I got promoted about a week ago. It's been hectic and stressful the months/weeks leading up to the promotion. And I expect this will continue indefinitely until I get promoted again or keel over and die. But to be honest, despite all the stress these past few weeks. This is nowhere near as bad compared to the level of stress I had in my previous company. I have more responsibility now. But I have more money to buy and do the things that make me happy. And I manage to have free time for other things than work.
A pleasent surprise as well is that despite the challenges and difficulties at work this year, the year is about to end without my annual cluster headaches striking. My annual cluster headaches are stress triggered. Frustration and fatigue accumulates and forces my body to "reboot" itself involuntarily. But this year, I was spared from that month long ordeal. That alone already screams the large delta between my previous company and my current one.
My boss announced my promotion at our office Christmas party. Standing before everyone and speaking a few words to them was so surreal for some reason. I've never had so much praise and applause without wielding an instrument. It's nice to know that the general office population feels that I deserve my promotion.
It also feels good to see the term "vice president" as part of one's title. My older sister joked that although she started working a good two years before I did, that we both got promoted to an AVP position in the same year. It's not that we're competing. She just mentioned it as a joke. It's more of a sign of how happy she is for me. The rest of my family is equally happy for me. My Dad, who for years, always was extremely critical about the direction of my life, finally threw me a bone and told me that I am "progressing fine". There was a slight condescending tone from how he said it. But it's my Dad, and I'm interpreting what he says negatively as I always do. I know he means well. Really felt that my family was behind me 100% this past week. You gotta love family. When everybody abandons you, your family is always there. I am fortunate to have a family like this.
As I write this post in the relative eerie silence of my appartment, I have only myself to give myself a "pat on the back". I know I got to where I am out of my own perseverance and effort. So to all those who shelved me, didn't believe in me, or just plain couldn't wait around for all the pieces to fall into place, I give you all the proverbial middle finger ,l,
I proved you all wrong. And it's not gonna be the last time that I manage to do that.
END OF LINE...
Friday, December 26, 2008
Saturday, December 20, 2008
My New Baby
After getting blown away watching videos of Onur Il playing a Darbuka. I soooo wanted to get one. And I finally did. Luckily, a store called "Lyrics" in Park Square has some for sale.
I got myself a Meinl branded Darbuka. It stands 17 1/8 inches tall, and has a 8 1/2 inch diameter drum head. The body closely resembles the shape of a Djembe, but it's made of metal instead of wood. I picked the Darbuka with black leather covering its body. There was another funky chrome metallic one there. But I got the feeling I'd have to chrome shine the thing often just to make it look cool.
The drum head is pure synthetic. So both the synthetic drum head and the metal body give off a sharper and piercing sound with muffled rim strokes. I was hoping I could get a much larger drum head, something like 12 inches. But I'd have to order that online somewhere or have my sisters buy it for me in the States. I couldn't really wait. So I settled for this one. It's a pretty sweet purchase because aside from the drum itself, it came with a tuning lug, extra drum head skin, and a carry case.
Pictures of my new little baby are below. I'm think I'll bring my Darbuka along to small gigs so I don't have to lug my congas around.
I got myself a Meinl branded Darbuka. It stands 17 1/8 inches tall, and has a 8 1/2 inch diameter drum head. The body closely resembles the shape of a Djembe, but it's made of metal instead of wood. I picked the Darbuka with black leather covering its body. There was another funky chrome metallic one there. But I got the feeling I'd have to chrome shine the thing often just to make it look cool.
The drum head is pure synthetic. So both the synthetic drum head and the metal body give off a sharper and piercing sound with muffled rim strokes. I was hoping I could get a much larger drum head, something like 12 inches. But I'd have to order that online somewhere or have my sisters buy it for me in the States. I couldn't really wait. So I settled for this one. It's a pretty sweet purchase because aside from the drum itself, it came with a tuning lug, extra drum head skin, and a carry case.
Pictures of my new little baby are below. I'm think I'll bring my Darbuka along to small gigs so I don't have to lug my congas around.
END OF LINE...
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Random Thoughts from the Long Weekend...
-I got sick this weekend all of a sudden. I guess I pushed too hard at work and my body is catching up to me. Perhaps I should slow down. Hell, everybody else seems to be moving at snail speed anyway. The speed of a snail is probably the only thing they mimic. When presented with a brick wall in front of them, what is a snail's natural instinct, crawl over the wall or around it. They don't really do that at all. They just sit there while the world and people around them fall to pieces. I just love it when people who are supposedly of equal or more intelligence and skill react that way. All men are definitely not created equal.
-I didn't get to level 99 with my Vicious Summoner character coming off the weekend. This is from a game Dekaron by the way, for those of you who don't know. I did reset my skills so I can utilize all 4 Cosmos Skills now by using a low level staff. It feels good to drop a large group of mobs after casting the 4th Cosmos Skill in a row. However, something saddens me at the fact that I'm levelling all on my own and at a very slow pace at that. Looks like I won't get my wings at level 102 by the end of this year after all. Although, outside the world of Dekaron, I'm fine. But within this virtual world, I feel left-out and betrayed. People could've just easily said "gusto nila sumama sa mga malalakas". Oh well, cheers to your PK (Player Kill) fetish. There goes pinning all my happiness to a game. How pathetic. It's only a game after all.
-Being sick and living alone, definitely teaches you things and reminds you of things. You start remembering that you are alone and the only person who can take care of you is yourself. You start remembering that your friends are only your friends in so far as hanging with them or occassionally sharing something personal with them. I understand that. When was the last time I pulled for a friend who was sick. But then again, most of my friends don't live alone either.
-Picked up my guitar more than any percussion instrument this weekend. I don't find that as a bad thing really. I'm just really gig-tigang already that I'm starting to get withdrawal symptoms. I even asked Chad from Liquid Jane if I could jam percussions at their next gig. He loved the idea and extended an indefinite open invitation for me to jam at any of their gigs. Wow, that's very nice of him to say. Too bad their next gig is smack-dab on the night of the office Christmas party/dinner... errr party... dinner.... eerr pantry.
-I have squeezed out every TV show and anime episode that I've downloaded in my PC. I've watched them all. I watched Naruto Shippuden, Bleach, Vampire Night, Heroes, Prison Break, True Blood, One Tree Hill (the chicks are hot give me a break), etc. I would download some more. But my hard drives are full and I ran out of blank DVDs. I was meaning to buy a spindle of blank DVDs. But then I got sick. So I couldn't step out of my appartment even if I wanted to. I get the feeling I'd deteriorate into dust if I stepped outside. Kinda like this dude in this "House" episode, who never wanted to leave his place because he feared the outside world. I wish I could do that. I probably could pull that shit off if I found a job that pay wells that I can do from home.
-I was added by a number of random people in Friendster and Facebook the past few days. I feel like a Pokemon that people just wanna collect in their friends list. Wow! Now I have a Pokemon that can play congas! I should really stop accepting friend requests from people I don't even know or talk to. But then again, if I actually deleted everybody that I didn't really relate with, I could probably fit the remaining people in my top friends/featured friends section. LOL!
-Manny, you the man! Brought that beat down to De La Hoya. That must've hurt even with padded gloves. Nine rounds of pain. And here I thought, the only interesting fights these days are mixed martial arts shows like UFC.
-Watched one too many vampire related shows/anime this weekend (i.e. Vampire Night, True Blood). I got bored and installed Photoshop in my PC and played around with it. The end result is me with red eyes and fangs. Some people found it morbid. One person found it cool. Although I don't have a blood lust or anything, I feel like a vampire some times. Hidden, alone... Wish immortality came with it. But then again, what would I do with immortality? It's a rhetorical question. So please don't try to answer it.
-I wish people would say what they really mean. Although, I pride myself in being able to spin the truth a little. I don't outright lie. When you say "yes" to something. That means you will really do what you agreed to. Stop cowering, and beating around the bush. We're all grown people for crying out loud. And when things are urgent, then act with a sense of urgency and take charge. Stop acting like there's supposed to be a big question mark inside a speech balloon over your head all the time.
-I really want a darbuka. I played my friend's darbuka the other weekend and it felt great to play with it. His friend from Pinikpikan (now named Kalayo) told me we should do a proper jam. He's mentioned that once before. But I think it was the booze talking. I certainly hope not. Given my gig tigangness lately, I'd probably be able to jam with that band regularly if they allowed me to. Oh how I wish.
-My sense of morality has changed dramatically this past year. Well I didn't turn into a complete asshole or anything. But I'm finding myself being selfish more and more now. I still pull for friends, and run myself under the bus for other people's sakes. But I do it less frequently these days. Reciprocation is becoming more a requirement now than it ever was before. Bah humbug.
-People change. That is a fact. I have changed as well. I'm not even all that sure whether I'm changed for the better or worse. But compared to the small mound of navel lint that I used to be exactly one year ago. I can safely say I have changed for the better in that comparision. Some people I don't even recognize anymore. Some people have been so out of touch, that I feel I don't have a right to comment about their lives altogether. I don't keep in touch as well. But then again, it's a two-way street. They stay out of touch too.
-Some people are also leaving my life in one aspect or another. It saddens me to know that eventuality is coming. I've lost so many people in my life since last year. I suppose a few more won't hurt.
-My band's first album is going nowhere once again. The band is in a state of transition from the old music and old band members, to a new line-up and the thirst to make new music. I personally offered to take on the album and see it all the way through. But it seems I'm not trusted with my decision making with the direction I want to take the album. Oh well, I bet later on I will be partly blamed for ending this year with the album not going anywhere. Once again, it's a two-way street. No one is pushing either to finish this first album. I get the feeling the 2nd album with the new music the band wants to write will come out sooner. That's cool too. Too bad everybody is just way too busy to work on any new music currently. Oh well, not like we do the band thing full-time. I just miss it I suppose. We'll see what January brings. I'll bring up the album again by then, or at least a jam to flesh out new songs.
-My electric bill sky-rocketed this month. And no, I will not tell you to what degree it went up. I suppose I'm making my appartment a 24 hour refrigerator just a little too much. Not too mention making my PC a 24 hour downloading machine. I should really taper my electricity consumption down. But then again, way over a year ago, my electric was much much higher. Hmmm. Perhaps I shouldn't be complaining.
