zumba

My sister found a fun aerobic exercise to add to our workout. It's called Zumba, a series of latin american dances. I love the music; the beats are fun and catchy. I like this better than hip hop type aerobics.

I looked it up in the net to see more feedback, turns out it has an interesting story behind it:
"As a fitness instructor in his native Cali, Colombia, the life of Zumba program's founder, Alberto "Beto" Perez, took an unexpected turn one fateful day in the mid-'90s. He darted off to teach an aerobics class and forgot his traditional aerobics music, so he improvised using his own mix of music from tapes he had in his backpack (the salsa and merengue music he grew up with). Spontaneously, he created a new kind of dance-fitness, one that focused on letting the music move you (instead of counting reps over the music). Energy electrified the room; people couldn't stop smiling. His class loved it! And on that day, a revolutionary new fitness concept was born--the Zumba Fitness-Party."
- Amazon.com, product description

Hurray for improv! Here's my favorite song from the workout:



ZUMBA!

little light

Whenever I start to write a poem or a story, I always need to find a song or any piece of music that matches it.  I play it again and again while writing. It's like wine to my muse.

So today, I needed to submit a writing exercise to the Internet writing workshop. The theme of the week was "Little light of mine":

In 400 words or less write a scene that takes place on the night of the Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year, and show us someone or something bringing light into the darkness.

I had no idea what I was going to write. So I thought of things that light up: candles, light bulb, sunlight, and then I got it-- fireworks!  Then I remembered a song I heard from a Taiwanese boyband:

I don't speak Chinese and yet this song managed to bring a story out of me. Music is wonderful that way, yes?   I kept playing it over and over the whole day, even though I didn't understand a word.  Here's the little scene that I wrote, I hope you all like it-- I do. Thanks F4!  Happy New Year everyone!

Two small figures ran to the playground. "Hurry up! Someone might see us!"
The girl felt her heart pound. She was tired.
"Faster, fat ass." the boy whispered.
She glared at him. "My parents will kill me if they found out about this."
"I know." he said and smiled.
"I hate you."
He laughed. She always made him feel better about being an orphan. He sat on the ground and watched her lumber.
"Hey, that's the watch that you wanted."
She looked at the pink glow-in-the-dark watch on her arm. "Yeah, my sister gave it to me this Christmas. Jealous?"
"Please, it's a girl's watch. What time is it?", he said.
She pushed up her glasses and looked again. "Uh.. it's late."
"Really, what time?"
"Like, bedtime late."
"Like, what exact time?"
"Like time for you to shut up that's what!"
He laughed so hard, he fell back on the snow. He barely felt the snowball that hit him in the chest. His laughter echoed, probably all the way to The Home. He didn't care.
Suddenly, she was standing over him, hands at her hips.
"Did you bring a lighter?"
"Yeah." she said.
He stood up and opened his backpack. There were four small skyrockets inside. One of the kids at the orphanage knew someone who knew someone who made them.
"This is going to be awesome."
"I know!"
He set them carefully on the ground and then bowed at her. She booed him.
"Alright, I'll let you have the first one. Then I'll go, then you again." he said.
Her smile faded. She took out the lighter, images of blood and burnt hands came to her mind. She looked at him, afraid. He took the lighter from her hand.
"Sorry."
He waved his hand. "Hey, if you're scared you might do something wrong. I don't want you to lose your arm. How else can you wear that pretty watch and tell the time?"
She laughed and punched him in the chest.
"Alright here goes." He lit the wick of the first one. "Stand back!"
They ran and covered their ears. The rocket made a hissing sound and shot upwards. They screamed and hugged each other as it burst in the night sky, forming a brilliant ball of gold. A cold winter wind blew at them, yet they had never felt this warm before.

people

Ships that pass in the night, and speak each other in passing, only a signal shown, and a distant voice in the darkness; So on the ocean of life, we pass and speak one another, only a look and a voice, then darkness again and a silence.
~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

happy birthday, andrea bocelli!

When Andrea's mother was pregnant with him, she became sick and had to be admitted to the hospital.  Doctors made a mistake with the diagnosis.  They thought she was having appendicitis.  She received treatments, like having ice applied on her stomach.  After it was over, they advised her to abort the child.

"They told her it was the best solution because the baby would be born with some disability," he says.

She refused to listen and chose to keep the baby instead, and so in September 22, 1958, world-class tenor Andrea Bocelli was born.

There are many good arguments on why people choose to abort or even abandon a child, but there's so much more that we do not know and understand.  There's a lot of things we cannot foresee.  Life has its reasons too.

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrea_Bocelli
http://www.christianpost.com/article/20100623/renowned-singer-andrea-bocelli-tells-abortion-story/index.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1285058/Andrea-Bocelli-praises-mother-aborting-doctors-told-born-disabled.html

levi & leaf

by walter villa

Out of a single unremarkable leaf came beautiful music.  I remember seeing him on TV back when I was still a kid. Days after that we were trying to do the same thing with Stork candy wrappers. All I was able to play was one single note. It's a lot like whistling but it's hard to get a melody going. Besides it's really embarrassing to have other kids watch you spit all over yourself.

