Last night the whole family went to the Indo's Strip Bar at Orosa (Malate) to watch James and his TB (Tacho Band) perform with 14 other "amateur"bands. It was his 3rd gig at a bar and the second time for me to watch him perform in public. For Jaja it was the first.
We waited for over two hours before the show started.Thankfully, James' band was third in line. The first two groups were Lourdesians from lower grades and obviously needed more practice. Specially the 2nd band which was really trying hard to sound like a reggae band.
When their turn came,TB warmed up with a series of riffs before breaking into their first song. I really didn't know what their songs were but they sounded very good compared to the first time I heard them perform. They were still rough around some edges but they were playing together.
James started out cooly at first but when they were into their 3rd song he was putting in some showmanship!
They got loud applause not only from their friends but also from the other bands who recognized they had just seen a very good performance!
Tacho Rocks! TB Rules!
Friday, April 28, 2006
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
GROWING IN WISDOM
I just had an insight this morning.
As I grow older I realize more and more that being wise does not mean knowing all the answers or having all the answers.
Wisdom is realizing that there's a lot I don't know and that I must therefore be humble and learn.
That's why I believe that old dogs can still learn new tricks!
As I grow older I realize more and more that being wise does not mean knowing all the answers or having all the answers.
Wisdom is realizing that there's a lot I don't know and that I must therefore be humble and learn.
That's why I believe that old dogs can still learn new tricks!
Thursday, April 20, 2006
FEEL GOOD MOVIES FOR "NOT FEEL SO GOOD" DAYS
I had a bad case of the flu during the past three days. It wasn't so much the pain in the joints that bothered me. What I couldn't stand were the recurring,head-splitting headaches that prevented me from getting a much needed rest. Good thing was that a dose of paracetamol provided me with relief.
The only other thing I could do besides eat,sleep and pee,was to watch TV. Fortunately,there were some "feel good" movies on the tube that helped me make it through the 3 day ordeal.
One feature on the Hallmark Channel was "The Magic of Ordinary Days." Set against the background of World War Two,the story was about Livy,a pretty,educated single and pregnant woman who got herself in a marriage of convenience to Ray Singleton,a simple farmer,who agreed to the arrangment because he believed it was God's will. Livy,who was city bred and raised,gradually finds herself being drawn into and loving the simple country life. She meets and befriends two Japanese-Americans who are working Ray's farm and gets to know about their butterfly-watching hobby.
All this time,Livy has been sending letters to the father of her child,an Air Force instructor. Ray finds out about it toward the end o f the film and professes that he has fallen in love with her and wants her to stay. He gives her a ring...something he wasn't able to do,when they got married and she accepts.
The other feel good movie I saw was Big Fish. It reminded me of the 4 Antiques,specially Uncle Peds who was well known for his fish stories. It made me appreciate that I belonged to a family of storytellers,who, in their effort to make history interesting by embellishing the details, were somehow in fact,telling reality as it was!
The only other thing I could do besides eat,sleep and pee,was to watch TV. Fortunately,there were some "feel good" movies on the tube that helped me make it through the 3 day ordeal.
One feature on the Hallmark Channel was "The Magic of Ordinary Days." Set against the background of World War Two,the story was about Livy,a pretty,educated single and pregnant woman who got herself in a marriage of convenience to Ray Singleton,a simple farmer,who agreed to the arrangment because he believed it was God's will. Livy,who was city bred and raised,gradually finds herself being drawn into and loving the simple country life. She meets and befriends two Japanese-Americans who are working Ray's farm and gets to know about their butterfly-watching hobby.
All this time,Livy has been sending letters to the father of her child,an Air Force instructor. Ray finds out about it toward the end o f the film and professes that he has fallen in love with her and wants her to stay. He gives her a ring...something he wasn't able to do,when they got married and she accepts.
The other feel good movie I saw was Big Fish. It reminded me of the 4 Antiques,specially Uncle Peds who was well known for his fish stories. It made me appreciate that I belonged to a family of storytellers,who, in their effort to make history interesting by embellishing the details, were somehow in fact,telling reality as it was!
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
MUSINGS ON GRADUATION DAY
Yesterday, my second son James graduated from High School. I didn't pay much attention during the ceremonies,which consisted mainly of presentation of awards to achievers in the academic and non-academic fields. I guess my behavior was understandable because James wasn't going to receive any medals or plaques.
