Thursday, November 13, 2008

TFCKo Japan Plug

PRODUCER: Ma-an L. Asuncion

COPYWRITER: Lissa Boluso

ART DIRECTOR: Aaron Arguelles

POST-PROD ARTIST: Patrick Josef L. Asuncion

SOUND ENGINEER: Mark Jamias

MARKETING: Mimi Dayo

Monday, August 04, 2008

A Quote from Spiderman 3

"Revenge is like a poison can take you over...
Before you know it, could turn us something ugly."

- May Parker, SpiderMan 3

Aaahhh!!!!

Photo from Pink Floyd Album - the Wall

Gigil na gigil ako!

Buysit na buysit ako!

Inis na inis ako!

Galit na galit ako!

Aaahhh!!!

Yun lang...

Nasabi ko na rin!

- 23 July '08, 4:03am -

Friday, July 04, 2008

Zap to do three-wheeled car in 2009

By Michael Kanellos

Staff Writer, CNET News.com Published: January 31, 2008 1:42 PM PST

Zap, the electric car company based in Santa Rosa, Calif., is adding another electric car to its lineup.

The three-wheeled Alias, due to go into production in 2009, will have a top speed of over 100 miles an hour and go 150 miles on a charge, according to Zap. It will sell for $30,000. The Alias will also likely come with a hybrid range extender, a small gas motor that can power the car or charge the battery.

The Alias will actually be made by a joint venture between Zap and China's Youngman Automotive Group. The company has an animated video of the prototype here. Zap said last year it planned to release a $30,000 electric car in 2009 but didn't mention at the time that it was a three-wheeler.

Zap also sells a three-wheeled low-speed electric car. (Check out the test drive here. It was a bit scary to drive, but we got noticed.)

Until recently, three-wheelers have occupied a niche of a niche of a niche. Some European companies made them back in the 1950s and '60s. And an evil villain drove one in Goldmember, the third movie in the Austin Powers trilogy.

Some three-wheelers, though, are going upscale. Venture Vehicles plans to bring three-wheeled hybrids and electric cars that would sell in the $20,000 range to the States starting next year.

Three-wheelers don't weigh as much as their four-wheeled counterparts, so they can go farther on a charge than regular electric cars. They are smaller, too, making them easier to park in cities.

Three-wheelers can also get to the market faster because they are classified as motorcycles, which means there is less safety testing. And they can be fun to drive. Venture's cars, based on a car design from the Netherlands, will tilt into turns like a motorcycle.

Zap, though, has many skeptics, and the company has many projects still in the works. It is also coming out with the Zap-X, an electric SUV later this year.

Zap, for its part, notes it is working on these projects with Group Lotus, a British car company. The Alias, in fact, grew out of the Zap-X project.

A Quote from "Kung Fu Panda"

Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present.

- Oogway, Kung Fu Panda

Mercy (by Duffy)

Duffy Lyrics

*Downloaded this from www.metrolyrics.com

Friday, May 30, 2008

Uncertain

I want to say something

But don’t know really

What to utter

My Mind has plenty

Of words that

My Heart dictates

But my Mouth

Decides to keep silent

So my Hand inscribes instead

I am writing now

But don’t know exactly

What to write

I point the pen on the paper

Write… Erase…

My existence

Is like words

That I write and erase…

(Things that I want

To Remember

And Forget)

A chest wants to explode

A tear wants to fall

But stillness prevails

I look around

I put down the pen

Then I close my eyes

I breathe…

I hear the anger

Inside me

I breathe…

Breathe so hard

Try to release the pain

(Inhale… Exhale…

Inhale… Exhale…

Inhale… Exhale…)

The night cries

And trembles

As I grief

When will it end?

Just wait…

One day, the Sun I long to rise

And to light the Morning bud

Will bloom to a brighter tomorrow

But when?

I don’t know…

Just wait…

Tomorrow will come

But I don’t know when…

19 August 2002

2:18pm

The 25 Most Rockin' Guitar Riffs

Posted Thu May 29 11:17am PDT by Rob O'Connor in List Of The Day

I'm told that the good folks over at Rolling Stone.com have launched a list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Songs as a feature at their site to coincide with their Guitar Gods Issue that--like most great things in this world--is FOR SALE.

Click here to check it out.

As I write this, I haven't seen it, but I'm sure it's going to include a few listings that make me think "Oops, I left that one out." Because that's what this list business is all about. I write it up and then YOU remind me of the obvious ones I SHOULD'VE included. And I thank you for pointing out my stupid omissions. It won't improve my grade, but it makes me a better person and that's what this is all about.

