Last night, I checked into Saint Luke’s Medical Center for a midnight operation that no one knew about except Cathy. I had gastric bypass surgery.

Inspired by the success of many celebrities who’ve had gastric bypass surgery, including Carnie Wilson and Randy Jackson, I decided to give up on the natural way of losing weight - exercise and diet? Bah! - and get thin the quick, albeit expensive way. So after hours of surgery, I’m now here in the hospital recuperating. There’s WiFi here, so I’m able to blog. My stomach hurts like heck, but it’s a small price to pay to look the way I used to look back in college.

Cathy was there for the operation, and took photos. They’re pretty gruesome, but if you’re interested in seeing what happens during gastric bypass surgery, click Read More to go after the jump. Read more

I was conducting a search on YouTube.com for Leona Lewis, because I was interested in watching the video of her recent Billboard Hot 100 #1 song, Bleeding Love. On top of the search results was an acoustic version of the song by a musical act called Boyce Avenue. Curious, I clicked on the video and discovered the refreshing acoustic sound of an indie band from Florida. Don’t know if they’re Christian - they did cover Carrie Underwood’s So Small - but I recommend them anyway.

Love Letter, Kitchie Nadal’s sophomore album, is now available at selected Caltex Star Marts throughout Metro Manila. Love Letter features Highway, a mid-tempo love song to God, as well as 16 other songs, including Armour Bearer, Iniibig Kita, Beautiful Jesus, Grace, Walk on Water, and Lalaland.

I picked up my copy of Kitchie Nadal’s Love Letter (Starmart on Julia Vargas corner Meralco Avenue, for PHP280), and I am blown away by the quality of the packaging! Instead of your cookie cutter CD case, Love Letter is packaged in a small envelope made of thick recycled paper, rather like a real letter. When one opens Love Letter, one picks out several sheets of paper with scribbled lyrics, doodles and drawings, even a postcard and what looks like a Polaroid photo. Absolutely exquisite! I haven’t seen this kind of quality packaging since underappreciated N/A Records artist Raynn, whose album was a groundbreaking masterpiece of design.

What about the songs? It is my pleasure to report that Love Letter is a stunning masterpiece of contemporary Philippine music. This album is an absolute gem, with producers including Jack Rufo, L. Middeldorp, and – GASP! – Cynthia Alexander! I actually noticed shades of Cynthia’s sound in Highway, even beyond the Alexander-produced Iniibig Kita, one of my personal favorites on the album.

The fire of Kitchie’s bravery in singing of her relationship with Jesus Christ, the fire that started with Kitchie’s self-titled debut album, has exploded into a full-blown inferno on Love Letter. The entire album is a love letter to Jesus, and I think the reaction of both fans and first-time listeners to this unfettered testimonial to Christ’s love will range the gamut of human emotion to something unusual: it can be an encouraging testimonial or an offensive turn-off. I, for one, am definitely part of the former: Love Letter is unabashed and unashamed in declaring a fascination and gratitude with Kitchie’s Redeemer, and I applaud Kitchie for deciding to take this next step in her career and use that influence to reach others with the message of what happens to someone when she has a relationship with Jesus. Whether she croons how she wants to live her life selfless and secure (Beautiful Jesus) or surrender to grace (Grace), Kitchie’s songs put a very real vulnerability on her relationship with Jesus, and in doing so, joins the rare ranks of Filipino artists whose careers stand to become even more stellar because of their desire to take risks.

This blog post provides a sample of Highway, the first single off Love Letter. I strongly encourage you to go out to your friendly neighborhood Star Mart, Astroplus, or other record outlets, and pick up a copy of Love Letter. At PHP280 and 17 songs with one of the most creative album packaging designs in recent memory, Love Letter is one original Filipino album you must not allow to leave out of your record collection. AND BUY LEGIT!

Listen to Highway by Kitchie Nadal mp3

Highway lyrics after the jump. Read more

The Philippine blogosphere has long ignored a focal niche market: the Filipino-Christian blog.

I estimate around 5% of Philippine blogs are overtly Christian in nature, and this number is growing. Even as more Filipino-Christians make the foray into social media marketing - fancy talk for blogs, podcasts, and the like - without any real idea of the implications of being an online ambassador for Christ and the Philippines, Christian media leaders are coming together to engage believers, establish them in the faith, equip them with ideas on how to really be effective witnesses for Christ online, and empower them to go forth and Multiply, so to speak.

Redeem The Airwaves: Upload! is a three-day media conference on tapping the effective potential of various types of traditional and digital media for Jesus Christ. Running from April 10 to 12 at the Lighthouse Christian Community Building along Buencamino Street in Alabang, Redeem The Airwaves: Upload! is the ultimate starting block and the ideal stepping stone for Christians and their communities seeking to use social media networking to their best advantage: to honor God and make disciples.The conference features the following topics and speakers:

• Making Sense as a Communicator, Francis J. Kong
• Blogging 101, Joey Bonifacio
• Radio 101 and the Future, Mike Pedero
• Podcasting, Jim Reyes and Arnold Gamboa
• Making Videos for the Internet, John Tan of CBN Asia
• The Role of Christians in Media, Julius Fabregas
• The Long Tail Economy, Dr. Chuck Quinley
• Media Values vs. Christian Values, Kata Inocencio
• Organizing Life-Changing Events, Ardy Roberto
• Song Composition, Jungee Marcelo
• Launching Your Band, Roca Cruz

I, for one, think this event is gonna be bananas! You can visit Redeem The Airwaves online, email love@theedgeradio.net for reservations and inquiries or call 339.0140 or 0918.959.EDGE for more information.

Go, Filipino-Christian bloggers! GO! Super-duper mega EB!

It’s been months, and I still can’t get enough of You Are Everything by Matthew West. The carrier single of his third studio album, Something to Say, is a solid song of worship to God, and you would do well to give it a listen. It was my #2 song of 2007 - after Mandisa’s Unrestrained, a new version by Myron Butler and Levi of which is now in my top 5 of the week - and is still going strong. Great, great song, You Are Everything.

For the first time in history, the Miss England beauty pageant has a size-16 contestant, and enlightened pageant enthusiasts - myself included - couldn’t be happier.

The success of 16-year-old beauty Chloe Marshall, a plus-size model and beauty therapist student, at the Miss Surrey regional competition, underlined the ever-growing clamor for a more realistic representation of beauty in mass media and beauty pageants.

Marshall, who hails from Guildford, was quoted as saying that she entered the Surrey competition to break the stereotype that one has to be tall and skinny to be considered beautiful. Chloe is 5″10 and weighs almost 170lbs.

Chloe - or Miss Surrey, as she will be known when she competes for the Miss England crown - has a figure described by her managers at Models Plus as ‘luscious.’

In an interview with Good Morning America - which brought Chloe to my attention - she was quoted as saying that she is not promoting obesity but the idea of being comfortable with who you are. If you’re curvy, you’re curvy, and no amount of dieting is going to change that for good. Marshall says she’s embraced her being curvy, and views herself as an ambassador for plus-size teens.

As a man who loves his woman because she is curvy - excuse me, Cathy is curvy, and I will sit and squash anyone who dares call my wife fat - and beautiful, I applaud Surrey’s enlightened decision to field a plus-size contestant in the Miss England pageant.  Break that mold, Chloe. I hope you win it all.

I’ve been revisiting some of the amazing Contemporary Christian songs I’ve had the pleasure of hearing in 2007, when I realized I’d never checked if Jaime Jamgochian’s Hear My Worship had a video. So I did, and lo and behold, a live version! Hear My Worship is such a worshipful song!

Jaime’s new album, Above the Noise, was released just last month, and it features the amazing praise anthem Sing of Our God! (Hear Sing of Our God in its entirety on her website; it’s perfect for your churches!)