TURNING PAGES

(Chapter I)


   Malalim na ang gabi at malalim din ang iniisip ni Lucky, sawi sa paghihiwalay nila ng kanyang nobya. Alak, naisip nyang lunurin ang sarili sa alak. Sa pagpunta sa bar hindi pagkalimot niya, kundi higit pa sa kanyang inaakala ... higit pa sa inaasahan niya ...


   " Isang scotch nga, make it double .. " pasigaw na order ni Lucky. Ito ang inoorder ni Lucky lalo na kapag gusto nya talagang magpakalango sa alak.
   " On the house na yan 'pre, mukang may problema ka eh! " sagot ng bartender.
   Hindi nagkamali ang bartender, 'pagkat mababakas nga naman sa mukha ni Lucky ang labis na kalungkutan, pagkabalisa, at pagkadesperado. Dahil sa paghihiwalay na walang sapat na dahilan, kahit na alam nyang kailanma'y di sya nagkulang..
   " Babae ba ? "
   " Oo, she broke-up with me without even telling me why. All she said was, ' ... sa tingin ko di na magwo-work tong relationship na'to, that's why i'm breaking up with you . ' ang masama pa ginamit nya sakin yung pangtelenovelang linyang, ' Hon its not you, its me. ' then she left. Sinubukan ko syang habulin, pero wala na sya. Patay ang phone, at wala sa bahay nila. " kwento ni Lucky habang binubuhos ang alak sa kanyang baso.
   Mahal na mahal ni Lucky ang girlfriend nyang si Leslie, bukod sa legal sila sa kani-kanilang mga pamilya, sa tatlong taong pinagsamahan nila, at dahil na rin sa si Leslie ang dahilan kung bakit kinuha ni Lucky ang kusrong Accounting, kahit pa mahal na mahal niya ang pagluluto. Labis-labis ang pagmamahal ni Lucky kay Leslie kaya't pakiramdam nya'y huminto na ang ikot ng kanyang mundo mula ng hiwalayan sya nito.


   " Hindi ako nagkulang, sobra pa nga ang pagmamahal na pinaramdam ko sa kanya eh ! Kapag kailangan nya ako, kahit aong oras dumarating ako. Kahit alas dos ng madaling araw, pumupunta ako dahil kailangan nya . Tapos ngayon kung balewalain nya ko, parang wala na lang ?! " hinagpis ni Lucky, kasabay ang unti-unting pangingilid ng luha sa kanyang mga mata.
   " Pre baka may iba ? O baka hindi ka nalang talaga niya mahal?! Alam mo kasi, minsan may mga bagay na akala natin sapat na pero sa kanila kulang  pa. At hindi naman natin mapipilit ang isang taong mag-stay sa isang relasyon lalo pa kung ayaw na talaga nila. Remember that relationships need a mutual feeling between the two persons involved. " sagot ng bartender.
   Kasabay ng paglalim pa ng kanilang usapan, patuloy rin si  Lucky sa pag-inom.
   Lunod na si Lucky sa kalungkutan at lango na rin sya sa alak, ngunit patuloy parin sya sa pagbahagi ng kanyang mga saloobin sa bartender na hindi naman niya kilala.
   " Alam mo pre, may mga bagay lang na sadyang tumitigil at humihinto na lang ng kusa, hindi dahil sa may pagkakamali tayo o may mahal na silang iba. Minsan tumitigil lang tayong mahalin yung dati nating minamahal kapag, narealize nlng natin na yung dating love ay lost na . At siguro napagtanto na lang niyang hindi ka na niya mahal, at kaysa lokohin at paasahin ka pa nya, mas minabuti nlng nyang sabihin ang totoo at isaalang alang ang mararamdaman mo."
   " Pero tatlong taon kami ! TATLONG TAON !! " pag-angil ni Lucky.
   " Ang pagmamahal kasi, hindi mo yan masusukat kahit gaano pa kayo katagal. Marahil hindi na pangalan mo ang isinisigaw ng puso nya, tumigil na lang itong basta. At hindi mo sya mapipilit kung wala na talaga. "


TO BE CONTINUED ....

Subliminal Messages & Backmasking: The Revelation Truth Behind Our Favorite Songs

Backmasking (also known as backward masking) is a recording technique in which a sound or message is recorded backward on to a track that is meant to be played forward. Backmasking is a deliberate process, whereas a message found through phonetic reversal may be unintentional.

Backmasking was popularized by The Beatles, who used backward instrumentation on their 1966 album Revolver. Artists have since used backmasking for artistic, comedic, and satiric effect, on both analog and digital recordings. The technique has also been used to censor words or phrases for "clean" releases of songs.

Backmasking has been a controversial topic in the United States since the 1980s, when allegations from Christian groups of its use for Satanic purposes were made against prominentrock musicians, leading to record-burning protests and proposed anti-backmasking legislation by state and federal governments. Whether backmasking can be used subliminally to affect listeners is in debate by both sides.