According to the calendar hanging in my room, Keith Richards, the semi-living guitarist of Rolling Stones, Ltd., came up with the guitar riff for "Satisfaction" in a hotel room on May 6, 1965 and then fell back asleep. How Keith Richards could actually remember the exact date is a little suspect. If he hadn't played the riff into a tape recorder in the first place, it might've been lost forever.

But to celebrate, List of the Day undertook the task of picking out 25 infamous guitar riffs that depending on your era were among the ones you mangled when you joined your first band. I often got stuck on the organ, so I was always pushing for a little "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" action. Because, believe me, "Kick Out the Jams" sounds lame on the organ.

Some picks were for variety's sake. I could've picked 10 Hendrix tunes without pause. Or 10 Zeppelin. And the Ramones played mostly chords, so that sent them to the back of the line.

I haven't yet seen what RS.com picked. And I'd really like to see what your lists would be like. So feel free to throw your faves in the comments!

25) "Enter Sandman"--Metallica: "Master Of Puppets" or "For Whom The Bells Tolls" or even "Fight Fire With Fire" might make for better overall riffs, but "Enter Sandman" has a presence that everyone in the room feels and I've seen some pretty bad bar bands tackle this one and still come out sounding as if they knew something about music.

24) "Sweet Child O' Mine"--Guns n' Roses: This is one of those Pavlovian riffs. You hear it start up and the entire song starts to play in your head. Whether you want it to or not. It's the equivalent of someone yelling the song's title and then 1-2-3-4, except it sounds better.

23) "Black Dog"--Led Zeppelin: Jimmy Page figured out the 1970s before anyone. As a guitar player he wasn't about to let a lead singer score all the girls, so he made sure that his band based their tunes not on quaint little pop hooks, but guitar riffs that would send every teenager in America back to their bedrooms to woodshed and to scrutinize how it was done. Then he gave the songs titles that no one could figure out.

22) "Freebird"--Lynyrd Skynyrd: There's a reason people still call out for this song and it goes beyond just because everyone always does. There was a time when this lonesome, whiny riff actually could make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. That year was sometime in the 1970s and ever since it's become a cliché, but there's a reason certain riffs become a cliché. They're as natural as breathing.

21) "Jumping Jack Flash"--The Rolling Stones: Less a riff than a conglomeration of chords, but the Stones mastered the art of the chunky riff. Some would take "Brown Sugar." I'd prefer "Gimme Shelter" by a hair. But of this old beast's catalog, this still sounds fresh to me, while many others have grown tired thanks to the conspiracy of classic rock radio.

20) "Roadhouse Blues"--The Doors: The Doors were never known for their guitar riffs. "Five To One" is a great two-note buzzsaw, the rewrite of the Kinks for "Hello, I Love You" was nice, but this is the one sliding riff that every bar band in America has done to death usually at the request of a very inebriated audience member who refuses to shut up until it is played.

19) "Johnny B. Goode"--Chuck Berry: Considering how many songs have been written based on the "Chuck Berry" school of guitar and considering how many songs Chuck himself wrote based on this riff, tells me this is one immortal, undying riff. I've played it wrong for years.

18) "Kick Out The Jams"--MC5: Whether or not these revolutionaries actually had the catalog to be the great American wunderkinds of the ‘70s is debatable. Album productions, flawed concepts, inter-band squabbles, politics all rendered them a mess. But their signature tune and its signature riff never lost an ounce of momentum.

17) "Pipeline"--The Chantays: Surf Rock goes in and out of style, depending on the whims of fate. But this tune has been covered by enough punk bands and people of taste to ensure that even if you've never heard the Chantays version, you've heard someone do a good approximation.

16) "I Feel Fine"--The Beatles: All said, I'd take "She Said, She Said" or "And Your Bird Can Sing," but we'll stick with the tunes that the band and their record company pushed on the public as hit singles. This one with its use of (gasp) feedback (were people conservative and corny back then or what?) and its string mangling complexity make you wonder why they bothered. I guess they wanted a challenge. This could've been a hit even without the difficult riff.

15) "Walk This Way"--Aerosmith: That this riff worked so well in a hip-hop context just goes to show you don't know what you have even when you have it. I'm sure Joe Perry and Brad Whitford knew they had a decent riff to work off of when they played it back in the mid-'70s, but I'm also pretty sure that they didn't hear it as being revolutionary or probably that much better than many of their other riffs. At this point, you wonder if they ever want to play it again. That is, until the money rolls in and then it probably seems like a good idea.

