~* IT'S THE NEW YEAR! STOP THE POLLUTION! *~

Ok, I am typing this amidst the New Year's Eve noise of firecrackers that pollute MY air and render me coughing to the point of quasi asthma attack. Lech. This is what I hate about the new year... the air pollution. Gaah. Anyway, I am currently trying to drown out the sound of "Pinoy, ikaw ay Pinoy... Ipakita sa mundo..." from our crazy videoke-worshipping neighbors with "S-s-sound the alarm... what we have built is gone... Mayday! Mayday!" from my Urbandub Embrace CD {thanks for the gift, Sis!}. I am successful in doing that -- except during the 4-sec. song gaps.

Anyway, I just have to sneak in this story first. I swear, I just have to share this:

So there we were on the dining table, watching the news over dinner (yesterday).
I think it was TV Patrol. There was this news about the cops in Bulacan
confiscating those illegal firecrackers like pla-pla and stuff. To my horror,
the footage showed these dimwit cops dumping the confiscated firecrackers in
*horror of horrors* a nearby creek/river or whatever body of water that was. I
mean, wow. There's EXHIBIT A. OF UTTER STUPIDITY! Sure, let's get rid of the
illegal firecrackers by throwing them on the river! Wow! What a bright idea!
Let's do our humble contribution in water pollution! Yey. I swear, what the hell
were they thinking?!?! Oh. Wait. That's it! Apparently, they were NOT thinking.
Oh dear.

Anyway, late last night, I met up with my friends Abbie, Charo and Tin for our little New Year get-together. We hung out at Starbucks Shell SLEX. We arrived there a bit before 10pm and whoa, Shell was packed! The parking area was almost full and the people of all ages were milling about the area like it was some kind of a mall. Wow. Apparently, the gas station was the "in" place to be! We were there til past 1am, I think. And then we transferred to Starbucks Petron on the south-bound SLEX {Shell was on the north-bound side}. I know. Crazy isn't it? We have such an affinity for Starbucks in gas stations. Haha! Nah. Actually, we went to Starbucks Petron coz the Shell branch ran out of those ultra super-duper special 2006 Planners that Abbie and Charo wanted to claim coz they already completed that sticker thingie they had. After that, we went to Abbie's house for some picture-taking. I think I got home a bit before 4am.


the happy campers with their ultra super-duper special starbucks planners


of course, what's abbie's house w/o the adorable cats?!errm, there were supposed to be two kittensbut the other one ran off before i could take a proper picture



after a coupla tries on positioning the digicam for self-timed snapping, here's our best pre-new year snapshot :)

~* KIKAY OF THE JUNGLE *~

My dad was trimming our yellowbell in our garden this morning while Kikay, our pitbull, was chained to the gate nearby. She didn't mind having the cut branches thrown her way. In fact, she was quite content with lounging amongst the pile of branches. Or then again, maybe she had no choice since she was chained!:P She looked so cute that my mom asked me to take photos of her. I had some fun putting captions on her photos :) She's just so adorable!

~* YEAR-END THINGIEMAJIG *~

I've been googling for a nice year-end survey to put on my blog coz I didn't want to re-do last year's year-ender post. That would be sooo last year (read ala Legally Blonde/Clueless gal). I think I may have the same answer to the questions and that would totally suck. That would mean I have not matured, improved, had any diversified interests or exciting new things that happened in my life.

So I'll do a mishmash of things here...

BEST THOUGHTS:

• Where did we ever get the idea that if we don't forgive people, they suffer? (from: Happiness in a Nutshell by Andrew Matthews)
• Happiness is a choice.
• Don't sweat the small stuff.
• He's just not that into me.

BURNING QUESTION OF THE MOMENT:

• What does the Eraserhead song "Spolarium" mean? I got into thinking what the song meant after seeing the Imago footage of the ultraelectromagneticjam on myx. "At bakit ba tumilapon ang spolarium dyan sa paligid mo?... At ngayon di pa rin alam kung ba't tayo nandito. Pwede bang itigil muna ang pag-ikot ng mundo?" I looove the song. I love the way Aia sang it. It's my LSS of the moment. {Superthanks Sis, for giving me the ultraelectromagnetic jam CD for Christmas!}

RESOLUTIONS I HOPEFULLY CAN KEEP:

• Exercise and put the Ab-Lounge my dad and I bought to good use. Must lose this marshmallow tummy!
• Divert my extra money to my savings account.
• Open a time deposit account.
• Buy only what I need and not what my impulse-buying mind wants. Umm. Okay, I am allowing myself to splurge once in a while especially if I am depressed and only a shopping spree can give me artificial bliss.
• Go to work on time.

BEST MOMENTS OF 2005:

• Our family trip at Subic around Holy Week. My Ocean Adventure whale encounter. My parasailing experience.
• Birthday celebration at 19East with my highschool friends
• When I got my Technomarine watch as a gift for our team's great 2004 performance/in lieu of our planning session in Malaysia that got cancelled due to cost-cutting directives.
• My cathartic SMS conversation during my b-day with The One Who Got Married

WORST MOMENTS OF 2005:

• unexpected bumpingS-into-someone at the friggin' terminal
• When I unleashed my inner-biatch with that *very* bitchy SMS I sent to someone during his -- of all days-- birthday.

