Miho Sings The Blues

This is so unforgettable... This was 2 years ago at a party for exchange students from Japan. Her name is Miho Horino from Sendai, Japan, 16 years old. Miho politely asked us if she could play the guitar and jam with the professional session artists we hired. We said "Sure, by all means". We thought: "Oh well...Why not... we could stand another pop-rock rendition of whatever tune we haven't heard since never". Ms. Miho, wearing the traditional Yukata/Kimono, introduced herself courteously, chatted with the band in halting English. They exchanged smiles and nods. After 2 minutes of simple instructions, she signaled the band to start playing. We thought: "Oh well, here goes. Let her new found Pinoy friends and Japanese colleagues have fun. Teenagers will be teenagers" We were pleasantly surprised! My friends and I never expected this teenage wonder (from the beautiful city of trees of Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan) to sing and play the guitar like she was trained by BB King and coached by Ella Fitzgerald. Our eyes popped and our jaws dropped. She charged up the whole ballroom. We became instant fans. Miho is a musical genius! She was simply amazing! Watch! This was August of 2006, my JCI chapter hosted the 16th Miyagi Philippines Youth Exchange Program. The student exchange program aimed to foster cultural exchange between select students from the Miyagi Prefecture, Japan and Paranaque City, Philippines.

Let's Volt In!

"Pare, naiyak ako dito." (Man, this made me cry.) A schoolmate from high school wrote this simple reply when he received the YouTube video via posting at our high school alumni Yahoo group. He now resides in the state of Illinois. I guess that made it more awfully depressing...being far from home and all. True true...this video made me cry, too. I don't really know the exact reason why. Perhaps we all felt sentimental about those days. Back in the day, 1978 to be exact, a 75-channel cable TV was for the rich folks who could afford the monthly bill and satellite connections. I don't even think our 14-inch Trinitron had the capability to connect via the cable providers antennae. In those days, you had to climb up to your roof to fix the bad reception of your TV set. That being said, we had to settle for viewing good ole' local TV...and all of it's 5 channels. In 1978, kids who owned a TV set rushed home from school and eagerly waited for the new episode of the popular Japanese Anime, Voltes (Five) V. By 5:50pm, the urban and suburban neighborhood streets were a virtual ghost town without a child or even puppies in sight. Bicycles and carts were left on the sidestreets as if aliens abducted all the kids. Come 6pm, children are glued to the TV set on Channel 7. Those were the days, when parents wouldn't dare touch the channel dial of the set for fear of the infamous Voltes tantrum and being struck by laser sword. This was a mere half hour of anime experience where we lived the fantasy of saving the earth by controlling the super robot Voltes Five who knew Judo, Karate, and brandished a cool laser sword that cut through steel. My heart rate is racing just by writing this. I need a glass of water. VOLTES FIVE! Watch and weep...