The Biggest Viral Video of the Year

One of the biggest viral videos of the year, and possibly the biggest so far. This one’s from Jimmy Kimmel Live, and all the different versions on YouTube have been viewed by millions of viewers, possibly over 10 million.

It’s funny as hell, but it’s still NSFW depending on where you work.

I see Brad Pitt, Cameron Diaz (showing us what she can do with her hands,) Don Cheadle, Harrison Ford and even Josh Groban. LOL.

John Gokongwei’s Speech at the 2007 Ad Congress

Perhaps more than any other Filipino business man, I admire John Gokongwei the most. Born to a wealthy family in Cebu, the Gokongwei’s lost their fortune when John’s father died. John soon began selling stuff like bars of soap and candles on the streets of Cebu. Now, he is one of the richest people in South East Asia, with his wealth estimated at a very conservative $425 M to over $4.5 Billion.

But the truly amazing thing is, despite building the Universal Robina Corp and JG Summit Holdings into major forces in the Philippine business landscape, he is one of the biggest philanthropists in a country that desperately needs the rich to care more. And he isn’t afraid to take on entrenched giants in markets where his company has very little experience. Cebu Pacific Air and Sun Cellular for example, have not only done a lot in their (relatively) few years of existence to challenge giants like Philippine Airlines and Smart Communications and Globe Telecom, but they’ve also managed to stir up the playing fields in ways that has made these entrenched giants sit up and take notice.

Below, is Mr Gokongwei’s speech from the 20th Advertising Congress in Subic, Zambales ; Nov 21, 2007.

Before I begin, I want to say please bear with me, an 81-year-old man who just flew in from San Francisco 36 hours ago and is still suffering from jet lag. However, I hope I will be able to say what you want to hear.

Ladies and gentlemen, good evening. Thank you very much for having me here tonight to open the Ad Congress. I know how important this event is for our marketing and advertising colleagues. My people get very excited and go into a panic, every other year, at this time.

I would like to talk about my life, entrepreneurship, and globalization. I would like to talk about how we can become a great nation.

You may wonder how one is connected to the other, but I promise that, as there is truth in advertising, the connection will come.

Let me begin with a story I have told many times. My own. I was born to a rich Chinese-Filipino family. I spent my childhood in Cebu where my father owned a chain of movie houses, including the first air-conditioned one outside Manila. I was the eldest of six children and lived in a big house in Cebu’s Forbes Park.

A chauffeur drove me to school everyday as I went to San Carlos University, then and still one of the country’s top schools. I topped my classes and had many friends. I would bring them to watch movies for free at my father’s movie houses.

When I was 13, my father died suddenly of complications due to typhoid.

Everything I enjoyed vanished instantly. My father’s empire was built on credit. When he died, we lost everything-our big house, our cars, our business-to the banks.

I felt angry at the world for taking away my father, and for taking away all that I enjoyed before. When the free movies disappeared, I also lost half my friends. On the day I had to walk two miles to school for the very first time, I cried to my mother, a widow at 32. But she said: “You should feel lucky. Some people have no shoes to walk to school. What can you do? Your father died with 10 centavos in his pocket.”

So, what can I do? I worked.

My mother sent my siblings to China where living standards were lower. She and I stayed in Cebu to work, and we sent them money regularly. My mother sold her jewelry. When that ran out, we sold roasted peanuts in the backyard of our much-smaller home. When that wasn’t enough, I opened a small stall in a palengke. (Palengke = Filipino word for market)

I chose one among several palengkes a few miles outside the city because there were fewer goods available for the people there. I woke up at five o’clock every morning for the long bicycle ride to the palengke with my basket of goods.

There, I set up a table about three feet by two feet in size. I laid out my goods-soap, candles, and thread-and kept selling until everything was bought. Why these goods? Because these were hard times and this was a poor village, so people wanted and needed the basics-soap to keep them clean, candles to light the night, and thread to sew their clothes.

I was surrounded by other vendors, all of them much older. Many of them could be my grandparents. And they knew the ways of the palengke far more than a boy of 15, especially one who had never worked before.