BEST BUYS OF THE YEAR:

• CDs: Hale, SpongeCola's Palabas
• BOOK: He's Just Not That Into You by Greg Behrendt
• RAM, hard disk and DVD drive upgrade for my PC

WORST BUYS OF THE YEAR:

• CDs: Cueshe's Half Empty Half Full, Soapdish, Smooth Escapes by D'Sound

I REGRET... :

• liking Cueshe when they came out with "Stay". I thought they'd be a great band but the critics were right... they're cliches. And they keep getting jologized by the minute.
• saying "a-hole" in one of the text messages I sent
• not keeping in touch with some friends simply because I think I "outgrew" them

NEW THINGS I DID THIS YEAR:

• Grew my hair long. But damn I hate the longer time I need to spend on rinsing out conditioner and untangling/combing my hair after taking a bath.
• Went to a gig by myself. Went to Fete de la Musique alone coz of some screw up in my previous plans with friends who were supposed to go with me. But I'm so proud of myself that night! I survived being there by myself, just tripping out on the music and frantically taking pictures and videos of my fave bands. I stayed there til the end of the show with much satisfaction for having experienced such a great gig.
• Went retro with the CDs I bought: Pearl Jam's Ten, Stone Temple Pilots' Thank You, Nirvana's [black] best-of album. {Still hunting for Hole's old album with the songs Miss World, Violet, Asking For It...}

BEST GIGS I'VE BEEN TO THIS YEAR:

• Fete de la Musique at the Alternative Stage in front of Podium
• Ultraelectrimagnetic jam in UP Diliman
• Back to back SpongeCola-Sugarfree gig at Hard Rock
• Ad Congress opening day performance of Mig Ayesa

ANNOYING STUFF DURING THIS YEAR:

• How people become way too flashy and over-customize their Friendster profiles with crazy video plug-ins, flying pictures that swim left-to-right and uncool graphic webpage background. That's exactly why I hate logging in on MySpace. Too much trashy profiles.
• How MYMP used to be so nice to watch/listen to but their super duper over-saturation of the music scene/media (think: Nina's videos from the same friggin' Nina Live session) has rendered them totally ear-bleeding to listen to.
• How our cable operator re-shuffled the channels this Dec. AXN and Star World, Myx and MTV Phils. are not next to each other. It totally screwed up my auto-channel surfing skills. And they still don't have ETC. Gaaah.
• How Simple Plan has become way too whiny. Whine, whine whine... that's all they do in their songs. What a bunch of whiny emo guys.
• Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. One word: ewww.

COMMENDABLE PEOPLE I DON'T PERSONALLY KNOW:

• Yael Yuzon - he strives to always keep in touch with the people in the SC egroups. He sounds smart. He exerts positive influence to SC's young fans by encouraging them to stay in school and study well. He bothers to ask one's name when having one's CD/poster signed.
• Xavier/Anna and the rest of the moderators of the Hale egroups - I swear, about 14,ooo+ subsscribers and say, half of them actively posting.... that's one helluva eyesore-inducing responsibility. One helluva controlled chaos ;-)
• Barbie Almalbis - she unashamedly proclaims her faith in her songs and her public image is just so squeaky-clean. When you meet her in person, you just get drawn to her. She is one of those few people who emanates such a positive aura. She is an inspiring person.

FIXATIONS OF THE YEAR:

• Since I got into the rock band phase... Yael Yuzon (SpongeCola), Boogie Romero (Dicta License), Champ Lui-Pio (Hale)
• Getting to as much band gigs as I can. I love seeing bands perform live.
• Buying OPM band CDs. Good thing they sell 'em at a cheaper price than foreign artists' CDs
• Shopping for BIGGER clothes since I gained a lot of weight. (I went from small to medium!)
• RockStar INXS - the music of JD, Marty, MiG, Jordis
• Shoe-shopping and shirt-shopping (esp. the sequined/sparkly beaded ones and the statement shirts... I recently got an "I ROCK MANILA" shirt from Bayo. The word "rock" had sparkly beads on it so it was hitting two birds with one stone!)

PEOPLE I'D LIKE TO SAY I LOVE YOU TO BUT I CAN'T (VERBALLY):

• My family. I love you Dad, Mom, Sis and Dean!
• My highschool best friends. I love you Abbie, Tin, Charo, Mitzi, Ivy!
• Three other persons. Despite how things turned out to be. Yes, I know I'm crazy. What can I do? I'm a shmuck for romance.

PEOPLE I'D LIKE TO THANK:

• God. I know you hear my whinings. Thank you for not being tired of watching over me. Thank you for protecting my family from harm and giving us life despite a couple of ailments. Thank you for the money that we are earning and the food on our table. Thank you for not taking away my family and friends from me.
• My family and friends. Because they keep me from feeling totally alone. Because of the unconditional love they give me.
• Our househelp. She's been with us since I was in high school. She can be counted on and can be trusted. She updates me with Big Brother stuff and other {showbiz} news. Despite the fact that she misses out on cleaning my room because she's too busy taking care of our five dogs among all other daily chores. Despite the fact that sometimes I run out of office attire to wear because she hasn't washed/ironed 'em yet.
• Those who comment a lot on my blog... Ivah and Yuki, you gals top the list :) To everyone who ever commented on my posts: Thanks for posting your thoughts/reactions/musings. I like the interaction:) As for the others, your silence is deafening :P

~* MY COUSIN'S WEDDING *~

We attended my cousin RJ's (Ruby Jean) wedding yesterday at Victoria, Laguna. {SIDE NOTE: *Gasp* I've been overtaken! She's just around 24! And me, holy cow, I'm 27! *panic mode*} The color motif was lavender so I was happy to see a lot of that color everywhere :) The flower girls had purple butterfly wings strapped on them so they looked adorable. Later on, after the wedding rites, some of us were given a thin paper with a butterfly in it, then we all released the butterflies at the same time. Funny, since my lola (but we still call her tita!) had kinda poor eyesight, she didn't know what the thin paper was for, so, umm, she accidentally disabled the hapless butterfly. It got a bit squished :( Awww.

