Journey to Samal » Uncategorized

Know It Some

Randy C — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 03:06:11 +0000

I’m a know it some.

Quite often I’m a know it none.

On occasion, I’m a know it all.

Though for the most part, I’m just a know it some.

Blu-ray Movies in the Philippines

Malipayong Bag-ong Tuig

Randy C — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 15:00:06 +0000

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Chess in the Philippines

Randy — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 07:00:06 +0000

Chess has been a part of my life for the past 10 years or so. I don’t play myself, though I did learn the basics when I was a young boy. My two oldest sons play(ed), the oldest having learned it from his uncle. My middle boy still plays and in fact had tournaments the last two weekends. He mostly plays adult tournaments, which he has done since he was nine.

I didn’t realize until just recently that chess was so popular in the Philippines. We’ve seen a few Pilipino players at some of the larger tournaments we’ve gone to, but there are people of all nationalities at these events. Russia and China seem to be especially well represented.

During our visit to the province last year my brother-in-law invited me to play. I was a little surprised to see they had a chess board. Not wanting to be rude, and I was a little bored, I decided to take him up on it. Like I said, I don’t play, so I believe when he resigned it was just a matter of him being respectful. That was my first notion that chess was a popular game there.

Recently I’ve seen many articles regarding chess in the Davao area, both adult and scholastic. The coverage of these events seems to be on par with other sporting events, and that in itself puts it in a different class than around here. As I said, my son has played in a couple of tournaments the last weekend, but you would be hard pressed to find any mention of those anywhere around here.

Mindanao has its own very talented star in the making. National Master Reggie Olay, who is from Kidapawan City, said he is also targeting the Grandmaster title next year and join the country’s elite club of chess wizards. The 32-year-old Olay, the hottest chess player in Mindanao today, vowed to unravel more brilliance in his game as he seeks to gain two more norms this year to complete his International Master (IM) title.

“I’m really concentrating on my chess career now and I hope to get my two IM norms this year,”

said Olay, who gained the first of three IM norms when he finished strong in Subic International Open last year.

The Philippines is also home of the world’s youngest Grandmaster, Wesley So. So was born in Manila, and was the 7th youngest of all time to achieve the title of Grandmaster. On the January 2009 FIDE rating list, GM So’s ELO rating is 2627 making him the highest ranked chess player in the Philippines.

Other current Pilipino Grandmasters include:

Eugene Torre (ELO rating 2560)
John Paul Gomez (ELO rating 2539)
Mark Paragua (ELO rating 2537)
Rogelio “Joey” Antonio Jr.(ELO rating 2519)
Darwin Laylo (ELO rating 2504)
Buenaventura “Bong” Villamayor (ELO rating 2471
Jayson Gonzales (ELO rating 2467)
Nelson Mariano (ELO rating 2447)

Olay seeks IM, GM titles | Sun.Star Network Online

These Dreams

Randy — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 23:13:00 +0000

Last night we went to my wife’s first concert here in the States, and first one for me in a long, long time. Three big names – Cheap Trick, Heart & Journey – all long past their hay day, or so it seemed going in. The real purpose was to please my wife, who has been infatuated with Journey since she learned that they are now fronted by a Pilipino.

If you don’t know the story behind this, you are really missing out on one of the more fascinating “dream come true” stories.

Arnel Pineda was discovered by Journey guitarist and founder Neal Schon via YouTube. It seems Journey was in need of a new singer and with no leads in the business, Neal turned to spending hours viewing videos on the internet. Arnel was living and playing in and around Quezon City with the group The Zoo, and while they covered many groups, he really nailed Journey. Arnel’s passion and feeling really came across in those videos to Neal. Neal got in touch with Arnel, a visa was arranged and the rest, as they say, is history.

When I first learned of this from my wife, I thought it was a nice touching story, good publicity for a Pilipino, and a chance for Journey to continue to make some bucks on the Geezer Rock tour. Seems it’s much more than that. Their new album, not really to my tastes, has done very well for them. Arnel has brought a new energy and following. The sound system in the Spokane Arena sucked, at least where I was sitting, but it couldn’t keep you from seeing the absolute soul and talent that Arnel brought to each song. The ballads were where he really shined, and thankfully the sound system wasn’t overloaded on those.

Being the jaded old fart that I’ve become, I wasn’t expecting anything other than making my wife happy by going along to the show. I mean, while I liked songs from each of these groups, I never liked any of them enough to own their albums or CDs. But as I was sitting there watching this show, with the terrible acoustics, I couldn’t help but be inspired by this 40 year old bouncing around the stage with a grin from ear to ear. If he wasn’t the epitome of happiness, then I’m sure I’ve never seen it.

While this story should be a real inspiration to all Philipinos, to me it was even more. It is an inspiration to all those who follow their dreams. Nancy Wilson of Heart (which by the way was surprisingly outstanding) dedicated their song, “These Dreams“, to Arnel. Seems I wasn’t the only one to be taken in.