as you might see there are some new stuff in the overall look of the blog that isn't much and I haven't really found time to blog since I'm currently unemployed and I am at this moment still at a lost as to what I intend to do with my life. I just graduated last week of my course in Flash Animation using Flash MX too bad though my pc at home can't run the software and I can't find a PC shop that has Macromedia installed in it too bad since I can't put it into application here at this blog as well as with the others hopefully soon.
By the way PayItForward my band will be playing this coming Thursday at Purple Haze in Marikina together with our fellow punk buddies All Wound Up and Moodswing, show starts at 8:00 PM.
Until then its off to jobstreet for me because I'm unemployed and I am loving it for the meantime....
__________
ON a side note I hope you'll find time to visit this site that I just finished doing for my Tita's ministry called C.A.R.E. Philippines its a Christian outreach based here in the Philippines to know more about them visit this link. Another is that I just got word from someone that Hillsong will be playing live this coming June 11, 2005 click here for more info
Road Trips, Train Rides & Zenco Footsteps
After a great deal of whining we arrived an hour and a half late at
Alberto's to find Cedric together with Bon sporting that familiar frown
that we've all been familiar with Cedric. This is Pay It Forward. Well,
almost...
... Mark still isn't around yet and its already been 30 minutes since
Laix and I have set foot on the waiting area of Alberto's. We're already
sick and tired of looking at Boy Abunda's bald head as we sat there
together with the studio's owner Mang Jun who seemed to be enjoying the
cheap tabloid humor of ABS-CBN.
By the time The Buzz was over Mark ascends from the stairs together
with his buddy Emil whom we haven't seen for quite sometime so after the
usual chit chat of 'hellos' and 'how are yous' we enter the studio and
practice by the time we've finished we're already been getting constant
text messages courtesy of All Wound Up another band that we'll be
playing with that night.
So right after we've paid our bill we hurriedly proceeded to the venue
which is on this far flung republic of Alabang a very foreign place for
us QC-based punkers, but nevertheless we could play there and so we
decided it was worth going to.
After grabbing a bite at 711 we went of on a train ride to the trusty
railway system known to many yuppie scums as the MRT it was quite
crowded but all of us were able to sit down (except for Laix who was very
busy with his mobile phone talking to a girl named Kat)by the time the
train stopped on Ortigas where there resides the oh-so popular Megamall.
Jeanie text me as the train was leaving Boni Avenue station saying that
she won't be able to make it because her mom didn't allow her and Tina
her sister because of the venue's tangent distance from their place in
Manila. With a sigh, I replied to her in the message that its alright
and that we'll head home as soon as we finish our set.
Nearing our stop I've already gotten several texts from Chit who was
one of the gig's organizers inquiring as to where we are already.
Proximity was one of the things that we all are struggling at the moment as we
hope for the train to arrive to our stop and it looks as though as we
enjoyed our train ride so much that we forgot to get off the train on
our stop so we decided to stay on the train and wait for it to turn
around so that we could get of at our intended stop at Magalanes.
So while we were waiting we hurriedly ate the donuts that we bought
before boarding the MRT and asked Bon to take pictures of us with her
handy-dandy digicam.
As we got off Cedric decided to change his shirt on the station's
toilet so Laix, Bon and I waited for him right outside the station where
Laix thought it would be great to have our pictures on the station so we
both paused in for a snapshot wherein we were later approached by a
disapproving security guard saying that taking pictures inside the station
isn't allowed.
As soon as Cedric, Mark and Emil got out of the toilet we crossed the
overpass to board the Alabang-bound buses.
I'm not quite sure but I was shocked that the bus fare is still more
than P20 and we're already in Makati which is relatively near Alabang or
so we thought...
I was amazed that one by one our bus passed by those familiar landmarks
that I rarely see (usually I just see them whenever there'd be a family
affair somewhere in Southern Luzon or whenever we'd be going on those
redundant high school field trips to Laguna to go and see Rizal's house
in Calamba). It was really weird to see that we just went pass Splash
Island which I thought was no longer in Metro Manila. We got off along
with all the other passengers on the bus' last stop.
