Caracol is one event that was always near me but not quite. Caracol as far as I remember was done in Bangkal during the feast day of San Ildefonso. But being an active member of church when I was young, I was already in church during the whole event.
The origin of the name was derived from the Spanish word,” caracol” means “snail.” It’s hard to say whether the Caracol Festival was named because of its associations with nature, or because it cycles every year like the ridges on a snail’s shell.
According to some old-time Makati residents , the festival used to be held on the feast day of Saint Ildefonso around late January but eventually moved to late February and the usual street dancing is held in the morning but the festivities moved to Circuit Mall few years ago. The participants paraded on Hippodromo street and culminated with dance competition held at the activity area of Circuit Mall.
This
breathtaking production, featuring the impeccable vocal talents of South
Africa’s Belinda Davids, is a beautifully crafted tribute to one of the world’s
most revered singers. Accompanied by a full band and dancers, Davids performs
over two hours of Whitney Houston’s best loved pop hits live on stage.
And
there is no person better equipped to do so. In addition to having a voice
described as “jaw-droppingly similar” to the pop diva, Davids openly
acknowledges that Houston is her personal idol and was the original inspiration
for her own career when she began singing at the age of 14.
“I
want people to come and remember Whitney when she was at the top of her game
and when she was fabulous”, says Davids.
And
people all over the world have done exactly that, with South Africa, New
Zealand, Singapore, Canada and the USA already hosting sold-out performances in
the show’s first two years of touring.
The
show includes 20 of Houston’s most popular tracks taken from the full span of
her career, including ‘I Will Always Love You’, ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody’,
‘Didn’t We Almost Have It All’, ‘I’m Every Woman’, ‘Exhale (Shoop Shoop)’,
‘Million Dollar Bill’ and more.
Davids
is directed by Showtime Management Creative Director John Van Grinsven Snr. and
joined on tour by the production team responsible for the worldwide hit tribute
show Michael Jackson HIStory.
Belinda
Davids
Belinda
Davids was born in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, and began performing
professionally at the age of 14. She has never had vocal training and is
blessed with a 4 octave vocal range, and hence the ability to sing any genre.
Her musical heart has always been R&B; Belinda's inspirations as a child
were Aretha Franklin, Anita Baker, Chaka Khan, Donny Hathaway, Michael Jackson
and the one artist whom she still, to this day, honours in every show she
performs – Whitney Houston.
As
a young girl one of the very first LP’s Davids ever owned was a song called
“Hold Me” by Teddy Pendergrass and Whitney Houston. The quality and style
Whitney portrayed in this song struck a cord and Davids’ fascination with the
icon grew. She sang Whitney’s music at every chance: at family gatherings,
talent competitions and to friends whilst playing on the street. Like many
young girls at that time her bedroom walls were plastered with posters and
magazine cut-outs of the icon. Whitney’s influence was so strong it inspired
everything from her dress sense to her hairstyles.
As
a young woman Belinda had the burning desire to live out her dreams and follow
in her idols footsteps. She took on the club circuit and her performances left
many people amazed at how similar she sounded to the icon.
In the mid 90’s Belinda caught the eye of record executives at Tusk Records, which spawned the album “Belinda Davids”. Three of the songs on this album, which Belinda wrote, were released as singles: “This I Swear”, “This Is My Life” and “We Go Together”. The latter was number one for six weeks in South Africa. Davids promoted her album all over South Africa for a number of years at various hotels, clubs & cabarets. She opened shows for many international acts when they visited South Africa including Michael Jackson’s History Tour, The Manhattans, The Temptations and Peaches and Herbs. Years after her debut album Davids decided to travel abroad to expand her musical career, which took her to Dubai, London and Hong Kong to perform in major hotels and clubs, with renowned success. Whilst performing “I Will Always Love You” at a hotel in Hong Kong she was requested by the audience to sing acapella as they thought she was lip-syncing to the original Whitney Houston song, after which she received a standing ovation. After many years on the road she finally settled in Los Angeles where she started to focus on getting her solo career back on track. In L.A she collaborated with R&B singer/producer Sam Salter who worked on a couple of her promotional tracks. She also caught the attention of many R&B artists who asked her to perform and tour with them, such as Keyshia Cole, Monica, Johnny Gill, Kelly Price and Keri Hilson. She appeared on The Jay Leno Show and The George Lopez Show as a back-up vocalist for Monica. In 2015 Belinda Davids will once again showcase her exquisite voice as she takes on the lead role in the Showtime Management production, The Greatest Love of All – The Whitney Houston Show, a show dedicated to keeping alive the music and spirit of the late, great and incomparable Whitney Houston.