-I wanna be filthy rich. Well, who doesn't really. But I'm starting to feel that money is the only recourse for happiness. My previous blog post was a speech delivered by Ben Affleck from the movie Boiler Room. Two lines I will quote from that speech. "Anybody tells you that money is the root of all evil, doesn't fucking have any!". "They say money can't buy you happiness, look at the fucking smile on my face! Ear to ear baby!". And to be honest, the few instances when I was happy the past few weeks involved forking over a certain amount of money. I'm not rich. But I also have very few things to spend my money on other than on myself.
-My Nintendo Wii finally saw some action this month with the entry of Star Wars Force Unleashed. I've neglected it and other forms of gaming because of Dekaron. I only bought the damn game for its duel mode. The Star Wars geek in me couldn't resist dueling someone with a Wii-Mote controller as a lightsaber. One can't also resist going off on someone with Force Lightning and yelling out "Absolute POWAAAAH!!!!" in true Senator Palpeteen/Emperor fashion. Geekery, you gotta love it.
-I really talk too much. I find myself chatting with the few friends that I have with a lot to say before they give a one-liner response back. Hence why I'm talking to my blog. I'm a weirdo once again.
END OF LINE...
-I didn't get to level 99 with my Vicious Summoner character coming off the weekend. This is from a game Dekaron by the way, for those of you who don't know. I did reset my skills so I can utilize all 4 Cosmos Skills now by using a low level staff. It feels good to drop a large group of mobs after casting the 4th Cosmos Skill in a row. However, something saddens me at the fact that I'm levelling all on my own and at a very slow pace at that. Looks like I won't get my wings at level 102 by the end of this year after all. Although, outside the world of Dekaron, I'm fine. But within this virtual world, I feel left-out and betrayed. People could've just easily said "gusto nila sumama sa mga malalakas". Oh well, cheers to your PK (Player Kill) fetish. There goes pinning all my happiness to a game. How pathetic. It's only a game after all.
-Being sick and living alone, definitely teaches you things and reminds you of things. You start remembering that you are alone and the only person who can take care of you is yourself. You start remembering that your friends are only your friends in so far as hanging with them or occassionally sharing something personal with them. I understand that. When was the last time I pulled for a friend who was sick. But then again, most of my friends don't live alone either.
-Picked up my guitar more than any percussion instrument this weekend. I don't find that as a bad thing really. I'm just really gig-tigang already that I'm starting to get withdrawal symptoms. I even asked Chad from Liquid Jane if I could jam percussions at their next gig. He loved the idea and extended an indefinite open invitation for me to jam at any of their gigs. Wow, that's very nice of him to say. Too bad their next gig is smack-dab on the night of the office Christmas party/dinner... errr party... dinner.... eerr pantry.
-I have squeezed out every TV show and anime episode that I've downloaded in my PC. I've watched them all. I watched Naruto Shippuden, Bleach, Vampire Night, Heroes, Prison Break, True Blood, One Tree Hill (the chicks are hot give me a break), etc. I would download some more. But my hard drives are full and I ran out of blank DVDs. I was meaning to buy a spindle of blank DVDs. But then I got sick. So I couldn't step out of my appartment even if I wanted to. I get the feeling I'd deteriorate into dust if I stepped outside. Kinda like this dude in this "House" episode, who never wanted to leave his place because he feared the outside world. I wish I could do that. I probably could pull that shit off if I found a job that pay wells that I can do from home.
-I was added by a number of random people in Friendster and Facebook the past few days. I feel like a Pokemon that people just wanna collect in their friends list. Wow! Now I have a Pokemon that can play congas! I should really stop accepting friend requests from people I don't even know or talk to. But then again, if I actually deleted everybody that I didn't really relate with, I could probably fit the remaining people in my top friends/featured friends section. LOL!
-Manny, you the man! Brought that beat down to De La Hoya. That must've hurt even with padded gloves. Nine rounds of pain. And here I thought, the only interesting fights these days are mixed martial arts shows like UFC.
-Watched one too many vampire related shows/anime this weekend (i.e. Vampire Night, True Blood). I got bored and installed Photoshop in my PC and played around with it. The end result is me with red eyes and fangs. Some people found it morbid. One person found it cool. Although I don't have a blood lust or anything, I feel like a vampire some times. Hidden, alone... Wish immortality came with it. But then again, what would I do with immortality? It's a rhetorical question. So please don't try to answer it.
-I wish people would say what they really mean. Although, I pride myself in being able to spin the truth a little. I don't outright lie. When you say "yes" to something. That means you will really do what you agreed to. Stop cowering, and beating around the bush. We're all grown people for crying out loud. And when things are urgent, then act with a sense of urgency and take charge. Stop acting like there's supposed to be a big question mark inside a speech balloon over your head all the time.
-I really want a darbuka. I played my friend's darbuka the other weekend and it felt great to play with it. His friend from Pinikpikan (now named Kalayo) told me we should do a proper jam. He's mentioned that once before. But I think it was the booze talking. I certainly hope not. Given my gig tigangness lately, I'd probably be able to jam with that band regularly if they allowed me to. Oh how I wish.
-My sense of morality has changed dramatically this past year. Well I didn't turn into a complete asshole or anything. But I'm finding myself being selfish more and more now. I still pull for friends, and run myself under the bus for other people's sakes. But I do it less frequently these days. Reciprocation is becoming more a requirement now than it ever was before. Bah humbug.
-People change. That is a fact. I have changed as well. I'm not even all that sure whether I'm changed for the better or worse. But compared to the small mound of navel lint that I used to be exactly one year ago. I can safely say I have changed for the better in that comparision. Some people I don't even recognize anymore. Some people have been so out of touch, that I feel I don't have a right to comment about their lives altogether. I don't keep in touch as well. But then again, it's a two-way street. They stay out of touch too.
-Some people are also leaving my life in one aspect or another. It saddens me to know that eventuality is coming. I've lost so many people in my life since last year. I suppose a few more won't hurt.
-My band's first album is going nowhere once again. The band is in a state of transition from the old music and old band members, to a new line-up and the thirst to make new music. I personally offered to take on the album and see it all the way through. But it seems I'm not trusted with my decision making with the direction I want to take the album. Oh well, I bet later on I will be partly blamed for ending this year with the album not going anywhere. Once again, it's a two-way street. No one is pushing either to finish this first album. I get the feeling the 2nd album with the new music the band wants to write will come out sooner. That's cool too. Too bad everybody is just way too busy to work on any new music currently. Oh well, not like we do the band thing full-time. I just miss it I suppose. We'll see what January brings. I'll bring up the album again by then, or at least a jam to flesh out new songs.
-My electric bill sky-rocketed this month. And no, I will not tell you to what degree it went up. I suppose I'm making my appartment a 24 hour refrigerator just a little too much. Not too mention making my PC a 24 hour downloading machine. I should really taper my electricity consumption down. But then again, way over a year ago, my electric was much much higher. Hmmm. Perhaps I shouldn't be complaining.
-I wanna be filthy rich. Well, who doesn't really. But I'm starting to feel that money is the only recourse for happiness. My previous blog post was a speech delivered by Ben Affleck from the movie Boiler Room. Two lines I will quote from that speech. "Anybody tells you that money is the root of all evil, doesn't fucking have any!". "They say money can't buy you happiness, look at the fucking smile on my face! Ear to ear baby!". And to be honest, the few instances when I was happy the past few weeks involved forking over a certain amount of money. I'm not rich. But I also have very few things to spend my money on other than on myself.
-My Nintendo Wii finally saw some action this month with the entry of Star Wars Force Unleashed. I've neglected it and other forms of gaming because of Dekaron. I only bought the damn game for its duel mode. The Star Wars geek in me couldn't resist dueling someone with a Wii-Mote controller as a lightsaber. One can't also resist going off on someone with Force Lightning and yelling out "Absolute POWAAAAH!!!!" in true Senator Palpeteen/Emperor fashion. Geekery, you gotta love it.
-I really talk too much. I find myself chatting with the few friends that I have with a lot to say before they give a one-liner response back. Hence why I'm talking to my blog. I'm a weirdo once again.
END OF LINE...
Saturday, November 29, 2008
The Man
Okay, here's the deal. I'm not here to waste your time. Okay, I certainly hope you're not here to waste mine.
So I'm gonna keep this short. Become an employee of this firm, you will make your first million within 3 years.
Okay, I'm gonna repeat that. You will make a million dollars within 3 years of your first day of employment at J.T. Marlon.
There is no question as to whether or not you'll become a millionaire working here. The only question is how many times over.
You think I'm joking? I am not joking.
I am a millionaire...
It's a weird thing to hear, right? I tell ya. It's a weird thing to say.
I am a fucking millionaire...
And guess how old I am? 27... You know what that makes me here? A fucking senior citizen. This firm is entirely comprised of people your age, not mine. Lucky for me, I happen to be very fucking good at my job or I'd be out of one.
You guys are the new blood. You're gonna go home with the kestle. You are the future big swingin' dicks of this firm.
Now you all look money hungry, and that's good.
Anybody tells you that money is the root of all evil, doesn't fucking have any!
They say money can't buy you happiness, look at the fucking smile on my face! Ear to ear baby!
You want details? Fine...
I drive a Ferrari... 355 Cabriole... What's up!?
I have a ridiculous house in the South Fork.
I have every toy you can possibly imagine.
And best of all kids, I am liquid.
So, now you know what's possible. Lemme tell you what's required. You are required to work your fucking ass off at this firm.
We want winners here, not pikers. A piker walks at the bell. A piker asks how much vacation time they get in the first year.
Vacation time?!
People come to work at this firm, for one reason, to become filthy rich. That's it.
We're not here to make friends. We're not saving the manitees here guys. If you want vacation time, go teach 3rd grade public school.
Okay. First 3 months at the firm, you work as a trainee. You make $150 a week. After you're done training, you take the Series 7. You passed that, you become a junior broker. And you're opening accounts for your team leader. You open 40 accounts, you start working for yourself. Sky's the limit.
Word or two about being a trainee... friends, parents, the other brokers, whoever, they can give you shit about it. It's true.
$150 a week. Not a lot of money.
But pay them no mind. You need to learn this business. And this is the time to do it....
Once you pass the test, none of that is gonna matter...
Your friends are shit! You tell them you made 25 grand last month, they're not gonna fucking believe you. Fuck them! Fuck 'em!
Parents don't like the life you lead? Fuck you, mom and dad!
