Rommel's Random Ramblings

The other day I signed into MSN messenger for the first time in oh... at least a couple of months. I found out that some mystery girl named Relina has added me to her contact list. Ok, I don't know you, but whatever... no reason to get freaked out and block you. But how did you get my email address? Oh well... some random person is e-stalking me. I am reminded of Kevin's blog entry about reading other people's blogs while lurking in the shadows. Then I realized, since we're on each other's contact list, I know her email address as well. Hmmm... I plop her email address on Friendster and Voila! It turns out she's some 24 year old female in the Philippines and a friend of one of my cousins over there. Uh-oh, she doesn't seem so random after all. I don't know if I should be weirded out or flattered. Very limited profile and no real picture, though. Just an illustration of Relena Peacecraft from the anime Gundam Wing. Curious, I sent a message to my cousin and asked him who she is and why she seems to have an interest in my screen name. After a couple of days, he just responded that he himself had created that Friendster account. He was also trying out MSN messenger and added my email address. Haha. Conveniently forgot to tell me, huh? That's some sick joke, man! Posing as a woman. Haha. Who am I to talk? This coming from someone who has GirlGamer85 as a screen name. ^_^

Last night's episode of Smallville reminded me at lot of Face/Off and a few elements of Naruto. (Orochimaru wanted to take over Sasuke's body so that he can live forever.) Still, I kinda liked the episode. Usually, at this point in the season, they start to revert back to the stories involving kryptonite-powered villains. It looks like they got those over with early on. Let's hope the WB keeps this standard up.

Joe's team (aka the youth) is leading worship this Sunday, and he asked me to play bass. Maybe Josh couldn't make it or something. So at practice on Tuesday night, we had:

Joe - 19 years old
Icy - 20 years old
Lindsey - 16 years old
Nikki - 15 years old
Me - 31 years old

Haha. "One of these kids is not like the others..." Yeah, I can hang with the youngins. I also brought video backgrounds for the program we use to project song lyrics. The computer would slow down and nearly lock up when I tried them, though. Apparently, there's an incompatibility issue with the the program and the video card in the church's computer. Oh, well. Back to using still pictures. So sad. That would have been cool. It's a good thing we found this out during practice instead of during this Sunday's service.

Biyahe Tayo

I received this from someone on our worship team email list. It's a music video for a song called Biyahe Tayo (Let's Travel). A bunch of different Filipino musicians like Lea Salonga, Ogie Alcasid, Sharon Cuneta, and others took part in this project to promote tourism in the Philippines. The song is in Tagalog for the most part. I could try to translate it into English, but I'm afraid I might kill it. Lyrics tend to lose some of their poetry when translated. The title alone doesn't sound quite right when translated into Let's Travel. Still, it's a catchy song with some great images. Watching the music video makes me want to go back to the Philippines again.

[update] Here's my attempt at translation. I italicized the parts I wasn't sure of. Let me know if I got it right (or wrong).

