The 'good old' occasion...

...that always brings happiness.
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by  PAM

As I squeezed myself through the crowd of last-minute 'Christmas shoppers', feeling really tired and stressed out rather than excited as I used to feel in the same season in the past years, I felt that we are losing the true spirit of Christmas.  I hear shoppers asking one another, "would this look good on FB?"  Others prefer more opinions,"wait, let me post this on Instagram and see what my followers think."  

Perhaps, I'm just incredibly overworked and too physically tired to appreciate the 'festive' mood around me, seeing and hearing instead the shallowness of people's take on Christmas these days.  It is also possible that I'm growing seriously sick and tired of all the negative occurrences that shaped 2016... and how people welcome any kind of so-called change for the sake of having change... even if such change requires bartering one's soul with the devil!  I know, it is so strange to feel the frustration over these things when Christmas is all about preparing a clean heart for baby Jesus to dwell in.  I guess, before purging one's heart of frustration, one has to stare frustration in the face first... and then kick it out with relish!  

Welcome, HAPPINESS!  'Joy to the World, the Lord is come!'

"Let every heart prepare Him room...
...no more let sins and sorrows grow...
He comes to make His blessings flow.
He rules the earth with Truth and grace...
And makes the nations prove the glories of His righteousness
and wonders of His love"

It's a grand, 'good old occasion', Christmas is... and it's always a happy one.  Perhaps, what makes us happy then is no longer the same thing that makes the world happy now... but to hold on to the true meaning of Christmas is our own choice.  It is our decision to make.

Seriously, I'm not sure how Christmas should be celebrated anymore these days... with all the 'noise' around, and the changing 'norms' by which Christmas is viewed in our world now.  It is not my place to attempt to 'preach' and convince people about the true meaning of Christmas... but I'll stick with our family 'tradition' of spending Christmas together... going to Church to hear the Gospel of God's greatest gift to mankind - His own beloved Son to walk among us, sitting around a humble table of (mostly) home-cooked food, exchanging stories of how our year went, and exchanging little gifts that express our affection for one another... and just enjoy one another's company, thanking God for one another... and letting happiness dance around us, and stay with us in the coming New Year. 

Merry Christmas!

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Friday night music...

...because some relaxing is in order.
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by PAM

You know, we're supposed to have begun our vacation last weekend but, for some reason, I'm still stuck in a hill of many work-related stuff.  This is killing me especially that Christmas is just around the corner... and it's my favorite family occasion of the year, and one that I don't (and never) plan to ditch - 'party ditcher' that I am - until I get to party with the Christmas birthday celebrator Himself in the clouds someday.  But, hey, I don't ditch parties 'just because'... I usually do it 'cause I can't 'change gear' fast enough from work mode to party mode.  And, if I force myself, I end up being a party pooper, and it's worse!  Yeah, too much work.  I know it sounds like an excuse but, man, I wish I was just making excuses, too!  Oh, boy... the so-called (boring) life of an academic - I'm living it.  What have I done to deserve this??  Oh, well.... 

But back to Christmas and other beautiful things.... my shopping list is still... uhm, that - a list... with very minimal ticks on it. Yaikks!

Alright, we need to soothe some nerves, get on the 'vacation track'... and try to 'fly' tomorrow, get things done, and CELEBRATE!  To do that, let me listen to what 'kids' these days listen to.  Feel free to listen in... let me know if you need me to pump up the volume...

"...now, I need a miracle.
...I need you right now, so don't let me down."

Didn't that sound great?  So, is it easier for us, '80s people, now to understand why kids these days love the Chainsmokers?  But, nah, I'm not going to go through the lyrics and the meaning of the song, and all that - a very '80s person thing to do, too.  Right now, let me say just that I like the sound of this song.... and this, too...

"So, baby, pull me closer

in the backseat of your Rover that I know you can't afford...

...we ain't ever getting older."

