Successful YouTubers: Puth and Mendes

Stories of two young singers whose fame astronomically soared after they were spotted on YouTube inspire other aspiring artists.

The foundation of Charlie Puth and Shawn Mendes' successes is talent honed early on as kids and further nurtured by their parents. YouTube as an enabling tool put them in the radar which linked them to hunters and eventually giant recording companies.

Music and social media exposure created exponentially their fan base and transformed these shy, lacking confidence suspected introverts to stardom. 

What makes them tick right now is striking the right notes and elements that resonate with the evolving tastes of a dynamic music audience across all continents. Audience can relate to their songs, lyrics and melody and execution whether recorded, in a music video or live. Fans are awed with their looks, moves, instrument playing, outfit, outlook bonding a strong traction between performers and listeners. This large fan base is generating these young artists an enviable revenue in millions.

What their future looks like depends on several factors in the marketplace. For as long as they enjoy composing, singing, performing and flirting with their audience and innocently manifesting their passion for their craft as young performers, they will continue to dominate the airwave and the social platforms threatening the more seasoned singers older than them.

View how Charlie and Shawn started. You might deconstruct the secret formula to success.

Charlie

Part 1 https://youtu.be/gCrVKXxA6_M

Part 2 https://youtu.be/M-JLnGuFHLc

Shawn 8.7m views

https://youtu.be/ZYkvxtriIrI

Stitches and We Don't Talk Anymore

 Two young talented and good-looking singers in their twenties who got their breaks on YouTube in the mid-century (2015) are now ranked in the top music influencers in the world. The claim to fame of both Charlie Puth, 28 years old, an American and Shawn Mendes, 22 years old, a Canadian can be attributed to YouTube. Shawn learned to play the guitar through YouTube tutorials. Charlie started to post music on YouTube only in 2009.

Charlie is associated with the hits Marvin Gaye, See You Again, Attention, One Call Away, We Don’t Talk Anymore, How Long among others while Shawn with Señorita, In My Blood, If I Can't Have You, Lost in Japan. There songs are currently hot as cover songs of hundred others aspiring artists pursuing careers in singing.

Their channels got the attention of promoters, record companies, co artists eventually earning for them recording contracts. With the support of their management companies, their music reached wider mileage, acceptance and familiarity.

Charlie and Shawn are friends mutually appreciating each other's works. They have lots of commonalities and parallel paths. Other than their hit songs, they play guitar and the piano with Charlie more technically inclined. Their hit songs landed in the top billboard charts.

Charlie is inspired by the phenomenal rise of Justine Bieber. Shawn was noticed by millions doing a cover of fellow Canadian Justin Bieber’s “As long as you love me.” Both excel in singing either recorded or live.

Shawn launched his roadshow Shawn Mendes World Tour in 2016 while Charlie’s Voicenotes Tour took off in 2018. Charlie composes and sings with a signature beat and moves with a signature style. Shawn is wilder and straps a guitar in his live performances. The songs that he sings bring out his signature voice runs. Their sell out concerts attract thousands of young females with Charlie appealing to the older ones.

Shawn had the advantage of performing in the 2018 Victoria Secret Show.

Along with their fame are corresponding net worth envied by other performers. Estimated value of Charlie is $10 million and the younger Shawn at $40 million.

Enjoy their music, brought to you by the channel that drove their fame. They are no one-hit wonders as both have established a strong brand franchise built over a short span of time. They will stay in the business because their franchise is founded on talent and their passion for music expressing the sentiments of the listening audience.

Charlie

We don’t talk anymore 2.8b views https://youtu.be/3AtDnEC4zak

Attention 1.1b views https://youtu.be/nfs8NYg7yQM

How long 3.6m views https://youtu.be/CwfoyVa980U

Shawn

Stitches 1.2b views https://youtu.be/VbfpW0pbvaU

Lost in Japan 90m views https://youtu.be/SAWzXkV3hHo

If I can’t have you 171m views https://youtu.be/oTJ-oqwxdZY

Closing Mr. Holmes

Mr. Holmes. A well crafted movie performed sensitively well by professional actors. Mr. Sherlock Holmes in his senior years reconstructs his final case aided by a young boy interested in developing his probing-solving skills.

