Just JOSH'n

Among the newer artists to come out in recent years, I have been somehow a fan of Josh Groban. I remember a couple of years ago when I was still unaware of who Josh is, a classmate in this voice workshop I attended commented that I should try singing his song. In his own opinion, I kinda sound like him when I sing! Go figure!

Gullible that I am, I got his first CD out of curiosity and soon found myself hooked. And after his Live in Concert DVD, his 2nd album Closer and his Live at the Greek DVD, it has now been my pleasure singing his songs everytime I get the chance to, mostly at karaoke bars. Do I really sound like him? . . . Hardly!


Anyways, I was recently asked by an office colleague and friend to sing at his wedding this December and of all the songs that he could have picked, he requested The Prayer to be their wedding march song (it's going to be a duet with my good friend Liza). For those who are familiar with the song, they would know that though it is a beautiful and moving song to listen to, it's quite a difficult piece to sing.



Yesterday, we had our first chance to rehearse the song and it was really a challenge! I haven't sung in a while and it took some time for me to get warmed up. Luckily, we were able to pull it off. Okay, it was still kinda rough around the edges, but given that we still have a month to fine-tune it, we're still very hopeful.

What makes this quite exciting is that it will be my first time to sing with live musical accompaniment (aside from the fact that it's my first wedding singer duty ever!). Though it takes some getting used to, it's such a refreshing break from the usual karaoke CDs. Yesterday during rehearsal, I was so impressed at how good the violinist was that I almost forgot to sing as I tried to listen to him play.

I have no idea how this singing endeavor would play out but I just hope it wouldn't be so bad that we would ruin a supposedly memorable moment for our friend and his bride. Talk about pressure!



Guide us with your grace,
Give us faith so we'll be safe...



Josh Groban
Weddings

I am Gifted!

I received my first of (hopefully) many gifts to get for this year's holiday season!



It came from my clients based in California who have never failed to send me a package every year since I started handling their account. Though the element of surprise is no longer there since they ALWAYS send me boxes of assorted nuts (no pun intended) and fruit candies, I am still happy to have them again this year.

I will not have the candies and nuts by myself. I'll share these with my colleagues who readily back me up everytime I can't come to the office (it happens a lot!). But I still get to keep the beautiful boxes!

Just one more thing to be thankful for this time of year...

And to all of my friends in the United States,
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Slice a turkey for me, why dontcha?



Was it all worth it, and how did I earn it...



Thanksgiving
Holidays

A Weekend with HARRY and MIMI

I saw Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire over the weekend and I have to say that this has got to be my most favorite of the film series so far!

Watching the movie was like seeing the book come alive just as I have imagined it to be when I read it a few years back. Though there were some parts of the book that were deliberately ommited due to time constraints (at 2 1/2 hours, the film is still relatively long), it nevertheless was as faithful an adapatation as it could be. Luckily, the film had more than enough sense of humor to provide respite from the darker feel of most of the film's sequences.

It's really amusing to see how much the lead characters have grown since the last Harry Potter installment, particularly Harry and Ron who now appear to be more men than boys. I couldn't help but gush over how Harry is getting sexier as he matures. And along with new characters Cedric Diggory and Victor Krum, he definitely was able to put some fire in my goblet!!! (Hah!) Meanwhile, Hermione is surely turning out to be one lovely lady especially in the Yule Ball scenes where she easily outshone the rest of the girls and captivated the boys with her unassuming charm. More noteworthy is how much the child actors have improved in their acting even alongside more established and veteran actors. I couldn't help expecting more from these 'kids' in their subsequent films.

As I look forward to the next Harry Potter movie (Order of the Phoenix) and hope it would be at least as good as the latest, I am only left with the urge to get back to my copy of the book and enjoy it all over again.


Meanwhile, I also purchased a new CD last Saturday and to the dismay of some of my Madonna friends, it is that of Mariah Carey's The Emancipation of Mimi. I have been planning on getting this CD for some time but had to hold it off learning that the Ultra Platinum Edition would be released featuring 4 additional un-released tracks. I already was able to listen to the album and so far, I like it (especially the tracks We Belong Together and Get Your Number) although it still has to take a backseat to Madonna's Confessions on a Dance Floor which is still my constant music background at home and at the office for the past week. Until I get tired of listening to Madge's latest, Mimi would have to be content to being just a breather from my Confessions-filled days.




Celebrate me for who I am, dislike me for what I ain't!



MADONNA
Harry Potter
Mariah Carey

Leave No Stone Unturned

While I am still under the MADONNA spell cast by her just-released amazing CD Confessions on a Dance Floor (it's on an almost-continuous repeat play on my CD player since Monday!), I found one more thing to look forward to in the coming weeks...





Doesn't she look absolutely divine?!


In the evidence of its brilliance...



MADONNA

DIVAs' Weekend

The past weekend proved to be one weekend with my ultimate DIVAS!

Friday evening was a night we Madonniacs have been waiting for when MADONNA's album Confessions on a Dance Floor was officially launched through an all-night party in Government Bar. The theme of the night was pink or fuschia. Devout Madonnaphiles that we are, we trooped to the bar garbed in all forms of pinkness! I myself had to buy a new shirt just for the party and it was all worth it! (In the pic, I was no longer wearing pink since I already took my sweat-soaked pink shirt off after the party)

After a brief program involving a video presentation of a retrospective Madonna tribute courtesy of our website clubmadonna.ph and a quick video greeting from Madonna herself, we all had the chance to finally hear all the tracks in her new album and by all accounts, it is very, very promising. Of the 12 tracks in Confessions..., the stand outs are Hung Up, Sorry, Future Lovers, Jump, Isaac and Push. My instant love for the album was so much that I could not believe I had to wait 2 more days before I get hold of my own copy of the CD! Well...

Soon after the last album track was played, the DJ kicked in a slew of Madonna's past hits that drove the whole party crowd crazy! It was exhaustingly fantastic! This is my third time to attend an all-Madonna party and I don't think I'll ever tire of doing it!




As if the Madonna album launch was not enough, a fellow Madonnamaniax was kind enough to give me a CD of yet another favorite diva of mine, Megastar Sharon Cuneta. It is the 1990 album For Broken Hearts Only which to this date is still one of my most loved Sharon albums. I have a copy this but in the old cassette form and since I do not have a working cassette player anymore, it's been ages since I last heard this album. I took the opportunity while I still do not have Madonna's Confessions to play Sharon's lovely renditions of Now That You're Gone, Hindi Na Muli and Hanggang Kailan Kita Mamahalin. Truly, a Mega-Divine weekend!


Speaking of divas, a friend of mine (a diva in his own right) treated us to a birthday dinner on Saturday night with our friends from MB Philippines. As always, it's such a nice time when we get together for some rare night-out. And for this, THANKS, WOOKIE for the sumptuous meal! Again, Happy Birthday . . . Mwah!

Today, I finally claimed my pre-ordered copy of Confessions on a Dance Floor and I am now playing it non-stop! And each time, I am loving the album more and more and more and more and . . .


Now I can see things for what they really are
I guess I'm not that far
I'm at the point of no return
Just watch me burn



MADONNA
Sharon Cuneta
Music
Friends

Who Knew?

Allow me to share some of the lyrics from this Avenue Q song that I very much enjoy listening to.

This is for you Sunshine, for the 18 incredible months we've had together so far (and hopefully so many more to come...)


All those nights I lay in bed
Thoughts of you running through my head.
But I never thought the things in my head
Could really happen in my bed

All those years I missed the signs,
Couldn't read between the lines.
Who'd have thought I would see the day
Where I'd hear you say
What I heard you say?

And now I find
What was always in my mind
Was in your mind too.
Who knew?
Fantasies come true!

And now I see
That what I'd always dreamed of
Was meant to be.
You and me,
Me and you.

Fantasies Come True!


We've gone this far, longer than we expected, and I hope this would be as long as forever...



Eye to eye we need no words at all...


Love
Avenue Q
Broadway
Romance

When the Going Gets RAF

Thanks to my roommate Rolf, I finally got my first look at the new issue of ICON Magazine with their latest cover boy Rafael Rosell (the Bench underwear model whose huge billboards along main roads in Manila should be considered traffic hazards!).




Kudos to everyone in Icon for coming up with another winning issue. It is supposedly their 1st anniversary and it's just encouraging to see that more and more local GLBT magazines are thriving in the market lately. Looking forward to the next issue...



This photo is NOT from the magazine photoshoot.

What a lovely way to burn...



GLBT
Gay
Magazine

Hung Up on E.M.A.donna

Just when I thought I had to wait for days (maybe weeks) to finally see it on local TV, I had the good fortune of chancing upon a video link for MADONNA's scene-stealing opening performance of Hung Up for this year's MTV Europe Music Awards.

I mentioned in my last blog entry that I was not totally impressed by the Hung Up music video. However, seeing Madonna's live performance, the song was amped up to a whole new experience. I was totally blown away!

And now, I just can't wait for the Confessions on a Dance Floor album to come out!

And as Hung Up goes...

... Time goes by so slowly for those who wait!










MADONNA

A Hallowing Weekend

It's been days since I last made an entry and now after a long weekend, I'm back with (to borrow from SNL) my Weekend Update.

1. Last Thursday, I had the chance to finally see MADONNA's latest video Hung Up, the lead-off single for her upcoming album Confessions on a Dance Floor. Given that there has been a considerable hype surrounding the premiere, I somehow found the video a bit of a letdown. Sure, Madonna pulled off her dance sequences really well (her 'healing' bones notwithstanding), but the over-all feel of the song was somehow lost in the video. I guess I just expected too much. But I'll give it some more viewing, then maybe I'll like it more and more...


2. I had dinner with my friends on Saturday in honor of our fellow MB Philippines member Kim's birthday. Afterwards, we went to Malate for the annual Halloween street party. We had such a blast watching a number of guys, girls and queers in different costumes and make up as they paraded with amusing gusto. It was also my first time in a long while to dance my heart out. In typical fashion, we almost raced to the dance floor when Mariah's We Belong Together started playing. And as to bid me adieu, when Sunshine already prompted for us to go home since he had work the next morning, the DJ suddenly played Hung Up. What a way to end my night!

3. Yesterday, to commemorate All Souls' Day, I paid my respects to my parents and twin brother by visiting their resting place. As expected, it was quite an experience as I joined the crowds (with flowers and candles in hand) in the traditional trek to the cemetery. I was supposed to go with my brother but that plan fell through and I ended up going there alone. I stayed there for about an hour to pray for Papa, Mama & Ron John and reminisce those times that I was lucky enough to have with them.


And now, I'm back once again at work looking forward to another long weekend this Friday. Though there are no plans to go out, I can't wait to just spend that time at home for a well deserved rest...

...in the arms of unconsciousness.


MADONNA
Halloween
Family