Ikaw ba'y nalulungkot Naiinip, nababagot? Ikaw ba'y napapagod Araw gabi'y puro kayod? Buhay mo ba'y walang saysay Walang sigla, walang kulay? Bawa't araw ba'y pareho Parang walang pagbabago? Tara na, biyahe tayo Kasama ang pamilya Barkada at buong grupo Para mag-enjoy nang todo. Halika, biyahe tayo, Nang ating makita Ang ganda ng Pilipinas Ang galing ng Pilipino. Napasyal ka na ba Sa Intramuros at Luneta Palawan, Vigan at Batanes Subic, Baguio at Rice Terraces? Namasdan mo na ba Ang mga vinta ng Zamboanga Bulkang Taal, Bulkang Mayon Beach ng Boracay at La Union? Tara na, biyahe tayo Mula Basco hanggang Jolo Nang makilala ng husto Ang ating kapwa-Pilipino. Halika, biyahe tayo, Nang ating makita Ang ganda ng Pilipinas Ang galing ng Pilipino. From city to city, Seven thousand and a hundred plus islas Sa mahal kong Pilipinas Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao ating puntahan. Huwag maging dayuhan sa sariling bayan! Nasubukan mo na bang Mag-rapids sa Pagsanjan Mag-diving sa Anilao Mag-surfing sa Siargao? Natikman mo na ba Ang sisig ng Pampanga Duriang Davao, Bangus Dagupan Bicol Express at Lechong Balayan? Tara na, biyahe tayo, Nang makatulong kahit pano Sa pag-unlad ng kabuhayan Ng ating mga kababayan. Halika, biyahe tayo, Nang ating makita Ang ganda ng Pilipinas Ang galing ng Pilipino. Nakisaya ka na ba Sa Pahiyas at Masskara Moriones at Ati-Atihan Sinulog at Kadayawan? Namiesta ka na ba Sa Peñafrancia sa Naga Umakyat sa Antipolo Nagsayaw sa Obando? Tara na, biyahe tayo Upang ating matamo Ligaya at pagkakaibigan Kaunlaran, kapayapaan. Halika, biyahe tayo, Nang ating makita Ang ganda ng Pilipinas Ang galing ng Pilipino. Tara na, biyahe tayo Upang ating matamo Ligaya at pagkakaibigan Kaunlaran, kapayapaan. Halika, biyahe tayo Nang ating makita Ang ganda ng Pilipinas Ang galing ng Pilipino. Halika, biyahe tayo... WOW Philippines...

Are you sad Bored, fed up? Are you tired Of scraping away day and night? Is your life without saysay Without sigla, without color? Is every day the same As if nothing has changed? Let's go, let's travel Along with the family Friends and the whole group To completely enjoy it. C'mon, let's travel, So we can see The beauty of the Philippines The fine qualities of the Filipino. Have you visited Intramuros and Luneta Palawan, Vigan and Batanes Subic, Baguio and Rice Terraces? Have you seen The sails of Zamboanga Taal Volcano, Mayon Volcano Beaches of Boracay and La Union? Let's go, let's travel From Basco to Jolo So we can really know Our fellow Filipinos. C'mon, let's travel, So we can see The beauty of the Philippines The fine qualities of the Filipino. From city to city, Seven thousand and a hundred plus islands In my beloved Philippines Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao are our destinations. Don't be a stranger to your own country! Have you ever tried Shooting rapids in Pagsanjan Diving in Anilao Surfing in Siargao? Have you ever tasted The sisig of Pampanga Durian of Davao, Bangus of Dagupan Bicol Express and Lechon of Balayan? Let's go, let's travel So we can help in any way To better the life Of our countrymen. C'mon, let's travel, So we can see The beauty of the Philippines The fine qualities of the Filipino. Have you celebrated At Pahiyas and Masskara Moriones and Ati-Atihan Sinulog and Kadayawan? Have you partied At Peñafrancia in Naga Gone up to Antipolo Danced in Obando? Let's go, let's travel So we can have Happiness and friendship Progress, peace. C'mon, let's travel, So we can see The beauty of the Philippines The fine qualities of the Filipino. Let's go, let's travel So we can have Happiness and friendship Progress, peace. C'mon, let's travel, So we can see The beauty of the Philippines The fine qualities of the Filipino. C'mon, let's travel... WOW Philippines...

Tonight's episode of Smallville featured the Flash! Best episode so far this season and probably one of the better episodes of the entire show. I liked how they had a distinctively different running effect for Bart/The Flash, like a mix between a bolt of lightning and a flash of light. It's a breath of fresh air from Clark's matrix-style super speed. I should have known they would race against each other. Just like every other time the two of them met in the comics or in the cartoons. Cool ending. No high school teen drama this time around. What a relief to see a racing scene instead of a racy scene. Haha. Yeah, that's me trying to be funny. Ahem.

