VINCENT BUENO SINGS "BLEEDING LOVE"
Listen to another great song from Vincent Bueno - his version of Bleeding Love.
Video uploaded by pauri100 on YouTube.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
VINCENT BUENO AND "HAIR"
For the sake of those who have not seen it yet and for those who want to see it again, I am PROUDLY featuring the video clip where Vincent Bueno performed Hair.
Vincent's performance of Hair was his first television appearance in the Musical! Die Show, a reality talent competition in Vienna, Austria that started sometime in the last quarter of 2007 and wound up in January of 2008. Vincent Bueno was declared winner in the said contest.
Vincent's performance was characterized by passionate singing, strong stage presence, powerful as well as beautiful voice, and very graceful body movements.
The audience responded to his superb performance with cheers and wild applause and easily made him the favorite of the crowd as well as the judges. In fact, he was reportedly dubbed as the "darling of the jury".
Undoubtedly, Hair is one of Vincent Bueno's great performances in the reality talent show.
The above video clip was uploaded by MSTLuna on YouTube.
Vincent's performance of Hair was his first television appearance in the Musical! Die Show, a reality talent competition in Vienna, Austria that started sometime in the last quarter of 2007 and wound up in January of 2008. Vincent Bueno was declared winner in the said contest.
Vincent's performance was characterized by passionate singing, strong stage presence, powerful as well as beautiful voice, and very graceful body movements.
The audience responded to his superb performance with cheers and wild applause and easily made him the favorite of the crowd as well as the judges. In fact, he was reportedly dubbed as the "darling of the jury".
Undoubtedly, Hair is one of Vincent Bueno's great performances in the reality talent show.
The above video clip was uploaded by MSTLuna on YouTube.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
MY COMMUNITY AND SUPPORT GROUP
I joined Couples for Christ (CFC), a Catholic organization intended for the renewal and strengthening of Christian family life and which highlights fellowship among its members. My membership in the said organization was made possible when I learned about the holding of its Christian Life Program (CLP) Seminar from our former Administrative Officer, Nida Arganoza, who encouraged and invited me to join the said seminar.
I’d like to think that that was a pleasant coincidence since I was really looking for a religious group where I could meet my need to belong. I’ve been all alone for so long in Olongapo and that was a pretty boring situation. Besides, solitary living has made me vulnerable to stress as well as depression. There was just no one to turn to during trying times.
Anyway, I attended CLP and finished the seminar last May, 2009. That officially made me a member of the CFC – Servants of the Lord (SOLD) ministry.
In the SOLD ministry, we hold our household meeting every Thursday under the able leadership of our very pleasant Team Leader, Ronald Rondez, of the SBMA Labor Department.
Although our household meeting isn’t carried out regularly at present, every SOLD member looks forward to holding said meeting regularly in the coming Thursdays or any day of every week it will be scheduled.
The CFC, being a Catholic organization has, somehow, helped put my Christian values in place. I have found new friends and acquaintances who made me feel wanted… who made me feel I belong. I honestly believe and feel that my membership in the CFC is instrumental in my mapping out of plans and personal programs for improvement for 2010. The CFC has become a godly and lively community for me. It is my support group.
Some of the activities at the CFC that made me socially active were the CLP Seminar held at the San Roque Parish Church (Subic Chapel) and which wound up on December 3, 2009; the CFC-Zambales 20th Anniversary celebration held at the Subic Bay Exhibition and Convention Center (SBECC) on December 5, 2009; and the CFC Family Day held at the covered court just opposite the Lyceum of Subic on December 12, 2009. I am uploading some pictures I personally took during said events.
The Subic Chapel (San Roque Church)
The Christian Life Program (CLP) class
The CLP graduatesCFC-ZAMBALES 20th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
CFC-Zambales 20th Anniversary banner
Subic Bay Exhibition and Convention Center - the venue
A joyful anniversary celebration
Anniversary Raffle Prizes
Attentive Audience
Bro. Ronald Rondez, SOLD Team Leader
Happy until end of program
Mark Cruz, Youth for Christ Leader
YFC Leader Mark Cruz
COUPLES FOR CHRIST FAMILY DAY
Family Day breaktime
Covered court opposite Lyceum of Subic
CFC Family Day
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
VINCENT BUENO—MY RESCUER… MY HERO!
Photo from vincentbueno.com
Advent is the season in the Catholic calendar when the Lord Jesus Christ came into the world.