14) "Day Tripper"--The Beatles: Another one from the Fab Four where the riff is more important than the rest of the tune. And it's a nice tune. But everyone tries to play this for the joy of the riff and who gets around to the rest of the song? Nobody.

13) "Heartbreaker"--Led Zeppelin: Just another great Jimmy Page riff. The only problem with listing any Led Zep riff is you're immediately reminded of all the ones you're leaving behind...so, yes, "The Ocean," "The Immigrant Song," "Living Loving Maid," "In the Evening," "Kashmir," the list goes on...

12) "Smells Like Teen Spirit"--Nirvana: I don't know whether I'm voting for the four chords that run throughout the song or the two notes that ring out when the chords fall away. Either way, it's impossible to explain how weird, unusual and right this sounded the very first time I heard it. And how everyone argued over whether it was too easy to be for real. As a simpleton, I like simple.

11) "Crazy Train"--Ozzy Osbourne: This almost sounds like an Indian music scale if you play it a certain way. Ozzy says Randy saved his career and remembers the man with great reverence and if I met someone who gave me a riff that delivered a career comeback like "Crazy Train" did for Ozzy, well, yeah, I'd be pretty thankful as well. And name a couple of kids after him.

10) "Voodoo Child"--Jimi Hendrix: Another great riff remembered as much for how many other people screw it up. Stevie Ray Vaughan could pull it off note for note, but the guys who show up to woodshed at the local open mics need to stop murdering this legendary lick. It's like a game of "Are You Serious?"

9) "Another One Bites The Dust"--Queen: I didn't include any bass guitar riffs because I didn't want to make things more confusing but I had to include this one. It gave bass players a reason to live. And as readers of this fine column know, I'm well aware that bass players frequently suffer from low self-esteem and feelings that the other people in the band don't think very highly of them. This isn't paranoia. This is usually dead on.

8) "Born To Run"--Bruce Springsteen: I don't usually associate Bruce Springsteen with great guitar licks. He has a few decent ones here and there, but for a guy with a band that now features FOUR guitar players, it's a wonder why. Then again, he also carries two keyboardists (RIP Danny Federici) and sticks Clarence with a tambourine when he doesn't have a sax solo lined up. In all that racket, can anyone actually hear the tambourine?

7) "Back In Black"--AC/DC: It's a tad sad and ironic that AC/DC are considered to be a legendary band with their singer Bon Scott. Yet, the album for which they are most noted is the one made in tribute to him after he died. So, in a sense, most people are more familiar with the less legendary edition of the group, the one that went on to become massively more successful and has lasted many times longer than the original incarnation. Me? I like Brian Johnson as a singer just fine. He sounds like my cat when you step on his tail. What's not to like?

6) "Layla"--Derek and the Dominoes: Eric Clapton has made many regrettable albums and it's easy to forget that he was once a fiery player who could reach true dynamic heights. Duane Allman, on the other hand, died before he could do any damage to his legacy. For practical reasons, I'll always choose living over dying, but immortality is better than anything Clapton's done in years.

5) "Iron Man"--Black Sabbath: Black Sabbath are another band chock full of great riffs for aspiring guitar players. Guys who can't sing love to play Sabbath tunes because they know as the guitar player they get to be the real focal point of the band. So whether it's "War Pigs," "Paranoid," "Sweet Leaf," "Children Of The Grave," "Hole In The Sky" or "Iron Man," the guy holding the guitar controls the destiny of the band. Such power!

4) "Whole Lotta Love"--Led Zeppelin: Just had to sneak one last Jimmy Page riff in here. His tone alone is shivering. The tension of the little snap-back you hear weirds me out. How many notes are actually happening here? It counts out as two, but feels like five.

3) "Purple Haze"--Jimi Hendrix: I've heard hundreds of people play this lick. No one sounds like Hendrix. And it isn't just a matter of tone. It's a matter of feel. The word genius gets thrown around pretty carelessly. "Oh, look, Jim parallel parked the car today. He's a genius." No, that's luck. This is genius.

2) "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction"--The Rolling Stones: Here's the proof that sometimes what is simplest is best. Occam's Razor as it applies to music. The extra fuzztone helped, but really writing this lick must now feel like discovering water or having written "Happy Birthday." It's that obvious.