Mr. Holmes as depicted by Sir Ian McKellen is not just facts and figures but heart too; suffering from forgetfulness and aloneness, the aging detective displays vulnerability.

British theater and film actor Ian is supported ably well by Laura Linney as Mrs. Munro, the housekeeper and mother and Milo Parker as Roger the son and the protégé.

Roger shares his interest in bees and wasps, Holmes' unfinished writings and unresolved cases. Roger was raised without a father with some resentment to his mother. Mr. Holmes' word to his protégé, "one should not leave this life without a sense of completion." Roger helped Sherlock solve his last case and in recalling the gap between a Japanese diplomat and his son.

Prior to his closure statement he told Roger relating to bees and humans, "death, grieving, mourning, they're all commonplace." Line resonates better in the language translated in Tagalized Movie Channel (80 on Sky Cable) as " kamatayan, nagdadalamhati, pagdadalamhati, lahat sila ay pangkaraniwan" said twice by Holmes.

Theme on the realization of death, fading memories, bees and wasps, conflict between mother and son, master and protege, unresolved business dramatised well in the movie at the time of the pandemic deepens our appreciation for our personal journey.

As the movie closes, Mr. Holmes recalls the people important in his life; those who have gone beyond him. But it is in solving one final case relating to the unexpected death that he understood what loneliness was. Though physically weak and emotionally vulnerable, Roger, the inquisitive protege inspired him to continue to live and to close chapters.

One of my favourites during the lockdown. In Tagalog, "may tagos!"

#AswangMovie

Aswang, a documentary of Alyx Arumpac on the killings as part of the Tokhang drug cleansing program initiated in 2017 is a disturbing capture of the nightcrawlers supported with powerful images of adults, situations and children.

Children from the sound bite captures of Jomari and other playmates imbibe the language and posturing of the criminalized adults and the police authorities nonchalantly as casual as a day to day lingo.

Documentary captures at night (except for the Baclaran church service) tracking and tracing of the victims of Tokhang in Barangay 46 Bagong Barrio Caloocan, Eusebio Funeral Parlor Blk. 49 Longos, Malabon, Sitio Kabatuhan Tullahan in Valenzuela to the secret jail in Raxabago Tondo Manila and other sitios ending in EDSA.

A mortician waits for the next case to embalm and to be claimed, a church pastor doubling as a an unnamed EJS nightshift photographer comforts the close relatives of victims, death on the street, funeral parlors, wakes on site, blood on the asphalt, candles at the site of the crime, cramped cemetery graves accommodating bodies in twos and fours, kids poking fun at the difficulty of squeezing bodies at the grave, the discovery of a secret jail behind a cabinet of a police precinct with no documentation are not scenes from a staged movie but documentation of actual scenes morbid and distressing enough to be alarmed.

Yet no police nor military is shown on video except for the sight of a flashing police mobile.

Aswang, in Philippine folklore is a monster symbolizing fear. While distressing, Arumpac ends the documentary with a hint of hope. Some “chose to stand up and look at the monster in the eye. But some refuse to be afraid.”

“Kapag sinasabi nilang may aswang, ang gusto talaga nilang sabihin ay matakot ka

Itong buong lunsod na napiling tambakan ng mga katawan ay lalamunin ka

Tulad ng paano nilalamon ang takot at tatagPero mayroon pa ring hindi natatakot at nagagawang harapin ang halimaw. Dito nagsisimula . . .”

There might be no exit nor end.

Written after viewing Aswang on Vimeo 11 July 2020

https://www.facebook.com/aswangmovie/videos/623965178220644

#AswangMovie

Lockdown on its 9th week. NCR is on MECG. The rest are in GCQ.

The matrix on Covid-19 based on incidence of testing, positive rate and capability and occupancy of health system is dynamic and constantly changing day by day.

With the several variations and conditions per island, region, province, city, town, district, barangay, policies and processes are increasing in numbers making it difficult for the majority of the citizens to keep up. Most of the steps require cross functional interdependencies.

To be current, one needs an understanding of process flow tuned in to media releases for updated versions. Even the LGUs and the Barangay have not been apprised in a timely manner on the developments.

Even media front liners are challenged. Reports are further probed and validated by senior practitioners for consistency.

One of the government officials who understands and makes an effort to explain even the exceptions is DILD Secretary Eduardo Ano. His judgments are calibrated and policy based (compliance and execution are altogether a phenomenon).

