Forever Was Just Too Long

I really should take more pictures and stop relying on YouTube for content.

I first saw Paramita at Fete in 2006 (not sure if it was 2006; whatever year that was when they held it in El Pueblo and some idiot smashed my turn lights in the parking lot), at the "alternative" stage. When Ria Bautista brought the house down playing kickass drums while singing, I actually felt bad for the next band, which turned out to be my friends from the band formerly known as Olympic Smoker. Sorry, Justin!



Anyway a lot of failed attempts, I saw them again Friday night along with Terno bands Up Dharma Down and Radioactive Sago Project. They're still pretty good live, and I still don't know how you can play drums and sing at the same time, even if I've seen the Hell Freezes Over DVD. I can barely keep time playing guitar.

Saturday was the three-way birthday party for some folks at work. Quite fun even if I did go to it alone and officially uninvited. Now maybe it's because I didn't get drunk or anything, but I still don't get the point of kicking chairs and spilling Coke off the roof. So much for your Russell Hammond moment. Left around the same time everyone else did, except those who were clearly not going home until morning. Pics, as usual, are with everyone else.

And on the way home, a wasted Drei sat on my copy of Cutterpillow. Just the reissue version, but still!

My arms and shoulders are sore, and have been since Friday. This is strange because I have not been to the gym in weeks. Am I doing push-ups in my sleep? Can I tell my body to quit it, or at least do crunches instead? Then I'd be unstoppable.

Run Baby Run

Not going out tonight because tomorrow Condura Run is at 5 AM, which is around the same time I'm usually in REM sleep. I'll be on the 5K track so which means I'll be done in time for lunch. I kid.

I had to buy running shoes because I realize I don't want to be the guy who shows up in basketball shoes for a running event. I went with Asics solely on the coolness factor of this video:


Origami In the Pursuit of Perfection from MABONA ORIGAMI on Vimeo.

Anyway, I'll see you guys at the finish line.

Yesterday was a bad day at work (actually, almost the whole week). Thank God for cake.

And I'm dead tired from all the late nights in and out of the office (more on this if some deep insight comes along; I doubt it though), and earlier today went to Gara's surprise baby shower at SM Marikina. And got lost looking for my car in the parking lot for the second straight night. Idiot.

Speaking of stuff that makes me feel old, one of my old friends from the old work got married in the US recently and I was going through this journal trying to find any stories about her because I'm sure there was a lot. Then I realized I started this blog after I resigned from that company. That's how old this news makes me feel.

Kick Up A Little Dust

When I couldn't land a job after I graduated because of the last recession (or at least I think it was because of the recession; it's probably just as likely I was a horrible job interview), I joined a nine-piece band, counting all four vocals. I don't actually remember what we were called; and since most of the gigs we had were wedding receptions of friends and family, I only know that group as "The Wedding Band". I don't remember ever us getting paid, but the food was always good.

It didn't last long, or at least I didn't last long in it (I probably played less than a year with them on and off), but what it did do was introduce me and my playing to songs and genres that I wouldn't normally do or listen to intentionally, but were still cool as hell. Since I'm feeling nostalgic (plus I have a bunch of one-liners I need to put into writing), I list some of the memorable songs we did from that uh, era.

Breakout and Am I the Same Girl from Swing Out Sister. Probably the most well-known of the set, not counting one pop song (more on that later). The main riff of Breakout is pretty fun to do. One complaint is that we didn't get to do La La La (Means I Love You), which means no one got to shout "LA is a great big freeway..."

Promise Me a Carousel by David Benoit. Ridiculously hard to find a copy of this nowadays. Great guitar and bass intro and that's it.

Midnight at the Oasis, Spend Some Time and You are the Universe from the Brand New Heavies. Fun stuff to play, at least the parts you can actually hear guitar on. I also fake the solo on Spend Some Time. I only have one noticeable part in Midnight (at 0:26 in the video) and sometimes I even forget to do that.


Carnival by The Cardigans. Great song with a riff that goes on and on. Listen.


Fast Love and As by George Michael. I'm not sure if Fast Love went well with the wedding crowd, and I really didn't have much to do on As, unless you count doing the George Michael dance during the chorus.


If You Had My Love by J-Lo. WTF. There's an intro, and all of three notes after that. I think I skipped the only gig the band played that to an audience.

Roll On Snare Drum. Curtains.

I actually wanted to delay this review post until I found a half-decent graphic or video to go along with it. But what the hell.

Eventful weekend just passed with the Watchmen movie and the Eraserheads: Final Set concert.

First off, the movie: I actually liked it, so much so that I don't get why some people didn't. It's a movie based on a comic book whose purpose was to explore the limits of the comic book medium. Naturally some parts of it won't translate well to the big screen, but I think Zack Snyder and Co. pulled it off as well as anyone could have. How many comic-book movies and movie franchises can claim even 90% accuracy with the book(s) they were based on? The Dark Knight? See: that Rachel character. X-Men? See: The Last Stand. Superman? See, uh, Kate Bosworth.

Comedian Patton Oswald sums it up well: "Tell you what -- before you go and see THE WATCHMEN, plunk down and watch CATWOMAN, GHOST RIDER and DAREDEVIL."

Before watching had dinner with Tina, Nikki, Paul and Pierre. This company should have shutdowns more often.

Saturday was the final final Eraserheads reunion concert with Arvil and his band of brothers. That night the E-heads showed us how it's done. (SMART and MTV and whoever was responsible for the audio, not so much.)



Video courtesy of some guy with a camera.

There's not a lot that needs to be said about that concert; it was a great end to the band that wrote the soundtrack to our lives. I actually get a bit teary-eyed on some parts. (I'll write more on this when I get a bit more articulate than "Wow.") Strange but I've actually never seen them live before that night.

Speaking of better late than never, I've finally joined Facebook. Tons of AJAX going on in those pages. I should know because I work with that stuff everyday so I know what it's capable of. One day after my 1000th search for the same name, I think it's going to pop me a message saying: "Just add her already!"

Why Do I Waste Valuable Time?

Is it March already?

I'm reeling from the epic fail of a night I had last night. I got all dressed up for a black-attire party and spent a total of ten minutes there because I hardly knew anyone and I couldn't figure out where the open bar was. I swear, this is the last time I let Facebook invite me out.

But that was actually better than last week where I got all dressed up and did not go the the party at all. It's like I was imagining what the rest of the afternoon would be like at the party and I just couldn't bring myself to make small talk...future small talk. All that Neil Strauss reading for nothing.

Predictably, the evenings I enjoyed were watching bands play, even if I did forget their names the morning after. Well, except for Turbo Goth, who successfully doubled my knowledge of Smiths songs.



Other notables in the week was training day on Monday, which I enjoyed despite not learning anything new, Friday's Recess Session, and Saturday morning jamming and uh, troubleshooting. Actually a pretty busy week to preempt a pretty busy month, despite less and less reason to have one.

Earlier...

Last week while I was procrastinating on whether to attend a children's birthday party my grandmother,who was in Subic at the time, was rushed to the hospital for feeling weak, and sent the entire family scrambling for everything from medical advice to cash to contact numbers. Turned out to be a false alarm, but still...I don't think I've ever felt that scared and useless, like, ever. I think I went straight to the bargaining step.

I guess the question is, what I am still doing partying and blogging?