With Beef Strips in Between my Teeth…

Couple of years back, heartthrob actor/singer Sam Milby and I got together for an out-of-town show.

That night(as usual), the producers had sumptuous food prepared at a beautiful house where we were to have dinner before the show.

After handshakes to the “Who’s Who”, Sam and I proceeded to the buffet and got our plates and share of pasta in red sauce, shrimps, breaded fish fillet, buttered vegetables, etc.

But that night’s culinary best was the “Beef Kaldereta”—Moist and tender beef cubes slowly simmered with slabs of potatoes and carrots stewed in oozing rich, slightly sweet and spicy red tomato sauce…

At our dinner table  set in the garden area, I said: “Hey Sam, beef’s really good.” Sam retorts, “Yeah, yummy and tasty.” then…

…with beef strips still in between our teeth, a couple of girls interrupt our heavenly gastronomic moment, saying:”Sorry ha, pa-picture naman oh….”

i froze a few seconds…(half of me irritated–that people can’t even let us swallow the spoonful of beef in our mouth, half of me trying hard to smile:))

The ladies got at our backs, their friend in front with camera at hand, Sam and me SMILE(with NO TEETH, lest the beef show haha), click! and presto! The girls hastily grabbed their camera, checked their photos, thankfully smiled at us and walked away:)

i looked at Sam and said: “How can you be so GRACIOUS???!!!! Aren’t you ticked off?”

Sam sheepishly says: “I do Chard, I do. From where I’m from(Ohio), people wait till you finish eating, if not, it’ll be really disrespectful. But like Erick(our manager) taught us, a lot of times people who see us for the first time are so excited that they don’t wanna miss their ONE chance to have that ONE photo, and in many ways, we owe a lot to our fans and the people who support our shows.  So I try to overlook the irritation and choose to give them what will make them happy. It’s hard,  but I try the best I can.:)”

I was floored. Embarrased. Yet inspired.

Me? Tiny singer compared to this humongous mainstream hunk? I’m an ant. A flea. And yet the Star teaches the flea.

This February(2012), Sam Milby is taking one of the biggest risks of his Philippine entertainment career to fly to New York stay there a few months to try to make it on U.S. PrimeTime television!

I really wish him well, and I’m believing he’s gonna make it internationally.

Yes, Sam’s a versatile actor. Yes, Sam’s got the Greek physique. But he’s got something extra…

Belter Jed Madela(who has been one of Sam’s roommates in the Sunday variety show ASAP all these years) says it best: “I’m observant in our room, I’ve seen people change when they became popular. But not Sam. From PBB till now, he’s one of the rare few who stayed the same.”

To his millions of fans and followers, Sam has impressed us with good looks and great talent.

But for us who know him up-close, he has impressed us, simply… with a good heart.

All the Best Sam!

My Piano Teacher from Hell…

When I was a little boy, my Mom—who was a good piano player herself despite not being “classically trained”– decided that I would greatly benefit from having formal piano lessons early in life.

And so she came… my piano teacher from Hell, around 4 in the afternoon.   Old, boring, and STRICT!

Boy, was she strict! She would smack my little fingers with her old, intimidating 12-inch ruler when my hands slouched against the keys…. or when my posture was wrong…

“Heartless”… i said to myself.  ”How much and how long must I bear this unjust suffering?”

Why should I subject myself to such horror when every kid my age was happily playing games with all the other kids in our neighborhood?

I don’t remember how the lessons ended, but it did. And I was the happiest boy on the planet. Ha! What a victorious triumph!!!

 

Fast forward to almost 2 decades after…. I’m watching my favorite crooner Harry Connick Jr.(who is multi-awarded jazz pianist hailing from New Orleans) weave his magic on the upright piano, fingers smooth as silk on the ivory keys, I started to sinking into regret…

Imagine if I continued my piano lessons from youth… I could, NOT JUST SING, but play beautifully on the piano, write music scores and arrange for concerts, theatre musicals, plays, etc…

It dawned on me… I didn’t see it right.  My piano teacher wasn’t old, boring, and strict…   she was mature, focused, and disciplined.

And I?   The stubborn little Chinese rebel who lacked understanding.

 

How many times does it happen to us? Mom or Dad tells us to do something(or give us advice), and we kids resent it, only to find years later that they were right after all.

My heart goes out to every parent who endured the rebellion of their child, and yet they stuck to what was right, even risking that their kids hate them.

I found that it ends up just the very opposite. I’ve grown to  love my Dad and Mom even more deeply now that I realized I was wrong after all.

“Sorry Ma, sorry Pa,  I didn’t understand…”  but now I do…. and that piano teacher from Hell?     Nah….

She was an angel from Heaven.

 

I think I see better now:)

 

 

 

 

Keeping Sane in the Biz

Golden nuggets from a dear artist I highly respect, “on” and “off” stage:

“I love what I do, I love this  job, but this industry can drown you. Disillusion you. It’s important to have friends outside of the biz. Normal people. Ordinary people.

Looking back, in all the years when crowds where in a frenzy–clapping and cheering me on(that i was tempted to believe in my impeccable flawlessness), there was Mom. 

Oh, she was brutally critical. As I went down from the stage, I would ask her, “Mom, how was it?”

She’d say, “…it wasn’t from the heart.” Years later, i realize, that she “kept me sane”. Her truth kept me grounded.

So many artists have changed after they got their breaks. Carrying their “pedestal presence” into rehersals with their chins up, “high and mighty” arrives the superstar.

I find that most of the truly excellent and enduring artists are the most humble and meek.  Totally opposite of the former.

Another thing, sometimes, the emotional complaints we artists rant excessively about are soooo far from what real, normal people have to face– like having no food or money for the day.

Listening in to your non-showbiz friends in their seemingly mundane, “ordinary” world will humble you to deny having the “ME-attention-spotlight” all the time.

Plus, it gives you good comparison to assess how truly heavy (or even suicidal for those I knew got into drugs) are your” hardships/depression,  especially if you lend an ear to the “tough times” others are going through on their side of the world.”

So, am I not to have close friends in the biz?  Oh no, on the contrary, I agree that there are so many great friends to find in this business.

But the crucial point I think I got from the story is not to have your inner circle DOMINATED just by people from your world.

I think it will give us a fresher and wider perspective on life as we continuously learn from other successful people who made it big, and yet don’t know a thing about show business(or the who’s who).

This will ensure that we stay more often on “student-learner” mode rather than drown in always being  the “STAR” in the spotlight, wanted for photos and autographs…

Or become a big powerful name in the industry to the point that production staff(for fear) cannot even correct us for being late(all the time)…

Gee, I’m thankful to have Mom, Papa, my sis, and my manager Erickson tell me the brutal truth for years.  And a handful of non-showbiz friends and mentors who don’t patronize me as well.

It hurt, but I hope, similarly, it has kept me sane to this day.

And God keep me(and all of us) sane the rest of the way:) Teehee…

Sincerely trying to stay “sane”,

RP

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