Indiana-Police?

Twenty-one years ago, I worked as a scheduler and my job was calling people to set up their insurance exams. I spoke with a very heavy Filipino accent, but understandable nonetheless. My company serves several different insurance companies and one day, I was calling a client who applied for insurance with Indianapolis Life. "Hi, this is Ritchie with Indiana-police and I need to set up your insurance physical...." Click. The person on the other line hangs up on me. I called again and as soon as I open my mouth, I hear click. So I asked my co-worker, a 23-year old blond, green eyed aspiring musician named Frank to try and call him, see if he would hang up on a man, I thought maybe this client didn't like women. Frank is very sweet and soft spoken with very thin balding hair that he nourished to grow past his shoulder. "No, it's not about you being a woman, it's your accent, he thinks you're with the police force."

Why am I bringing this up? because Lydia, a reader of my blog sent me a link to a concert review done by a blogger named Elise. Elise wrote about Journey's concert in Indianapolis and people just about skewered her for her opinion - which by the way, you and I are entitled to also. Ok, she didn't like "My Arnel's" tight white pants, she thinks he jumps too much and that Neal should cut down on his guitar solo. That's what float her boat, would you wish her ill for that? It's cute that people rally behind "My Arnel" with the loyalty of the American pit bull and the ferocity of the Taliban, but it's hoi polloi to skewer people who dislike what we like.

Back in September 2008, I tackled Andy Greene with Rolling Stone magazine because he took Arnel Pineda's statement out of context, which is not the same as speaking out your opinion. Another reason why I am also more forgiving of Elise, is because she must be like me -an amateur, or newly self-appointed music enthusiast or she would not say what she said "I didn’t detect any trace of an accent when Pineda sang, so it was a little strange to hear our city name mispronounced." Hello? Have you heard (of ) the The Beattles (or what's left of them) and the lippy Mick Jagger? Listen to them talk and listen to them sing. I think Randy Jackson would say - "Shut yo mama dawg, just sing dawg, just sing."

Boredom, Bored and Boring

Where you come from is gone, where you thought you were going to never was there, and where you are is no good unless you can get away from it. In yourself right now is all the place you've got. - Flannery O'Connor


I don't ever know how to be at peace with the present, I don't ever get sentimentally attached to the past and I don't ever obsess about anything. And when I did finally find an obsession -the Journey/Arnel Pineda - it only lasted less than a year. Why can't I even sustain an obsession?

Because I get bored easily my mind is on the constant state of departure. The other day, being bored at work, I tried to write down my bucket list. Here's what I came up with:

1. Find a perfect travel companion
2. Live or wander around Europe for at least 3 months with my perfect travel companion
3. Not get bored with Europe after 3 days
4. Not get bored with my perfect travel companion after 3 hours
5. Carry through #1 and #2 before I get bored just reading my list

When a person is bored, that person also becomes boring so I am trying to prevent that because the only thing worse than boring is being old and boring. If only I could obsess on not getting bored, it would be a start.

Cast the First Stone

I did not grow up knowing or listening to famous singers because we did not have a tv, we had one radio but it hardly worked. The only reason we were in possession of that square noise-making box was because someone borrowed money from my dad and could not repay, so he gave us his old radio. And when that box worked, we were afraid to use it because my mom would get mad -"you're running the battery down and we don't have money to buy another one."

Until I hitched my cart to Journey with Arnel Pineda last year, I could not relate to people obsessing about musicians. Like, cry and scream and pass out or lay on the ground convulsing, frothing in the mouth then get up and do the moonwalk....Michael!!!Michael (sob,sob)

The other day, a friend of mine started throwing Michael Jackson under the bus -"What's all these hysteria and tribute for a pedophile, and Bernie Madoff gets 150 years in jail?"
I had to take a long swallow, inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth, (so I don't whack her.) It took all of me to simply say : "Ok, if you're without sin, cast the first stone." She didn't hear what I said because she's hard of hearing, a result from her abusing prescription drugs for so many years. She opened her mouth again and said, "and he grabbed his crotch too much."

