MY BESTFRIEND

This is Norman. My bestfriend since 1997. I met him in my "Persuasive Communication" class in PCU during my sophomore year. He's in his third year (hahaha sorry 'tol. I got to say here you're way older 😝) 

Our class seats that time were arranged alphabetically and I unfortunately had to sit beside him. I hated it. Hahahaha. He's loud and always have a lot of stories to tell, asking me about the tv shows I watch, the books I read, pretty much anything under the sun. 

That time, he's an Ambeth Ocampo fanatic so you could imagine how he annoyed me with his adventures with Antonio Luna, Andres Bonifacio, Apolinario Mabini and of course Jose Rizal (which I came to like later from the book he gave me "Luna's Moustache"). There was a time I almost got in trouble in class because he was such a chatterbox he couldn't stop talking! Hahaha.

Some people in school found him to be "mayabang" because he's an "inglisero". But in all fairness with him, he's smart and intellectually engaging. He's actually the culprit why i suddenly got the hang of conversational English (thanks 'tol hehe). 

Well, he also claimed to be an atheist (yes you did, 'tol hahaha) and he did tell me he didn't believe the Bible. That he would read anything but not the Bible haha.  I remembered myself fuming in annoyance of him like everyday hahaha, but coz I was an avid Christian that time, I kept him in prayers. 

Then this fateful day in Liliw, Laguna happened. He joined a leadership training seminar where I happened to be one of the facilitators. During the final challenge night, I saw him holding on to his bible while blindfolded and "aggressors" were trying to take it from him. He received Christ there! 😃  In the bus, on our way back home, he told me, he felt so at peace and he didn't want to lose that feeling ever. 

We've become best of friends since then. Been a one hell of an adventure with him hahaha. Some things are better left unsaid. Well, as they say, the rest is history. Norman will always be my best friend for life (but he never grows over that I also have Janice as my other bestfriend hahaha), but yeah he will always be dear to me. 

This song below was made for him back in 1998. Happy old-age day, 'tol! Hahaha. 😋

Funny are the times that I seem not to know you

Crazy are the moments when I can't understand

Feeling so bad, but joy is in my heart

Coz I know my friend that I love you more than that. 

Blessed am I to have you in my life

With you I find more meaning in all that I have

In my heart I'll cherish all the things we have together

Look into my eyes you'll see that we are friends forever.

Together we'll go to the mountaintop 

Even the words we say are not enough

Feel the heartbeat of my love for you my friend

Like the waters of the river that never ends 

I'll let it go, i'll let it flow

Coz you're my bestfriend.

That I know. 

HIGIT KANINUMAN

I made this on the way, in a hired jeepney, from a Youth Camp. It's an expression of my love for my Lord and Savior Jesus. It's one of the most sung worship song in our church, but I guess only a few know that I wrote it hehe. I originally arranged in the key of D and transposing to the key of E for extra emotions I felt while singing it haha. Hope you like this one.

Diyos ang aking buhay may lungkot at saya
May mga araw na tila wala nang pag-asa
Ngunit ang pag-ibig mo'y
Aking nasumpungan
At ang katapatan Mo'y aking naranasan

O Panginoon, minamahal kita
Nang higit kaninuman
Ikaw lamang walang iba
Dinggin ang awit ng aking pagsamba
Itataas aking kamay, maging buhay na Iyong bigay.

Di mo nais pa ang mga paghahandog
Sa haing sinunog di ka na nalulugod
Kaya ang aking alay sa pag-ibig Mong wagas
Ay pagpapakumbaba't pusong mapagtapat.

O Panginoon, minamahal kita
Nang higit kaninuman
Ikaw lamang walang iba
Dinggin ang awit ng aking pagsamba
Itataas aking kamay, maging buhay na Iyong bigay.

IGINUHIT NG LANGIT

Finally, my first ever film for the Marine Corps is done! I called it "Buddy". Even before we completed the entire production, it's original soundtrack popped in my head while having lunch at Ternate Beach. Writing it was so moving I forgot my meal, hahaha.

Seriously though, the song has strongly driven me and my team with inspiration as we filmed. This is for our Marine brothers who have gone ahead of us. Thank you for your service and sacrifice for Inang Laya. We'll see you soon, brothers. Keep watching over us.

Watch in Youtube:
BUDDY (Part ½)
BUDDY (Part 2/2)
BUDDY (Teaser)


IGINUHIT NG LANGIT (Buddy OST)

Paano malilimutan ang bawat sandali
Na tayo ay laging magkasama
Pag-ibig at pangarap sa atin ay nakangiti
Bahaghari ka't sa akin ay ligaya.

