The PCEC’s meeting last Sunday coincided with Christmas Day. As he has done at this time of year for the last several years, David Garmaise, the Club’s “Mr. Video,” presented an assortment of video clips, some of which had a Christmas theme. The clips included music videos, talent show performances, and scenes from movies. David’s hobby is to make video clips from movies and other video sources to share with others; usually these are done with a particular theme. David is originally from Canada, but like most of us has made Pattaya his home for the past several years. He is very active in the Club and has been on the Governing Board since July 2011.
The presentation started with a medley of Christmas songs, which included “Angels We Have Heard on High,” performed by The Piano Guys, a group that David introduced to the Club last year and that members seem to enjoy very much. (If you want to hear this song or others by The Piano Guys, all it takes is a simple search on YouTube.) The medley also included “O, Holy Night,” “Jingle Bell Rock,” and “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” all available on YouTube.
This was followed by a clip of an audition by a mother and son duo on “Great Britain’s Got Talent,” singing “Say Something,” a pop song by “A Great Big World.” David then presented a Spanish music video called “El Perdedor,” performed by Enrique Iglesias and Marco Antonio Solís, featuring a great tune, Spanish choreography and a stunning “woman in red.”
David then showed a video entitled “Where the Hell is Matt,” which shows Matt dancing with local people in a couple of dozen countries, ranging from Kigali, Rwanda to Vienna, Austria, to Pyeongyang, North Korea, to Boise, Idaho, U.S. and everywhere in between. The dancing was performed to a song called “Trip the Light.” (Look for “Where the Hell is Matt 2012” on YouTube.) Matt, it turns out, is Matt Lauer, co-host of the U.S. network NBC’s “Today Show.”
Then it was back to the Christmas theme, with a medley of clips, including “It Was a Wonderful Life,” “Miracle at 34th Street,” and “A Christmas Carol.” This was followed by a clip of a contortionist auditioning for the “France Has Talent” show.
David presented a clip of a song by Pentatonix, another group that he introduced to the Club last year. The song was called “Hallelujah,” and it was written by Leonard Cohen, a poet and songwriter from Canada who had a large following around the word; he died a few months ago.
David ended his presentation with two show-stoppers, both of which brought tears to the eyes of more than a few members of the audience. Both clips were from talent shows. One featured a 13-year old girl, Laura Bretan, who wowed the audience of the “America’s Got Talent” show with a stunning rendition of “Nessun Dorma.” She received a rare “golden buzzer” which meant that she got to go straight to the finals from her audition.
Finally, 21-year-old Josh Daniel gave an emotional performance of a Labrinth song, “Jealous,” at the auditions for a British show, “The X Factor.” Josh dedicated the song to his best friend, who had passed away a couple of years earlier.
Upon conclusion of David’s presentation, MC Roy Albiston bringing everyone up to date on upcoming events and was followed by the Open Forum portion of the meeting where questions are asked and answered about Expat living in Thailand, especially Pattaya.
For more information on the PCEC’s many activities, visit their website at www.pcecclub.org.
