Whoa!! I forgot how much it hurts after the first day!
I’m talking about going to the gym of course. The last time I worked out (and when I say work out, I mean not just running on the treadmill) was almost a year ago. I decided to start doing weights again, mainly coz I still have that goal of building up my upper body. And of course hitting the gym makes for a much healthier lifestyle.
I switched gyms though, mainly due to location. So I was pleasantly surprised to find out that a personal trainer in my new gym is about 25% cheaper than in Gold’s. Helps me save up a bit. =) Since my tennis lessons had to stop due to some construction going in the courts where I play, I figured that now was as good a time as any to start training again.
So I had my first session last Monday. It felt really good at the time; the burn in my muscles, as anyone else who has done weights will know, felt great. But see that was while I was working out. I knew from previous experience that the “real” pain would come the next day. My trainer also made sure I was aware of this, warning me that I shouldn’t be surprised if my body hurt like hell when I got up the next morning.
And so I wake up on Tuesday and true enough, I was horribly sore. The main source of pain were my left triceps (I guess being right handed and playing all that tennis, badminton, and bowling made sure that my right arm was a LOT more developed than my left). And the unfortunate thing here is that when I had my second work-out session on Wednesday, the pain wasn’t completely gone, making it a whole lot more difficult. My upper body hurts a helluva lot more today than it did the other day. I just hope it gets better soon.
Hopefully I can keep this going regularly. I’m targeting to lose about 5-10 lbs and maintain that weight for myself. Of course, getting a six-pack would be awesome, too. =)
Friday, August 11, 2006
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Steffi Graf vs Martina Hingis
One of Steffi's best Grand Slam wins was her last one, the 1999 French Open, where she defeated Martina Hingis in three hard fought sets. When I was watching the match at the time, I couldn't focus on how high the quality of tennis from both players was. But after Graf finally won, I was able to watch it again (I got a taped copy), this time a lot more calmly, and I realized that this definitely was a superbly high-quality match, and was fitting for the final.
One of the best rallies in the match was one that involved 32 shots (for those of you who aren't tennis fans, 32 shots in one rally is a LOT - try watching any match and see how many of the rallies actually last more than 10 or even 15 shots). Graf won the point with a cross-court topspin backhand passing shot, and I believe this shot gave her the confidence to keep fighting back (Hingis was up 6-4, 5-4 and serving for the match) and eventually take contro. Steffi proceeded to win the game, as well as next five after that to give her what turned out to be an insurmountable lead. Hingis could not come back after that. This gave Graf her 22nd Grand slam title (second only behind Margaret Court) and her 6th French Open (2nd only behind Chris Evert).
It's quite amazing really. The shot-making precision of both players as well as their ability to keep getting balls back even at full stretch made for such a great match. This final was actually voted by tennis fans as the best women's match of all time. The journalists choice was the Monica Seles-Steffi Graf French Open final of 1992. That Seles-Graf nailbiter that ended 10-8 in the 3rd set would probably get my vote too except for the fact that Steffi lost, and I don't really want the best match of all time to have my favorite player on the losing end. =)
One of the best rallies in the match was one that involved 32 shots (for those of you who aren't tennis fans, 32 shots in one rally is a LOT - try watching any match and see how many of the rallies actually last more than 10 or even 15 shots). Graf won the point with a cross-court topspin backhand passing shot, and I believe this shot gave her the confidence to keep fighting back (Hingis was up 6-4, 5-4 and serving for the match) and eventually take contro. Steffi proceeded to win the game, as well as next five after that to give her what turned out to be an insurmountable lead. Hingis could not come back after that. This gave Graf her 22nd Grand slam title (second only behind Margaret Court) and her 6th French Open (2nd only behind Chris Evert).
It's quite amazing really. The shot-making precision of both players as well as their ability to keep getting balls back even at full stretch made for such a great match. This final was actually voted by tennis fans as the best women's match of all time. The journalists choice was the Monica Seles-Steffi Graf French Open final of 1992. That Seles-Graf nailbiter that ended 10-8 in the 3rd set would probably get my vote too except for the fact that Steffi lost, and I don't really want the best match of all time to have my favorite player on the losing end. =)
Monday, July 31, 2006
Hangin' out
It hasn’t been often enough in recent history that my band, Still Oz, gets together to play gigs. Mainly because our guitarist, Bunky, works a 9pm-6am shift from Mondays to Fridays (well, Monday evenings to Saturday mornings, to be more precise). But last week, our saxophonist, John V, was in town for a business trip (he’s based in Singapore now), and we figured it might be a good time for an audition or even a gig.
So we got ourselves an audition in BG’s last Thursday. We were supposed to play one set at 8pm so that we would finish before 9pm and allow Bunky to get to work. Unfortunately, Bunky didn’t show up, and he wasn’t even picking up his phone. Needless to say, the band was not too pleased. Luckily, our original manager Mike, who is currently in Manila for a couple of months, convinced our keyboard sessionist John Q to swing by at 1030pm and play with us. It was cool too coz we had a few friends in the audience: Anne, Jay Gat, Bam, Mike, and Tricia. John V also brought a colleague, Roch, to watch us and she did stay til about 11pm which was a lot later than she had intended to stay so it was cool that she did.
