Loooong time and great news....

Hope everyone's doing great! I'm on Twitter in case anyone's into that. Been on Twitter since last yr. It's funny it only exploded 2nd qtr of this yr here. I post updates there almost daily so that's more up to date. But I do and still plan to post here on my blogs... Anyway, some GREAT news... I'll be in Bohol tom til Monday for a 2 night show for tourism promotions etc. Once I get back, I'll be finalizing and DELIVERING my latest album to the replication company. So give it 3 weeks and the latest silverfilter CD is gonna be out!!!! Yahoo!!!! Title is Devotion (in case I haven't mentioned it here). It's a very relaxed, ambient/chillout release. It's not those spa CDs everyone's familiar with. I call it a soundtrack to prayer. I'm pretty excited for it! It's gonna be available in June! :) In other news, mark August as I release a more dance-oriented album. That's what I'm really looking forward to. I've been cooking that thing for yrs and it's finally gonna be seeing the light o day so tune in! 2009's gonna be a great time in music! God bless Cy

A Lot of Life Happenings and Updates hehehe and a wedding warning...

Last Friday I assisted my friends Karlo and kate in preparation for their wedding since it was their last day. It was a long night but fun. We stayed in Ascott in a really nice 2-bedroom apartment-like unit. Saturday was the wedding and it was tiring the whole day since we got up early with only 4 hours of sleep and did the whole wedding. Bernice, Mara, and myself helped out with the organization and coordination that's why we got so tired after. On top of that, berns and myself hosted the whole thing. Wow... On a side note, the day coordinator they got was THE WORST I've ever seen at work... I hope none of my friends get them!!!!! Hassle... one of the worst things was they took the written vows of the couple hours before the wedding and FAILED to give it to the couple!!!! When the vows came, the couple didn't know what to do, everyone was looking around... where was the coordinator? Nowhere in sight... had I not ran out of the venue to look for her, they wouldn't have been able to say what they prepared!!! What makes it worse? Don't those day coordinators come as a team? My point being... even just one of the many members of the coordinators wasn't there when it all happened!!!! Good thing I don't know what they're called or else their names would be here for the world to see... Sunday- mother's day... I woke up all tired and STILL exhausted from the fri and sat stress... never realized I was THAT tired! Watched Star Trek after church... awesome movie! Berns didn't want to watch at first and ended up liking the movie... Just finished some work when I got home... yeah sunday night work... perfect hehehe I'll be getting the final artwork and CD cover design/layout for my latest album this week and hopefully be produced by the end of the week Praise God!!! We hope it can make it by the end of May. til then.... Cy

To Those Who Read My Notes On Facebook

I post all my blogs/photos/etc on Multiply. I've set up my blog in such a way that when I post on my blogger account, it automatically gets posted on multiply AND those posted on multiply gets posted on Facebook as notes regardless if it's a blog entry or a photo album. I suggest clicking on the "view original post" right below of the "notes" entries in FB to visit the full entry over at Multiply especially for some entries that appear vague... it might be an intro to a photo album which appears as "notes" on facebook. It's a weird glitch/limitation of FB so I really can't do anything about it. The photo upload on FB sucks and it's just quicker posting this way. Cy

To Those Who Read My Notes On Facebook

I post all my blogs/photos/etc on Multiply. I've set up my blog in such a way that when I post on my blogger account, it automatically gets posted on multiply AND those posted on multiply gets posted on Facebook as notes regardless if it's a blog entry or a photo album. I suggest clicking on the "view original post" right below of the "notes" entries in FB to visit the full entry over at Multiply especially for some entries that appear vague... it might be an intro to a photo album which appears as "notes" on facebook. It's a weird glitch/limitation of FB so I really can't do anything about it. The photo upload on FB sucks and it's just quicker posting this way. Cy

I'm so sick of Pinoy kurakot...