I refused to go into battle with her, but really, I've seen ball players do that all the time; grab their crotch and spit and we reward them with millions too, and they can't even do what Michael does best - sing and dance. Or change color.

Outsmarting Jack

I got out of my hotel early today so I can feast on chicken rice, but I ended up at the store of Jack and his sister Kusum. Because I don't speak Chinese or Malay or Indian, I have to speak English and of course the next question is "where are you from?" Ooh, Philippines?

Jack started giving me his pitch of why I should buy a pashmina. Since he told me upfront that he's an honest robber, I stayed around for some lessons on cashmere and pashmina shawls.

Jack said that real pashmina is made from the beards of mountain goats in Tibet while cashmere is made from the fur of the same goat. The back of the neck is very sensitive to feeling hot or cold. So if you're cold, and you don't wear a scarf, you will get colds. (Now, I am reminded why I started wearing a scarf even when it's very hot in Texas. Because Arnel Pineda did.)

Most pashmina or cashmere are faked by Chinese artisans, Jack continued. It's hard to come by real pashmina anymore because Tibetans are getting lazy, even monks started fighting now. Jack says this with authority. But of course his was real- remember he's an honest robber. "Ok" I said, "give me your best deal on this "real" pashmina, but I have to pay in US dollars and you just give me the change in Singapore dollars. I have this 100 US dollar bill with a very small tear in one of the corners that 3 money changers in Cebu and a 4th one at Changi airport refused to change. So I sighed a sigh of relief when Jack agreed. I left with my purchase and 1 block away, here comes Jack waving my Franklin. "Do you have another one, the money changer won't change this one." What the....

Well, I already fell in love with my purchase so I paid him without any fuzz. I learned a lot from Jack, but one thing for sure, next time, I will make sure and bring only crispy, newly minted Franklin's to Asia.

Kogi Anyone?

Californians always have the coolest things,while we Texans are only remembered for Waco (We ain't coming out) Ross Valory lives there, Arnel Pineda lands there and stays there. And if any man or woman is worth knowing, you can bet he or she has at some point walked the academia halls of Stanford. Talk about movers and shakers, (and I'm not talking about earthquake either) California it is. And now there's the Kogi truck in L.A. made famous by Twitter founded by guys from San Francisco. I don't know how to Twitter but I know how to eat a Korean - food I mean.

So Hang Me

Photo courtesy: Wenn

When it comes to "things" I am a firm believer that less is more. I subscribe to the rule of buying "few, but expensive pieces." When I see Arnel Pineda guesting and performing with other Filipino talents in the Philippines more often than not, I don't like it. So hang me, I don't care. There are things in life you just don't dilute, because you either stretch it thin or dumb it down.

I missed the live performance of Journey at the Superbowl but I watched them on Youtube and I am reminded of what I was like last year. It's exhilarating to see Arnel Pineda reunited with the J-boys, that's how the picture puzzle should look like. Arnel Pineda not only completes Journey, he makes them look criminally delicious.

My New Year is Resolved

To simplify my life I follow this simple rule: To those who know me, no explanation is necessary, to those who doesn't know me, no explanation is enough. So when I went off the edge 8 months ago and lost all my senses and sensibilities to Arnel Pineda, eyebrows were raised but who cares? I hopped on the looney jet and took off. Then I came back to earth and I swear I tried to be sensible and reasonable again. But really, why apologize for something that made me giddy?

So to start the new year, I went to YouTube and looked for My Arnel. And here's what I found.
I am not sure that I like him singing with other entertainers and I have my reasons for that, except to some extent it's ok.

And I just love this, where everyone is dressed to the nines but My Arnel is dressed in "I'm a rock star, who are you?" suit. He could have wrapped himself in Armani, but he chose to stay true to himself - and he outdressed them all.
That gives me the confidence that he will not be influenced by the company that he keeps. I like Lani Misalucha, but I just can't have My Arnel sculpted, scalpel'd or *Belo'd. If you know what I mean.





*Vicky Belo-cosmetic surgeon in Manila

Hello and Goodbye

I am here in Manila now but will be flying back to Cebu in 4 hours. I came here mainly to meet two friends that I have known through emails but we bonded like we had known each other all along. We connected because the last 4 months we had all chosen the same opiate for the moment; our drug of choice - Arnel Pineda.

