The Most Beautiful Day In The Universe

“Ang Pinakamagandang Araw sa Kalawakan” (The Most Beautiful Day in the Universe). Catchy. It was nice of ABS-CBN to air the pageant. I’m not much of a beauty pageant fan but I watch pageants anyway. Pageants are kind of fascinating – especially the Miss Universe pageants.

Riyo Mori – Miss Japan – was crowned Miss Universe 2007. I have no objections. The 20 year old dancer deserved to win.

My bets for the final five – when the final fifteen were announced – were Miss Japan (Riyo Mori), Miss Korea (Honey Lee), Miss USA (Rachel Smith) , plus I-don’t-care-who-the-other-two-are. Well, I was right, my three favorites made it into the final five – with Miss Brazil (Natalia Guimaraes) and Miss Venezuela (Ly Jonaitis).

Miss USA was no crowd favorite and was received with jeers by the Mexican audience during the interview competition. At least she maintained her poise and managed to win some cheers. It should also be noted that she fell down when the contestants paraded their elegant attires (she probably got outbalanced by stepping on the gown).
She ended up as fourth runner-up.

Miss Korea – among my three bets – was, I thought, most likely to win. But I believe her answer to the question and answer portion was not a winning material – though okay (at least she did not answer that the super power she wants is ‘world peace’). But she only ended up with third runner-up, beaten by Miss Brazil and Miss Venezuela, first runner-up and second runner-up respectively.

Our very own Miss Philippines – Anna Theresa Licaros – got a Miss Photogenic Award (which I thought was going to Miss Slovenia). At least it was a consolation for not making it to the Final Fifteen.

I am no racist. Maybe I just do not appreciate it much. I just did not like Miss Tanzania and Miss Angola to reach the Final Ten nor the Final Fifteen. But I guess I have no right to question the judges. Nothing I can do about it.

It was fun also to think that we have three pinays on the pageant. We have a Miss Philippines, plus the half-Filipinos Miss Germany and Miss Norway. Three chances – all failed to make it to the Final Fifteen.

The Miss Universe show was a fine one. Honestly, I was hoping our Filipina bet would win – so we would have three Miss Universes in history. Well, that is that, maybe next year.

But congratulations again to Miss Japan. "I learned how to always be happy, be patient and to be positive, and this is what I want to teach to the next generation," she said during the interview competition. Hmm. Let’s see if she can do that as Miss Universe.

Till next year’s pageant.

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Three Memorable Childhood Crying Moments

I cried many times in my childhood years. Some are just because of trivial matters, like being injured and such. Most of them I don’t even remember. But I remember three memorable times that made me cry.

* * *

I was, I think, about two years old when my parents first left me alone at home. No big deal. Yup, I was a brave baby. I did not cry that I was left alone, heck, it was even night time. But then, it began to rain. Then the lightning flashed… then, you guessed it, the terrifying sound of thunder rumbled. The thunders roared like it was the end of the world (exaggeration maybe… but to a two-year old baby, I don’t think so). That was the time that I cried. I cried like a baby (wait… I was a baby). I don’t know how long I cried. The continuing sounds of thunder terrified me. I only stopped when my parents arrived.

* * *

The second experience I’ll tell you, I was years older – I was in the late part of my first decade. My mother took me with her when she and her workmates went to Manila. We were roaming around the mall there, when I unconsciously (or consciously?) wandered away from my mother.
I realized I was lost. My face paled. My heart beat louder and faster. I was afraid. It would be okay if I got lost in Legazpi, at least the places are familiar. But that was Manila. I do not know anybody there (now I know several friends and acquaintances there). I was a kid, a little below ten years old, alone and afraid. But I hold on, I refused to cry.
I made another mistake. Instead of staying at one place, I roamed around to search for my mother – or her workmates. The mall was big, and it was foolish to do that. It took minutes (which were like hours) when my mother finally found me. When I saw her, I couldn’t control my emotion any longer. I cried. I cried out the fear I felt. And I cried of relief.

* * *

I cried in those two circumstances because of fear – fear of the loud thunder, and fear of being lost.
This third one, I cried because of hurt. Not of physical one. But a deep hurt in the heart – worse than a physical one.
I was about ten years old, watching TV, when suddenly I heard a commotion outside. I looked outside the window and saw our neighbor’s large black dog (I forgot the breed. But it was like the Hound of Baskervilles… exaggeration again? Maybe) causing havoc outside, and then suddenly the dog bit the neck of one of my cats. Shiela was the cat’s name, and moreover she was pregnant. In a panic state, I searched for the door’s key and took one of my pellet gun (Uzi model). When I finally went outside, the dog was dragging my cat down the road. It was terrible watching my bloodied and helpless cat struggling between the large jaws. I tried to shoot and shoot the dog with my pellet gun, but the hellish dog can’t feel the sting of the pellets. The dog kept on his hold on my cat’s severed neck, shaking his head, snarling, his teeth dripping with blood.
I was not able to save my cat. Shiela died, but the dog still did not let go the limp body of my cat. I cried hard as I walk back to our house. It hurt a lot. It was terrible. I cried long and hard. I felt weak and terrible. My mother bought me a magazine to comfort me, but though it calmed me a little, I was still hurting and sad.
That was the last time I really cried. The last of boyhood tears.

* * *

In all those circumstances, in some sense, I was brave. But not brave enough. I was brave enough to be left alone at home – but not enough for the thunder. I was brave enough from being lost – but foolish to not stay in one place. I was brave enough to confront a big dog that could had easily injured or killed me – but, still, it was not enough to save Shiela.

* * *

Now, I still get afraid. I still get hurt.
And there is still a lot of thundering around at me. I still get lost. I still lose a lot things – important things – in my life. But I think I’m braver and stronger now. No use crying over them.

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In Creating A Band

I am not an authority in band making, but I can give some advice. For me, there are five essential elements needed: talent, relationship, attitude, discipline and inspiration.

-Talent is of course needed. you need people who can play the instruments and who will sing.

-Relationship is greatly needed. the members should be good friends. they should be able to communicate freely. it is a big plus if the members grew up together and were friends since childhood.

-Attitude. positive attitude to all members. all members should be ready to give and receive positive suggestions and criticism. a member should always follow the leader (if there is one) and the leader should not abuse his power and think that he is better than the rest of the band. each member should not think that he is too good for the band.

-Discipline is needed, especially in practices. members should always be on time. members should be disciplined. they should not "mess around". it is a waste of valuable practice time. but in jammings, it is sometimes okay to mess around.

-Inspiration is the foundation. what motivates the band is very important. here are my elements. it is what i think is needed. after considering them, always keep in mind that it does not matter if your band does not make it big, as long as you are together and having fun. having fun is all that matters. your band is the best as long as the members has good relationships.

Most of all, always remember that God gives the talent. it is only right to use it for Him. so consider making your band a praise and worship band. like 1 Corinthians 10:31 says, "Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it for the glory of God."

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