THIS IS NOT A POEM

Time indeed is way too busy being time. It doesn't even mind that it has left me behind. I slept last night and woke up this morning, and suddenly realized that there’s no more waiting. For the days they zoomed to make up months. Twelve months to a year, oh how time flies! And now I’m here, wondering why I try my best to make these lines rhyme. Guess you’ll agree with me if I say that it seems like yesterday when the last one came our way. But this time I really hope my wish comes true at last. Fate please allow me 'coz I already have a pass! In case you're wondering what I'm talking about, oh it's nothing just a book fair, the biggest one we've got. It runs for five days; this year's starts today. Its name's MIBF, Manila International Book Fair. 

Haay, mukhang malabo na namang makapunta ako. Tsk tsk. 

PIANO WEEK: SONG NO. 7 (SOMEONE LIKE YOU)

Rounding out my Piano Week's to-be-featured songs is another Adele hit, "Someone Like You." Though at first this wasn't my favorite, despite the constant oh-she-is-playing-her-favorite-song-again joke being thrown at me whenever I play this one, I do admit that it is now.

I won't be posting my self-illustrated tutorial today, but rather an instructional YouTube video through which I was able to learn how to play the song. There's a part where I can't keep up with the proper pace (waah, I just can't!), so I am warning you not to expect the best piano playing for this song. I guess that also goes with the other videos in this challenge, but there you are, staying with me until the end. So thank you very much for that. Till next challenge!

PIANO WEEK: SONG NO. 6 (SECRETS)

"Secrets" is the OST of the fantasy-adventure movie The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2010). I liked it big time when I first heard (and saw) its "electrical" version being played in the movie, not to mention that that scene was so rad you would wish to witness such thing in real life. (oops, spoiler alert!)

Click here to download the PDF version

PIANO WEEK: SONG NO. 5 (FIX YOU)

Just in case you don't know, "Fix You" is an inspirational song sung by the British band Coldplay. I love playing this song on my keyboard. I know you will love it, too. 

Click here to download the PDF version

PIANO WEEK: SONG NO. 4 (THE MAN WHO CAN'T BE MOVED)

Learning to play this song really ingrained in me the importance of fingering -- proper finger placement -- in playing the piano/ keyboard. It is hard to explain why, so let's just leave it at that.

Click here to download the PDF version

PIANO WEEK: SONG NO. 3 (ROLLING IN THE DEEP)

To my recollection, I was able to learn Adele's "Rolling In The Deep" in just one sitting, which took a little over 20 minutes . Well maybe it was because it's one of my favorites.

Click here to download the PDF version

PIANO WEEK: SONG NO. 2 (FIREFLIES)

I love to play this one a tad slower than the original. But here I opted to stick by the song's usual speed (so sorry for the frying sound ). I'm always reminded of someone whenever I play this; don't know why though.

Click here to download the PDF version

PIANO WEEK: SONG NO. 1 (A THOUSAND YEARS)

I’ve been dreaming of posting videos of me playing the keyboard on this blog. But given the phase I’ve been in lately, I just don’t seem to have the drive to finally get round to it.

And then one day I came to realize that setting aside that “dream” for so long might eventually lead me to just write it off, so much so that I’d probably do the same to my other to-do blog entries. Needless to say, of course I don’t want that to happen.

So today – armed with renewed enthusiasm – I’m setting out Piano Week. I will be recording a preselect song each day of this week, meaning seven different songs for seven days. Moreover, I will provide simple illustrations (which I made myself) to teach you how to play some of them. It’s not that I’m good enough to be a piano teacher because you see I’m light-years away from being one , but I think it’ll be all the more fun and fulfilling on my part to be able to share what I know with those who are just starting to learn the piano just like me.

I want to make it clear, though, that it was through classpiano.com by Regan Starr that I was able to learn the first six songs – not to mention almost all of the songs I know – that I’ll be having here. And I’d be remiss if I just go about this seven-day challenge without expressing first my sincerest gratitude to the site’s owner. So, .

Moving on, here’s my Piano Week’s first song, "A Thousand Years" by Christina Perri. I once heard a piano-cello cover of this song and very much liked the “transition” (dunno if that’s the correct term for it) before the second part of the intro. So here you’ll be seeing and hearing me play my interpretation of that “transition,” which is actually made up of just two keys.  

Click here to download the PDF version

DAY 8: ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS...

...not you. It is neither world peace (but I do want it year-round). Nor to spend the Day with my father (still, I'd forever be a nice kid just to have this). What I want is not that complicated yet more attainable, but requires me to fork out top dollar for. What I would love to have this Christmas is...


an iPhone 4s!!! The black one!

LOL.

(Image from here)

DAY 4: KARAOKE FUN TIME

I totally enjoy singing Karaoke songs and belting out my favorites, mostly comprised of those I know my amateurish singing can bear.

Testament to this, going to a KTV is usually a must-do whenever me and my friends go out for get-togethers; it somehow feels incomplete when we fail to do so.

It also serves as one of the key events during our family gatherings, where you can expect an aunt or an uncle telling you, "Oh, mag-praktis ka nang mabuti at nang maisali ka namin sa amateur singing contest sa barangay."