See how it feels, when you're making their fucking Lexus payments.
Now go home and think about it. Think about whether or not this is really for you. If you decide it isn't, listen, it's nothing to be embarrased about. It's not for everyone. Thanks...
But if you really want this, you call me on Monday. And we'll talk. Just don't waste my fucking time. Okay that's it.
-Ben Affleck, Boiler Room
END OF LINE...
So I'm gonna keep this short. Become an employee of this firm, you will make your first million within 3 years.
Okay, I'm gonna repeat that. You will make a million dollars within 3 years of your first day of employment at J.T. Marlon.
There is no question as to whether or not you'll become a millionaire working here. The only question is how many times over.
You think I'm joking? I am not joking.
I am a millionaire...
It's a weird thing to hear, right? I tell ya. It's a weird thing to say.
I am a fucking millionaire...
And guess how old I am? 27... You know what that makes me here? A fucking senior citizen. This firm is entirely comprised of people your age, not mine. Lucky for me, I happen to be very fucking good at my job or I'd be out of one.
You guys are the new blood. You're gonna go home with the kestle. You are the future big swingin' dicks of this firm.
Now you all look money hungry, and that's good.
Anybody tells you that money is the root of all evil, doesn't fucking have any!
They say money can't buy you happiness, look at the fucking smile on my face! Ear to ear baby!
You want details? Fine...
I drive a Ferrari... 355 Cabriole... What's up!?
I have a ridiculous house in the South Fork.
I have every toy you can possibly imagine.
And best of all kids, I am liquid.
So, now you know what's possible. Lemme tell you what's required. You are required to work your fucking ass off at this firm.
We want winners here, not pikers. A piker walks at the bell. A piker asks how much vacation time they get in the first year.
Vacation time?!
People come to work at this firm, for one reason, to become filthy rich. That's it.
We're not here to make friends. We're not saving the manitees here guys. If you want vacation time, go teach 3rd grade public school.
Okay. First 3 months at the firm, you work as a trainee. You make $150 a week. After you're done training, you take the Series 7. You passed that, you become a junior broker. And you're opening accounts for your team leader. You open 40 accounts, you start working for yourself. Sky's the limit.
Word or two about being a trainee... friends, parents, the other brokers, whoever, they can give you shit about it. It's true.
$150 a week. Not a lot of money.
But pay them no mind. You need to learn this business. And this is the time to do it....
Once you pass the test, none of that is gonna matter...
Your friends are shit! You tell them you made 25 grand last month, they're not gonna fucking believe you. Fuck them! Fuck 'em!
Parents don't like the life you lead? Fuck you, mom and dad!
See how it feels, when you're making their fucking Lexus payments.
Now go home and think about it. Think about whether or not this is really for you. If you decide it isn't, listen, it's nothing to be embarrased about. It's not for everyone. Thanks...
But if you really want this, you call me on Monday. And we'll talk. Just don't waste my fucking time. Okay that's it.
-Ben Affleck, Boiler Room
END OF LINE...
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Not Artistic Enough to get it...
It's been quite some time already since this gig of ours. I figured the statute of limitations on not bashing the shit out of this gig has passed weeks ago.
So this is my post dedicated to an acoustic gig that myself, Briggs, and Islaw did for a production I will not name, during a time I will not specify, at a venue I will not mention.
What I will mention are my gripes about that night.
Audio Equipment Preparation. In any production, especially when it involves not only musical acts, but spoken word acts, it is necessary to have the right gear, and properly test it out. You would think they would provide mics that were suited for that purpose. One does get scared when both the house and production tech cannot find the root-cause of an overlying buzz that you hear coming out of the speakers. And you start getting scared when the mics are branded as "Philips" and "Panasonic" with thin wires, alluding to the fact that they were throw-in mics that came with their new DVD player. The clip of their one and only mic stand broke and they had no back-up or remedy prepared (i.e. duct tape like McGyver). I even had to rush back home and grab one of my mic stands just to accomodate for more than one mic simultaneously.
Talent Fee Distribution. Briggs, Islaw, and myself all have stable day jobs, so a sizeable talent fee is really not an expectation when we do gigs. We gig to enjoy sharing our music and feel the crowd reaction. But the baseline expectation is that the bands are at least given drinks and fed well. The lone bottle of wine that was given to us that tasted more like Cool-Aid than anything else, was essentially our talent fee. I suppose they couldn't really afford to do more for the acts that night because of the limited customer turn-out.
Act Choice. Granted we were part of the acts that night. But the reason why I go to gigs is to enjoy the other acts as well as our own set. For the life of me, I really couldn't enjoy the other acts that performed that night. The other acts surrounded around some free-verse poetry that seem to just repeat themselves over and over. (i.e. "Naglalaro ako ng Transformers, ng Transformers, ng Transformers..."). I started missing the impromptu poetry back when Sanctum Unmasct was still alive. At least that I enjoyed as tasteful free-verse poetry.
Weird Vibe. The production, the venue, and the people that came to watch, seem to give an overall vibe of forced artistic elitism and pretensiousness, whether or not there was really anything artistic that they were indulging in. Some of the poetry acts spent more time informing people of their next performances rather than actually performing. Most people there relegated the acts performing to background music/noise and kept up conversations that really didn't amount to anything enlightning or even humorous. You seem to be able to hear everything that goes on in the kitchen. Given that you can hear the blender's screams cutting right through the speakers for every variation of a shake that was ordered. People loved their shakes that night it seems.
So now that I got that out of my system. Below are some pictures of us playing that night, as well as a bootleg recording of one of the songs we played. I didn't bother uploading the rest of songs in our set precisely because of the crowd banter, blender screams, and speaker buzz.
So this is my post dedicated to an acoustic gig that myself, Briggs, and Islaw did for a production I will not name, during a time I will not specify, at a venue I will not mention.
What I will mention are my gripes about that night.
Audio Equipment Preparation. In any production, especially when it involves not only musical acts, but spoken word acts, it is necessary to have the right gear, and properly test it out. You would think they would provide mics that were suited for that purpose. One does get scared when both the house and production tech cannot find the root-cause of an overlying buzz that you hear coming out of the speakers. And you start getting scared when the mics are branded as "Philips" and "Panasonic" with thin wires, alluding to the fact that they were throw-in mics that came with their new DVD player. The clip of their one and only mic stand broke and they had no back-up or remedy prepared (i.e. duct tape like McGyver). I even had to rush back home and grab one of my mic stands just to accomodate for more than one mic simultaneously.
Talent Fee Distribution. Briggs, Islaw, and myself all have stable day jobs, so a sizeable talent fee is really not an expectation when we do gigs. We gig to enjoy sharing our music and feel the crowd reaction. But the baseline expectation is that the bands are at least given drinks and fed well. The lone bottle of wine that was given to us that tasted more like Cool-Aid than anything else, was essentially our talent fee. I suppose they couldn't really afford to do more for the acts that night because of the limited customer turn-out.
Act Choice. Granted we were part of the acts that night. But the reason why I go to gigs is to enjoy the other acts as well as our own set. For the life of me, I really couldn't enjoy the other acts that performed that night. The other acts surrounded around some free-verse poetry that seem to just repeat themselves over and over. (i.e. "Naglalaro ako ng Transformers, ng Transformers, ng Transformers..."). I started missing the impromptu poetry back when Sanctum Unmasct was still alive. At least that I enjoyed as tasteful free-verse poetry.
Weird Vibe. The production, the venue, and the people that came to watch, seem to give an overall vibe of forced artistic elitism and pretensiousness, whether or not there was really anything artistic that they were indulging in. Some of the poetry acts spent more time informing people of their next performances rather than actually performing. Most people there relegated the acts performing to background music/noise and kept up conversations that really didn't amount to anything enlightning or even humorous. You seem to be able to hear everything that goes on in the kitchen. Given that you can hear the blender's screams cutting right through the speakers for every variation of a shake that was ordered. People loved their shakes that night it seems.
So now that I got that out of my system. Below are some pictures of us playing that night, as well as a bootleg recording of one of the songs we played. I didn't bother uploading the rest of songs in our set precisely because of the crowd banter, blender screams, and speaker buzz.
The only redeeming factors of that night was of course a gig with some of my bandmates is still a gig. It cuts the ordinary routine as always. And the fact that some officemates actually went to watch the gig even though I didn't invite them. I wish they saw a full band set-up gig instead. Even though I kind of enjoyed that gig, I wasn't all the pleased with our output. I supposed the night just gave off an ambience that wasn't condusive for us to play well in. Aside from the fact that we really don't do acoustic performances in the first place.
So now to tie the title of this post to what I'm trying to say. Perhaps I'm just not artistic enough to see past all those irritations and annoyances that night. Perhaps I'm just not artistic enough to see the beauty of repeating the same line in a poetry verse 3-4 times over needlessly. It really could just boil down to my naiveness. I could be wrong with my impressions of that night. You think?
END OF LINE...
Saying Words I do Mean...
As I enjoyed the first few minutes/hours of my friend Jhonjee's 30th birthday party, here are a few snippets I will quote:
"Please stop me if I start getting loud"-Me (I tend to get overly honest and insulting when I get drunk at times, I didn't want to ruin Jhonjee's night.)
"Behave you guys"-Jhonjee's wife (indicating how we should treat the two girls that our friend Blue brought with him to the party)
I'm generally a docile guy. But when I've drank quite a few drinks, I may blurt out what's on my mind that has a possibility of being offensive to other people.
Given this, when I do say something off the top of my head in my drunken stupor, it's also the most genuine that I get. Most people haven't figured it out yet it seems. That if you want the full unbridled truth about something. You ask me when I've had my 7th glass of Jack Coke.
Jhonjee and his family, gave me a ride home just a few hours ago. The party winded down to just a few of Jhonjee's core friends. But they all had rides/cars to head home with except me. I was thinking I would take a cab home like I always do when I get drunk off a gig or a gimik. But Jhonjee and his family were nice enough to give me a ride home.
When the van pulled over to my appartment building. I opened the side door and started stepping out of the van. I uttered a few words to Jhonjee that were the most genuine words I've ever uttered in a long time.
I said...
"Don't worry about being 30."
"It's just as screwed up as always."
"But you have beautiful children."
"And a wonderful wife."
I usually don't pay someone a compliment but I felt Jhonjee needed one on his special day. And to be honest, I uttered those words in envy as well.
