Reality and Dreams: Answered Back

Last Tuesday, I stayed an hour past midnight while waiting for my mom and my sister to come home. Ate just came from her recent trip from the Visayas with Mom at the airport to pick her up.

So as I wait the while away, I thought of sending a shout-out through YM  on a station I was listening to keep me company. He replied back on air thanking me for the shout-out before going back to playing more music.

It was almost 1am and the people I’ve been waiting for finally arrived. Afterwards, I headed straight to bed.

I don’t know what happened but I had this dream that night that seemed so real. In it, I was in the same place that I was hours ago, right on that very moment when I just sent that private message to the DJ. Instead of just saying “thanks” on the air, he replied back through YM, telling me more than just thank you’s. He told me that he was grateful for the kindness and loyalty given to him from listeners like me despite him having been through up’s and down’s. Well, obviously he’s getting emotional bt you can’t tell that he is on air.

In reality, however, that never happened as it was all but a dream. Surely they won’t tell you that on a very personal note. They need to keep it professional after all.

As for me, I can’t decide if I’m going to continue with this trip I’ve ben doing every now and then. Could this dream be a sign or is it that my head is playing tricks on me again?

😛

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That Rhythmic Love Affair

     Following August 31 is September the First. The start of the -ber months as well as the beginning of a countdown before Christmas. But September 1 is also something else, it is the brith, or I must say, the rebirth of a sorely missed friend on this side of the FM band: 99.5RT.


RT has survived the ravages of time, the reformats that took place in different FM stations and the 2 rebrandings it underwent before going back to what has been tried and tested successfully for the past three decades. After it was buried in the graveyard of past beloved stations for almost 2 years, its owners finally decided to bring back the old 99.5RT that every one knew and loved.

Back in 2007, RT was rebranded into 99.5 Hit FM, which according to some was essentially similar to RT but geared towards a younger and seemingly profitable listening demo. Eventually, the venture failed after being on the air for one year, signing off on March 2008.

That same month, it was replaced by another youth-oriented brand, a sort of “imported” format brought by the guys of the former Campus Radio 97.1. The station became Campus 99.5 which was, as some would say, a replica of the station many grew up listening when it was still on WLS-FM. Unfortunately, the Campus experiment didn’t work either on the side of the owners thus the decision to discontinue it in the middle of August 2008.

After 2 weeks of transition, on 9/1/08 Real Radio Network brought back 99.5 RT.

Before, I never was a listener to RT or any other stations while growing up save for a few. I do however knew of its existence through occasional mentioning from time to time, as well as one of its programs back in the day, Sunday Sessions. My faintest memory of ever having listened to it  as a kid was the way they say the station’s name and that’s all I knew before.

Curious, I decided to get my ears adjust to the returning station, at first struggling to get my ears hooked on a station playing not-so-mainstream music. Their choice of songs is clearly different compared to its predescessors (Hit plays mainstream pop while Campus leans toward alternative music), playing songs often heard in clubs or tracks that seem to be “high-end”.

On its very first day back on air, it just so happened that there’s not much for me to do in school so I tok the opportunity to go the station myself, having to take a train ride to Boni so I could visit a radio station for the very first time. In total, I made 4 visits and I personally met while there several RT jocks: Robi, MigZ, Lellie, Da Kid, Sam Oh, and Slyde (three days before, I met Ramon Bautista). I saw Angel Rivero in the station but I never got the chance to meet her.

Sooner than I could realize, RT became a regular staple of my radio listening habit. It kinda helped me fill the void left by Campus as I got the hang on RT.

That rhythmic love affair didn’t stop from there. In one bizarre and hugely unexplainable turn of events, I had an RT disc jockey for a professor, Joshua Z! He was actually a replacement personally chosen by earlier professor for Sondesn, Sir Henry Bolo who was leaving for Singapore.

A week before Sir Henry made the announcement, someone eerily familiar walked inside the sound lab. Sir mentioned his name and somehow I could recall that name from somewhere until I realize that it was after-all THE Joshua Z! Cutting the long story short, Sir Zahn (his real name) and I became good friends and still would often see each other at school.

As the months passed, I began to love RT more and more. My favorite would have to be their oldies program, 24k Weekend. There’s something about it that is uncomparable to any other oldies program around, at least from such that I know off (like Magic 89.9’s Friday Madness). You could say that I was converted into an RT addict.

For one whole year, it definetly defied the odds, having been resurrected. The return of the Rhythm came at the time when people would prefer to listen through their i-Pods instead of the usual chatter and music redundancy that has become common staple on FM.

As RT celebrate a year of its return, I bid congratulations to the Rhythm of the City and more power!

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One Nine @ Oh Nine!

In less than a 60 minutes, I’ll be hitting 19. For the past 12 months after turning legally 18 I must say that I experienced quite the thrill ride since the day I celebrate my 18th birthday earlier one Sunday at Powerplant Mall exactly a year ago.

I gained some, I lost some, regained some footing then losing quite the booty. I was finally allowed to drink alcoholic beverages legally although I still don’t drink. Despite the relative freedom I gained, I also had to lose something valuable in order to stay grounded, like the events of August 14, 2009 wherein I lost expensive pieces of material wealth worth thousands because of my ignorance.