I remember it was during this season when I solemnly prayed to the Lord to set me free from my sort of bondage—my slavery from fears and anxieties.
My Life Before I Knew About Vincent Bueno
Many do not know it but I had my nervous breakdown three decades ago. And many just don’t know the great sufferings and excruciating pains I had gone through.
Nervous breakdown can be life's most painful ordeal. Experience-wise, it wasn’t just like having a flu that can be cured for a week. Neither was it like a serious sickness that takes a month or even a year before one recuperates from it. It was like a lingering illness that knows no time when it will be healed. It was like a strange and mysterious malady that has no cure but love, hope, and faith.
I am speaking, of course, of what I have gone through.
It was one hell of an experience. It was like a curse. It was like a consolidation of all negative emotions that made me tremble in fear almost everyday.
I became psychosomatic. I thought I was sick. There were nights I was wide awake and couldn’t sleep. Or if I could, I would find myself awakened in the middle of the night almost screaming and sweating profusely.
I was disturbed as well as disorganized. I exhibited a strange and vacillating behavior. I had ambivalent feelings.
Life seemed to have lost its meaning. For a time, I felt I didn’t want to live anymore. The trouble is, I was afraid to die. And I realized I have no suicidal tendency. Despite emotional disturbance and mental torment, though, it was a great wonder how I could still decide rationally.
I had a hopeless, helpless feeling. I sought God but couldn’t find Him. I could not, because my faith was shaken.
Then I sought professional help. I was prescribed five kinds of tranquilizers. But calming down doesn't mean getting well. Until I found myself heavily dependent on them. I couldn’t do without them. Somehow, though, they helped stabilize my nervous system.
During that time, I was friendless and very much alone. My doctor, a psychiatrist, was my only friend. I had depended so much on him that when he passed away seven years ago, I felt so insecure. I didn’t know what to do.
“How did you get into such life situation?” someone may ask me.
Well, that’s another story and would probably be the topic of a future post on this blog.
Feeling so very tired, I again turned to God determined to surrender myself to Him.
There is a biblical passage, one of my most favorite, that I quoted and posted on top of my altar in my office. (Yes, I had an altar in the Budget and Supply Office—then my office—of the Department I am attached to.)
The biblical passage, taken from the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah, reads: “And Yahweh says, ‘When you call on me, I will listen. You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart.’” (Jeremiah 29:12-13)
In the Gospel of the Lord according to Matthew, the Lord Jesus Christ also said, “Whatever you ask in prayer full of faith you will receive.” (Matthew 21:22)
The above biblical passages are promises of God. And the Lord God is always faithful to His promises. Finding great hope in the above passages and believing in God’s promises, I knelt and prayed with all my heart and full of faith. I implored the Most Loving and Merciful Father to release me from the grip of enslaving fears and anxieties. As I ended my very solemn prayer, I realized that, due to its sincerity, my eyes shed tears.
Then Along Came Vincent Bueno
On the second week of January, 2008 (a couple of weeks just after the Season of Advent), as I was watching ABS-CBN’s TV Patrol, a Filipino-Austrian’s triumph in a reality show in Vienna was flashed on the TV screen. The news story caught my attention and struck me with so much interest that the following day when news about that Filipino-Austrian guy was on the front page of a daily broadsheet, I read the news story with utmost enthusiasm.
During those times, I had very low self-esteem and low morale. I felt unimportant and unneeded. Such negative feelings arose from a series of traumatic events as well as the perennial harassment and oppression that I experienced. They were big contributing factors to my feeling of worthlessness. I believe they were major reasons for my negative self-concept.
I realized then that when people looked down on someone, that person tends to withdraw from them. He tends to withdraw from society. Until he is caught in depression. And live a lonely existence.
But the great honor Vincent Bueno gained from his feat was shared with his fellow Filipinos worldwide. Oh, how he shouted “Philippines! Philippines!” when he was declared grand winner—sharing with his fellow Filipinos his victory. And every Filipino who knew about his victory found something worthy about his own race. Just like any one of them, I, too, was teeming with pride. I felt I suddenly regained my lost self-esteem.
The Musical! Die Show, where Vincent emerged as the Champion, was a television musical talent show in Austria that required contestants to do a number in any musical. The songs given to contestants were not of their choice but they had to perform them in their own style.
I have a natural liking for musicals. I remember, during my teens, my choice of local movies were those of Eddie Mesa and Helen Gamboa—all musicals. Later, when I was already past my teens, I began going for foreign films that starred John Travolta—also musicals.
