Archuleta Avenue Malaysia

Monkeysphere

Archuleta Avenue Msia — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 18:08:30 +0000

Hello, ArchAngels!

(Happy Belated) Kung Hei Fat Choi (as David puts it)! I hope all of you had a good time with your friends and/or family during the Chinese New Year celebrations! Now then, how many of you have heard of the Monkeysphere? It is a social theory which suggests that there is a limit to the number of people we can care for at any one time – which is about 150 people. These people are what makes up our Monkeysphere – a network of people we are connected to. Just think of it as a real-life Facebook – we are given a limit of 5,000 (I think) people we can add to a list of ‘Friends’. We can check the status updates of all our ‘friends’ and have some insight on their lives, but as for the other users who are not on our ‘Friends’ list, we know nothing about them.

Of course, Facebook is an admittedly poor example because the Monkeysphere is rather more complex, and not to mention smaller. However, both of them have at least one thing in common: we are more connected to those within the group compared to those out of it. This means that, while we become saddened by the death of a close friend or family member (who is in our Monkeysphere), the death of a stranger (who is not in the Monkeysphere) as reported in the news will not elicit the same response from us. It also means that, try as we might, we simply are unable to care for everyone in the world; our brains just cannot cope with all that information.

Instead, we only show concern for those who are within range of our individual Monkeyspheres. The salesman who comes knocking at your door isn’t in your sphere, so you shut the door in his face before he finishes introducing himself. The driver in front of you isn’t in your sphere either, so when he decides to stop suddenly for no apparent reason, you angrily sound your honk at him. The lady at the supermarket who rolls her trolley of goods over your foot and walks away without apologising gets a nice shelling from you because she, too, isn’t in your sphere. Never mind that they are all humans like all of us. Never mind that the salesman might be betting on you being his last client so that he can go home to his family. Never mind that the driver who stopped in the middle of the road might have done it for a genuine, acceptable reason. It’s only when you stop and think about them as humans that they suddenly become closer to your Monkeysphere, and you feel for them. It’s not that we’re immoral, despicable things – we’re just hardwired to function in smaller societies – look at how villages live in peace; it’s because their populations are so small that everyone is in each other’s Monkeyspheres. And just like how you did not care for those people, they probably don’t care for you either.

That lady who rolled your foot over? You’re out of her Monkeysphere, so she couldn’t care less if you got a bruise or had your entire foot flattened. This is how we have been living for the past thousands of years – woefully ignorant of those outside our Monkeyspheres.

So how does David come into the picture? Well, seeing as he is only human (however we might want to argue that he is more than human), David has his own Monkeysphere too. Consequently, he, too, is incapable of caring for everyone in the world at the same time – or at any given time for that matter. Even David, who has tried so hard to change so many lives for the better, would have made some lives worse off at some point or another, regardless of whether or not he was aware of it – all of us have. However, the question that remains is: do we want to continue living inside the lines of our Monkeyspheres? Or do we do it David-style – that is, to go out of our ways to be nice to everyone around ourselves, even if they really don’t deserve it sometimes? Perhaps we all might want to take a step back and consider emulating David, if we haven’t already been doing that from the start.

Oh, and if you’d like a more detailed explanation about the Monkeysphere, check out this blog:

http://psychology2010.com/post/14111541998/monkeysphere

and also this one:

http://rossdecker.tumblr.com/post/8939377709/what-is-the-monkeysphere.

The second blog is a lot more detailed, but its language is also somewhat blunt so don’t say I didn’t warn you! Anyway, that’s about it for now. Thanks for reading; and if you have some time on your hands, why not spare a bit of it to talk about the Monkeysphere and what you think of it?

-Zach-

Are you ready for David the TV Star??

Archuleta Avenue Msia — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 17:36:51 +0000

Well as most of you are aware, the rumour about David starring in a Philippines mini series has definitely been confirmed. A lot of different and interesting opinions about this as you can see from the discussion from the previous thread but whatever you may feel about it, this deal is signed, sealed and is definitely happening folks!

To be honest, I’m just excited about the fact that he’s in the same time zone again woohoo!!

Anyways, the Archies in the Philippines have been pretty darn busy giving David an amazing welcome at the Manila airport (serious kudos to them) and keeping us updated about the happenings over there. In fact, Manila’s TV5 and their crew have also been amazing in giving us updates. For latest happenings on David and the show, check out the website that they specifically set up just for this Project!!!

http://followarchuleta.ph/

Also the Manila Archies got an amazing opportunity to sit down and talk to David for a couple of minutes and have a Q & A more or less and some of his answers are pretty interesting particularly about the mission and what other projects he’s doing. Hopefully it will allay some of the fears that he will be totally incommunicado during the two years as he said he’ll try to keep us updated and stay in touch even during his mission! Yay!

