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The day before yesterday, I overcame two life hurdles. I passed my advanced scuba certification course, something I should have probably done thirty years ago. The second accomplishment involved a deep, buried skill I never knew existed.
In the evening my fellow divers decided that we should celebrate my advancement at the Squirrel and Moose Karaoke Bar just down the road from the Sogod Dive Resort where we were all staying. Mandy and Peter from Wales had organized the event. Mandy decided that because she and I happen to be rabid Neil Young fans, I should pick a Neil tune and then sing it, perhaps to consecrate the certification or something. I explained to her that I'd never actually sang outside the shower and was frightened, so she promised to provide back-up vocals.
The singing is rated by the karaoke machine. The scores for the singers before us were all in the mid to high 90's range when Mandy and I took the stage. We'd chosen Neil's electric guitar version of Cinnamon Girl. And we were freaking bang on. It was as though we'd been practicing for months. When Neil's screeching guitar went silent, the crowd of eleven went wild. When our score, a perfect 100, was posted, our fans almost blew the roof off. Mandy used to sing back-up for Englebert Humperdinck, among others. But hey, back-up is back-up, there can only be one headliner. And that's what I've been telling myself ever since we hit that century mark. So to hell with you lot that said I was a little shaky on the higher notes, or that Mandy had a beautiful voice.
The evening finale was a solo, Ellen singing Hotel California, a song she absolutely hates. We might have stayed at the Squirrel and Moose a bit too long.
Manny Pacquiao hails from the city of General Santos in the Philippines. Many think that pound for pound he was and perhaps still is the best boxer in the world. Because of his already lengthy career, Manny is probably wealthy enough to buy a good part of the Philippines outright. Maybe a Canadian province or two also.
In the mid 70's Canadian singer-songwriter, Dan Hill worked as a summer student in the stockroom of the Ministry of Education. He hadn't yet made it, but we all knew that he would. Every night after work we'd all sit on boxes of photo copy paper as he took out his guitar and sang the songs that were soon to hit the air waves. I remember the booming voice of this humble young lad as he sang tunes that Filipinos far and wide still hold dear to them.
Sometime in the recent past Manny and Dan got together and re-produced Dan's top hit from the mid-70's, Sometimes When We Touch, with Manny doing the lead vocals. Check it out on youtube. It's pretty funny: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDs4Si1alGs
Coincidentally, this was the first song to be sung at the karaoke concert. I have no idea whether the young Filipina who sang it was trying to imitate Dan or Manny.
We left the dive resort at seven-forty-five in the morning. After three hours of travel in buses, vehicles called jeepneys and a final rush aboard a bicycle rickshaw, we arrived at the docks in a town called Hilongos just as the gang plank of our ferry was about to be raised. There's a beautiful breeze as I type. Ellen is sleeping just outside the ferry chapel. I think I can see the island of Cebu on the horizon, or maybe it's just a cloud.
- comments
Margo Hey you guys sound like you had a blast. Rick recognized "the fighter", in fact he saw him on T.V. today on an interview
Margo Ellen and Jack, I'll be expecting to hear some lovely angelic voices the next time we're together. We may bring you into the irish family.
kerry and betty Thanks for sharing your trip with us.....very enjoyable and adventurous.