With time in my hands, I track developments and changes i.e. GMA News TV, Teleradyo DZMM, DZRH.

But what about the ordinary folks? Most common needs are getting financial aids, DSWD listing, quarantine pass, travel pass, transport, inter area transfers among others.

For the past 9 weeks, I unconditionally assist particularly the marginalized like construction workers, senior citizens, QC residents in whatever capacity to help them move to the next steps. This is also to test the processes laid down.

It is understandable that given these conditions and reality and the complexity of situations and our current political structure, the fastest way to cope is through political connection. I am still working on this linkage to help more.

This is just process. This does not even cover health related concerns.

Earthling is in distress. Each of one needs to look closely at our values for us to tide us over.

My 6 basics to survive:

1. Stay healthy. Boost my immune system. Food. Personal hygiene
2. Isolate. Face mask, distancing, disinfecting
3. Maintain a sane mental mindset. Routine. Chores. Tasks. Socia Media. Hobbies. YouTube. DIY. Helping others. Prayers. Writing articles like this
4. Stay connected. Social media, media
5.  Maintain resources. Money. Hardware. Water. Energy. Food. Data
6. Comply. Don't get detained

18 May 2020

Flora in the time of Covid-19 before Flores de Mayo

• Golden Shower (/Cassia Fistula/), Bougainvillea, Mango (/Mangifera indica/) • Golden Shower (/Cassia Fistula/), African Tulip (/Spathodea Campanulata/), Yellow bell (/Allamanda Cathartica/)

•Palm variety, Kalachuchi, Chinese honeysuckle (/Triplaris cumingian/)

• Acacia (/Abizia saman/), Kalachuci, /Schefflera/ sp

• Acacia (/Abizia saman/), Gumamela (/Hibiscus/ sp.), Banaba (/Lagerstroemia speciosa/)

• Bougainvillea, Caballero (/Caesalpinia pulcherrima/), Banaba (/Lagerstroemia speciosa/)

Hua Chenyu Does

Keeping me company in isolation is Chinese singer Hua Chenyu who I first discovered on YouTube The Singer 2018.

Lifted from Google Images

Hua Hua is such a prolific unconventional non- mainstream talented artist. He can sing across all genre yet he is undefined by any genre.

Hua Hua sings mostly his own compositions with volumes of original unique touching renditions live.

Decoding him to understand how he can achieve such, he is an introvert with sensitive feelings which he can articulate in a melody.

Skilled and passionate he performs the feeling, melody, worded, assembled live engaging with thousands of spectators the minute he hits his 1st chord.

His feelings are staged in stories which he slowly unfolds intensely and controlled in a melody, body movement, vocal range, outfit and stage presence.

https://www.weibo.com/ttarticle/p/show?id=2309404368513895685367

Hua Chenyu is such an enigma who strikes at all your sensitive nerves. At 30, he is already a great influence to the Chinese and to a number of non Chinese speaking music lovers discovering him which includes me.

Music indeed when it touches the guts transcends beyond language and genre.

Hua Hua does.

Compilation https://youtu.be/iIWqYXRPv0E
Hungry https://youtu.be/czQD5amQSZ0
I am what I am https://youtu.be/dCm7pvdigKw
Not good looking but gentle https://youtu.be/7B-aBroKXbA

Hua Chenyu, the Phenomenal Chinese Songwriter Concert Artist

A gentle soul, a musical genius singer songwriter, a daring unique progressive artist

He has the talent to express any message and feelings he wants to convey in music. Daring and innovative, he is not afraid to be who he is. Young, Hua Chenyu is not your typical pop singer because he is an artist, a creative musician, composer, a storyteller.

Unconventional, yet he has a strong command over his audience, predominantly young. His music mostly his compositions strikes a chord with them. Versatile, he can swing from ballad, to pop, hard rock, rap to spoken word. His sad songs make you cry, his angsty songs make you mad. His upbeat melodies hype you up. Even his outfits are outrageous challenging norms making a statement he is not mainstream.

Hua Hua actively uses his hands; hands to pound on the keyboard, right hand to cover his face and to point and to mesmerize his audience. His hands create music; his right-hand casts a spell.
He rouses his young audience to the stimulus he sends either in ballad, rock, pop, in Chinese or English, piano or full orchestra, traditional ancient Chinese or modern in hybrid format, sitting down, moving and in whatever position. They sing along with him, move with him immediately upon engagement.

