Let’s have a non-music, non-comedy, non-family-related post today, shall we?

Ever since I was a child, I’ve had a fascination with ancient history, specifically mummies. Whether Egyptian, Inuit, or Scandinavian bog, I’ve always found the concept of mummification fascinating, as we can see the various ways the peoples of the world try to hold on to immortality and preserve themselves for all eternity.

Most people think that the best mummies may be found in Egypt, but you’d be surprised to find that some of the best-preserved mummies may be found in China and in Greenland.

Today, I’d like to tell you a little bit about Xin Zhui, more popularly known as Lady Dai, and the Inuit baby found in an icy grave in Greenland. I learned about the former through a special that Cathy watched on National Geographic (or was it Discovery?); I learned about the latter through an old issue of National Geographic that I read when I was a child.

Pictures of the immaculately preserved Inuit baby and Lady Dai (warning: not for the squeamish) after the jump. Read more

[youtube="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54ovD0bzYP8&eurl="]

Wanna play a little ‘Six Degrees’ game that links Celine Dion to the Pokemon soundtrack?

Meatloaf’s new album, Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster is Loose, drops this Halloween, naturally. On that album is a revival of Celine Dion’s #2 hit, It’s All Coming Back to Me Now, penned by Meatloaf’s favorite songwriter, Jim Steinman. The track is now a duet, Meatloaf singing with Marion Raven. (You can listen to the track in full on Meatloaf’s MySpace page.)

Marion Raven? That name sounds familiar to Filipinos, whose may remember her as half of the Norwegian duo M2M (the other being Marit Larsen), who contributed Don’t Say You Love Me to the soundtrack of the Pokemon movie.

Celine Dion sang It’s All Coming Back to Me Now, which was revived by Meatloaf with Marion Raven, who sang Don’t Say You Love Me for the OST of Pokemon. Three degrees. Hahaha!

Wanna link Celine Dion to Marilyn Manson or Rob Zombie? Link her to Meatloaf again, who, on his new album, works with John5, producer of Manson and Zombie. Oi vey.

My hits went through the roof yesterday after I posted my thoughts about free phone calls for voting for Philippine Idol. It was a pleasant surprise, and I received both positive and negative comments, on-blog and through email, about my thoughts on saving Philippine Idol. Well, such is a democracy, and I’m just pleased that we can get people to at least thinking about ways of saving the show, because it is a darn good show, and it deserves to be saved.

Philippine Idol deserves a Season Two.

I am no marketing genius, nor am I some word-of-mouth guru, but I believe I speak for a significant number of people who watch the show locally and are aghast with how it’s been performing so far. In this day and age, especially with the Internet playing a significant role, to not consider working with the fans is virtual suicide. ABS-CBN and GMA7 all know, to an extent, what kind of power the fans wield, and what kind of power word-of-mouth can do for an artist’s career.

Given that we know of certain legal entanglements that prohibit Philippine Idol candidates from singing anywhere else save for the show - even if eliminated, I imagine - until after the show’s winner is crowned, if you will, here are some other low-budget, high-profile suggestions that can raise WOM for Philippine Idol:

• Join the media circus - and not just on ABC-5. Sam Milby was the big winner of the first edition of Pinoy Big Brother, not Nene Whateverherfamilynamewas. Why so? He looked good and he was allowed to run the gamut of media mileage, doing endorsements and TV shows even before the winner was announced. In the USA, eliminated contestants figured in talk show appearances throughout the week after their elimination, and not even on Fox. Constantine Maroulis performed on SIX talk shows after his ejection from American Idol. A contestant doing the rounds of TV and print (and not just the Philippine Daily Inquirer) boosts a person’s image - and that of the show.
• Tie in with the fansites. Why shun the Internet? IfABC-5 were really serious about creating buzz for the show, especially amongst the AB and upper C markets (who have the mighty peso to spend for their candidates, since right now, there is no other way to vote), they should channel their candidates towards Philippine Idol fansites. Philippine Idol Updates, for instance, did an interview with Jhonalene Sison - the Voltes V Anime Girl - that got the girl with the strange green hair a lot more mileage than, say, Christian Masaga. Do the Google search. So tie in with the fans. Allow email interviews. Visit PinoyExchange.com and other forums to get an idea of what the fans think.
• Make official profile pages for the candidates on MySpace and Friendster. You want to create fans? Create MySpace and Friendster pages for the candidates! In a world where musicians are dying to acquire fans, MySpace and Friendster allow free opportunities for the avid fan to get closer to the artist. Imagine how many fans feel closer to Drae Ybanez and Jan Nieto, whose Friendster profiles are pretty easy to find? I’ll tell you - A LOT. Maybe not enough to save Drae, but we’ll see whose career lasts longer between Drae and other singers - either on Idol or on other reality shows - who have more money to send votes in but less fans.
• Stick with a time slot, and don’t mix sports and music! American Idol and the Philippine Basketball Association don’t mix. The fans are different, the social classes are different, they’re completely different programs with completely different programming needs. Separate the two because they don’t work. So enough with the shifting (and oftentimes unpredictable) time slots, and give people a set schedule they can work with. In the US, it’s Wednesday for performance night and Thursday for results; here, that may just work (because more people are home on weekdays). If you want to go with a weekend, I think a Saturday 7-9 (already an hour too long - American Idol is tightly edited to fit an hour) performance night is good, with a results night at 930PM the next day. Yes, it’s late, but I think people would rather stay up and be ready for the show, rather than tune in at 830PM and sit through interminable hours of basketball. It’s nothing against the PBA, but again, they’re two different programs with little in common.
• Finally, something really radical, but a real possibility, if ABC-5 refuses to allow free phone calls: Two-hour windows for voting. If you won’t allow free phone calls, consider the possibility of two-hour voting, just like in American Idol. That way, time becomes the great equalizer. Those with money (and those without) will all scramble to get their votes in during the two-hour window, and increases the chances of those with more fans to get their votes in, versus those with less fans who have the luxury of texting the whole 24 hours.

Last night, Ryan Agoncillo announced on Philippine Idol that no Idol contestant would be voted off for the week, owing to technical issues on the part of Sun Cellular and Smart Telecommunications, resulting in votes unsent to Sun and confirmation messages not received by voters on Smart. Ideally, that results in two expulsions next week.

This is not the first time Philippine Idol has allowed this to happen; just three weeks ago, Typhoon Milenyo spared Drae Ybanez and Stef Lazaro from being voted off that particular week. Technical problems aside, Philippine Idol is hobbling on wounded legs, and, I’m sure, rapidly losing followers week after week.

Among the many issues undoubtedly facing the local incarnation of the famous Fremantle franchise are:

• Dwindling ratings. After decent first-week ratings, Philippine Idol’s ratings are arguably questionable. With word-of-mouth on Internet forums and visits to fansites decreasing, as evidenced by lower unique visitors, Philippine Idol is certainly losing whatever first-mover advantage it had. Shifting time slots (performance nights from Saturdays to Sundays, and result nights from Sundays to Mondays, placing the show at the mercy of the Philippine Basketball Association’s unpredictable time slot) do not help the show. Indicators of the show’s struggle are the advertisements - most are ads of ABC-5, San Miguel products, and Smart Telecommunications.
• Credibility issues. The recent voting off of Reymond Sajor and Drae Ybanez, two of the strongest male competitors, the almost inexplicable longevity of at least three Idol contestants of questionable talent, and the bottom finishes of Pow Chavez, Gian Magdangal, and Mau Marcelo, three of the judges’ preferred choices and arguably among the best of the 12, are denting the show’s credibility as a breeding ground for true, lasting talent.
• Unfair voting channels. While the Philippines is a democracy, all channels for voting are paid channels, unlike in the United States, where phone calls are toll-free. Allegations of massive vote-buying by family and friends of the more affluent candidates are rampant. While this is certainly not illegal, it may call into question the fairness and true democratic nature of the competition (i.e., a contestant with legions of fans who cannot afford to vote will lose out to a contestant whose few family and friends can afford to send the text messages and buy the phone cards).

So what avenues are available to ABC-5 and Philippine Idol? This fan humbly suggests that the organizers of the show take into account the full extent of the Fremantle franchise. This may still be a business, as far as ABC-5 honchos are concerned, but the American Idol franchise allows one aspect of the democratic process that ABC-5 should consider: FREE PHONE CALLS.