Jhonjee is 30 years old. But he has two beautiful children and a wonderful wife to show for it. My friends Charles and Vinnie came over later that night with my beautiful 1 month old goddaughter. I got to jam with Charles earlier which I haven't done in a long ass time. That felt great.
Some of my other friends, have bashed me for not having a fling or girlfriend in my life because I'm either too stupid or too slow to do anything. In all my intelligence that has paved the way for higher levels of responsibility in my career, I can't even find and get a girl in my life that is right for me. Even if it's just about sex, or something more than that. I know I'm pathetic. I just don't need to be reminded of it for a good laugh.
Which brings me back to my good friend Jhonjee. Happy Birthday, my friend. I only wish that I would be as fortunate as you someday.
END OF LINE...
"Please stop me if I start getting loud"-Me (I tend to get overly honest and insulting when I get drunk at times, I didn't want to ruin Jhonjee's night.)
"Behave you guys"-Jhonjee's wife (indicating how we should treat the two girls that our friend Blue brought with him to the party)
I'm generally a docile guy. But when I've drank quite a few drinks, I may blurt out what's on my mind that has a possibility of being offensive to other people.
Given this, when I do say something off the top of my head in my drunken stupor, it's also the most genuine that I get. Most people haven't figured it out yet it seems. That if you want the full unbridled truth about something. You ask me when I've had my 7th glass of Jack Coke.
Jhonjee and his family, gave me a ride home just a few hours ago. The party winded down to just a few of Jhonjee's core friends. But they all had rides/cars to head home with except me. I was thinking I would take a cab home like I always do when I get drunk off a gig or a gimik. But Jhonjee and his family were nice enough to give me a ride home.
When the van pulled over to my appartment building. I opened the side door and started stepping out of the van. I uttered a few words to Jhonjee that were the most genuine words I've ever uttered in a long time.
I said...
"Don't worry about being 30."
"It's just as screwed up as always."
"But you have beautiful children."
"And a wonderful wife."
I usually don't pay someone a compliment but I felt Jhonjee needed one on his special day. And to be honest, I uttered those words in envy as well.
Jhonjee is 30 years old. But he has two beautiful children and a wonderful wife to show for it. My friends Charles and Vinnie came over later that night with my beautiful 1 month old goddaughter. I got to jam with Charles earlier which I haven't done in a long ass time. That felt great.
Some of my other friends, have bashed me for not having a fling or girlfriend in my life because I'm either too stupid or too slow to do anything. In all my intelligence that has paved the way for higher levels of responsibility in my career, I can't even find and get a girl in my life that is right for me. Even if it's just about sex, or something more than that. I know I'm pathetic. I just don't need to be reminded of it for a good laugh.
Which brings me back to my good friend Jhonjee. Happy Birthday, my friend. I only wish that I would be as fortunate as you someday.
END OF LINE...
Friday, November 21, 2008
Onur Darbuka
Came across this awesome darbuka percussionist named Onur Il from Istanbul while I was browsing through videos in YouTube.
For those of you who do not know what a darbuka is, the generic term is "goblet" drum". It's a smaller drum that resembles the shape of a djembe. But the sounds and tones from a darbuka are much higher and less warm compared to a djembe.
I love the way that a darbuka sits on your lap on top of your left thigh while you play it. I've always been use to congas standing in front of me, or a djembe or bongos cupped in between my legs.
Check out two videos by Onur soloing on a darbuka below. Take note that the first video shows Onur soloing using both a darbuka and a djembe drum at the same time. I think he put a light inside his darbuka making the drum head glow like that. Way cool.
This next video shows Onur soloing with a more traditional darbuka. Hence the skin looks like it's weaved over the drum rather than inserted in.
This guy's finger work is amazing. It seems that he has full use of all 10 of his fingers in order to reach the speeds that he's able to attain while playing. How I wish I was as good as him.
The only guy here in Manila that I've seen play a darbuka extremely well is Bodetz from Pinikpikan. That guy is crazy on a darbuka.
If anybody is selling or knows anybody who's selling a darbuka in good condition, please let me know. I want to start learning some darbuka rhythms.
END OF LINE...
For those of you who do not know what a darbuka is, the generic term is "goblet" drum". It's a smaller drum that resembles the shape of a djembe. But the sounds and tones from a darbuka are much higher and less warm compared to a djembe.
I love the way that a darbuka sits on your lap on top of your left thigh while you play it. I've always been use to congas standing in front of me, or a djembe or bongos cupped in between my legs.
Check out two videos by Onur soloing on a darbuka below. Take note that the first video shows Onur soloing using both a darbuka and a djembe drum at the same time. I think he put a light inside his darbuka making the drum head glow like that. Way cool.
This next video shows Onur soloing with a more traditional darbuka. Hence the skin looks like it's weaved over the drum rather than inserted in.
This guy's finger work is amazing. It seems that he has full use of all 10 of his fingers in order to reach the speeds that he's able to attain while playing.
The only guy here in Manila that I've seen play a darbuka extremely well is Bodetz from Pinikpikan. That guy is crazy on a darbuka.
If anybody is selling or knows anybody who's selling a darbuka in good condition, please let me know. I want to start learning some darbuka rhythms.
END OF LINE...
Friday, November 14, 2008
It's a Me... Mario..
Just thought of sharing this cute video that I found on YouTube. It's a video interview of the voice actor behind Nintendo's iconic character Super Mario.
All you Mario fans will instantly recognize Mario's voice. For those who don't know what Mario, Super Mario, or Nintendo is... Well... I have a headache right now, so I don't really feel like writing a long arduous explanation in this post. Google it. ;)
Check out the video below. The funniest part of the interview is his admission that he can't say anything that the Mario character wouldn't say. He couldn't even comment on what he personally thinks about Sony's Playstation 3. LOL!
END OF LINE...
All you Mario fans will instantly recognize Mario's voice. For those who don't know what Mario, Super Mario, or Nintendo is... Well... I have a headache right now, so I don't really feel like writing a long arduous explanation in this post. Google it. ;)
Check out the video below. The funniest part of the interview is his admission that he can't say anything that the Mario character wouldn't say. He couldn't even comment on what he personally thinks about Sony's Playstation 3. LOL!
END OF LINE...
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Rest In Peace
Rest in peace Lola Titang and Lolo Tito. :(
I do hope that you are now together and are very happy.
END OF LINE...
I do hope that you are now together and are very happy.
END OF LINE...
Monday, November 10, 2008
Ocarina of Time
I found a website of a store in St. Louis, Missouri in the States, that actually handcrafts and sells actual playable ocarinas. The URL to the website is below.
http://www.stlocarina.com/
What blew me away was when I saw that they were selling a particular special edition ocarina. For you hardcore Zelda fans, the ocarina I'm talking about is the Ocarina of Time from the Nintendo 64 Zelda game.
Check out the video below of a girl playing the Zelda theme song on an exact replica of the Ocarina of Time made by St. Louis Ocarinas.
I so want one. Yes, I will have one. LOL!
This blog is getting to be more about my geekery than anything else. Well, that should all change once we start gigging again. Next gig is coming up this Saturday, the 15th.
Until then, expect more geekery content in this blog. Sucks for you.
END OF LINE...
http://www.stlocarina.com/
What blew me away was when I saw that they were selling a particular special edition ocarina. For you hardcore Zelda fans, the ocarina I'm talking about is the Ocarina of Time from the Nintendo 64 Zelda game.
Check out the video below of a girl playing the Zelda theme song on an exact replica of the Ocarina of Time made by St. Louis Ocarinas.
I so want one. Yes, I will have one. LOL!
This blog is getting to be more about my geekery than anything else. Well, that should all change once we start gigging again. Next gig is coming up this Saturday, the 15th.
Until then, expect more geekery content in this blog. Sucks for you.
END OF LINE...
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Creed
Let us travel back in time to the days of post-grunge. A band called Creed was doing fairly well in the music scene. In my teenage naivete, I wrote them off initially because they had similar textures in their music like Pearl Jam. But once you give these guys a chance they can hold their own.
This is one of the songs that you'd like uploaded in your iPod on a road trip/gig to Naga. Expect every passenger in the vehicle to pelt out to the music in true Wayne's World fashion.
The lyrics don't amount to any message or story sharing really. What drew me to the song was the rock-out vocals that you copy singing at the top of your lungs.
There was no music video of that song. But I found the audio track on YouTube. Check it out below along with the song's prose.
Are you Ready?
by Creed
Hey, Mr. Seeker hold on to this advice
If you keep seeking you will find
Don't want to follow
Down roads been walked before
It's so hard to find unopened doors
Are you ready? Are you ready?
For whats to come...Oh I said Are you ready?
Are you Ready?...For whats to come
Hey, Mr. Hero Walking a thin, fine line
Under the microscope of life
Remember your roots, my friend
They're right down below
'Cause heroes come and heroes go
Are you ready? Are you ready?
For whats to come...Oh I said Are you ready?
Are you ready? For whats to come
Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one
Count down to the change in life that's soon to come
Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one
Count down to the change in life that's soon to come
Your life has just begun
Life has just begun
Life has just begun
Life has just begun
Are you ready? Are you ready?
For whats to come...Oh I said Are you ready?
Are you ready? For whats to come
Oh I said Are you ready?
Are you ready? For whats to come
Your Life has just begun
Life has just begun
Life has just begun
I could only find a crude live video on YouTube. But it's not so bad. Worth at least one watch.
I seem to be into rock-out/feel-good songs lately. Weird. I don't think anything out of the ordinary happened lately. Well whatever it is, I think I'll ride that wave for a while.
END OF LINE...
This is one of the songs that you'd like uploaded in your iPod on a road trip/gig to Naga. Expect every passenger in the vehicle to pelt out to the music in true Wayne's World fashion.
The lyrics don't amount to any message or story sharing really. What drew me to the song was the rock-out vocals that you copy singing at the top of your lungs.
There was no music video of that song. But I found the audio track on YouTube. Check it out below along with the song's prose.
Are you Ready?
by Creed
Hey, Mr. Seeker hold on to this advice
If you keep seeking you will find
Don't want to follow
Down roads been walked before
It's so hard to find unopened doors
Are you ready? Are you ready?
For whats to come...Oh I said Are you ready?