John Q had to play main melody in lieu of the missing guitar, and since he hadn’t played nor practiced with us for several months, we struggled quite a bit throughout the gig. We did get to play our arrangement of ‘Iris’ once again and I thought that was one of the best songs we played that night. It was kinda good too that John Q was able to swing by, mainly coz he is leaving for the US on August 1 and at least we got to play with him (albeit badly) one more time before he left. Of course, it still sucks that we played 2 1/2 hours after we were supposed to start, and not very well at that, which I would assume essentially means we lost that gig. Ah well. Such is life.
Speaking of John Q leaving for the US, we had a despedida for him last Saturday. It started off at 5:45pm, with Che, Meann, Raffa, Joh, John Q and myself watching ‘The Breakup’ which I really liked it (it was funny and real, and Jennifer Aniston looked really hot). Afterwards, Mike, Tim, and Pia met up with us for dinner. Pia then suggested that we have dessert in 'Crepes n Cream'. I had never eaten there (I think among all of us, it was only Pia who had eaten there previously). I've heard mixed reviews about it so I wasn’t completely sure how it would be, but since it's cool to try new things out, we decided to have dessert there anyway. Which was such a good idea coz we al ended up really enjoying it! John Q decided to treat us (well okay, only after a lot of prodding from the rest of us =)) but since we were still quite full from the huge dinner we just had, John Q just got 4 crepes: chocolate, strawberry, mango, and banana. I’m not a banana fan, so I didn’t try that particular one, but I enjoyed everything else. And it’s definitely quite a large serving for the price (we got the basic ones which only cost about ~P100) so I will definitely be visiting this place again.
Prior to this gimmick, Meann came from Tagaytay with her team, and so she had a poker set, Taboo, and Guesstures with her. We thought it might be cool for us to play poker or something, so we all decided to swing by my place. Tim had to leave, Mike had to go to a wake, Joh and Raffa couldn’t stay too late, and Pia was riding with them, so at the end of it, it was just me, Meann, Che, and John Q. We played four rounds of bridge before Che had to leave (and consequently everyone else).
This was actually the second night in a row where I had visitors in my place. The night before (Friday), I met up with my college friends Anna and Lala. We had dinner and dessert first (are you seeing a pattern here about me and dinners and desserts? =)) before heading to my place where we just hung out and talked. I haven’t really seen Lala in a while so it was nice catching up with her. We are also planning to have a wine appreciation night in my place (where everyone brings a bottle of wine and we cook our own food) in maybe the next 3-4 weeks, and I'm sure that will be a lot of fun.
After hanging out with Anna and Lala, Tricia (who had just watched my gig a couple of days ago) called me and says that Mike was in the Fort, and asked me if I wanted to swing by there to meet up with him. It was still early enough on a Friday night and I still had quite a lot of energy, so I picked Tricia up and we headed to the Fort. Upon getting there, though, it turns out Mike was heading out to a party in Wack-wack. Tricia and I didn’t know the person having the party and neither of us felt like crashing, so we just spent the night chatting away in Café Puccini, where I saw my HP friends Gabby, Tonette, Tim (again) and Anne. At around 2am, Tricia gets a text from Mike saying his car batt is dead so I give him a call asking him if he needs a jump-start. He didn’t, but when he was on his way home, he asked me and Tricia if we could convoy with him to make sure he got home safely without his car batt dying on him again. So we do that, and when we get to his house, we decided to talk a bit more (a ‘bit’ = an hour so maybe that's not really a bit) before Mike announced he wanted to hit the sack.
Going back to Saturday night, after the folks had left my place, I get a text from Mike saying that Marga, fresh from her Spanish classes in Madrid, was hanging out in Mati. I hadn’t seen her in months, and so I figured I would swing by so I could catch up with her. Marga was with her friends when I got there, but they all had to leave by around 1am so by the end of the night, it was just me, Marga, and Mike. Because I was on meds the last week and a half, I couldn’t have any alcoholic beverages. That Saturday night however, I was finally off my meds so I had a few beers. Needless to say the beers tasted great.
So that’s how my week last week ended. It was also the first time in a long time that I had three night-outs in a row where I went home way past midnight on each of those nights. And I got to meet up with a lot of different sets of friends and catch up with a few who I haven’t seen in a while. Not bad. I should do this more often.
So we got ourselves an audition in BG’s last Thursday. We were supposed to play one set at 8pm so that we would finish before 9pm and allow Bunky to get to work. Unfortunately, Bunky didn’t show up, and he wasn’t even picking up his phone. Needless to say, the band was not too pleased. Luckily, our original manager Mike, who is currently in Manila for a couple of months, convinced our keyboard sessionist John Q to swing by at 1030pm and play with us. It was cool too coz we had a few friends in the audience: Anne, Jay Gat, Bam, Mike, and Tricia. John V also brought a colleague, Roch, to watch us and she did stay til about 11pm which was a lot later than she had intended to stay so it was cool that she did.
John Q had to play main melody in lieu of the missing guitar, and since he hadn’t played nor practiced with us for several months, we struggled quite a bit throughout the gig. We did get to play our arrangement of ‘Iris’ once again and I thought that was one of the best songs we played that night. It was kinda good too that John Q was able to swing by, mainly coz he is leaving for the US on August 1 and at least we got to play with him (albeit badly) one more time before he left. Of course, it still sucks that we played 2 1/2 hours after we were supposed to start, and not very well at that, which I would assume essentially means we lost that gig. Ah well. Such is life.
