Start:	Jan 7, '09
Location:	The Esplanade, Singapore

Stars. in. neighboring. Singapore. Thank you, Jesus.

concert tickets... check!

plane tickets to singapore...check!

take me to the riot, torquil and co. :) going to singapore this january for one of my three-musical-acts-to-see-before-i-die -- Stars!!!

but wait, there's more! i'll be with two of my best ladies, pats and leica, swooning over a band that played an important role at important junctures in our lives. this is going to be excellent!

...and on the following day that we got the tickets, guess what? i heard that Swell Season (number two among the three) will be in Australia, South Korea and Japan early next year, too.

Dave Matthews Band (guess what spot they occupy on my list?) na lang, pwede na rin akong mamatay.

my inner idiot is grinning and giddy =D

in the past few weeks, the weather has been annoyingly unpredictable: peak-of-summer sunny radiance in the morning, then sad, gray rains in the afternoon. i'd have much rather preferred real rain, with big, fat droplets that apologize for nothing, than this shy, slothful pouring.

this morning, the day being the droopy kind described above, i was rushing to catch a cab to work (like i usually do, oh, about three times a week).

i saw kyle again playing outside, his yaya nearby. he's the little boy i mentioned in a previous post. i haven't seen him in weeks. and he's not so little anymore. but his eyes are still adorably small, and his hair still fell straight and heavy like that Dutch Boy drawing.

i never saw him holding toys before. but now, he has obviously graduated into more "mature" toys, like plastic armalites. you should have seen him terrorizing this poor cat that looked strangely like a cousin of our Boy Astig.

as adults are wont to do when there are little ones around, i made a face. and mockingly berated him for "shooting" said cat as i was running to look for a cab.

he turned around and pointed his gun at me, half-skipping, half-runnning as he tried to chase and "shoot" me at the same time, face deadly intent.

it was difficult but i outran him, laughing as i slid inside Lulu Love TWX 631 and hearing his toy gun rattling arrogantly in the background.

and in my head there's a beatles song that's playing, something with the words "here comes the sun...little darlin'..."

(from August 23, 2006)

(blame Pats and Djong for this rambling ;p )

It's a dream I've been nurturing since I started dutifully following Ian Wright's exploits on Lonely Planet. We are now in the year 2008, and that was back in 1998--10 years and still an unrequited love. You wouldn't think I've been harboring such notions just by looking at my grande Starbucks tea frappe and perfectly applied eyeliner.

My friend Eric, whose now in Cambodia, laments the absence of the ubiquitous chain in his new home city, yet he makes me salivate by announcing that massage places litter the streets like 7-11s.

I want to visit him in Cambodia, Pats in Singapore, dear Ryan in South Korea, Rony, Gerwin and Charlie in Singapore, life partner Louie, sexy Ems and Lifebunny in Hong Kong, Jon in Spain, Janne in Finland, Donna in the UK, Graeme in Scotland, Dwayne in Indiana, Yas in Dubai, maybe Emi in Romania, Essi wherever she is at the moment...

During the bad in-betweeners of my life, I swung from blaming family and circumstances, to blaming myself--both in highly passionate ways that boggle the mind.

Still, there is a shining nugget I managed to pick up--strength. Life's hell-bent ways gave me tree-trunk-like sea legs, and I want to keep using them.

Now that life is being quite kind and cushy to me, I can't help but look for the imbalance that only a churning ocean can provide. I long for the comfort that I've always found in constant change.

Instead of expecting the unexpected, I don't expect at all. Deal me what cards you will, and with those, I'll play like a loony. I'll probably even wager (and lose) everything, yet find redemption in smiling like a drunken sailor.

In life, I can strategize, plan and mind-f**k like the best of them. But I'd rather I didn't. I really would much prefer to be thrown somewhere and I'll be happy to learn how I'll deal with it. I can't imagine a purer heaven. Give me something and some things never to be defined. Give me the raucous, the sweaty and the revolting. Challenge me in ways that will make me rant and spit and give birth to strange, unwieldy energies.

I have always believed that by traveling, my sea legs will find happiness.

I want to talk to different and differing people, be forced to eat strange food, work for my breakfast...

You know what they say about potential? I can do it, therefore I must do it.

Damn the comfort zone and its accompanying delusions. I am dying to have a taste of the biggest possible perspective by constantly being in motion.

I want to see The Frames live in Ireland, Dave Matthews Band in Virginia and join the Burning Man community at least once. There are also fairy conventions in various part of this weird, wonderful world. Yes, I want to be there, too.

Sometimes, I think I'm too old to start backpacking, Couchsurfing and going on trips that plenty of those half my age have probably already enjoyed. But I reckon I can always lie and say i'm only 27.

Until when shall I keep to where the Starbucks stores are aplenty?

Boom-de-ah-dah!

John Carney is a sneaky bastard. With a super modest budget of only $130,000 and two non-actors in the lead roles, he was able to release a wee movie that made big waves in the indie festival circuits. If it weren't for Diablo Cody's very PR-able persona and the built-in American/mainstream audience of Juno, Carney's Once would have been 2007's authentic little movie that could.

The film begins unassumingly enough. We meet Guy (Glen Hansard) out in the Dublin streets, earning a little extra during the day by singing covers. In the evenings, he wails his way through original compositions that get the attention of Girl (Marketa Irglova), a Czech immigrant living with her mom and daughter in Ireland.