Are you Ready?...For whats to come
Hey, Mr. Hero Walking a thin, fine line
Under the microscope of life
Remember your roots, my friend
They're right down below
'Cause heroes come and heroes go
Are you ready? Are you ready?
For whats to come...Oh I said Are you ready?
Are you ready? For whats to come
Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one
Count down to the change in life that's soon to come
Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one
Count down to the change in life that's soon to come
Your life has just begun
Life has just begun
Life has just begun
Life has just begun
Are you ready? Are you ready?
For whats to come...Oh I said Are you ready?
Are you ready? For whats to come
Oh I said Are you ready?
Are you ready? For whats to come
Your Life has just begun
Life has just begun
Life has just begun
I could only find a crude live video on YouTube. But it's not so bad. Worth at least one watch.
I seem to be into rock-out/feel-good songs lately. Weird. I don't think anything out of the ordinary happened lately. Well whatever it is, I think I'll ride that wave for a while.
END OF LINE...
Friday, November 7, 2008
Everlong
This is my all-time most favorite Foo Fighters song. For a few months earlier this year, this was what I listened to in the morning to wake myself up. I just wanted to share it.
Check out the studio track of the song and its accompanying prose below. I couldn't find the music video of the song on YouTube that allowed me to embed the song in my blog so the studio track will have to do.
Everlong
by the Foo Fighters
Hello
I've waited here for you
Everlong
Tonight
I throw myself into
And out of the red, out of her head she sang
Come down
And waste away with me
Down with me
Slow how
You wanted it to be
I'm over my head, out of her head she sang
And I wonder
When I sing along with you
If everything could ever feel this real forever
If anything could ever be this good again
The only thing I'll ever ask of you
You've got to promise not to stop when I say when
She sang
Breathe out
So I could breathe you in
Hold you in
And now
I know you've always been
Out of your head, out of my head I sang
And I wonder
When I sing along with you
If everything could ever feel this real forever
If anything could ever be this good again
The only thing I'll ever ask of you
You've got to promise not to stop when I say when
She sang
And I wonder
If everything could ever feel this real forever
If anything could ever be this good again
The only thing I'll ever ask of you
You've got to promise not to stop when I say when
She sang
I went looking for the acoustic version of the song on YouTube. I have the Skin and Bones acoustic live DVD, so I figured this would be a good compliment for this post.
Such a feel-good song. I'm usually drawn to songs of a more somber note. But this is definitely an exception. I wanna be like David Grohl. Oh how I wish.
END OF LINE....
Check out the studio track of the song and its accompanying prose below. I couldn't find the music video of the song on YouTube that allowed me to embed the song in my blog so the studio track will have to do.
Everlong
by the Foo Fighters
Hello
I've waited here for you
Everlong
Tonight
I throw myself into
And out of the red, out of her head she sang
Come down
And waste away with me
Down with me
Slow how
You wanted it to be
I'm over my head, out of her head she sang
And I wonder
When I sing along with you
If everything could ever feel this real forever
If anything could ever be this good again
The only thing I'll ever ask of you
You've got to promise not to stop when I say when
She sang
Breathe out
So I could breathe you in
Hold you in
And now
I know you've always been
Out of your head, out of my head I sang
And I wonder
When I sing along with you
If everything could ever feel this real forever
If anything could ever be this good again
The only thing I'll ever ask of you
You've got to promise not to stop when I say when
She sang
And I wonder
If everything could ever feel this real forever
If anything could ever be this good again
The only thing I'll ever ask of you
You've got to promise not to stop when I say when
She sang
I went looking for the acoustic version of the song on YouTube. I have the Skin and Bones acoustic live DVD, so I figured this would be a good compliment for this post.
Such a feel-good song. I'm usually drawn to songs of a more somber note. But this is definitely an exception. I wanna be like David Grohl. Oh how I wish.
END OF LINE....
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Heroic Brutality...
OMG! Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe. Watch as the geek-a-rama drool spews out of my mouth. I want this for my Nintendo Wii.
Watch the trailer movie of the game. You MK fanatics will know what I'm talking about after watching even the first few seconds of the movie.
Check out some of the finishing moves of DC Comic Superheroes in Mortal Kombat-esque style.
I want to see Sub-Zero kick Batman's ass.
Drool. When you're done drooling, drool some more.
END OF LINE...
Watch the trailer movie of the game. You MK fanatics will know what I'm talking about after watching even the first few seconds of the movie.
Check out some of the finishing moves of DC Comic Superheroes in Mortal Kombat-esque style.
I want to see Sub-Zero kick Batman's ass.
Drool. When you're done drooling, drool some more.
END OF LINE...
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Kiri
I finished watching all 23 episodes of this anime called Ergo Proxy. Although, I've mentioned this anime already in an earlier post. I wanted to share how much I like the opening song of the anime. Half the interest that I have for the anime is because of the song.
Check out the full version of the song that somebody spliced in with scenes from the anime below. The prose of the song, especially in the chorus, is very moving to me. I can feel my chest getting heavier and lighter at the same time. It is of the same approach that I had in one of the songs I've written in the past; about screaming to the heavens, yearning for someone to save me.
Kiri
by Monoral
You complete my fate
The world unwinds inside of me
You complete my fate
The halo crawls away
You repeat my fate
Rewinding all we can
You refill my place
You refill my place place
Come and save me
Come and save me
Come and save me
Come and save me
Come and save me
You complete my fate
The heavens stroll inside of me
You repeat my fate
Revealing who we are
You refill my place
You refill my place
Come and save me
Come and save me
Come and save me
Come for me and take out my heart and take my breath away
Come and save me
Come for me and take out my heart and take my breath away
Come and save me
Believe in me
Drink the wine
Take my hand
Fill me up
Believe in me
Drink the wine
Take my hand
Let me follow
I found a video on YouTube of the shortened version of the song that they play as the opening song of the anime. I figured I'd throw that in here as well.
I want to learn this song on guitar and sing it. Unfortunately, my vocal chords can't hit the sustained high notes in the chorus consistently yet. Some days my voice is just off. Oh well, it's not like I'm a vocalist or anything. I just do this for fun. The equivalent of singing in the shower, so to speak. I suppose it's just about practice. Either that or I cheat with a falsetto and raise the volume of my voice when I do it. I'm such a cheater when it comes to guitar playing and singing at times.
END OF LINE...
Check out the full version of the song that somebody spliced in with scenes from the anime below. The prose of the song, especially in the chorus, is very moving to me. I can feel my chest getting heavier and lighter at the same time. It is of the same approach that I had in one of the songs I've written in the past; about screaming to the heavens, yearning for someone to save me.
Kiri
by Monoral
You complete my fate
The world unwinds inside of me
You complete my fate
The halo crawls away
You repeat my fate
Rewinding all we can
You refill my place
You refill my place place
Come and save me
Come and save me
Come and save me
Come and save me
Come and save me
You complete my fate
The heavens stroll inside of me
You repeat my fate
Revealing who we are
You refill my place
You refill my place
Come and save me
Come and save me
Come and save me
Come for me and take out my heart and take my breath away
Come and save me
Come for me and take out my heart and take my breath away
Come and save me
Believe in me
Drink the wine
Take my hand
Fill me up
Believe in me
Drink the wine
Take my hand
Let me follow
I found a video on YouTube of the shortened version of the song that they play as the opening song of the anime. I figured I'd throw that in here as well.
I want to learn this song on guitar and sing it. Unfortunately, my vocal chords can't hit the sustained high notes in the chorus consistently yet. Some days my voice is just off. Oh well, it's not like I'm a vocalist or anything. I just do this for fun. The equivalent of singing in the shower, so to speak. I suppose it's just about practice. Either that or I cheat with a falsetto and raise the volume of my voice when I do it. I'm such a cheater when it comes to guitar playing and singing at times.
END OF LINE...
Monday, October 27, 2008
Read it and Weep Boys!!!...
As the title of this post says, below is a cropped portion of a screenshot I took of a nice Kerev Blood Whip that I dropped while playing Dekaron yesterday afternoon.
3 x +1% Critical Rate baby!!! All I have to do now is fortify it up to +6, punch sockets in it, and insert 3 x +5% Curse Damage gems. My Segnale character will be so sweet by then.
Below is the full screenshot if you guys still don't believe me.
What can beat this Kerev Blood Whip? A Divine Noble Kerev with 4 x +1% Critical Rate options. That's very hard to find. Good luck to all of us in our neverending search for it. In the meantime, look at the screenshot again and drown in your own geek-a-rama drool.
For those of you who totally don't understand a word in this post, this is about a game called Dekaron.
---While waving his right hand, motioning to do a Jedi Mind Trick.---
"You will click on the URL below, sign-up, download, install, and play this game..."
http://dekaron.mobiusgames.net/
END OF LINE...
3 x +1% Critical Rate baby!!! All I have to do now is fortify it up to +6, punch sockets in it, and insert 3 x +5% Curse Damage gems. My Segnale character will be so sweet by then.Below is the full screenshot if you guys still don't believe me.
What can beat this Kerev Blood Whip? A Divine Noble Kerev with 4 x +1% Critical Rate options. That's very hard to find. Good luck to all of us in our neverending search for it. In the meantime, look at the screenshot again and drown in your own geek-a-rama drool.For those of you who totally don't understand a word in this post, this is about a game called Dekaron.
---While waving his right hand, motioning to do a Jedi Mind Trick.---
"You will click on the URL below, sign-up, download, install, and play this game..."
http://dekaron.mobiusgames.net/
END OF LINE...
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Kami no Pino?
After my heavy post yesterday, I figured I'd put up something lighter today. I've been watching this anime called Ergo Proxy. It's a pretty deep anime; with subtle background themes that touch various philosophies, legends, and beliefs of the world. But enough about that, what I really wanted to show you is how cute "Pino" is in the anime. Pino is one of the supporting characters; a cogito virus infected companion autorave (android). She at times walks around in this funny pink bunny costume. Here are pictures of Pino below.
Around this time last year, Kami, my uber cute little niece was spending her first months living in this world. My sister, Janne, and brother-in-law, John, dressed Kami up in a costume. Rather than describe it, I'll just show you pictures. You'll see the cute parallel soon enough.
So cuuuuute!!! Kamiiiii!!!
END OF LINE...
Around this time last year, Kami, my uber cute little niece was spending her first months living in this world. My sister, Janne, and brother-in-law, John, dressed Kami up in a costume. Rather than describe it, I'll just show you pictures. You'll see the cute parallel soon enough.
