Luigi Seno

And once again, a Filipino catches the public eye, this time in America’s Got Talent.  I must agree with the judges, that more than his voice or his guitar playing, Luigi’s got this affable quality, but in a superstar way, that hooks the audience.  I was shocked at how much the women in ht audience were going crazy!  Don’t get me wrong, because I think Luigi killed it, but it wasn’t THAT incredible that merited that reaction.  I don’t think it was the sheer magnitude of the talent, but more of him, Luigi himself, who created that energy.

Some critics say Luigi merely did an Andrew Garcia, who sang this song for his audition for American Idol.  Andrew, who was first thought as Filipino (he’s not, he’s Mexican), has a Filipino wife, and is buddies with YouTube Pinoy sensations, AJ Rafael and Gabe Bondoc.  So who did the better version?  Here’s Andrew’s audtion:

Nevertheless, I’m very happy that more Filipinos are coming out of the woodwork, because when these talent shows started coming out, I’ve always wondered why we didn’t figure prominently in them, when we really do have what it takes.  Just watch any talent show here and you’d be surprised at how many can sing.  I guess the only question is, who can deliver the star quality to make it in the international scene.  I’m rooting for Luigi, I guess because I’m slightly biased toward full Pinoys, as opposed to artists who are of other descents, but only because we don’t have kaagaw when it comes to claiming them.  Remember Jasmine Trias who marketed herself as more Hawaiian than Filipino?  Luigi is unabashedly Pinoy, talking about his family back home and mentions the Philippines in the very first sentence of his interview.

Anyway, I think both Luigi’s and Andrew’s versions are both good.  But for a complete perspective, here’s the original, the GREAT Adam Levine and the rest of Maroon 5, with the original version of “Sunday Morning”, the fourth single released from their debut album, “Songs About Jane”.  The single peaked at #31 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The Top Ten Signs That You Are A Weirdo

If you get to listen to our radio show regularly, you would know that I’ve been called a weirdo a godzillion times.  I guess I am weird, and growing up I had weird friends, and we played weird games.  This was also the episode where I revealed my embarrassing past as a member of the insect-collecting club.  The shame.

June 11, 2009 → The Top Ten Signs That You Are A Weirdo – Sent in by: Astroboy

1. Curt Smith – I still keep my wife’s bra and panty, the ones she was wearing the first time we had sex.
2. Mojacko – I have a friend who collects candy wrappers which he uses as wallpaper for his room.
3. Lockon Stratos – Before sleeping, I have to put a blanket over my feet para di ako hilahin ng monsters.
4. Sephulturero – I used to eat my scabs when I was young.
5. Dumbbeau – I only eat the two dulo of a lumpia. I never eat the middle part where all the stuff are.
6. Xtianroi – Before sleeping, I always try to think of ways to defeat robbers in case they go inside the house while we’re sleeping, like what to throw at them or something.
7. Ria – I dip my chicharon not in vinegar, but in patis.
8. Skylar – I always daydream that I’m adopted and that my real parents are celebrities.
9. No name – When I was young, I used to ALWAYS take a bath with my Iron Man toy.
10. No name – My friend always eats in pairs. If she has 3 pieces of candy, she’ll eat 2, then give away the 3rd. If she had 4, she’d eat all 4.
11. Startle – Before sleeping, I always try to imagine how my soulmate looks like.
12. Si H Ito – I keep a used t-shirt of my girlfriend who went abroad. I smell it every night, even now that she’s already my ex.
13. Alexa – If you pluck hair from random strangers and yell: “DNA!!!”
14. Forg – I know someone who reads the last chapter of a book first, then goes back to the very start.
15. Trina – We used to have a classmate who brushed her teeth in the drinking fountain.
16. Simone – My mom will refuse to drink coffee that is not served BOILING hot. Then she proceeds to let it cool until it is cool enough for her to gulp it down like water.
17. Stormbringer – My favorite sandwich is Chippy sandwich!
18. HR Guy – My bookmark is a piece of dead skin from my scalp.
19. This Girl  – I have a friend who refuses to eat french fries because it’s “nakakaantok”.
20. Pretty Kitty – I always eat using 2 plates. One plate for the rice, the other for the ulam.
21. Minggot – My favorite smell is the smell of maduming ref.
22. Korki – My niece never eats dilis kasi nako-konsensiya daw siya kasi nakatingin sila habang kinakain mo sila.
23. Jojo – There’s a weirdo in our office who pees in a mineral water bottle everyday, then leaves it in different areas in the office.
24. Fatfree – I can’t work in silence. The only way I can be productive is if there’s loud music.
25. Criminal-Minded – When I was young, I used to nible on my mom’s slippers. Minsan nauubos ko yung tsinelas niya sa kaka nibble, paunti-unti.
26. Adam Lembot – As a kid, I couldn’t sleep unless I was sucking on someone’s elbow.
27. Boknoi – I was in church, and this girl sitting beside me, in the middle of the service, lit up a cigarette! I was so shocked I almost dropped my beer!

Sisiman Bay, Bataan

Of all our photo trips since we started with the hobby in 2008, this trip to Bataan was the most unique.  Mainly because it posed the challenge of coming up with different shots using the same subject.  Usually, when we go out and do travel or landscape shoots, we go around taking as many pictures of as many subjects as we can.  But this time, we only had the sole subject, the lighthouse in Sisiman Bay, in Mariveles, Bataan.  So it was like a portrait shoot with just one person, and the challenge was to take as many different ways to present the subject — happy, sad, angry, etc.  Well, thank goodness the area cooperated.  We went twice, one in the late afternoon, and one during sunrise.  So the lighthouse gave us very different moods, like a talented model, and it turned out a productive shoot, despite the string of injuries I had to struggle through.

The low tide gave us very rich colors from the rocks that were already exposed but still wet enough to reveal a rich brown color that the lenses love.  I was fortunate enough to catch a couple who were lounging lovingly on top of the biggest rock there, watching the lighthouse from their romantic perch.

The moody weather gave us dramatic cloud formations which complemented the bedraggled lighthouse, long abandoned but still standing…barely.  The whole scene looked very Mordor-ish, and the derelict tower, with it’s missing handrails along the winding staircase makes for a compelling image that we were all hoping to capture.  We did have to stop sooner than we hoped because the rain started to pour and it was a long walk back to the van.

The next morning, we woke up at 3am in our hotel in Balanga, to be able to get to Sisiman Bay by 5am to catch the sunrise.  It was an hour-long trip to Mariveles, so we thought of leaving earlier than usual.  We got there a bit too early, so the moon was still out, and we were able to catch that exact moment when it wasn’t quite sunrise yet, but not evening any longer.  The moon and the brightening sky was wonderful to behold.

The rising sun infused the landscape with an explosion of colors, and we were scrambling to get our filters out to balance the different exposures.  We’ve seen more spectacular sunrises, but it was more than enough to give us some splashes of yellow and orange to satisfy our craving for color, as opposed to the previous day’s gloominess.

When the sun was already out full blast, I was able to take a couple of infrared shots.  But a few minutes of that with the sun beating down on us, I had to throw in the towel early because I was drained, and starving because we haven’t had breakfast yet.

So all in all, we were very satisfied with the photo shoot.  Despite the many setbacks, and almost NOT finding our sole subject, it was nice to have found the lighthouse that we had grown to love.  We hope for more shoots like this (minus the injuries), and we can’t wait for our next photo trip destination.