TediVillasor.com

The passing of an artist

July 3, 2010.

Michael Turner (right) and I pose for a photo during the Wizard World Los Angeles Convention in 2006.

How time flies when you are busy with the everyday happenings that make up one’s life.

I am no different.

Well, as I was going about some research online, I was suddenly reminded of the 2nd death anniversary of Aspen MLT Inc. founder Michael Turner.

Here is a tribute I wrote two years ago.

In Memory of Michael Layne Turner (April 21, 1971 – June 27, 2008)

Michael Turner.

Much has already been detailed with his eight-year battle with chondrosarcoma, so this tribute would basically be one that celebrates his life.

Cover of Supergirl #1 (2005) by Michael Turner.

Early history

From what I recall, Turner and a family member took a year off (commonly known as a “gap year” in the United States) before entering college to pursue medicine.  The duo decided to move closer to the beach as Turner had a loved being around water despite living all the way in Crossville, Tennessee.  During this time, the pair waited on tables to make ends meet and soaked up the sun and waves whenever they could.

Eventually, Turner–a gifted artist– turned to the comic book industry to provide supplementary income.  He eventually dropped out from school and immersed himself in his craft.  Among his most notable works at this stage of his career was the co-creation, covers, and interiors of Top Cow’s Witchblade.

By the turn of the century, Turner had gone full circle and founded his own company–Aspen MLT Inc. which was bannered by several of his creations: Ekos, Soulfire, and Fathom—the latter being a story of a heroine who is constantly in the water.

Fathom was one of Michael Turner’s finest creations.  It is also possible that he may have lived vicariously through her (Fathom) as cancer treatments had left him unable to engage in his true passion—surfing and diving.

My signed Michael Turner and Jim Lee Jam Cover from the Wizard Millennium Edition: Michael Turner.

In 2004, Turner signed several deals with giants D.C. Comics and Marvel Comics to either write, do cover illustrations, or interiors of some of the industries most popular characters: Superman, Batman, The Flash, Wonder Woman, Captain America, Spider-Man, Wolverine, etc.  Turner was also responsible for bringing back into continuity Kara Zor-El, who is better known as Supergirl.

Meeting the man

In 2006, I had the opportunity to meet Michael Turner at the Wizard World Tour in Los Angeles, California.  The lines were long, our meeting was brief, but in that short time, he was gracious and generous—signing everything that I brought—including the Turner inspired Supergirl shirt I was wearing.

Michael Turner passed away yesterday at the Santa Monica Hospital in California due to complications brought about by his bout with cancer.

He was 37.

Michael Layne Turner (April 21, 1971 – June 27, 2008).

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Logo

A chance encounter

A young woman jumped in my path as I was headed for a meeting at a local mall yesterday.  She looked at me straight in the eye, smiled, and extended her hand.

The next thing I knew, I was whisked to a table in the corner and (among other things) asked this question, “What am I doing to save our environment?”

Good question.

Doing my part

When it comes to the environment, I am quite ashamed to say that I haven’t given it as much thought as I should have.

But looking over the card that was given to me that evening, I guess I have done some good.  In my own little way of course.

For instance, I believe that a number of our bulbs at home are CFLs or LEDs, we have a number of power strips at home (thanks to mom), I am a big believer in maximizing a number of household and office items (sometimes to a fault), and I do love my Mac Pro which the card says “consumes 5x less electricity.”

Good times!

Earth Hour Logo

With that said, I am dedicating this point to Mother Earth.

It is also my sincerest hope that the people who come across my site in search of the latest news on NBA players that were born in the 1970’s, the Boston Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo, or the latest news on the Psychology Bill, etc. would pause and think…

“What are you doing for the planet?”

Here is what was on the back of the card:

Make a difference with these simple steps.

Replace incandescent bulbs with CFLs or LEDs: These last 8 to 10 times longer and use 25% of the power.

Use a dipper instead of showering: Save as much as 30 liters of water.

Use a power strip: This eliminates phantom drain, which still consumes 10% to 60% of full power.

Reuse, reduce, recycle: Maximize usage of all household and office items.

Love your laptop: Use a laptop instead of a desktop.  Laptops consume 5x less electricity.

Green homes: Open the windows for light and air circulations.