Just like what I have mentioned in my earlier post, I was a working child, and earning money at a tender age stole my childhood away from me and blocked my way from pursuing and enjoying my hobbies and interest as a child. Perhaps, that was the reason why I loved watching Vincent’s videos. I missed things like being a fan... and appreciating something that would make me real happy.
But that was not what gave me much joy. When I congratulated Vince via his MySpace account, he replied to my message. Others may find this an overstatement but just like Vince when he was announced winner of the reality talent show, when I got his first message, I was overwhelmed with joy and showed off Vince’s message to my officemates.
As Vince had more time then to answer fan messages, he continued to exchange messages with me—for the whole year. Watching his videos everyday and exchanging messages with him brought so much joy to my heart, made me feel so very important, and eventually led to driving my fears and anxieties away. And I was greatly amazed one day to find out that my fears and anxieties were gone.
I also discovered that when we are happy, we feel magnanimous. We easily forget the wrongs and hurts done to us. We see and do things in the right perspective. We are likewise liberated from the negative feelings that seem to control us.
Having found inspiration in the person of Vincent Bueno, I became worry-free. I gained determination and willpower to be healthy. I, thus, started mapping out a plan for self-improvement, health-wise.
Vincent Bueno is not simply an experience in the entertainment arts nor is he just an encounter with an artist par excellence. He is not merely an inspiration. Vincent Bueno is a manifestation of God’s love. He is the answer to a prayer and God’s instrument in setting a captive free from his slavery.
THANK YOU, VINCENT BUENO! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
I remember it was during this season when I solemnly prayed to the Lord to set me free from my sort of bondage—my slavery from fears and anxieties.
My Life Before I Knew About Vincent Bueno
Many do not know it but I had my nervous breakdown three decades ago. And many just don’t know the great sufferings and excruciating pains I had gone through.
Nervous breakdown can be life's most painful ordeal. Experience-wise, it wasn’t just like having a flu that can be cured for a week. Neither was it like a serious sickness that takes a month or even a year before one recuperates from it. It was like a lingering illness that knows no time when it will be healed. It was like a strange and mysterious malady that has no cure but love, hope, and faith.
I am speaking, of course, of what I have gone through.
It was one hell of an experience. It was like a curse. It was like a consolidation of all negative emotions that made me tremble in fear almost everyday.
I became psychosomatic. I thought I was sick. There were nights I was wide awake and couldn’t sleep. Or if I could, I would find myself awakened in the middle of the night almost screaming and sweating profusely.
I was disturbed as well as disorganized. I exhibited a strange and vacillating behavior. I had ambivalent feelings.
Life seemed to have lost its meaning. For a time, I felt I didn’t want to live anymore. The trouble is, I was afraid to die. And I realized I have no suicidal tendency. Despite emotional disturbance and mental torment, though, it was a great wonder how I could still decide rationally.
I had a hopeless, helpless feeling. I sought God but couldn’t find Him. I could not, because my faith was shaken.
Then I sought professional help. I was prescribed five kinds of tranquilizers. But calming down doesn't mean getting well. Until I found myself heavily dependent on them. I couldn’t do without them. Somehow, though, they helped stabilize my nervous system.
During that time, I was friendless and very much alone. My doctor, a psychiatrist, was my only friend. I had depended so much on him that when he passed away seven years ago, I felt so insecure. I didn’t know what to do.
“How did you get into such life situation?” someone may ask me.
Well, that’s another story and would probably be the topic of a future post on this blog.
Feeling so very tired, I again turned to God determined to surrender myself to Him.
There is a biblical passage, one of my most favorite, that I quoted and posted on top of my altar in my office. (Yes, I had an altar in the Budget and Supply Office—then my office—of the Department I am attached to.)
The biblical passage, taken from the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah, reads: “And Yahweh says, ‘When you call on me, I will listen. You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart.’” (Jeremiah 29:12-13)
In the Gospel of the Lord according to Matthew, the Lord Jesus Christ also said, “Whatever you ask in prayer full of faith you will receive.” (Matthew 21:22)
The above biblical passages are promises of God. And the Lord God is always faithful to His promises. Finding great hope in the above passages and believing in God’s promises, I knelt and prayed with all my heart and full of faith. I implored the Most Loving and Merciful Father to release me from the grip of enslaving fears and anxieties. As I ended my very solemn prayer, I realized that, due to its sincerity, my eyes shed tears.
