Why Queen Rocked the World

I watched the episode of American Idol featuring the music of Queen without Freddie Mercury who has gone to the great beyond thanks to AIDS. I admit that I enjoy listening to their music especially the iconic We Will Rock You, Bohemian Rhapsody, A Crazy Thing Called Love, We are the Champions (the universal anthem of, well, champions!). Too bad that some of the contestants bastardized their songs, particularly the guy who rendered a timid version of We Will Rock You and worse, some of the aspirants who could have done a better performance picked the wrong piece.
But Queen is Queen and Freddie Mercury is Freddie Mercury. The contestants, even the judges, know this and Randy, Paula and Simon must have cringed on their seats when a contestant gave a performance that would make Freddie rise from the grave and grab the microphone from their hands and do the act himself. In fairness, some gave a rousing rendention of the hugely successful band's songs.
Brian May and the rest of the band must be lucky to bag Freddie Mercury as their frontman. Freddie can change the tone of his voice to the heart-thumping tune of We Will Rock You to the maudlin We are the Champions. I also enjoyed their cross-dressing act in the video of I Want to Break Free. My younger sister opined that he must have been an extremely engaging performer onstage and I could only agree with her.

Off for the Holy Week

The office is half-deserted, which is abnormal for a Wednesday, but it's the Philippines and April 12, 2006 happens to be the fourth week of Holy Week for the Catholics who comprise majority of the population, and some had already utilized their paid vacation leaves.
Most of my officemates are casting anxious glances at their watches, wondering if they can catch that trip to the province to reflect on Christ's life and, okay, for some rest and recreation and reunion (Boracay is the ideal destination for the hedonists!!!).
I'm not going anywhere. I'll be content to stay here in Metro Manila and imbibe a healthy dose of spirituality. Confessions are a must in my family and we must attend the reenactment of the Seven Last Words (think Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ sans the gore) at the local Catholic Church on Good Friday. And of course, there is the requisite abstinence from meat (aw shucks!). It will be a long weekend and I am expecting to see my officemates next week with good tan or a bad sunburn.
Holy Week was much different in Leyte. On Good Friday, we would participate in a procession of the Stations of the Cross. The route covers about a quarter of Tacloban City and it takes the whole afternoon up to early evening. The procession starts at 3:00 p.m., widely believed to be the hour Jesus expired on the cross, and thousands of devotees would participate. And on Black Saturday, we would return to Church for the Easter Vigil which runs from late evening till dawn. In Palo, a town a few kilometers south of Tacloban, they go a step further by crucifying penitents on a hill. This intense display of religious piety is not surprising because the town is the seat of the local Catholic archdiocese and it hosts a seminary. It is also common to see penitents flogging themselves or lugging a real wooden cross accompanied by the requisite tormentors through the streets of Tacloban. I have not seen this level of religious fervor in Metro Manila. It must be the big city culture, or the penitents probably head to the provinces (usually to "sacred sites" like Mount Banahaw) to perform the rituals. Besides, carrying a heavy cross along EDSA length is no joke. I tell you, the people in the province are more religious!!!