There is a genteel and a gracious gesture that people in the performing arts practice. At curtain call, when the whole cast comes on stage to take a bow and acknowledge the applause of an appreciative audience, a bouquet of flowers is handed to the principal ballerina or the lead actress.
To show that the success of the performance, and the attendant praise and accolade, were not attributed to only one performer or artist, the ballerina or (actress) pulls one long-stemmed flower from her bouquet and hands it to her dance partner or leading man. It’s a charming sign that the honor is being shared between two artists. With this in mind, I collected an imaginary bouquet full of happy thoughts for the New Year that I’d like to share with our readers.
My favorite three FM radio stations:
104.3 listen to music from the 1940s and 50s, when vinyl records were played by a revolving diamond needle on the turntable machine and our parents hummed the music or sang along. Three songs came to mind that were popular in the ‘50s: Purple Shades (1952) sang by Joni James; Wanted (1954) lyrics written by and sang by Perry Como; Face to Face (1954) sang by Gordon Macrae. These songs had haunting refrains and romantic lyrics to express the greatest emotion known to all love. (These songs are on the Internet, just google them.)
100.3 for music from the ‘60s and ‘70s. My generation played and sang these songs when we were in school. They defined our mood, our dreams and ambitions. Leading the pack would be music by The Beatles, plus a sprinkling of talented singing groups and balladeers from Elvis Presley to Ricky Nelson, The Lettermen, APO Hiking Society, Joe Mari Chan, Paul Anka, Johnny Mathis, and RJ and the Riots, etc. Of course, in my opinion, only Frank Sinatra bridged the different genres and generational music.
98.7 for classical music that’s timeless. They brought back childhood memories when our parents exposed us to opera and concert music. Our parents knew the importance of feeding the heart and the soul so they made sure that we learned to play a musical instrument or dance to it in ballet or in our traditional and native Filipiniana dances.
One particular song, You Go to my Head (sang by Frank Sinatra with a recent version sang by Diana Krall), has been a long-time favorite of mine. The lyricist used so many similes and metaphors (more than three) in one song that it could be adapted by the young generation of today to increase their vocabulary and their command of the English language. It was a giddy way of expressing one’s feelings when enamored of love. Can you pinpoint the similes below? (Hint: A simile is a figure of speech that indirectly compares two different things by employing the words “like,” “as,” or “than.”)
“You go to my head and you linger like a haunting refrain
and I find you spinning ‘round in my brain, like the bubbles in a glass of champagne.
“You go to my head like a sip of sparkling Burgundy brew and I find the very mention of you like the kicker in a julep or two. The thrill of the thought that you might give a thought to my plea. Cast a spell over me, still I say to myself get a hold of yourself
Can’t you see that it never can be?
“You go to my head with a smile that makes my temperature rise. Like a summer with a thousand Julys, you intoxicate my soul with your eyes. Though I’m certain that this heart of mine hasn’t a ghost of a chance in this crazy romance, you go to my head.”
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In an Asian fusion/Japanese restaurant (Mogu @ Serendra), the Italian dessert panna cotta (a cooked cream with vanilla and gelatin) has three fruit sauces or coulis for toppings: green tea, strawberry and mango. Each gives a distinctive taste, with a hint of the tarty fruit, all refreshing to the palate.
This past week, our church community invited everyone to bring their clocks and calendars to be blessed during Mass. Clocks and calendars? I added another “c” to these items cell phone because the cell phone needs just as much blessings tied with the hope that it would guard against the receipt of messages of trepidation, anxiety and urgency. We all want our 3Cs to bring us fun and joy and exciting, pleasant opportunities to make us better persons in thought and deed. I would also add an extra prayer to reduce the three put-me-downs in our lives: the torments, the tears, and the tempests.
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The three-number combination of 11-11-11 is on a roll this year. The feng shui masters predict this combination as an auspicious time to embark on three pursuits: open a business, get married or have a baby. The first day of the new year, 1-1-11, was also chosen as an opportune time. While we’re at it, the date, 1-11-11, looks like a lucky pick, too.
I’m not sure how convincing these are but the thought that I will never see these numbers aligned and in perfect match within a lifetime, made me see them dancing above my head. Personally, the biggest reason I find it exciting is 11-11-11 happens to be my birthday and that calls for three cheers considering the other two milestones that make it a season of plenty: my husband’s birthday and our ruby anniversary.
I wish we can all bunch our hopes and dreams into threes in the year of the wabbit. I can imagine Bugs Bunny munching on a crispy carrot and asking in between chomps: “What’s up, doc?” It is my hope that there would be many defining moments in our clock, our calendar and our cell phone that would allow us to grow, to pause, to pray and smell the sweet scent of the long stemmed roses I lovingly share with you.