Keystroke Journal

I had a chance to listen to All-Filipino music today and sigh! I sure miss those times when I could go to concerts and enjoy the music with friends back home. Iba pa rin ang makarinig ka ng Tagalog na kanta o Pinoy na singer lalo na kung nasa ibang bansa ka. Mabuti na lang at meron ng internet. Nakakapanood o nakaka-download na tayo ng libre. Pero syempre iba rin ang makapanood ka ng live show, walang kapantay. Speaking of live shows, it’s been awhile since I’ve watched a Filipino concert away from home. The last time was with Gary Valenciano two years ago at Washington, DC. Yes, even though I’m far away from home, I made a point to watch Mr. Pure Energy’s concert. As expected, I had a blast just like in any of his concerts back home. I remember losing my voice one time. That was the first time I couldn’t talk at all for two days - all because of too much squeals at the concert. But for a change, I welcomed the "disability". When people asked me what was the cause, I'd ...

I had a chance to chat with a friend online today. Our conversations revolved around life in general then focused on smooth jazz music and an Italian artist named Mike Francis of the 80’s. I was surprised to learn that he recently passed away. I immediately googled the news and read about it from a Philippine-based newspaper . It’s only then did I realize that he’s more popular back home than here in the US. Nevertheless, whether he’s known here or not, his music is very popular among Filipinos. And with his music, I couldn’t help but bring back memories in the 80’s. Today I find myself searching for his video or mp3 music online. It’s been years since I last listened to his music. While listening, I tried to figure out what made me like his music. I was young then and it was the in music at that time. It was my friends’ music as well. So it was something we shared in common. Looking back, I wasn’t really particular with the lyrics but what attracted me to the songs was the rhythm its...