Sharing my Closet: November 2011

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Coldplay's coming to FIX ME. New Year's Eve concert in Abu Dhabi.

Panic stricken. Yes, that's me when I learned that my closest friends wouldn't be here to welcome the New Year with me. They will go on vacation, without me - waaaahh - life is so unfair. A couple of weeks in the Philippines with their families, friends, pets, etc and I'm not even jealous (sarcasm to the highest level). I was on the verge of losing sanity when I learned that someone very special is flying over here to Dubai for a visit and will celebrate the New Year with me (kung sino ito, abangan). That made me feel better, it was like getting redemption. On top of that, seven-time Grammy Award Winner Coldplay is going to rock on New Year's eve to kick off the Volvo Ocean Race in Abu Dhabi, this is pure salvation baby!

Coldplay is a band that I actually like very much. This British alternative rock band was formed in 1996. From 'Starfish' they changed their name to 'Coldplay' in 1998. The release of the single 'Yellow' brought them to fame in the year 2000. So these four talented guys, Chris Martin (lead vocals, keyboards, guitar), Guy Berryman (bass guitar, backing vocals), Jonny Buckland – (lead guitar, backing vocals) and Will Champion – (drums, percussion, backing vocals) is set to do their electrifying performance at a stage next to the purpose-built Volvo Ocean Race Destination Village on the Corniche Breakwater. The Volvo Ocean Race will run from December 31, 2011 until January 17.

Their rainy Abu Dhabi performance in 2009 brought together a crowd of 20,000 fans. It was such a phenomenal show and I hate that I missed that. I'm really grateful for this chance to catch these guys live on stage. Tickets will go on sale Monday (28th Nov) at 12 noon. Please check Think Flash's website for more details. See you guys there!

These are photos of their concert in Abu Dhabi in 2009:

Love these guys.

You rock, Chris Martin!

The rain didn't stop the music.

Check out this music video of "Yellow", my favorite color and my favorite song.

"Your skin, oh yeah your skin and bones
Turn into something beautiful
And you know for you I'd bleed myself dry.
For you I'd bleed myself dry..."

- Coldplay

Monday, November 21, 2011

HATE it or UNHATE. United Colors of Benetton Campaign 2011.

United Colors of Benetton certainly did not fail to spark controversy with their latest ad campaign called "UNHATE". The ads feature photoshopped images of world leaders kissing bordering on the making out zone. The Vatican was more than unhappy because one photo includes that of Pope Benedict XVI kissing Ahmed Mohamed el-Tayeb, Imam of the Al-Azhar mosque in Cairo. Vatican denounced it as an "unacceptable" provocation, the Associated Press reports. They are taking legal action to prevent the circulation of the ads. In a statement last Thursday they labeled the image "offensive not only to the dignity of the pope and the Catholic Church, but also to the sensibilities of believers. It shows a serious lack of respect for the pope," the Vatican spokesman said.

Benetton's campaign is built to achieve reconciliation and acceptance. In the press kits Benetton mentioned that they are "inviting the leaders and citizens of the world to combat the culture of hatred." According to Benetton "These are symbolic images of reconciliation - with a touch of ironic hope and constructive provocation - to stimulate reflection on how politics, faith and ideas, even when they are divergent and mutually opposed, must still lead to dialogue and mediation."

President Obama’s likeness engaging in a kiss with Chinese President Hu Jintao

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-Il and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak

US President Barack Obama and Hugo Chavez of Venezuela

Activities for the campaign include posting the controversial photos in symbolic locations. Last Wednesday images from the campaign exposed momentarily in Milan, New York, Paris, Tel Aviv and Rome but were quickly taken away.
Milan, Italy

New York

Paris, France

Tel Aviv

This is the photo (below) Benetton withdrew after getting a fierce protest from the Vatican. (The Pope and Ahmed Mohamed el-Tayeb, Imam of the Al-Azhar mosque in Cairo)

Agency: Fabrica in cooperation with 72andSunny NL

Creative Director/Writer, 72andSunny: Carlo Cavallone

Creative Director/Designer, 72andSunny: Paulo Martins

Design Director/Partner, 72andSunny: Robert Nakata

Creative Director/ FABRICA: Erik Ravelo

You may support the campaign by uploading your own photos on their Kiss Wall.

All photos taken from Benetton's UNHATE website.

The fashion house is known for it's shock advertising method. I believe that in purchasing you don't just buy the brand alone, but the identity that it represents. So brands like Benetton would jump into the cultism of beyond selling products, even in the most cynical manner. But certainly they achieved the goal of boosting introspection. A lot of questions were asked and discussions were made. We buy a shirt or dress because we believe it represents what we have confidence in. In a world of high end technology in an almost robotic society - sometimes exaggeration is the key to get a powerful message across. At the same time I can see that using images like these can seriously offend people.