Speaking of John Q leaving for the US, we had a despedida for him last Saturday. It started off at 5:45pm, with Che, Meann, Raffa, Joh, John Q and myself watching ‘The Breakup’ which I really liked it (it was funny and real, and Jennifer Aniston looked really hot). Afterwards, Mike, Tim, and Pia met up with us for dinner. Pia then suggested that we have dessert in 'Crepes n Cream'. I had never eaten there (I think among all of us, it was only Pia who had eaten there previously). I've heard mixed reviews about it so I wasn’t completely sure how it would be, but since it's cool to try new things out, we decided to have dessert there anyway. Which was such a good idea coz we al ended up really enjoying it! John Q decided to treat us (well okay, only after a lot of prodding from the rest of us =)) but since we were still quite full from the huge dinner we just had, John Q just got 4 crepes: chocolate, strawberry, mango, and banana. I’m not a banana fan, so I didn’t try that particular one, but I enjoyed everything else. And it’s definitely quite a large serving for the price (we got the basic ones which only cost about ~P100) so I will definitely be visiting this place again.
Prior to this gimmick, Meann came from Tagaytay with her team, and so she had a poker set, Taboo, and Guesstures with her. We thought it might be cool for us to play poker or something, so we all decided to swing by my place. Tim had to leave, Mike had to go to a wake, Joh and Raffa couldn’t stay too late, and Pia was riding with them, so at the end of it, it was just me, Meann, Che, and John Q. We played four rounds of bridge before Che had to leave (and consequently everyone else).
This was actually the second night in a row where I had visitors in my place. The night before (Friday), I met up with my college friends Anna and Lala. We had dinner and dessert first (are you seeing a pattern here about me and dinners and desserts? =)) before heading to my place where we just hung out and talked. I haven’t really seen Lala in a while so it was nice catching up with her. We are also planning to have a wine appreciation night in my place (where everyone brings a bottle of wine and we cook our own food) in maybe the next 3-4 weeks, and I'm sure that will be a lot of fun.
After hanging out with Anna and Lala, Tricia (who had just watched my gig a couple of days ago) called me and says that Mike was in the Fort, and asked me if I wanted to swing by there to meet up with him. It was still early enough on a Friday night and I still had quite a lot of energy, so I picked Tricia up and we headed to the Fort. Upon getting there, though, it turns out Mike was heading out to a party in Wack-wack. Tricia and I didn’t know the person having the party and neither of us felt like crashing, so we just spent the night chatting away in Café Puccini, where I saw my HP friends Gabby, Tonette, Tim (again) and Anne. At around 2am, Tricia gets a text from Mike saying his car batt is dead so I give him a call asking him if he needs a jump-start. He didn’t, but when he was on his way home, he asked me and Tricia if we could convoy with him to make sure he got home safely without his car batt dying on him again. So we do that, and when we get to his house, we decided to talk a bit more (a ‘bit’ = an hour so maybe that's not really a bit) before Mike announced he wanted to hit the sack.
Going back to Saturday night, after the folks had left my place, I get a text from Mike saying that Marga, fresh from her Spanish classes in Madrid, was hanging out in Mati. I hadn’t seen her in months, and so I figured I would swing by so I could catch up with her. Marga was with her friends when I got there, but they all had to leave by around 1am so by the end of the night, it was just me, Marga, and Mike. Because I was on meds the last week and a half, I couldn’t have any alcoholic beverages. That Saturday night however, I was finally off my meds so I had a few beers. Needless to say the beers tasted great.
So that’s how my week last week ended. It was also the first time in a long time that I had three night-outs in a row where I went home way past midnight on each of those nights. And I got to meet up with a lot of different sets of friends and catch up with a few who I haven’t seen in a while. Not bad. I should do this more often.
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Tennis 101
I decided to start taking tennis lessons again. It’s probably been about a year since my last game, but I am hoping that I’ll get my form back after a few shots. And hopefully this time I can play and train enough to be fairly decent at the end of it all.
I was supposed to play last Monday actually, but then it was storming heavily so I had to postpone my first lesson. Was supposed to have it yesterday but then my trainer texted me and said that the shell court we were gonna play on was still wet. So the plan now is for me to hit my first shot later today. And I’m really excited about it.
Speaking of tennis, I’m really pleased about the Wimbledon results. The men’s final was an awesome display of high caliber tennis from the best two tennis players in the world right now – Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. It didn’t go the full distance of 5 sets, and after the first set I think people thought it would be a whitewash. But as we all know, the next three sets were really tough with lots of magnificent rallies and brilliant shot-making from both sides of the net. In the end, Roger took home his 4th Wimbledon title in a row (Borg is the only man to win more in a row than that) and his 8th Grand Slam, putting him alongside legends like Lendl, Connors, and Agassi.
In the women’s side, Amelie Mauresmo lived up to her #1 ranking and seeding by taking the Wimbledon trophy for the first time, besting Justine Henin-Hardenne in three sets. JHH outclassed Mauresmo in the first set by playing more aggressively, retrieving better, and hitting out more. But things turned around in the 2nd set. Mauresmo essentially served her way to the title, by winning almost 30 points with service winners and aces. That is a scary stat if you are on the receiving end of those booming serves. This proves that her Australian Open title earlier in the year was no fluke.