Hua Hua created and defined a new genre which connects. When music touches you, it taps your core, opens you up, disabling you setting you up in an unexplainable state.

Hua Hua, a confessed introvert creates music from his sensitivity to feelings visualized in an imagery followed by an associated melody. From this cycle, he assembles and composes the song. A number of his songs are in the Top Billboard Chart in China.

Backstage, he is unassuming. On stage he commands a powerful presence with his performance, choice of music and storytelling. Hua Hua is one of the top influential personalities in China today. Ticket sales to his big concerts sell out in minutes. He is an advocate of the fight against depression.

Hua Hua placed 2nd to Jessie J. in The Singer 2018. He has fondness for KZ Kandingan who he met at the competition.

Series of performances at The Singer 2018 https://youtu.be/tb2NMFnbfoY
Awarding https://youtu.be/rf0eetJfbNM

Dulang UP's Ang Nawalang Kapatid Online

I suspended my expectation of the power of film as a a medium watching Dulaang UP’s collaborative work of 2 theater geniuses, Dexter M. Santos and Floy Quintos in their adaptation of an Indian epic “Mahabharata. I convinced myself I was not watching a movie nor a musical but a play at UP Diliman.

Streamlined on YouTube is the 1994 play #AngNawalangKapatid Familiar with the duo’s previous theater works, the  online broadcast of a full edition high definition video capture is the theater groups’ contribution to keep the citizen at home during their uncertain CoVid-19 lockdown for the healing of the nation in time of stress and loss; indeed the play not only made me stay at home, it kept me glued me at my seat for almost 2 hours.

I followed the epic's story unfold without a souvenir program understanding the profound Indian epic message and appreciating the spectacular theatrical production. At home without the threat of the virus, I was already awed at the spellbinding work of creative art, the mesmerizing and stunning war scene and dramatic closing, more so had I experienced it at the front row of Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero Theater.

Thank you for bringing one of the glories of world literature executed exceptionally well by Santos, Quintos, Javier, actors and Dulaang UP ensemble online.

It leaves a strong impression relevant during this time, "after the bloodbath and the journey to afterlife, there is a new dawn waiting."

Act One ends with “Ito na ang katapusan.”

Ang Nawalang Kapatid closes with this transcribed message:

“Ang lahat ng dumaan ay pumapanaw. Walang talo at lalong walang panalo. At doon sa kanilang panororooan, muli silang nagkita lahat. Di na nila maalala ang kanilang pinagawayan. Hindi na nila matandaan ang dating galit ang dating sama ng loob. Ang lahat ay walang saysay, walang halaga. 
At doon sa kanilang pinarooan, muli silang naging mga bata. Walang ganid. Walang panama Payapa at walang hanggang pagasa.

Kaibigan . . ., kaaway . . . Bukas puso nilang minasdan ang isang mundo, ang isang bagong mundo di na nila wawasakin.

Tama si Krishna, ang lahat ng nangyari ay para sa ikabubuti at sa inyong nakanood sa dakilang kasaysayang ito, tandaan, isapuso at isabuhay.”

Namaste!

Posted 29 March 2020, it has been viewed by 12k when I followed it.

---------------

“'Ang Nawalang Kapatid' was a musical adaptation of the great Indian epic, The Mahabhrata by Floy Quintos, with original music by Ceejay Javier, directed and choreographed by Dexter Martinez Santos.

The musical featured an all- student cast essaying the roles of mythic and archetypal characters, all executing the breathtaking choreography led by Santos and his team. It was the highlight of Dulaang UP's 38th Theatre Season when it opened in February of 2014. The show was met with outstanding reviews and audience reactions that it revived in June of the same year as the opener of the 39th Theatre Season.

We are proud to bring you the show in its entirety. Hopefully the epic's message of harmony, achieved after a period of adversity, will ring true in these times.”

https://youtu.be/vISTL9hHTcc

https://lifestyle.inquirer.net/152188/the-spellbinding-ang-nawalang-kapatid/

I support #OpenHouseFundraiser, http://bit.ly/DonateOpenHouse.