I don't know if I'll dress up for the Apple Fest. However, if I do, the costume seen below is one of the possibilities I have in mind.




It's from Squambo: First Blood, the very first video skit I was in, from way back in 1998.

It took a while to get a copy, but I finally posted the other Teriyaki Bowl Football Tournament promo we showed this year. Enjoy.



Teriyaki Bowl 2004 Promo 2
(Courtesy of Eric Cruz)

On another note, the latest episode of Naruto aired in Japan on Wednesday. It was the first episode of a new season (5th) so that meant new opening credits. Looking at the images from the opening animation, it looks like they will move on and resume the main storyline soon. That means, no more lame filler episodes! Now if only they would do the same thing for Smallville...

It's been a roller coaster of emotions so far this week, what with the memorial service and some birthday parties. I'm thankful for the testimony of Tita Menchu's life. It was an honor to be able to make the slideshow celebrating that. From last night's memorial service, I think I understand a little bit of what God had planned when He took her to be with Him while she was in the Philippines. Our pastor flew over there earlier this week to speak at her memorial service there. I learned that during that time, the entire church was overflowing with people. People who were standing in the aisles and outside the doors. People who had never heard the Gospel before. Probably because her husband is a high ranking military officer in the Philippines, there were even a few public officials (generals and senators and such, I think) present. Even in death, she was able to tell people about what Christ has done. I don't know if something like that would have happened if she had passed away here in the United States. The Lord really does have a sovereign plan.

I've done photo montages for weddings, birthdays, and anniversaries, but there are some types of video presentations that I sometimes wish I never had to do. Auntie Menchu, you will be missed.

I Can Only Imagine

I can only imagine what it will be like
When I walk by Your side
I can only imagine what my eyes will see
When Your face is looking at me.

Surrounded by Your glory what will my heart feel?
Will I dance for You, Jesus? Or in awe of You be still?
Will I stand in Your presence? Or to my knees will I fall?
Will I sing Hallelujah? Will I be able to speak at all?
Imagine, I can only imagine

I can only imagine all creation bowed down
The whole universe saying Your name out loud
I can only imagine all our broken lives
Resurrected in the healing light

Surrounded by Your glory what will my heart feel?
Will I dance for You, Jesus? Or in awe of You be still?
Will I stand in Your presence? Or to my knees will I fall?
Will I sing Hallelujah? Will I be able to speak at all?
I can only imagine, I can only imagine

Surrounded by forgiveness what will my heart feel?
Will I dance for You, Jesus? Or in awe of You be still?
Will I stand in Your presence? Or to my knees will I fall?
Will I sing Hallelujah? Will I be able to speak at all?

I can only imagine oh I can only imagine
I can only, I can only, I can only imagine
I can only imagine, Just imagine
I can only imagine, Imagine

Today is my brother's birthday. Happy Birthday, Raymund!

It's also exactly one year after I started this blog. One year anniversary, huh? Hmm, over the past 365 days, I've encountered at least:

2 couples getting married
1 couple getting engaged
3 flat tires
1 scratched bumper
1 shattered car window
1 stolen car radio
1 exploding power supply
1200 medical patients
500 dental patients
3 cockroach bites (2 are mine)
10000+ pieces of spyware/adware
1560 digital pictures
100+ blank DVDs
and I kinda lost count of the amount of video footage that I've shot.
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oh, and of the number of women fawning over me. (just kidding!)

I know it's late. I'm about to go to sleep, but I just want to say that it's actually raining. In fact, it seems to be a really intense lightning storm.

Whoa!!! Really loud thunder... dimming lights... nearby car alarm going off. Okay, maybe I should turn my computer off now.

Tonight, I went with Faye to check out her Perspectives class. It was great. It felt like being in school again. However, since I wasn't taking it for credit, there was no pressure from upcoming tests or anything like that. Still, I learned a lot about William Carey, Hudson Taylor, and other key figures in modern missions. I wonder if my schedule would allow me to go back next Monday.

