The much anticipated Journey 3-disc CD/DVD full album debuted at number 5 in the Billboard 100 and as of June 21, 2008- “Revelation” is currently number 6 and steady. It’s Single “After All These Years” is at number 21 at the Top Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks. *Listen to some of the tracks at the end of this article!

This independent record sold 104,000 copies on its first week of sales “marking the band’s biggest first week sales since 1996’s TRIAL BY FIRE,” according to Wal-mart stores- its exclusive distributor in the United States. How’s that for track record for Arnel Pineda’s international debut and Journey’s comeback?

What with the Revelation album itself? I wouldn’t say I was blown away on first hearing. Like wine, it has to age. As a ‘new’ fan, it’s a matter of taste and distinction. You either love it or dislike it! You’d have to listen to it at least twice to let the music grow on you- and that’s actually a good thing! It means the CD is that worth listening for without having to skip any tracks! And after having heard it, I must say that I like it!

Arnel Pineda truly deserves to be with Journey! He is the missing piece to this long aching band! Rediscovering Journey through Arnel Pineda is indeed a revelation. I can’t believe how great an instrumentalist Neal Schon is, and so are Deen Castonovo, Jonathan Cain and Ross Valory!
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When some middle aged adults begin to experience that their lives are not the way they wanted it to be and they have little time to change it, when they are on the verge of perhaps a midlife crisis, how does one gets his biggest break at 40 years old?

And when he does get it, how does one process fame, (fortune!) and glory coming from very humble beginnings, from surviving as a struggling musician singing covers of other people’s hits and now to becoming a bona fide international rock star performing beside legendary and iconic band as a front man?! How? Try being Arnel Pineda!

His is a story that could have been taken out of a Charles Dickens novel and as Arnel Pineda himself admits in a GQ interview: “My life is a fairy tale. But I’m awake, and I’m dreaming it.” His is a story of perseverance, hope and never stop believing in yourself! His is a true inspirational story of the 21st century not only for aspiring musicians but for everyone who dreams of making it.
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Photo lifted from HBO file

In what seemed like Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao’s closest fight ever, he wins last Saturday’s rematch with Juan Manuel Marquez by a hair’s breadth. The fight lasted 12 rounds with the two champions still standing despite blood gushing into their eyes and faces.

Ultimately, it was Pacquiao’s strong left hook hitting Juan Marquez in the face in the third round that proved to be the deciding factor where two judges (Tom Miller and Duane Ford) favored Pacquiao, 114-113 and 115-112 against that of Judge Jerry ROth’s 115-112 in favor of Marquez. The ferocious hit knocked down Marquez for a few seconds. He immediately regained his composure and continued to exchange equal blows with Pacquiao.

with friend Jaz and Michael

I watched the game at the Lagao Gymnasium, live via satellite in Pacman and mine’s hometown in General Santos City, Philippines. It was hard to tell who really won until the final announcement. For a while there, we thought Marquez would have won it- if not for that knockdown he received from Pacquiao.

Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez waited four years for the rematch last March 15, 2008 yet somehow it is still hanging. In their first match in 2004, it ended with a draw. Now, Pacquiao wins by split decision. The decision victory for Pacquiao is somewhat hard to accept because depending on which side you are, you’d think that the other party lost and your bet won. In the other party’s camp, they feel they won and you lost.

General Santos City and all of Philippines and OFWs are rejoicing yet when all the fun fare is gone and we regain our composure, why do I- along with some, feel reluctant to jump up and down in jubilation?!

I have full respect for Manny and his craft and because I am from General Santos, I am for Manny Pacquiao. Nonetheless, it would have been sweet victory for Manny and the rest of us if he won it clear cut by a knock out. All doubts in our minds especially those not convinced that Pacquiao won it- would have been eased.

I say there should be another rematch in the future. As to how, when and what’s at stake? I don’t know. But to answer the question: is the Pacquiao-Marquez business really finished? I think not.