Duets Showcasing 5 Talents' Passion and Perfection for their Craft

Top 6 Duet Favorites of YouTuber Max Schneider and Dimash Kudaibergen

Their interpretation of the pieces showcases the 5 singers' talents demonstrating their passion, perfection and  mastery of their craft.

Enjoy. Click on the link

Style

See You Again

• Max Schneider + Nick Dungo Style https://youtu.be/NtuCe7rKAo8
• Max Schneider + Nick Dungo See You Again https://youtu.be/UrXzpQLqXH4
• Max Schneider + Nick Dungo Take Me To Church https://youtu.be/iNQOEAi_SNw

Take Me To Church

• Dimash Kudaibergen + Victor Ma Bojun Earth Song https://youtu.be/mTsHrbct_K8

Earth Song

• Dimash Kudaibergen + Li Yugang Drunken Concubine/ Dance Diva https://youtu.be/8T3J9TqU-QM
• Dimash Kudaibergen + Tengri Swan Goose https://youtu.be/8LEXQctl0Q0

Drunken Concubine/ Diva Dance

Swan Goose

Everything I learned in coping to survive 21 days of CoVid-19 Community Quarantine I learned in mountaineering (except for one thing)

What has the popularity of mountaineering done? (Made relevant at this time we are facing a pandemic)

Subject: What has the popularity of mountaineering done?
Newsgroups: soc.culture.filipino
Date: 1999/11/26

What has the popularity of mountaineering done?

1. Raised the consciousness of the climbers for the environment, acting on it though is different from just knowing.
2. Gave pleasure to the climbers either through their appreciation of nature, the camaraderie, use of equipment, purchase of equipment, physical exertion, feeling of completion, seeing new places, meeting new people, eating, drinking or mere escaping; or a combination of all.
3. Sharpened special skills: photography, cooking, organizing, leading, relating, writing, website developing, handling socials, technical climbing etc.
4. Not to mention improved the economy: equipment trading and local commerce thrived from guides, food that you eat, transpo that you avail, places that you stay in.
5. Above all, it ignited the passion in individuals, to enjoy their lives to the edge.
6. Close to saying it has opened us to our spirituality, to our role in life, our relationships with others and our place in this universe.

So what are we complaining about?
We are concerned that our playing ground is not kept and in fact desecrated.
We see it and know we can do something about it. Does this animal we are looking for really exist? Perhaps the environmentalist is a state of perfection and the purist is just our projection.
The best that most can do is keep the campsite clean and stay alive. But it is good to be reminded at times that we can fill in to that obligation. Just like what Alfie and Celine did.
Until we push so hard, it will be difficult. Because that is our nature.

Happy Thanksgiving Day!
Originally posted Nov 1999

----------

5 April 2020

The value of mountaineering in the time of CoVid-19 when one is in isolation under community quarantine

It instilled the discipline of planning, managing, scheduling valuing food, water, safety, hygiene, shelter, clothing among others.

The primary skill sets in disciplined and organized climbing are the same ones needed with the same level of importance to survive CoVid-19.

Top of mind are:

1. Planning meals, their ingredients, preparation, cooksets and cooking. Budgeting based on number of days in isolation, primary nutrients needed, sourcing and rationing. CoVid-19 Applicability-High
2. Staying hydrated. Conserving water, its use in cleaning and hygiene. Identifying its source, checking its content and quantity, storage. Covid-19 Applicability-High
3. Disinfecting cookset, equipment and clothing. Prudent use of rubbing alcohol for cleaning and personal hygiene even toilet paper. (Skip part on use of bath soap). Covid-19 Applicability-High
4. Overall health condition-be fit and healthy. Prepare for the rigors of trekking. Know how to check for symptoms and apply first aid treatment. Identify source and resource persons and nearest emergency centers in case of emergency. CoVid-19 Applicability-High
5. Dress appropriately. Pack basic protective equipment. Leave shoes outside the tent. CoVid-19-High (Face Mask, Personal Protective Equipment)
6. Respect line formation where one leads and one sweeps with spacing in-between. The word social distancing was perhaps never coined before. Keeping distance, not too close to avoid domino nor too far to keep everyone within reach. CoVid-19 Applicability-High
7. Complete primary and basic equipment, tools, clothing, cookset, lighter, stove, alcohol to drink etc. Data connection still optional then. Because of weight and space limitations, alcohol (GSM with EOC/Tang) has to be judiciously allocated, CoVid-19 Applicability-High
8. Set up shelter with insulation for protection. Ensure you have a light, water, connection. Create a holding area for wet and dirty clothing, garments. If extremely dirty, clean an wipe at the vestibule or the holding area. CoVid-19 Applicability-High
9. Recognize your leader. Climb as a group. Do not leave anyone behind. CoVid-19 Applicability N.A.
10. Maintain a basic survival kit with contact numbers in case of emergency. Covid-19 Applicability-High
11. Establish good relationships. Declare your ambag during cooking and in the socials. Play your role in the socials either as banka, tanggero, patawa, padrama, taga kodak, toka sa chaser, sa pulutan, clean up. CoVid-19 Applicability Waived in favor of social media
12. Deepen your spirituality. Through nature, appreciate the wonder of life and people. Seeing the grandness of nature, we realize that we are just a speck in the magnitude of the universe. CoVid-19 No explanation needed