I've been missing doing it lately though, as we don't have a videoke microphone at home, friends are quite busy for get-togethers, and the next family gathering I can most probably attend is our New Year celebration.

There's no use being sad, I know. Because for now I just make do with YouTube's Karaoke videos. What I've posted below are just five of the songs I've made a mental note of, just in case. He he.











Oh, and I just want to say thanks to those who have uploaded these videos!*highfive*

MUCH ADO ABOUT ALMOST 'SOMETHING'

Fifteen days into June and this is just my first entry for the month. Rats!
My editing-cum-sideline "career" has to be the ostensible excuse; of late a lot of my time off from work has been occupied by it. I need to earn more, ya know! Who doesn't?!ha ha. Nah, it's not really its fault. I have only myself to blame. Tamad magsulat!

It is not like that for some things though. I have managed to find time for my piano self-study, even on weekdays (believe it or not), and drawing skills. In connection with this, I'm setting out to share my latest "artwork," a product of my weird whim to draw whatever graphics that caught my eye. Can you tell where I took my inspirations from?

PLEASANT SURPRISES

I'll tell you what, I guess, I was really wrong posting on my Facebook wall that "life indeed is full of surprises, but never when you need one." As sour as that status was, it prompted one thing that I suppose holds true: The way we perceive something as surprising greatly depends on where we look at it from; what's surprising for you may not be for me, and vice versa. Which reminds me, aren't you surprised that DMC, a French brand of embroidery threads, can allow anyone to have an Amorsolo? No, not the real paintings, just the cross-stitch patterns.

The brand's only local distributor, Focus Global, Inc., partners with the Fernando C. Amorsolo Art Foundation for this project, which has turned eight Amorsolo paintings "that reflect Filipino culture at its best" into patterns: Planting Rice, Cooking the Noonday Meal, Winnowing Rice, Sunset: Return of the Fisherman, Girl with a Banga, Tinikling Dance, Lavandera, and Girl with Mangoes. (For further information, better check this out!)

This may seem like a free brand advertisement to you (and if it does, I'd be, in fact, glad), but for me this comes as something of a surprise, and pleasantly so. Not so long ago, in an entry here, I was just wishing to have one of the Master's works, but needless to say, how could I? Notwithstanding having only the chance to own its cross-stitch version, I now assume that having the real one is just within my grasp. But first things first: I gotta start that needlework now. Let me, fingers crossed, surprise you with my output, then.

AN EYE CANDY FOR ORIGAMI LOVERS LIKE ME

Here's the recent list of origami books and kits I'm supposed to be excited about yet not to have at the moment (oh, there goes negativism again!), but someday who knows I just might (see, there's still hope for someone like me). They list for $6.95 to $24.95.

(Source: Tuttle catalog Bookshelves Issue 04/10)

I WISH I HAD ONE OF AMORSOLO'S

I have invariably marveled at artworks of Filipino pride and recognized as the first National Artist for Painting Fernando Amorsolo. For everytime I see one of his paintings, even in pictures, it's as if I know where that place is and it feels like I have been there. The odd familiarity of the landscapes and the scenes in his paintings always makes me feel "home." So, imagine me swelling with pride when I incidentally learned that he spent his childhood years in Daet, Camarines Norte. First I thought that we probably have the same gene pool of Bicolano, but I eventually found out that he just spent the first 13 years of his life in Bicol and was actually born in Manila. At any rate, it's just the same: at some point in our lives, we had breathed the same air. And that makes me a little prouder of where I'm from.

Here are some of his works (which actually number 10,000+ by the way):

Planting Rice, oil on canvas,1951, 24x34

Sunday Morning Going to Town, oil on canvas, 1958

Fruit Pickers Under the Mango Tree, oil on canvas, 1937, 25 1/4 x 37 1/2

Planting Rice with Mayon Volcano, oil on canvas, 1949, 70x100.5

I'M DROOLING OVER THIS BOOK! AND I WANT IT NOW!

Well, sorry for that. As much as I wanted to lay my eyes on the pages of this graphic memoir, the title won't be available until the second week of April next year. I do have the choice to pre-order it from Amazon, but my fiscal capacity won't allow me to fork out $15.61 (which is roughly P700) for this book.

Here's a lowdown on the book anyway. Credits go to Tuttle Publishing's site, as well as that of the book's front cover photo.

Florent Chavouet, a young graphic artist, spent six months exploring Tokyo while his girlfriend interned at a company there. Each day he would set forth, with a pouch full of colored pencils and a sketchpad, and visit different neighborhoods. This stunning book records the city that he got to know during his adventures, a gritty, vibrant place, and full of ordinary people going about their daily lives. Realistically rendered city views or posters of pop stars contrast with cartoon sketches of iconic objects or droll vignettes, like a housewife walking her pet pig, and a Godzilla statue in a local park.

Florent Chavouet observes that, “Tokyo is said to be the most beautiful ugly city in the world.” With wit, a playful sense of humor, and the colored pencils of his kit, he sets aside the question of urban ugliness or beauty and captures the Japanese essence of a great city.