To cap it all off, the Bryan twins won the men’s doubles while the women’s doubles title went to an all-Chinese pair (I can’t recall which pair). This essentially meant that all the people I was rooting for won the title. Well, apart from Bob Bryan and Venus Williams, who fell short in the mixed-doubles final (I didn’t care too much for that loss, though so it doesn’t really count).
One interesting little stat. It seems that Steffi Graf has the best win-loss percentage at Wimbledon. I would’ve thought that this distinction would be held by Martina Navratilova who has won more singles matches on Wimbledon than anyone. Anyway, it was cool to hear the commentators mention this little piece of trivia. Too bad though that Agassi is retiring after this year. I won’t get to see Steffi in the stands anymore.
I was supposed to play last Monday actually, but then it was storming heavily so I had to postpone my first lesson. Was supposed to have it yesterday but then my trainer texted me and said that the shell court we were gonna play on was still wet. So the plan now is for me to hit my first shot later today. And I’m really excited about it.
Speaking of tennis, I’m really pleased about the Wimbledon results. The men’s final was an awesome display of high caliber tennis from the best two tennis players in the world right now – Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. It didn’t go the full distance of 5 sets, and after the first set I think people thought it would be a whitewash. But as we all know, the next three sets were really tough with lots of magnificent rallies and brilliant shot-making from both sides of the net. In the end, Roger took home his 4th Wimbledon title in a row (Borg is the only man to win more in a row than that) and his 8th Grand Slam, putting him alongside legends like Lendl, Connors, and Agassi.
In the women’s side, Amelie Mauresmo lived up to her #1 ranking and seeding by taking the Wimbledon trophy for the first time, besting Justine Henin-Hardenne in three sets. JHH outclassed Mauresmo in the first set by playing more aggressively, retrieving better, and hitting out more. But things turned around in the 2nd set. Mauresmo essentially served her way to the title, by winning almost 30 points with service winners and aces. That is a scary stat if you are on the receiving end of those booming serves. This proves that her Australian Open title earlier in the year was no fluke.
To cap it all off, the Bryan twins won the men’s doubles while the women’s doubles title went to an all-Chinese pair (I can’t recall which pair). This essentially meant that all the people I was rooting for won the title. Well, apart from Bob Bryan and Venus Williams, who fell short in the mixed-doubles final (I didn’t care too much for that loss, though so it doesn’t really count).
One interesting little stat. It seems that Steffi Graf has the best win-loss percentage at Wimbledon. I would’ve thought that this distinction would be held by Martina Navratilova who has won more singles matches on Wimbledon than anyone. Anyway, it was cool to hear the commentators mention this little piece of trivia. Too bad though that Agassi is retiring after this year. I won’t get to see Steffi in the stands anymore.
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
5:07
5 hours and 7 minutes. That’s how long it took me to complete my marathon last July 16. Not quite as fast as my previous three runs, all of which were under 5 hours. But I did finish, and I managed to raise more than P40K for charity, too. So when all’s been said and done, it was another great run.
Wasn’t easy though. I keep saying this, but this year is definitely the most poorly trained I’ve ever been for a 42k run. The first time I ran, I had been running regularly for 5 months leading up to it – lots of 5-10k runs for the first three months then fairly regular long runs (15-20+ km) for two. The second time I did it, I trained for about 1.5 months, which isn’t ideal but I did manage to go from 8k the first week to 16k the second week to 21k the third week to 28k the fourth week. And in between that I had a lot of shorter runs to make sure my stamina was up. Last year, I didn’t train distance-wise, but I was the lightest I’ve been in the last 10 years, and my regular trips to the gym combined with tennis allowed me to be the fittest I had ever been in years.
This year though, I knew during my training runs that I was in over my head. After each training run I felt a lot more spent than in previous years. I ran 20km twice and 15km 2-3 times during the last month, but one of those 20k runs was supposed to be 25, but I just ran out of energy and had to cut it short. Oh and this is also the heaviest I’ve ever been during a marathon and the extra 5-10lbs certainly didn’t make it any easier.
The good news is that it didn’t storm during the run (I was worried coz there was a typhoon during the days leading up to July 16). The bad news though was that it was so incredibly hot and humid! Even as I was doing my warm-up at 4am I was already sweating. I ended up with what I think was heat exhaustion or something coz I fell asleep for 5 hours after my run and even after that 5 hour rest, my heart rate was still up and my skin still felt hot. I ended up getting sick for several days after that too, which is a lesson to me to make sure I spend at least 3 months in training for my next marathon.
One more downside. It was the 30th anniversary of the Milo marathon, so to make it special, Milo decided to award a medal to everyone that finishes in the regulation time of 5 hours. And since I missed that by 7 minutes, I end up with no medal. Damn! Why couldn’t the 30th anniversary have been last year?!?! Hehe oh well. Such is life.
Anyway, thanks again to all those who helped out and those who donated. Hopefully next year I can once again break my personal best.
Wasn’t easy though. I keep saying this, but this year is definitely the most poorly trained I’ve ever been for a 42k run. The first time I ran, I had been running regularly for 5 months leading up to it – lots of 5-10k runs for the first three months then fairly regular long runs (15-20+ km) for two. The second time I did it, I trained for about 1.5 months, which isn’t ideal but I did manage to go from 8k the first week to 16k the second week to 21k the third week to 28k the fourth week. And in between that I had a lot of shorter runs to make sure my stamina was up. Last year, I didn’t train distance-wise, but I was the lightest I’ve been in the last 10 years, and my regular trips to the gym combined with tennis allowed me to be the fittest I had ever been in years.
This year though, I knew during my training runs that I was in over my head. After each training run I felt a lot more spent than in previous years. I ran 20km twice and 15km 2-3 times during the last month, but one of those 20k runs was supposed to be 25, but I just ran out of energy and had to cut it short. Oh and this is also the heaviest I’ve ever been during a marathon and the extra 5-10lbs certainly didn’t make it any easier.
The good news is that it didn’t storm during the run (I was worried coz there was a typhoon during the days leading up to July 16). The bad news though was that it was so incredibly hot and humid! Even as I was doing my warm-up at 4am I was already sweating. I ended up with what I think was heat exhaustion or something coz I fell asleep for 5 hours after my run and even after that 5 hour rest, my heart rate was still up and my skin still felt hot. I ended up getting sick for several days after that too, which is a lesson to me to make sure I spend at least 3 months in training for my next marathon.
One more downside. It was the 30th anniversary of the Milo marathon, so to make it special, Milo decided to award a medal to everyone that finishes in the regulation time of 5 hours. And since I missed that by 7 minutes, I end up with no medal. Damn! Why couldn’t the 30th anniversary have been last year?!?! Hehe oh well. Such is life.
Anyway, thanks again to all those who helped out and those who donated. Hopefully next year I can once again break my personal best.
Thursday, July 06, 2006
Too bad England didn't get this far
Italy and France in the World Cup final. Whodda thunk?
It’s quite interesting really how things have panned out in this World Cup. Probably the most surprising (for me) is that I actually haven’t seen one entire game yet (the only game I sorta saw live was Argentina’s demolition of Serbia and Montenegro, and that was because I was with Anna and Joyce in Mitch’s house and Ferg had pre-paid WC coverage). I think the amount of stuff going on in my life combined with the lateness of the games and the fact that you either go to a bar at 3am or you pay P6000 to watch the games at the comfort of your own home contributed to my semi-aloofness this WC season. Which is a pity really since there have been a lot of interesting results.
I haven’t been following football for a long time. In fact, my interest in this beautiful sport began only in 2001 when I went to the UK and watched from a sports pub the England-Albania WC 2002 qualifying match with my English friend David and his fiancé-then-wife-now Emma. So I don’t know how things have been panning out in WC history But if memory serves me correctly, Brazil have gotten to the finals in the last 3 WCs (is that right?). So to have four Western Europe countries in the semifinals (Portugal, Germany, Italy, and France) must be an occurrence that doesn’t always happen.
Will I watch the final? Dunno. Maybe. I figure I should but considering that I have a planed 30-km training run on Monday, maybe I should get as much sleep as I can on Sunday night instead. I’ll probably just stick to watching the Wimbledon final.
It’s quite interesting really how things have panned out in this World Cup. Probably the most surprising (for me) is that I actually haven’t seen one entire game yet (the only game I sorta saw live was Argentina’s demolition of Serbia and Montenegro, and that was because I was with Anna and Joyce in Mitch’s house and Ferg had pre-paid WC coverage). I think the amount of stuff going on in my life combined with the lateness of the games and the fact that you either go to a bar at 3am or you pay P6000 to watch the games at the comfort of your own home contributed to my semi-aloofness this WC season. Which is a pity really since there have been a lot of interesting results.
I haven’t been following football for a long time. In fact, my interest in this beautiful sport began only in 2001 when I went to the UK and watched from a sports pub the England-Albania WC 2002 qualifying match with my English friend David and his fiancé-then-wife-now Emma. So I don’t know how things have been panning out in WC history But if memory serves me correctly, Brazil have gotten to the finals in the last 3 WCs (is that right?). So to have four Western Europe countries in the semifinals (Portugal, Germany, Italy, and France) must be an occurrence that doesn’t always happen.
Will I watch the final? Dunno. Maybe. I figure I should but considering that I have a planed 30-km training run on Monday, maybe I should get as much sleep as I can on Sunday night instead. I’ll probably just stick to watching the Wimbledon final.
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Monday, June 19, 2006
Running for a good cause
My marathon training has officially begun.
I will be running my 4th marathon-for-a-cause on July 16, and once again I am attempting to run the full distance in under 5 hours to raise money for the Bukas Sarili Foundation.
Ideally, marathon training should be done over a period of about 6 months. So it is clear that I am really pushing it by only starting my training about two weeks ago. So far, I've gone from 4.5km to 6.5km to 10km to 12km to 15km in this period. My goal is that by the end of this week, I'm at 20km, then at 25km on July 2, and at 30km by July 8. Yeah, I know, kinda aggressive. But if I can manage to run 30km before the actual marathon, I think I will gain enough confident to finish the race in under 5 hours even after my not-so-good training. Hay, I'll be keeping my fingers crossed...
The pledges have started coming in as well, and with a few weeks left before my run (assuming I finish the marathon), I am at around P15K. Hopefully, more pledges still come in. I never manage to collect the entire amount that is pledged (normally I end up collecting about 80-90%), but still, that is a lot of money that will go a long way in providing charity patients of the Philippine General Hospital with much-needed medical assistance.