You wouldn't believe that there in front of us is a billboard for a
store that rings an era of our childhood that is synonymous to Mighty Kids
and Sperry Topsiders...Zenco Footsteps...whoa! This must be some weird
stroll down memory lane.
So as we crossed the street going to Jazmer's (the gig's venue, which
we don't have any clue at the time as to where it) we strolled around
this crowded street filled with vendors selling pirated DVDs and VCDs
which kind of reminded be and Laix of Raon in Quiapo along with the
familiar lines like: "Dee Bee Dee!" and "Boss Ex! Boss Ex!"
Good thing Cedric had the initiative to call the guys from All Wound Up
on their cellphone thus helping us to finally arrive on the venue.
Tired and exhausted of the long journey we were surprised to see the
venue situated along a long row of videoke bars which had those GROs in
thick makeups and stuff.
Anyways there on the door we were greeted by Chit saying that All Wound
Up have been waiting for us so we got in and we got this cool spot
which is sort of like a VIP room in there where there's this ultraviolet
light that sort of illuminated anything white and so we goofed off with
Bon's camera taking pictures of ourselves since we thought it would be
cool to have pictures of ourselves looking like the Crypt Keeper on
Tales From The Crypt, or like the dudes from Alkaline Trio in their photo
on the cover of their From Here To Infirmary album. But those darn
pre-set light controls of the camera didn't make that possible for us so
instead we looked like total idiots showing off our teeth and posing
beside an alien 3D painting on the room's wall as a band playing Punk Rock
101 lingered on the background.
Later I was greeted by Pule of Cary Grant near the table where he sat
together with the other members of the band and some of their other
friends from Adamson.
Then came this band with a guy that sort of looks like Bret Hart of WWF
who sang in a falsetto voice that made Mark laugh his heart out.
As the next band whose guitar player's playing reminded me of Siakol's
palm-muted strums, Emil, Mark and I decided to get out for a while and
grab a meal at this nearby Mini Stop, and as we got out I was greeted
by Mike of the Atheismo blog. We were quite shocked that when we got
back to the venue band that sort of played like Siakol was still there
playing talk about concerts. Well anyways its a good thing the next band
played a song that's somewhat familiar to our ears which was Saves The
Day's At Your Funeral followed by another band that covered Save Ferris'
rendition of Come On Eileen.
It was already pass midnight and I was already getting missed calls
from Jeanie as the band playing before us went on stage which was Cary
Grant who played Ash songs who also got the chance to have a lot of fun
filled tales to tell after their set and I wouldn't bother to tell you
this so I guess you could ask them about it...
Well anyways be the time got up the stage Cedric asked Jack of All
Wound Up to tune the bass guitar that I'll be using and he also got frantic
because of that complex amplifier that he inserted his guitar into (and
come to think of it that amp sort of reminded me of Voltron's
dashboard).
And so we played our set but as we started our second song Mark
couldn't hear Cedric's guitar and Cedric again had this grin that he sported
earlier while he was still waiting for us to arrive on Alberto's.
Nevertheless we played and finished our set as we intended it to be
without any embarrassing moment that would forever scar us.
Next up was All Wound Up whom I was also going to see live for the
first time and they were really good and flawlessly played their set to the
estranged crowd.
After their set it was announced that the gig was already over and its
already 1AM and so after a few goodbyes to the organizers we together
with All Wound Up all hopped in this SM Fairview bus and shared our
laughs and got home safe and sound.
Alberto's to find Cedric together with Bon sporting that familiar frown
that we've all been familiar with Cedric. This is Pay It Forward. Well,
almost...
... Mark still isn't around yet and its already been 30 minutes since
Laix and I have set foot on the waiting area of Alberto's. We're already
sick and tired of looking at Boy Abunda's bald head as we sat there
together with the studio's owner Mang Jun who seemed to be enjoying the
cheap tabloid humor of ABS-CBN.
By the time The Buzz was over Mark ascends from the stairs together
with his buddy Emil whom we haven't seen for quite sometime so after the
usual chit chat of 'hellos' and 'how are yous' we enter the studio and
practice by the time we've finished we're already been getting constant
text messages courtesy of All Wound Up another band that we'll be
playing with that night.
