mikeside

As I have expected, the venue was packed with Journey fans and among the spectators were many Filipinos who obviously came to see Journey's new lead singer, Arnel Pineda.  As the band made their entrance the crowd went wild.  Journey had a terrific performance to the delight of the audience.  Three of the most applauded songs Arnel sang were Don't Stop Believing, Open Arms & Faithfully.

It was great seeing & hearing Arnel Pineda sing.  He is indeed a world-class rock singer!  It was quite heartwarming for me to hear him say on stage, "MGA KABABAYAN" !!!  I guess that was his sincere way of acknowledging the presence of several Filipinos among the audience.  We even spotted a guy near the stage displaying a huge Philippine flag.

Arnel Pineda made us feel proud to be Filipinos.  We too are so proud of him and his achievement.  We are happy for him and hope he takes good care of his God-given talent.  We wish him well.

I was amazed and amused at what I was seeing & hearing when I played this YouTube video I stumbled upon. She’s a Russian lady who speaks fluent Tagalog or Pilipino, better than I do & perhaps better than most Filipinos I know. I wonder what her motivation was, preferring to learn our language among others.

They say the best way to learn a new language is to speak it on a regular basis. As the saying goes - practice makes it perfect! Back when I was still in school, we had Spanish classes as early as 4th grade. In fact we had Spanish classes all the way to 2nd year college, that’s about 9 years of Spanish lessons. And what did I learn? Padre Nuestros, that’s the Our Father prayer. I also learned to conjugate back then.

Going back to the Russians, here’s a link if you’re interested in meeting up with Russian ladies. I’ve seen quite a lot of beautiful Russian ladies when I was still working at LAX. My buddies & I had a blast watching these pretty women as they make their way to the Aeroflot check-in counter. Most of them were tall & well endowed, like fashion models. They were HOT & COOL !

The Sounds of Manila plays the best of Filipino music.  It's been almost a decade since the Sounds of Manila aired its initial web broadcast.  The web broadcast plays Original Pilipino Music - both old & new, the ever popular Manila Sounds & the new Manila Sounds - these are actually both Manila Sounds, the latter are simply revivals, restored to life with fresh musical arrangement, which in some cases turn out to be better versions of the original ones.  And in between these, The Sounds of Manila web broadcast also plays music adaptations by Filipino talents.

The birth of Manila Sounds dates back as far as the mid 70's and to this date both young & old Filipino music lovers still can't get enough of it.  The Manila Sounds awakened the Filipinos' appreciation for homegrown music.  It became a catalyst that stirred the Philippine music industry to search and promote more Filipino talent & music.  Equally instrumental for introducing & promoting Manila Sounds were the DJ's of that era, who believed in the Filipino talent.  To listen to the Sounds of Manila, click -> www.edlagman.com/mikeside.htm

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For the past several weeks leading to the culmination of the battle between Obama & Clinton for the presidential nomination, Tim Russert had become a part of our household.  He was with us during breakfast & dinner.  As my wife & I conversed, Tim's discussion about American politics & politicians in general interspersed with our conversation.  His face & his voice had become the third person in our living room & bed room.  My wife's obsession with American brand of politics has also gradually made me a better informed person, politically.  In fact, Tim had made many Americans across the country become well informed individuals about local politics, issues of national interests and current events.

Thus when I read the news about Tim's passing away on the web, just a few hours after he died, I called my wife on her cell phone & broke the news.  As I expected she became emotional about this sad, tragic news.  Tim Russert suffered a massive heart attack.  That evening my wife kept crying all night as she watched the news about Tim's untimely death.

I hardly knew Tim Russert, except for the fact that he was a broadcast journalist.  From how he projected himself on television, one could easily tell he was a very likeable person.  He was just like one of the good guys.
One significant aspect of his being a broadcast journalist that I admire most was his verbal skills.  He spoke with simplicity but with crystal-clear clarity, his words were nothing fancy or flowery.

We will miss you Tim.

Tim Russert's Books are available online.

Aru abe!  That's one of my father's fave expressions, which I think is quite common among Pampanguenos.  In English, it means, "wow my friend".   In memory of him, I am posting a simple write-up which was first published several years back in a company newsletter where my wife used to work.  It's not the original copy, some revisions were made but the essence of the message remains the same.  This is dedicated to you, Happy Father's Day.

He was kind, gentle and always with a smile.

He was slow to anger and patient . . . traits that no one can belie.

His compassion to those who had less always had a special place in his heart because he knew what it was like to be hungry, deprived and oppressed.

He was a hard-working man, struggling to provide the best.

He loved life and cherished it till his last breath.

Yes, he had passed on to a new life,

Still, I recall, he seemed to stand out from the rest.