I added a tagboard. I'm still working on its appearance, but it's there and it's working. I'm not sure how much use it's going to get. However, keep it nice and keep it clean.

It has also come to my attention that some people I don't know have been downloading some of the music videos from this site and showing them to their high school friends. I don't have a problem with that. In fact, if you're interested in appearing in any future video productions, come to 5000 Barranca Pkwy. in Irvine at 1:00pm on Sundays. ^_^

Worship team practice was cancelled for tonight. Not sure why but oh well. Anyway, I've been reading Here I Am To Worship by Tim Hughes. It has a lot of spiritual truths about worship as well as practical tips on leading worship. In it, he says that leading worship in a small group setting is the most difficult. Ever since I started playing guitar during Friday night home bible study, I've been finding out how true that is. This is most likely due to the fact that since it's such a small group, mistakes would stand out more. People aren't as comfortable to start singing since there isn't a congregation to blend in with. If I mess up while playing on Sundays, that's okay. There is still the rest of the band to fall back on. There's no such thing in a small group. Plus, the choice of songs would be limited somewhat. Some songs, especially the really fast ones, just wouldn't work as well in a small group as they would in a larger setting. But still, I'm really enjoying playing acoustic guitar in a small group. So what if it's supposedly harder. As Tim Hughes mentioned, "There is no finer training ground."


It's amazing how starting a video with this title screen never fails to draw laughs. All I have to do is change the last part into the appropriate group name. I don't even think it's that funny to begin with, but people still seem to love it. So yeah, I used a version that had Woodbridge on it for the Apple Fest Fall Festival video. They liked it so much, they want me to do another promo to show two weeks from this Sunday.

Yay... I'm 31 today... *twirls finger*

Anyway, my birthday was pretty uneventful. I think there comes a time in one's life in which birthdays don't have as much of a historical milestone feeling anymore. I hope it's because I'm seeing it as another day in my life that I'm blessed with instead of me not caring anymore.

Ecclesiastes 3
⁹ What does the worker gain from his toil? ¹⁰ I have seen the burden God has laid on men. ¹¹ He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. ¹² I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. ¹³ That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil-this is the gift of God. ¹⁴ I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him.

Yeah, so all of life is a gift from God, and because of that, we should savor every moment of it and give Him thanks. Today was still pretty routine, though. I went to Tustin to work on someone's computer. After that, I finished up the Fall Festival video for Woodbridge. I tried using The Happy Song by Delirious, and I kinda liked how it turned out. I couldn't tell if there was a banjo in there, but I like the harmonica sound. I'll see what they think. Thanks for the idea, Faye... even though I still think I came up with it first.

Whew... finally home. I was driving back from bible study when I encountered a road block. An Orange County Sheriff's patrol unit complete with flashing lights was completely blocking the road. Unsure of what to do next, I just stopped the car. There weren't any other vehicles around at the time. The deputy then walked up to me and said, "You can turn right or make a U-turn, but you can't go straight ahead." It seems they closed off a few blocks. Maybe they were trying to catch a crime suspect. I dunno... I didn't see or hear any helicopters with searchlights, though. I used to hear those flying around once in a while. Anyway, after I told him where I was headed, he gave me some detour directions. I didn't quite catch all of it, so I ended up getting lost. That's okay, though. I ended up exploring the streets of Mission Viejo at one in the morning. I don't really get much of a chance to do that since I usually head straight for the freeway when driving to and from my house. I don't really mind getting lost as long as I have plenty of gas and I don't have to be anywhere in a hurry. I was a little worried, however, that I'd make a wrong turn and end up at the road blocked area again. Heh... You would assume after being picked out twice at sobriety checkpoints, I'd be used to road blocks by now. And yes, I was sober during those checkpoint incidents. On one of those occasions, the officer even gave me a recipe booklet of non-alcoholic drinks as a parting gift.