But being young had its advantages. I did not tire as easily, and I moved more quickly. I was also more aggressive. After each day, I would make about 20 pesos in profit! There was enough to feed my siblings and still enough to pour back into the business. The pesos I made in the palengke were the pesos that went into building the business I have today.

After this experience, I told myself, “If I can compete with people so much older than me, if I can support my whole family at 15, I can do anything! “

Looking back, I wonder, what would have happened if my father had not left my family with nothing? Would I have become the man I am? Who knows?

The important thing to know is that life will always deal us a few bad cards. But we have to play those cards the best we can. And WE can play to win!

Will be in Manila soon!

Woohooo! And I am really really excited!

I will be in Manila in just a few weeks ; don’t know when exactly, but I just have a few more things I have to take care of. And the great thing is, this won’t just be a short vacation!! I will actually be there for quite a while. 6 months minimum, most likely a year, and maybe even longer, who knows.

I can almost feel the warm weather.. I am so goddamn homesick right now, I’ve just spent the last few minutes browsing through Flickr for photo’s from the PI, haha. Now, I’m watching this YouTube video of images from in and around the Metro, mostly Makati:

Oh and yeah, if anyone knows of a high-paying job in Makati where I don’t actually have to do anything, let me know.

I’m still alive

But unfortunately, this blog is barely kickin’ anymore.

There goes my plan of weekly updates (at least) for this blog. I’ve just been to busy with so many things lately.

Oh and yeah, I’ve started another blog – WhatPhotoGear.com – it’s still definitely a work in progress, and it’s nowhere near where I want it to be right now, in terms of content, design (and viewers) but it’s still taking up a lot of my time. Don’t forget to check it out and if you have any suggestions – just drop me a line at whatphotogear at gmail. dot_com. Oh, and tell your friends!

I had 2 other (commercial) blogs that I wanted to launch, but after I had been running WhatPhotoGear for over 2 weeks, I decided to focus on just that one blog for now. And I’m glad I made that decision. It’s tougher than I expected, hee. I thought I could do it and then quit my day job a month after I’d started, but well, let’s just say it’s going to take a bit longer than that.

“More than a Cruise Ship Performance”

I was just watching Kyla’s rendition of the Lupang Hinirang during Manny Pacquiao’s last fight in Vegas against Marc-Antonio Barrera and it got me thinking about Filipino singers in general. (I think hers was a great rendition by the way, definitely much much better than the previous renditions by various singers, which were bordering on the horrendous and almost embarrassing.)

See, I’ve always wondered why Pinoy singers can’t really break into the world stage (read: American market) in ways such as Coco Lee or Tina Arena have done, or Anggun in Europe. I mean, there is a lot of talent out there, but why do most seem to just end up as Vegas lounge singers? It’s kind of disappointing to see all the potential around, and yet if you ask me about Pinoy artists who’ve really made it big on the world stage I’d be hard-pressed to name someone outside of Lea Salonga. Death Angel maybe? But then these guys ‘broke out’ from the Bay Area. Uh, so what about Kirk Hammett? Does he count?

I think part of it has to do with differentiating yourself from everyone else. There is a lot of talent going around for sure, but most of them are just clone’s of some other big pop star. I mean, it’s cool if you can ape some of the biggest stars out there, not everyone can do it, but you’ve got to have something that sets you apart. Being a clone of some big American pop star might get you noticed, but it’s not what’s going to take you to first base. You’ve got to have something more. And I think that is where most Pinoy musicians fall short, despite some pretty good talent.

But with that said though, here are two Filipino “YouTube stars” that just might ‘make it big’ with just a bit of luck and if they can find that extra something to differentiate themselves. Now, these two aren’t really doing the kind of music that I would normally listen to, but you can’t argue with their talent. (Seems one of them might be “making it big” right now, see the EDITed section below)

First up is Arnel Pineda, front-man for a band called “The Zoo.” This guy has some superb pipes. And I mean really damn good. Although if you listen to his banter with the crowd, you’ll hear that he has a fairly heavy English accent, which explains some of the issues he has with diction, which can be noticeable on some songs (See their cover of Aerosmith’s Amazing below for example) – but this guy is still definitely worth a listen. It’s almost scary how good this guy is – and can be.