In the course of a week, they discover exactly why they were meant to meet each other at that particular time of their lives--to make music that becomes more beautiful in every line they don't sing. And in between composing new songs, going on impromptu trips and enjoying the well-concealed frenzy brought on by limited togetherness, Guy and Girl find what everyone craves--real connection.

Carney's budget did not leave much room for sweeping shots and grand vistas, but the few scenes he picked to be most dramatic work to full effect. Expect to be overwhelmed with silently growing emotions by the final scene.

Hansard and Irglova, both real-life musicians (and now real-life lovers), make the whole film look like a lovely intrusion into a blossoming romance that never quite get there due to prying eyes. It's the expectation that Carney weaves so well, so much that you'll hate the well of intense feelings Once will undoubtedly leave in you.

Once won the World Dramatic Audience Award at Sundance and continues to enjoy a 97% rating at Rotten Tomatoes. Unsurprisingly, as the music alone is incredible. Hansard's intense, soaring vocals and open-hearted compositions work perfectly with Irglova's plaintive style. The theme song Falling Slowly's tentative opening notes make you sit up, and by the time the song (and the scene) sweeps you up, you'll have fallen for the potential of their love and remember when you were hopeful, too. Critics were unanimous in declaring Once as the musical film of this generation.

The theme is sure to touch many. Indeed, who doesn't have a short, profound affair that changed one's life? The trailer harps on the painful question: How often do you find the right person?

And like this treasure of a movie, such things only happen Once.

The only thing left for me to say is Thank You to everyone involved in this project, and to my sister K for showing it to me. I have never loved a movie as much as I loved this one.

On its very scruffy sleeve, Once wears a heart that's immense.

...so the e-heads concert had to be cut for ely's health reasons. damn. i was so looking forward to this. ah, well.

    i'm glad the promoters and the band explained it in such a good way, though. i was actually surprised that no one in the thousands-strong crowd boo-ed. poor ely. it must have been something to see such a huge crowd turn out for his old band. hope he's okay.

LeRoi Moore, saxophonist of my one and only Dave Matthews Band, has died unexpectedly of complications from an ATV accident that happened last June.

i have never seen them live. and now he's dead. i am so seriously sad. i want to cry. i don't want to believe this has happened. sorry, drama. but it's LeRoi. DMB won't be the same. i don't know what to say or do or think. i am grieving over a musician who helped form a big part of who i am. #41, still my favorite song in the world now, won't be the same, ever.

it's on my list of life dreams to see them live...

i will go in this way, and find my own way out... why won't you run into the rain and play? let the tears splash all over you.

rest in peace, o dreadlocked one. thank you. Thank You. THANK YOU. for making music that matters and saves lives.

the artist

those who really know me might be surprised to find out that this song is getting ready to dislodge Dave Matthews' Band's #41 as my favorite song of all-time. yun lang. some early morning fangirling while i await a meeting :)

Fitzcarraldo and personal myths... Please do watch this, or at least listen. I find this new song of the moment, which pays tribute to a movie about a man with a crazy dream, very poignant. It swells and silences you, especially at 4:11 onwards...


Even the good stars can fall from grace and falter, like the lapdogs that shroud the mystery. And her last words were "I'll see you down in history." It's the long, lonely way that we can go."

fangirling. sharing. reviewing soon. have a listen and i'm sure you'll want to get your own copy. best tracks: Falling Slowly, When Your Mind's Made Up, Gold, The Hill, Fallen from the Sky, Leave and Say It to Me. *hikbi*

while i await ron perlman's red-horned goodness with bated breath, i just saw a movie that is now entrenched as "my best movie for 2008" (and maybe til the next year, and the next, and the next...). thank you, k, for coercing me to see it

i'm still a little sniffly and i've yet to compose my thoughts, but i hope to be able to write a review that will do it justice

Once is a movie that tells what happens when random guy meets responsible girl... through achingly earnest music. there's a very, Very personal connection i made with the film when it ended. yep, sometimes, once is enough, but it's also often all you'll get... still, it can be cosmic and beautiful, leaving an incredible impression on your heart.

yeah, he looks like him, too... "take this sinking boat and point it home. we've still got time..."

here's the trailer



here's the purty song:



penge tisyu

my ex used to call me fangirl. blame these Boston boys who are clearly having just a little too much fun these days :) i really know how to be a good fan (slash stalker? har har), and i daresay the comeback is proof that good, clean fun never goes out of style. yes, they are old, but they were, like, pioneeeers, man! the originals still do it best. the song is smooth and simple pop. aah the days when people wore less emo makeup and had fun dancing more often. don't you love feeling like a kid again? =) a clip from a music awards show. i love that even the young ones are still screaming.



and from Zootopia 2008



a hilarious review from a straight man

from the new york times magazine

one dude said "they stole all my girls in middle school! oh no not again!"

this is so ridiculous, i'm having so much fun! i'm laughing at myself for being so giddy! in your face, teenagers!

your forever Blockhead, zane

EEEEEEPPPP! catch me, hihimatayin ako! louie! lookit! see, i told you guys in january that we'll experience a 90s redux. *squueeaal*

joey and donnie's still so cute. and they all look good for dudes pushing 40 (nearly). Here's Their Latest Music Video (addictive pop hook, i thought. Me Likey):

awww...gulay that brings me back :) i imagine they were laughing like anything during the silhouette dance seqeunce. my 14-year-old self is smiling like an eejit. now where did i put my nkotb earrings (yes, earrings), collectible cards and file keeper?

KB, Katch and I are trying to get used to dancing in heels :) hee hee!