Friday, May 26, 2006

Congratulations

...to Romy Garduce, who successfully scaled Mt. Everest last Friday. He is only the third Filipino to accomplish this feat. I know this has been a long time goal of his, and not everyone who attempts the climb gets to the top so it's amazing that he managed this. I also heard that he just got off the plane, so I guess that means he is safe and sound. Which is great because stats seem to show that of all climbers who reach the summit, 20% of them die (scary stat actually, and I don't know where it is from)

...to Liverpool for winning the FA cup a couple of weekends ago. At least they ended the season with silverware, the second year in a row that they did this.

...to Martina Hingis for winning her first tournament since her comeback early this year. Granted, she didn't have to play against any of the top players. But she did beat long time rival Venus Williams along the way, as well as Dinara Safina (who I think is in the top 30 or sth). Seems that she has now reestablished herself as a solid contender, even after only a few months into her comeback after a 3-year retirement.

...to Taylor Hicks for winning American Idol. Now we have to wait half a year for the next season. Of course, there's Philippine Idol coming up. I wonder how that'll pan out.

Friday, May 19, 2006

Bad day

AI results this week are out. Elliott has been eliminated. 'Nuff said.

Monday, May 15, 2006

The Fog

No, this is not about the horror flick that was shown in cinemas a couple of months ago.

Last Saturday, I attended Omar and Van's wedding, which was held in the Chapel on the Hill in Calaruega (in Batangas). This seems to be in the 'in' place to be wed nowadays; this year, a couple of my other friends got married there too (although I have to admit that I missed one of them and only attended the reception of the other one, so this was my first trip there).

It really is a nice, intimate location, and it's supposed to have a great view. I say supposed to because I didn't get to see it. That was because last Saturday it was storming in Southern Luzon, and the Tagaytay/Batangas area had a horribly thick fog that visibility was limited to several meters at most.

I took the Sta. Rosa / Tagaytay route to their wedding, and upon reaching Tagaytay I was met with the thickest fog I have ever seen in my life. I have driven through snow before, and that was scary, but I guess my driving experience last Saturday has just topped that on the my-heart-is-pounding-for-fear-of-my-safety scale.

What I was glad to see though (which Omar and Van pointed out and which compensated for the bad weather) was that despite the rains and fog and wind, a lot of people still came to the wedding. The chapel was full and majority of the seats at the reception in Taal Vista were occupied.

I was kinda glad that Jason and Yeth were there too. At least I had someone to convoy with on my way home (or well at least heading out of Tagaytay).

Thursday, May 11, 2006

Top 3 baby, yeah!

Elliott is safe! Elliott is safe! Oh man, I am so pleased!

Even after his great performances last night, I still wasn't sure what would happen. I was hoping for the best but ready for the worst. And finally, after all this time, Elliott manages to snag a crucial top 2 spot with only 4 remaining.

In a shocking twist, frontrunner Chris Daughtry, who was hailed as this season's chosen one, was knocked out of the competition, leaving Elliott to battle it out with Katharine and Taylor next week for a berth in the finale.

Elliott has now outlasted Mandisa, Ace, Kellie, Paris, and now Chris. I'm not expecting that Elliott should make it to the finale now, because anything can happen. But I am hoping that the little E-train that could manages to sneak into the top 2 and defy the odds again.

3 songs from Elliott next week. Can't wait.

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Band Rage 6

Well, well, who would’ve thought that my band, Still Oz, would ever place 2nd in some battle of the bands competition?

Last Friday, my band joined one of the elimination legs in Band Rage 6. We haven’t played in maybe 2 months, and have barely practiced in that same period of time. However, because Bunky (our guitarist) is working night shift, it’s impossible for us to get full gigs now, and we’ve simply done lots of pro-bono, multiple band night gigs over the last few months just to allow us to do what we love doing. This battle of the bands thing, while not exactly our cup of tea, was another opportunity for us to play our music together.

So placing 2nd considering the circumstances was awesome!

Okay, okay, there’s a P.S. to this.

There were only two bands competing. Hehehe. It was still a lot of fun, though. Hope our guitarist sorts out his schedule soon so we can start getting full gigs again.

Thursday, May 04, 2006

Another close call

Elliott was once again in the bottom 2, as was Paris. And although I think Paris is the 2nd best vocalist in the top 5, I am greatly relieved that Elliott made it to the top 4.

I don't think he's gonna last much longer though. The pimpfest for Chris and Katharine continues, and Taylor still remains the fan favorite (check out how much airtime Chris, Kat, and Taylor had in the group song, as compared to Paris and Elliott).

