My secret vice

After keeping it a secret for months, i will finally come out and admit --- I am a fan of Arnel Pineda, the new front man of Journey, the 80's band.

I lost five pounds after a crazy crazy day of not eating followed by a sleepless night just watching Youtube videos of Arnel singing all the rock hits -- enough to get me back in shape to don a bikini (for which i won second place -- see previous post).

Look at the evidence:
a new MP3 player just to hear him sing the hits at their Vina Del Mar Concert last February, which i learned to download from a multiply site;
my own comments in various Youtube clips, my own attempts to transcribe a new hit song;
my work seriously in jeopardy because i keep on watching Youtube instead of minding my own documents;
i wake, sleep, eat, commute with Arnel Pineda singing; my youtube playlist is made of about 30 clips of Arnel singing rock songs from Nirvana, Led Zepellin, Paul McCartney, Sting, Aerosmith
i relish reading all the comments in Youtube, press releases, blogs, and just joined a forum of a group of wacky Arnel Pineda fans (called the deligirls);
the Arnelpinedafans website is in my bookmarks both in my PC and my cellphone;
The first sites i log in are of course all the sites devoted to Arnel Pineda and Journey;
i visit Kevin Shirley's website just to learn some more;
I have learned the lyrics of many of the Journey songs, and have even made a file to know from which albums the hits came from;
I count the days when the new Journey album will come out and hope i can get my own copy;
I am saving for the planned concert here in Manila. And so on.

What has become of me?
Well, turns out i am not alone, a lot of girls have been smitten too -- middle aged matrons like me, young beauties, grannies, Filipinas and Chileans(?)and Americans and what have you. Many Filipinos abroad have made Arnel Pineda their own symbol and have made it a point to defend him from all detractors.

But why?
I have been thinking of this for months so i can justify my vice. Maybe it has to do with part of my life when i was transitioning from serious rebellion, to just nonconformity.

Let's see...
In the eighties, i was a fresh graduate working in a non-government agency working with the blind, beginning a new life (you better believe it!), beginning a new love affair, enjoying the booze.
Our office was helping a band of talented blind singers, who called themselves the Inner Vision get gigs in local bars. Four talented guys whose eyes may not see, but whose ears were so sharp and whose voices were astounding. One guy Ray, even made the moves and we had our share of cuddling and smooching (without my beau knowing). Ray was a great singer and so were his bandmates whose names i forget now.

We, my officemates, took it upon ourselves to get the Inner Vision to their gigs. Having a brother who had all the rock albums, i volunteered to transcribe the lyrics so the guys can sing hits by Journey, Supertramp, Steve Miller, Michael Franks, Jim Croce and others correctly. Hell, i know the lyrics of many rock songs, just try me. Our group was there wherever they played, and took the song requests.

During these sessions, my future husband finally got the courage to court me, and with the band playing all the hits, and us downing pitchers of San Miguel Beer all night, how can our love not blossom?

However, i had to stop joining the gigs because i became pregnant and eventually married Alex...So like a devoted mom, i stopped smoking, boozin, and changed the soundtrack of my life to easy pop songs as well as children's songs.

Fast forward a quarter of a century...
Now i am a fit, fun, fabulous widow enjoying celibate life.
The three kids are grown up
I have a career with its glory and gore...

And now Arnel sings...

Is it because the song, Don't Stop believin resonates in my being for having been blessed with so many miracles? Or that Faithfully is an anthem of the loves of my life? Or that Open Arms is one of the songs i always ask Ray to sing for me because of his rich tenor voice? Or that the rhythms of the rock beat keep me bouncing with life? Or that the rock songs Arnel sings are part of the soundtrack of my youth? Or that i finally realized after he was gone that i first fell in love with Alex because he wields a mean guitar and that we both enjoy rock music?

Or that it was also the time Arnel Pineda was trying to get into Yjos that our bands have met in the old Shakey's New Frontier? Not knowing that while i was trying to get four blind guys to the mainstream of society, one kid was trying to get off the streets to earn a living by singing.

In writing this and reminiscing of my young days, i suddenly understand why there are so many Journey fans who have been with shocked with the Filipino upstart who dared to fill Steve Perry's shoes. I realize the truth of Herbie Herbert's words : The whole idea with Journey was songs that started someplace, took you somewhere, and resolved that and brought you back.

Yes, our life is a Journey...
We started in one place, dreaming our dreams, carrying a vision...
We were faced with changes, welcome or unwelcome ...
We had our heartbreaks, disappointments, struggles...
We had our triumphs, our drunken nights...
We made friends, broke up, gained and lost trust, lost track...
We saw our own families break up, fight, or maybe reconcile,
We had our friends leave, loved ones die...
We had many beginnings and now we are beginning to face the pre-departure area...
Our parents are getting old, our kids are starting a new life...
Sometimes we had closure, many times we were left with many unanswered questions.
And most of all, we are given wonderful miracles and answers to our fervent prayers..

All this wisdom and nonsense...

All because Arnel Pineda sang Faithfully and caught the attention of Neal Schon, my life has forever changed.

Go Arnel! Go Journey!
Rock the World!