Congresswoman Darlene Custodio-Antonino after watching the match at the Lagao Gym

Notre Dame University and Lagao Gymnasium, General Santos City
Video Replay: Announcement of Manny Pacquaio as new World Boxing Council (WBC) superfeatherweight title holder

Video Replay: Round Three of “Unfinished Business” Match between Pacquiao and Marquez
http://www.livevideo.com

What a way to kick off my Philippine vacation! While waiting for my luggage at the baggage area (which took forever!) at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, my tired but quick eyes saw Charice Pempengco across the baggage carousel! She and her mom were getting their stuff and nobody even noticed them! Well, it was one in the morning and everyone just wanted to get out of the busy airport fast. We were on the same Hong kong to Manila flight!

I rushed to their side and shyly asked if she was Charice! She politely said “opo” (yes). I felt so old for a while there. I congratulated her on her first US TV guesting at the Ellen DeGeneres Show last December 2007 and asked about her first trip to the United States. She said she was so happy for the opportunity and she enjoyed her stay very much. I asked if she visited New York and watched a Broadway show (my fave thing to do in New York!). She exclaimed yes, the show “Wicked”! I gamely sang a few lines of the song “Popular” from the musical hit which I saw twice already! She nodded and grinned. I thanked her for chatting with me and wished her luck on her singing career. Such a sweet kid!

To those unfamiliar with Charice Pempengco, her popularity in the Philippines grew when she became one of the finalists in a singing contest sponsored by a major TV station. She became a household name in the internet, thanks to YouTube user FalseVoice who was the first to upload a video clip of Charice singing Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You”.

The video became an instant hit despite being called a fake by most viewers who couldn’t believe that such powerful voice could come from a 15 year old Filipina. The video and increasing worldwide prominence paved way to appearances in Sweden, South Korea and ultimately the United States.

The small talk wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t ask for a photo with her, so I did eye bags and all! It was really nice meeting you Charice! You are so polite, friendly, accommodating and very down to earth. Don’t lose that when you climb up to stardom! Now, I am a fan! Good Luck!

It’s official as announced on the Journey website, Filipino Arnel Pineda is the new lead singer of Journey! Journey is the world famous American rock band from the 80’s. Thanks to cover bands all over the world and the internet, their most popular songs “Open Arms”, “Faithfully”, “Don’t Stop Believing”, “Anyway You Want it”, “Wheels in the Sky” among others are still alive as it was over 2 decades ago.

The group saw many changes over the years, with different band members leaving and returning but the biggest was when original and popular lead singer, Steve Perry left in the 90’s because of an injury.

Since then original member lead & rhythm guitarist and at one point lead vocalist, Neal Schon, has been looking for a new lead singer to revive the group. In his frustration, he sough the internet and spent days looking at videos in YouTube until he came across a video of the Zoo, a Philippine band popular in the club scenes in Manila and Olongapo. Schon couldn’t believe what he was hearing when he saw the group’s video with Arnel Pineda on lead vocals giving his own rendition of Journey’s songs. He said that Pineda’s voice was just too good to be true! He knew then that Journey found their new voice in Arnel Pineda! The rest as they say is history, or in this case- still a history in the making for the new Journey. In Pineda’s case, his “journey” to real stardom is only beginning…

Who is Arnel Pineda?

To be honest, I’ve never heard of him until the official news that he is Journey’s newest member (and lead vocalist at that)! Born and raised in the Philippines, 40 year old Arnel Pineda is a singer-songwriter with a successful steady musical career in Asia spanning 25 years performing mostly in Hong Kong. He belonged to numerous bands over the course of his career and has released a self-titled album in 1999. Before Journey, he was with the band called the Zoo. The Zoo recently released its first album “Zoology” in the Philippines, in September 2007 under MCA Universal records with 13 original tracks, most of which are written by Pineda.

I must also admit I’m not a Journey fan but this great news caught my eye! The internet has done it again! In the US, MySpace paved way for Colbie Caillat to be discovered and get the much deserved worldwide recognition! Her song “Bubbly” was played over 30 million times in MySpace before she even officially recorded the song so that record companies were the ones coming to get her and practically swooning over her for a record contract and not the other way around! Last December 2007, it was 15 year-old Filipina Charice Pempengco wowing the US audience by guesting in Ellen de Generes Show. Charice was “discovered” by the Ellen crew in YouTube! Now, it’s Arnel Pineda preparing to take the US market and the world by storm! See this short news clip from CNN on Arnel Pineda’s discovery lifted from Youtube and uploaded by user ndgomez777. It gave me goosebumps!