My trip back to the Philippines would not have been complete if I did not get to meet them.
Over lunch we reminisced about the last 4 months - the intoxicating high that was brought on by the Arnel Pineda phenomenon.
We wondered how the "bug" came upon us and rendered us helpless - helpless to stop ourselves from acting like we had lost our minds with our brains replaced with jello. But we didn't try hard to justify or apologize for the momentary insanity. Like I said, never regret anything that made you smile. And we not only smiled, we also giggled like Jello.

Are we still crazy? Of course we are, though not with My Arnel anymore. I am not sure how to conclude this but all I can say is that I am really glad I came, and I felt sad when I had to leave, after all we only had 3 hours of bonding. I better get going before I miss my plane.

Ties that Binds

My friends have accused me of not being a typical Filipino because of 3 things :

1. I don't travel with boxes splitting at the seams containing cans of spam and a bicycle.
2. I don't want my tribe and the neighboring tribe congesting the airport to meet me when I arrive.
3. I don't want my tribe and the neighboring tribe congesting the airport to send me off when I leave.
Why? because I don't like it. When I say I travel light, I mean it to include people too.

In my childhood I used to hear my mom complain when our relatives from the mountains would come to our house and they came in droves. "*Nidulhog na, nagpanon pa gyud," she would say and then proceed to get busy taking care of them nervously. And because of lack of space, I was always relegated to sleep on top of the pig pen. Now, I always equate the sight of lots of people around me as a sign or a cause to get busy and go crazy. (I know, I need therapy for this.) Just as I like to do things alone here in the US, I do the same thing in Cebu. I don't like the idea of lugging my family around, or anybody for that matter - until I saw Arnel Pineda at Malacanang.

I thought it was so cool. Watching Arnel with his family in-tow was so cool I started planning to lugg my family to the mall next time I come to Cebu. But scratch that idea because I can't afford to hire a bus. I know, you're saying that I am always biased when it comes to Arnel, that he could not do wrong in my sight. Of course he can and he did do wrong. Why did he strain his vocals for Gloria? and for Sonny Belmonte? Arnel Pineda is a rock star, you don't call him - he calls you. Excuse me, I forgot. That is My Arnel. No arrogance; just a simple lead singer of Journey and humble father to Cherub.

So let me proceed to my next complain. Why was Gloria so prim and proper sitting next to Arnel? Why didn't she jump up and down screaming -Knellskyyyyyyy!!! The plokkers do that and they're half way across the world from him. The least she could have done was lean over his ear, giggle and say IDOOL!!! But I understand, it would be un-presidential for her to say I drool.
There goes my manners again.




*Here comes the herd descending on us.

11 Ways to Avoid Jury Duty

The people have spoken and come January we will have a black and white president to sit in the White House. Voting is a priviledge and trial by jury is a gift and I appreciate both. But serving on the jury is not my idea of a day off from work.


1. Ask the judge, “Cool if I take pictures for my blog?’

2. Bring fried lumpia (egg rolls) to sell at breaktime . If the bailiff stops you, start screaming –“You’re anti- Asian”

3. Address all the other juror loudly: "Who among us here will not kill for a date with Ross Valory?" if they roll their eyes start crying and keep blowing your nose on your sleeve.

4. When everyone is quiet, giggle and ask the bailiff : So, what do you think of Arnel Pineda? If he shush you and gives you that look like he doesn't know Arnel, start screaming - "You're a Steve Perry die hard and you're anti-Asian"

5. Breast feed your 7-year old. (Like my friend in Cebu)

6. Breast feed someone’s 7 year old. (Like my friend in Cebu. I know, I wonder too why I keep friends like this)

7. Act like a woman with PMS who cries a lot and keep crying until everyone is sad.

8. Keep winking at the lawyers and ask, “Can we hang him quick, boss?”

9. Always end your answer with : " But back in the Philippines if you have money….”

10. Insist on speaking in *Taglish like : ‘Lam mo kasi judge, I am a good citizen, kaya Im’here,
pero against my will talaga.