Then Along Came Vincent Bueno
On the second week of January, 2008 (a couple of weeks just after the Season of Advent), as I was watching ABS-CBN’s TV Patrol, a Filipino-Austrian’s triumph in a reality show in Vienna was flashed on the TV screen. The news story caught my attention and struck me with so much interest that the following day when news about that Filipino-Austrian guy was on the front page of a daily broadsheet, I read the news story with utmost enthusiasm.
During those times, I had very low self-esteem and low morale. I felt unimportant and unneeded. Such negative feelings arose from a series of traumatic events as well as the perennial harassment and oppression that I experienced. They were big contributing factors to my feeling of worthlessness. I believe they were major reasons for my negative self-concept.
I realized then that when people looked down on someone, that person tends to withdraw from them. He tends to withdraw from society. Until he is caught in depression. And live a lonely existence.
But the great honor Vincent Bueno gained from his feat was shared with his fellow Filipinos worldwide. Oh, how he shouted “Philippines! Philippines!” when he was declared grand winner—sharing with his fellow Filipinos his victory. And every Filipino who knew about his victory found something worthy about his own race. Just like any one of them, I, too, was teeming with pride. I felt I suddenly regained my lost self-esteem.
The Musical! Die Show, where Vincent emerged as the Champion, was a television musical talent show in Austria that required contestants to do a number in any musical. The songs given to contestants were not of their choice but they had to perform them in their own style.
I have a natural liking for musicals. I remember, during my teens, my choice of local movies were those of Eddie Mesa and Helen Gamboa—all musicals. Later, when I was already past my teens, I began going for foreign films that starred John Travolta—also musicals.
Just like what I have mentioned in my earlier post, I was a working child, and earning money at a tender age stole my childhood away from me and blocked my way from pursuing and enjoying my hobbies and interest as a child. Perhaps, that was the reason why I loved watching Vincent’s videos. I missed things like being a fan... and appreciating something that would make me real happy.
But that was not what gave me much joy. When I congratulated Vince via his MySpace account, he replied to my message. Others may find this an overstatement but just like Vince when he was announced winner of the reality talent show, when I got his first message, I was overwhelmed with joy and showed off Vince’s message to my officemates.
As Vince had more time then to answer fan messages, he continued to exchange messages with me—for the whole year. Watching his videos everyday and exchanging messages with him brought so much joy to my heart, made me feel so very important, and eventually led to driving my fears and anxieties away. And I was greatly amazed one day to find out that my fears and anxieties were gone.
I also discovered that when we are happy, we feel magnanimous. We easily forget the wrongs and hurts done to us. We see and do things in the right perspective. We are likewise liberated from the negative feelings that seem to control us.
Having found inspiration in the person of Vincent Bueno, I became worry-free. I gained determination and willpower to be healthy. I, thus, started mapping out a plan for self-improvement, health-wise.
Vincent Bueno is not simply an experience in the entertainment arts nor is he just an encounter with an artist par excellence. He is not merely an inspiration. Vincent Bueno is a manifestation of God’s love. He is the answer to a prayer and God’s instrument in setting a captive free from his slavery.
THANK YOU, VINCENT BUENO! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Thursday, November 19, 2009
THIS IS OLONGAPO CITY TODAY
Olongapo, the lone city in Zambales, is a highly urbanized city. Having stayed in this locality longer than I have stayed in my hometown, I consider the place my second home.
Olongapo was dubbed “sin city” in the past especially during the time of the giant U.S. Naval Base. It has a nightlife even until now although not as active as when the U.S. Facility was here and when Magsaysay Drive and portions of Gordon and Rizal Avenues could be observed teeming with U.S. service members on liberty.
Many Olongapo residents, natives and transients alike, have left the City especially after the Mount Pinatubo eruption and the American pullout. Many of them, I believe, would like to see images of the City again. This blog post is for them.
Olongapo was dubbed “sin city” in the past especially during the time of the giant U.S. Naval Base. It has a nightlife even until now although not as active as when the U.S. Facility was here and when Magsaysay Drive and portions of Gordon and Rizal Avenues could be observed teeming with U.S. service members on liberty.
Many Olongapo residents, natives and transients alike, have left the City especially after the Mount Pinatubo eruption and the American pullout. Many of them, I believe, would like to see images of the City again. This blog post is for them.