Buy energy-efficient appliances: Energy star appliances save power and reduce your bills.

Patronize local businesses: These have far smaller footprints than imported goods.

Buy locally-sourced items, including food: These allow indigenous businesses to thrive.

The less packaging, the better: Use totes instead of plastic bags.

For more ways to save Planet Earth, click here

Clayface from the Toys R' Us Exclusive DC Universe Clayface vs Batman/Fists of Clay Box Set

It took awhile but I was finally able to find the time to update my planned Villasor Collection website.

Thank you Flash and Tumblr.com for helping me get this “work in progress” started.

May 10, 2010

7:35 A.M.

Lines growing with centipede-like precision

It has been 35 minutes since The Automated Election Systems (AES) went on-line and started tabulating the votes that will determine our leaders for the next six-years.

I’m excited.

This is after all the first automated election in the history of the Philippines and I’m about to be a part of it.

Navigating through a sea of humanity

As a sea of humanity hovered around numerous poll tables in my local poll precinct, I finally collected by official ballot and slowly made my way towards an empty seat by the glass window.

The first thing that came to my mind as I sat down and collected myself was, “I’m quite fortunate to be sitting here and not standing there.”

My gaze fixed firmly on the numerous lines growing with a centipede-like precision in each of the registration tables.

*whew*

Checking the other side of your ballot

Who I voted for may surprise you... But there is a reason behind it.

Just looking at quality of the entire ballot made me realize how much money was put into this entire production called the national elections.

Starting at the top right side where the poll organizer affixed her signature, the ballot form seemed to go on-and-on due to the burdensome 167 Party Lists wherein each voter was required to only select a single member from the aforementioned number.

What a waste of money and space!

Certainly, the government could have instituted a safeguard similar to the one used to weed out nuance candidates as it is the people’s taxes that are paying—not only for these forms—but the PCOS (Precinct Count Optical Scan) machines as well.

After doing a quick scan of the ballot that comprised the candidates for president (select at least 1), vice-president (select at least 1), senators (select as least 12), and the preferred party list (select at least 1); I turned it over and saw the candidates for my area’s local elections.  These were for the positions of mayor (select at least 1), vice-mayor (select at least 1), representative (select at least 1), and district counselors (select at least 8).

Later on, I discovered that some voters were not aware that there was anything at the other side of the ballot and immediately proceeded to the PCOS machines to cast their vote.

The government did a great job of informing the general public on how to fill out their ballots.

Bad times.

Although their vote for president, vice-president, senators, and the preferred party list were cast, the PCOS machine invalidated any possible votes for mayor, vice-mayor, representative, and district counselors.  It’s a feature of the optical scan machine that functions much the same way if someone were to vote for more than one president or shade 13 ovals for senators instead of 12.  Basically, it would invalidate that entire section.

However, I believe that the government did a splendid job in educating voters on how to properly fill out the ballot (e.g., correct way of shading the ovals) through poll center banners, stickers on every table, and helpful poll watchers.  Yet no one mentioned that there was anything that needed to be filled out at the back of the ballot.

Sometimes, that which is most obvious can be the hardest to spot.

Epilogue

After less than an hour inside the polling center, I am ready to feed by ballot into the PCOS machine.

The device hums as it instantly snags the ballot from my fingertips.  The PCOS machine then proceeds to verify my votes and then greets me with this message.

“Congratulations!  Your vote has been cast.”

At the bottom it adds that I am the 37^th vote that was rendered into the Compact Flash (CF) card of this massive device.

Wow!  Now that’s our taxes finally working for us.

My copy of Republic Act No. 10029

Psychological Association of the Philippines (PAP) President J. Enrique G. Saplala, Ph.D. reports that as of this afternoon, Sub Bill 6512 or The Psychology Bill was approved and signed by Former Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and is now known as Republic Act 10029, or the Philippine Psychology Act of 2009.

Professional licensing is the next step.

Time to get my papers in order.

Addendum:

This link has been quite popular since the passing of RA 10029.  With that said, I’ll be making a review (in the near future) as things have been quite hectic at work.

I will say this though, there doesn’t seem to be any prohibition to applying for a PRC license under RA 10029 if you already have one under the Guidance and Counseling bill.

