I got a call from my friend Junie a few weeks ago. He and I go way way back. So after a few minutes of friendly pleasantries, Junie made his pitch and asked this…

“Franz, ano bang magandang business ngayon”?

And this is what I replied to him…

“Are you kidding me? You are way more talented than me”!

In fact, Junie truly is such a talented person and I should be asking advice from him and not the other way around.
For starters, he is an excellent musician and lead guitarist. He even build his own Rock band called “Mahabaratbu” during the Club Dredd Days.
Aside from that, he taught me and my friends in our village in Pasig to play the guitar correctly and with passion.

Junie opened our eyes and exposed us to the Real Music and not the boring romantic Barry Manilow types. He introduced us to well renowned Rock Bands like Nirvana, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica, Rage Against The Machine, Pantera, Sepultura and many more.
It totally liberated us and made us “Real Men”! Such an awakening indeed!
Did you ever tried the “Mosh Pit” before? If you haven’t or you don’t know the word… I pity you!

On a lighter note, Junie is also good in composing love letters. He used to make love letters for me for the girl that I was courting in University of Asia and the Pacific. He is such good in words that he can work for the largest manufacturer of greeting cards (Hallmark Cards). He can also contribute articles for the the Newsweek, Reader’s Digest, Rolling Stone, or the National Geographic.

Everything really went well for Junie during those time that he feels like He is Flying to the Moon. He could easily touch the skies whenever he aims for his dreams.

But like most of us, Junie made mistakes and failed in life. This made him fall down on earth fast and hard (not to mention painful). Those unfortunate events clouded his thinking and decision making.
Although he tried on climbing back, he keeps on going back to where he came from (the dirty ground). What made it worse, some of his friends kept saying to him that he is no good and should do things that other common people do (like working as a clerk).
He did reach the distance sometimes but he never really made it as far as the moon. To my knowledge, that really hurt him.

Fast forward to present time. I gave my distracted friend some business advice. I introduced him to some people that I think might help him. And checked on him from time to time to monitor on his progress. I told him that though this business will bring him food on the table but it won’t bring him to the moon.

I never stop convincing him to use his talents and put it to good use like create a YouTube channel and teach aspiring Rock & Roll musicians of this generation. Or go solo and perform an acoustic night event in Tagaytay. The sky is the limit for a talented guy like him.

For now, Junie is seriously engaged into agriculture business as his main source of income but at the same time he is slowly growing his momentum back for him to get his wings and make him fly to the moon.

Last December 11, 1972, NASA sent Apollo 17 as the final Apollo program to the moon.
This year, my talented friend Junie Quiogue will be flying NASA’s next mission to space.
Watch for it!