Ok, here's a funny anecdote: so the pastor goes on explaining marriage stuff during the rites and he happens to mention Elton John and gay marriages... my 10 yr. old nephew whispers to me: "Anong ibig sabihin ng gay marriage?" Oh. Great. How do I explain gay marriages being legal in some countries? And in the first place, how do I explain man to man/woman to woman marriage per se? I was not sure if I had to define the word "gay" first to him. I was stalling when he goes: "Gay? Ano yun, bakla?... bakit... bakla ba yung babae (referring to my cousin RJ, the bride)?" Haha! That cracked me up! He was confused coz come to think of it "RJ" sounded like a guy's name. Hehe :P

the bride's my cousin :) ... there i was, releasing my butterfly... one of the butterflies stuck on the shoulder of my cousin. he was not too happy with that. hehe. he was afraid of it!

me and my cousins

~* NOW PLAYING: Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) by Green Day*~

A fitting song in anticipation of the new year ;-) ...

Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road.
Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go.
So make the best of this test, and don't ask why.
It's not a question, but a lesson learned in time.

It's something unpredictable, but in the end is right.
I hope you had the time of your life.

So take the photographs, and still frames in your mind.
Hang it on a shelf of good health and good time.
Tattoos of memories and dead skin on trial.
For what it's worth, it was worth all the while.

It's something unpredictable, but in the end is right.
I hope you had the time of your life.
It's something unpredictable, but in the end is right.
I hope you had the time of your life.

~* LOLA'S 85TH BIRTHDAY *~

Twas my Lola Nene's 85th birthday yesterday so we had this huge family affair consisting of a feast of high-cholesterol/fattening food & desserts (say hellooo to my marshmallow tummy! gaah. must. do. the. ab-lounge. now. argghh.), balikbayan relatives, a mini-speech/b-day greeting from each of us, Magic Sing galore (omigosh, I just realized that we have become the videoke-singing neighbors that we usually hate! haha! ;p) , and umm, more eating and singing ;-) Oh and of course, the pictures...

the happy birthday celebrant
my family (Dad & my nephew/godson Dean - standing up; my sis, mom & me) with grandma

me & my sis with lola

me & my cousins


the grandchildren and great-grandchildren with lola
me and Monty - another godson of mine

~* MOTION IN THE OCEAN TONIGHT *~

Whatever you do choose life
The thoughts on your mind choose life
Wherever you go choose life
Choose life.

~ soul searching {g. alipe} fr. "influence" album

by row: {1} urbandub embrace t-shirt; gabby alipe (vocals); john [john brown] dinopol (guitar)

{2} lalay lim (bass); john [jan] mendoza (drums); urbandub

{3} urbandub {4} reg rubio of greyhoundz jams w/ urbandub

At last! I finally saw Urbandub perform live!

I've been longing to see their gig for the longest time but since Urbandub remains to be a Cebu-based band, their Manila gigs are scarce. The last time I was in Cebu for Ad Congress I was only able to catch a listening party at Kahayag Cafe. Hermmfft. Imagine my disappointment... this one time I tried to catch a gig, it happens to be a friggin' listening party with Urbandub sitting down with everybody else as we listened to their new album. Was supposed to see the Alert The Armory vid there but there were tech problems so we only saw like the first 45 seconds of the vid. Now that they've come out with their 3rd album Embrace, they are making the rounds here in Manila to promote it. So yes, who cares if we didn't have a car for the night. That's what cabs are for ;-) It's a rare opportunity to be able to see Urbandub so I went to Capones together with Tin and my sister (who started to like Urbandub upon hearing A New Tattoo and No Ordinary Love as my blog's background music)

This acid-jazzy band called Sound opened the show. They have this cool Di Na Natuto (Gary V) lounge-sounding version. After them, this urbandub-y sounding band called Angulo performed onstage. They're quite good... I like their sound :) I guess it's because their guitar riffs and vocals sounded like Urbandub. Oh. And their drummer looks kinda cute in an Adam Sandler kind of way ;-)

Fresh from the NU Rock Awards, Urbandub proceeded to Capones. I was surprised to know that I am actually taller than Gabby. He's probably less taller than Yael (SpongeCola) -- if you know what I mean. Nevertheless, Gabby rocks! Actually, all of them rock! Lalay... wow, such an astig gal on bass. She sooo rocks! Jan's furious poundings on the drums is just great. John Brown makes you wanna rock yourself out with all that high jumping up and down while doing killer guitars. Darn it, I would have wanted to snap a pic of him while in mid-air but it's all too fast. Oh well.

They basically sang songs mostly from Influence and of course, Embrace. Oddly though, they didn't play A New Tattoo and Alert the Armory. Gabby was a bit sorethroat-y by the end of the set so he asked Reg Rubio of Greyhoundz (gasp. sya pala yun. he was just in front of me) to jam with them.

Then, I think that was Velcro who performed after Urbandub.