Hopefully, the next time I blog about my training, I will already be in good shape both mentally and physically. And maybe I will manage to raise more money than I did last year. Wish me luck!
I will be running my 4th marathon-for-a-cause on July 16, and once again I am attempting to run the full distance in under 5 hours to raise money for the Bukas Sarili Foundation.
Ideally, marathon training should be done over a period of about 6 months. So it is clear that I am really pushing it by only starting my training about two weeks ago. So far, I've gone from 4.5km to 6.5km to 10km to 12km to 15km in this period. My goal is that by the end of this week, I'm at 20km, then at 25km on July 2, and at 30km by July 8. Yeah, I know, kinda aggressive. But if I can manage to run 30km before the actual marathon, I think I will gain enough confident to finish the race in under 5 hours even after my not-so-good training. Hay, I'll be keeping my fingers crossed...
The pledges have started coming in as well, and with a few weeks left before my run (assuming I finish the marathon), I am at around P15K. Hopefully, more pledges still come in. I never manage to collect the entire amount that is pledged (normally I end up collecting about 80-90%), but still, that is a lot of money that will go a long way in providing charity patients of the Philippine General Hospital with much-needed medical assistance.
Hopefully, the next time I blog about my training, I will already be in good shape both mentally and physically. And maybe I will manage to raise more money than I did last year. Wish me luck!
French Open recap
The French Open, tennis' 2nd Grand Slam of the year, concluded last week. Congratulations go out to Rafael Nadal who proved his utter dominance on clay by wiping out world #1 Roger Federer in the final. Congratulations also go out to Justine Henin-Hardenne, who was just as convincing in her title win over Svetlana Kuznetsova. It was an awesome fortnight of tennis. Would've been better though if the people I was rooting for won. I was hoping that Federer, Kuznetsova (or Clijsters), and the Bryan brothers would all win. Tough for me, I guess.
My favorite moment of the tournament though had nothing to do with the tennis being played. During the men's doubles final between the Bryan brothers and Jonas Bjorkmann and Max Mirnyi, the camera shot towards a large banner way up in the stands that said in big bold letters: "We miss you Steffi." And I just really realized how much I do miss watching Graf play. Time to pull out my Steffi tapes and relive the glory days then, I guess. =)
My favorite moment of the tournament though had nothing to do with the tennis being played. During the men's doubles final between the Bryan brothers and Jonas Bjorkmann and Max Mirnyi, the camera shot towards a large banner way up in the stands that said in big bold letters: "We miss you Steffi." And I just really realized how much I do miss watching Graf play. Time to pull out my Steffi tapes and relive the glory days then, I guess. =)
Sunday, June 04, 2006
My grandarents' 50th wedding anniversary
Not often that we get to see couples, even married ones, last very long. So it's always special when you see two people celebrating their Golden wedding anniversary. And it's even more special when those people are your grandparents.
It was held on a Tuesday night, in a church somewhere in Manila (I drove there with my family so they just gave me instructions on how to get there while I was driving, but I never really got the name of the church). Apparently, this is the same church where my grandparents got married, so it was kinda cool for their 50th anniversary to be held there again.
The church ceremony started around 6pm. I was the best man, so I marched first. It was good too because my two nephews marched right after me, and since there was no rehearsal or anything, I just told both of them to walk like me (which they did, and I was mighty proud of them for that! =))
From church we headed down the road to the Old Swiss Inn in Manila (didn't realize there was one there) for the reception. Most of the invitees were relatives, taking up about three-quarters of the area and so it was like a family reunion. The food was pretty good, and since there weren't that many people, the lines at the buffet never got too long.
The main part of the program was supposed to consist of a few speeches - from my grandfather, his brother, his sister, and my grandma's friend. There was a slideshow of pictures as well. Also, my mom performed a really awesome dance number with a dance instructor that was very very well received (she performed it at work during one of their events), before I took the mic to sing 'The way you look tonight' (I was thinking of singing something less gasgas but everyone suggested that I sing something that's more popular so that the folks won't get too bored. One of my grand-aunties said I sang very well and my grandma and my mom told me that she must have really liked it because my grand-auntie apparently doesn't just give out praise like that. Cool for me, then. =)
The program ended up being extended since my grandfather and all his siblings can play the piano, the violin, or both, and a lot of folks sing pretty well too. Then once the program itself was over, it was hanging out with everyone and catching up and playing with my nephews and lots of picture taking (sorry, Tita Gail, I promised to send you pictures but the night was so hectic that I wasn't able to take any. Tita Jill said she'd send Nanay and Tatay a CD with all the pics she took, and once she does that I can put them up online).
All in all a fantastic celebration, and everyone, especially my grandparents, were very happy. The ceremony itself was simple but for the fact that so many people stayed late into the night in party mode on a weeknight, this wedding has to be one of the best ones I've ever attended.
It was held on a Tuesday night, in a church somewhere in Manila (I drove there with my family so they just gave me instructions on how to get there while I was driving, but I never really got the name of the church). Apparently, this is the same church where my grandparents got married, so it was kinda cool for their 50th anniversary to be held there again.