Behavioral change takes time. While we have the discipline, skill and survival kits to survive CoVid-19 we developed and honed through the years. it is certainly challenging and difficult for a mountaineer to do a critical step asked from the citizenry; to stay at home.

Stay alive. Ingat lang po

Inspired by my mountaineering friends. Dedicated to all

Machine Measured Covers

Roomie Official. Technically measured covers by a talkative hyperactive young Swedish YouTube commentator Joel Gustaf Berghult

https://youtu.be/jPoLeJJsbCw
https://youtu.be/uXDSEcD5nE0

Confident, creative, well versed in pop music, he is straight forward with his critiques even if hurting. Particular with auto-tunes, diction, wrong lyrics, off-synchs, generic interpretations (admitting he too is guilty) but states there is nothing wrong and demeaning. His primary criteria in appreciating artists songs is, "how can it stand out in the sea of talents."

Observant, he is quick to spot opportunities and faults of renditions of up and coming and established mainstream artists. His inputs are concretely substantiated and can be taken lightly because of humour, contagious laughter, fast talk and "pabebe "

His channel is inserted with animation making it visually interesting and fun to view especially if one is into pop music. He too likes poking fun at himself praising his greatness.

(Joel is impressed with Marcelito and has high regard for the talented Filipinos.)

Joel narrates his journey on his 15 years struggle in his channel.
https://youtu.be/YyGWy3lXBIc

Not who is but where is?

Municipalities and cities named after family names of personalities with cultural and heroic contributions are common in the Philippines. But named in full including the middle initial is exceptional. Have you been to Braulio E. Dujali in Davao Del Norte?

To get there from Panabo, you pass through a banana plantation where you are required to soak your shoes walking in a disinfecting mat. In the same area you spot the Davao Penal Colony. Prisoners provide labor services to the plantation. The thought of prisoners tending to a farm brought back images in John Steinbeck's 1939 novel "The Grapes of Wrath," a piece of literature we dissected in college.

All these were triggered by a municipality named after a first, middle initial and a last name of an important person.

From Wikipedia, B. Dujali was the leader of a group of settlers from South Cotabato.

Understanding Russian Poetry

Among my favorites as of the moment is a Russian song "Love is like a Dream." My dream adaptation is a translation by the late Rolando Tinio, piano accompaniment by Ryan Cayabyab. But who can interpret it like Dimash Kudaibergen?

Dimash is a young Kazakhs from Central Asia gifted with a wide 6-octave vocal range. Classically trained, he demonstrates strong voice, breathing and volume control building up from vocal fry to operatic tenor seamlessly. On stage with a microphone and outfit, he is dramatic, expressive, believable and intense.

Vocal coaches describe his interpretation of "Love is Like a Dream" as a showcase of his control dramatically starting at the dungeon, singing his vibrato and tenor comfortably shifting octaves then flying higher and higher until he reaches the open-ended sky.