11. If none of the above works try this: show up wearing a t-shirt that says " I Want to Break Free " with Freddy Mercury's picture dressed like this .



*sentence interspersed with English and Tagalog

Paul Potts and Arnel Pineda

An excellent wife, who can find? For her worth is far above jewels. She does him good and not evil all the days of her life. Proverbs 31:10 - 12



On June 9, 2007, twelve days before Arnel Pineda's life was about to change for good, Paul Potts was making his mark at Britains Got Talent. Watching his rendition of Nessun Dorma, roughly translated as "None shall sleep," I could not help my emotion of pity and excitement. Paul Potts approached the microphone and Lord-help-us Simon Cowell, visibly nervous and hesitant to smile because of his crooked teeth. He sang and the crowd erupted into applause and awe - including Simon. The rest is here.

Julz and Cherry - the two women behind these men. Julz and Paul has been married for 6 years and Julz helped Paul sacrificially and emotionally. When Paul was temporarily incapacitated due to an accident, Julz was there to help bathe and feed him. But I believe the reason Paul kept going was because Julz was there simply believing that Paul will one day live out his dream of doing "what he was born to do".

Listening to snippets of Cherry's interview, I get the idea that she had always believed in Arnel's talent that needed to be harnessed, but no one noticed. Watching the latest interview of Arnel Pineda with Wonder Mom and looking at Arnel in his new house with a snapshot of Cherry on his lap, is enough to make you believe in God. And fairy tales. When Arnel got on the first plane out after his last concert, you know the man had a homing device back in Manila. It's called Cherry.

Stephen King, once said of why he persevered and became a successful writer : "I would have dropped the whole thing had my wife said one single word of discouragement, the reason I kept going was because she was behind me." I agree, kill a man's dream and aspirations and you will surely bury him alive.

We've heard it said, behind every man's success or failure is a woman, a woman's job is never done..etc. God has created us all for a purpose but what really is the woman's role in a man's life? I used to think - you wake up very early then wake up your husband, if he gets up and goes to work, then your job is done and you go back to sleep. No wonder I is single.

My Arnel Is Getting Married

Love does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things - 1 Corinthians 13:6-7


I knew it. All along, I knew it. I was betting on a winner. That is My Arnel. I received an email this afternoon telling me about Arnel Pineda getting married. My heart rejoiced and I blurted out proudly to my co-workers : I knew he would do the right thing!

Arnel Pineda completed a whirlwind tour of 69 performances, with an album that made platinum and a bonus of women - young and old willing and wishing to throw themselves at him. Yet, My Arnel knows what matters. And what matters most.

I don't know Arnel and I don't know Cherry but I always pray for God to comfort Cherry's heart because whoever said that distance makes the heart grow fonder, is a fool. Distance makes the heart forget.

In my quiet moments I often wonder what it must feel like having a famous husband or boyfriend who is away and all you see is a YouTube or webcam version of them. How tough do you have to be so you can sleep well at night and be at peace during the day? Yes, you can spend well but you don't live well. I don't care what people say, yes, Filipinos are used to being separated and still manage to stay married. That is why my heart aches for the OFW's. But what kind of a marriage? And does it have to be that way?

I am very glad that Arnel came to this decision. Arnel needs Cherry now more than ever because fame is very oppressive. Arnel's eyes have lost it's sparkle and I expected this to happen, because the endorphine enduced high stimulated by the all too sudden fame is all too much for the body to handle. The mountain top is nice for a visit but we can't live there, we have to come down because it's in the valley that we grow.

Now, I only wish that Arnel gets married in the Philippines and not here in America because over there I don't have to be invited. As long as my friend's neighbors cousin's co-workers mother is invited, I am in.

Journey In New Mexico -2

I don't know why I even try, but these are the best pictures I have.


Dean and Jonathan singing with Cheap Trick


Neal playing the Star Spangled Banner

"It hardly rains in New Mexico and when it does, it does not rain long," that's what the taxi driver told me. But last night, it continued trickling all throughout the night. But people came and stayed in the rain. One concert goer said that fans from neighboring cities were coming because it's not often that big name bands come to town and Journal Pavilion was the only venue they could come to. Also, Journey's performance last night was the last performance at Journal for this year.