By 1AM, Capones looked like an after-show party for the NU Rock Awards. We spotted Rivermaya's Rico Blanco and Mark Escueta; the drummer of Mojofly (that ___ Alejandro guy); Jr. Kilat; Boogie Romero of Dicta License [hmm. funny how everytime I see him he's like walking in slow motion. ya know, like in the movies. nakakatulala. damn.]; The Dawn; and, no less than MiG Ayesa [with wife Simone (if i remember her name right)]. Thus, an impromptu jam session with Jr. Kilat [Yep. Sya si M-16. At your service, bai! Dang. Why oh why do I know the lyrics to this song?!? Ackkk.] I didn't understand what the heck he was singing but anyway, the reggae-rock sound of Jr. Kilat was quite ok with me.

We were supposed to leave already after the Jr. Kilat set but then The Dawn played and called on MiG to jam with them. They performed U2's In the Name of Love. I think they started with Unbelievable by EMF. MiG performed in true RockStar INXS fashion. They requested MiG to try the bongos and he graciously granted the request. Hmm. That didn't fly though.

mig ayesa jamming with the dawn. aww, there's buddy zabala. sniff. i remember the good ol' e-heads days again...

Wow. And to think the entrance we paid at Capones was just P120. One friggin twenty for all those bands who performed. That was so sulit!

So there. We left Capones around 3:20AM. I think I got home around 4AM.

~* PARA SA MASA *~

My friend She from Honda had complimentary tickets for the ULTRAELECTROMAGNETICJAM: The Music of the Eraserheads album launch in UP Diliman (a very apt venue coz it was the alma mater of the e-heads) so without any prior notice, I found myself on my way to the far side of QC come 7:30pm last Nov. 29. Twas an instant gig night with Rose, She and Rick (my college friends). I didn't have a digicam. I was wearing a friggin' business jacket. We didn't have dinner. In our hunger we made patol to the P20 siopao for sale at the UP Theater. We had a siopao-eating contest. I ate siopao asado (which I am not too crazy about, by the way!) in record 3 mins. or so. And we were standing at the lobby while eating and gulping mineral water at the same time. We were in so much hurry to go in by 9pm coz we would've lost our good seats if we came a minute later. So there. We were in row 5 (I think), right near the center/right stage.

Twas a two-band stage set-up thingiemajig so the whole gig was fairly fast-paced. While one band was singing on one side of the stage, the next band was already setting up on the darkened other side of the stage. A video interview of Ely, Raymund, Buddy and Marcus, and the bands who performed that night was interspersed throughout the show.

I think almost everybody there grew up hearing e-heads songs. I found myself automatically singing along to the e-heads songs I fondly recalled. It felt really nostalgic to be hearing all those e-heads songs. I think I was around 2nd year high school when Ligaya became their break-out single. Ahhh, those were the days.

clockwise: spongecola's yael yuzon, barbie almalbis, e-heads' marcus adoro and imago's aia de leon

South Border opened the show with their rendition of With a Smile. A slew of big-name bands played after them: Kitchie Nadal sang Ligaya (ermm, imagine her sleepy dragging voice singing the boppy tune. tsk, tsk.), SpongeCola did Pare Ko (tsk. sana they adjusted yael's mic stand while there was no spotlight on him yet. hayyy. wawa tuloy.), Sugarfee and Imago sang tunes unfamiliar to me. Radioactive Sago Project performed Alcohol (the vocalist cleverly put a kodigo of the lyrics on a bottle of *whatelse* an alcohol). Paolo Santos sang Magasin with e-heads guitarist Marcus Adoro (the crowd went wiiiild with him playing onstage. Some gave him a standing ovation while some did a we're-not-worthy motion), MYMP sang Wag Mo Nang Itanong. 6CycleMind was very lucky to have gotten the song Alapaap coz this song got everyone pumped up, jumping up and down (funny, the vocalist jumped off the stage to elicit audience participation but he forgot that the stage was quite high and there were no stairs in front. so by the time he wanted to go back on stage, he had to time his big jump while the guys up on the stage pulled him up. haha!) . Barbie Almalbis sang Overdrive, Cueshe did (a so-so version, in my opinion. tsk, tsk.) of Hard to Believe, Orange & Lemons performed Wag Kang Matakot and this Tori Amos-y artist called Isha (whom I haven't heard of prior to this tribute album) sang Torpedo.




ito ay para sa mga masa
sa lahat ng nawalan ng pag-asa
sa lahat ng ng aming nakasama
sa lahat ng hirap at pagdurusa
naaalala niyo pa ba
binigyan namin kayo ng ligaya

ilang taon na ring lumipas
mga kulay ng mundo ay kumupas
marami na rin ang mga pagbabago
di maiiwasan pagkat tayo ay tao lamang
mapapatawad mo ba ako
kung hindi ko sinunod ang gusto mo

pinilit kong iahon ka
ngunit ayaw mo namang sumama

ito ay para sa mga masa
sa lahat ng binaon ng sistema
sa lahat ng aming nakabarkada
sa lahat ng mahilig sa labsong at drama
sa lahat ng di marunong bumasa
sa lahat ng may problema sa skwela
sa lahat ng fans ni sharon cuneta
sa lahat ng may problema sa pera
sa lahat ng masa

huwag mong hayaang ganito
bigyan ang sarili ng respeto

{e.buendia} (p) 1997 BMG Records (Pilipinas), Inc.[from the album "sticker happy"]

By the time the last band finished playing on stage, the audience didn't budge from their seats. We were all hoping for the e-heads to come out of the backstage and do a number. Or maybe a speech. Or a simple wave and smile to the crowd whose lives their music touched. Dang. Nothing. No e-heads appearance. I remember seeing Raymund Marasigan at the parking lot so I know he's there. And Marcus Adoro, of course, was definitely there (oh well, at least he jammed with Paolo S.). Sigh.

