Lately, I've been tagging along with my parents when they go out and have some drinks and listen to live bands. That's how my social life has been the past few days. Hehehe! It can be fun. I just enjoy the free food and drinks!
Our latest night out was at the opening of Boy Katindig's Jazz Café. We went there in support of my parents' friend Skarlet who was a guest singer that night. She's the front woman of the popular 90's band Put3ska which was known for their song "Manila Girl."
Fortunately I had camera with me. I didn't miss the opportunity to take some pictures of the well-applauded Skarlet.
This is really interesting! And my answer says so much about me being an old soul. As far as I know, the first musician I saw live was Barry Manilow! Hehehehe!
My mom is a fanilow so when she learned that Barry Manilow was going to perform live in Manila, she didn't think twice about getting tickets. She got really good seats for her and dad.
At the day of the concert, she learned that my uncle and aunt were supposed to go too, but had to cancel. So they decided to give us the tickets. My parents had better seats, though. It was my first time to watch a concert and I really didn't get the idea. I was a grade schooler back then. I was annoyed with the people standing on their seats and screaming. I was covering my ears for the whole duration of the concert! Had I known that I would also be a fanilow later on in life, I would've swapped seats with my dad! During the intermission, my mom checked up on us and she found me silly for covering my ears. I'm sure they still remember the story until now.
As the new year of the Chinese calendar enters, allow me to share with you the pictures I took during our household's celebration of New Year last January. Hehehe! Shame on me for neglecting to post them on time.
Since we don't have relatives coming to our house during New Year's Eve, we decided to just eat out and join in the official countdown of Quezon City at Eastwood City, Libis. We had dinner at Momo Café as we watched the performances of Kyla, Jett Pangan and The Dawn, and Arnel Pineda of Journey, among others.
Here are the pictures I took of the artists:
And what is a countdown without fireworks to welcome the new year? I still have to learn the art of taking photos of fireworks. Nevertheless, here are the pictures:
After going through a month and a half of 2010, I do feel the need start over. May this inspire us to start with a clean slate and push ourselves to do better. There's no turning back.
As a photography enthusiast, I am not really adept at covering events. I am more comfortable taking shots of still objects, capturing scenic views and doing portraiture. Ironically, I've been shooting quite a number of events lately from family affairs to feeding programs, and now, a basketball star's meet-and-greet.
Here it is, my friends. It's the Chris Tiu meet-and-greet-slash-one-day basketball clinic. Just a backgrounder, the winners of a Fanatxt promo were given the opportunity to meet Chris Tiu in person and he taught them basketball basics. Again, I would like to extend a big thank you to Frances for inviting me to do this.
I've learned a lot photography-wise. First, I learned to respect paparazzi and sports photographers even more! To begin with, it is a major workout to lug around camera equipment needed for the job. One of the lenses I used looked like it was ready to shoot ... to kill. Hehehehe! Plus, it is an extreme challenge to capture decent stills of fast moving people. I also found it difficult to take pictures because of the low-light condition. Honestly, I was expecting gym lights to be favorable, but it turns out they weren't. Since I'm not a professional, I had to experiment with the aperture and shutter speed to produce the right exposure. But in the end, I think I did more work with PhotoShop! Hahahaha!
What I really enjoyed about this is I got to feel what it's like to be one of the press. It's pretty cool! If I'm not mistaken, I was the only "professional-looking" person taking photos. The others were understandably video taping the event. I was the official photographer for the day, and it was a BIG responsibility. I hope I did it satisfactorily.
I know you didn't click on this page to read about my experience. You're just here for the pictures, right? Hehehe! So, let me just give you the rest of the set. But first, allow me to share my souvenir photo with Chris Tiu:
I tell you, the two Davids are amazingly talented! If you think they're good on record, they're even better live! I'm originally, and still am, an Archie fan, but I've been Cookified and blown away by the elder David's performances. They entertained the crowd of about 40,000 by powerfully singing cuts from their album.
David Archuleta's genre leans toward pop and he proved to be a promising artist. As fans expected, he sang A Little Too Not Over You and Crush, which are the hits from his album. But my personal favorite is his version of the Stand By Me / Beautiful Girls medley. I was surprised it was even part of his repertoire, but he did an excellent job! It was really fun watching David Archuleta on stage. His voice quality was superb and it was matched with his vibrant personality. Anyone watching him will have a great time. I obviously did!
David Cook, on the other hand, took everyone's breath away with his solid performances. I just had to see him sing Always Be My Baby live, and he didn't fail his fans. His every performance was powerful. It seemed effortless.
The guy knows how to work the audience. He went down the stage, grabbed two digital cameras from the audience and took pictures of himself! Lucky those people were!
I know I should stop describing everything and just show you the videos I took. Here they are:
David Archuleta sings one of his hits, A Little Too Not Over You.
My favorite, David Archuleta sings Stand By Me and Beautiful Girls.
David Cook sings Always Be My Baby.
To those who weren't able to watch the concert, the next time they come here to the Philippines to perform, don't miss it!
P.S.
Here's Mr. Archuleta thanking his fans for coming to the concert:
The Philippine King of Rap, Francis Magalona passed away today. It was announced in Eat Bulaga, the variety show in which he was one of the hosts, that he lost his "happy battle" with leukemia.
I am not a fan of rap. I don't have any personal affiliations with him either. The closest I could get to Francis M.'s life was being a classmate of his son way back in grade school during my early Ateneo days. But from the little knowledge that I knew about him, I can say that he truly loved the Philippines and being Filipino.
He composed songs that speak of Pinoy pride, and together with his colleagues, he was able to establish a clothing company (FMCC) that merchandises Filipino-themed apparel aiming to "Filipinize the world." He always spoke of the faith that he had so much of the Philippines. His urban patriotism (as he would coin it) is something every Filipino should emulate.
As I continued reading his blog, I realized that we could learn from him the optimism and joy that fought his illness with. Despite the unfortunate condition that he suffered from, he continued to radiate a happy disposition.
We need more Francis M.'s in this world. Individuals with burning passion armed with positivity.
May he rest in peace.
Readers, I leave you with my favorite song of Francis Magalona - Kaleidoscope World.
Perhaps most blogs on the net would have something to say about the recently concluded 81st Oscar Awards. From the the dresses actresses wore, to Hugh Jackman's hosting job, and to the winners, each may have his or her own opinion. Well, this blog is no exception. Since I didn't go to work because I wasn't feeling well (seriously), I had the chance to watch the Oscars on TV. It might not be much, but here are my thoughts.
I’m officially a Paul Potts fan!I watched his concert here in Manila
with Mama and I have an autographed CD of his first album, One Chance.(Almost) Two consecutive nights of Paul Potts
experience.This is the farthest
I’ve gone as far as admiring an artist.Hehehe!
Lately, I've been tagging along with my parents when they go out and have some drinks and listen to live bands. That's how my social life has been the past few days. Hehehe! It can be fun. I just enjoy the free food and drinks! 
