under the bright lights: March 2005

attention deficit

music: starfield - 40
mood: under the bright white sky

perhaps one of the greatest struggles i have been to right now is
keeping myself from being lazy. this laziness was brought about by my
frustration with things that didn't really turned out the way i've
planned it. man's natural instinct is to strive harder, but bringing out
the non-conformist attitude in me; i reacted differently. i gave up.
way to go, evan! now i'm pulling horses and carriages just to yank
myself off this situation. the tug o' war gets tougher and tougher
by the second.

laziness had drained my creativity, had eaten my bread named patience
and had shortened my attention span. it already established it's
territory in my hobbies and slowly creeping it's way into my ministry.
and yesterday i was trying to write, but words just.. won't.. come..
out... i feel so dumb. no i feel dumbererererer.

last night i continued reading books. i abandoned the four books that
i've been reading (and yes oftentimes, even the big brown One) early
this year to give way to my hobby: procrastination. while i was
reading, i realised the amount of knowledge that i've been keeping
myself from. and come to think of it, all these weeks; i've been
trading all my time for nothing. nada. sa tagalog, itlog. so i will
continue on with my reading. i promised that to myself and to our
neighbor's dog. resuming my reading is my first step in helping myself
out of this stupor, and with God's ever-abundant grace i will overcome.

ravi zacharias has been a real encouragement to me
lately. it's only now that i found his website. his essays are very good.
he's one of the greatest apologetic who ever walked the earth.
kaya naisip kong magbasa ulit para matuto pa.

what does your t-shirt say?

What does your t-shirt say? by rejektedrockstar
Name
Age
Fav. Color
Gender
Ta-Da

Quiz created with MemeGen!

do you want a Gmail invite?

music: beautiful day - sanctus real
mood: sleepy

email me: evan.gallo@gmail.com
i still have 50 invites.

next time lagyan ko na sila ng labels

music: not to us - chris tomlin
mood: weekend na naman!

di ko mahanap yung cd ni kuya na puro hymns, mga isang daang cds siguro yung hinalungkat ko kagabi talagang di ko nakita. pagkatapos kong mapakinggan yung cd ng passion na puro hymns eh parang nabuhayan akong makinig ulit ng mga ganung kanta. very rich kasi yung text, kumbaga more hardcore than hardcore pa yung mga lyrics nila. nakaka-bless talaga yung mga passion artists kasi nagi-integrate sila ng hymns sa mga songs nila. eto yung mga sample:

1. yung line na "the cross before me the world behind" sa song ni chris tomlin na "not to us" ay galing sa song na "i have decided to follow Jesus."

2. yung original version ni chris tomlin ng "we fall down" (we lay our crowns, at the feet of Jesus...) ay siningitan ng first stanza ng "my Jesus i love Thee" sa huli.

3. si david crowder madalas mag-cover ng mga hymns, "all creatures of our God and King" at "come thou fount."

4. tapos yung favorite song ko na "You are my King (Amazing Love)>" ay based sa immortal hymn ni Charles Wesley na "and can it be that i should gain."

saka kaya ko pala gustong mahanap yung cd na yun kasi may astig na version dun ng amazing grace na acapella, magandang kantahin sa church. ganda sana gayahin yung style ng pagkanta. ayun, mga nakita kong cds eh yung portishead (naalala ko yung song nila na may scratching kaya pinakinggan ko, hehe), mojave 3, softies, yung dvd ng making ng joshua tree, mga demos namin, mga mp3 ng jars, tapos nakihalo pa sa kalat yung mga minidiscs ni kuya. di ko na lang muna siya hahanapin, kasi yung mga bagay minsan kapag di mo hinahanap biglaan na lang na sumusulpot.

david vs martin

music: obsession - delirious?
mood: ...

i listened and re-listened to the two versions of obsession last night, one from delirious? and the other by david crowder band. i can safely say that david crowder's cover version is better. i know delirious? is delirious? but i think david crowder put more dynamics to the song and created a teriffic progression that made the song more catchy.

the original version starts with a steady bassline gliding over a floor tom - bass drum foundation which gave a very gothic, eerie feel. while dcb's version starts with an acoustic guitar with some noise guitar coloration (e-bowed guitar that was plugged through digital reverb pedal), a more modern rock approach. while martin smith's singing is unique with his usual english twang i would still favor david crowder's style because he has more passion in his delivery. on the part where david did a falsetto, you would really think he's crying his heart out. both versions progressed into reckless abandon in the end, with guitars locked to rock and roll mode making a wall of sound noisy enough to make your pastor frown. hehe.

the song obsession is about one's longing for God. the chorus of the song says:

And my heart burns for You........

it's a very good worship song. it's one of those songs that would really click during youth gatherings. the lyrics are certainly emo, minus the self-pity content. we usually sing this during soundcheck but we haven't inlcuded it in our worship set yet.

survivor leyte

music: i still haven't found what i'm looking for - U2
mood: staring on a blank wall

i'm not really happy with how things went during my work in leyte. it was supposed to be a one week stay but it stretched to 18 days. but i'm glad i'm back and enjoying the privileges of living in the city. God is gracious. without Him, things could have gotten worse.

i was bitten by a bee during our second day in anahawan and it made my right foot swollen and painful. and i don't know what rubbed against my left foot, but whatever it is, it caused an inch long wound on my ankle. also, the place is crawling with spiders. they're everywhere. and they come in all sizes and colors. we locked about three of them inside the mcrowave antenna. let's just hope the RF radiation won't turn them into giant arachnids.

the site in liloan is located on top of a 600-ft hill. it was a 30-minute hike with 60-degree slopes. the slopes are steeper in some areas, reaching about 80 degrees (i'm not kidding) and you really have to hold onto something lest you wanna roll back down to where you started. i tell you, by the time you reach the top; you're too tired to work. we didn't stay there for too long because there is no electricity and no drinking water there. the guard-on-duty also warned us of wild monkeys that roam in the area around nighttime.

the sites were really not ready for telecom installation, i really don't know why the Smart people ordered mobilization so soon. they should have communicated properly with their field officers. plus, there was a work stoppage issued by the mayor on the other site so how the heck can we work there? i just hope nothing like this would ever happen again.

but like what i said, God is gracious. i was okay amidst the NPA and elephantiasis scares. food was never scarce and water came just in time before our sugar levels drop low. plus the view from the top of the hill is awesome and i saw new sets of star constellation there (i swear i haven't seen those before). the people there were nice.

but it could have been better if i was able to watch the concert.. next time guys, next time.

we threw a surprise party for my mom who turned 60 last monday. she was crying throughout the celebration because she haven't the slightest about it. we held the party at Shangri-la restaurant somewhere in quezon city. it was attended by our close friends, relatives and pastors. kuya erap's and auntie mel's arrival from ireland and singapore respectively was right in time for my mom's birthday party.

sigh

music: 2 o'clock your time - ace troubleshooter
mood: pero 10:30 pm pa lang dito, advance relo nyo?

stuffs i've been listening to lately:

hungry by vineyard (their best-selling album ever)
world service by delirious?
not to us by chris tomlin
hymns ancient and modern by passion (chris tomlin, david crowder and charlie hall)

the album hymns ancient and modern is in heavy rotation in my player. this is arguably the best album that i have heard in years. it features modern arrangements of hymns that we have come to love. i get a kick listening to david crowder's take on the doxology. it's superb man. but i guess charlie hall made the greatest reinvention of all with the song the solid Rock. the chorus of the hymn says: