Tuesday, June 26, 2007
at
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
|
I had a dream... and it’s not a Martin Luther King-type of dream which one discusses about when overwhelmed with idealism. The dream I’m talking about here is the dream Sigmund Freud would try to examine. Yes, dream, as in the experience of sensations which happens when you are asleep. It happened last June 24, right before I woke up. Like most of our dreams, it bordered on bizarreness, and I was just lucky to recall it (I forget most of what I dream the moment I open my eyes). In my dream, we were in a war-torn town that resembles the city of Stalingrad in Russia during World War II. I couldn’t recall if we were soldiers or rebels in the dream, but the only thing I am sure of is that we were fighting one man whose body appeared to be made of Kevlar vest, impenetrable and hardened. Here’s the funny thing: the man we were fighting against was Eddie Garcia!!
The city was something like this...
Of all the six billion people in the world! When I got up, I was thinking: what in the nutty world was Eddie Garcia doing in my nutty dream? I’m quite sure I haven’t been watching Asian Treasures lately. Although I think my dream is a bit parallel to the Asian Treasures, because I did see a scene in the show where Robin Padilla and the rest of the gang were battling it out with Eddie Garcia’s demonic minions. And when they were up against Eddie Garcia, they were nearly defeated. In my dream, we riddled Garcia with bullets from our Steyr-Aug rifle. But he just seemed to take them all, without dodging any of them. He was coming towards us and we were retreating. And then the scene suddenly shifted to a part where I was asking this fellow combatant how to use a hand grenade. Out of the blue, the scene shifted again and then I was on my own, facing Eddie Garcia. I shot him like hell with my rifle and, like a warfreak, threw the hand grenade right at him. Then there was an explosion. I thought he was pulverized but out of the smoke he appeared unscathed. I threw one grenade after another. And he was just coming towards me, unhurt, laughing his ass off. The weird thing was that he was unarmed and was not striking back or anything. He just laughed and laughed his ass off. And then I was roused by the alarm clock. It was 5:30 AM.
Did this dream mean anything? Or was it just a bunch of random thoughts that blew up inside my nutty brain? I have had dreams since I was a kid, and they’re all weird, morbid, sometimes blissful, sometimes indecent (hehe). Can they be interpreted? What do you think was really at the back of my mind?
Thursday, June 21, 2007
at
Thursday, June 21, 2007
|
Only few people know that I can play some songs on a piano, or more specifically, on a keyboard. But it’s not something I am really proud of. My way of playing is not systematic, so you can figure how pianist would normally laugh at the idea. My style is called “playing by ear.” The truth is, anybody can learn to play piano by ear while skipping those written musical shits (I mean sheets) using only chords. It’s not like you can play a Mozart or Chopin with this style, but hell, who in the nutty planet would like to be confined in playing just those classicals anyway? Actually, playing-by-ear style is no secret and people normally do this with a guitar. When one wants to learn playing guitar, s/he would be asked to learn chords in the beginning, right? The same goes for playing piano by ear. You will just learn chords, not notes.
 
Take a look above, the left image shows us how to play G chord; the right image shows us how to play C chord.***
So what’s this fuzz all about? It started when Karen and I happened to discuss music yesterday night. I told her I could play keyboard a little. And then I remembered that I hadn’t been playing for a while, so when I got home I tried playing some songs I knew on a keyboard. And my god, how they all sucked! I hadn’t touched my P1,999 keyboard in ages, so you could imagine how I really messed up with the songs. I had to memorize them again one by one. Do you know what songs I play? Okay, I really don’t want to put a question mark on my self-proclaimed rock music lover image, but just for fun I will tell in here what songs I play on a keyboard... or more precisely, the songs I CAN ONLY play on a keyboard through play-by-ear style.
Here we go...
1) A Long and Lasting Love — by Crystal Gayle
2) Something In The Way You Look at Me — by Christian Bautista
3) Everyday I Love You — by BoyZone
4) Making Love Out of Nothing At All — Air Supply
5) Boulevard — by Whoever-shit-he-is (I don’t care to know)
Aarrggh! (love songs! Aww!). Frankly speaking, it took me a lot of time to memorize the way each song is played. I play all those songs on the list because their chords are not that difficult to figure out. The last one, the Boulevard crap, is a song I was just forced to memorize, because my Nanay wanted me to play it (with her singing it). But don’t think I am way too soft playing some mushy songs on a keyboard. I can play rin naman Let It Be by the Beatles, Skyline Pigeon by Elton John, My Immortal by Evanescence and Imagine by John Lennon. So it’s not that really bad, is it? And that is only playing keyboard by ear!
One would do it in any way possible — all for the love of music.