Anyway, I got goosebumps and felt this lump on my throat as "Para Sa Masa" was played as some sort of a closing/goodbye song to the audience as we milled out of the theater.

Sigh. Sigh. Sigh. The e-heads memory lives on. The e-heads will forever rock. They may have their own bands now but nothing will ever come close to the ultraelectromagnetic legend of Eraserheads.

From http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=goodLife04_nov28_2005:

Here’s a legend any Filipino music lover would attest to be true:
A dozen years ago, four brilliant but then underrated musicians cast rocks into a pond.

Then lo and behold! Instead of causing ripples, it created a tsunami that swallowed everything in sight.

They were The Eraserheads. The pond was Original Pilipino Music.

And the tsunami was pop alternative; proudly Pinoy, made flesh then and has dwelt among us since. The end. Not yet.

Years after Ely Buendia, Raymund Marasigan, Buddy Zabala, and Marcus Adoro a.k.a. Eraserheads parted ways, the music of the acknowledged flag bearer of Pinoy pop alternative music continues to run through the veins of the very generation they defined. It’s all because they made nine groundbreaking studio albums that collectively sold more than a million copies; churned out, oh, only just about dozen or two hit singles that composed the collective soundtrack of a nation and; won every imaginable award the industry could give them.

~* NOW PLAYING: No Ordinary Love by Urbandub

Urbandub gives this Sade classic a new twist. I totally tripped out when I heard this track on the Full Volume compilation. By the way, Urbandub's new album "Embrace" is out now. Somebody pls. give this to me as a Christmas gift. Pretty please? ;-)

photo from http://groups.yahoo.com/group/urbandub_music

I gave you all the love I got
I gave you more than I could give
I gave you love
I gave you all that I have inside
And you took my love
You took my love

Didn't I tell you
What I believe
Did somebody say that
A love like that won't last
Didn't I give you
All that I've got to give baby

I gave you all the love I got
I gave you more than I could give
I gave you love
I gave you all that I have inside
And you took my love
You took my love

I keep crying
I keep trying for you
There's nothing like you and I baby

This is no ordinary love
No ordinary Love
This is no ordinary love
No ordinary Love

When you came my way
You brightened every day
With your sweet smile

I keep crying
I keep trying for you
There's nothing like you and I baby

This is no ordinary love
No ordinary Love
This is no ordinary love
No ordinary Love

Keep trying for you
Keep crying for you
Keep flying for you
Keep flying I'm falling

I'm falling

~* THE NEXT THING YOU KNOW... *~

... Somebody you used to love is getting married.

Men -- no matter how unprepared (emotionally) or unstable (financially) they are-- will get married if he really *really* wanted to. Given the fact that the bride-to-be is NOT pregnant is what will floor you. I mean, you know how most young people these days get hitched just because the guy knocked up his girl... And so you go: "Wow. She's not pregnant?!? *big eyes* And they're really getting married?!? *big eyes* Wow." And she's not even dying with only six months to live? Wow. Gee, you finally get hit with the nagging realization which you have denied over and over again: Wow. He was just not that into you huh.

It doesn't matter if you are thinner, prettier, smarter, nicer or whatever {insert your desired point of comparison here}, he is marrying her. Not you. That's the difference between you and the gal. She got the ring and the promise of forever while you, you get a lousy smiley face on your celfone's saved messages.

I almost choked on my california maki when I heard the news.

~oO0Oo~

Okay. I'm fine. Promise.

Honestly speaking, I would have been more devastated if I heard that this other guy was the one who was getting hitched.

Maybe it's because Mr. Groom-to-be and I are cool now. We've resolved our hang-ups. He's apologized a million times. I've forgiven him sincerely. We're cool. I'm happy for him. On second thought... well not really happy... just hmm... I'm glad things worked out for him. Him and his insecurities/intimidations are probably out the window.

So my next thought was... so, do I start shopping for a wide-brimmed black hat with black lace over it, wide shades and conservative black dress? Somebody said I might be overdressed for the occasion. Yes, still with black hat and shades -- but with jeans on. Suddenly, I got visions of me in an all-black nondescript outfit, sitting inconspicuously at the back pew of the church. Do I already start practicing my best dramatic "itigil ang kasal!" rendition? Haha. NOT. Although it would have been a great drama queen milestone. Just like in the movies. LOL.

Funny though how someone who's happily attached dishes out these prophetic-sounding advices and comforting words in an attempt to cheer you up due to the fact that you are depressed precisely because "you and him" didn't work out. You know, like when someone says to you: "Don't worry. It will come./ You don't have to look for him. He will come." and other comforting words that sound like bullcrap until it actually comes true in an extremely distant future (or probably in another parallel universe where everyone's wearing rose-colored glasses).

So in short: Don't give me that kind of bullsh*t unsolicited advice. I have heard that and read about it a million times. Yes, yes, yes. Fine. I get it -- fate, God's will and all that "perfect timing" crap we use as an excuse to console our lonely selves. I was not born yesterday.

Ain't that perfect timing or what?

Merry Christmas to me.

Great.

I am jumping up and down with glee now.

~* WARNER BAR TOUR *~

Without any decent rest yet (I flew back to Manila fr. Cebu on Sunday late afternoon), I hied off to 19East with Tin last Tuesday Nov 22 (yeah. Yael of SpongeCola's bday) to catch the super-sulit gig featuring Stonefree (at last, at last, at last!), Dicta License, Barbie Almalbis among others.

tin and i - gig buddies on the prowl for cutie rockers in the house ;-)

Despite my being tired, I was wide awake and excited to witness all the rockin' performances of the Warner Music talents.

Join the Club opened the gig. They're aliw to watch as usual. Their hyper drummer and bassist are my (and Tin's) personal favorites.



Other artists:

juana. the vocalist reminds me of pucca ;-)


yes, they are old but they still rock. and YES, that's BUDDY ZABALA (Eraserheads) on bass -- a new addition to The Dawn.

barbie almalbis (again!)


It was my first time to see Dicta License perform live. With all this hype I've been hearing about Pochoy (vocals) and Boogie (guitars) being swoon-worthy, I was pretty much anxious to see them onstage. And yes, the rumors are true. Dicta License is a kick-ass band with intelligent, socially-relevant, thought-provoking lyrics. That fact would sink in after you're over being tulala with seeing Pochoy and Boogie. They are indeed pogi rockers with a cause. And I don't mean to use "pogi rock" in a derogatory term. Because yeah, there are good-looking bands out there with nothing but their hot looks to market themselves with. But then, there are bands out there with hottie band members who are kick-ass performers and brilliant songwriters aside from being eye-candies. And that, my man, is Dicta License.

Their music reminds me of Rage Against the Machine. The energy of Pochoy's angsty singing/rapping and the entire band's loud rockin' music makes them one of my must-see-live pinoy bands. Tin and I can't wait to watch a Dicta gig again... Their set was way too short. [More!!! More!!!]

dicta license. not just a mere pogi rock band.

And (lastly) came my most-awaited performers: Stonefree! At last, at last, at last! I finally saw a Stonefree gig! I have been so sabik to watch their gig eversince I first saw them perform live at Fete de la Musique last June. And so finally, I managed to catch them on one of their rare South gigs.

ahh. bliss. stonefree is such a treat to see & hear live :)

They sang Kapag Nawala Ka, Ikot, Sayang and Listen. It was heaven to hear my most favorite part of Kapag Nawala Ka: that dramatic pause with Miro breathing. Captivating as always. I soooo love that song!!! After the show, since Miro (vocals) was passing right in front of our table, Tin and I called him and praised him and his band for such a kick-ass performance. And of course, Miro's deep growly rocker voice is just. so. amazing. Astig. Ever. And Stonefree's music -- the melody, the lyrics and the performance itself is one of the best, in my opinion.

paging santa... *ehem* i sooo want a stonefree shirt...kaya lang miro said wala na daw ata nun. huhuhu :(

After chatting with Miro, I was surprised when Relly (drums) came up to our table and greeted me by my name. I was like "Wow, you know my name?" Haha. I just realized that Soki (their manager) probably made kwento to him about me being Fay's friend -- a fan who sent her copy of Hibiscus all the way to Antipolo for them to sign. As in buti pa yung album ko, na-meet sila in person, ako mismo, hindi :P Earlier that evening kasi, I bumped into Soki in the ladies' room. I recognized her from the Stonefreaks' egroups pictures so I introduced myself to her. So there. She probably told Relly about me. Relly was nice and chummy to talk to :)

I wanna watch a Stonefree gig again!!! Bitin ako sa set nila. Twas so short :(

I think I got home around 2AM. Winner. Zombie at work the next day :P

~* PHIL. ADVERTISING CONGRESS *~

Work has been pretty much hectic the past few weeks precisely because of the last minute rush regarding our Ad Congress participation. Anyway, in the end, it all went well -- and as usual, with memorable pictures to take home.

As luck would have it, Vic and I shared the same flight to Cebu last Nov. 16 with the fast-rising "it" guy of the moment Sam Milby who was catapulted into stardom when he started to become a housemate in Pinoy Big Brother. Before that, he was only vaguely known as the smiling guy with perfect white teeth in the Close-Up commercial jingle/video of Barbie Almalbis. Upon seeing Sam pass by our plane seat, I couldn't help but cue in strains of the song in my mind: "You make me feel like I... can get lost inside your eyes... I feel closer to the sky... when you save the day with just a smile...". It's official then: I was drawn into the Sam Milby fever along with the rest of the female population in the Phils. It was such a temptation to pick-up the guitar case and luggage with PBB sticker on the conveyor belt as we waited for our luggage. If a Post-It was handy at that moment, we would have left a "call me" note on Sam's guitar case. LOL.

We were craning our necks all over the arrival area and finally spotted where Sam was--amidst a sea of digital cam/celfone camera-toting females.

Sam was very amiable to everyone and gracefully accommodated every photo-op/signing request. I managed to squeeze in right beside Sam as soon as his PA said "Sam... we have to go...". The result was a picture where poor Sam didn't know which camera to look onto anymore. Oh, and his face was oily. Weh :P Somebody must show him the magic of the blue face blotter ;-)

~oO0Oo~

Days before the Ad Congress, it was already in the news that MiG Ayesa (Rockstar INXS finalist) was going to perform at the Ad Congress together with Lea Salonga. This was in keeping with the theme "Ready for the World" which showcases the world-class excellence of the Filipino. I was disappointed when I found out that MiG was gonna perform during the opening ceremony which only delegates can watch coz unfortunately, we were there as exhibitors/sponsors and not as delegates. But as they say: if there's a will, there's a way! The night before the opening, I worked my ass off talking my way into getting myself a pass for the gig. My contact at the Ad Congress secretariat was such a nice person that she gave me and Vic session passes which would enable us to attend the opening ceremonies. So the rest is "screaming" history...

MiG Ayesa totally rocked the house at 9:30 in the morning, Nov. 17. He gave such a kick-ass performance that he wowed most of the people there who probably didn't have the faintest idea as to who he was and what the hell Rockstar INXS was all about. All they knew was MiG was this cool pure Filipino rock star dude who grew up in Australia... and who happened to have hot abs and pleasant personality. And oh yes, he kicked major ass when he sang Bohemian Rhapsody that it felt totally new for me to scream "wooohoo" at the top of my lungs so early in the morning. He also sang We Will Rock You and another familiar song which - haha - I totally forgot the title of. Lea Salonga then sang some songs on stage. Later on, MiG joined Lea on stage for their Flipino-English rendition of the Ad Congress theme song.


too much hotness so early in the morning. tsss.






~oO0Oo~

Here's our team at our booth during the opening of the Ad Congress exhibit hall:





~oO0Oo~
yup, a chummy-chums pose coz he's really nice :)

{DEC. 3 update: Haha. I just realized that I totally forgot to post this pic! Hello?!? The most treasured pic from my Cebu trip... How can I forget?!? Weh. Ang dami kasing pics ever! Anyway, this was taken at the hotel lobby when MiG was about to leave Waterfront. I got a not-so-anonymous tip as to precisely what time he was to exit the hotel. Big thanks to that person!!! I was well prepared with my digicam, "casually" waiting at the hotel lobby. Thanks to Bianx for her crazy skill of taking pictures while walking :P Oh but anyway, MiG actually stopped walking naman. hehe. And yeah, you just sooo wanna hug him when you meet him coz he's such a nice guy:) }


~oO0Oo~

During the Araw Awards which was hosted by CNN anchor Veronica Pedroza on the night of Nov. 19, I was pleasantly surprised with the opening number by Bamboo. They performed F.U., Much Has Been Said and Hallelujah among others. (I think they performed a total of 5 songs...). Barbie Almalbis on the other hand, capped off the awards night which ended around midnight. She was so pretty that one guy couldn't help but express his adulation by screaming "Barbie! Isa kang panaginip!". Haha. That was one helluva cheesy line that made me laugh inside while I was aiming the digicam at Barbie.



Bamboo and Ira onstage.

a very pretty barbie onstage. dang. i luv her lulu castagnette (i presume) teddy bear tank top.

Here we are all dolled-up for the awards night:


I would like to thank Wacoal. Mare, minsan lang ako magkacleavage, haha! :P

~* PITBULL PUPS FOR SALE! *~

We're selling our pitbull puppies!

Kindly visit this multiply photo album for more of their cutesy pictures:
http://lilacstardust.multiply.com/photos/album/4

AMERICAN PITBULL
FEMALE PUP: PhP 11,000
MALE PUP: PhP 10,000
Born August 28, 2005
Dozer/Anselmo line
*Male 2 pup is not for sale though coz we're keeping him ;-)

Leave a comment here or contact me via my yahoo email or celfone if you're interested ;-)

~* CRAZY ABOUT NUMB3RS! *~

There's a new show at AXN that I'm hooked on: NUMB3RS. It's a "brainy new crime investigation drama".

From the producers and directors of blockbusters like Gladiator, Blade Runner and Enemy of the State – The Scott brothers (Ridley and Tony Scott) – comes television's brand new brainy crime series that is taking the world of television by storm!

Inspired by real cases and using real mathematics as a tool, Numb3rs offers a refreshing take on police work, and showcases how the application of mathematics often reveals unexpected and surprising answers to the most complex of questions.

Numb3rs follows the exploits of FBI Special Agent Don Eppes, as he recruits his prodigious brother and math whiz, Charlie, to break the seemingly unsolvable crimes he faces everyday. From murders to virus outbreaks, Charlie puts his mathematical ability to practical use in criminal forensics, and his perspective on the cases often proves to be the perfect complement to his brother's sleuthing skills.

I think that actor {David Krumholtz} who plays Charlie is cute ;-) I am quite disturbed that I find him so sexy when he furiously chalks away complex mathematical formulas on his blackboard. That is so... hmm... geeky of me. *LOL*

Numb3rs airs every Monday 9pm at AXN.

~* HAPPY HALLOWEEN! *~

Last week, we had our usual Halloween party at the office for the employees' children, cousins, nephews and nieces. Each group had different themes ranging from The Flintstones, Dora the Explorer, The Wild Thornberrys and my group: The Incredibles. I dressed up as Violet! :)

~* NOW PLAYING: Taning by Imago *~

TANING {remix}by Imago
Sa'n mapupulot ang pag-asa
may katuwiran ba ang sala
ngiti ko ang iyong galak
langit ko ang iyong kandungan

Permiso sa isang araw na makasama ka
abiso ng pusong bulag na humahanga

Tama bang aminin na nating may taning
tong pag-ibig natin
dakila man walang kasaysayang kakapit
sa bulag na pag-ibig

Sa'n hihingi ng patawad
kung walang dalang dahilan
tangis ko ang iyong pagluha
nais ko ang iyong kalayaan

Permiso sa isang araw na makasama ka
abiso ng pusong bulag na humahanga

Tama bang aminin na nating may taning
tong pag-ibig natin
dakila man walang kasaysayang kakapit
sa bulag na pag-ibig

Permiso sa isang araw na makasama ka
abiso ng pusong bulag na humahanga

tama bang aminin na nating may taning...