According to the guy who uploaded these video’s, they were all taken at the Hard Rock Cafe in Makati – it seems the band used to play there regularly.

Survivor’s Ever Since the World Began:

Journey’s Faithfully:

Aerosmith’s Amazing:

Check out their cover of Heart’s Alone ; Bon Jovi’s It’s my Life ; Led Zeppelin’s Rock & Roll ; Air Supply’s Now and Forever and STP’s Plush and you’ll see just how good this guy can be (despite the terrible video and audio quality). (He was supposedly invited by Journey to try out as their next vocalist, and some rumors say he got the job, while others say he’s been passed over and Journey are still looking) (EDIT: I’ve had this sitting in my ‘drafts’ folder for awhile now, and I remembered it just now because it seems Arnel Pineda is now officially Journey’s new vocalist, no updates on Journey’s official site as of this posting though. Although there is an official press release on MelodicRock.com dated Dec 06th)

—

Next up is 14 year old Charice Pempengco – from what I understand she won third place (?) on Little Big Star (some talent show on ABS-CBN that I’ve never heard of, but I usually don’t know anything about these things anyway) If third place is this good, who won first and second?

This video is from a South Korean TV show where I think she was also a contestant. Text translation/subs provided by the YouTube user who uploaded the video – but just listen to her voice and watch her perform and you’ll get a pretty good idea of her potential. This video made so much noise on YouTube that it was featured on E! Hollywood. And no, she is not lip syncing. Check out the mic flipping at about +1:57 too. (-1:39)

Not bad eh?

The Call Center Song

So I was just doing a bit of research on the Call Center industry in Manila, when I came across a reference to a certain “Call Center” song from Cambio (for those not in the know, Cambio is basically an off-shoot of the post-Ely Buendia Eraserheads, sort-of anyways) (For my non-Filipino readers, the Eraserheads were one of the most influential rock bands of the ’90’s and are sometimes called the Beatles of the Philippines) – and so I was curious about this whole “Call Center” song, and a quick Google search led me to a YouTube video:

Now let’s get one thing straight
I don’t really want to work this way (?)
But I get paid for my American accent
I got money to pay the rent

This is only temporary
I’m not really in a hurry
I’ll party all morning
Work all night
Meet my honey in the broad daylight

Now let’s get one thing clear
I don’t really want to be here
But they pay me for my perfect diction
I’ve got money for my addiction

I’ll be at the call center
Until something better
Comes along my way
It’s been a long, long day

The future is alright
The future is so bright

Now this got me thinking about how much Call Center’s or the BPO industry as a whole have really become a part of the yuppie culture in the Philippines. I hear this video is getting some serious rotation on MYX and MTV Philippines, I wonder what all the Call Center people think about it? I personally think the song is pretty amusing, and shouldn’t really be taken seriously. For some of my thoughts on the Call Center industry, you can click here to read one of my earlier posts on this blog. (If you’re too lazy, the short version is that I think the industry and all the BPO’s are a great thing for the Philippines)

6 ‘Weird’ Things About Me

This one’s from Kubi and I know it’s really really over-due. Sorry Kubs! I’ll try not to say anything too weird though, I don’t want to scare anyone off, haha.

1. I don’t watch TV. I really don’t. I can’t remember the last time I sat in front of the tube. So how do I keep up with the world? Well, I just get my news off the web through my laptop or my cellphone. That way, the news is always up to date, and I can get it anytime. Plus, a quick google search has me on dozens of news sites and hundreds of blogs with differing point of views. How can a TV beat that? As for TV shows, I just get the DVD’s whenever they come out. It’s much easier that way, no commercials, and I can watch anytime. Pause anytime. I could watch 10 straight episodes if I wanted to.

Not that I really care for most TV shows. I’m a huge fan of 24. And if I ever get a pet, a dog, a gold fish, whatever – I’ll name ‘em Jack Bauer. I just got the complete first season of Heroes too. I think it’s pretty awesome so far. Now if I could have a super power, what would it be? Hmmm… The power to not require sleep maybe?

2. I can’t do small talk. Yep, you’d think a guy with a blog has something to say all the time eh? Nope, not me. If I’ve got nothing to say, then I keep my mouth shut. I usually get right down to business, I call it not wasting time, but I guess some people see that as being boring or being anti-social, haha.

3. I cut my own hair. Well, I shave it off actually. I keep my head shaved now, it’s just easier that way, hardly any maintenance needed. Quite a long ways from my long long hair back in University, but hey, I can do it in less than 15 minutes and it saves me a trip to the barber every 2 weeks and that works out to a savings of around $30/month.

4. I usually sleep 4-5 hours per day. I don’t know what it is, but I usually simply cannot sleep before 12mn or 1am. I’ve tried everything, from exercising in the early evening to just forcing myself to drift off to sleep by jumping in bed at 9PM every night, but nothing simply works. So I stopped trying. It ain’t healthy I know, if anyone has any ideas, let me know. Please.

5. I am overly concerned about wrinkled clothes. I can already picture my girl grinning on this one. I wouldn’t call it “overly concerned” exactly, but it seems to drive my fiancee crazy sometimes. Especially when we have to travel somewhere, the first thing that goes in my luggage is an iron. All those “please do not plug-in traveling iron’s here” stickers on hotel power outlets are ignored. I also wish someone would design seat-belts that somehow won’t wrinkle clothes.

6. I buy way too many books. Actually, it isn’t as bad as before. But I still have a dozen or so books that I’ve bought months or even over a year ago that I haven’t even read one chapter yet. Some people have too many shoes, some have too many hats but me, I’ve got too many books. I can usually spend hours lost in a good bookstore, even longer in a well stocked used book store. I’ve definitely got more books than time to read them!

Well, there you go, that wasn’t too bad. Did I scare anyone off? Now I’m supposed to pass this off to 6 other bloggers.. but who..? Hmm..? Anyone wanna share their weirdness with the world?

Mini Update

Yes, yes I know, I said I’d try to blog at least once a week – but I got a bit sidetracked these past two weeks. I had some minor problems with my eBay selling account plus I’ve been ‘hard-at-work’ on another blog that I hope to launch this weekend.

Yep, I’ve decided to do another blog – I’ve been thinking about what I want this blog to be, and after bouncing around some ideas these past few weeks, I’ve decided that :: brainsalad :: (this blog you’re reading right now!) will simply remain my personal blog, my place to vent, rant, boast and whine. But I’ve also decided to do another blog that I hope I can launch into a full fledged website by 2008. This yet to be named blog will be focused on photography – tips, tricks, gear and so on. I have a few ideas, written a few drafts already, it’s almost there but still definitely a work in progress. So watch out for it.

I’ve also got plans for another more tech-centric blog, but right now that’s just in the idea stage and probably won’t be happening anytime soon. With the new blog, my eBay biz and my day job, there just isn’t enough time to do anything else! Plus I’ve been looking at launching another online biz, probably through the eBay Stores platform again. And I *might* be moving on to a new job before the end of the year too. So lot’s of things happening for me right now, I’m finally getting off my ass and starting to work!

The Dying Juan Dela Cruz

I was going to blog about the recent affront against Filipino Doctor’s in Desperate Housewives, but I think that’s been blogged about enough already – fellow PEXer faaip_de_oiad has written a very nice post about it already.

Then I thought I’d write about why I think Sandy Jenkins’ ‘plan’ to introduce a Calgary subway is one of the best things I’ve ever heard – but then I decided I have no right blogging about anything related to the Municipal elections since I’m not even eligible to vote and don’t really know much about Canadian politics anyway.

Then I remembered “Six Weird Things About Me” from Kubi, this one is loooooong over-due – sorry Kubs – but I’ll be leaving this for my next post.

I was also going to write about the Cris Mendez murder, (Yes, I am a Frat-man myself) but I’ve decided to leave that for another day too.

