti kaya walang masabing mabuti yong mga kakilala mo.

Di ba mas maganda yong maganda lang talaga ang ginawa mo nong buhay ka pa at walang ini-expect na kung ano pag namatay. You may float in the air as one happy spirit. Kung wala mang langit na naghihintay sa yo, heaven na rin ang feeling mo dahil magaganda ang naririnig mong comments sa mga taong tinulungan mo ng walang pagkukunwari. And every good word they utter about you are just like petals of flowers thrown your way. Di ba, yon ang paradise?

I know this thing has been the subject of countless debates. Marami na ang nagtalo, nag-away at siguro nagka-patayan sa argumento tungkol sa bagay na ito.

Unfortunately, kahit anong balitaktakan ang gawin natin, kahit itambak natin lahat ang documents from all the versions of the Bible, kahit gamitin natin lahat ng research papers for scientific evidence, we can not come up with anything definitive to support either sides. And in the end, it all boils down to what we believe. To what we have accepted in our hearts and in our minds as the truth.

So is there really life after death? Totoo ba ang Heaven and Hell? I’ve said my piece. And that's what I believe in. It’s up to you what you make out of it.

dipping it again

in short, makisawsaw na naman ang daliri ko sa mga isyung hindi ko maiwasang hindi mag-comment.

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Ban Ki Moon in Manila : There will be a reversal of migration due to the global financial crisis.

Ah, hello, Secretary sir, I think I have written the same thing in this blog as soon as Lehman Brothers crumbled. And I don’t think you have to be UN Secretary to figure it out. What I want to hear from you is – what are you (UN) doing, together with the other giants World Bank and International Monetary Fund to avert this global financial crisis? Maybe hang those greedy businessmen who sent the stock markets tumbling so they can’t do it again?


Katas ng VAT to fund programs for the Poor.

Aha! Piyesta na naman ang mga ganid! Hiding again under the pretense of humanitarian cause. For the poor daw! Sige nga. So what do we expect in the next few days, ang magagaling na mga pulitiko pupunta sa isang baranggay, mamimigay ng kaunting delata sa mga kawawang mahihirap tapos kung todo pictorial at tv coverage na? Stop it already. Kawawa naman kaming mahihirap. Namamatay na sa gutom ginagamit pa ninyong props sa mga propaganda ninyo.


Anabel Rama celebrates 56th birthday in Willie’s yacths.

Aba ang yaman na nga pala talaga nitong si Willie. Mantakin mo, may yate at hindi lang isa, dalawa pa! Ganon ba kalaki ang sweldo nya sa ABS-CBN? After the Ferrari scandal, eto at may dalawang bonggang-bonggang yate naman sya. Eh dream ko rin yan. Sarap kayang mag-sail from port to port with your own luxurious yacht. Sabi na nga mali ang pinili kong trabaho eh. I should have been a Tv host even to one pathetic noon time show. Milyonaryo na ako, makakapag-kunwari pa akong mabait sa mahihirap at pro-poor kahit diring-diri ako sa mga amoy araw na hampaslupa! It’s showbiz afterall.


Jocjoc, naiuwi na ng Pinas. Inaresto. Dinala sa Ospital.

One word: Drama. Ay, two words pala: Malaking Drama! Hay naku, bakit ba itong si Jocjoc lang ang pinag-pipistahan? Haleeerrrr!!! Isa lang sya pero marami pa dapat kayong arestuhin no. Mga kumag kayo. 700 million pesos lang ang pinag-uusapan dito. Peanuts. Eh ano nang nangyari sa ibang mga scandal? Nasan na ang broadband scandal? Pati yong sa textbook? Pati yong sa C5? Pati yong sa swine at kung ano-ano pa? Hirap kasi sa atin, puro expose, puro pasabog. Pagkatapos mag-expose, wala na. Naka-kuha na kasi ng milya-milyang media mileage. Hmpt!