I'm sure that if he had only excelled in academics and was going to receive medals,Jaja and I would have been very attentive. I could not help but mention to her that when I was in elementary,High School and College,my parents,specially Mommy,was probably on top of the world seeing her son going up the stage to receive recognition and even deliver Valedictory addresses (since I was class valedictorian in High School and College.)
Jaja jokingly asked how come none of our kids inherited our abilities. I pointed out to her that we did have Tasha who got medals...only it was in the field of athletics and not academics!
I replied that if we had really wanted them to excel in academics,then we should have spent more of our time supervising their studies and driving them to achieve like my Mom did to me. But,I pointed out (maybe as an excuse...or maybe out of experience),I didn't want to push them at the expense of them not enjoying their childhood.
I also remarked that from my own experience with my batchmates,it wasn't really the brightest who turned out to be the richest and most successful in life. There are in fact many from my Bedan batchmates who were not in the star section but are now rich individuals because of either business savvy, sales acumen or just plain hard work and luck! On the whole,though most of us who were above average performers did well in life and are living in comfort, some of our brightest are struggling.
Personally, I have very high hopes for James in spite of the fact that he almost didn't pass high school and doesn't show the flair for academics that his siblings show. I even predict he will be the richest among them mainly because of his business sense and people relations skills.
Yesterday, when his name was called, there was a big round of applause. When we asked him why, he said it was probably because his photo,which was projected on screen looked funny. But I would like to believe it was also because he was so popular with many in his batch!
Time will tell whether I am right or I am wrong. Maybe I'll have the answer when I'm finally driving my BMW and basking in the Caribbean courtesy of my rich son, James...the son who almost failed High School...but made it with honors in the school of life.
I'm sure that if he had only excelled in academics and was going to receive medals,Jaja and I would have been very attentive. I could not help but mention to her that when I was in elementary,High School and College,my parents,specially Mommy,was probably on top of the world seeing her son going up the stage to receive recognition and even deliver Valedictory addresses (since I was class valedictorian in High School and College.)
Jaja jokingly asked how come none of our kids inherited our abilities. I pointed out to her that we did have Tasha who got medals...only it was in the field of athletics and not academics!
I replied that if we had really wanted them to excel in academics,then we should have spent more of our time supervising their studies and driving them to achieve like my Mom did to me. But,I pointed out (maybe as an excuse...or maybe out of experience),I didn't want to push them at the expense of them not enjoying their childhood.
I also remarked that from my own experience with my batchmates,it wasn't really the brightest who turned out to be the richest and most successful in life. There are in fact many from my Bedan batchmates who were not in the star section but are now rich individuals because of either business savvy, sales acumen or just plain hard work and luck! On the whole,though most of us who were above average performers did well in life and are living in comfort, some of our brightest are struggling.
Personally, I have very high hopes for James in spite of the fact that he almost didn't pass high school and doesn't show the flair for academics that his siblings show. I even predict he will be the richest among them mainly because of his business sense and people relations skills.
Yesterday, when his name was called, there was a big round of applause. When we asked him why, he said it was probably because his photo,which was projected on screen looked funny. But I would like to believe it was also because he was so popular with many in his batch!
Time will tell whether I am right or I am wrong. Maybe I'll have the answer when I'm finally driving my BMW and basking in the Caribbean courtesy of my rich son, James...the son who almost failed High School...but made it with honors in the school of life.
Sunday, April 02, 2006
AN OLD DOG LEARNING NEW TRICKS
During the past week I've been using Adobe Photoshop to include faces of ex-Juvenists who joined our grand reunion but weren't included in the group photo. After learning thru experience I finally finished "Photoshopping in" 12 people and it didn't look bad. I asked my daughter to pinpoint those I had added and she missed about 4 so I must have done a convincing job.
I've also experimented on using the other Photoshop tools to create a poster of my son James playing bass guitar. This time around I intend to learn all the possibilities I can create using this fantastic software. I'll even extend the learning to using Adobe Illustrator for the SBC Souvenir Program.
I'm getting excited about learning something new...and something creative at that! It really proves that "old dogs" can still learn new tricks. I guess it depends if one thinks he's an old dog or not.
I've also experimented on using the other Photoshop tools to create a poster of my son James playing bass guitar. This time around I intend to learn all the possibilities I can create using this fantastic software. I'll even extend the learning to using Adobe Illustrator for the SBC Souvenir Program.
I'm getting excited about learning something new...and something creative at that! It really proves that "old dogs" can still learn new tricks. I guess it depends if one thinks he's an old dog or not.
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