I noticed that the fans were young(er) and it was more like a family affair; seated next to me was a girl about 14 or 15 years old with her dad and an older brother. The girl was very quiet and timid but I noticed that everytime Arnel comes to the middle of the stage facing us, she would light up and scream or clap. Then when Arnel stood up in the box, she screamed and jumped for his attention. I wanted to say, "Hush girl, grandma here feels the same way" but maybe she thought Arnel is her age.

There was a lady I think from the local tv station who was up in the stage with the band all the time following mostly Arnel with her video camera. Arnel may be tired but he wore that lady out from chasing him left and right of the stage. Most of the time she was taking the video from behind Arnel towards the audience, but I think it's them black leather pants she liked to view from behind. Who knows. All I was thinking was : When I grow up I want to be like her, get a job like that chasing Arnel Pineda. But Arnel would be too old then.

Journey In New Mexico

Arnel Pineda is that good. The kid is a pro. And the J-boys? They look amazingly refreshed, energized and there's much vitality but you don't know where it's coming from; like an old car with a new paint job? Like, you know it's been sitting in your neighbors garage for a long time, you have not seen it driven, yet when it came out of the garage it was not sputtering - it took off bright and roaring.But the driver is not your familiar neighbor.

The stage lighting at Journal Pavilion was definitely better than the one at Superpages when Journey was here. Except for some momentary black outs for stage effect, the light upstage was continually bright and the lighting for the audience enabled the band to see the audience and make eye contact far beyond the 3rd row.

That's how I was able to see Jonathan very clearly when he played the organ and helped Robin Zander with Cheap Trick sing Surrender and Deen was also brought in towards their last song. Jonathan and Deen looked out of place at first, they both had an uneasy smile that seemed to say, "Yup, we feel awkward, but wait til you see us with our own tribe."

And their own tribe did show up. Arnel came out in black garb: ski hat, scarf wrapped around his neck. And I didn't think the boy could get away with leather pants. Yes he did, and Yes, it was hot. But maybe not too hot because he only took off his head gear. Looking at Arnels hair fluttering over his shoulder gently, softly, shinily (if there's such a word) I wanted to hate him: How in the world did I get blessed with hairs like that of a porcupine?

Anyway,also because of good lighting I was able to feast my eyes on Ross Valory I almost forgot that there were other members of the band. Like Deen. I am not sure if it was just my eyes or the lighting but I'm telling you, Deen's eyes were dancing, gleaming with a boyish smile happily banging his pots and pans, "Look mommy, I don't need Ritalin."

Neal played the Star Spangled Banner, while the red, white and blue was fluttering on the screen, then gave the V-sign when he was finished. It dug out a warm feeling inside me, making me pause for a moment how grateful I am of America, to be naturalized and be a part of her. And a part of last nights concert. Maybe it's just me wanting to believe this but when the boys sang the song without Arnel, I honestly believe it was a calculated move by the boys to lighten the load on Arnel's throat. To help little brother. Because this needs to be said; Arnel Pineda is tired. That's why I said he is that good and he is a pro because He hardly had no voice but Arnel came on top last night. I want to see again the life back in that signature Arnel Pineda smile. I want the dancing mooneyes again.

I have not seen Ross sing much until last night. Oooh,I was mesmerized when he looked down at someone in the audience and gave his teasing smile. (Even though it was not me he was looking at) When Arnel and Neal had their backs together doing Lights, Arnel leaned hard on Neal's back, then slid down gesturing to Ross that he was tired so he's using Neals back as his bed, Ross opened his mouth so big and laughed so hard. Now, I remember why I wanted to elope with him. Them tight jeans covering his legs the size of my ankle, and converse shoes just kills me.