The church ceremony started around 6pm. I was the best man, so I marched first. It was good too because my two nephews marched right after me, and since there was no rehearsal or anything, I just told both of them to walk like me (which they did, and I was mighty proud of them for that! =))
From church we headed down the road to the Old Swiss Inn in Manila (didn't realize there was one there) for the reception. Most of the invitees were relatives, taking up about three-quarters of the area and so it was like a family reunion. The food was pretty good, and since there weren't that many people, the lines at the buffet never got too long.
The main part of the program was supposed to consist of a few speeches - from my grandfather, his brother, his sister, and my grandma's friend. There was a slideshow of pictures as well. Also, my mom performed a really awesome dance number with a dance instructor that was very very well received (she performed it at work during one of their events), before I took the mic to sing 'The way you look tonight' (I was thinking of singing something less gasgas but everyone suggested that I sing something that's more popular so that the folks won't get too bored. One of my grand-aunties said I sang very well and my grandma and my mom told me that she must have really liked it because my grand-auntie apparently doesn't just give out praise like that. Cool for me, then. =)
The program ended up being extended since my grandfather and all his siblings can play the piano, the violin, or both, and a lot of folks sing pretty well too. Then once the program itself was over, it was hanging out with everyone and catching up and playing with my nephews and lots of picture taking (sorry, Tita Gail, I promised to send you pictures but the night was so hectic that I wasn't able to take any. Tita Jill said she'd send Nanay and Tatay a CD with all the pics she took, and once she does that I can put them up online).
All in all a fantastic celebration, and everyone, especially my grandparents, were very happy. The ceremony itself was simple but for the fact that so many people stayed late into the night in party mode on a weeknight, this wedding has to be one of the best ones I've ever attended.
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.
...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
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).
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.
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.
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.
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. =)
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!
Thursday, April 20, 2006
A wonderful blue-eyed soul voice
To say I am pleased that Elliott Yamin is finally out of the bottom 3 in American Idol is an understatement. I didn't think he deserved to be in the bottom 2 the week Mandisa was eliminated, and he sure as hell shouldn't have been anywhere near the bottom spot last week after his amazing rendition of Queen's "Somebody to love!"
So I'm really glad that he was safe tonight. And now he's made it to the top 6 which is an amazing achievement in that he is truly the talented underdog of the competition. What is great too is that as the weeks progress, he keeps getting more comfortable on stage (he still needs improvement on his stage presence but has gotten a lot better and he doesn't seem as awkward or nervous as he used to be, and he is looking and smiling at the camera a lot more. Obviously the vocals are still there, fantastic as always).
Let me step back a bit...
My first post about AI this season was at the Top 24 stage when I said my top 4 were Taylor, Mandisa, Paris, and Katharine. I didn't really get to see Elliott at all prior to this, mainly coz I didn't watch most of the Hollywood elimination episodes. But on that first day, he made me notice with his solid cover of Stevie Wonder's "If you really love me" and I figured this was a voice I could end up rooting for too.
The week after that made me an Elliott convert - his "Moody's Mood for Love" was absolutely, jaw-droppingly amazing. After that week, he became one of my faves (it was also in that week that I threw Chris into my faves list and so now I had my fave 6).
Thing was, virtually everyone in my fave 6 had become quite inconsistent. Taylor's 'Easy' was ho-hum and his 'Don't fade away' left me thinking, "What the hell was that?" I thought Paris was off-pitch for most of 'How do I live' and her 'Conga' performance was lackluster. Mandisa made me cringe with her scream-ridden delivery of 'Praise you', and she was sub-par and uninteresting while singing 'Any man of mine' during country week. Katharine looked like a bad impersonator when she took on Christina's 'The Voice Within', and her high notes in 'All is fair in love' were horrendous. Also during Queen week, Chris shouted most of 'Innuendo' being unable to remain pitch perfect for most of the latter half of the song, and singing 'What a wonderful world' last night exposed his lack of vocal control (with his voice breaking up too much in the wrong places) and his tendency to go out of tune.
Elliott however has remained consistent. None of his performances, even his 'worst' ones (like 'Teach me tonight' and 'If Tomorrow Never Comes') were bad. And he always manages to arrange the song in such a way that it works with his voice and style.
After a few rounds of the finals stages, I ended up becoming an Elliott advocate. I still was (and remain to be) a fan of the rest of my fave 6, but let me put it this way - if I was in the US now, I'd be voting for Elliott for the entire two hours after the show.
I think the pimp-fest they threw Elliott's way last week when Ryan Seacrest blatantly asked America after his results show performance if that was a guy who should be voted off, and when word got out of his diabetes and the rest of his ailments in life (possibly getting him pity votes along the way) helped keep Elliott safe this week, and may have finally garnered Elliott a few more voters. Picking a song this week that people were familiar with helped too.
Next week, the theme is the Greatest Love Songs of all time. That seems right up Elliott's alley. And it seems all contestants get to sing two songs. Man, I hope he manages to put in one or two of the best performances of the season that week and manage to get to the top 5 (or maybe even further...)
I think that Elliott winning is highly unlikely, what with Taylor and Kellie seeming to have majority of the votes and with the judges and producers seeming to favor the much more marketable Chris and Kat. However, I will continue to hope each week that more voters turn to Elliott and give him their support. I also hope that Elliott eventually gets signed by a producer. If you listen to mp3s of his performance (which you can download online if you have enough time in your hands to search for them), you will realize his voice is so easy on the ears and you will love listening to him sing over and over again. I really can't wait for him to come out with a CD. To quote Rod Stewart, "Elliott has a wonderful blue-eyed soul voice."