So cuuuuute!!! Kamiiiii!!!END OF LINE...
Saturday, October 25, 2008
The Concept of Understanding...
I haven't blogged in a while. I've been consuming most of my free time playing this game called Dekaron. I've mentioned this game quite a few times in this blog. Although I have a number of other things to blog about right now, I decided to blog about my epiphany because in the end I only have myself to talk to about those things.
Yes, I talk to myself. If that weirds you out, there's this little red square with an "X" on it on the top right corner of your browser. Click on it. My weirdness goes away.
I wanted to talk about the concept of understanding, and why I have come to realize that you can never expect any person to utilize it other than yourself.
This past year, I've grown to take a step back and understand people more. I suppose this came with age because I never used to be this way 5-6 years ago. In retrosepect, I had a lot of arrogance in me back then. When I started working for a living, I somehow strayed from the insecure geek that I used to be. I suppose the quick promotions and sudden influx of new friends got to my head. Going through the rigors of working for money, dealing with personalities in the workplace, and throwing personal emotions into the mix, has taught me to be humble. It's a good thing that since then, I've come back down from the high-horse I was riding.
Slowly, I grew mature enough to realize that I really didn't have so many friends. The term friends started to be classified to many categories like "casual friends", "musician friends", etc. The actual real friends that I have, I can count with my fingers. But today, I realize it's even fewer than I thought.
As a good friend to someone, I try to understand their perspective. I've grown to be slow to anger these days. So shifting to understanding is much easier for me than in the past. And if I don't understand right away, I take the time to hear someone out until I get their point. I'm generally like that. But I'm also not completely consistent with that in every situation in life. I am still human, afterall. But what happens most often is that with every situation, I look at fault in myself as a first action. And hence, the understanding begins as the next action.
Having a relationship or even just a good friendship with someone, you would think that understanding is at the core of it. That's suppose to be how you get along. So when you are in a relationship or a friendship, you would come to expect a certain level of understanding from the other. Even if you only expect it once in a blue moon, there will be a situation where you will ask the other to please understand, and not have to utter the words to actually ask for it.
I thought relationships could be one-sided. But apparently friendship can be one-sided too at times. On rare moments, when you would hope for understanding from the other. You find out that never you had the right to expect it in the first place. That your connection with someone only entails, that for the duration of that connection, you are only to understand the other. And that's it.
This is the very fear I have. The people who mean something to me are growing less and less. The decrease caused by off chances that I make a mistake of actually hoping for understanding from another person. Then you realize you can't even ask for anything in general. People give you only what they feel like giving you. I keep losing people in my life because of my notion that I can actually ask someone for something back, no matter how much you've given to them.
So is this how things are going to be regardless of what degree you have a connection with someone? That I will always look at what fault I've done? That I have always say I'm sorry even when at times I'm not in the wrong?
The answer to that question is YES, regardless if it is a friendship, intimate relationship, work relationship, etc. And knowing that tells me I'm destined to be completely alone.
When everybody else leaves you, you're family is always there. And I am one of the lucky ones that has a nice family that's intact with little or no complications. So as I write this post, I start talking to myself once again.
"I don't miss the people that leave or walk away from me."
"I miss my family because at least I can expect them to understand me in certain situations... just because they are family."
"I miss my two sisters who I can really talk to."
"Perhaps I should really head off to the States to join them."
"I've got all the toys I want and no one to share it with over here."
"I miss having a conversation without holding something back."
"I better shut up now."
END OF LINE...
Yes, I talk to myself. If that weirds you out, there's this little red square with an "X" on it on the top right corner of your browser. Click on it. My weirdness goes away.
I wanted to talk about the concept of understanding, and why I have come to realize that you can never expect any person to utilize it other than yourself.
This past year, I've grown to take a step back and understand people more. I suppose this came with age because I never used to be this way 5-6 years ago. In retrosepect, I had a lot of arrogance in me back then. When I started working for a living, I somehow strayed from the insecure geek that I used to be. I suppose the quick promotions and sudden influx of new friends got to my head. Going through the rigors of working for money, dealing with personalities in the workplace, and throwing personal emotions into the mix, has taught me to be humble. It's a good thing that since then, I've come back down from the high-horse I was riding.
Slowly, I grew mature enough to realize that I really didn't have so many friends. The term friends started to be classified to many categories like "casual friends", "musician friends", etc. The actual real friends that I have, I can count with my fingers. But today, I realize it's even fewer than I thought.
As a good friend to someone, I try to understand their perspective. I've grown to be slow to anger these days. So shifting to understanding is much easier for me than in the past. And if I don't understand right away, I take the time to hear someone out until I get their point. I'm generally like that. But I'm also not completely consistent with that in every situation in life. I am still human, afterall. But what happens most often is that with every situation, I look at fault in myself as a first action. And hence, the understanding begins as the next action.
Having a relationship or even just a good friendship with someone, you would think that understanding is at the core of it. That's suppose to be how you get along. So when you are in a relationship or a friendship, you would come to expect a certain level of understanding from the other. Even if you only expect it once in a blue moon, there will be a situation where you will ask the other to please understand, and not have to utter the words to actually ask for it.
I thought relationships could be one-sided. But apparently friendship can be one-sided too at times. On rare moments, when you would hope for understanding from the other. You find out that never you had the right to expect it in the first place. That your connection with someone only entails, that for the duration of that connection, you are only to understand the other. And that's it.
This is the very fear I have. The people who mean something to me are growing less and less. The decrease caused by off chances that I make a mistake of actually hoping for understanding from another person. Then you realize you can't even ask for anything in general. People give you only what they feel like giving you. I keep losing people in my life because of my notion that I can actually ask someone for something back, no matter how much you've given to them.
So is this how things are going to be regardless of what degree you have a connection with someone? That I will always look at what fault I've done? That I have always say I'm sorry even when at times I'm not in the wrong?
The answer to that question is YES, regardless if it is a friendship, intimate relationship, work relationship, etc. And knowing that tells me I'm destined to be completely alone.
When everybody else leaves you, you're family is always there. And I am one of the lucky ones that has a nice family that's intact with little or no complications. So as I write this post, I start talking to myself once again.
"I don't miss the people that leave or walk away from me."
"I miss my family because at least I can expect them to understand me in certain situations... just because they are family."
"I miss my two sisters who I can really talk to."
"Perhaps I should really head off to the States to join them."
"I've got all the toys I want and no one to share it with over here."
"I miss having a conversation without holding something back."
"I better shut up now."
END OF LINE...
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Wazzup May Nagaz?!? Part 2...
Alright, here's the second half of my Naga gig trip story. After we stuffed ourselves at Frennie's house, we passed by the hotel to pick up our gear and then headed out to the gig venue.
The gig venue is a bar restaurant called "Bob Marlin". When I first heard about the place, an image of a cartoon drawn marlin that rasta dreds came to mind. Not a logical caricature. But it'll do.
I was surprised to see that the place actually had decent gear. Their drumset was mic'd and they had nice guitar amps, bass amp, and even a keyboard amp. This relieved Roland a little because it takes a load off from him to sound tech especially when the drumset is mic'ed.
Hapitones
The gig venue is a bar restaurant called "Bob Marlin". When I first heard about the place, an image of a cartoon drawn marlin that rasta dreds came to mind. Not a logical caricature. But it'll do.
I was surprised to see that the place actually had decent gear. Their drumset was mic'd and they had nice guitar amps, bass amp, and even a keyboard amp. This relieved Roland a little because it takes a load off from him to sound tech especially when the drumset is mic'ed.
Hapitones
There were 3 local Naga bands that played before the 5 Manila bands did. The first of which is a band called Hapitones. I've seen these guys play before at a previous Naga gig. But this time, they had a fuller horn section. They had two trombone players and a trumpet player. The horn section added to the Ska theme of their music.
Skinflute
The 2nd local band to play is called Skinflute. They're basically a rock cover band; covering songs the likes of Razorback and other local rock acts. They weren't spectacular. But they didn't suck either. It was nice to rock along with the band given I recognized so many of their cover songs.
Blakbord
The last local band to play was a band called Blakbord. Frennie asked me if I knew some bands that I could recommend for her birthday celebration. I suggested this band called Sidhi, who are heavily influenced by Matisyahu. She declined the suggestion. And the reason is because of Blakbord. The band is essentially a Matisyahu cover band. Given Naga's liking to Reggae music. The Hebrew-esque rap reggae sound of Matisyahu songs would definitely be a bit hit out in Naga. So I'm guessing these guys get a lot of guys locally.
Reklamo
I've seen LC (Reklamo guitarist and vocalist) in other 3 piece bands in the past. We used to gig with LC every Saturday for close to a year back in the old 6Underground in Makati. The band was called NtoN back then. LC wasn't singing much and focused on wailing on his guitar ala-David Mustane, which I found cool back then. Reklamo has a similar LC guitar playing flavor. But has veered away from too much Megadeth, into something a little more eclectic. I found myself singing along with them during one of their cover songs. "We don't need no education!" "Hey! Teacher! Leave those kids alone!"
I've always loved Chad's band. And their performance that night was no exception to what I've come to expect from them. Their sound is "Eclectic Rock" as Chad puts it. The Reklamo drummer was amazed at Chad because Chad would do complicated bass riffs while singing. Something that's not very easy to do. Even sting plays post bass riffs so that he can focus on his vocals. I wish Liquid Jane played Everlong by the Foo Fighters though. I love it when they cover that song.
It was then our turn to set-up and play. Islaw, our bassist, was so trashed because Milagros goaded then to drink a lot of what happens to be his favorite alcohol beverage back in college, gin. Islaw apparently took one of the gin bottles and took several large gulps of it like he came the desert and he was drinking water. Most of us are used to Islaw's drinking binges. He always manages to play fine despite his uber drunken state.
Gino, our guitarist, left his gear on stage because he's also the Liquid Jane guitarist. So he just chilled for a while until the rest of us were set-up.
The bane of percussionists that we have so much gear that we're always lagging behind in setting up. Briggs, our vocalist/guitarist, thought everybody was set-up already and begain playing the first song. Unfortunately, I wasn't fully ready yet. I hadn't pulled all my percs toys out yet and set them down on the stage. So I ditched the toys for the first song.
