World AIDS Day: Boy Blue…In This Life

Ricky Martin as MAC Viva Glam’s ambassador

Life has never been fair. Some may not care but somewhere in the darkest hour, someone will be there and give a damn about it. As we commemorate the World AIDS Day, let us take some time to pause…reflect and say a prayer for those who are currently battling this epidemic…and for those who have lost their lives and those they have left behind.

I believe that we are responsible for all the things that we do…to ourselves, to others. Sex is good, at least for the heat of the moment, but if you truly care enough for a longer, much brighter future, you will protect yourself & your partner and be safe at all times.

Personally, I’ve heard of a few deceased acquaintances and friends who did not seek of early medication nor bothered to get themselves checked up in the first place and these have all led to their early passing. That was just sad.

And very recently, a very close to my heart was infected by it. It came to me as a shock as he usually confide in me not until he truly got the results from the lab and that’s the only time my dear friend opened up with me. It was painful. It hurts. Reality sucks. The day we had a heart-to-heart conversation about it through Skype, I have consoled my friend to be thankful still that at least, he got diagnosed earlier…better than late. I told him that life still goes on, at least it is not like stage 3 or 4 cancer where the doctor will give you a few months or a year to live depending on the prognosis but with HIV, if it is diagnosed earlier and you start the treatment early, the life span prolongs.

And that’s just my own way of supporting my close friend…I have to cheer him up and remind him like a mother to start drinking all the possible prescribed meds that he could take although he opted to treat himself first with some herbals which somewhat helped him when his recent test results showed some good news that his immunity improved.

In general, both the infected one and those who are close to them have their own ways of dealing with it. Even famous celebrities like Cyndi Lauper and Madonna had their own way of dealing with it…through music. In 1986 (80′s was the height of the AIDS epidemic), Cyndi Lauper wrote a song and dedicated it to her best friend who died of AIDS titled, Boy Blue. Proceed from the sale of the song were donated to AIDS organizations. Madonna also wrote a song in 1992 titled, In This Life for her friend who died of the same thing at such an early age of 23.

So for me, that little “boy blue in this life” that both Cyndi Lauper and Madonna are referring to is my dear close friend who I know, is a fighter. And may I say that he once again became an inspiration to me to live even a healthier lifestyle 0:-)

So today, if you know of someone who is currently battling this disease, reach a caring hand to show him or her your earnest support. After all, it’s love that what makes the world go round, so go ahead and spread love…not HIV/AIDS.

With that, may I leave you with Cyndi’s “Boy Blue” here or here and Madonna’s “In This Life” here.

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If you are in Manila, get yourself tested through the assistance of the Love Yourself Project. And if you are here in Bangkok, free check up and consultation are being done at Silom Clinic.

Azkals Also Made News For Philippines On November 24, 2012

Three global beauty pageants were held yesterday: Miss Earth 2012 in Manila in which our very own Stephany Stefanowitz was crowned Miss Air; Mister International 2012 in Bangkok as I foreseewherein our representative did not make it even as one of the finalists (proving that the phrase, “The third time’s the charm” is not really always the case when a back-to-back victory for Philippines eventuated both in the Land of Smiles earlier this month for Kevin Balot who nabbed the title Miss International Queen 2012 and for June Macasaet who won the Manhunt International 2012 belt); and last but not the least, a 1st Runner Up victory for Andrew Wolff on the Mister World 2012 competition held in Kent, England.

But you see, it’s not just “beauty & brains” day for the Philippines yesterday. It was also about sports as our very own Azkals (portmanteau of Filipino slang term, “Asong Kalye” or “Street Dog”) did their very best to score at least 1 goal over Thailand‘s War Elephants who tallied 2 goals at Rajamangala Stadium here in Bangkok during the opening of the Group A matches in the 2012 AFF Suzuki Cup.

The Azkals will have two more round of games to wrap up this week hoping to emerge victoriously over Vietnam on November 27 and with Myanmar on the 30th.

In the long run, I just want to congratulate each and everyone of them whether they represented our country on the stage of pageantry or in a sports arena…for making us Filipinos so proud. Mabuhay to all of you!

1 Million Mark & Happy Anniversa-THREE!

It’s a triple celebration today as this blog turn 3 years old and simultaneously, it just hit its 1 million views mark. As you can see, there’s a new look of the layout to give it a fresher vibes.

Here’s the screencaps from my Dashboard taken this 11:15 a.m. showing the 1,000,033 views. . .

1 million views and counting…thank you so much everyone for your patronage and loyalty to this blog.

As this blog turns 3 today, let’s take a look at some of the popular icons, symbols and other stuff that has 3 or at least signifies this powerful numeral on it. . .

In chemistry:

Atom is consist of three constituent particles: the Electron, the Proton and the Neutron.

In film:

The unbeatable trio of Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley had conquered all our hearts in a series of films that made them famous in the first place.

Following the success and fever of Harry Potter is the Twilight series where a mortal Bella Swan falls for a vampire Edward Cullen and is loved much by her childhood friend Jacob Black who is a werewolf. Again, the power of three.

Again, in this film based on another book adaptation, three friends have won our hearts as Charlie, Sam and Parick showed us the perks of life and how to combat it with compassion and acceptance.

In TV:

In this series, three good witch sisters bewitched us with their powerful spells.

What does a Vampire, a Werewolf and a Ghost have something in common? The answers are: a house that they share and dwelling in as they face the many challenges of “being human”.

In fictional superhero:

The iconic superheroes of all time also known as the “Trinity”: Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman have been idolized (myself included) from generation to generation.

In fairy tale:

Who would forget these three little pigs? Just cute!

In novel:

In this classic French novel, three musketeers along with D’Artagnan (not a musketeer) showed us the meaning of what true inseparable friendship is all about as they face adventures together, “All for one, one for all.”

In comedy and popular culture:

These three fellas made us laugh with their numerous short subject films. They were indeed one-of-a-kind vaudeville and comedy act of the mid-20th century.

In music:

The most commercially successful vocal group in America and during the Motown era that launched the career of legendary Diana Ross having tallied a total of 12 number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100.

Having sold 10 million copies of their self-titled debut album and scoring 3 number one hit singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, Wilson Phillips was the best-selling trio of their time. Hold On…that was in the early 90′s.

Tallying a total of 4 number one singles, 50 million albums and 15 million singles sold worldwide, TLC was ranked by Billboard as one of the greatest musical trios. At the end of 1999, they were ranked as the seventh most successful act of the 1990′s and in 2008, inducted into the All Time Hot 100 Artist Hall of Fame by Billboard.

This is a number one peaking song of Britney Spears in 2009 talking about threesomes while referencing American folk-singing trio Peter, Paul and Mary during the chorus as a sexual slang. Naughty Britney!

 

She Bop is a number 3 peaking song by Cyndi Lauper and probably the most commercially released “masturbation” song. In the video, many sexual metaphors were used such as the “self-service” sign and 3 gas pumps with the signs Good, Better and Nirvana in the cartoon part of the video. This was also the first song she sang during her comeback gig in Manila last March 17, 2012.

I guess that’s all for now. Once again. I would like to thank and congratulate everyone who has been there for me since day one. Three years and counting with a million views…and it’s all because of you my loyal readers. I’m speechless and grateful. Cheers to you all!