Ok, let me stop dreaming as I'm hardly coherent here...from lack of sleep. I got back to my hotel room around midnight last night then left the hotel at 4a.m. to catch the 6am flight back to Dallas. So I just got home about 5 hours ago. As expected I don't have good pictures but that's not the worse, I bought a front row seat and paid $317 for it only to find out that Live Nation double booked it. So why was I the one to leave the seat and be herded out back to the 6th row instead of the 1st row? I could have made things difficult for the security people and demand that they rectify it and put me on the same row because there was an empty seat but I did not want to use my energy for a negative discussion. The head security came back with a bracelet to allow me to go to the VIP area to get drinks. Are you kidding me? But I have this principle: I already lost the money, I can't damage my body too. So why engage in a heated discussion when those boys are just doing their jobs? I told Chat what happened and she was fuming -"Tomorrow, Live Nation will hear from me." You go girl, go on with your bad self.

To Muse or Be A-mused

When I opened my eyes this morning, it took me a while to comprehend where I was. I was so out of it then I heard my cell phone beeping, I thought it was my alarm waking me up to get to the airport for New Mexico. It was Chat's message from last night that they made it to Atlanta for the Le Mans racing.

I got out of bed then staggered to the living room and plopped on my chaise, coiled myself into a fetal position and fell asleep again. I just could not get out of this malaise so I had to cancel out on going to Studio Movie Grill tonight for the Palin-Biden debate. I was one of the 115 people selected by a local radio station to attend and have a post-debate discussion with Scott Wilder.
How could I discuss anything when I didn't even know where I was this morning?

I am really saving my energy for New Mexico. See, I have my priorities in order. Between discussing politics which I know nothing about, and being a-mused by Arnel Pineda and Ross Valory, which do you think I would go for?


Last years Le Mans, this was Chat trying to be nice, smiling but she was really ticked at John and the pit boys for asking her to do this.
How dare you make me stand here in the heat. I'm only here so I can oogle at the European race car drivers....

Journey Take Me Away

All week I was half dead with the flu and complications from respiratory allergies, but I still dragged my comatosed self to work then the Rolling Stone article bolted me out of my coma. Now I'm here at my desk at work, still lazy to do nothing but stare out the window and imagine myself fishing in the pond below. I just need to get to New Mexico and see if I can spur myself out of this doldrom. Nothing that Journey or Arnel Pineda can't fix though.

But you know why I like Journey? Because unlike other bands they don't come out with glazed eyes, breaking their guitars, spew out some cuss words then proceed to kill you with their head splitting, banging noise they call music. And when Arnel Pineda says something less savory for Journey, big brother Neal comes out with a big stick and calls CBS news to the rescue. But I love Arnel man, he's the ants in Neal's pants.

Yesterday Chat turned 32 so I took her and John to Japan House for her birthday lunch and over prime rib and sushi Chat commented about my Rolling Stone article: "Arnel Pineda does not have to apologize for anything; he is a rock star, he's supposed to have an attitude." Hmmm...she's right. How come I didn't think of that? I must really had the flu. Or I must still have the flu for agreeing.

It's Always Something With Arnel Pineda

That's it. The AP can't be a politician, thank God. He is too honest - he says what he thinks and how he feels. As I was reading the Rolling Stone article, I thought : That is My Arnel. The real to the core, simple, honest-to goodness- home grown - dug out of nowhere diamond in the rough. Not polished but a diamond nonetheless.

I am not sure but I think Arnel still thinks in Filipino. So Ande Green botched up the context of the truth that Arnel meant to express. Arnel's words were authentically Arnel if you left them to stand on it's own, but when Ande decided to elaborate on it, not understanding where Arnel is coming from, then it indeed painted a different picture. Add to that Arnel's choice of words that can easily be misconstrued, like for example: "He pushed me a little and said, Go. Go sing for us." On paper it sounds harsh and colonial because we can't see the signature smile on Arnels' eyes. But we know without a shadow of a doubt that when Arnel relayed those same words to Ande, he was smiling, jokingly retelling his own nervousness at that time in Chile.

"I told them I wanted to back out," we've heard Arnel say this to CBS Sunday in June and we grasp what he meant. But to say, "The whole thing nearly fell apart" was an overstretch and purely Mr. Green's interpretation, because I am sure that after spending a few minutes with Arnel Pineda, he must have sensed (if he can't grasp) what Arnel was trying to articulate that Arnel was not talking about cancelling out on the Jboys but rather, that's how "overwhelming" the whole experience was for him.