Forgive me for making it sound so ridiculously simple, but allowing free phone calls can democratize the process in favor of the candidate with the most fans, which is what you want. You want the fans who will buy the albums, attend the concerts, and support the career of the winning candidate. More than anything, you’re fighting for the credibility of the franchise, and unfortunately, the moneyed candidates are not of the same caliber as the ones who have neither the money nor the bloc with the necessarily financial capacity to carry them to victory.

If a moneyed candidate of inferior quality wins (and allegations are rampant for at least three of the candidates), you can expect that candidate’s career to expectedly flounder. A candidate who wins on the sheer basis of money and not popularity can expect a short and embarrassing career.

Allowing free phone calls bridges the gap and can increase ratings. People will vote. People will watch, because now, they have a better chance to participate and directly influence the vote. As it is, people are wondering why the inferior candidates are not being voted out. Might it be not because the Filipino people are not making the choice, but they are trying to, and cannot, because their sheer numbers cannot defeat the almighty peso power of those whose financial resources are deep?

How can Gian Magdangal, for instance, a candidate touted as a frontrunner since the beginning, and with an obvious fan base, if one scours the Internet forums, online discussions, and search engine results, continue to languish at the bottom? How can Mau Marcelo, an obvious top choice, place in the bottom three with Gian and Reymond Sajor; for the same reason, how can Pow Chavez, a woman supported by, among others, Kris Aquino, land in the bottom four?

For the sake of the argument, can we not say the number of people voting are not the issue here, but the number of votes that these people can manage to send?

Above all, Philippine Idol is a popularity contest, and popularity should not be gauged by sheer voting ability alone. Admittedly, the other reality singing competitions also have no free voting implements, but Philippine Idol should be different because it aims to reach to a different target market altogether. We’re looking for a star who will reach across social barriers and classes. If the masses are not given the opportunity to participate in the selection of such, would it really be accurate and fair to call the winner of this competition the Philippine Idol?

Update: In the interest of not rocking the boat, I’ve deleted the section that augustman found offensive. It’s not that I do not doubt my sources; it’s just that it takes away from the essence of this post, which is to encourage ABC-5 to think about free phone calls for voting purposes.

Beyond this bended knee
Beyond the words I speak
Beyond the songs I sing
Hear My Worship
All that my heart can bring
This is my offering
Jesus my Holy King
Hear my worship

- Hear My Worship, Jaime Jamgochian

Some randomnities I just felt like blogging on today in light of the busy workload I’ve got:

• I want to testify to God’s goodness! Soon after I got offered the job at one of the country’s largest and most respected public relations firms, Cathy was promoted at work! Ain’t God a Blesser?! Thank you, Lord! My wife sooooooo deserves it. She’s spectacular at what she does. I’ve lost track of the number of times she’s sat down with me in the car and fumed about how she can’t do more things for her school. Cathy really does stand for excellence in every way, and it’s amazing how effective she is at what she does. I love you, sweetheart; congratulations!
• I am starting work on yet another new worship song in light of the great things that have been happening to my family and me. I believe fully that God is going to usher in 2007 with my family and me totally dependent on Him and superblessed with a new home, new yaya, and new hope in Him. The title of the song? Rely On You, based on Psalm 42. When my spirit grows faint within me, it is You who knows my way… on the road on which I walk, You’re with me, remove the stumbling stones I pray…

• Jaime Jamgochian’s Hear My Worship is now #1 on the Radio & Records’ Inspo chart! Congratulations, Jaime! Jamgochian’s Hear My Worship, in case anyone cares, is now #3 on my weekly Top 20 chart, after Starfield’s Son of God (up 4-1) and Brandon Heath’s Our God Reigns (to hear the songs, click on the artist’s name to proceed to their respective MySpace pages).

• Suri Cruise is adorable! Her famous father may be experiencing tough times (”tough times,” of course, being totally relative, since he is the world’s biggest film star), but his baby is so cute! I believe it’s his, and I think we should leave him, Suri, and Katie alone.

How are things going with you?

Congratulations to Amelie Mauresmo, who defeated big-match jitters and Justine Henin-Hardenne, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, to win Wimbledon, her second Grand Slam title. Big week for France, which could win the World Cup tomorrow.

Good luck, France! Here’s one Filipino rooting for you.