My raw translation sans the poetry:

"Mapapatawad ko ang pag-iisa at kalungkutan
Sabi mo di na sila magbabalik
Nangyayari lamang ito sa matamis na panaginip
Ang ating pag-iibigan ay nangyayari ngayon at kailanman
Na mawala ang aking sarili sa iyong pagtingin
Nawa'y di palitan ang liyab ng pagmamahalan ng pag-iisa
Karapat dapat akong makapiling ka
Kapalit ng di makakamtan at pangarap
Malugod akong makasama ka magpakailanman
Makasama ka magpakailanman

Ang pagibig. Ang mala panaginip na pagibig
Ang masayahing tunog ng nag-uumpugang tugma ng mga pusong nagmamahalan
Ang kahimahimalang pagbigkas mo ng "mahal kita" na paulit ulit na umaalingawgnaw
Ang pagibig, ang mala panaginip na pagibig na nagdulot ng kasiyahan sa aking tahanan
Nawa'y pasawayin ang pagtatapos ng panaginip
At di magwawakas ang ating pagiibigan"

English Translation:

"I look into your eyes like in a mirror, afraid of losing my reflection in it.
I don’t want you to be only a passer-by in the darkness of nights and in the destiny of mine.
I love you so like once in life
As if there was no sun before us.
You’ve taken me away from anxiety and quarrels.
And found the keys of happiness for me.
Found them for me.

[Chorus]
This love, this very dream-like love. A crystal-clear chime of hearts.
And your miraculous “I love you” I will repeat with faint echo
This love, this very dream-like love, has made my home full of happiness.
In spite of laws of dreaming, may this love not come to an end.


I do forgive the loneliness and sadness. You’ve said they will be never back.
It takes place only in sweet dreams. But our love exists here and now.
I do hope to avoid loosing myself in your eyes. I hope we won’t change our love for loneliness.
I’ve deserved the pleasure of being by your side with the impossible price and my own dreams.
I’ve deserved the pleasure of being with you forever.
Being with you forever.

[Chorus]
This love, this very dream-like love. A crystal-clear chime of hearts.
And your miraculous “I love you” I will repeat with faint echo.
This love, this very dream-like love has made my home full of happiness.

In spite of laws of dreaming, may this love not come to an end."

https://dimashfanpage.com/…/dimash-kudaibergen-love-is-lik…/

https://youtu.be/xLEQzfqO_l0

Dimash of Kazakhastan

Music and love are indeed universal. They transcend beyond boundaries and state of mind. While they are expressed differently excellently in Central Asia, the passion and longing Infect, in fact deeply influencing.

“Love is Like a Dream” as interpreted in Russian by Dimash Kabaibergen from Kazakhstan is about love not wanting to end. It was composed 25 years ago by the composer Igor Krutoy for Alla Pugacheva, a famous Russian singer. Krutoy plays the piano for Dimash in his live performances.

Even if you don’t speak their spoken language, the artistry of Dimash and Igor makes you understand the joy and pain of humanity.

“Love like a dream has made my home full of happiness.
In spite of laws of dreaming. May this love not come to an end”

Fish Talk

Bayside of a small barangay in a top-classed municipality west of Batangas province

Where the common folks' main livelihood is fishing and the daily routinely conversation of old folks is how the catch for the night was.

Somewhere in the town proper, the millennials in their motorbikes drive to their hangout for meat binging and hard drinks.

Where on February 2020, temperature at 23.0°C (ow of 22) and the wind chill of 20 km/hour (low of 7) blowing the cold air of the bay to the roof deck tells you, the Christmas season got extended.

The days are shorter and nights are longer in the province. Time appears slower too.

The shift in pace from wild and frenetic of urban Manila  to idyllic and laid-back is a mere three hours away.

Changing Career? Not pursuing your Dreams?

On YouTube, I was exposed to a young Singaporean who excels in sports and in the performing arts. Already a champion swimmer in his younger days, he rewired himself for a 360 degree career change. Starting from scratch he shifted from athletics to the performing arts.

Now he is seen on social and mainstream media, playing the keyboard, strings, composing, writing, singing, acting, performing the spoken word. He also enlightens as a celebrity speaker.

Benjamin Kheng in his spoken word act talked about “Rich.”
-Is rich being wealthy, having a great of assets or money?
-Or having a high value or quality?
-Or deep and vivid in colour, sound or smell?
-Or is it the one that makes you whole?

Find out if making peace with the heart is the one that makes you rich.

https://youtu.be/BhHAV1z4v28

Ben shared to TEDxYouth@Singapore complex concepts on how to be competitive and to excel through rewiring, creating the movie soundtrack of one’s life, writing one’s script and filtering out the noise of discouragement and fighting the demons.