After all, there is no Philippine law that stops an individual from having more than one profession.

Exemption:

Genalyn Kabiling of the Manila Bulletin shares that practitioners are exempted from taking the examinations if they have “obtained a doctoral degree in Psychology and had accumulated three years of work experience; obtained a master’s degree in Psychology and accumulated five years of work experience; psychologists employed in public and private agencies who have a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and accumulated 10 years of work experience. These applicants, however, must still file with the Board in the next three years an application for registration and issuance of certificate of registration and professional identification card with the necessary credentials.”

That is awesome news!

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Now playing: Incognito – We Got Music (Matt Cooper’s Outside Mix)
via FoxyTunes

John Mayer will be visiting the Philippines on May 2010

For this exuberant price tag (a death sentence in this economic climate), Bridgeport, Conneticut’s own John Mayer had better not bring any of that heavy blues or Battlefield Studies experimental stuff onto Philippine Soil.

That would be just…wrong…

Mayer invades Manila, Philippines on May 16, 2010.

Addendum:

Around this time last week, I got word that the John Mayer concert would be canceled due to “unforeseen scheduling conflicts” (which I sincerely doubt!).

In my mind, the exuberant ticket prices had a lot to do with it.

Mayer “may now” invade Manila, Philippines on October 1, 2010.

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Now playing: Incognito – Don’t Turn My Love Away
via FoxyTunes

I can still hear Marv Albert commentary, "A spectacular move by Michael Jordan!"

With the 2009-2010 National Basketball Association (NBA) Playoffs & Finals right around the corner, I looked back and realized that this is my 20^th year of watching professional basketball.

Has it really been that long?

The Memories

I can still see the Los Angeles Lakers Sam Perkins drilling a three-point shot to stun the Chicago Bulls at the end of Game 1 as well as Michael Jordan’s classic right-to-left under goal lay-up over the same Sam Perkins in Game 2 of the 1990-1991 NBA Finals.

Bulls versus Lakers.

Those were the years.  The veteran laded Los Angeles Lakers versus the hip, up-and-coming Chicago Bulls.

Memories.

The Questions

With that said, I decided to test that memory (use of references are forbidden!) and challenged myself with these questions: Over the last 20 years, which teams have participated in the NBA Finals?  Who were the winners?

Tall order?

At least not initially as the key to these questions would be to determine who were the winners and the bridesmaids would surely follow suit.

Clutch City won it's first NBA title with the five of Hakeen Olajuwon, Kenny Smith, Vernon Maxwell, Robert Horry, and Otis "OT" Thorpe.

The Answers

Starting with the 1990-1991 season, this was a no-brainer as it signified the first Chicago Bulls dynasty (1991, 1992, and 1993).  This was followed by the Jordan-less years of 1994 and 1995 wherein the Hakeem Olajuwon led Houston Rockets dispatched the New York Knicks in seven games en-route to the first NBA Championship (1994).  The Rockets then repeated in 1995 when they swept the youthful Orlando Magic in four games.  The championship also etched the Houston Rockets in NBA annals as the lowest seeded playoff team (6^th) to capture the title.

From 1996-1998, the Chicago Bulls again regained their dominance over the NBA with their second three-peat.  In the 1998-1999, the league played a 50-game lockout shortened—no All-Star Weekend—season.  The finals featured the overachieving New York Knicks (8^th seed) and the Twin Tower (“The Admiral” David Robinson and “Big Fundamental” Timmy Duncan) led San Antonio Spurs.  If I am not mistaken, it was Spurs in six…or was it in five.  One thing is for sure, the Spurs were simply too much for the Ewing-less Knicks.

The partnership between Tim Duncan (left) and David Robinson has produced two NBA Championships for the city of San Antonio.

The turn of the century brought yet another string of championships for Coach Phil Jackson (2000, 2001, and 2002), but this time with a Los Angeles Lakers team that was bannered by Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant.  In 2003, the San Antonio Spurs gave their “Admiral” David Robinson a great retirement gift when they captured their second NBA crown.  This also marked the only finals match-up wherein I was unable to recall whom the runner-up was.