He also said that after this project, he’ll be headed back to do some recordings and hopefully, we will get some songs released during his two year absence! I really hope his plans pan out because going cold turkey without D’s music for two years would be pretty darn difficult…

Check out the video of the Q & A with the fans below:

On the miniseries, “Nandito Ako” (which translates to mean “I am here” I think) David will be playing a mixed Filipino/American guy named “Josh” who left the Philippines after he was separated from his mother in a fire when he was five. Apparently he saved a girl during the fire and now he’s a singer and is back in the Philippines to look for his mom.

You know, I have never seen a Filipino mini series and have absolutely no idea how it is like but seriously, I’m just stoked to have more David news and see him on my TV again especially before the long drought. [Okay so maybe not on MY TV, but you know what I mean]

Here are some promo pics to whet out appetite.

So what are your thoughts on David the TVStar folks? Are you stoked?

A fond farewell

johnchang — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 11:33:03 +0000

How do you adequately pay tribute to a singer that has such a hold of your senses when so much has been written about him already? How do you do justice to the exceptional vocal magic that he possesses? And how do you articulate the many high points and countless hours of pleasure that his singing brought?. Worse of all how do you bid a proper goodbye – albeit for a short while – to such a wonderful emissary both of music and in personal character – an ambassador who has positively touched so many lives not through trashy, over the top buffoonery but simply by being himself?

It is quite impossible to effectively wrap all that has happened into one neat package. There are just too many instances, images and moments that are precious and unforgettable to say definitively that any one of them defines the special connections that David has forged with us. The tapestry of David’s journey with his fans all these years does not easily lend itself to being woven.

I suppose the only meaningful way to pay homage to what David has meant to us is through his music. And in this, there is one piece of music that really stands out for me which – with its message – I think is a very fitting expression of what has transpired in recent days.

I don’t know whether it was by intent or by accident but for one brief 3 minute interval in the past the clueless folks at American Idol somehow got David. They understood him and saw where he was coming from and it resulted in a sublime recording in the studio version of ‘Think of Me‘. This song as all of you must recall was during Andrew Llyod Webber week on American Idol where David and his fellow contestants had to tackle stage musical numbers. It is an iconic number from The Phantom Of The Opera and performed by a female soprano.

But in David’s tender male tenor voice the song has been given a smooth contemporary pop feel. It’s evocative without being sappy, the emotional impact is sustained without the histrionics of lesser vocalists and although the arrangement is simple the vocals are no less powerful. It was such a mature performance – far more than his 17 years at that time. It’s a travesty that he has not been given more credit than he deserved for his beautiful interpretation of a classic.

It is also a shame that he has never sung this song in public since he graduated from American Idol. I hope that in the next 2 years as he embarks on his mission he will revisit some of his past performances and realize that in this song he really came into his own and displayed the potent vocal talent that has not surfaced much since then – largely due to the quality of material that he has had to deal with. In this rendition he truly lived up to his reputation of someone ‘born to sing‘. I hope that somehow David will find that same voice again, or at least some producer with a keen ear, in the near future as it is a shining example of his ability to weave pure gold out of hay.

Recall those days, Look back on all those times

Think of the things we’ll never do

There will never be a day when we won’t think of you..

Hasta leugo David…. for now.

Thank You David video …

Archuleta Avenue Msia — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 14:40:22 +0000

Thank you everyone who contributed to this thank you video to David. Sincere apologize to those videos that were unable to be uploaded.

As you all know, Amy went to David’s My Kind of Christmas Tour in Santa Rosa, and she handed the video through Janey of FOD to be passed on to David .. Hoooray! Thanks Amy!

The CD Cover

David’s 21st Birthday Celebration!!

Archuleta Avenue Msia — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 17:41:33 +0000

This guy right here is 21 years old folks!!!!

Can you believe it??? I still remember when he was a shy 16 year old on American Idol. It’s been a truly awesome journey that he has taken us on and what an amazing ride it has been!!

We’re not sure what David did for his 21st birthday but the AAMers had a grand time celebrating it here in Malaysia!!!

Here are the AAMers “armed” with our brand new David Archuleta wristband courtesy of the awesome SandyBeaches

You probably can’t tell from just looking at the pic but the age difference between the youngest and the oldest here is approximately half a century!!! What other young singer can lay claim to such a diverse fanbase? It is truly quite amazing if you think about it!

And of course, we had to cap off the night with a little birthday wish Malaysian style:

This vid may be a ~~bit~~ lot dark but the voices are loud and clear

Thank you to all the AAMers that joined us for this outing even if the notice given was a little short and Happy 21st Birthday again to the amazing David Archuleta!! May you have many many more and may all your wishes come true….

Also, if you haven’t seen this yet, here’s a beautiful birthday vid made by the super talented Kelvin Beh..

Lastly, this birthday vid is not ours but its definitely a must see for all David fans. Take your tissues out guys: