January 2014
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Archive for January, 2014

David Archuleta ~ Our Gratitude

Posted by sandybeaches9 on Thursday, January 30, 2014

Pilgrim lighting a candle at The Edicule. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem. Photograph by Tommy Huynh.

“At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.” Albert Schweitzer

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This is the magic that happens when writing about David. I thought yes, Albert Schweitzer you have said it to me and then when looking for that candle, that spark, there was a picture that stood out above all the rest. David gets chills when the music is awesome to him and my hands started to shake a little on the keyboard when I saw this amazing picture.

I have the deepest appreciation for all that David has given to me through his singing and by the person who he is now and always has been. We say this expression throughout the years and each time I hear it I am reminded of how lucky in life I have been.

The winter has us locked into coldness and the sounds of the frozen trees echo in the stillness. For me it has been the perfect time to dwell upon who inspires us. We can think about what is important and what impresses our minds and souls. There is never enough time to think such thoughts so it seems.

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As we continue to enjoy David’s music, we can think about the people who have been bringing the joy of his music to us. Imagine for a moment if we did not have the pictures, the videos and the bits of news that have trailed back to us from faraway places. David’s voice is so amazing and sensitive that in listening to his singing voice we actually hear him speaking. It is such a personal experience when you listen to him sing in any language. I know the words of “O come O Come Emmanuel” but even if I didn’t, I don’t need to know the words of “O Ven O Ven Emmanuel” in Spanish. I believe that I hear the meaning in his voice. Listening to him is an incredible gift never taken without appreciation. This song has been an inspiration to me that I have not had for a while.

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It is time to look around us and see who we have kept company with, those we already know and those who we have just met. A long time ago now, out of the blue we were talking one night on The Voice Unplugged about the song “Nobody Does It Better” and from that conversation came the first bracelet, “Nobody Sings It Better.” We distributed it as far and wide as we could, taking them to concerts and handing them out as different occasions arose. It actually became an article to buy on an overseas site.

The second bracelet was quickly thought out to bring his fans together. They were distributed worldwide as the requests came in. This bracelet expressed to him and ourselves that he has become a part of our souls. When David was away for only a while, a message was sent from him to his fans that we are a part of his heart. So that all said and done, we continued to live our lives to the fullest and came to our sites to connect and share the news.

I recognize the dedication of the sites to keep the fans together when sometimes so far apart, making it possible to continue in our enjoyment of the refined, accomplished, classical singer that David Archuleta is. Looking at the activities around this site includes the articles which were contributed by the staff and guest writers. For me, I couldn’t write anymore no matter how hard I tried, so I have to give so much credit to those who could, when there was hardly anything that I could consciously see to write about. But in the end of any conversation we might have, it is David through his music, that is still my greatest inspiration.

“It was only a sunny smile, and little it cost in the giving, but like morning light it scattered the night and made the day worth living.” ~ F. Scott Fitzgerald

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SandyBeaches is a staff writer for The Voice.

Posted in @DavidArchie, Appreciation | Tagged: #DA2014, Christianity in Jerusalem, Cultivating an attitude of gratitude, David Archuleta, Light, Pilgrim, the gift, the Voice, Tommy Huynh | 74 Comments »

Desperate for David Archuleta

Posted by ronaleem on Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Fullscreen capture 1202014 91408555 PM

Although David was already on his mission and out of the public eye when I first became aware of the amazing person he is, I sympathize with fans who are desperate to have him back.

How does our desperation feel? I think David can tell us. The other morning as I was listening to my iPod, Desperate came up on the playlist. Although I had listened to this song many times, this was the first time I really heard it. And what I heard was incredible. David actually conveyed the feeling of desperation through his voice!

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This is how I think he did it, but I want to mention two things before I get to David’s vocals. The first is the instrumental background: piano, throbbing drumbeat, and electronic sounds which are mostly loud, and frequently relentless and chaotic. This does not give David much opportunity for subtlety in dynamics or tempo.

Second is the lyrics. Desperate is not a profound song. The word “desperate” is used 13 times, 14 if you count the title. The chorus is repeated four times, leaving only three short sections of narrative to describe the subject’s emotional state. The first two sections convey his isolation and absolute despair; the third, his realization that he can change. Because David always strives for a positive message, despair actually turns to hope at the end of the second section when he sings, “It’s your life; it’s time you face it.” This line divides the song into two parts.