Hitting the curb

NBA seasons from 2003-2006 took a little more time to flesh out.  Questions such as the three seasons wherein the San Antonio Spurs captured championships as well as the Detroit Pistons and Miami Heat championship years were among the last to be identified.  But once the aforementioned sequencing and cast of teams were identified, everything fell into place.

Back to business

Shaquille O'Neal and a young Kobe Bryant set aside their differences in order to win the coveted Larry O'Brien NBA Championship Trophy in 2000.

The 2003-2004 NBA season featured future hall-of-fame members Karl “The Mailman” Malone and Gary “The Glove” Payton joining the potent Los Angeles Lakers for another run at an NBA Championship.  However, this was not meant to be as they had the rug pulled out from under them by the blue-collar Detroit Pistons led by the likes of Ben Wallace, Richard “Rip” Hamilton, Rasheed Wallace, Tayshaun Prince, and Chauncey “Mr. Big Shot” Billups.

The following season (2004-2005), Detroit again made it back to the NBA Finals but lost out to the San Antonio Spurs in seven games.  This season, in my mind, was best remembered for those Rasheed Wallace WWE inspired NBA Championship belts that he got for the whole Pistons team.

I wonder what ever happened to those belts?

The 2005-2006 NBA season featured two first-timers to the NBA Finals stage: The Dallas Mavericks and the Miami Heat.  This season was a classic example of momentum gone awry as it really looked like the Dallas Mavericks had this series all but locked up with a 2-0 advantage and a huge lead in Game 3 of that series.

Then Dwyane Tyrone Wade, Jr. happened and the rest is history.

Miami upset the Mavs in Game 3 and proceeded to take the next three contests and captured their first NBA championship.

Whatever happened to WWE inspired Championship Belt named "Roscoe"? Only Rasheed knows the answer to that one...

The NBA Finals in 2006-2007 was forgettable to say the least.  I remember that the San Antonio Spurs and Cleveland Cavaliers finals match-up to be one of—if not the lowest—rated finals in history.  I didn’t even bother to try and watch any of the games that year.  Spurs swept the Cavs in four.

On the other hand, the 2007-2008 season was more promising with Boston Celtics General Manager Danny Ainge engineering several trades that brought Kevin “KG” Garnett and Walter Ray Allen, Jr. to the Celtics for practically everyone on their team with the exception of Paul “The Truth” Pierce, Rajon Rondo, and Kendrick Perkins.  This development, coupled with the Los Angeles Lakers acquiring Pau Gasol the year before, set the stage for a Lakers verses Celtics finals match-up.  One that fans haven’t seen since 1986-1987.

It was a great match-up with the Celtics capturing their league-leading 17^th NBA banner in six games.  For more information on this season, I’ve written an extensive post on the Celtics championship season here.

Lastly, the 2008-2009 finals match-up featured the Los Angeles Lakers returning to the big dance along with the young Orlando Magic team lead by the dominating Dwight Howard.  In this particular series, there was a lot of heartbreak for the Orlando Magic as they squandered numerous opportunities to truly establish themselves in the finals.  However, this does not take anything away from the Los Angeles Lakers who truly deserved the The Larry O’Brien NBA Championship Trophy.

After Game 2, everything that Dwyane Tyrone Wade, Jr. threw up against the hapless Dallas Mavericks just seemed to go into the bucket.

This championship also broke a tie between legendary icon Arnold Jacob “Red” Auerbach of the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers Phil Jackson for most NBA championships by a head coach.  Jackson now takes the top spot with 10 championships.

In summary

Well, that was 19-years of NBA Finals basketball and I look forward to the end of the 2009-2010 NBA regular season, an interesting NBA play-offs, and hopefully, an epic finals match-up.

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Now playing: Incognito – Don’t Turn My Love Away
via FoxyTunes

In Earth-Prime, there is always downtime for Superboy-Prime

Shamelessly tore this off my brother’s Tumblr.com site. Come to think about it, our rooms aren’t that far removed from that of Superboy-Prime.

Except my room has more variation.

And it’s cool!

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Now playing: Babyface – For The Cool In You

via FoxyTunes

Peter Francis Newell (August 3, 1915 – November 17, 2008)

Peter Francis Newell (August 3, 1915 – November 17, 2008)

The game of basketball lost a good man with the passing of Peter Francis “Pete” Newell one year ago.