We did try using leaves but they tend to fall apart and we always end up having these bugs in our mouth.  (Amateurs! There goes our chance for the Guinness Book of World Records.)

He composed the lyrics of one of the beautiful, saddest songs I heard.  "Sa Ugoy ng Duyan" is a song of someone longing for his childhood, back when his mother would sing lullabies while gently swaying him to sleep.  I don't know why but I always associate this song to the story of Sisa in Rizal's Noli Me Tangere, a caring mother who lost her mind when her two sons were accused of stealing and were captured by the authorities.

In this age of remakes and rock bands, Levi Celerio's original compositions are diamonds, classics that I hope will never get lost in time.

Levi Celerio
(April 30, 1910 - April 2, 2002)

heavenly peace

In 1816, Father Josef Mohr wrote a poem about the night when Christ was born. It was a simple poem, describing a time of happiness and longing for peace and comfort. At that time, he was an assistant priest in Mariapfarr, Austria. The Napoleonic wars had just ended, and an economic depression left many unsure of the future.

Two years later, he showed it to Franz Gruber, the choirmaster, and asked him if he could compose a melody. It was the day before Christmas. Their church organ was broken, and they needed a song for the Mass that could be accompanied by a guitar. Franz got to work and on that Christmas eve, "Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht" (Silent Night, Holy Night), was born. Father Mohr sang tenor and played the guitar while Franz sang bass.


A hundred years later, their song became part of a miracle.

Soldiers fighting the Great War were promised a victory by December and assured they'd be going home to celebrate.  It was never delivered-- the war lasted for four more years.  But on the cold Christmas Eve of 1914, something happened. The German troops, despite the danger, placed lighted candles on trees. They held some of these over their heads, sending a holiday greeting to their enemy. The British, on the other side, saw it and held their fire. They heard the Germans start singing "Stille nacht, Heilige nacht" and immediately recognized the melody. They responded by singing English carols.

Frank Richards, author of the memoir Old Soldiers Never Die, writes about the truce: "We stuck up a board with 'Merry Christmas' on it. The enemy stuck up a similar one. Two of our men threw off their equipment and jumped on the parapet with their hands above their heads as two of the Germans did the same, our two going to meet them. They shook hands and then we all got out of the trench and so did the Germans." He also says that some German soldiers spoke perfect English, one of them even saying how fed up he was with the war and how he would be glad when it was all over. The British agreed.

They lit a common campfire in "No Man's Land", a small bombed out terrain between them. Sitting around it, they exchanged gifts such as whisky, jam, cigarettes and chocolates. The truce lasted through Christmas night, but in some areas, it continued until New Year's Day.

Today, a cross stands near Ypres, Belgium, the place where the trees twinkled as a song of peace interrupted the war. It was created in 1999 and its inscription reads:

"1914 - The Khaki Chums Christmas Truce - 1999. 85 Years. Lest we forget."

"Stille nacht, Heilige nacht" by Josef Mohr and Franz Gruber

Sources:
http://www.stillenacht.at/en/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_truce
http://home.snu.edu/~hculbert/silent.htm
http://www.holytrinitynewrochelle.org/yourti14724.html

YouTube's most watched video of 2009

She's the youngest of nine children and lives in Blackburn with her ten-year-old cat, Pebbles.  The plan was to be a musical theatre singer like Elaine Page but you'd never know the power of that voice only by looking at her.  People had always made fun of her appearance and learning disabilities.  Nonetheless, there is always that dream-- to hold on to and pursue.  She took singing lessons from Fred O'Neil and attended the Edinburgh Acting School.  She auditioned for shows and recorded independent CDs. In 1999, she spent all of her savings to pay for a professionally cut demo tape, which she sent to record companies, radio talent competitions, local and national TV.

It all took a backseat though, when she had to look after her sick mother-- the same person who urged her to join a TV talent contest and “take the risk” of singing in front of an audience larger than her parish church.  Her mother died at the age of 91 last 2007.  She decided to join the contest as a tribute-- and her performance got her a standing ovation and a worldwide audience.   Today, she has a #1 debut album and 120 million views in Youtube. Best of all, she's known as the woman who shut up Simon Cowell.

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Boyle

birds on the wires

Are there gifts in hiding around us?  Or do we take what we see and create a gift out of it?  Do we find them or make them?  In this picture, Jarbas Agnelli saw music instead of birds.  He translated it into a tune, using the birds as notes and sent the music to Paulo Pinto, the photographer.  This led to an interview in the same newspaper where the photo was printed.

Sources:
http://www.vimeo.com/6428069