I enjoyed our set, even though I didn't feel very good about it. My band started without me. And Jerrold, our drummer, was so worried about Islaw's drunken state, that he stopped playing before the last song was actually over. This kind of left an anti-climactic end to the set. Oh well. Not every set can be a kick ass set. I think I played okay that night. But I made a number of mistakes which kind of disappointed me.
After our set, I just ordered more of the over-flowing free beer to make up for the disappointment. I'm easy. It took me 2 more beers for me to snap out of it. Well done San Miguel. LOL!
Now this band is absolutely kick-ass. Each band member is highly skilled. Yosha started out as a "for fun" band by married couple Yosha (vocalist) and Karel (bassist). Almost all of them came from UP music.
And each of them is way too good in their own right. I love Mike's (drummer) solo, where he maintained a stomp beat despite all the complicated fills he was putting in. The keyboardist plays a lot like Wowee of Jazz Volunteers. Yosha had such a sultry voice. And Karel, damn him. I've never seen anybody with that level of speed in person in my life.
This band is just hands-down a collection of all-stars. They have an album launch this coming September 29. I'll see if I can go to this gig. I've seen them 3 times already and I'm always blown away. This band will either inspire you to practice your instrument some more, or make you throw away your instrument because they're just too good. LOL!
Yosha was supposed to play last. But they requested to play sooner. So Frennie asked MDC if they could play right after Yosha instead. Normally, that would freak out MDC or any other band because you can't really top Yosha in terms of skill. But those guys were so trashed that they didn't really care at that point. I love watching Manila's experts on da riddum stylee. Their DanceHall Reggae style was a big hit with the crowd (all the more lending to the fact that Naga really likes any form of Reggae).
Sappy was there for the set. I missed his deep Shaggy-esque vocals in their songs. I knew for a fact that Macky, the bassist, was trashed beyond his mind. But his playing was steady in a very Gorillaz-esque style. I love these guys. They're always fun to hang with during gigs, and even more fun watching them play.
The rest of the night was a blur to me. The only things I remembered after the gig, was waiting up for Briggs to finish up helping Frennie with the arrangements at Bob Marlin, and eating at Biggies. Biggies happens to be more popular as a fast food chain than even McDonald's in Naga.
When we got back to the hotel, some members of Yosha and Liquid Jane were lounging around at the lobby not planning on sleeping because they leave pretty early. I then realized that I was the only non-learned in the group. Karel, Mike, Drew, Gino, they all came from or are still studying in UP Music. But nevertheless, they treated me well and I was part and parcel of the conversation like I was their musical equal. That felt good actually.
I was thinking about not sleeping myself and just pass out on the tour bus. But then my eyes were getting heavier and heavier, so I hit the sack.
I woke up a few hours later. Jerrold and Islaw already left our room because they had an early airplane flight back to Manila. I went downstairs, and slowly enjoyed a nice breakfast. Other bands started trickling down and joined me at the large dinner table. The hotel still feels like an upscale bed-and-breakfast. It felt homey. But also had a tinge of class in its presentation.
Bus ride was quicker because I was asleep more during the trip home than I was going to Naga. The orange color of the bus weirded me out at first. But I didn't care after a while since I was hungover and dead tired.
We had 2 stop-overs to grab something to eat. The second stop-over was at the same McDonald's with the make-shift bar with a showband playing beside it. It was daytime. So there was no showband this time. Thank God. I don't think I wanted to LSS Beyonce and Black Eyed Peas for the remainder of the trip home.
After snacking at McDonald's, Roland and I saw the sign above and uncanningly read it as "Cleanest Restroom". I suppose this was the hangover talking. But upon close inspection it reads "Clean Rest Room". Either that or we need to start getting a pair of glasses. LOL!
We all got back to the Isarog Bus Line near Araneta Colliseum in good time. Roland helped me lug my gear back to my appartment, and he chilled at my place for a while. We just ended up loafing around, watching this or that anime, or concert video on my 32" LCD TV. Not a bad ending to my out-of-town gig weekend.
I wanna go gig at Naga again. Gotta redeem myself from the way I played that night. But in terms of feasting on Naga delicacies. FRIGGIN' AWESOME!!! I think I gained 4 pounds in just a span of 3 days. LOL!
END OF LINE...
Friday, September 26, 2008
Wazzup May Nagaz?!? Part 1...
I haven't posted anything on my blog for a while. I've been so consumed with playing Dekaron all this time. Immersed in a virtual world, that allowed me to escape the real world even just for short periods of time.
However, quite a few people have been bugging me to post something because everytime they keep checking back, there's nothing new posted. So I will make an effort to post about some stuff this weekend that has happened while I was in blogging haitus. This is the first of a few posts I plan to put up.
"Wazzup May Nagaz?!?" is the tag line for the whole gig/trip we took to Naga the weekend before last weekend. Although we've gone on gig trips to Naga 3 times over in the past, this gig was definitely unique. To celebrate Frennie's birthday, we brought in 5 bands from Manila. And e. Each of the bands performance, I'll briefly touch on as this post progresses. The bands are as follows:
Reklamo
Liquid Jane
SunDownMuse
Milagros DanceHall Collective
Yosha
Each band I absolutely appreciate in terms of their musicality and artistry. So this gig trip was definitely going to be a form of pleasurable audio coitus.
I took a leave from work because we were going to leave at an early time than previously planned. I was getting really tense and stressed out at work during the week. So that Friday leave was definitely a good idea. It allowed me to unwind a little before heading off to the bus station to catch our tour bus to Naga.
Roland, a good friend of mine from highschool and sound engineer extroardinaire, came over to my place. We essentially hired him to do all the sound teching for the gig. He was nice enough to help me lug all my percussion gear over to Briggs' place. And then from there we drove up to the Isarog bus line near Araneta Colliseum.
Frennie is awesome. She was able to spin up a number of sponsors in order to get us nice transportation and accomodations for us. The first of which is reserving an entire tour bus for the bands to ride in for the long trip. Not all the bands rode the bus, some flew in by plane, and some followed in Briggs' car because they had a gig that night
The bus is of "deluxe tour bus" standards, with a built-in bathroom, and an "in-flight movie". Everybody on the bus was shaking their heads at the fact that they didn't bring any DVDs to watch since there were screens on the bus to ensure anybody riding can view movies properly. "Kahit soft-porn man lang. Para medyo interesting kahit half-asleep" said LC, the vocalist/guitarist of Reklamo. We were all crazy to some degree. I think that's why all the bands got along with each other. LOL!
Milagros DanceHall Collective sure love their alcohol. They gave us an inkling of the amount of alcohol we would drink over the weekend, by passing around a bottle of Emperador. Taking numerous swigs from that Emperador bottle sure made even the corniest of movies seem enjoyable. Since no one brought any DVDs to watch, we had to contend with what the bus driver had onboard. "The Guardian" starring Kevin Costner, and "Dude Where's My Car?" dude, was alright. Oh how alcohol can have this uncanny ability to make unbearable things seem interesting. "I am a rescue swimmer sir! When the army and navy docks pulls back, we go in sir!"
We only had a few stop-overs. Some stop-overs involved the bus driver having a cigarette. Another involved eating at McDonald's next to a make-shift bar with some showband playing tunes by Beyonce and Black Eyed Peas. We were all joking to each other that this was already the gig venue and that we should go in a set-up. LOL! Damn showband, those songs LSS'ed me for the next hour or so after eating in McDonald's.
Five or six hours later, we finally arrived in Naga. As we got off the bus and stretched our legs out, we were surprised that there was an immense amount of people parading/in procession. We joked to each other that this was our welcoming committee. But then we quickly realized that since it is fiesta time in Naga, that this was only part of their festivities.
However, quite a few people have been bugging me to post something because everytime they keep checking back, there's nothing new posted. So I will make an effort to post about some stuff this weekend that has happened while I was in blogging haitus. This is the first of a few posts I plan to put up.
"Wazzup May Nagaz?!?" is the tag line for the whole gig/trip we took to Naga the weekend before last weekend. Although we've gone on gig trips to Naga 3 times over in the past, this gig was definitely unique. To celebrate Frennie's birthday, we brought in 5 bands from Manila. And e. Each of the bands performance, I'll briefly touch on as this post progresses. The bands are as follows:
Reklamo
Liquid Jane
SunDownMuse
Milagros DanceHall Collective
Yosha
Each band I absolutely appreciate in terms of their musicality and artistry. So this gig trip was definitely going to be a form of pleasurable audio coitus.
I took a leave from work because we were going to leave at an early time than previously planned. I was getting really tense and stressed out at work during the week. So that Friday leave was definitely a good idea. It allowed me to unwind a little before heading off to the bus station to catch our tour bus to Naga.
Roland, a good friend of mine from highschool and sound engineer extroardinaire, came over to my place. We essentially hired him to do all the sound teching for the gig. He was nice enough to help me lug all my percussion gear over to Briggs' place. And then from there we drove up to the Isarog bus line near Araneta Colliseum.
Frennie is awesome. She was able to spin up a number of sponsors in order to get us nice transportation and accomodations for us. The first of which is reserving an entire tour bus for the bands to ride in for the long trip. Not all the bands rode the bus, some flew in by plane, and some followed in Briggs' car because they had a gig that nightThe bus is of "deluxe tour bus" standards, with a built-in bathroom, and an "in-flight movie". Everybody on the bus was shaking their heads at the fact that they didn't bring any DVDs to watch since there were screens on the bus to ensure anybody riding can view movies properly. "Kahit soft-porn man lang. Para medyo interesting kahit half-asleep" said LC, the vocalist/guitarist of Reklamo. We were all crazy to some degree. I think that's why all the bands got along with each other. LOL!
Milagros DanceHall Collective sure love their alcohol. They gave us an inkling of the amount of alcohol we would drink over the weekend, by passing around a bottle of Emperador. Taking numerous swigs from that Emperador bottle sure made even the corniest of movies seem enjoyable. Since no one brought any DVDs to watch, we had to contend with what the bus driver had onboard. "The Guardian" starring Kevin Costner, and "Dude Where's My Car?" dude, was alright. Oh how alcohol can have this uncanny ability to make unbearable things seem interesting. "I am a rescue swimmer sir! When the army and navy docks pulls back, we go in sir!"We only had a few stop-overs. Some stop-overs involved the bus driver having a cigarette. Another involved eating at McDonald's next to a make-shift bar with some showband playing tunes by Beyonce and Black Eyed Peas. We were all joking to each other that this was already the gig venue and that we should go in a set-up. LOL! Damn showband, those songs LSS'ed me for the next hour or so after eating in McDonald's.
