A Touching Story Behind A Touching Song...

I came across this song, Lost Without You by Delta Goodrem a couple of days back while driving home. The piano and the melody was enough to make me pullover, call the radio station and ask who sang what was playing thus I came up with this small quest. In my search, I came across this story...

In 2003, Delta Goodrem released her debut album Innocent Eyes to which this song is taken from. Here's her music video where an acoustic version of this song has been overlayed to the original video. She kinda reminded me of an Australian version of Mandy Moore.



A few months after the release, she was diagnosed with cancer. Later that year, she attended the ARIA Music Awards 2003 but was too unwell to perform as she was already undergoing treatment. She attended nonetheless wearing a short blond wig. It was here that Darren Hayes, formerly from Savage Garden, performed her song in tribute to her fight against cancer as seen in the video below which touched the whole audience.



She later went on to win seven ARIA awards that night...

By year 2004 when she announced that she was in remission, she slowly started writing, recording and performing again. I later came across this video where she performed a duet with Darren Hayes of the same song he sang for her. This took the cake folks...



Some skeptics have said it was all a gimmick. Some have even said it was all a publicity-op. I'd say it was a fitting way for her song and her story to go full circle...

Running On Empty...

July 27, 2006...

Things have been a bit hectic at work as of late. Just confirmed that two of my staff are leaving for opportunities in family businesses or abroad. Which means until we find a replacement, I have to take up the slack that will be left as they make their preparations to leave. Not a moment of rest when working 8hours straight, even during lunch. You know what they say - No rest for the good looking... sigh.

Before I fall victim to the tell-tale signs of burnout, I finally decided to drop everything I was doing at the stroke of 6pm and started painting... in my office. Yep, I tried getting back into a painting mood on my Warmachine figs and to finally complete my 500pt battlegroup (pardon the game speak). With only the time available to pass the traffic, I only worked on just a few colors on one warjack and nothing else. Work still reared its ugly head during my impromptu paint session but only in the form of signatures and some email. Once I get the basic colors done will I be set to do ink washes, shading, highlights, and other clean-ups. Maybe I can finish this particular piece over the weekend. Then on to the next.

Time to go home and get some rest for tomorrow's grind...

40k At Galleria...

July 22, 2006...

Venue : Neutral Grounds Galleria
The Gamers : Balian, Salubri, The Meanderer, Sigismund, Justin, Kyuzo with a special appearance of Oberon

...

Long time since we played our regular Saturday games here. Hope to do this more often.

For details, just follow this link where it's posted in another blog.

HGR Journal Entry No. 008

Birthday Lunch at Amici de Don Bosco...

July 22, 2006...

Venue : Amici de Don Bosco
The Usual Suspects : Mom, Dad, Sister Pie, Barry, Gorgeous Sister, Your Truly

Belated Happy Birthday My Darling Beautiful Mother!!! Traditional weekend birthday lunch was decided by the group to be held at Amici de Don Bosco, which is just a couple of minutes away from my office. Having slept over at the office the night before, The Edwardsons picked me up at the office and a good thing at that since parking at Amici's was at a premium.

It was my first time to try the place out and I'm surprised at Sister Pie's knowledge of the place. To describe Amici's in a few words: It's probably the closest thing to authentic Italian cuisine, mixed in with a few helpings of traditional Filipino cuisine in an almost canteen setting. People make the effort to get here, despite the parking and despite the number of people who go here. It's the food, and I'll attest to that.

Pulled out all the stops on what the place had to offer. The pizza was great, the clams and tuna in the two pastas we ate were magnifico, and the lechon kawali and sugpo were equally competing for best honors. Topped the whole thing off with Amici's home-made gelato that would have me screaming for more if I wasn't as full. :P

Despite a slightly subdued atmosphere (everybody was enjoying the food too much), the proceedings were a happy affair. I for one was a bit distracted, knowing that work is just a couple of blocks away but I didn't wanna ruin Mommy's Day. Wishing Mom long life and happiness as always. Mwah!!! ;)

A Timely Message...

Live in such a way that those who know you but don't know God,
will come to know God because they know you.

Thanks Jenny...

What Should Have Been A Great Evening...

July 14, 2006...

Never thought I'd get off balance by this. It was great timing for a cup of coffee with a friend that night...

Didn't end in tragedy really. Just an affirmation of where things stand between us friends had to be said, though personally I felt that the timing for such wasn't necessary. Call it nostalgia, call it illusion, but whatever it was that helped me escape the troubles of that night all crashed down to the reality of one text message on the way home. With that line marked, we'll see tomorrow how things will work out.

Life. Enuff said.

Took The Day Off...

July 13, 2006...

Home.

Rain's been erratic all day. Took the day off when I woke up feeling more tired than ready to go to work.

Been getting calls from the office all day. Had to make some calls as well. Work at the site has been erratic too. Sounds like they'll be allowed to go home early to avoid getting stranded in the storm.

Must get the necessary rest and recharge. ;)

Badminton At Ultimate Impact...

July 7, 2006...

The Venue : Ultimate Impact Sports Center along Yakal St.

The Players : Carlo F., Carlo D., JR, Pauline, Myself with the special appearance from Janine

Played late into the night (9-11pm) considering reservations are hard to come by on the hours that we ideally wanted. Special thanks to Janine, a friend of mine and fellow club member who was able to join in on short notice. It was good that we had the opportunity to get some needed exercise. Lost 6 lbs on sweat alone! Got very tired after that, but it was a good kind of tired. I decided to head back to the office and crash there so that I can get more sleep over going home and coming back to Makati early.

We hope to make this a more regular thing. Maybe we'll consider other venues with earlier available times too.

Chalking Up Another Year...

July 2, 2006...



Felt like any other day...

Nah. +P

Some significant things that were happening around me on my birthday:

1. Superman's in the movie houses. Enuff said. ;)
2. Agassi just bowed out of Wimbeldon to Nadal. He'll be hanging his racket after the US Open. I remember seeing him in New York in '94 when he won the US Open then. Great career Dude!
3. Michael Schumacher on pole in the US Grand Prix. Maybe he'll finally win another one. He's world champ to me even if he's currently trailing. (Later in the day he does win it and now trails 19pts with 8(?) races to go. Go Schumi!!!)
4. Pacquiao against Larios - my money's on Manny. ;) (Later in the day he wins over Larios via unanimous decision! Go Manny!!!)

Les and Barry came over to spend the Sunday with me and the rest of my family here at home. Simple celebration lang. Just lunch, a little dinner maybe, and hanging around for majority of the day. No ticker-tape parade. No wet and wild parties. No lengthy speeches on greatest achievements and life story. Just hanging out with family and feeling the love.

Thanks to those who remembered and here's looking forward to another year ahead. ;)