*** Images taken from shanemcdonalds.org <-- try to visit the site if you want to learn piano/keyboard the easy way.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
at
Thursday, June 14, 2007
|
The more I read award-winning short stories, the more I get the feeling of a loser. It has dawned on me that I will not win a Palanca Award this year, or even in the next years. I'm not pessimistic, just realistic. I can categorically say that my works are so amateurish and full of bullshits. I now accept the fact that I still need a lot of time to hone my fiction writing skills. Perhaps, not having been trained to write stories could be an excuse (since I took up Journalism). But what about Rosario de Guzman-Lingat? What about the likes of Luis Gatmaitan and Liwayway Arceo? They are some of the finest writers who didn’t have literary trainings of any sort, and yet excel as prolific writers all the same. Just last week when I was in FullyBooked in Gateway Mall, I read an anthology of short stories of Lingat, and the realization hit me big time. How could this woman write a superb short story? How could I not?
Actually, I submitted two entries to Palanca this year (short story and short story for children, both in Filipino). I had a lot of nerve — or audacity — to submit entries, and even thought confidently, much to my chagrin, that I would win an award. In my dreams. I got that shabby inspiration from Edgardo M. Reyes when he said in his book that he won a Palanca on his first try. It had been only a year since he began to write when his piece “Di Maabot Ng Kawalang Malay” won a Palanca (third prize, 1961). Also, there have been 30 people already winning a Palanca on their first tries. With a kapalmuks, I might as well join them and get one for myself. Beginner’s luck, you know. Maybe Don Carlos Palanca won’t mind giving this idiot a thumbs up.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
at
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
|
It's official. It's now bye-bye to dry, sunny days. After all these sunburns and heat strokes we endured in the last barbecue days, we can now look forward to a relatively cool, wet, cloudy days. I have already taken a small dose of what the rainy season could unleash for the next months. Last night, I went to Megamall to meet Kuchi. I got caught in the rain on my way and my bought-from-the-sidewalk umbrella looked completely useless at the time. Afterward, I got stranded in Cubao on my way home. There were like hundreds of passengers like me (could be thousand) waiting for PUVs in every corner, and there were not enough PUVs to accommodate them. Curiously, when I managed to get on a jeep, I noticed the passengers inside we're all male. I thought of women stranded in Cubao. I felt uneasiness.
In the next couple of days we're all gonna be worrying about floods and brownouts. Not to mention the difficulty of drying clothes. Anyway, it seems we just need to put up with this weather for two to three months and capitalize on whatever good things this season could throw us (water, new fashion look, cool weather, etc). Appetite adjustment seems unavoidable, too.
Friday, May 18, 2007
at
Friday, May 18, 2007
|
Have you noticed the frequency of cover versions or remakes of old songs nowadays? People are turning an old rock song into a ballad, an iconic soul into a pop, a defiant punk into a jazz and many more. Even the familiar "noisy" songs have been turned into a bossa nova. Yes, it's sprouting like mushrooms.
I'd like to make it clear that I'm not against people who do cover songs. The history of music is marked with many artists, foreign and local alike, covering songs after songs. The last time I know it was periodical, and only established artists were given the privilege to do so. But now it's becoming a trend and it's quite alarming. Can't our musicians strike some new chords?
I get a chill up my spine when I hear "Your Love" version of Eric Santos. I think he should stick to singing ballad songs in ballad ways, and avoid rock song as much as possible. And there is this Radio Active Sago Project who made a pigpen out of the song "Alcohol" of the EraserHeads (too bad I like RASP's before). Kichie Nadal, Rico J. Puno and Barbie Almabis did the same thing. I'm not surprised why Eli Buendia nurses a grudge against the anthology/tribute.
There are some bands, thank heaven, who did some nice covers. I like Bamboo's rendition of "Tatsulok," a song originally played by the activist-folk-rock group Buklod in the 80s. I also like the cover by 6CycleMind of the song "Upside Down" by 2 Minds Crack and the version of Shamrock of the song "Hold On" by NeoColours.
I don't know until when this trend of covering songs is going to stop. The local industry will do us a huge favor if they put an end to it and make some original music instead. There have been lots of ripped offs and watered down versions of old songs lately. They are actually spawning a new breed of shallow music-lovers who are under the impression that some over-avant garde genre they called "jazz-rock-bossa-pop-soul-in-one fusion is going to revive the ailing local music industry. It's not.
If our artists can't really make a good, original material, they should just keep their guitars in the corner and stop touching other people's song, much more make a piggery out of it. Their covers just reflect the jokes the scene has become.