Much has been said with Coach Newell’s advance age and failing health until his death on November 17, 2008. But sometimes—though not always—there are a few people that you wish could live forever because the world is a better place with them in it.

Coach Newell is one of them.

Big Man’s Camp

Since 1976 until the time of his death, Pete Newell has had a hand in developing the fundamental footwork and shooting of collegiate and professional forwards and centers without receiving any compensation in return. Newell shared, “I owe it to the game. I can never repay what the game has given me.”

Newell’s Big Man Camp started with one player—Kermit Washington of the Los Angeles Lakers. In the book “The Punch: one night, two lives, and the fight that changed basketball forever,” author John Feinstein recounts that Newell’s work with Washington was so effective that his quickness, ball-handling, and jump shot improved to the point where his inside game became more efficient. Since then, annual Big Man’s Camps (since renamed to Pete Newell’s Big Man’s Camp) have been conducted in Honolulu, Hawaii and Las Vegas, Nevada.

Coach Newell had a positive impact on Kermit Washington of the Los Angeles Lakers.

Newell changed the way the game is played

Though I have not had the privilege of meeting Coach Pete, I have been fortunate enough to attend his son, Coach Tom’s camp here in Manila, Philippines during the summer of 2000.

It changed my life. My entire perspective of the game of basketball.

Coach Tom said that after our camp experience, we (the camp participants) would never see a basketball game for what it is—just a game.

And we never did.

Our eyes were opened, as there was a lot more analysis involved now. Putting the ball through the hoop was no longer as important as being fundamentally sound. Basic moves were scrutinized. Countermoves were put into practice. Reverse pivots became secondary. And so on…

All thanks to the teachings of Coach Tom Newell and in turn to his father Pete whose legacy was very much felt in that coaching program.

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Now playing: The Peter Malick Group – Strange Transmissions (DJ Strobe “Sand Under My Havianas” Bossanova Remix) (Featuring Norah Jones)
via FoxyTunes

Jung’s Theory of Psychological Types

Berens (1999) describes Jung’s theory of Psychological Types as a departure from the works of Sigmund Freud and Alfred Adler as Freud’s focus on his patients “seemed to be on the external world of adjustment to the outside world,” while Adler’s practice “seemed to be more focused on the primacy of the patients’ inner world in determining their behaviors.” Jung then conceptualized two fundamental concepts known as extraverted and introverted attitudes. He believed that orientation of individuals could either gravitate towards “the world outside your world (extroversion) or the world inside your world (introversion)” (Gerke, 2006).

Mental or Cognitive Processes (Functions)

After a period of study, Jung came to the conclusion that the differences in people weren’t limited to “just the inner world or outer world” but also took into consideration the content of the “mental activities which they were engaged in when they were in these worlds” (Berens, 1999). Gerke (2006) adds that Jung referred to these mental activities or cognitive/mental processes, as functions, which is derived from the performed function. Berens and Nardi (2004) described the two cognitive processes of Jung as perception and judgment wherein each cognitive process is divided into two categories with Sensation and Intuition falling under perception while Thinking and Feeling highlight judgment. The authors add that Jung’s theory focused on the idea that “every mental act consists of using at least one of these four cognitive processes in either an extraverted or introverted way,” thereby producing eight processes.

Perception and Judgment

Berens (1999) defined Jung’s perception, as a stimulus wherein an individual “becomes aware of something” and in the process is able to “gather or access information.” Jung considered this to be an “irrational process” as the recognition of the stimulus was brought about by external factors. Briggs-Myers et al., (2003) define Jung’s two kinds of perception as Sensation and Intuition. Sensing is defined as information which is assimilated through the senses (tangible information) while Intuiting focuses on a person’s ability in using “possibilities, meanings and relationships in gaining insight” (conceptual information) (Briggs-Myers et al., 2003).

The other core psychological process is Judgment or the ability “organize information and drawing conclusions from it.” Briggs-Myers et al., (2003) define Jung’s two kinds of judgment as Thinking and Feeling with Thinking defined as the “function that comes to a decision by linking ideas together through logical connections” whereas Feeling is the function wherein decisions are reached “by weighing relative values and merits of the issues.” Lastly, Berens (1999) adds these four functions: Sensation, Intuition, Thinking, and Feeling can be function on either the “extraverted world or introverted world.”