So, how does David do it? How does he express absolute despair, then the possibility of hope?

In the first part of the song, he keeps his voice in its lower register, which communicates a feeling of seriousness and heaviness, and contributes to the idea of despair. By staying in the lower register, his voice cannot soar into higher, brighter notes. Also, David clips the notes, and even exhales a little breath as he ends some of them. These clipped notes distinctly separate the words from one another, suggesting isolation, which in turn reinforces the sense of despair. The only time there is even a foreshadowing of hope is in the words “believin'” and “light” in the chorus. When David sings these words, he holds the notes instead of clipping them, thus entertaining the eventual possibility of hope replacing despair.

This possibility of hope is evident in the second part of the song. As David sings, “it’s time you face it,” he leaves his lower register and goes into his higher register. In addition, he holds the note on “it” instead of clipping it. In the lines, “You know that things have gotta change/ You can’t go back, you find a way/ And day by day, you start to come alive,” David’s voice steadily ascends the scale and his dynamics increase. When he sings “alive,” he holds this very high note for several beats and puts some runs into it as well, providing a bright sound. Ironically, “desperate” is sung ten times in this “hopeful” part of the song, but sung near or at the top of David’s range. In addition, he extends these repetitions of “desperate” by holding them for several beats. All of these vocal techniques contribute to the sense of despair, followed by the sense of hope, that David conveys through his interpretation of the song.

I always thought this song was a first-person account of desperation, that the lyrics were those of a person talking to himself. Thanks to some YouTube comments, I realized the lyrics could be addressed to a second person. I believe either interpretation holds up, although I prefer the first-person interpretation because it makes the intensity of the desperation more immediate and personal, which David definitely does.

Kirailah rolon: Lol Why Would He Be Desperate He Is Hot

HeartSettoLove: Because hot people have crap in their life happen too :p

And NarutoPHC replies to Kirailah with the third-person perspective: Lol he is singing about the girl being desperate 😛

I love becoming aware of aspects of David for the first time, as in this example of Desperate. I find it remarkable that a 17-year-old was able to convey feelings of desperation and hope so convincingly. David’s musical abilities and exceptional character continue to astound me.

And because I’m still learning about him and from him, I’m not utterly desperate to have him back yet. And no one else should be either, because David will be back soon!

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Ronaleem is a guest writer for The Voice.

Posted in Art, David Archuleta, Editorial | Tagged: #DA2014, David Archuleta, Desperate, hope, missing him, Soon! | 71 Comments »

David Archuleta ~ I’ll Never Go Far Away From You

Posted by ascphil on Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Drawing by Ascphil

I wasn’t on my laptop the night I watched David’s “Before the Cut” vlog. I was on my iTouch and was waiting for it to load because our internet signal at night is usually so weak. When I finally watched it, I felt a sadness engulf me once more. I thought all this time that I was doing okay knowing less and less about what’s happening in the Archuworld. But even if that vlog was less than half a minute long, it made me ponder on how unhappy I had been not being able to write about David, and that I missed drawing his angelic face. I paused the video at certain spots to find his nice angles. Then accidentally the video froze on his profile which was very similar to the last one I drew of him.

It was uncanny that it froze there because I didn’t even notice that he had such an angle when I watched it previously. Normally, when the video is paused, the image would become dark after some time as is the usual case when the iTouch goes on idle mode, then you have to touch the screen to re-activate it to go back to the previous image. This time, the image of his profile JUST STAYED ON! The screen never went dark, and no matter what I pressed on the image to make the video play again or to stop it, the image of his profile stayed there, unrelenting. I waited for the screen to go dark after several minutes, but it didn’t! My iTouch hanged, but was it coincidence that it chose to freeze on that significant pose? I then realized what was happening. I was being given a sign not to give up on David, despite everything that happened during the past month, and despite all the hurt I was going thru. I need to fulfill my promise to him that I’ll be here for him during his absence and especially when he comes back in 2014. I intend to do so but quietly. However, that image staying there for so long made me feel the message so strongly that I wept and sobbed, cupping my face with both hands in the privacy of my room. Thank God my husband and kids were downstairs busy doing their own stuff. They didn’t see how swollen my face became from crying so much. I then acknowledged that God must know my struggle and that it’s His way of telling me that David is worth all of it, that being an Archie is something I can no longer run away from, that there is a reason for my being one.

With that realization, and because that image remained immovable on my iTouch’s screen, I then turned on my laptop to look for that video on YouTube so that I could download it and make a screen capture of the frozen profile image. I was still tearful so it took me some time to find the exact moment of the profile, but I was finally able to save it. On the larger screen of my laptop, I could now see that he had a bigger smile than on the sketch that I drew, that he was truly happy and looking forward to his mission. It made such a deep impact on me that the video froze at that exact moment to comfort me in my sadness, and that Someone knows what I’m going through.

DA_Profile_B4DCut

Noticing that my iTouch was still on the same frozen image even after I had successfully screen-captured it, I then thought of taking a photo of my iTouch to document what happened. But when I was ready with my camera and focused on it, the screen went dark. I tried to revive my iTouch, but it didn’t recover the image. Instead it warned that the battery was low and needed to be charged. This happened after the image was on for almost an hour. It was as if it waited for me to capture it on my laptop. Right after that, I tweeted David that I had just gotten a strong message from his vlog. I wonder if he ever read it, but don’t expect that he did, knowing how busy he was at that time.

The next day, David released his very last video blog before he entered the MTC. I thought I would cry again after watching it, but I didn’t. Amazingly, I felt happy and peaceful, both for him and for me, because I was given an assurance that I am still in this journey with David and that I should keep the faith stronger than ever. I am convinced all the more that God has a plan for David which he still has to fulfill, and I have to stick around to witness him fulfill it.

I still have to know what God wants me to do after all this. I keep praying for an answer, and so far I have been receiving bits and pieces which always lead me back to David. Until then, I remain a faithful Archie, waiting for the imminent return of our beloved David Archuleta.

Drawing by Ascphil

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Ascphil is a guest writer for The Voice

Posted in @DavidArchie, Archies, Art, vlog | Tagged: #DA2014, David Archuleta, people come into our lives for a reason | 76 Comments »

Le Chat on a Hot Tin Roof ~ The Voice Talks Back

Posted by djafan on Tuesday, January 14, 2014

funny

Brick: What is the victory of a cat on a hot tin roof?

“Maggie the cat: Just staying on it I guess, long as she can.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof ~ Tennessee Williams

Someone is going around spreading lies about The Voice. He went to FOD. He went to Soul David. He went to twitter. He even went to David’s twitter account. He went everywhere but to me and to The Voice. When it first began back in August, I determined that unless and until the site’s name was used, I would simply ignore it. But bullies don’t go away just because they are ignored. Now he has named us and in that libelous act, maligned the reputation of this site and the marvelous people who visit and post here.

I cannot in good conscience let that go unchallenged.

His issue is with The Voice Unplugged. sigh… He calls it a “secret chat room.” You know, the one Abrra posts an invitation to every Saturday, not just with a comment, but with a huge pic and the caption, “COME JOIN US AT THE VOICE UNPLUGGED” giving the time and a link. The secret chat room with the picture widget on the left sidebar saying, “THE VOICE UNPLUGGED CLICK ON PICTURE BELOW.” Right now it’s Micki’s wonderful photo shop of David as a cowboy. Before it was hot mess hair and before that something else. I forget what. The picture changes from time to time but never the location of the chat room link. If all else fails and you still can’t gain access to it, just ask Blisskasden. He’s always there.

What do we do there? We watch performance videos of David. We chat. We connect. We talk about each others lives. We talk about his voice, his hair, his clothes, his smile, his winsome, charming way of doing every little thing. It’s magic.

He is fascinating and we adore him. Apparently we cannot get enough of him or each other. lol. We also hold Nandito Ako chat each Tuesday night. For the past two years! Not really my thing after a couple of views and not mentioning any names, (Bebe) but there are some here who can rightfully claim Tagalog as their second language.

Blisskasden’s chosen method of attack is to describe in his own words what we do in chat. I can honestly say that I have never read any fan, on any David site or chat room, use such vile phrases or words in reference to David. He does not even claim that these words are anything but his own. I will not repeat them here, but I could, verbatim. For the record, they are on Soul David and FOD. Yet he recently stated on Soul David, “I have never once posted anything that has been disrespectful or hurtful to David, and never will.”

He also made this remarkable statement on SD. “David will be home soon. it’s time to clean up the fan base so David will feel inspired to produce the kind of music that reflects his values.”

By clean up the fan base, I suppose he means to purge it of the older female fans who lack the right to swoon over David. Well, nice try but we are not going anywhere. We are still here. And we will be here long after the kitty standing vigil in the window above is gone and longer still after his return.

One last thing, Bliss. You also stated on Soul David, “I guess my uncle Sidney was right when he told me that you cannot win an argument with a woman by using rational thinking.”

I as well as many other women can match your capacity for rational thought any day of the week and twice on Sundays.

And you can quote me.

Posted in @DavidArchie, David Archuleta, The Voice | Tagged: #DA2014, David Archuleta, Standing by him, We'll Be Here | 50 Comments »

David Archuleta ~ We Hear a Voice

Posted by bluesky4home on Thursday, January 9, 2014

violin554

Sound post adjusting

The sound post is a small cylindrical spruce stick wedged between the belly and back of the instrument, like a hidden pillar between floor and roof. In violin making one also calls this little piece of wood the soul (anima in Italian). The reason for this is that the sound post plays a considerable role in producing the sound that the violin maker can get out of the instrument.

View of a sound post
through the end pin hole
at the bottom of the violin.

I played the violin in school from 4th grade through 12th. But although I dearly love music, the violin was my Dad’s choice, not mine. I was never really a pro, and I did not like the sounds I made. The violin got used very little after high school and put away for good after I got married. I may have got it out three or four times in forty years. I dabbled with the piano a little, wrote songs for my family that I recorded by (painfully) typing out one note at a time on the computer. But the violin never entered my thoughts.

Then, with most of the kids gone and no one here to play guitar, piano, etc. but me, (and I can’t!) I fell into such a desert of music-less existence that it brought me to the unthinkable: the violin.

So, last spring I took the violin that my Dad had proudly brought home when I was nine and had it checked out. Hummmm. Seems like he had made a pretty good purchase after all. Seems like it just needed a new (list of a lot of things for a lot of money). But they said it was a good violin and that it was worth it. I paid the price. Then I brought it home, full of trepidation. Oh. My. Gosh. For the first time in all my memory, I liked the sound I heard. It was not that I was such a terrible player after all (although, frankly, I am still pretty much a beginner!) it was that the “sound post” in the violin was inadequate, positioned incorrectly, and needed to be replaced with a new one. It changed the tone, the sound, the vibration, the openness, the everything of my violin. It finally had a voice.

Sometimes, I think life is like that: we make an effort and we never really see much of an effect. Then, a new piece falls into place and everything is different. Our efforts were not in vain. Our skills may be greater than we supposed. Perhaps we were growing all that time and we did not even know it. Perhaps, (just perhaps!) we really are where and who we need to be.

I think this is one reason we like listening to DA: When he sings, a different vibration stirs within us, giving us music that we think is his… but really, it is just another sweet connection to our own “sound post”, and reminds us of the true music that lies deep within us. We hear a different “tone”, a new yet somehow familiar “sound”, an “openness”, that is both compelling and vulnerable: We hear a voice.

DA got his own, dear, vocal chords to wrap around like an embrace, but it is his own “sound post”, his own true self, that brings life to the music we hear, and joy to our hearts.

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Bluesky is a staff writer for The Voice

Posted in @DavidArchie, Art, Balance, David Archuleta, The Voice | Tagged: #DA2014, Anima, David Archuleta, Soul, the Violin | 49 Comments »

David Archuleta #DA2014 Video “We Are Still Here!!”

Posted by djafan on Friday, January 3, 2014

We’re down the home stretch now for David’s return! Almost two years ago the I’ll Be Here #DA2014 project was created to let David know we would wait for him and he said he would be back!!

Both video and slide show below were shared with David.

Kizoa slideshow: DA2014 – Slideshow

We want every fan to participate! So please spread the word! See Monica’s message below.

Hey friends,

Happy New Year! Although David isn’t returning from his mission for a few months still, we thought it might be good to get a head start on planning for a great welcome home video for him. The video we did before he left was super rushed so this time around we hope to get a photo submission from anyone who wants to be included. Please help spread the word to any fans who you know are not usually online by emailing this note to them directly.

The original message of the #DA2014 campaign was meant to unite ALL fans around the idea of supporting David unconditionally and letting him know that we’ll always be here for him. The spirit of this video will be all about welcoming him back and reminding him that we are STILL here for him and that he was always in our hearts over the past two years. We also want to communicate to him that whatever he chooses to do next in his career or personal life – we just want the best for him. We want him to feel the love and loyalty, not any pressure!

So with that in mind, here are the guidelines for the photo submissions.

1. Submit a photo *ONE PHOTO PER PERSON* (in JPEG format) of yourself holding a sign (or with a sign Photo-shopped on an existing photo) that says the following:

Welcome Back David!

(Still here)

Your name or Twitter handle

Your location

#DA2014

PLEASE FOLLOW ORDER ABOVE EXACTLY SO ALL SIGNS WILL LOOK THE SAME

Group photos are fine. Writing the sign in your native language is fine. If you would rather not include a photo of yourself, you can submit just a photo of the sign itself.

If you are not taking a new photo, ideally it would be great to use a recent photo of yourself from the last two years. If you happened to do any interesting things in the spirit of #DA2014 (i.e. volunteering, working on your fitness etc.), it would be cool to show a photo of yourself doing that activity.

Feel free to get as creative as you like with the signs – just make sure that they follow the format above. Please do not include any extra words or phrases as we want them to look uniform. ** And please only submit one photograph for each individual.**

PHOTOS NOT FOLLOWING THE FORMAT WILL GET RETURNED TO THE SENDER FOR EDITING.

Please email submissions with the subject line #DA2014 RETURN VIDEO to:

DavidArchuleta2014@gmail.com

No later than 12 noon PST on March 1st, 2014

If you need assistance using Photoshop or making a JPEG file, please specify that in your email by using the subject line: TECH SUPPORT and we will find a way to help you out. Hopefully given the extra time, everyone who wants to participate will be able to do so.

Happy 2014 to everyone! Looking forward to receiving your photo!

Thanks so much!

–Monica

Posted in @DavidArchie, Appreciation, Archies, David Archuleta, fandom, Uncategorized | Tagged: #DA2014, a gathering of angels, Archuleta, David Archuleta, Standing by him, the Voice, We'll Be Here | 51 Comments »

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Archive for January, 2014

Pilgrim lighting a candle at The Edicule. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem. Photograph by Tommy Huynh.

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Kizoa slideshow: DA2014 – Slideshow

Hey friends,

So with that in mind, here are the guidelines for the photo submissions.

1. Submit a photo *ONE PHOTO PER PERSON* (in JPEG format) of yourself holding a sign (or with a sign Photo-shopped on an existing photo) that says the following:

Welcome Back David!

(Still here)

Your name or Twitter handle

Your location

#DA2014

PLEASE FOLLOW ORDER ABOVE EXACTLY SO ALL SIGNS WILL LOOK THE SAME

Group photos are fine. Writing the sign in your native language is fine. If you would rather not include a photo of yourself, you can submit just a photo of the sign itself.

Feel free to get as creative as you like with the signs – just make sure that they follow the format above. Please do not include any extra words or phrases as we want them to look uniform. ** And please only submit one photograph for each individual.**

PHOTOS NOT FOLLOWING THE FORMAT WILL GET RETURNED TO THE SENDER FOR EDITING.

Please email submissions with the subject line #DA2014 RETURN VIDEO to:

No later than 12 noon PST on March 1st, 2014

If you need assistance using Photoshop or making a JPEG file, please specify that in your email by using the subject line: TECH SUPPORT and we will find a way to help you out. Hopefully given the extra time, everyone who wants to participate will be able to do so.

Happy 2014 to everyone! Looking forward to receiving your photo!

Thanks so much!

–Monica

Share this:

Like this:

1. Submit a photo ONE PHOTO PER PERSON (in JPEG format) of yourself holding a sign (or with a sign Photo-shopped on an existing photo) that says the following:

Feel free to get as creative as you like with the signs – just make sure that they follow the format above. Please do not include any extra words or phrases as we want them to look uniform. And please only submit one photograph for each individual.