Posted by
Nutty Boy
Labels:
OPM,
Pinoy Rock
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
at
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
|
VforCE (1 Million Volunteers for Clean Elections), a nationwide movement of volunteer individuals and organizations, is in need of a MILLION volunteers (or more) to cover about 300,000 precincts and 1,600 canvassing points in the country. The volunteers will work on the following fronts:
1) Voter Education and Involvement
2) Pollwatching
3) Operation Quick Count
4) Canvassing Watch
If you still believe that what is at stake in the May 2007 elections is the credibility of our insitutions and the viability of our hard-earned democracy, join this movement.
We can still claim our place in our country's democratic life, by ensuring that the May 2007 elections are honest and credible, and that candidates who have the people's interests at heart get a fair shot at winning.
Text: 0922-8600-SLB
Call: 10149 (toll-free on PLDT phone)
Monday, May 7, 2007
at
Monday, May 07, 2007
|
 Just right on time, I was recently asked to write about the big difference a person can make in doing small things for the environment. Like other people, I'm beginning to become a believer of the future environmental scenario which Al Gore and Leonardo Di Caprio have been so vocal about to address in public. Global Warming is really a serious issue. Doing small things like recycling stuffs, using bikes and avoiding the use of hazardous chemicals (like hairspray) can spawn a big difference (just imagine a million people doing that). Besides, you don't need to be a person of political power or wealth to do that. Think of this — huge icebergs in the Arctic Ocean are melting! This is an obvious sign that Earth is really warming. It's like we are being toasted alive in a big oven.
And that's the reason why I hardly slept yesterday. The temperature must have been swinging up and down, between 34 and 36 degree Celsius. I turned on the electric fan all day long to chill myself (we don't have air-conditioner yet). I took a bath thrice yesterday. The heat was just unbearable. I forced myself to watch TV later on to chill out because I was pissed and the temperature was completely getting on my nerves. Luckily, a TV show entitled "Isang Tanong, Isang Sagot - Senatoriable Forums" was being aired, somehow appeasing the freaking demons inside of me. It sounded like a formal exchange of platforms among candidates at first, but it was far from that. It was more like a comedy. I got a good laugh when has-been singer Victor Wood barely answered the questions hurled at him. I'm not surprised now why he lost the mayoralty race in Antipolo City last election. Also in the show was actor Richard Gomez who looked stupidly nervous in the face of an unscripted show; Cesar Montano was no different. On the other hand, Koko Pimentel didn't appear like the 1990 bar topnocher while answering questions. The big blast however came from Senator Tessie "Dancing Queen" Aquino-Oreta who was asked by reporter Howie Severino about who she believes is the better president between GMA and Erap. She gave an open-ended answer, as expected from a cunning, traditional politician.
I didn't know how I drifted off but I think I hit the sack around 3am. I looked like a zombie when I woke up in the morning. My eyelids were too heavy and I wanted to collapse back to bed. I wanted to take a vacation leave! I'm hoping that climate will cool down a bit later this evening. I just want to have a sound, log-like sleep.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
at
Thursday, February 22, 2007
|
The following text messages have been circulating in virtually every cellphones since last year. Some of these are old, but they really make my day. I had told everybody they were ironies in my initial post, which was obviously wrong:
"You are never too old to learn something stupid."
"Smile... tomorrow will be worse!"
"Never miss a good chance to shut up."
"Don't run, you'll just die tired."
"Don't steal, that's the government's job."
"The number of people watching you is directly proportional to the stupidity of your action."
"He who laughs last thinks slowest."
"Never take life seriously: nobody gets out alive anyway."
"Always remember, you are unique. Just like everyone else." :-))
Posted by
Nutty Boy
Labels:
laughable
Friday, February 16, 2007
at
Friday, February 16, 2007
|
Hello Earth! I'm back.
Just to give you some updates, I have been pretty preoccupied with a lot of things these days, things to which I unexpectedly shifted my attention. Aside from work and love life, I just could not go back to blogging right away, even if my nutty brain was brimming with ideas. Anyhow, I don’t feel like writing another piece about Philippine politics and all the darn things surrounding it, since I know you're not eager to dwell on it anyway. So let us spare this blog of political mayhem for a day or two. With all these circus coming to town, people can crack a good joke out of them anytime just the same.
There was something about the word "beautiful' that caught my attention recently. It is given that we all agree about the unreliability of any method in measuring beauty — since it's floating over the term subjectivity. This reminds me of Cleopatra, the ancient queen of Egypt. Cleopatra who was an Hellenistic co-ruler of Egypt with her father Ptolemy XII Auletes...blah, blah, blah (click the link if you get the itch to recall major things about her). People always have this impression that Cleopatra was a beautiful, head-turner, royal lady who made some perverts out of Roman generals. At one point, I even imagined she had a ravishing Jennifer Lopez-butt, a rare Thalia’s waist, a fine 35B boobs and a barbie-like face. Those might be considered exaggerated description, but quoting Shakespeare who wrote about Cleopatra “beggar’d all description” and some historians who said the mighty Julius Caezar was possessed by her, who would have thought she’s not that beautiful? Or worse, ugly?