But what if Arnel Pineda is really whining and complaining? What if he really said, "Man, this is too much, I can't take this anymore. I will finish this year's tour and I'm out of here. I love the cash and the flash but I miss home and this is not what I want to do anymore." Does that make Arnel less of a person? Does that make him less of a great singer? Does that warrant anyone to judge him and insist he should continue because not many people will have been given this chance to sing with Journey?" I'll take my toys home and stop playing with you if you answered yes.

As much as I respect a person who knows how to persevere and press on inspite of, I have this deep envy and a greater respect for someone who can walk away from it all. When the "all" is no longer working, when the "all" is killing the person to where there's nothing left but the expectation that you no longer wants to meet. When the "all" makes you wake up one morning and you look at the mirror and finds the same face - except it's no longer the same person.

Journey Management is good at handling damage control as far as the media is concerned (they yanked Deen Castronovo's video with the Nashville chick, reason it disappeared from my article) so my question now is, who in the freggin' world did the tour scheduling? Neal Schon said they won't tour at this rate again, so who planned this to begin with? I can't stand it whenever decisions are reached tainted by money, so let's hope it's not money.

I don't blame people who use publicists or don't give interviews at all. Look at Kate Moss. She can strut that body but the girl is deaf and mute when it comes to the media: If you don't speak, the media will have less to hang you with. But I'd say let Arnel Pineda be. AP, do what you have to do or speak and be politically incorrect, just don't be a politician ok?

Ooh, I just realized that I am missing a letter to Mr. Green's name. I not only missed a letter, I rearranged (unknowingly) the letters too. I'm sorry, it should be Andy Greene, not Ande Green. Still the same, right?

Preserving the Magic

Thank God, that I saved a copy before Chat took out the link. Because I don't flow with technology, the only way I know to preserve pictures and videos is put them in a box and store them in the closet. At least now, I have Blogger to store them for me.

When Chat came by my apartment the other day, she taunted me by playing Faithfully on her Iphone and my heart started to palpitate..hmmm....Magic.

Toronto Concert Review (by BeerXpress)

Because I don't get to *pinch Arnel (unless you have a good lawyer you don't do this to Americans) and *squeeze his cheeks, I live off of his YouTube videos and reviews from people. Below is a review by Beerxpress (YT poster) when Journey was in Toronto. Long overdue but I want to preserve this in my blog and I think this is a very well written review. Thanks BX.

The traffic was moving slow on the way to Molson Amphitheatre. We feel the Journey spirit around when I hear Revelation playing in their cars. One guy cheeringly asked me if he's in the right way to Molson. A lot of young crowd walked along Lake Shore towards the amphitheatre. When we got there, we grabbed draft beers for $11 each. I noticed the crowd is a good mixture of young teens, men & women in their 40's-50's, a few who seemed left behind by time still wearing their mullets and long haired Perry style in his younger years and a good sized group of Filipinos.

It was fun to see the Journey fans of different generation. I was expecting older Journey fans...I was wrong. So many young teens singing and bopping their heads, singing the lyrics along with Arnel. You would think they were born during the early Journey years. I wondered myself how they came to know Journey. Whatever the reasons are, I'm amazed. Totally unexpected! Now you will understand why Journey music is ageless.

Jonathan was wearing this tight white stitched denim. He looks much younger for his age. Neal Schon....he's gorgeous! His dark hair, black outfit with his big cross necklace and leather wrist bands...he's surprisingly young looking...and what a great smile. And Ross...just adored him. He made those funny faces, the comic of the band. Deen looks so much different in person. He's handsome! Saving the best for last, Arnel is adorable. He's just average short but boy...he's such a ball of energy! He was wearing the same jacket he wore in Chile. I figured, it's just appropriate to celebrate his birthday with Journey for the first time. No question about it, Arnel's tenor voice is perfect for journey music. He spins jumps and sings like a big man hitting every high notes. He stood on top of the speaker cheering the crowd from lawn area.