As I turn a year older doesn’t necessarily equate that I’m getting a year wiser. There is still a lot of things for me to learn and there are a lot of things that I want to achieve in life.I still want to explore the vast horizons of my surroundings, realize the childhood dreams I never thought was possible until now, and prove to myself the things that I can do, to help ease my cravings for satisfaction.

I never desire perfection but I know when enough is enough. There is a lot of room for me to improve not in terms of skills and talents but also my personality. I know that I could do better than being gullible and all that. I know that I cannot give in to my apprehensions or else I won’t be able to grow in wisdom and maturity. I don’t want to think ill of myself nor do I want to be sensitive of how people think of me.

Becoming a 19-year old is a turning point in my life, although I think every year is a turning point for me anyway. It makes me look back and see how much I discover more of myself, how much of me is changed and how much of me didn’t.

I still have frustrations, being unable to put into reality of sharing this very special moment to others besides my family in a way that I want it to be. But the future doesn’t seem too dim for I know that sooner or later, it will happen (if only THEY will let it happen)!

My journey in life continues and for sure there will be bumps along the way. I trust that God will help me along the way.

To conclude the final hour of my 18th year in life, I want to greet myself a very happy birthday! 😀

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Every Day…Every James Counts

Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives

Kinda like this quote from a TV show that used to air here, and it does have a point. Every year, I turn a year older, seemingly wiser and more mature yet still oblivious and naive.

There’s so much in life that we have to learn as wisdom is gained if one lives a life lived in full.

In every step of my way, I encounter bumps and potholes. Somehow, I manage to get up and go on. I may have gotten scabs down the road but they heal fast. I took a little pit stops to look back and relax but still looking forward to the future the belies before me.

I’m not perfect and I don’t expect to be one. I may not be the happiest person but I long search for the happiness that I deserve.

In every good trait, there is a flaw. In every joy, there is sorrow. I possess good as well as bad and sometimes I get to be a little weird sometimes. I try to please and yet it seems that I can’t. Somehow, I try to win them over.

I know I have my misgivings, and I openly admit that. If only I could speak the way that I should speak. I stutter when I speak, there’s nothing more for it to fix it. Yet I try my hardest to say what I’m feeling.

Every one of us have a short life, each and every one of us has a choice to make. In every decision and in every year that seems to pass on me fast, I know that eventually I will take the road set-up by God.

Because every day counts

END (One day and 15 minutes)

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Accompaniment

Why is it that when something that I look forward to is accompanied by something bad and unfortunate?

That’s my status message I wrote just a few short seconds ago [on Facebook]. And seriously, I really do mean it…

I’m the type of guy who always seem to dream big, the one who fantasize that everything is in his favor yet unaware that this dream will be jinxed by uncontrollable forces, forces that keeps me TOO grounded.

When something bad happens, it makes me feel: miserable, weak, helpless.

Sometimes I question why I even bother on looking forward into something that would end up in disaster, something that would prevent me from being satisfied or at least be happy for myself.

I’m not a bad person, but I admit that I have flaws.Sino namang nilalang dito sa mundo ang hindi? Why do I deserve these much pain, much hardship, such toil? It’s the same thing over and over again.

Big and small, these misfortune is here to stay and make the life a living hell for me, for better or for worse.

Oh well, hat’s life as you know it. You get some, you lose some.
————

4 Days

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The CSB Experience 3: As the Season Finale Nears (Click-and-Snap!)

This week was supposedly finals time  for many of us here in the College of Saint Benilde but due to some series of unfortunate events these past few months, the powers that be decided to extend the first term by at least one more week until the first week of September ending sometime until sometime around the 7th or 8th.

With good news comes the bad news: By extending to term, TPTB effectively extended the whole school year which will last until the first week of May. Specifically, May the 5th. That would mean that not only do we get a longer school year, we’re going to spend a shorter summer break by 2-3 weeks (S.Y. 2010-2011 begins May 25th). Bummer….

One good thing that came out from the extension was the postponement of several of my deadlines supposedly due to submit this week.

The only thing that’s not feeling the move would be my final defense for Cnctpho which I underwent earlier today. At first, I was really scared considering I’m going to defend my final plates in front of a panel composed of two reputable people from the field, one of them being Sir Ador Pamintuan of SDA’s Photography Track faculty.

Having been interrogated before last term during my Fotogra days, I’m confident that I’d be able to convince the panel not just by the technical aspects applied in the final defense but also connection between the very concept I had with those very photos.

Good thing I kept myself sane because I don’t know how I could compose myself as they dissect my work one by one. Fortunately, despite the flaws that was seen there, they were able to give me some tips that I could find useful in the near future, like having to crystalize my ideas into quality productive outputs, connecting with my audience as well as thriving to be better and not mediocre.

One of the panelist even suggested that I should have added more “skin” on my subject, given the concept I have for a theme (Raped Reactions). Two of my photos, they suggested that it could have been better if I “merge” into one single photo and one last shot giving conclusion to the rest of the 5 photos like a sort of rehabilitation or closure of some sort.

Rest assured I’ll take those suggestions by heart. I’m just really glad I pulled it off. I didn’t passed out nor fainted which I guess is a good thing, I didn’t melt in humiliation nor did my  constant stuttering on the English language stop me from defending my ideas as much as possible.

I’m not expecting a perfect grade but I’m hoping I get a grade I deserve.

———
6 Days

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