The Victory Liner Terminal near the Ulo ng Apo Rotunda
The Ulo ng Apo Rotunda
The Rizal Triangle Multi-Purpose Center
The Olongapo City Public Market in East Bajac-Bajac
The Olongapo City Hall
The Olongapo City Convention Center
The Olongapo Citi Mall at dusk
The Olongapo Citi Mall
The compound where I reside
Tapinac Oval - a place for joggers and sports events
Tapinac Oval
St. Columban Parish Church
Rizal Ave. viewed from the 4th floor of Crystal Lanes Bldg.
Rizal Ave. fronting Olongapo City Public Market
Prime Theater on Rizal Avenue
Rizal Ave. fronting Rizal Triangle
Gordon Ave. fronting Olongapo Citi Mall
Pag-asa Public Market aka J. L. Gordon Memorial Mall
Magsaysay Drive
Magsaysay Drive leading to SBMA main gate
Magsaysay Drive fronting Olongapo Citi Mall
Magsaysay Drive at night
Magsaysay Drive
Intersection of Gordon Ave. and Magsaysay Drive
Houses on a hillside
Gordon Avenue
Gordon Avenue at dusk
E.T. Tower at the Ulo ng Apo Rotunda)
Downtown Olongapo (Rizal Avenue)
Concrete benches at Marikit Park
Burgos St. - the street where I live
An unfinished building on 10th corner Kessing Streets
A portion of Magsaysay Drive at night
I look forward to adding more pictures of Olongapo City on this blog post at a later date. I believe pictures of a beach, the grotto in Mabayuan, a waterfall in Gordon Heights, a school campus, and the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) viewed from an elevated place would make this blog entry a lot more interesting. So, until then.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
MEET MS. CHARMAINE CLAMOR
Photo from Charmaine Clamor's page on MySpace.comNearly a decade ago, Ms. Eve Clamor, the Administrative Officer of the Facility Security Department of the now defunct U.S. Facility in Subic Bay, and whom we fondly called “Mother”, arrived from the U.S. for a brief visit and dropped by our office.
A very warm and accommodating person, Mother gave me her address and telephone number and even offered her residence in Los Angeles to me in case I decide to avail of the Special Immigrant Program, a privilege given to Filipino civilian U.S. Government employees who have rendered 15 or more years of service outside of the U.S.
Mother was accompanied by her daughter who was then wearing a white T-shirt and blue jeans. Having graduated Valedictorian both from Columban College in Olongapo and from the school she attended in Los Angeles, I knew Mother’s daughter to be very intelligent. But I never realized she could sing amazingly well.
Her name is Charmaine Clamor, another Filipina who has made a name for herself and found a place in the international music scene.
Charmaine coined the term “Jazzipino”, a newly-developed musical genre that results from melding traditional Filipino melodies, languages, and instruments with the soul and swing of American jazz.
She has recorded several songs and released a number of albums. Her song “My Funny Brown Pinay” is one I appreciated much because it takes pride in the unique attributes of an indigenous Filipino woman who has flat nose, black hair, and dark skin. It conveys the message that the Filipino is not inferior to any race.
Charmaine has received awards and recognition for her extraordinary talent and has evidently joined the likes of Charice. Lea Salonga, and Vincent Bueno (of course!) in giving honor to her native country, the Philippines, and its people.
Among the awards Charmaine reportedly received were the 6th Annual Asian Heritage Award in the Performing Arts in July 2009 in San Diego, California, and the 12th Annual FILIPINAS Magazine Achievement Award in Entertainment, in October 2009. She was also honored with a special FAMAS Award for her "cultural trailblazing".
Lately, I learned from her Facebook page that she was having concerts for the benefit of Filipinos who were victims of typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng.
I embedded one of her video clips uploaded by abegabe on YouTube. Watch her sing Lahat ng Araw, a Filipino kundiman, in the said video below.
I embedded one of her video clips uploaded by abegabe on YouTube. Watch her sing Lahat ng Araw, a Filipino kundiman, in the said video below.
Monday, October 26, 2009
OUR DEPARTMENT'S TEAM BUILDING
Our department had its team building on October 15 and 16, 2009 at Megan's Paradisio Beach Resort in Brgy. Pundakit, San Antonio, Zambales, which offers a panoramic view of the very beautiful Capones and Camara Islands.
I took several photographs of the place as well as the various activities, mostly parlor games, eating and drinking, and videoke singing, that our department's personnel carried out.
Group 1 competing with Group 2
Enjoying every minute of it
Ying and Jeen joyfully playing with the waves
Singing all night long I also captured on video the stupendous scenery as well as the roaring sound created by the waves as they crashed on the shore. Please watch the video below.
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