Wow, I have to say, that sounds good.  It's 'straightforward', just-fun sort of good... but it works.  Maybe that's the secret of capturing kids' attention these days: 'straightforward', no drama, embellished with all that tech stuff but with a simple message that sticks.  They have a very "noisy" world as it is, and they're constantly moving from one frame of mind to the next... if we want to populate one frame with our message, we need to do it fast and catchy, and solid!  With luck, they'd give us a double take... I think they call that "hit".

Here's another one - from that Canadian 'boy wonder', Shawn Mendes - that I kept listening on the radio for the past how many months...

"...and you're spending all your time in this wrong situation...

...I know I can treat you better than he can."

Hmmm... now, that sounds good, and the message of the song is quite deep, too, considering it was sang by a 17-year-old boy.  Mendes, of course, turned 18 years old recently, but that is still terribly young to be making the kind of music he makes, and the way he makes it.  Not bad at all!

Didn't I say I'd like to relax?  Alright then, I'll stop 'analyzing' these songs, and just enjoy... and, from now on, I'll start recalling what it's like to have real fun... and really enjoy the holidays - academic person I may be and all that!  Dang, I give my fellow academic people a very bad name!

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Video credit:  Thanks, YouTube, for the video links.

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Saturday photo

In a galaxy far, far away...

It's on... and in this galaxy, too!

Well, well, well... and it's as well!  

We waited for one whole year, anticipating the return of the last Jedi Master, Luke Skywalker, to "active duty", and it's after the demise of Han Solo, too - last year's most tragic outcome in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.  What we have in our hands is not a ticket to see Skywalker swing that phenomenal lightsaber of his again.  Instead, we have a "flashback" to connect the future with the past.  

This year's installment by the Galaxy, "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story", is the first of the planned 'stand alone' Star Wars films.  These films will be comprised of a collection of stories happening in the 'vast universe' that dawned upon us through the very first film in the George Lucas franchise, "Star Wars: A New Hope", in 1977.  Nearly four decades later, we find ourselves, "Jedi Knight wannabes", still tingle in anticipation of this new installment to thicken the Star Wars plot.

We are kids all over again... and it feels awesome!

Alright then,  "do or do not, there is no try."  And do "aim for the target... and don't get cocky, kid"!  May The Force be with us all!

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Back with a vengeance...

...is 'the man from Mars'!
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by PAM

With a 24K pinky bling, our man, Bruno Mars, is back with a magic that's making babes fling their Versaces on the floor!  And, it's about time, too, as his last album came out three years ago.  Although we're not exactly BM-starved these past years as he has been coming up with awesome songs in collaboration with other artists, naturally, we want the 'whole package'.  And, we're finally here with BM's new 24K Magic album.  And it's nothing but awesomeness, of course! 

The first song out of the album, "24K Magic", is a 'classic BM' sound with a dash of freshness-with-a-zing thrown in - an irresistible catchy dance tune that leaves even the most 'principal-ish' among us absently allowing his/her body be moved by the music.  Man, what a party!  So, so cool!  

Watching this video made me realize just how much I've missed BM... his voice, his moves, his attitude...

"I'm a dangerous man with some money in my pocket... keep up!"

I dare you to resist playing the video - for at least 24 times. I tried, I failed... and I'm HAPPY!  Hah!  Sooo good!  Woo-hoo!

And then he pulls some romance galore on us, and we can't do anything but 'unzip' our Versace, assuming we have one, of course... and listen with all our hearts.

"Girl, you're perfect from your head to your heels...

Ooh,  love that dress but you won't need it anymore...

Versace on the floor."

Oh, boy!  Isn't that 'delicious'?  It's like living in the '80s now.  And, this is what I love about BM, he sings with a mix of an '80s romantic with a bit of '90s angst and beat; he performs in a choreography that a 'retro' superstar would perform to but pumps around on stage with the vibe of a true millennial gangsta.  You have many eras radiating from that little musical frame of his... and a cocktail of happy Latino and Filipino genes oozing out from his sound and moves, too.  What a treat, indeed!

Yep, I'm from planet earth, and I do love 'this man from Mars'!  

Mabuhay!

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Video credit: Thanks, YouTube, for the video links.

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