Good luck, Elliott!!!
So I'm really glad that he was safe tonight. And now he's made it to the top 6 which is an amazing achievement in that he is truly the talented underdog of the competition. What is great too is that as the weeks progress, he keeps getting more comfortable on stage (he still needs improvement on his stage presence but has gotten a lot better and he doesn't seem as awkward or nervous as he used to be, and he is looking and smiling at the camera a lot more. Obviously the vocals are still there, fantastic as always).
Let me step back a bit...
My first post about AI this season was at the Top 24 stage when I said my top 4 were Taylor, Mandisa, Paris, and Katharine. I didn't really get to see Elliott at all prior to this, mainly coz I didn't watch most of the Hollywood elimination episodes. But on that first day, he made me notice with his solid cover of Stevie Wonder's "If you really love me" and I figured this was a voice I could end up rooting for too.
The week after that made me an Elliott convert - his "Moody's Mood for Love" was absolutely, jaw-droppingly amazing. After that week, he became one of my faves (it was also in that week that I threw Chris into my faves list and so now I had my fave 6).
Thing was, virtually everyone in my fave 6 had become quite inconsistent. Taylor's 'Easy' was ho-hum and his 'Don't fade away' left me thinking, "What the hell was that?" I thought Paris was off-pitch for most of 'How do I live' and her 'Conga' performance was lackluster. Mandisa made me cringe with her scream-ridden delivery of 'Praise you', and she was sub-par and uninteresting while singing 'Any man of mine' during country week. Katharine looked like a bad impersonator when she took on Christina's 'The Voice Within', and her high notes in 'All is fair in love' were horrendous. Also during Queen week, Chris shouted most of 'Innuendo' being unable to remain pitch perfect for most of the latter half of the song, and singing 'What a wonderful world' last night exposed his lack of vocal control (with his voice breaking up too much in the wrong places) and his tendency to go out of tune.
Elliott however has remained consistent. None of his performances, even his 'worst' ones (like 'Teach me tonight' and 'If Tomorrow Never Comes') were bad. And he always manages to arrange the song in such a way that it works with his voice and style.
After a few rounds of the finals stages, I ended up becoming an Elliott advocate. I still was (and remain to be) a fan of the rest of my fave 6, but let me put it this way - if I was in the US now, I'd be voting for Elliott for the entire two hours after the show.
I think the pimp-fest they threw Elliott's way last week when Ryan Seacrest blatantly asked America after his results show performance if that was a guy who should be voted off, and when word got out of his diabetes and the rest of his ailments in life (possibly getting him pity votes along the way) helped keep Elliott safe this week, and may have finally garnered Elliott a few more voters. Picking a song this week that people were familiar with helped too.
Next week, the theme is the Greatest Love Songs of all time. That seems right up Elliott's alley. And it seems all contestants get to sing two songs. Man, I hope he manages to put in one or two of the best performances of the season that week and manage to get to the top 5 (or maybe even further...)
I think that Elliott winning is highly unlikely, what with Taylor and Kellie seeming to have majority of the votes and with the judges and producers seeming to favor the much more marketable Chris and Kat. However, I will continue to hope each week that more voters turn to Elliott and give him their support. I also hope that Elliott eventually gets signed by a producer. If you listen to mp3s of his performance (which you can download online if you have enough time in your hands to search for them), you will realize his voice is so easy on the ears and you will love listening to him sing over and over again. I really can't wait for him to come out with a CD. To quote Rod Stewart, "Elliott has a wonderful blue-eyed soul voice."
Good luck, Elliott!!!
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
CD fiasco
The other day, I was in Music One in Greenbelt when I decided to look for CDs. I wanted to see if any hard-to-find CDs from my wish-list were available. It was during this search that I stumbled upon an 80’s new wave collection that included “Take on me”, “Every time I see you”, “Ghost in you”, and my favorite new wave song, When in Rome’s “The Promise”. I guess it didn’t really matter how much the CD was, because it would certainly worth it. So imagine my surprise when I flipped it over and saw it cost only P275. Whoa! That was a find!
I guess on some level, alarm bells should have gone off in my head when I saw that it had about 20 songs in it, and cost only that much. Unfortunately, I remained oblivious to this clear indicator that something was not right.
So here I am, all excited about listening to this new CD I got. Upon loading it in my car stereo, well yeah you must have guessed it by now, imagine my sheer disappointment when I realized that all the songs were NOT the original artist’s versions! Ugh. This had to have been the worst CD purchase I have ever made in my life. Or well, okay, maybe in recent history.
One thing I have learned from this though is that when I find one of those inexpensive compilations lying around in a music store, I better check first if it contains the original versions.
I guess on some level, alarm bells should have gone off in my head when I saw that it had about 20 songs in it, and cost only that much. Unfortunately, I remained oblivious to this clear indicator that something was not right.
So here I am, all excited about listening to this new CD I got. Upon loading it in my car stereo, well yeah you must have guessed it by now, imagine my sheer disappointment when I realized that all the songs were NOT the original artist’s versions! Ugh. This had to have been the worst CD purchase I have ever made in my life. Or well, okay, maybe in recent history.
One thing I have learned from this though is that when I find one of those inexpensive compilations lying around in a music store, I better check first if it contains the original versions.
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