Recently, though, I chanced upon an article about Cleopatra’s controversial beauty. A coin dating back 32 BCE and put on display in Britain illustrated her with a pointed chin, thin lips and sharp nose. In short, she was no beauty queen. It looks like she’s just another overrated woman whose coquettishness was turned into a symbol of beauty. Apparently, she was not.
Shakespeare would have made wept had he found it out.
Or would have he? Perhaps his lines about Cleopatra had double-meaning? Come to think of it, Shakespeare never mentioned the word “beautiful” when he described her. He might have been sarcastic or something. Or maybe the lines are satiric, his style of making a spoof of Cleopatra? According to an archaeologist, Roman writers tell us that Cleopatra was intelligent and charismatic and that she had a seductive voice, but, tellingly, they do not mention her beauty. How's that?
But then again, perhaps our modern world has a warped definition of beauty. Maybe our definition of beauty was completely different from that of the past. Perhaps a bulging eyes, a sharp nose and a pointed chin are what it takes to be a beauty queen in Cleopatra’s time? Or maybe the definition of beauty at that time was not the about physical appearance, but about characters and personalities? I don't know.
But what I do know is that if those (characters and personalities) were the features that make one an apple of people’s eyes in our modern world, difference between love and lust, between obsession and fatal attraction, would be spelled correctly. And nobody would have dared describing Zoraida as ugly.
Posted by
Nutty Boy
Labels:
cleopatra
Friday, January 12, 2007
at
Friday, January 12, 2007
|
Signs of poverty are very visible nowadays. Just yesterday, I witnessed an altercation between a jeep driver and a passenger. The passenger, a woman in her 30s, was asking for additional change amounting to 75 cents. She kept on insisting that there was 50-cent discount given to commuters as per LTO directives. The driver shot back, saying the discount was good only until December 31 last year. The woman muttered something I didn’t understand and I thought she resigned, so it blew me off when she suddenly said “sige, pero ibigay nyo na lang sa’kin yung kulang pang bente singko sentimos.” Some passengers cleared their throats, startled; others gaped in disbelief. The driver gave up and just scratched his head.
I see nothing objectionable in what the woman did. In fact, for staying true to herself and her pennilessness, she should be complimented. Since when does asking for a small change become something to sneer at? I have to admit I am one of those who wouldn't have done the same thing. It's not because I thought 25 cents is nothing. Perhaps it's because I want to save my pride before the humiliating poverty that envelops us.
Poverty among us is a fact. Majority of over 80 million Filipinos are uncertain whether there will be ample food to eat on the table or enough money to pay the monthly bills in the next five years. Some see our nation as incorrigible barren land of unfulfilled dreams, others see it as a junk shop — which may explain why we have some thriving clans of corrupt politicians who see money in every rubbish thing. Our country is close to being declared “clinically-dead,” as far as the ongoing exodus of skillful and intelligent people is concerned. Those who dare say life today is easy have not been on the other side where grass is not green, and probably have never ridden on PUVs. Those who dare say life today is easy are mostly vacationing foreigners from a First World country, or worse, politicians. Is there a way to escape from this destitution aside from leaving the country?
Life in this country is like getting inside a run-down building which offer different rooms. Which one should be taken is for us alone to decide. How you got to the building doesn't mean anything. We’ll never know which room is of our own advantage until we open the door and enter the room. It’s called luck — opportunity — and with it, our lives basically become games which we are destined to play.
I can say that it's like playing poker, where intelligence and diligence do little to win the game. Success in life is more than just an ability to shuffle the cards to get the elusive royal flush; it’s also about getting those cards that make the royal flush. Those who say that the only ingredients to a successful life are perseverance and intelligence are living in a fantasy world or are too much absorbed with fiction novels. If being intelligent and diligent pulls one out of the quagmire of poverty, nobody will leave this country to chase dreams abroad. Nobody will look for some buildings in which lucky rooms are spacious enough to accommodate intelligent and diligent people.
Apparently, no one knows how the future can become as good as what our heroes envisioned. And nobody wants to waste time knowing when. It would take a French Revolution to change all these things. And no one likes to sacrifice and become poorer than they already are today and start again from scratch. In this jungle, it’s more important to make sure you’re going to have something to eat than to contemplate if the sun will make up his mind to rise the next day.
Posted by
Nutty Boy
Labels:
life,
poverty
|
MARVEL and SPIDER-MAN: TM & 2007 Marvel Characters, Inc. Motion Picture © 2007 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 2007 Sony Pictures Digital Inc. All rights reserved. blogger template by blog forum |
Posts