Well, even if Elliott goes, we know that he has made some significant mark in the lives of some people. After mentioning his desire to bring Donnie Hathaway's music back to the forefront, sales of Donnie's CD in Amazon.com spiked from an obscure rank of #4000+ to a high of #23. The ranking has gone down again since last week to about 300+ now, but it was interesting to see the impact a brief mention that Elliott made about a singer that a whole lot of people didn't know existed.

Even better than that, Elliott's fans have started a campaign to raise funds for the American Diabetes Association. As of today, only after a few days I think of this campaign being started, about $6000 has already been raised.

I believe that when he finds out about all this money being raised to fight the debilitating disease that caused him and his mother so much difficulty in their lives, his heart would soar. Assuming that he doesn't win AI5, that would be a good enough consolation prize.

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Visiting the dentist

Way back in college, I joined an ice cream eating contest. The ice cream came straight out of the freezer and was rock hard. So hard in fact that I broke a chunk out of one of my molars. Pasta was put over it and up until this year I never had any problems with that tooth.

That is, until I broke off part of the pasta and a few days later my tooth started hurting a bit.

I got worried that maybe the pasta got a bit loose over the years and my tooth started decaying without me realizing. And now without the pasta to cover any exposed nerve, it started hurting again.

So I went to see a dentist to have that tooth looked at. And well it seems I had a few of problems going on. Replacing the pasta ONLY was no longer a good alternative, and a crown had to be put on it. This meant that a couple of millimeters had to be 'shaved off' all around my tooth so the dentist could put a crown on it. And since the hole in my tooth was already below the gumline, some minor surgery had to be done in order to cut off some of the excess gum. Which would require anesthesia, and I am NOT a fan of needles. And to top it all off, if after a month, my tooth started to hurt like hell, then I would most likely need a root canal.

So in the last month, I've been to the dentist 3 times, and I have to go back there next week again. Minor surgery has already been done, and the fact that my tooth has been reduced means that I have experienced some sensitivity in that tooth. The only good thing is that my tooth hasn't really hurt too much and too frequently over the last 3 weeks, which means that I may not need to undergo a root canal. Thank God for small mercies!

Hopefully next week, all the work on my tooth will be done. Of course my dentist thinks that another molar on the other side of my mouth may need a crown too. Which kinda scares me, another month of dental work.

Maybe after this I can go get my teeth whitened. Or have braces put on (my lower teeth are really crooked). Ever seen a guy already in their 30s with braces? No? I figured as much. I think I'll pass on the braces part then. =)

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

What's it gonna take?

Last week, Elliott put in what I thought was the only legitimately good performance of the night. His rendition of ‘A song for you’ got mad raves from the judges and is being touted as one of the best AI performances this season and maybe even in AI history. His amazing performance got Randy commending his voice, Paula shedding tears (although she honestly did seem to be on something that night), and Simon revisiting and re-emphasizoing his comment earlier in the season that Elliott is potentially the best male vocalist in AI history. But even looking past the vocal aspect of his performance, Elliott, for the first time this season, seemed to be more at ease and have more confidence than he's ever had. And on that night, he exuded better stage presence than any of the other contestants – Katharine smiled a sweet smile half the time while delivering ‘I have nothing’, Paris didn't seem to connect all that much with her song, Chris was singing about wooing women while looking more angry or amped then romantic, and neither Kellie nor Taylor ever looked like they knew what they were doing there.

So I guess I have to say that I was quite disappointed that Elliott didn’t manage to snag a top 2 spot. He’s safe, yes. And I guess I have to be happy that he’s not out or in the bottom 2 considering he’s been there in the past. But on a night when he put in a fantastic performance and everyone else either sucked or was mediocre, it makes me wonder what he has to do or what has to happen for him to move up the ladder and possibly get to the finale. The way things are going now, unless the judges and producers drop Kat and Chris as their chosen ones, I don’t see how Elliott can outlast either of those two, or even Taylor.

I guess I am obsessing over this so much because I think Elliott needs a top two finish more than anyone else left to gain some success. Kat is young and pretty and will surely get offers (Kellie, too). There also has been talk that the band ‘Fuel’ is interested in signing up Chris to be their lead vocalist, and even if that doesn't happen, his band can still pick him up after AI (ala Constantine) and sell their own album. Taylor has already released a CD and will surely release another one even if he doesn’t make it to the finale. And apparently Beyonce’s father is interested in signing Paris. But Elliott doesn’t seem to have anything in the cards for him if he doesn’t have a top 2 finish. And I guess I will be really sad if Elliott never comes out with an album. Coz a voice like his has to be heard, and with everything he’s gone through in his life, I think he deserves a bit of a break.

Makes me wish now that I was a big Hollywood producer. Assuming that Elliott does lose before the finale, I’d snag him as soon as his contract allows and get him an album (and market is aggressively). Haha man, I am crazily obsessed! Oh well.

Go Elliott!