1) "Smoke On The Water"--Deep Purple: I was never in a band that actually played this song. I've never known anyone who's been in a band that's played this song. But I've never met a guitar player who didn't play the opening lick for hours upon receiving their first electric guitar. It's so prevalent, it's more like a catchphrase than a riff.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Cannes Film Festival Award Winners 2008

May 25, 2008
by Alex Billington

Wrapping up our coverage of the Cannes Film Festival this year is the announcement of the big winners. This year's jury was lead by Sean Penn and also included actress Natalie Portman and director Alfonso Cuarón. Neither Steven Soderbergh's Che nor Clint Eastwood's Changeling managed to get any top nods, but each did win a minor award, with Eastwood taking home a special Prix de 61st Festival de Cannes and Che's lead actor Benicio Del Toro taking home the Prix D'interpretation Masculine. The winner of the Palme d'Or this year is a film titled The Class (photo above), a fictional feature shot in a documentary style about a Paris junior high school. Read on for the complete list of winners below.

Palme d'Or (Golden Palm):Entre les Murs (The Class) directed by Laurent CantetAn evocation of contemporary society as seen through a year's worth of events in a Paris junior high school.

Special 61st Anniversary Award:Catherine Deneuve for Un conte de Noël (A Christmas Tale)Follows a family who becomes increasingly contentious and dysfunctional until an ill relative brings them together over the holidays.

Clint Eastwood for Changeling A mother prays for the return of her kidnapped son. When her prayers are answered, however, she begins to suspect the boy who comes back is not her child.
Grand Prize:Gomorra directed by Matteo GarroneAn inside look at Italy's modern-day crime families. Based on a book by Roberto Saviano.

Best Director:Nuri Bilge Ceylan for Three Monkeys A family is dislocated when small failings blow up into extravagant lies. They battle against the odds to stay together by covering up the truth, but it only leads to additional hardship.

Best Screenplay:Jean Pierre and Luc Dardenne for Le Silence de LornaA resolutely naturalistic portrait of a young Albanian woman having second thoughts about a cold-blooded immigration scam.

Jury Prize:Il Divo directed by Paolo SorrentinoThe story of Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti, who has been elected to Parliament seven times since is was established in 1946.
Camera d'Or (First-Time Filmmakers):Hunger directed by Steve McQueenThe last six weeks of the life of the Irish republican hunger striker Bobby Sands.

Best Leading Actor:Benicio Del Toro in Steven Soderbergh's CheA biopic about the life of Argentine revolutionary Ernesto 'Che' Guevara.

Best Leading Actress:Sandra Corveloni in Walter Salles' and Daniela Thomas' Linha de PasseA story about four brothers from a poor family who need to fight to follow their dreams.

Not the most exciting year as far as I can tell, but definitely a good line-up to keep your eye on. Cannes' selection is usually one of the best when it comes to international films, but not always the best when it comes to North American features. For those of you who enjoy all the independent and film festival coverage, stay tuned after the summer when the festival season picks up again for our coverage of the Toronto International Film Festival and Telluride Film Festival.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Gray Pursuit

Living in solitude of darkness
Emptiness haunts me with distress
Forsake the shadow of memory
Look for the worthwhile key
Which will open the door of gladness

20 January 2002
12:30pm

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

A quote from "The Little Prince"

"Grown-ups never understand anything for themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them."

- from The Little Prince,
Antoine de Saint-Exubery

Monday, March 03, 2008

Inquirer Northern Luzon --- Going rocKapampangan By Tonette Orejas (Philippine Daily Inquirer First Posted 22:16:00 02/26/2008)