Dichotomous Opposites

Carl Jung considers functions to be dichotomous opposites in nature. Dichotomous opposites are similar to water and fire wherein the utilization of one is in direct opposite to the other but does not depreciate their value and importance. Berens (1999) considers Sensing and iNtuiting to also be opposite in nature but despite this an individual has the ability to “shift their attention from one kind of information to another” on a number of occasions. A good example would be assimilating sensory information such as a beautiful painting of the ocean and then visualize its representation in the form of intuitive information like the season of summer, clarity, and peace of mind. Similarly, Thinking and Feeling judgments are polar opposites as well. Berens (1999) believes that to be both “value-based and criterion-based” simultaneously is unattainable. But in certain circumstances, both may be used to some extent. One example would be a traveler determining what he or she may need for a particular trip. Through a predetermined criterion, the traveler would be able to assess what is essential for the impending trip.

Briggs-Myers et al., (2003) add that the creation of the Judging-Perceiving dichotomy by Isabel Briggs Myers and Katharine Cook Briggs was brought about “to identify the dominant and auxiliary functions for each type” in the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). Jung believed that it was important to have one function above all others that are “dominant or trusted and developed” in order to facilitate the “characterization of one’s personality” (Berens, 1999).

Berens (1999) found the following:

Jung also indicated that there was more to a personality type than the dominant function. The dominant process gives a person only one mental process to rely on, and if the dominant process is a perceptive process (Sensing or iNtuting), there would be no way to evaluate information, so there must be a preference also for a judging process (Thinking or Feeling), there would be no way to access information. So the personality is also characterized by having another process play an “auxiliary” role that provides support to the dominant. The idea of a dominant and auxiliary is often referred to as the hierarchy of functions.

The auxiliary process provides balance to the dominant process in two ways.

1) The kind of process, perception, or judgment, is different. If the dominant process is a perceiving process, then the auxiliary process is a judging process or vice versa.

2) The attitudes or orientations of the processes are different. If the dominant process is focused on the outer world (extraverted), then the auxiliary process is focused on the inner world (introverted) or vice versa.

Aspects of Personality

Berens, Ernst, & Smith (2004) share that since we are “complex, adaptable beings,” an MBTI personality type is only capable of “predicting way we might prefer to behave in a given situation and not determine them.” Gerke (2006) adds that when viewing personality types, three interrelated areas much be taken into consideration: the contextual self; the developed self; and the core self. The author defines contextual self as a person’s behavior in relation to the given situation; the developed self then occurs once the individual is able to “adapt and grow based on the choices and decisions we have made as well as by interactions and roles;” while the core self is described as an individuals innate tendency to “to behave in certain ways which influences how one adapts, grows, and develops.”

Distinctions between types

Dissemination of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) can be broken down into three types: reported type, the best-fit type, and true type (Briggs-Myers et al., 2003). The reported type refers to the initial personality type extracted from the answers provided in the indicator. This is followed by the best-fit type which is the type pattern selected by those tested from the “themes and preferred processes” of their reported type that suits them best (Berens et al., 2004). Lastly, Berens (1999) describes true type as “the pattern of tendencies inherent in the individual.” The author believes that since “patterns cannot be measured and can only be mapped or described,” true discovery can only come from the individuals personal cognitive resources. Briggs-Myers et al., (2003) add that although an individual’s type “does not change over time,” they may express their preferences “in somewhat different ways at different times and at different ages, and stages of life.”

References:
Berens, L.V., Ernst, L.K., & Smith, M.A. (2004). Quick guide to the 16 personality types and teams: applying team essentials to create effective teams. Canada: Telos Publications.

Berens, L.V., & Nardi, D. (2004). Understanding yourself and others: an introduction to the personality type code. USA: Telos Publications.

Gerke, S.K. (Speaker). (2006). Jung’s theory of extroversion and introversion (Cassette Recording No, 1). Huntington Beach, California: Ramon Eduardo Gustilo Villasor.

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Now playing: Michael Jackson – Remember The Time
via FoxyTunes