Catch the concepts of
-Relative pitch, comprehend the complexities of a sound hearing it for the 1st time
-Synesthesia, associating notes with emotions and colors and putting them in the right place.
-Negative Splitting, a competitive tool to piss people off, pacing yourself on the 1st and 2nd half of the race and going for the kill

Noise exists. How to handle them by making music with the noise, associating it with a chord and putting the noise in the right place through the heart.

In walking with the mind, one knows himself, the strengths and weaknesses and the environment he is in.

In running with the heart, it is deciding and acting at full speed the direction to pursue.

The secret is in his talk "Walk with your mind Run with your heart." (It needs patience to complete the 21-minute lecture. The key to success is there to the keenly interested.)

https://youtu.be/04-JxYnzcq0

Ben sings. One of my favorites is "The Fight Song" in collaboration with Kurt Hugo Schneider.  I quote the lines which resonate “Like a small boat On the ocean Sending big waves Into motion Like how a single word Can make a heart open I might only have one match But I can make an explosion”

“Starting right now I'll be strong I'll play my fight song And I don't really care if nobody else believes 'Cause I've still got a lot of fight left in me”

https://youtu.be/2kR3hmaikGI

Ben closes his Ted Talk with the question, “What about you? What do you want to be? What kind of legacy do you want to leave? Find the color and the noise. Know who you are and what you are made of. When the stars are aligned, let go.”

Parasite The Rich and Me

 Parasite is a Korean movie commenting on the disparity in lifestyle and culture of families at the extreme ends of the social class, the top rich and the bottom poor. Theme is anchored on social stratification to dramatize dissatisfaction, discomfort, unfulfilled needs and materialism of both social classes. The rich have the goods, skills and the cash to afford almost anything including exacting service and loyalty. The poor yet skilled family only have services creatively misrepresented deceitfully to be compensated at a premium.

Movie directed by award winning Korean director Bong Joon-ho successfully set up the lifestyle and residence of the affluent Park family to contrast agianst the hand-to-mouth survival of a poor, opportunistic yet talented Kim family in their cramped semi-basement quarter. With the stage set, the story and the drama of the social commentary unfold linearly, logically. Treatment is light, amusing and not depressing as the distressing theme was dealt with in a humorous way.

From the start, Parasite already established the class differences, gaps and the forthcoming racketeering to be committed against the privileged. Spotting opportunities for a get-quick-rich scheme, Kim family taps forgery, manipulation, schematic staging and almost anything without remorse and justification though discretely respecting the kindness accorded to them by the Park family.

Midway, the struggle expands not just between the rich and the marginalized family but by two poor families serving the rich, the Kims and Moon-gwang and husband Geun-sae. The fired cook displaced by the maneuvering of the Kim family returned stretching the stratified story with sub plots, surprises and interesting violent twists.

While simplistically, Parasite is about the poor family infiltrating and creeping into the rich's house; the rich dependent on the labor of the poor, parasitism is more appropriately applicable to them. The rich man's wife needed someone to do household chores and a sounding board, their daughter needing a tutor and a sexual partner, the young son, artistic coach and the husband, a driver.

Parasite leaves you devastated with senses assaulted thinking the rich are different from you and me. Parasite is a story told well, movie crafted well and portrayals acted well by Koreans with a universal appeal of what being human is. Each human being has talents with burdens to bear. Common between the rich and the poor is a family to care for. Collectively it is the family that binds the individuals, father and mother concern for their young son and daughter, son and daughter finding opportunities for their mother and father and the mother looking after the welfare of her partner.

Regardless of stature though, the family has shared struggles. The struggle which initially was light and amusing evolved into a dark, bloody, tragic state without any clear closure.


What is clear though is life is more painful for those at the lower strata of the society.

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I got jolted by the movie Parasite, scared by the two marginalized Parasite families and amused with one scheming Korean family especially when initially I was the only moviegoer in the 100-seater cinema house.

I left the room devastated with my senses assaulted thinking are the rich different from you and me? Or do the yous and mes face more exciting lives?

A story told well, movie crafted and portrayals acted well  by Koreans with a universal appeal of what being human is. Each one of us has talents with burdens to bear. Collectively it is the family that binds but the unit too has shared struggles regardless of stature.