So right after we've paid our bill we hurriedly proceeded to the venue
which is on this far flung republic of Alabang a very foreign place for
us QC-based punkers, but nevertheless we could play there and so we
decided it was worth going to.
After grabbing a bite at 711 we went of on a train ride to the trusty
railway system known to many yuppie scums as the MRT it was quite
crowded but all of us were able to sit down (except for Laix who was very
busy with his mobile phone talking to a girl named Kat)by the time the
train stopped on Ortigas where there resides the oh-so popular Megamall.
Jeanie text me as the train was leaving Boni Avenue station saying that
she won't be able to make it because her mom didn't allow her and Tina
her sister because of the venue's tangent distance from their place in
Manila. With a sigh, I replied to her in the message that its alright
and that we'll head home as soon as we finish our set.
Nearing our stop I've already gotten several texts from Chit who was
one of the gig's organizers inquiring as to where we are already.
Proximity was one of the things that we all are struggling at the moment as we
hope for the train to arrive to our stop and it looks as though as we
enjoyed our train ride so much that we forgot to get off the train on
our stop so we decided to stay on the train and wait for it to turn
around so that we could get of at our intended stop at Magalanes.
So while we were waiting we hurriedly ate the donuts that we bought
before boarding the MRT and asked Bon to take pictures of us with her
handy-dandy digicam.
As we got off Cedric decided to change his shirt on the station's
toilet so Laix, Bon and I waited for him right outside the station where
Laix thought it would be great to have our pictures on the station so we
both paused in for a snapshot wherein we were later approached by a
disapproving security guard saying that taking pictures inside the station
isn't allowed.
As soon as Cedric, Mark and Emil got out of the toilet we crossed the
overpass to board the Alabang-bound buses.
I'm not quite sure but I was shocked that the bus fare is still more
than P20 and we're already in Makati which is relatively near Alabang or
so we thought...
I was amazed that one by one our bus passed by those familiar landmarks
that I rarely see (usually I just see them whenever there'd be a family
affair somewhere in Southern Luzon or whenever we'd be going on those
redundant high school field trips to Laguna to go and see Rizal's house
in Calamba). It was really weird to see that we just went pass Splash
Island which I thought was no longer in Metro Manila. We got off along
with all the other passengers on the bus' last stop.
You wouldn't believe that there in front of us is a billboard for a
store that rings an era of our childhood that is synonymous to Mighty Kids
and Sperry Topsiders...Zenco Footsteps...whoa! This must be some weird
stroll down memory lane.
So as we crossed the street going to Jazmer's (the gig's venue, which
we don't have any clue at the time as to where it) we strolled around
this crowded street filled with vendors selling pirated DVDs and VCDs
which kind of reminded be and Laix of Raon in Quiapo along with the
familiar lines like: "Dee Bee Dee!" and "Boss Ex! Boss Ex!"
Good thing Cedric had the initiative to call the guys from All Wound Up
on their cellphone thus helping us to finally arrive on the venue.
Tired and exhausted of the long journey we were surprised to see the
venue situated along a long row of videoke bars which had those GROs in
thick makeups and stuff.
Anyways there on the door we were greeted by Chit saying that All Wound
Up have been waiting for us so we got in and we got this cool spot
which is sort of like a VIP room in there where there's this ultraviolet
light that sort of illuminated anything white and so we goofed off with
Bon's camera taking pictures of ourselves since we thought it would be
cool to have pictures of ourselves looking like the Crypt Keeper on
Tales From The Crypt, or like the dudes from Alkaline Trio in their photo
on the cover of their From Here To Infirmary album. But those darn
pre-set light controls of the camera didn't make that possible for us so
instead we looked like total idiots showing off our teeth and posing
beside an alien 3D painting on the room's wall as a band playing Punk Rock
101 lingered on the background.
Later I was greeted by Pule of Cary Grant near the table where he sat
together with the other members of the band and some of their other
friends from Adamson.