It's really hard to quantify social responsibility and regulate creativity. As for this campaign - you may either hate it or UNHATE.

You decide.

"Advertising is only evil when it advertises evil things."
- David Ogilvy

Monday, November 14, 2011

Take a sad song and make it better: Paul McCartney in Abu Dhabi

I absolutely love Paul McCartney. I watched his concert in Abu Dhabi last night and I had an amazingly wonderful time. Okay, so I "zombified" my day in the office yesterday because I didn't get enough sleep the other night since I watched Incubus' concert but I was again there in Yas Arena last night and I felt alive. I lost count of the number of times I yawned today while I'm staring at my computer. It doesn't really matter. It was all worth it.

I had the great pleasure of seeing Paul McCartney wrap up the last day of the F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, and I almost wept with joy. By the way, Lewis Hamilton won the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix for the first time, snatching the crown of Sebastian Vettel. In one of his spiels Paul even talked about the race. He said in an interview, he was asked what he can say about the race. He said "I just told Sebastian to let the British drivers win, and he did!" He was so happy and he mentioned that he and George Harrison are big fans of F1 racing. Paul's On the Run tour is one of the greatest concert experiences in my life. The tour began on July 15, 2011 at the Yankee stadium in New York City. He went to North America (New York City, Detroit, Montreal Chicago and Cincinatti), the Middle East (Abu Dhabi) and is off to Europe (Bologna, Milan, Paris, Cologne, London, Stockholm, Helsinki, Moscow, Manchester and Liverpool) to complete his world tour. His band comprises of Rusty Anderson (guitar, backup vocals), Paul Wickens (keyboards, guitar, percussion,harmonica, backup vocals), Brian Ray (bass, guitar, backup vocals) and Abe Laboriel, Jr. - a crowd favorite (drums, percussion, backup vocals).

It was only Chat who came with me this time, the other girls were too wasted to join us, considering it was a freaking weekday. Thank you Chat for letting me drag you in to this, but you have to admit you enjoyed it too (sayaw ka lang ng sayaw eh). The concert appealed to the 'oldies' population, the attendees are mostly of my dad's age group. But of course there were also a lot of young people like me (chos). If there's one person I'd like to be with me that night, that would be my dad. He is a Beatles' fan. He named me after McCartney and Lennon's famous song, Michelle. Know more about it on my very first entry, it's about influences, click here. Old couples were singing, dancing and fooling around, it was totally like a scene from the flower power era, it's just that the hippies were wearing older faces. I missed Jose last night, we could have danced the whole night, no really we could have.

Yas Marina Circuit

Entrance

On me:

Top - Zara

Tights - Forever 21

Pumps - Steve Madden

Bag - Bauhaus

Excited ako jan, di lang halata. =)

Happy!

Ayan, smile na na tlaga =)

Favorite part of my top, Zipper! =)

Skulls all over!

My first heeled pumps - breaking it in (parang kotse lang)

Bag - a gift from Rach =)

Chat clearly gave me instructions not to take any photos of her because she was having a bad hair day, but I can't help it. Oooops. =)

On her:

Rolling stones shirt - H&M

Tights - H&M

Flat pumps - Nine West

Concert Photos: Excuse the bad quality, it was taken from my unreliable Blackberry phone camera.

...and be merry =)

My first glimpse of him

A very huge crowd.

Golden girls and boys

Couple hugging (left side of the photo), sweet =)

Everyone went wild.

He removed his suit.

Hello suspenders!

You rock Paul! =)

Ugh, the difficulties of being small.

Souvenir shirt booth

Pang- boys pero pinilit ko sa akin. (notice the flip flops, asan heels mo day?)

Instant shirt dress =)

On the Run tour schedule

Lights

Tired.

On our way home.

Paul McCartney's set list from www.setlist.fm

Here's something Paul and his band prepared when they were on their way to Abu Dhabi.

Here's a video clip of McCartney performing Live and Let Die. Good thing my Flip looks like a mobile phone so I was able to take videos. It's a really great song and the fireworks simply nailed the show! Watch it! =)

Here's a video of Paul McCartney singing the longest Hey Jude version I've ever heard. We all sang with him. =)

Can you believe he performed 35 songs? At 69 years old, this guy can still rock. He still has his boyish ways that charmed the crowd making them feel young themselves too. He sang Here Today for John Lennon, he talked about George Harrison, Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton. So if you guys have the chance to catch him on tour, I heartily endorse. It will truly make your life dazzle for a couple of hours.

"Hey Jude, don't make it bad
Take a sad song and make it better
Remember to let her into your heart
Then you can start to make it better"

- Paul McCartney