So I’ve decided to start off my ‘re-entry’ into blogging with a re-post (with minor changes) from my old blog. I wrote this in March 2006, just after President Arroyo lifted the State of Emergency – more than a year ago – but I feel, still very relevant.

The Dying Juan Dela Cruz

“I prefer a country run like hell by Filipinos to a country run like heaven by Americans.” It’s funny, after finally finding some time to browse the web to try and make sense of what just happened in the Philippines during the past few weeks, the first thing I can think of is Manuel Quezon’s above quote.

Unfortunately his words have become a tragic reality.

As I surf through blogs, browse the forums, read the newspapers, I see the same comments and sentiments all over again ; Where did we go wrong? Who is to blame? If only we did this, if only we did that, we should’ve, we could’ve.. blah, blah, blah.

But let’s get real for a moment here. It’s been 20 years since the first EDSA Revolution and yet we’re still crawling along, seemingly content to let the world pass us by. Yes, the government is made up of a bunch of crooks. Yes, the gap between the rich and the poor is widening. Yes, Filipino professionals are slowly packing up for distant shores and chasing the almighty dollar (I’m one of them). Yes, 60% of Pinoy’s have a very low opinion of the President. (I’m one of them too.)

As I read blog after blog after blog calling for people to take to the streets, to be part of history and be part of another EDSA revolution.. blah, blah, blah. I can only shake my head. It’s amazing how many idiots there are in cyberspace.

I do not blame the President or the government for whatever goes wrong in our country. And I am not stupid enough to believe that changing whoever sits on the throne every time they screw up will lead to a better future. EDSA in 1986 might have toppled a dictator but unfortunately it has brewed a culture that has no regard for the rule of law.

We can change our President every year if we could, but that won’t change a thing. Do we really need a new President to stop us from dumping our garbage in the streets? Do we need a new President to stop us from buying pirated DVDs? Do we need a new President to be able to follow something as simple as traffic lights? Will a new President teach us to love our own country?

Are we even aware of the impact that destabilization efforts or coup rumors have on the economy? An economy built around the remittances of OFWs and Call Centre’s? We blame the government for the lack of foreign investments in the country, yet there we go contributing to the very thing that scares away investors: political instability. What even makes us think that yet another EDSA Revolution will help? Do we actually think People Power II was a step in the right direction?

Sure, there’s a lot of people in government who deserve to be shot. But let’s take a look at ourselves first. There’s a lot of blame to go around after all. We go around blaming everyone and everything, but we ourselves do not even have the discipline or the social conscience required to build a progressive nation or to ensure a properly functioning modern economy.

Let’s face it. It’s time to get real. Another ‘EDSA’ will not feed the poor. Will not lower the cost of education. Will not stop crime. Will not clean up the streets. Will not save Juan Dela Cruz.

Only People Power will. But then, do we even have the same definition of “People Power?”

Let’s try this one more time

One more try at blogging. I don’t know what it is but I just can’t seem to do this without losing steam too soon.

I always have a million things I want to blog and rant about, but every time I sit in front of my laptop and start pecking away, I get distracted by all kinds of stuff.

Let’s see how long I’ll last this time. I’m planning on doing this slowly, if I make it until Christmas, then I’ll be happy.

I’ve added “Blog at least once per week” in my list of things to accomplish before 2008 comes around. Yep, I actually keep one of those lists now. They actually do wonders. I’m even starting a list of stuff I want to do before I’m 30, before I’m 50 and before I die. Heh, maybe I’ll even post it here one of these days.

Right now I just have a mini-list of things I want to do before midnight on December 31st of this year. Let’s see, among other things, I’ve got “get my business off the ground, and make sure it’s profitable” ; “be ‘fluent’ in Spanish and Japanese” ; “visit Toronto (and maybe see about moving there next spring)” and other stuff like “learn how to iron a dress shirt in less than 10 mins” and “drink only one cup of coffee per day, large, double-double, that’s it”

Well, I’ve got 2 and-a-half months to go, I’m gettin’ there. Almost, almost.