Huwag nang lumuha
Huwag nang manimdim
Sa puso ko ika'y mananatili
Pagmamahal para sa akin
Ang siyang lakas ng puso at damdamin

Koro:
Iginuhit ng langit ang iyong mga ngiti
Lakas ng aking puso sa gitna ng pighati
Larawan mo'y pag-asa sa hirap at sakit
Hindi lilimutin sa bawat saglit.

ONE STEP AT A TIME

According to Louise Duxbury in "Developing Social Marketing Strategies: The basics", there are 8 Key Steps in developing social marketing strategies, namely:

Step 1. State your Purpose.

Step 2. Identify and segment your Target Audience.

Step 3. Set objectives and targets.

Step 4. Analyze barriers and benefits.

Step 5. Work on the 4Ps Marketing Mix (Product, price, place and promotion)

Step 6. Establish monitoring and evaluation strategies.

Step 7. Work out your budget and funding resources.

Step 8. Pilot your marketing strategy.

These steps are a big bunch of help for someone like me who likes to learn but in the simplest terms possible. Call it the Marine way of learning, hahaha. 

Similarly, they encouraged me to be patient. In the same way that change takes time to happen, so does the process. Development is a process. It is a process. It is a process. I have to always remind myself of this so I can remain sane and standing when these steps I will be taking will be challenged along the way. Like my social marketing strategy for, my campaign and all other campaigns intended for development can be achieved "one step at a time".

For this learning, I'm sharing with you Jordin Sparks' "One Step at a Time." It's a good reminder for people who need to slow down a bit. What's the rush, baby? Take your time.

ONE STEP AT A TIME by Jordin Sparks

Youtube -- One Step at a Time by Jordin Sparks

Hurry up and wait so close but so far away
Everything that you've always dreamed of
Close enough for you to taste but you just can't touch
You wanna show the world but no one knows your name yet 

Wonder when and where and how you're gonna make it
You know you can if you get the chance
In your face and the door keeps slamming
Now you're feeling more and more frustrated
And you're getting all kind of impatient, waiting

We live and we learn to take
One step at a time there's no need to rush
It's like learning to fly or falling in love
It's gonna happen and it's supposed to happen
That we find the reasons why, one step at a time


You believe and you doubt
You're confused and got it all figured out
Everything that you always wished for
Could be yours, should be yours, would be yours if they only knew
You wanna show the world but no one knows your name yet

Wonder when and where and how you're gonna make it
You know you can if you get the chance
In your face and the door keeps slamming
Now you're feeling more and more frustrated
And you're getting all kind of impatient, waiting

We live and we learn to take
One step at a time there's no need to rush
It's like learning to fly or falling in love
It's gonna happen and it's supposed to happen
That we find the reasons why, one step at a time


When you can't wait any longer
But there's no end in sight
It's the faith that makes you stronger
The only way we get there is one step at a time


Take one step at a time there's no need to rush
It's like learning to fly or falling in love
It's gonna happen and it's supposed to happen
That we find the reasons why, one step at a time


One step at a time there's no need to rush
It's like learning to fly or falling in love
It's gonna happen and it's supposed to happen
That we find the reasons why, one step at a time




Check this out: 

Duxbury, Louise. 2010. Developing Social Marketing Strategies: The basics. Available at http://www.denmarkcsl.com.au/articles/social-marketing.pdf. Last accessed on 05 August 2012

HAND IN HAND

For inspiration on the stuff I do at work, here is something from the 1998 Seoul Olympic Song entitled "Hand in Hand", produced by Italian Giovanni Giorgio Moroder, and composed by Tim Whitlock (English lyrics) and Kim Moon-hwan (Korean lyrics). Indeed, when people work together, "we can make this world a better place."


Hand In Hand 

Youtube - Hand in Hand

See the fire in the sky
We feel the beating of our hearts together
This is our time to rise above
We know the chance is here to live forever
For all time

*Hand in hand we stand
All across the land
We can make this world a better place
in which to live
Hand in hand we can
Start to understand

Breaking down the walls
That come between us for all time
Arirang

Everytime we give it all
We feel the flame eternally inside us
Lift our hands up to the sky
The morning calm helps us to live in harmony
For all time
(Repeat*)

Breaking for the walls between us...
Hand in hand...

HEAL THE WORLD

Everyone wants a better world. With so much disheartening issues around the globe, I think doubts on the possibility of a better world are valid. There are many questions. Can change still happen? But social change is not a one man’s job. It takes an empowered  people to correctly address the issues. Only then can this world be healed. The pains will just be a memory. 

