K88 Reunion Bulletin No. 5 - Remittance + Reunion Details

Dear all

Everyone is invited to attend our 4th regular meeting tomorrow at our gracious host Jay Ravalo's place at Jaymin Building, Market Ave. Extension, San Miguel, Pasig at exactly 8 PM.

We also would like to request those who will be able to remit their financial contribution for the homecoming tomorrow to please come or drop by or remit it to Jay. We would truly appreciate your support in this endeavour. You can email us or text Jeff, Cocoy , Joey, or Jay Ravalo for coordination if you won't be able to drop by at the meeting.

Details of the reunion proceedings will be finalised at the meeting. We would encourage presence and your inputs in the finalisation process.

We would also like to thank, Bing Espiritu for authoring the article that we sent to Batch 83 for inclusion in the souvenir program. Also to Ericson Mercado for the artwork that will be placed at the back cover of the souvenir program. Thank you for a job well done.

As what have been previously posted, we need a keyboardist for our very own K88 band. You are very much welcome to jam with Jay, Gatchie Bong and Noel.

Again thank you for the support and please, let's make this 20th year a very memorable one.

Long live

Countdown to the 20th Year Celebration!!!

It's been almost twenty years since the Kumbento Boys Batch '88 sang "Alma Mater" to the top of their lungs and marched in the middle of the PCC Quadrangle as their relatives and the faculty looked on with tears of joy and pride as another successful batch of PCCians graduate from High School. Following the culmination of High School we went our separate ways with our different aspirations in mind. Most of us had been accepted to well-known universities such as Ateneo de Manila University, De LaSalle University, University of the Philippines, and University of Santo Tomas, and had prepared for their next scholastic journey into college. Some had made plans to migrate with family members outside of the country. Still others had decided not to pursue college degrees, start families of their own, search for jobs that suit their abilities and fancies, or start their own businesses.

After that fateful day of 1988 when we all graduated, most of us managed to keep in touch, through snail mail, as it is now fondly called, and through phone conversations for faster communication. We would hear news of old classmates topping the national exams for accountants and nurses, garnering prestigious awards for the arts and sciences, winning seats in their local governments, and migrating to various parts of the globe along with their significant loved ones and children. We received news about the few who have passed away – Dante Bartocillo, Genesis Cruz, Edmund Faustino, Trazy Labuguen, Bonifacio Sumbilla III, and Noel Villanueva will remain in our hearts and minds. The birth of the Internet and expansion of information technology further hastened our communication with each other. What seemed like months of waiting by the mailbox for a letter is now equivalent to seconds when it comes to emails ranging from simple greetings like "musta na pare?" to long-winded ones that rival that of the "Noli Me Tangere." We also founded our very own yahoo e-group for our batch, and later our own batch website, where we could share news and even pictures to keep everyone updated with our appearances. Whatever news it was, it brought joy to the lonely, response from the silent, and information to the unaware.

As we approach our twentieth year anniversary, all of us look back to the past, from the time when we thought the end of High School also meant the end of the world for each one of us, the time when we realized there are more worlds to navigate after High School, looking now at the present and seeing what we have done in the past had become of us, to looking at the unpredictable future ahead of us. We stand as united as ever, though miles apart. Some of us now call other nations home - Australia, Canada, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America - yet we still maintain the same closeness as if we were still in High School. Twenty years ago, we started a new journey outside of High School, with various ambitions and plans. Today, our past ambitions and plans have gotten us to where we are today – accountants, architects, businessmen, doctors, engineers, family men, politicians, professors, systems administrators, nurses, policemen, and the list goes on. What we as a batch and as individuals have travailed for is reason enough for us to gather and celebrate twenty wonderful years and plan towards our future anniversaries.

K88: Rigmaroling through the years, across the world!

By B Espiritu

Build Me Up Buttercup

Why do you build me up
Buttercup, baby, just to let me down
And mess me around
And then worst of all
You never call, baby
When you say you will
But I love you still

The version which most of us know is actually a Torch remake of a 60's classic originally sung by The Foundations. And I remember the song being repeatedly played during PCC's Foundation Day in the early 80's - 1984 to be exact, if I remember it correctly. Yes, that song has become so distinct in my mind's aural memories that I actually identify it to mark my very own musical awakening.

Memories of the usual Foundation Day funfare are triggered by just hearing this particular song. Kids chasing around the campus as the DJ in the Dedication Booth announces that all marshals catch everyone wearing white rubber shoes. That "random" handcuffing with that particular CBCian you've been eyeing since you saw her coming out terrified from the Horror Booth. Or simply enjoying the rides which usually occupied PCC's softball field (yes, PCC used to have one, remember?).

I need you
More than anyone, darling
You know that I have from the start
So build me up
Buttercup, don't break my heart

Who doesn't know this song? Anyone from our generation who doesn't recognize this particular song will be cursed to suffer in eighties' hell wearing blue-polo-over-yellow-t-shirt-matched-with-faded-baston-jeans-and-mismatch-colored-US-Master-shoes.

Build me up, buttercup. The lyrics are simply unmistakable. The melody, frantically infectious. The beat, relaxingly bubbly.

I'll be over at ten
You told me time and again
But you're late
I wait around and then

For those who know my musical tastes can say that my range can be eclectic at the very least. From eighties' new wave to nineties' disco, from RNB to hiphop and dancehall, from vocal house to the dark and hard house, from techno to hypnotic trance, from slow to alternative rock, from standards to jazz, and from classical to world music. I love music, in most of its forms.

But eighties' music holds a special place in my heart. I can usually name a track's title and artist just based on its first 3 notes or intro drumbeats. My wife usually gets impressed with this geeky talent I display when driving home on Friday nights, listening to 89.9 Magic Madness playing music coming from our era.

I walk to the door
I can't take anymore
It's not you
You let me down again

No other era in music, in my opinion, shows so much character as eighties music. The Beatles may be the single most prominent band of all times, with hits that still live on to this day. But apart from them, the musical character of their era wasn't as diverse (yet identifiable) as when compared to the eighties bands of London, for example. From the sound of the synthesizers to the distinct timber of bands' vocalists voices, one can identify eighties music from those of the other eras. And even as the artists, who became that generation's music icons, are somehow responsible for the horrible fashion trend that invaded the eighties, it even added up to the distinctive character of the personalities from that period.

Baby, baby,
Try to find
A little time
And I'll make you mine
I'll be home
I'll be beside the phone
Waiting for you

I am an eighties kid. I may have already cut short the bangs that notoriously hindered our vision way back then. And I may have already retired from the ritualistic chasing-of-the-girls tradition. But I still sing out to the lyrics of most of the music we all fell in love with. So, everybody now…

So, why do you build me up, buttercup…

K88 Reunion Bulletin No. 4 - Thanks to Bing and Manny

Batchmates,

We are happy to announce that Bing Espiritu and Manny Santana have already responded to the invitation to be SPECIAL PATRONS of our 20th Anniversary Celebration! They have contributed $100 each for our big event this February.

Thank you to Bing and Manny!

K88 Reunion Bulletin No. 3 - See You Tonight At The Headquarters

We would like to reiterate our earlier invitation to join us tonight at our official headquarters - at Jay Ravalo's Jaymin Bldg. at 8 pm. Please claim your tickets and help us distribute the rest. Join the band as they practice for the big day on Feb 16.

See you all there tonight!