The crowd screaming Wows in every song and everyone on their feet. I definitely hear the crowd's approval that they like Arnel. He was singing non-stop, one song after another. His only break was the harmonica and guitar with Neal and Jonathan. Jonathan dropped his harmonica on the floor at the end of the song and run to his piano. Anyway, not even a trace that Arnel was sick two days ago. I noticed that he sprayed his mouth while Neal Schon was playing his guitar. He looked tirelessly jumping, smiling and cheering the crowd. He's just fantastic.

We know why their concerts were sold out! He started with the song Never Walk Away. Crowd cheering except a few stood still awestruck. He nailed every high notes in all classic songs. Toronto crowd were hot!!! Their hands up in the air..couples dancing with their music...UNBELIEVABLE! When Arnel sang Don't Stop Believin, the crowd sang along with him. Lights....I grabbed my flashlight and others put their cell phones up and lit up lighters swaying to the song. It was electric! Arnel is definitely a great asset to new Journey. He constantly made eye contacts with the people...totally amazing. He points at you...making heart gestures. He smiled at me..as if he knew me personally. I was on the 5th row...as if he's just singing just for me… whoops...sorry for daydreaming or nightdreaming LOL..

Neal's the best with his guitar as if he's making love with it hahaha....such magnetic smiles. Overall, amazing concert! Not to be missed! I have so much to say but this is getting too long. Sorry for that. My constant playing of Revelation and after this concert, I want to see more of Journey! Journey music lives on.

Then my unfortunate experience. ..Arnel threw me this black thing looks like a suede towel or something landed on my head and this tiny filipina, quickly grabbed it from my head. Whoever it was, hope you’re not feeling guilty lol….OMG.....everyone was asking me why I didn't grab it back. But it's okay...I enjoyed the concert and you can say...I'm still Journey obsessed hahaha.Don’t forget to buy your concert tickets! It’s worth the money for sure. --------------------------------end-------------------------------------------------------

*Filipinos way of showing overwhelming desire to kiss cute and kissable kids.

Where Has All Our Pleasure Gone?

"I can think of nothing less pleasurable than a life devoted to pleasure" - John D. Rockefeller



Four days a week I work to make a living, the other three I use to daydream and squander what I made. But lately my brain is frozen and unable to even daydream or spell squander. I think, from too much excitement over Journey, I have extracted all the adrenalin out of my body. It's my kindergarten explanation to my unexplainable blah. But really, there's a medical term for it, it's called menopause. Men would do well if instead of striving to become a CEO, they quit their jobs and go to school and learn how to deal with the bipolar woman at home. The money only goes to the lawyers and psychiatrists anyway.

Anyway, I'm trying to stay on track here and not let this menopause thing derail me from my point. Or what is my point? I saw this book by Dr. Hart titled "Thrilled to Death: How the Endless Pursuit of Pleasure is Leaving us Numb." The title alone speaks volume so I am ordering it because as I have mentioned before, I am always looking for the next thrill. Thankfully, I have my faith in Christ that gets me back in alignment whenever I stray from the truth. And thankfully, I have a 4 day weekend coming up starting tomorrow.

Marya bewitched me with her Boracay pictures that I want to drive down to Galveston so I can smell the ocean breeze. I was getting restless at work today because I just wanted to get in my car and start heading south. Another thing I don't like about Dallas - no mountains, no ocean. In San Francisco, they have both, plus Arnel Pineda and Ross Valory.

If I live in San Francisco, I would not mind working 5 days a week. At least I'll have 2 days to look forward to; Saturday, I'll stalk Arnel and Ross on Sunday. If the San Francisco police don't like that, at least there's mountains to climb and Goldilocks bakery.
Here in Dallas, there's only 1 Filipino restaurant and it's a 5-hour drive to get to the nearest ocean, that's why I spend most of my days daydreaming than working. My boss kept asking me to work full time, politely I kept declining, (I already gave in and work 4) I explained to her that I don't need to work because I have all the money I could spend in my lifetime. Assuming of course, that my lifetime is only one month.