~* BUSY WORK WEEK *~

I was so busy with work the other week coz we had our Telecine Workshop wherein colorists from the Philippines along with those from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Indonesia attended a 3-day seminar/workshop organized by us. [Colorists are those techie/creative guys in post-production houses who do color corrections, put specific hues and can even turn a scene shot in broad daylight into a believable night scene.]


DAY 1 - Oct. 13 (THURS)

The first day was a seminar conducted at Dusit Hotel Nikko.

that's me having lunch with the guys from Hong Kong.

It's interesting how these guys (along with those fr. Taiwan) have English names that are totally different from their Chinese names. It took me quite awhile to associate their English names with them since i was more familiar with their Chinese names during the registration/preparation process.


time for the traditional class picture!

DAY 2 - Oct. 14 (FRI)

The second & third days were conducted in a Makati post-production house for hands-on training.

At the end of the day, I accompanied the two Indonesians to shop at the Filipiniana department in SM. One of them wanted to purchase a traditional Filipino costume for his girlfriend. It so happened that I had the same frame as his girlfriend so I ended up "modelling" the piña jusi maria claras there. After shopping, we ate at Banana Leaf Asian Cafe.

while the class was busy inside the telecine suite...
... we were right outside doing lotsa picture-taking to kill our boredom ;-)
the entertainment imaging team: girl power!

DAY 3 - Oct. 15 (SAT)

I had a funny fashion emergency come Saturday... So I was at the PAL office early 9am to accompany one of the Taiwanese participants in having his flight booking changed. I was talking to my boss on my celfone and as I glanced at my feet donned with one of my fave strappy slip-ons I suddenly blurted:"Oh no! I have a fashion emergency!" and proceeded telling my boss my unfortunate footwear disaster. Ya see, I haven't used those slip-ons for maybe like a year already and it was just stored in its shoe box inside my shoe cabinet. That was probably why it got crumbly. Lo and behold, the soles were cracked and the heels were slowly disintergating! Good grief! I had to walk gently by lifting up my feet like a soldier marching and I was careful not to drag my heels on the pavement. Good thing that Greenbelt was just nearby so by around 11am, my boss and I hit the mall.

Now the thing is that I did not like any shoes from the tiangge-type/great bargain stores at the old Greenbelt building. Thus, we proceeded to the posh, chi-chi stores in Greenbelt 2. My choices were between a kitten heel strappy black sandals from M)phosis priced at P1,500 and a cute ruffles-inspired sandals from T Studio at P1,695. I thought I might as well buy the one from T Studio coz the simple shoe design of the M)phosis shoes was not worth my unplanned-more-than-1K credit card swipe. It was such a nice kikay pair of shoes but dammit, I don't really buy shoes priced at that range. I think the reasonable price for sandals is just P800-P1,000+ . I think it's impractical to buy such outrageously expensive shoes but what the heck... if I dared to travel by foot thru the walkway to Glorietta to shop somewhere less expensive like maybe Celine, Mendrez, Rusty Lopez or Le Donne (where I usually buy my sandals/slip-ons) my precious frail aqua slip-ons would have totally crumbled! Oh well.

oh the poor thing just gave up on me! haha!


pretty (damn expensive) shoes!



They had their graduation and certificate-awarding in the afternoon...


these are the colorists with the UK-based colorist/instructor. Spot the F4-ish HK cutie in blue green... he's my fave participant ;-) he's so adorably cute! ;-)



We then proceeded to Masas at Greebelt for their farewell dinner. I just realized there that one should know how to describe every Filipino dish to the foreigners. It was quite a challenge to describe Rellenong Bangus, Adobo, sansrival and leche flan to them. Funny how the Indonesian joked that the crunchy crablets should be called "pedophilia" :P


all of us shared one long table at the mezzanine of Masas.We had sinigang na bulalo, pork adobo, crablets, crispy shrimps, bicol express, rellenong bangus, adobong kangkong among other things. they found the leche flan too sweet and most of them liked the sans rival over the leche flan.

we taught the taiwanese how one should know one's best anglewhen posing for the camera ;-)
Only in the Philippines: a b-day candle on a leche flan!it was HM's b-day the next day so we arranged for a little b-day treat.[HM is from the Kodak Hong Kong office]

We gifted Kevin Shaw (UK-based colorist/workshop instructor) with a decorative miniature jeepney from Balikbayan Handicrafts


After dinner, I accompanied two of the Hong Kong guys at SM for a last-minute buying frenzy of dried mangoes,etc. They bought all the different brands on sale and I kidded them that they were like some sort of product testers for dried mangoes! They also got different variations of pili nuts.

Anyway, I therefore conclude that the dried mangoes are really best-sellers with our foreign guests. Aside from the Hong Kong guys, the Indonesians also brought home some dried mangoes.

All in all, I really liked the experience of organizing the workshop for the Asian colorists. It's so interesting to interact with them despite the slight barrier in language (even though they can speak English, their pronunciation is still different -- eg. Over dinner, I thought the Indonesian was asking how many calories were the food I was eating... It turned out that he was asking me how many colorists there were in the Phils.! hehe!). And in some strange way, I was happy and willing to entertain/take care of them during their short stay... 'must be the trademark Filipino hospitality manifesting in me! ;-)