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Sunflower Cracker Blueberry – melamine positive... not

Shucks!! Eh peyborit ko pa naman ang Sunflower Crackers. Madalas akong bumili nyan sa Kadiwa. Tested positive daw for melamine sa Hongkong. O sige, yong Blueberry flavor lang daw. Pero bakit pagdating ng Pinas, hindi naman daw at clear daw lahat ng crackers manufactured by Croley? Ano’ng nangyari? Iba ang testing process ng HK at Pinas? O iba ang lagay, este samples na na-test? Whatever, hindi na muna ako bibili ng Sunflower. Moonflower na lang kung meron.

dante's first... yeeeyyy!

I must admit I’m one boring webbie. I don’t surf the net mad like some people do. I tend to stay on familiar grounds that kept my internet activities limited to reading on-line newspapers, downloading mp3s and checking my e-mails. Ho-hum!

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Sometimes i go streaming but my 128 (can't afford faster connection, darn!) makes it more frustrating than interesting. I sometimes go webcamming too but silly people i meet online just makes me puke rather than get hooked on it. So I chose to stick to what I do best - being a boring surfer! Hehehe....

But when some of my friends started babbling about Friendster, Facebook, Flicker and anything F, I decided to end my ignorance. Afterall, I can’t go on nodding my head whenever they talk about those social networking sites, pretending to get what they’re saying when in fact I haven’t got the slightest clue as to what these things are. What a moron huh.

First, I tried Friendster. But even before I started posting my pix, I felt it wasn’t my thing. Besides, I can’t find a pic of mine worthy of posting and getting cutesy comments. Cute. But mushy. I needed something more challenging.

Then Matt invited me to his blog. And, boy was I thankful for that invite coz it introduced me to something that I was unconsciously looking for – blogging.

And so with Blogger.com providing a one-button blog creator for morons like me, Dante Speaks was born. A name that was instantaneous, never took longer than two seconds for me to come up with it. I know it sounds pretty close to one Hollywood film about one vicious volcano. But it wasn’t my intention to capitalize on that film’s fame. It was just the perfect blog name for me coz it carries my name and the one thing that I love doing – speaking (or in this case, writing) my mind out.

My first posting was exactly a year ago. Since then, I never looked back. I was posting new materials as well as old ones resurrected from my vaults - some jurassic floppies, cd’s and flash disks. Writings that I used to share with friends via e-mail.

So after 365 days, 6,200++ visits, 170 posts, countless template changes and one cool banner courtesy of DennisQ later, Dante Speaks is celebrating it’s first year on the blogging world. Yeyyy!

And whatever I wrote and posted – be it trivial, mundane, serious, hilarious or simply crazy, I’ve now reached into a wider audience (okay, I’m over reacting here… haha). But hey, my visitor’s locator says Dante Speaks is now globe-trotting. That is, if this cluster map’s accurate!

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Anyways, I’d like to thank you guys for being a part of this blog. I may not know most of you personally but it was a pleasure sharing figments of my sometimes hyper-active grey cells with you. Don’t know your names so let me just thank you by location (though I can only approximate on the areas):

Canada – Edmonton

USA – Hawaii, California, Washington, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Texas, Georgia, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia (probably my cousins though I don’t exactly know their areas)

The Carribean – Turks and Caicos

African Continent – Libya (I bet it’s Mario), South Africa and Egypt

Europe – Italy, Turkey, Spain, Belgium (Erick?), Germany, France, Ireland, England, Romania, Finland and Norway

Asia – India, Thailand, China, Singapore, Jakarta and Surabaya (my friend Chayadi, is it you?) in Indonesia and Hiroshima and Osaka (I’m sure it’s my niece Minette) in Japan

KSA – a whole lot from Riyadh, Jeddah (my friend Cesar and my cousins in that area) and Dammam/Jubail area (my entire addicque friends led by Raoul, Ega and JunC )

And of course from Mindanao, Visayas and the Luzon area of the Philippines where my niece Myles and Jun C’s dear Linds frequent this site too.

Once again, a big THANKS to all of you. Keep visiting coz I’ll be posting more. Heck, I just got warmed up in this blogging thing. Haha!