Statue: The UP Oblation

Oble - UP Oblation

The statue dearest to my heart is called the "The Oblation".

The Oblation is the symbol of the University of the Philippines, the university I went to for my Engineering degree. I have so many wonderful memories of UP. It was where I met my girlfriend of course. Haha.

Gary Granada: jilted Filipino composer fights back againts network giant GMA

I know Gary Granada from his winning the Grand Prize in the 1998 Metropop Song Festival for his song "Mabuti Pa Sila".

I'm familiar with the song because we sang it in the UPCC from 2000 to 2004. The last line of that song is probably how Gary Granada felt before he made this recording...

"Di tulad kong lagi na lang nag-iisa..."

~CLICK THE GREEN PLAY BUTTON~

Gary Granada vs GMA Kapuso by dosomethingworthwhile

"And you have the audacity to tell me that my composition is OUR collective effort."

This proves to be a case of ignorance on the side of the GMA Kapuso Foundation. I am theorizing that after they received the test copy from Mr. Granada and didn't like it, they handed it over to another composer. And because of they were constrained by time, they resorted to just changing the melodic line and retaining the rest.

I think they did not know that Gary Granada would be able to identify his work because for them, all they hear is the melody, which was now effectively altered. Too bad for them, Mr. Granada, who was class Valedictorian in Elementary and High School, and was a one time University of the Philippines student, is smarter than them.

To you Mr. Granada, fight for what you think is right.
To the GMA execs, especially to that man or lady who (theoretically) said: "Palitan mo na lang yung melody!", dude, an apology is in order.
To the person who "copied" Mr. Granada's composition, shame on you. Have you no integrity as a composer?


Original Recording at SoundCloud
Inquirer
Gary Granada's Homepage -- Leave a message here!

Theme Thursday: Kitchen

From Coffee Messiah: Sometime last year a fellow blogger started Theme Thursday, and anyone who wanted could post something on their blog on Thursday relating to the theme.

This week's topic is KITCHEN.

Here's my Theme Thursday blog...
The first thing that came to my mind about KITCHEN is, of course, that it's where people cook. I don't really cook. I just really eat. So in the absence of food cooking stories and photos of our kitchen, I thought to share some stuff about kitchens and scary movies...
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1. As a young boy, I loved watching horror movies even if they kept me up half the night. After a good intense scaring, I would lie in bed with the blanket covering my whole body (the feet too! coz I was scared zombies would grab my feet) and with only my eyes and my nose showing.

On one particular night, after watching Freddie Kruger almost kill Nancy on "A Nightmare on Elm Street", my elder sister scared me half to death telling me she could hear a the rustle of the shower curtain and a little girl calling "Nancy...Nancy!" coming from our KITCHEN!
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2. One of the scariest scenes in The Sixth Sense was when Cole had to pee and after he did, he heard someone in the KITCHEN and thought it was his mom. Here's the excerpt from the screenplay:

Cole instantly stops peeing. His body becomes very still. He slowly reaches for the toilet handle and flushes. He closes his pants and turns. He doesn't come out of the bathroom at first. He just stands there and stares into the darkness of the hall. HIS BREATH FORMS TINY CLOUDS IN THE COLD AIR.

Cole finally steps out into the hallway. His eyes catch a SLANT OF LIGHT now coming from the kitchen.

Cole hesitates before being drawn to the kitchen. He moves down the hall and turns the corner -- coming to a stop in the doorway of the KITCHEN.

Cole stares at the back of a person cooking food on the stove. Cole's fear slowly fades away.

COLE: Momma? Dream about daddy again?

The person turns. It's not Lynn. It's a strange woman. The
woman's face is demented. A purple gash cuts across her
forehead.

WOMAN: DINNER'S -- NOT -- READY!

Cole's face turns the color of ash.

WOMAN: What are you going to do?

Cole backs up to the doorway.

WOMAN: You can't hurt me anymore!

The woman smiles menacingly as she thrusts her wrists forward...They've been savagely cut.
__________________________

WAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!
OK OK. It's past midnight and I'm all alone in my room writing this so I have to stop now 'coz I have to sleep (and I'm kinda freaking myself out. hahahah!!!)


Other Theme Thursday posts:
Coffee Messiah
Booksandacupofcoffee
Basstuna
Mouse Medicine
The Ancient Sword
Listen 2 Auntie
World Traveler
Life at Willow Manor

If You Seek Amy

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!! This is freakin' hilarious!
Apologies to all the "serious" bloggers out there who are reading this, but it was just so funny I had to blog about it.

This was only the second time that I heard this new Britney Spears song, and I only listened (deliberately) again because I was curious about an article on Google News about some Parent groups saying "If You Seek Amy" is too dirty for radio and should be banned. I'm like, "What? Why?" So I listened again...

The chorus goes:
Love me hate me
Say what you want about me
But all of the boys and all of the girls are begging to
If You Seek Amy

Got it yet? :p Think dirty thoughts and listen...
Here's a youtube vid of it (audio only): If You Seek Amy


Talk about making a controversial song for a controversial celebrity. lol.

Happy Chinese New Year of the Ox!

Are you wondering what the Year of the Ox will bring for you? I was born in the year of the Dog, 1982. How about you? What year were you born? Check out your horoscope here: Chinese Horoscope by Yahoo!

To all my Chinese colleagues and Friends...

KUNG HEI FAT CHOI!!!
Welcome the Year of the Ox!

Photo from Wiki

Starbucks Boycott

On January 14, Pro-Palestinian activists in Lebanon attacked Starbucks, causing the branch of the U.S. coffee shop chain to close its doors.

The protesters accused the coffee chain of supporting the Israeli army and the attack in Gaza, basing their protests on a letter that indicates that the company’s chairman and president, Howard Schultz, has been donating money to Israel. Starbucks has vehemently denied this on their website and apparently the letter was published on an Internet site by an Australian anti-Zionist, who made it clear that he wrote the letter as a parody... Unfortunately, the same violent protests have still been happening, not in only Lebanon but in other parts of the world as well.

Hmm. Can Starbucks sue that Aussie dude for libel?

In other news, I am personally boycotting Starbucks until they give me my free Starbucks Planner for 2009. I have checked a dozen Starbucks shops in the past 2 weeks, and they're all out. :p The one in SM Batangas even said I have to wait until March! Wowowow. :p I guess I'll have to make do with my Nescafe Instant Taster's Choice coffee or Kopi Roti sa kanto for the meantime.


Sources:
LA Times
Starbucks Website
JTA