Do You Believe in Doppelganger?

image credit to firsttoknow.com

     

     Maybe one of us has seen one or many times a person close to us or has some connection with us in two different places at the same time. You might be thinking you are being fooled by that person or your own eyes. But how could be that possible? I have come to know some bizarre things about doppelgangers from a Philippine movie, The Healing. Bizarre as it was, the movie depicted the doppelganger as a sign that someone with that image is nearing death and that the real person and his doppelganger should not meet face to face or else that person will die. But where does the word doppelganger come from? It was a coined word by the German writer Johann Paul Richter, Doppel meaning double, and ganger meaning goer, which refers to specters or ghosts. Doppelganger is then a double of a living person which brings bad luck, or some call it, the apparition of a living person.

     But what made me write this topic at once? I don't really know if I have to believe this. I have researched and read stories about doppelganger encounters. The reason? Some people close to me have seen maybe my doppelganger, and my daughter has seen her brother. In my first instance, when I was asked by an ex if I had been to a mall, he followed it but seems lost in the elevator. At that time the mall is too far from where I am staying and never went out that time because of chronic migraine. In the second instance, I called the school I'm teaching so that I cannot report for work, even crying due to a severe headache. Then, the next day one of my co-teacher swear she saw me and met me near the school's gate but our guidance counselor refutes that I was really absent that day. The third instance, was when my daughter saw her brother, (my eldest) standing near the kitchen. But at that time, my son was in Bulacan for a swimming getaway. Then later that afternoon, he texted me and told me he was nearly drowned and someone had just got his hand to help him.

     We have passed on it as mere doppelganger jokes, relating it to what we have watched in a movie but then found myself reading stories about it. I found out that most people who have someone's doppelganger mean that the real one is undergoing sickness or depression or extreme sadness, But I also found out that it's a myth as depicted in Ancient Egypt, Norse, and Breton mythology.

        So believing in it or not is up to you, on how you perceive things, how you understand what's beneath, and how your faith can take you into its realm.

Articles I have read:

http://paranormal.about.com/od/Doppelgangers/a/doppelgangers.htm

http://listverse.com/2013/08/30/10-disturbing-tales-of-doppelgangers/

http://www.thecontroversialfiles.net/2015/04/true-stories-of-doppelgangers.html

Try this quiz for fun about your doppelganger:

https://www.buzzfeed.com/hattiesoykan/where-does-your-doppelganger-live?utm_term=.qj698ZyWj#.bxJ2WD0pj

#doppelganger #ghost #double #mythology #bizarre #paranormal #encounter

The ALDUB Magic

      It has been a year since the ALDUB is a byword not only in the entertainment world and our homes but even as well in the cyber world through social media. The ALDUB phenomenal love team is Alden Richard and Maine Mendoza, the power couple that spans the world, and created noise through different social media, especially Twitter. Celebrities even outside the Philippines began to ask curious what is ALDUB.

     The power couple has so far received ten (10) awards, aside from the solo awards they
each has received since last year. They are also the most sought brand endorser, as a couple and solo garnering thirty (30) commercial ads from different companies in just one year. Bigger companies such as Mcdonald's, Coca-Cola, Bear Brand Adult Plus, Mitsubishi, and Cadbury are among those whom they have endorsed. Successful as it is, they have been on the cover of various magazines from local to international such as Reader's Digest and Forbes magazines. Just recently, in time for its 1st anniversary, the power couple ALDUB, also known as MaiDen or MaiChard leads the YES! Magazine 100 Most Beautiful Artists of the Year. ALDUB is also recognized by Guinness World Records as the Most Used HashTag in 24 hours on Twitter, for its #AlDubEBTamangPanahon (AlDub at the right time) with 40,706,392 tweets in October last year.

     The ALDUB Magic continues .. the power couple celebrated its 1st anniversary, (July 16) on its home tv station and program, GMA Channel 7 & Eat! Bulaga is the number 1 noontime variety show in the Philippines. For the record, Twitter created customized social media emoji for ALDUB for every tweet with its hashtag #ALDUB1stAnniversary, the 1st in Asia. Twitter only does this for NBA FInals, Game of Thrones, and Marvel Movies. And weeks before the anniversary, ALDUB shoots their first solo movie in Como, Italy for their anniversary offering to their fans, the ALDUB Nation. "Imagine You & Me" garnered Php 21 million (almost $ 500,000) on its 1st day of opening.

* The hashtag #ALDUB1stAnniversary garnered 6.6 million tweets in 24 hours on July 16. Real magic!


WATCH: ALDUB 1st Anniversary

The ALDUB Phenomenon

     Phenomenon as defined by Webster is something, such as an interesting fact or event that can be observed and studied and that typically is unusual or difficult to understand or explain fully. His other definition is someone or something that is impressive or popular especially because of an unusual ability or quality. The word Phenomena, however, has been in occasional use as singular primarily a speech form used by poets, critics, and professors. They both functions as nouns while Phenomenal functions as adjective.
     The above definitions clearly stated what ALDUB is -- interesting event, difficult to understand, someone impressive because of unusual ability/quality. People, organizations, media were stunned and curious what ALDUB is all about nationwide and worldwide. Tagged as the Kalyeserye (street series), counter part of a tv series but done on the street, since the segment is being shown outside the studio and visits to a selected barangay. ALDUB stands for Alden and Yaya Dub.

     It all started when a simple yet ecstatic and pretty girl from Bulacan became a yaya (maid) of actor impersonator Wally Bayola known as Lola Nidora, in one of the segment (All for Juan, Juan for all) of a famous and popular TV show in the Philippines, Eat..Bulaga! That girl is Maine Mendoza popularly known as Yaya Dub for her numerous dubsmash entry in Youtube. During one of her dubsmash in the said TV segment, a familiar and refreshing good looking face of Alden Richards was flashed from the studio screen and voila!..the surprised and blushing look of Yaya Dub caught on camera was the beginning of an unexpected happenings on and off screen..'on' for the casts themselves began exchanging feelers through dubsmash and later, love notes/fansign, with the meddling of Lola Nidora with her lessons/values in accordance with the losing Filipino customs and traditional values..' off'' for the people watching the show with much delight, excitement, and expectation have high hopes for the couple and the ever-far-reaching forever.

     The love team ALDUB reaches the curiosity and ears of even the Filipinos working and living abroad, foreign artists, celebrities, and news media and continues to break into the Twitter world. They were even compared by Morning News USA online to Hollywood stars Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling. But what makes the love team unique? What does the ALDUB fandom see that makes it so famous? Sociologists and socio-analyst from universities even used ALDUB as an example in their lessons and talks.
     I have enumerated some observations though I am not a sociologist, just a mere fan who wanted to be entertained and observant of what's happening around us as a part of my task as a blogger. My opinions are just my observation on what makes ALDUB  creates the fandom, the ALDUB Nation; trends in the social media, thus, topped the list of Twitter for 41 million tweets in just 24 hours (for the #AlDubEBTamangPanahon, breaking the #WorldCup) Watch Rish Jaitly, Twitter VP Exec for East/AsiaPacific; breaks even international newsroom (CNN & BBC); covers famous local magazines and the world's Reader's Digest; gets on the curiosity of even some well-known celebrities around the world (Bryan White, Darwin, Brandon Beal, among others). Added to that the numerous product endorsement of the two as a couple and solo.


And these are my observations:

• The first encounter on split-screen of the two unknowing persons which was sudden, unique, and natural has made people feel the spark on its own. This sudden impact on the audience became history as we all know. Watch the 1st encounter and 1st pabebe wave.
•  The unpredictability and creativity of the characters in the series make it unique, i.e., Lola Nidora (Wally Bayola), Lola Tidora (Paolo Ballesteros), and Lola Tinidora (Jose Manalo) and some other characters impersonated by only one person, such as Doctora TheExplorer, Duhrizz, Rianna (Wally Bayola) and Frankie Arinolli (Jose Manalo), Alden Richards and Yaya Dub (Maine Mendoza).
• The fun and entertainment the show has been giving to Filipino people not only in the Philippines but also those living and working abroad because of the "kilig" factor as well as the lesson being imparted by Lola Nidora. It also serves as a stress reliever with all the problems and life's difficulties. (I, for one, can attest to that).
• The Kalyeserye is a replica of what our culture was about courtship, the decreasing respect for elders, and the importance of "Palabras de honor". It depicts the somehow lost values of the Filipinos during and after the Spanish era as Lola Nidora cited how they were in those times. As we have observed, these values we cherish but cannot be implemented on our own as the influence of the West and the modern technology lure Filipinos to modernize their way of life. Yet, the show is trying to say that even in today's generation, we can still implement or do it fair.

For more about ALDUB you can hover over names and click on them for links:


ALDUB Episodes

Alden Richards

Maine Mendoza