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

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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.




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?

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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.

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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.

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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!



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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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