Truly, he is under a lot of pressure to show to the world what he can do especially to loyal Journey fans. This early on, he already has received a lot of negativity from the die hard fans. He will most likely be compared to the original Steve Perry. C’mmon you guys, give this guy a break! Let him live his dream! Let’s all wish Arnel Pineda the best of luck and hope that the audience will see what Neal Schon and the rest of Journey and their producers saw in him- a great, fine talent!

His first public appearance with Journey is slated on February 21, 2008 at the Festival de Viña del Mar at Quinta Vergara Arena in Chile. More tours are scheduled and a new recording album for Journey with Arnel Pineda is set for release in Spring/Summer of 2008.

Find our more about him and his Philippine Band, the Zoo in Friendster! The photos in this blog were lifted from the band’s profile pics in Friendster.

I’ve been seeing the campaign for weeks, calling all bloggers to unite for acts of kindness to do offline and blogging about it thru words, pictures or videos. Today, December 17th is the day to tell the world about the good deed done.

I wanted to be a part of it but I wasn’t sure until late last week that I was joining because I didn’t know what to do. For sure I wanted it to be something meaningful yet something I’ve never done before. I attended a Christmas party last weekend and I met someone who belonged to a Filipino non-profit organization here in Massachusetts, Bagong Kulturang Pinoy, Inc. whose main mission is to spread children literacy through books in poverty-stricken areas in the Philippines. Their slogan is: Helping Filipino children read their way out of poverty. The history of the organization is inspiring. It spurred from a simple idea of one person wanting to give something back to her community in the Philippines. From putting up one mini-library, now 10 years later it is supporting 100 libraries (still says 90 on the website) and counting- with 80,000 books sent out each year benefiting thousands of kids who eventually become habitual readers.

I got into real good talking with her and showed my interest about the program. We exchanged contact information and told her that I’m willing to volunteer anytime they need a hand. I got an email on Monday asking me if I wanted to come for Saturday, December 15 to help out. I didn’t think twice and said yes right away! I drove for an hour to get to the place, in the cold Saturday and with snow from the days before. I get to the place and spent a very good afternoon with very nice people whom I was meeting for the first time. They took me like a friend and I helped stamping out each book (labeling that it came from here), sorting them out and placing them in the famous, distinctly Filipino Balikbayan boxes (care package).

Having had ‘training’ in stuffing just about anything to put in my own Balikbayan boxes I sent out each year for my family back home, they commented how good my packing was making sure every inch of space is utilized and not an air left to breathe inside the boxes. They said I was able to put the books that could have gone in three boxes to fit into one! That was an exaggeration I think but I was pleased they were happy with my work.

We finished packing 8 huge boxes containing hundreds of books by the time we were done! The books are going to 6 different mini-libraries in the Philippines and I can imagine how excited the kids will be once they see the various selections we’ve included on the boxes. This is the kind of thing one would find fulfilling because you can actually see the work in action. You know that every book you donate and ship, kids back home will read and treasure the opportunity because having books in depressed areas in the Philippines is a luxury. It doesn’t come by very often.

I went home with an utterly light feeling and with a smile on my face! It feels so good when you’re doing an act of kindness especially if it’s something not planned and sort of just happened. I never knew such a Filipino organization existed here in Massachusetts. Now, I am hooked! I am going to continue volunteering for this great mission and I promised to visit one of their mini-libraries in the Philippines on my vacation in early 2008 so I could report on its progress. This has truly been an opener. I have been helping in my own little way to give something back to my home country and I just added another one that truly is making a difference in the lives of children in the Philippines. What a way to start my holiday, volunteering and spreading the good cheers around!

Note: I encourage you to visit the Bagong Kulturang Pinoy website to learn more about the organization. Just reading through the different programs and how they’re impacting the lives of poor kids in the Philippines is amazing. Perhaps you may even find it uplifting to share some books or make financial contributions. Help is always needed in whatever form. © 2007

I chanced upon the term “do follow” about a month ago (November 2007) and I’m quite surprised that it hasn’t really taken off when I found the whole idea ‘nonconforming’ and even defiant of Google! I embraced the concept instantaneously!

My previous post here has been about my growing discontent with Google in general and Blogger in particular. The change Google made a few weeks ago included a permanent rel=”nofollow” attribute in its comments page. Since it is a separate page from the main blog, there is no way to manipulate its template making it impossible to remove the tag. Regardless of whether you want to be a Do Follow blogger or not, you can’t make the choice because there’s no way for one to remove the simple yet powerful tag. Your hands are suddenly tied in that regard.

Google launched the “rel=nofollow” attribute in early 2005 to combat spamming in blogs. Major search engines like Yahoo and MSN liked the bit so they followed suit. It was initially seen as a great idea because really, spamming has become uncontrollable at that time.

What is the rel=nofollow tag?

Rel=nofollow according to wikipedia, “is a non-standard HTML attribute value used to instruct search engines that a hyperlink should not influence the link target’s ranking in the search engine’s index. It is intended to reduce the effectiveness of certain types of search engine spam, thereby improving the quality of search engine results and preventing spamdexing from occurring in the first place.” Simply put, the rel=nofollow tag aims to blacklist spam comments left on message boards, forums and blogs. Spam comments are comments with no relevance to what the post is all about and is usually just a link URL pointing you to a site selling or promoting something- unfortunately, most sites are of obscene nature. Spammers come in huge numbers and it is a pain to remove the comments one by one when they come by the hundreds in your various posts. Blogs where the comment moderation is turned off are the ones mainly targeted.

Why do spammers love to spam blogs?

The reason is simple. Blogs have a wide, diverse audience and usually has huge content. Most blogs also have strong PageRanks (another Google owned trademark!) and spammers want to benefit from that. When you link with a blog, search engines crawl that link and will consider that link almost as important when attached to a page that has a PageRank. So then when one is searching for something and that blog shows up, most likely that spam comment will show up in search engines as well.

With the rel=nofollow tag attached to a template by default, spam comments WILL NOT be indexed by Google or other search engines thereby will be ignored by the search engines and will have no value at all whatsoever. It render the comments totally useless from a search engine’s point of view.

Now you see where I am driving at here.

While the objective is firstly seen as a deterrent for spamming, it is not totally beneficial to any blogger who cares about its readers and its blog’s ranking because the search engines CAN NOT determine what a spam comment is from a legitimate comment. What it does is totally ignore all comments- legit or not!

With the rel=nofollow tag on, the reader’s comments are never included when search engines rank a page’s importance. So from the standpoint of PageRanking, the blogger gets nothing from the comment and the commenter gets nothing back. It’s a dead end for both.

Is Do Follow the answer to rel=nofollow?

I strongly believe it is! Do Follow, writes a supporter, “is an action or a step a blogger initiates to remove the attribute rel=”nofollow” in its blog codes, either by installing a plug-in: Wordpress plugin or this Wordpress plugin, or manually for blogspot and for movable type. Most bloggers would refer to it as a campaign or a movement against rel=nofollow.”

Google does not prohibit one from removing the nofollow tag. It is therefore a choice we can make. I choose to reward my readers for taking the time to comment on my posts. Personally, I only try to leave comments now to blogs that support Do Follow. We all are busy people and there are millions of blogs out there. It’s impossible for us to visit all of these blogs so why not just visit the ones that will also benefit us in some way? I’d like to be able to give that to my readers and perhaps may encourage them to leave a comment knowing that their URL link will be counted by google and other search engines.

I’ve read that even with the rel=nofollow tag on, spammers are still out there! It doesn’t stop them from doing what they’re doing. So why not remove the nofollow tag to benefit us and our readers?

Blogs have other ways of fighting spams now like entering a word or sets of letters and numbers before submitting a comment or just having to enter information manually and clicking submit; these are moves a spam-robot can’t do automatically hence preventing the spam from occurring. One can also turn on the comments moderation to filter comments before appearing and going live on your site. I like the idea of comment moderation because it gives me control over what’s going to be attached to my site before it hits the blogosphere! I have had a small number of spam comments which I’m truly thankful moderation is on since the comments were nothing but objectionable links leading you to lewd sites!

Again, I think every blogger should make a choice and support Do Follow. It’s a win-win and the benefits definitely outweigh Google’s reason- that of punishing spammers. Why would