FORWARDED... Subject: No More Newly Imported Books in the Philippines; the Reason Why Grr! This news makes my blood boil! Picked this up on a blog and I'm spreading the news to help stop this outrage. In the last few months, the importation of books into the Philippines has virtually stopped. (To those of you who frequent bookstores, I don't know if you've noticed.) The reason why is explained in this article by Robin Hemley, a University of Iowa creative writing professor currently on a fellowship in the Philippines. If you have no time to read the article, the essence is that because the Bureau of Customs has decided to impose duties on the importation of books into the Philippines. This, despite the 1950 Florence Agreement on the Importation of Educational, Scientific and Cultural Materials (which you can see here), which the Philippines ratified in 1979. The preamble of the agreement states: "Considering that the free exchange of ideas and knowledge and, in general, the widest possible dissemination of the diverse forms of self-expression used by civilizations are vitally important both for intellectual progress and international understanding, and consequently for the maintenance of world peace...", an indisputable proposition. here's an excerpt from Robin Hemley's article (i shortened it a bit. better if you can read the whole thing.) - ...Over coffee one afternoon, a book-industry professional (whom I can't identify) told me that for the past two months virtually no imported books had entered the country, in part because of the success of one book, Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. The book, an international best seller, had apparently attracted the attention of customs officials. When an examiner named Rene Agulan opened a shipment of books, he demanded that duty be paid on it. The importer of Twilight made a mistake and paid the duty requested. A mistake because such duty flies in the face of the Florence Agreement, a U.N. treaty that was signed by the Philippines in 1952, guaranteeing the free flow of "educational, scientific, and cultural materials" between countries and declaring that imported books should be duty-free. Mr. Agulan told the importer that because the books were not educational (i.e., textbooks) they were subject to duty. Perhaps they aren't educational, I might have argued, but aren't they "cultural"? No matter. With this one success under their belt, customs curtailed all air shipments of books entering the country. Weeks went by as booksellers tried to get their books out of storage and started intense negotiations with various government officials. What doubly frustrated booksellers and importers was that the explanations they received from various officials made no sense. It was clear that, for whatever reason—perhaps the 30-billion-peso ($625 million) shortfall in projected customs revenue—customs would go through the motions of having a reasonable argument while in fact having none at all. Customs Undersecretary Espele Sales explained the government's position to a group of frustrated booksellers and importers in an Orwellian PowerPoint presentation, at which she reinterpreted the Florence Agreement as well as Philippine law RA 8047, providing for "the tax and duty-free importation of books or raw materials to be used in book publishing." For lack of a comma after the word "books," the undersecretary argued that only books "used in book publishing" (her underlining) were tax-exempt. "What kind of book is that?" one publisher asked me afterward. "A book used in book publishing." And she laughed ruefully. I thought about it. Maybe I should start writing a few. Harry the Cultural and Educational Potter and His Fondness for Baskerville Type. Likewise, with the Florence Agreement, she argued that only educational books could be considered protected by the U.N. treaty. Customs would henceforth be the arbiter of what was and wasn't educational. "For 50 years, everyone has misinterpreted the treaty and now you alone have interpreted it correctly?" she was asked. "Yes," she told the stunned booksellers. Throughout February and March, bookstores seemed on the verge of getting their books released—all their documents were in order, but the rules kept changing. Now they were told that all books would be taxed: 1 percent for educational books and 5 percent for noneducational books. A nightmare scenario for the distributors; they imagined each shipment being held for months as an examiner sorted through the books. Obviously, most would simply pay the higher tax to avoid the hassle. Distributors told me they weren't "capitulating" but merely paying under protest. After all, customs was violating an international treaty that had been abided by for over 50 years. Meanwhile, booksellers had to pay enormous storage fees. Those couldn't be waived, they were told, because the storage facilities were privately owned (by customs officials, a bookstore owner suggested ruefully). One bookstore had to pay $4,000 on a $10,000 shipment. The day after the first shipment of books was released, an internal memo circulated in customs congratulating themselves for finally levying a duty on books, though no mention was made of their pride in breaking an international treaty... Please forward this or disseminate this in any way you can. In the name of reading.

The End Times...

This was sent to me and I just wanted to share it with you. We've been discussing the end times and rapture in our caregroup (bible study) and it's quite timely. The signs are definitely here. The End-time Covenant (Daniel 9:27) A peace agreement in the Middle East this year could be the Daniel 9:27's seven-year end-time covenant. If the peace talks don't produce a Middle East peace agreement, terrorism will increase, with war very likely. The peace discussions between the Syrians and the Israelis, and the Palestinians and the Israelis continue. Interesting point: Many Messianic Jewish Believers believe people live-out their names and used former Israeli Prime Minister's names as examples; According to Young's Exhaustive Concordance, Shimon Peres' last name means to "divide or part," and he was very divisive leader when in office and still is; Yitzhak Rabin's last name means "strong man," and he was a strong leader; Benjamin Netanyahu's last name means the "gift from God" or "God's gift," he was very protective of Israel during his time in office; Ehud Barak's last name means "lightning," and Ehud means "strong, forceful or splendor." (Barak's name has yet to play-out but seems to be moving in that direction.) In February 2009, following the elections to the 18th Knesset, Benjamin Netanyahu was charged with forming the next government, and was sworn in as Prime Minister on March 31, 2009. In June 2007, Ehud Barak was elected to head the Labor Party, and was subsequently appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense. He was appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense in the Netanyahu government in March 2009. 'God's Gift' + 'Lighting' + 'Strong Forceful Splendor' = Rapture? (are we that close to meeting the Lord in the 'Air'?)

SM...

Just came back from a gig in SM North The Block. My band, Lovecore, opened for Lou Bonnevie for her album tour. It was a blast! We arrived an hour earlier coz I expected heavy traffic but there wasn't any so it was a good thing. We had a great time playing. We did 4 songs. We might be doing the other shows for the tour as well so it's good exposure for us. It was nice to see Paolo's family there to support the band from his wife and kid to his brother and parents. Aliw! Lineup... I Feel Good - James Brown (lovecore remix hehe) Into The Light Pakipot Walis Tambo It was also great hanging around for their set as she had a great backup band and her songs are pretty much along our alley. After the concert, we just had dinner in Yellow Cab then I stole a quick dessert in Sebastians. It was our first time to go there so it was ok for us to kill some extra time there. Besides, the place is so far better make the most of it hehe We then drove home coz for some strange reason, I was really tired... Cy