Maybe I am a bit emotional in dealing with the issues and concerns of the world. Yes I am taking it personally. Very personally. What's wrong with being personal? I treat everything this way because I think of my son. I want him and all  the children of the world to live better lives in a better place. I make it a personal commitment. I can make a difference. I can encourage other people, upstream and midstream, to make a difference too. I want to be "God's glow" on earth (Jackson. 1992). I pray to the Lord above to keep this passion burning inside my heart so I may not fall short.

I want a better world for this boy. He is my boy.

I'm sharing here a video of Michael Jackson's "Heal the World" from Youtube which contains pictures of the condition of the world. Prominent people like Martin Luther King, Mother Theresa and Lady Diana are there, with so much compassion in their eyes and hands. I am not famous like them. I am just an ordinary person, and so is the greater majority of the world's population. But I am convinced that there is one thing that makes all of us stand on the same ground. Deep into the hearts of everyone is a soul that cares, a soul that desires to make a difference for a better world. I want to let mine out. I wish others will let theirs out too. 

http://allnaturalme.com/blog/?p723

HEAL THE WORLD
Michael Jackson


Youtube - Heal the World (Michael Jackson)


There's A Place In Your Heart
And I Know That It Is Love
And This Place Could Be Much
Brighter Than Tomorrow
And If You Really Try
You'll Find There's No Need To Cry
In This Place You'll Feel
There's No Hurt Or Sorrow

There Are Ways To Get There
If You Care Enough For The Living
Make A Little Space, Make A Better Place

CHORUS
Heal The World, Make It A Better Place
For You And For Me And The Entire Human Race
There Are People Dying If You Care Enough For The Living
Make A Better Place For You And For Me

If You Want To Know Why 
There's A Love That Cannot Lie
Love Is Strong It Only Cares For Joyful Giving
If We Try We Shall See In This Bliss We Cannot Feel
Fear Or Dread We Stop Existing And Start Living

Then It Feels That Always
Love's Enough For Us Growing
So Make A Better World, Make A Better World

(Repeat Chorus)

And The Dream We Were Conceived In
Will Reveal A Joyful Face
And The World We Once Believed In
Will Shine Again In Grace
Then Why Do We Keep Strangling Life
Wound This Earth Crucify Its Soul
Though It's Plain To See
This World Is Heavenly Be God's Glow

We Could Fly So High Let Our Spirits Never Die
In My Heart I Feel You Are All My Brothers
Create A World With No Fear
Together We'll Cry Happy Tears
See The Nations Turn Their Swords Into Plowshares

We Could Really Get There If You Cared Enough
For The Living Make A Little Space
To Make A Better Place

(Repeat Chorus)

There Are People Dying If You Care Enough
For The Living Make A Better Place For You And For Me
There Are People Dying If You Care Enough
For The Living Make A Better Place For You And For Me
Heal the world we live in, save it for our children
Heal the world we live in, save it for our children

LISTEN

This! We have to do a lot of this! 

http://lifebalancetv.com/?p=1

LISTEN
By Henry Krieger, Scott Cutler
Anne Preven and Beyonce Knowles


Youtube - LISTEN (Krieger, Cutler, Preven, Knowles)

Listen to the song here in my heart
A melody I start but can't complete
Listen to the sound from deep within
It's only beginning to find release

Oh the time has come for my dreams to be heard
They will not be pushed aside and turned
Into your own, all 'cause you won't listen

[Chorus]
Listen
I am alone at a crossroads
I'm not at home in my own home
And I've tried and tried
To say what's on my mind
You should have known oh
Now I'm done believing you
You don't know what I'm feeling
I'm more than what You've made of me
I followed the voice, you gave to me
But now I've gotta find my own

You should have listened
There was someone here inside
Someone I thought had died So long ago
Oh I'm screaming out
And my dreams will be heard
They will not be pushed aside or turned
Into your own All 'cause you won't listen

[Chorus]
Listen
I am alone at a crossroads
I'm not at home in my own home
And I've tried and tried
To say what's on my mind
You should have known oh
Now I'm done believing you
You don't know what I'm feeling
I'm more than what You've made of me
I followed the voice, you gave to me
But now I've gotta find my own

I don't know where I belong
But I'll be moving on
If you don't, if you won't
Listen to the song here in my heart
A melody I start, but I will complete
OH now I am done believing you
You don't know not what I am feeling
I'm more than what you've made of me
I followed the voice you think you gave to me
But now I got to find my own, My own