ANGELES CITY – When the band Asthma performed “Atin Ku Pung Singsing,” it wasn’t in Mon David jazz or the Sapni Nang Crissot’s classic or the ArtiSta. Rita’s ballad. It was rock – boisterous and heavy on the rhythm.
The concert, staged on Feb. 18, was, as the youth visual art group Kapangulis hailed on the theater backdrop, “RocKapampangan: The Birth of Philippine Kapampangan Rock.”
The 16 bands proved this to be a real breakthrough.
Thirteen transformed the polosa (extemporaneous songs) of Pampanga’s rural masses into rock songs. In this league were Fourth Clan (Dayang Kapampangan), Tibuan (Sintang Pangarap), Chilimansi (Istorya nang Raffy Balboa), 5 Against the Wall (Sibul na ning Arayat), Mental Floss (Ing Lugud ning Indu), Neophytes (Katatagan ning Pamakilaban), THEM (Kasamsaman), Cyclo (Dalumdum ning Bengi), Amygdala (Aldo ning Kekami Kasal), Silence (Indulang Balayan), Pulse Rhythm (Saug a Malati) and Fine Time (40 Aldo).
Dialogo gave rock form to “Atsing Rosing,” an old courtship song. Two bands – the Nora Aunor Fans Club and Mernuts – composed two originals, “Kaplas” and “Aliwa ka Talaga.”
Their performances attracted a large young crowd. The venue, the Holy Angel University’s Plaza San Jose, was jampacked.
Branding the “harvest” as rocKapampangan was right enough, said Jason Paul Laxamana, the director of what he called the first-of-its-kind project by his group, the Kalalangan Kamaru.
The bands used the Kapampangan language and folk music, and drew subjects from the local context, said Laxamana, who calls himself an “independent cultural worker trying to finish my senior sociology course at the University of Philippines in Diliman.”
“Doing this music is a first step in developing the Kapampangan consciousness. These bands showed an interest in the language, which is hardly used now in day-to-day conversation,” he said.

Bridge to youth
Opening the concert, he spoke the native language: “The promotion of our culture does not rely on one person or one group. It relies on us, the young generation.” RocKapampangan then, he said, was a way of reaching out to the youth, a sort of bridge to those growing up largely on western music.
His dream? Kapampangan music would enjoy heavy playing on iPods and MP3s.
Ram Nulud, vocalist of the Nora Aunor Fans Club, said: “It used to be baduy (awkward) to sing in Kapampangan. Apagmaragul mu ne man (You can really be proud of it).”
For Mernuts, a band of three girls and three boys based in Tarlac City, the crossover to the Kapampangan language began as a “katuwaan (for fun).” Through them, Beyonce Knowles’ “Irreplaceable” got a Kapampangan version on YouTube in March 2007.
“Aliwa ka Talaga” was composed two weeks before the album was recorded. “We also want to express the Kapampangan influence,” said guitarist Chao Chua.
Whether the native consciousness has seeped in or is still in its infancy, those who have gone before them were all praises. Andy Alviz, composer and artistic director of the ArtiSta. Rita, said, “Finally, the local music landscape attracted younger artists.”
Totoy Bato, the most popular in Pampanga’s thinning army of polosador (singers of extemporaneous songs), appealed to the listeners. “Suportan yu la sana reneng bandang Kapampangan (I hope you support these Kapampangan bands),” he said.
Local historian Mike Pangilinan was pleased. “It’s a breakthrough kasi sibukan da (they tried the form). They did not sound like copycats.”
And how do you explain the photograph, circa 1899, of the Macabebe Scouts, the people recruited by the Americans to capture Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, on the CD cover?
“With their long hair and defiant, maverick attitude, the Macabebe Scouts were history’s original rockers. The album is a tribute to them. They’ve always been misunderstood by society, just like today’s rockers,” said Robby Tantingco, executive director of the HAU Center for Kapampangan Studies.
Copyright 2008 Philippine Daily Inquirer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

2nd AnimEksena: Rock d' Animation!

March 13, 20088pm onwards

TEN O2 Resto-Bar

Sct. Ybardolaza st near cor Timog Avenue

(Just a few blocks from MRT-gma. There's a Shell station on the left.)

Animation Shortfilms:

1. The Collateral(supershort Toon)

by: Enrick Geronia

2. Jologistics 101

by:Enrick Geronia

3. Code of the Fearless(short animation teaser)

by: Enrick Geronia

4. Oilzilla 1

by: Bong Modesto/Mobytoons

5. Extrajudicial Killing 1

by: Bong Modesto/Mobytoons

6. Lost in a Fairy Tales

by: Ronnie Sapinoso

7. The Howling

by: Ronnie Sapinoso

8. Mr. Shit

by: Ronnie Sapinoso

9. PMS

by: Rosevie Sevilla

10. The Dance

by: Rosevie Sevilla

11. Lineman

by: Rosevie Sevilla

12. One Minute Death

by: Teta Tulay

13. Tremble

by: Don Salubayba

14. Pinoy Boy

by: Don Salubayba

15. Row Row

by: Don Salubayba

Live Performances:

1. Pupitre

2. Possemuno

3. KontraLuz

4. Tales of Doom

5. The LowTechs

6. Purple Chickens

Tickets at the gate: Php150 (w/ choice of Spicy Tuna Canape or 3pc Crabstick Tempura)

Hosted by: Waise Azimi

*TEN 02 Happy Hour:

6-9PM (Beers - Php25)

9pm (3 for Php100)

Bar owner: SKARLET 0916-3624596

Friday, February 29, 2008

Big Love (after party)

Friday, February 22, 2008

Helen Keller's Quotes

"People do not like to think. If one thinks, one must reach conclusions. Conclusions are not always pleasant."