Then came this band with a guy that sort of looks like Bret Hart of WWF
who sang in a falsetto voice that made Mark laugh his heart out.
As the next band whose guitar player's playing reminded me of Siakol's
palm-muted strums, Emil, Mark and I decided to get out for a while and
grab a meal at this nearby Mini Stop, and as we got out I was greeted
by Mike of the Atheismo blog. We were quite shocked that when we got
back to the venue band that sort of played like Siakol was still there
playing talk about concerts. Well anyways its a good thing the next band
played a song that's somewhat familiar to our ears which was Saves The
Day's At Your Funeral followed by another band that covered Save Ferris'
rendition of Come On Eileen.
It was already pass midnight and I was already getting missed calls
from Jeanie as the band playing before us went on stage which was Cary
Grant who played Ash songs who also got the chance to have a lot of fun
filled tales to tell after their set and I wouldn't bother to tell you
this so I guess you could ask them about it...
Well anyways be the time got up the stage Cedric asked Jack of All
Wound Up to tune the bass guitar that I'll be using and he also got frantic
because of that complex amplifier that he inserted his guitar into (and
come to think of it that amp sort of reminded me of Voltron's
dashboard).
And so we played our set but as we started our second song Mark
couldn't hear Cedric's guitar and Cedric again had this grin that he sported
earlier while he was still waiting for us to arrive on Alberto's.
Nevertheless we played and finished our set as we intended it to be
without any embarrassing moment that would forever scar us.
Next up was All Wound Up whom I was also going to see live for the
first time and they were really good and flawlessly played their set to the
estranged crowd.
After their set it was announced that the gig was already over and its
already 1AM and so after a few goodbyes to the organizers we together
with All Wound Up all hopped in this SM Fairview bus and shared our
laughs and got home safe and sound.
Photos of Lent
last lent (i think it was good friday) jeanie, her sister tina and i went to up diliman to shoot pictures and here's some of me that jeanie's able hands took.
____
note i'll be posting some of her shots at the pinaybloodrush deviant page soon
____
note i'll be posting some of her shots at the pinaybloodrush deviant page soon
The Wonder Years
"Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose." ~Kevin Arnold
In this present age of so-called reality television, gonzo journalism and the sudden influx of self-indulgent television series that features the lives of characters who basically love themselves a lot of folks have basically come to ignore this great show that has made me shed a tear or two because it spoke deeply about how life was growing up as a part of an average household.
Amid the time when Doogie Howser and Parker Lewis battled for primetime timeslots and Dawson’s Creek wasn’t yet the bomb and The Simpson’s are just setting their foot on Springfield there was The Wonder Years, a gentle, nostalgic look at Baby Boom youth and color TV as seen by the young eyes of Kevin Arnold.
Created by Neal Marlens and Carol Black, is a historical and dramatic sitcom which became an Emmy-winning series, produced from 1988 to 1993, it describes the problems, wishes and dreams of a boy coming of age in the late 1960's and early 70's.
Each episode of the show would always involve Kevin Arnold (Fred Savage), the facing some rite of passage on his way to adulthood. Kevin lives with his brother Wayne (Jason Hervey), his sister Karen (Olivia d'Abo), his father Jack (Dan Lauria), and his mother Norma (Alley Mills). Kevin grows up with his on and off girlfriend, Winnie Cooper (Danica McKellar), and his best friend, Paul Pfeiffer (Josh Saviano).
During its 6 year I have in some way grew up with Kevin as I myself moved from my youthful dynamism to that of my forgettable phase of pent-up teenage rebellion Kevin Arnold was sort of that anonymous voice that spoke the language of my longing as I look back now and remember the years that have come and gone in our little suburban community along with a myriad of major world events and minor childhood concerns that somehow seemed equally important.
Very much as to how an older Kevin Arnold the off-screen narrator, reminisces about growing up in a typical suburban household and remembering the most intimate detail as to how each event was special and how that day is unique in itself because it points to something special that have in one way or another contributed to the person that he is today.