---
“The soul of Whitney Houston is not
only alive on the Mandela Stage but its effortless, mesmerizing and in full
voice. Don't believe me? You will.”
-
Rave Review
“If you had walked into the iZulu
Theatre blindfolded and listened to the opening song, you would be forgiven for
thinking you were listening to Houston herself, Davids is that good.”
-
ToNight
“The iconic Egyptian-like shake of
the head, the smile, the clicking fingers and open arms that accompany the
countless high notes, all attest to David’s knowledge of the character is she
portraying.”
-
DestinyConnect.com
“I saw Whitney live in concert
twice. Belinda Davids’ show featuring her songs was, dare I say, better.”
Have you ever stopped to consider why you believe what you believe?
Have you ever thought about why you chose the religion you chose?
Why do you believe in Jesus Christ as the only means to eternal salvation, and not in karma or reincarnation?
Why do you believe that Allah is the one true god and Mohammed is his prophet, and not in the four noble truths of the Buddha?
Why do you hold to the Torah as the only revealed word of God and not the Bhagavad Gita?
Dear Believer,
Do you ever wonder why your heaven resembles a utopian Earth and is composed of the same base elements found right here on this planet?
Do you ever wonder why your deity governs within a power structure that resembles that of the specific time and place in which your holy text was written?
Do you ever wonder why your god looks just like you, or the animals with whom you share the planet?
Dear Believer,
Is the faith you practice the dominant one within your culture?
Do you not find it at least a little suspicious that the overwhelming majority of all religious believers adopt the religion of the society into which they were born, yet remain convinced they’ve lucked out (or been divinely admitted) into the one, true faith?
Does it not make you at least somewhat apprehensive that almost every person of faith chooses belief not because of its virtues, supporting evidence, moral codes or expression of worship, but rather because it was what they were born into?
Why, out of the abundance of faith choices available, does almost every believer on the planet choose the faith that’s within arm’s reach?
Are you a Christian because you were born in America or Europe, a Muslim because you were born in Saudi Arabia or Indonesia, a Buddhist because you were born in Japan or China, a Hindu because you were born in India?
Can it be that faith is, in almost every case, just an accident of geography?
Do you sincerely believe that had you been born in another country, you’d undoubtedly still be practicing the same faith you now embrace?
Dear Believer,
Is the faith you practice that of your parents and their parents before them?
Is it the first to which you were exposed?
Did you know that nearly all religious devotees end up believing what they were taught to believe by their parents?
Why is it that we scoff at the idea of labeling a young person a Republican Child or a Marxist Child or a Keynesian Child, understanding he or she lacks the intellectual discrimination, life experience and wisdom to make such a complicated and nuanced decision, but do not raise so much as an eyebrow when a youngster is referred to as a Christian Child, surely a choice no less complex?
Could it be that there’s no such thing as a Muslim Child, just a child of Muslim parents?
Dear Believer,
You are supremely confident in your faith.
You KNOW it is the right one and all others wrong.
You are literally willing to bet your eternal soul on that fact.
And yet, have you ever stopped to consider that there are two-dozen major religions and literally thousands of different faiths practiced on this planet?
Did you know that within Christianity alone, there are more than 45,000 different denominations, each claiming to understand ultimate truth better than the others?
Do you realize that each member of every faith practiced is just as devout, just as sincere, and their conviction every bit as sure as yours?
Did you know they too read infallible holy texts, have air-tight apologetics, have experienced miracles, feel god’s presence, sense his still small voice, obediently follow his perfect will for their lives, love him indescribably, and can defend their belief with the same fervency as you do yours?
And yet, since every religion is mutually exclusive and contradicts the other in matters both large and small, they cannot all be right…right?
You know—you just KNOW—your faith is the exception—and yet, if every member of every faith feels as you do, what are the odds that you’re right?
Dear Believer,
I’ve often been told that my unbelief is a guarantee of missing out on heaven an ending up in hell.
But whose heaven?
Whose hell?
I’ve often been told that I should, just to be safe, accept god—after all, what have I to lose?
But whose god?
Given so many options, aren’t I more likely to chose incorrectly?
Might not I be better off wagering on no god rather than on the wrong god?
You put it to me, “What if you’re wrong?” But what if you’re wrong?
What if, rather than Jehovah, Allah is the one true God? Or Shiva? Or Wooten? Or some god you’ve never even heard of?
The truth is, you already know what it’s like to be an atheist in regard to every other faith but your own.