"The most pathetic person in the world is someone who has sight, but has no vision. "

"The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision."

- Helen Keller

Pickle Jar

The pickle jar as far back as I can remember sat on the floor beside the dresser in my parents' bedroom.
When he got ready for bed, Dad would empty his pockets and toss his coins into the jar.

As a small boy I was always fascinated at the sounds the coins made as they were dropped into the jar. They landed with a merry jingle when the jar was almost empty. Then the tones gradually muted to a dull thud as the jar was filled.

I used to squat on the floor in front of the jar and admire the copper and silver circles that glinted like a pirate's treasure when the sun poured through the bedroom window. When the jar was filled, Dad would sit at the kitchen table and roll the coins before taking them to the bank.

Taking the coins to the bank was always a big production. Stacked neatly in a small cardboard box, the coins were placed between Dad and me on the seat of his old truck.

Each and every time, as we drove to the bank, Dad would look at me hopefully. "Those coins are going to keep you out of the textile mill, son. You're going to do better than me. This old mill town's not going to hold you back." Also, each and every time, as he slid the box of rolled coins across the counter at the bank toward the cashier, he would grin proudly "These are for my son's college fund. He'll never work at the mill all his life like me."

We would always celebrate each deposit by stopping for an ice cream cone. I always got chocolate. Dad always got vanilla. When the clerk at the ice cream parlor handed Dad his change, he would show me the few coins nestled in his palm. "When we get home, we'll start filling the jar again." He always let me drop the first coins into the empty jar. As they rattled around with a brief, happy jingle, we grinned at each other. "You'll get to college on pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters," he said. "But you'll get here. I'll see to that."

The years passed, and I finished college and took a job in another town. Once, while visiting my parents, I used the phone in their bedroom, and noticed that the pickle jar was gone. It had served its purpose and had been removed.

A lump rose in my throat as I stared at the spot beside the dresser where the jar had always stood. My dad was a man of few words, and never lectured me on the values of determination, perseverance, and faith.

The pickle jar had taught me all these virtues far more eloquently than the most flowery of words could have done. When I married, I told my wife Susan about the significant part the lowly pickle jar had played in my life as a boy. In my mind, it defined, more than anything else, how much my dad had loved me.

No matter how rough things got at home, Dad continued to doggedly drop his coins into the jar. Even the summer when Dad got laid off from the mill, and Mama had to serve dried beans several times a week, not a single dime was taken from the jar.

To the contrary, as Dad looked across the table at me, pouring catsup over my beans to make them more palatable, he became more determined than ever to make a way out for me. "When you finish college, Son," he told me, his eyes glistening, "You'll never have to eat beans again - unless you want to."

The first Christmas after our daughter Christine was born, we spent the holiday with my parents. After dinner, Mom and Dad sat next to each other on the sofa, taking turns cuddling their first grandchild. Christine began to whimper softly, and Susan took her from Dad's arms. "She probably needs to be changed," she said, carrying the baby into my parents' bedroom to diaper her. When Susan came back into the living room, there was a strange mist in her eyes.

She handed Christine back to Dad before taking my hand and leading me into the room. "Look," she said softly, her eyes directing me to a spot on the floor beside the dresser. To my amazement, there, a s if it had never been removed, stood the old pickle jar, the bottom already covered with coins. I walked over to the pickle jar, dug down into my pocket, and pulled out a fistful of coins. With a gamut of emotions choking me, I dropped the coins into the jar. I looked up and saw that Dad, carrying Christine, had slipped quietly into the room. Our eyes locked, and I knew he was feeling the same emotions I felt. Neither one of us could speak.

This truly touched my heart. I know it has yours as well. Sometimes we are so busy adding up our troubles that we forget to count our blessings.

Never underestimate the power of your actions. With one small gesture you can change a person's life, for better or for worse.

God puts us all in each other's lives to impact one another in some way. Look for God in others.

The best and most beautiful things cannot be seen or touched - they must be
felt with the heart ~ Helen Keller

Happy moments, praise God.

Difficult moments, seek God.

Quiet moments, worship God.

Painful moments, trust God.

Every moment, thank God.