Tatang Gus' Songs

I recorded old Capampangan songs back in 2006 as sung by Tatang Gus, but my Multiply website where they were uploaded was discontinued. So I searched for them and fortunately they are still there in Tumblr. As our beloved Uncle Gus is now in his 80s, it's good to hear these great folk songs again.

1. Atin Cu Pung Singsing
2. Cayumu Ring Mate King Labuad Mung Tibuan
3. Ing Tau Candaba
4. Lalam Ning Maslag A Bulan
5. Lele Ning Batisan
6. Luid Ya Ing Pilipinas
7. Metung Cung Ulila
8. Panatulan Daca
9. Pibatan Cu Irug Ing Me Alang Calma
10. Pilipinas
11. Tiririn

May mercy, peace, and love be yours in abundance! [Jude 2 NABRE]

Goodbye, Michael Jackson

Four months has elapsed since my last entry, and many things happened, including socio-political and economic developments here and abroad. While these are important, they often become so boring that we sometimes forget their significance. We never run out of doomsayers who always see the negative in things. We see politicians and "pundits" creating ghosts, and then becoming frightened by them. Mere speculations end up in front pages; lies being repeated several times and then admitted as gospel truth. They are asking, "what is truth" but they already have answers! Religious events become politicized, and politics become sacralized. People who ought not to be believed are put in a pedestal and almost worshipped! This can go on forever.

More than a week ago (June 25), the famous singer Michael Jackson passed away for a still unknown etiology at a young age of 50. Inspite of the numerous negative comments, Jackson was a great man for his circumstances, mainly out of his control. They focus on his defects, but ain't we all imperfect?

Let's celebrate his musical genius, his songs, his contribution to the entertainment part of our lives. I remember his songs during those good old days--Ben, I'll Be There, One Day In Your Life and the ubiquitous Christmas songs Give Love On Christmas Day and I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus. I still remember the vinyl album Thriller, with all those famous tracks. I'm always entertained by his unique dance steps, perhaps similar to what magicians do in their routines. Many performers mimicked such moves but no one gets them as rhythmic as the original.

There are many things I would like to say but it's early morning already. But before retiring, I'm sending my best wishes to his soul... Goodbye Mike!

Guide the Children

A few hours ago, a nephew asked me about the meaning of some words he's trying to read from the computer screen. It's in fancy fonts and written in Spanish. In decades past, children were familiar with Spanish. That's not the point anyway...

The problem phrase in Spanish was: "Cinco Diablo". It pertains to the title of the music album of a certain band he's scrutinizing. I told him it stands for "five devil" [maybe that's five devils], and warned him of the dangers of being attracted to such things--the name might become a reality--meaning the devil might influence him sooner or later. It's laughable I have to admit, but who knows? It's similar to playing with ouija boards, e.g.; dangerous to the soul.

Then I asked the name of the band. I was surprised the group's name was "Saliva". What? I'm wondering, if such are the band name and album titles, the lyrics would also be garbage. I then intended to speak to his parents about this seemingly innocent stuff. That I'm going to do, but lest I forget, at least many of you readers out there get to read it first.

What is it about these stupid music that kids like? Worse, it might be something about bad or even "evil" lyrics. And the effect? I can only guess!

Please investigate these kinds of music! Let's guide our children, and make the good, the holy, and the moral attractive to them...

Music: Ogg Codecs

I have uploaded the music of Terê, Bing and Eli, and also Tatang Gus at my Multiply site, and some folks can't seem to play them. And that's because they are in OGG format; "Ogg Vorbis is a completely open, patent-free, professional audio encoding and streaming technology with all the benefits of Open Source" (taken from Vorbis.com). You may download VLC Media Player (for free) or any other cross-platform media player to listen to them. If you're using Windows and you don't want to download anything, and you can't open OGG files, please download and install Ogg Codecs for windows, or go to http://www.vorbis.com and follow their simple instructions. Anybody with musical-technical skills may add some accompaniment or instruments to the songs (this can be done in today's technology). Thank you. Enjoy the music!

NB: The songs are inaccessible due to broken links; please access them through tatang-gus-songs.html in this blogspot.

U2: Christian Band

Just a few hours ago, I happen to come across a report about U2, stating that it's a Christian band. I read the entire article because I also had this suspicion in my brain before. One thing that also convinced me is who the source of the material is—a newly ordained Catholic priest. Their song Vertigo seems to have spiritual insight: in this world there's no firm ground to place our feet, we become dizzy. Father Rutten (the source) noted... "that's how they describe the modern world." Later in the song, Bono sings: "Your love is teaching me how to kneel." It's the idea that "in the midst of the chaos or the confusion or the vertigo, you can find some stability through faith," again quoting the source. U2, with lead singer Bono (short for Bono Vox, Latin for good voice) first came into fame in the 1980s, and continue to perform these days. Bono or Paul Hewson was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1960. Scripture (Matthew 7.17-18 RSV) says, "...every sound tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears evil fruit. A sound tree cannot bear evil fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit." Perhaps it is well known that Bono has done a lot for many people in poor countries, including debt relief. U2 is really bearing good fruit which somehow confirms the report. See http://www.catholic.org/hf/teens/story.php?id=20435.