It’s clear to you that adherents to other faiths are mistaken, deluded or deceived.
But they think the same of you.
The way you view them is exactly the way they view you.
Every devout Hindu has embraced his faith for the exact same reasons you have embraced yours, yet you do not find his reasons compelling, nor do you lose sleep at night fearing that if you die you’ll wake up in his hell.
Given this, is it so hard to see why some of us just take our atheism one god further?
Dear Believer,
I wonder if religions just aren’t ancient constructs in which early humans attempted to both explain and control the chaotic world around them.
Though irrational in content, their emergence certainly isn’t.
We do not blame our ancestors for inventing religion.
There is no shame in stumbling when you are blind, or failing to properly construct a puzzle in the dark.
But we no longer live in the dark.
Science is ablaze in our world and illuminates our way, dissipating shadows and exposing even the deepest of crevices.
We no longer live in the cave.
We have crossed the valley, scaled the mountains and have begun to make out the magnificent vista on the other side.
We no longer require comforting stories to make us feel safe or valued.
Is it not time that our beliefs match our discoveries?
Is it not time that our ideas reflect our new perspective?
There is equal, if not greater, awe in reality than there is in fantasy.
Perhaps it is time to stop telling ourselves that we are the reason the universe was made;that our culture is somehow better than other cultures; that our tribe was chose over all other tribes.
It is time to learn how the universe really is, even if that deflates our conceits, wounds our pride, humbles our point of view, and forces us to admit that we do not have all the answers.
Believer, if you honestly value the truth above all things—as you claim—as I truly know you do—you must confront these fundamental questions.
Far better, Carl Sagan said, to embrace a hard truth, than a reassuring fable.
I think this was during the Arts Festival at the Rizal Park Open Auditorium. I don't know the name of their group but they were able to bring a pack of screaming fans. I like them because they just played with Fantastic Baby by Big Bang.
If you recognize them please do tell so I can give the proper credits. Thanks.
I have not written anything. Put down by disappointments in life and the struggle to find meaning. I have started learning Buddhism as early as October last year.
I really think that the idea of the nembutsu was just a replacement of the monotheistic God saving a person from suffering. It's Buddhism acting like a monotheistic religion. But I need to learn more about Shin Buddhism and what makes it work for many Japanese and people around the world.
Shinran founder of Shin Buddhism
It's also cherry blossom time and we Filipinos have our wonderful flowers but most of them will be in bloom in May.
Palawan Cherry Blossom (Cassia nodosa)
I am also stuck with this "Fine on the outside" by Priscilla Ahn
There was a time I got addicted to Jay Chou and Ann Bai as well as other artists like Indila and Sido. For more than a month now I have been listening to much of JJ Lin's music.
I downloaded and watched much of his music to my phone. Since there isn't much on my phone then I decided to listen to it.
It's always by accident that I found artists, usually on youtube.
It's been a long time since I shared music videos. I have just recently downloaded Sido's album from last year. I have also started to listen to Stacie Orrico once more. It's too bad her album is quite delayed.
Anyhow here are some songs that I just browsed on youtube:
OK I heard of him from a classmate fan of mine when I was a freshman in college at the Philippine Normal University. Unlike many people who gather around and talk about this and that I kept to myself and my so called way of studies.
I had a group at that time. It was a learning experience to be with them. Now I know whom should I keep as friends and those I keep an eye on.
I just lived life at that time and have read some of Ferdi's writing on the Torch or sometimes called the Sulo. The Torch or Sulo is the official school paper with many interesting and often times radical ideas. I enjoyed reading the stories and poetry there.
I have never met Ferdi as what my classmate calls him because I have no other way of talking or referring about him. Often times I confused him with another Ferdi from a higher class.
Life went on and so did the years. I read from the publications of the school the raw realities of life and at the same time how wonderful it is. I am glad and proud to be a PNUan because of the things I was able to learn and read.
I am now just an asshole trying to write my life so at least someone can remember. I wish I can be eloquent even in Filipino but I am neither good in English.
I was also planning on buying his book, "Anim na Sabado ng Beyblade." But I feel would suffer another mood swing and tantrum like I got so stressed reading books by Eros Atalia. I feel Ferdi would also affect me the way I was affected by the rich literary culture of PNU with its brilliant minds.
Last Sunday I was able to chance upon a concert of his at the Concert at the Park. I was like OMG! I bought the album despite its ghetto looks. I doesn't matter I am buying the music.
I am a Scrooge by heart I don't like shallow happiness and everything that is materialistic. That is what makes December so annoying for me and at the same time sad. December is going to be a long one I guess.