Satanic backmasking

Although the Satanic backmasking controversy involved mainly classic rock songs whose authors denied any intent to promote Satanism, backmasking has been used by heavy metal bands to deliberately insert messages in their lyrics or imagery. Bands have utilized Satanic imagery for commercial reasons.For example, thrash metal band Slayer included at the start of the band's 1985 album Hell Awaits a deep backmasked voice chanting "Join Us" over and over.(listen (info)). However, Slayer vocalist Tom Araya states that the band's use of Satanic imagery was "solely for effect". Cradle of Filth, another band that has employed Satanic imagery, released a song entitled "Dinner at Deviant's Palace", consisting almost entirely of ambient sounds and a reversed reading of the Lord's Prayer (a backwards reading of the Lord's Prayer is reportedly a major part of the Black Mass). Seattle-based grunge band Soundgarden parodied the pheomenon of Satanic backmasking on their 1989 album Ultramega OK. When played backwards, the songs "665" and "667" reveal a song about Santa.

Accusations 

Artists who have been accused of backmasking include Led Zeppelin The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Electric Light Orchestra,Queen, Styx, AC/DC, Judas Priest, The Eagles, The Rolling Stones, Jefferson Starship, Black Oak Arkansas, Rush, Britney Spears, and Eminem.

Electric Light Orchestra was accused of hiding a backward Satanic message in their 1974 album Eldorado. The title track, "Eldorado", was said to contain the message "He is the nasty one / Christ, you're infernal / It is said we're dead men / Everyone who has the mark will live." ELO singer and songwriter Jeff Lynne responded by calling this accusation (and the related charge of being "devil-worshippers") "skcollob", and stating that the message "is absolutely manufactured by whoever said, 'That's what it said.' It doesn't say anything of the sort." The group included several backward messages in later albums in response to the accusations.

In 1981, Styx was accused of putting the backward message "Satan move through our voices" (listen (info)) on the song "Snowblind", from Paradise Theater.Guitarist James Youngcalled these charges "rubbish", and responded, "If we want to make a statement, we'll do it in a way that people can understand us and not in a way where you have to go out and buy a $400 tape player to understand us." In 1983, the band released a concept album, Kilroy Was Here, satirizing the Moral Majority.

A well-known alleged message is found in rock group Led Zeppelin's 1971 song "Stairway to Heaven". The backwards playing of a portion of the song purportedly results in words beginning with "Here's to my sweet Satan" (listen (info)). But Swan Song Records issued a statement to the contrary: "Our turntables only play in one direction—forwards". And Led Zeppelin vocalist Robert Plant denied the accusations in an interview: "To me it's very sad, because 'Stairway To Heaven' was written with every best intention, and as far as reversing tapes and putting messages on the end, that's not my idea of making music." Another widely-known alleged message, "It's fun to smoke marijuana", in Queen's song "Another One Bites the Dust", is similarly disclaimed by the group's spokesperson.

Subliminal stimuli (pronounced /sʌbˈlɪmɨnəl/, literally "below threshold"), contrary to supraliminal stimuli or "above threshold", are any sensory stimuli below an individual's absolute threshold for conscious perception. Visual stimuli may be quickly flashed before an individual may process them, or flashed and then masked, thereby interrupting the processing. Audio stimuli may be played below audible volumes, similarly masked by other stimuli, or recorded backwards in a process called backmasking. Introduced in 1897, the concept became controversial as "subliminal messages" in 1957 when marketing practitioners claimed its potential use in persuasion. Subsequent scientific research, however, has been unable to replicate most of these marketing claims beyond a mere placebo effect. Apart from their controversial use in marketing, subliminal stimuli are employed in scientific research on perception without awareness, or unconscious perception.

Audio

Backmasking is a recording technique in which a sound or message is recorded backward onto a track that is meant to be played forward. During the 1970s, media reports raised a series of concerns of its impact on listeners, stating that satanic messages were calling its listeners to commit suicide, murder, abuse drugs, or engage in sex—which were all rising at the time.

In a series of scientific studies, individuals listening to messages played backwards with no accompanying music could discern: the gender of the speaker; whether the message was in English, French, or German; whether the sentence was declarative or a question; and occasionally a word or meaning of a sentence. However when comparing sentence pairs, individuals were more likely to be incorrect than if their response were by pure chance: if the message were spoken by different speakers; whether two sentences were semantically related; and label beyond pure chance whether a message was positive or negative in nature—suggesting that individual expectations influenced their response. Across a variety of tasks, the studies were unable to find evidence that such messages affected an individual's behavior, and reasoned that if the individual could not discern the meaning of the message, then the presence of these messages would be more likely due to the listener's expectations than the existence of these messages in themselves.

Some businesses claim improving an individual's memory or self-esteem while offering subliminal self-help tapes. These tapes did not produce an effect beyond a placebo, or an individual's expectation of their effectiveness

Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backmasking 

               http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subliminal_message    

For samples of Backmasked Songs: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8eFq7RJYN0&playnext=1&list=PL751828EEAEE5ECED