Five or six hours later, we finally arrived in Naga. As we got off the bus and stretched our legs out, we were surprised that there was an immense amount of people parading/in procession. We joked to each other that this was our welcoming committee. But then we quickly realized that since it is fiesta time in Naga, that this was only part of their festivities.
The hotal Frennie put us up in was actually previously just a large house/property owned by an expat. He decided to add a 3rd floor and a number of rooms to turn it into a hotel. It just recently opened as a hotel a few months ago, so all the facilities and the rooms were still brand new.
After settling, we all decided to get some sleep despite passing out for most of the bus ride on the way to Naga. It was around 4:00 AM or 5:00 AM at the time, so we needed to get a little more sleep or we'll end up going unconcious early at the gig itself.
When we woke up, the place had a nice upscale bed-and-breakfast feel. You would share a large dinning table with other guests. But surprisingly it didn't feel all that intrusive at all. I had a chance to look around the hotel and liked the garden around the place.
It was so odd to see an Indian Sikh temple from the front of the hotel. I didn't think that kind of religion would reach this far into the Philippines. Apparently, it's possible to reach this far after all.
We then proceeded to a food court because one of the gig sponsors wanted to treat us to food as part of their sponsorship. Grill Plus is the name of the sponsor as far as I remember (This isn't me trying to plug a sponsor in this post by the way).
I have to say the food was goooood. Check out the "before" and "after" shots I took of the food we partook for lunch at Grill Plus. You can really tell that we're just a bunch of "patay gutom" freaks.
Before...
and After...
After eating a hearty meal, we then proceeded to the Ateneo de Naga campus. The radio station that all 5 Manila bands were supposed to do a radio interview was located within the campus. The station was once just a college campus station. But then grew to become a commercial radio station.
The rest of my bandmates were too lazy to do the radio interview since the luster of a radio interview faded since we've done this already from a previous Naga gig trip. They just automatically voted me to be the spoke person for the band for the Nth time. So I ended up being the only one representing the band while the rest of my bandmates headed out to a studio to practice. Apparently my bandmates were listening to me over the radio the whole time. I think I did okay in the interview. At least I hope I did.
They passed by for me after the radio interview and we then proceeded to the practice studio. Practice was fun. We got the opportunity to clean up the songs that we planned on playing that night.
After practice, we then proceeded to Frennie's house for her birthday dinner. Do note that we were still feeling a little full from our feast of a lunch earlier that day.
But of course, the "PG" people that we all were (this includes all the other Manila bands by the way), we stormed through the food like we haven't eaten a single thing for days. It's also good to eat in Naga. The food is guarranteed to be good. And you are left feeling generally content (and very bloated) after each meal over there.
It's 2:23 AM in the morning right now and this post is getting way too long. I'm starting to get Dekaron withdrawal symptoms. So I'll end here for now and continue the story in another post.
END OF LINE...
Monday, September 8, 2008
This Cage...
I wrote this song a long time ago. During a time when everyday was about numbing the pain through alcohol and then some. This was a time of venturing off to Puerto Galera practically every weekend trying to escape something that's inescapable. I met new friends who run a resort in White Beach because I went there often. They had a fresh perspective of me as a person. They didn't know anything other than what I've told them. They treated me well, and enjoyed making music with me. It was funny that it took complete strangers for me to feel loved back then.
Beyond all the excessive vices, music and good-natured people pulled me through during those times. It's nice to look back at those times. And realize that I actually managed to go through it and come out a better person.
Anyway, I'm rambling. Below is the prose of the song. I haven't recorded this song even though I've thought about doing so for ages. The only way you'll hear the music for this is if you join me at an inuman jam. LOL!
This Cage
Words and Music: Aldous Castro
Banging on the walls inside my head.
Struggling in the water I tread.
Feeling around in this dark world so blind.
As I push the dirt out, it feels like a crime.
No way.
Find my way.
Oh I yearn to be free.
Free from myself.
Oh I yearn to be free.
Escape from this cage.
This cage.
This cage.
This cage.
I've been kicking myself in the teeth.
Bashing my head until I bleed and weep.
Killing my being until I feel no more.
Wishing this numbness would seep my core.
No way.
Find my way.
Oh I yearn to be free.
Free from myself.
Oh I yearn to be free.
Escape from this cage.
I scream into the heavens.
Wishing that someone would hear me.
I sing into the heavens.
Wishing that someone would come down and save me.
Oh I yearn to be free.
Free from myself.
Oh I yearn to be free.
Escape from this cage.
This cage.
This cage.
This cage.
END OF LINE...
Beyond all the excessive vices, music and good-natured people pulled me through during those times. It's nice to look back at those times. And realize that I actually managed to go through it and come out a better person.
Anyway, I'm rambling. Below is the prose of the song. I haven't recorded this song even though I've thought about doing so for ages. The only way you'll hear the music for this is if you join me at an inuman jam. LOL!
This Cage
Words and Music: Aldous Castro
Banging on the walls inside my head.
Struggling in the water I tread.
Feeling around in this dark world so blind.
As I push the dirt out, it feels like a crime.
No way.
Find my way.
Oh I yearn to be free.
Free from myself.
Oh I yearn to be free.
Escape from this cage.
This cage.
This cage.
This cage.
I've been kicking myself in the teeth.
Bashing my head until I bleed and weep.
Killing my being until I feel no more.
Wishing this numbness would seep my core.
No way.
Find my way.
Oh I yearn to be free.
Free from myself.
Oh I yearn to be free.
Escape from this cage.
I scream into the heavens.
Wishing that someone would hear me.
I sing into the heavens.
Wishing that someone would come down and save me.
Oh I yearn to be free.
Free from myself.
Oh I yearn to be free.
Escape from this cage.
This cage.
This cage.
This cage.
END OF LINE...
Monday, September 1, 2008
Duke University Djembe Ensemble 2005...
I wish my college offered drumming ensembles like these. Sigh...
Each member had an integral part to play, which I found really cool. I want to start a group like this. But none of my friends who are into percussions wants to start something for one reason or another (ehem, Mari). The closest that's out there locally is Hairydawgs along with a few of its spin-off groups. But those are largely Samba marching bands though.
How cool would college have been if I was part of something like this? How much better would I be now if I started percussions that early. Oh well. I'll never know the answers to those questions.
END OF LINE...
Each member had an integral part to play, which I found really cool. I want to start a group like this. But none of my friends who are into percussions wants to start something for one reason or another (ehem, Mari). The closest that's out there locally is Hairydawgs along with a few of its spin-off groups. But those are largely Samba marching bands though.
How cool would college have been if I was part of something like this? How much better would I be now if I started percussions that early. Oh well. I'll never know the answers to those questions.
END OF LINE...
Friday, August 29, 2008
Why Won't You Die?...
I blogged about one of the songs in the movie soundtrack of Queen of Damned titled "Slept So Long" last month. I actually like a few songs in that movie's soundtrack. This particular one is also written and recorded by Jonathan Davis and Richard Gibbs for the movie. I've been listening to it over and over for the past 2 days. I know, it's weird. But I really like that song. And to a certain degree I identify with the meaning of it. And perhaps my obsession with vampires drew me to the song as well.
Below is the music video of the song created for the movie. The video actually shows up in the movie when Akasha visits a vampire coven in search of Lestat. Check it out below along with the song's prose.
System
by Jonathan Davis and Richard Gibbs
You fell away
What more can I say
The feelings evolved
I won't let it out
I can't replace
Your screaming face
Feeling the sickness inside
Why won't you die?
Your Blood in mine
We'll be fine
Then your body will be mine
So many words
Can't describe my face
This feelings evolved
So soon to break out
I can't relate
To a happy state
Feeling the blood running side
Why won't you die?
Your Blood in mine
We'll be fine
Then your body will be mine
Why is everything so fuckin hard for me
Keep me down to what you think I should be
Must you tell me and provoke the ministry
Keep on trying I'm not dying so easily
Why is everything so fuckin hard for me
Why is everything so fuckin hard for me
Why won't you die?
Your Blood in mine
We'll be fine
Then your body will be mine
Why won't you die?
Your Blood in mine
We'll be fine
Then your body will be mine
The song was released as part of the movie soundtrack CD. However, Chester Benington did the vocal parts instead of Jon Davis for the in-movie version. I actually found the same music video in YouTube that someone uploaded. He spliced the CD version of the song onto the video. I actually like Chester's vocals on the song more than Jonathan Davis'. But either version of the song is awesome to me nonetheless. Check out the video below.
What I'd give to have that much power behind my voice. To be able to scream your anger and hatred through a vocal medium. How good would that feel?
END OF LINE...
Below is the music video of the song created for the movie. The video actually shows up in the movie when Akasha visits a vampire coven in search of Lestat. Check it out below along with the song's prose.
System
by Jonathan Davis and Richard Gibbs
You fell away
What more can I say
The feelings evolved
I won't let it out
I can't replace
Your screaming face
Feeling the sickness inside
Why won't you die?
Your Blood in mine
We'll be fine
Then your body will be mine
So many words
Can't describe my face
This feelings evolved
So soon to break out
I can't relate
To a happy state
Feeling the blood running side
Why won't you die?
Your Blood in mine
We'll be fine
Then your body will be mine
Why is everything so fuckin hard for me
Keep me down to what you think I should be
Must you tell me and provoke the ministry
Keep on trying I'm not dying so easily
Why is everything so fuckin hard for me
Why is everything so fuckin hard for me
Why won't you die?
Your Blood in mine
We'll be fine
Then your body will be mine
Why won't you die?
Your Blood in mine
We'll be fine
Then your body will be mine
The song was released as part of the movie soundtrack CD. However, Chester Benington did the vocal parts instead of Jon Davis for the in-movie version. I actually found the same music video in YouTube that someone uploaded. He spliced the CD version of the song onto the video. I actually like Chester's vocals on the song more than Jonathan Davis'. But either version of the song is awesome to me nonetheless. Check out the video below.
What I'd give to have that much power behind my voice. To be able to scream your anger and hatred through a vocal medium. How good would that feel?
END OF LINE...
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