Yes Quiapo is not the place where you just buy bootleg DVD of movies and or pirated stuff. Despite the growing number of Muslims in the area and degree of deterioration. One can always glimpse its glorious past. Often times hidden by the dark reality of life and greed of people.
My journey of course starts at the most famous place - the Quiapo Church.
The meeting place is at the Casa Boix located on Bautista Street. You cannot miss the place because it stands out among the buildings on the Streets.
I have done many things. Of course seen many things but then again the internet goes and you got nothing to do. I still have lots of pending stuff to write and now internet is back I am feeling lazy and distracted on this and that.
As a celebration of my comeback today. I am sharing this funny music video.
So people have gone crazy over the coming Christmas party at work. It is scheduled on December 13, 2014 on a Saturday. Prior to this the AM people have been busy preparing themselves days ahead on their presentation. We were only officially told just last night of the confirmation of the event.
We would have a presentation for the event. That is just fucking interesting for me.
I am an introvert and this is once again stressful for me. I needed a good excuse and saying I cannot go because blah blah blah will not work. I need a really good excuse. I asked a group of smart people and I basically got nothing.
I have to pretend now that I am going to the party by joining fucking practices.
I rather stay away on that with a good friend. Then the scary part is that I have to spend time with people I don't even like and pretend I like it. Of course there are some people and how they fucking dress.
It's a real problem for me because I am really honest and not a good liar and for making excuses. I would rather scream I fucking hate Christmas parties!
OK it seems this blog got some people interested. This blog is a personal blog of a bigot. The word there is BIGOT. Let me make things easy here.
BIGOT accordingly means: a person who is utterly intolerant of any differing creed, belief, or opinion.
I will not say sorry even though sometimes I think my opinions are really wrong. That is my perspective and view of people on others are the same. I don't go around the planet talking about my belief. I just write them here so I won't forget. Because honestly I have a tendency to forget things.
I am also an idiot. I know that but I don't go around the world claiming to be wise. I don't pretend to be anything and I also don't pretend to be nice. I've tried being nice and I learned that that is just stupid.
My opinions are of my own and is not the same with my friends. In fact I don't share many things and stuff to my friends. This blog is also limited for there are things I would not dare write for the mere fact that I thinking about them is just evil. Plain evil.
I don't care about what people would say about me. That is their opinion, it may be wrong it may be right but that is their right. But I guess people worry when I got something to say about them. Me, a nobody and asshole.
Somehow that makes me a little happy.I et many cannot handle that.
I stay as me. Love it or hate it.
For the new viewers of this blog this song is dedicated to you:
There are many YouTube adds out there. They induce in us that 5 seconds can be a lot longer than eternity. Sometimes you just want to cream at the the top of your lungs.
I bet you stopped watching TV for the same reasons I did: Stupid and annoying ads. Most of them are meaningless shit.
Today as I was going to watch about a documentary about the Last Emperor in China. This advertisement came up.
It's about a young rich lady who is sick about this and that. She doesn't sing that well and her song is very simple. She doesn't cream all high notes that make my ear bleed like anything you hear on noontime shows in the Philippines.
The song also talks about most of the things I also hate about people in the Philippines or even maybe worldwide. Also the songs doesn't pretend to be anything at all but a story of a rich lady who cannot relate to what most of the Pinoys are doing. And is just actually talking about that man she likes.
I have downloaded the Snarky Puppy album just because of the song Something which was posted a months ago. Usually it takes me weeks to discover something I like within an album.
Bouquets des roses Chansons qui parlent que d'une chose Amour, amour Tremblement de terre Collier qui porte mon bonheur Amour, toujours Amour, t'es là? Amour, je cherche ton schéma Amour, c'est toi? Amour, pourquoi tu te caches de moi
Of course I was quite skeptical again of PAG-ASA and its compete on delivering real weather news. Despite the so called modernization that AbNoy claimed as his project, many people were still clueless.
But I have work and I have a task to do.
Actually I never cared much on what is going to happen. I as listening to French songs as the wind and the rains raged. The power went on and off like the many bad services most Filipinos get from the government.
Here are some of the songs I listened to:
Of course there is the stupid rants of my office mates on how bad the storm is. As if they have never seen a storm ever in the country.
I just put on my earplugs and drown in French. Besides why should I worry and be shocked about a storm during the monsoon. That is just nothing!
Since last week I featured Japanese songs why not go Korean this time. One sog has been in my mind for a week or so now and almost got me laid in the beach.
That song is catchy and well portrayed by the video. At least there as nothing weird about the video.