It is amazing because it speaks of a time when back in the days life wasn’t that complicated and that world events are but resounding names and places that you may have overheard from the transistor radio or may have seen on the television by accident. It is a good refresher that helps one look back into his childhood so as to again get his/her focus on the stuff that really matters.
Remembering the show and remembering its creators Marlen and Black both say that they want The Wonder Years to address the universal experience of childhood, rather than be a statement about an era is also a good thought to ponder since these days a lot of people, songs and movies would always claim to the heralds of an anthem that would spur a generation when in fact it is just a silly catchphrase that has been used well too often by the corporates to cash in on a hype.
Its really amazing how a simple show has come to embody such a universal experience.
Here’s to childhood!
pictures does speak a thousand words
the following are pictures from PayItForward's set on RMD's Rare Music Attack Gig held last March 19, 2005 and i must say that a picture does speak a thousand words and in this case there's ten of them
pics were taken by Gato Borrero
pics were taken by Gato Borrero
Southern Invasion
Moshpit Productions
Southern Invasion
an exploration of quintessential music down south
portrait of denial * all wound up * carygrant * goldfield
in loving memory * matching type * nuclear boogie * pay it forward
waiting shed * war donkey
Jazmer's Alabang April 10, 2005
Sunday 7:00 PM
P100
on the shoulder of our heroes
Philippine Violators, Bad Omen and the Askals were really distant names to me back then, when I used to listen to their songs as a teenage punk fan that was among the many anonymous blokes that littered the streets of Recto. Back then such names were to me basically synonymous to such songs as ‘Sikat Na Si Pedro’ (Philippine Violators), ‘Maling Sistema’ (Bad Omen). But that was then…
This is now.
Today is quite different for me and the rest of PayItForward because this time in that small venue along España Manila we were seeing the name of our wee band lined up along with our adolescent punk heroes who’s names echoed to us the sounds that played the anthem of our youthful angst that was courtesy of such cassettes that were released under the moniker of RMD and Middle Finger Productions, also vividly refreshing our memories of those a dime a dozen DIY shows that we got to see during the 90s.
This time it is a startling realization for us that we were on the same gig with them playing under the same production as that of the Violators and for a newly formed band that has been in existence for only a couple of months we see it as a breakthrough in itself for us since this was only our second gig as a band and we’re now watching Bad Omen in awe as we’re waiting for our turn to play.
This was just our second gig. Our first one is on some distantly unknown venue in
Looking at the flashing of the red, yellow, orange, blue and all those other spectrums of light crash down on the sight of Bad Omen rocking out all I could say was basically right now is awesome. Absolutely awesome.
They finished their set.
We play and for a couple of minutes or so we sang and put our hearts on the center stage as we utter the unsung hopes and dreams that we as a working unit of musicians and individuals put into melody those songs that were made so as to utter that blissful noise of our emotional punk yearnings and screams which were given life by the buzzing clatter of distorted guitars played in full blast alongside the pummeling staccato of drums.
I know that in the days to come all this would all but fade into but the obscurity of a distant memory for us as a band, nevertheless it would not change the fact that once upon a blue moon we shared the same stage with them whom we really looked up to musically, and I know that there might be others who’ve written about such memories more eloquently than this one about that time in their lives when they have come face to face with their heroes, and I know this piece of writing is not such.
But true enough this was written not because of flattery, or self-immolation. This is a heartfelt appreciation of how God enabled us as a band to be of such stride so as to play with them.
It was simply amazing and that’s just the beginning…
_________
please be informed pictures of the gig will also be posted soon....
after the gig thanks
thank God we were able to play the set with such furry that we have never been able to do before.
i haven't come around yet to writing about the gig last sat in a more eloquent way. but nevertheless i'd like to thank everyone who showed their support by watching and basically helping us pull it through especially for RMD who've given us the chance to share the same stage with the bands that sang the anthem of our punk rock childhood. thank you all very much.
i haven't come around yet to writing about the gig last sat in a more eloquent way. but nevertheless i'd like to thank everyone who showed their support by watching and basically helping us pull it through especially for RMD who've given us the chance to share the same stage with the bands that sang the anthem of our punk rock childhood. thank you all very much.
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