Kapihan sa Kanto

I've moved to http://mishap.i.ph so I haven't been posting here. Kamusta na ba dito? :)

May gusto bang sumama sa bayanihan?

Bubuhatin ko na 'tong bahay ko mula dito papuntang I.Ph!

Heto na ang bagong link ng aking blog:

http://mishap.i.ph

Kita-kits sa housewarming!

Paki-tignan nga po itong bago kong blog kung okey. Matagal ko nang sinabi na lilipat ako ng bahay, pero parang di ko nagustuhan kasi 3 months free lang daw. Eh ngayon, libre na for life, so why not coconut?

Paki-visit naman and tell me what you think. It feels weird to be moving out of blogspot after such a long time of inhabiting this spot in cyberspace. But, oh well. Paki-click nalang.

Medyo natutuwa ako sa CSI these days. Pag Sunday gusto ko abangan 'yun 9-12mn na tuloy-tuloy na CSI (lahat nung shows). Ayus! Sino meron ng entire season? (Kahit anong season dahil wala pa naman ako masyadong napapanood) Paborito ko 'yung CSI na CSI lang. 'Yung hindi si redhead tsaka hindi din si Gary Sinise. Pero gusto ko din 'yung kay Gary Sinise.

Aba! Tinatamaan din pala ang invincible computer ko. Hehe

Na-down ang PC ko these past few days kasi nagka-boot failure. Problem? Bumigay ang baterya. (Akala namin virus, di pala) Tsaka madumi na daw, sabi nung tech.

Kaya ngayon... makaka-post na 'ko ng pics from the gig! Abangan!

Youth Gig na! Check it out.

August 26, 7pm, CBC

Silver Coin, Clarion Call, Meantime. So ibig sabihin maraming musikahan, kainan, at tawanan. Even more than that, it's a night to get to know who Jesus Christ really is. It's about time!

Para sa karagdagang impormasyon, tignan ang blog ni Banjo para sa flyer.

Kung wala kayong gagawin sa Sabado (Aug 28), 8pm, at meron kayong P100 at trip niyong dumaan sa Mayuchi... eh di mag-Against the Flow bar tour na!

For more info, tag Ida at her blog.

A few notes on Mishka:

1. I'm listening to her for the first time tonight, despite having known about her for a while now thanks to Ria's blog and the Pinoyjazz yahoogroup (and thanks of course to Genoy!)

2. Madalas akong tinatawag na "Mishka" ng mga tao dahil di nila makuha ng tama ang pangalan ko.

3. Cafe Mishka is an expensive cafe in the Tomas Morato area, but one that I think of fondly. By the way, I didn't know there was a Mishka's Cafe (pero hindi na sa Morato, sa US na).

4. A few cuts into the album and I still can't make up my mind whether or not I like Mishka Adams. I'll suspend my thoughts for now.

What are the things you enjoy doing when there's no one around you?

singing in the car (and pretending I'm in a concert) or doing monologues or conversations in the car (yung ma-drama ha!) -- I actually get to cry sometimes, especially when I'm doing good-bye scenes or when I'm practicing wedding vows. Kaya pag dumating ako sa pagmi-mitingan natin na medyo namumugto ang mata galing sa kotse... alam niyo na 'yon! ;)

What lowers your stress/blood pressure/anxiety level?

chocolate, movies, jazz, a good book, prayer

At dahil tinag ako ni insan, ita-tag ko din kayo! Boy Okoy, Hannee, Banjo. Let's get it onnnn!

Bago ang Wakas
Benilda S. Santos
(Ph.D, Poet, Editor, Critic, Professor of Literature, Ateneo de Manila University)

Hindi ko na kaya
ang katahimikan.

Kahit sa pagpaligo
kailangan kong
magpatugtog ng radyo.
Hindi ko na mabata
lagaslas ng tubig
sa baldosa.

Kahit sa pagnguya
kailangan kong magsalita.
Ayaw kong marinig
pagtatagis ng aking bagang.

Sa pagmamaneho
binubuksan ko ang bintana.
Musika ang pagkikiskis
ng metal
at bahaw na busina.

Laging suliranin
ang gabi at pagtulog.
Lagi kang naroon
sa aking panaginip.
Lumalakad papalayo.
Patakbong lumilisan.

Sinisigawan kita.
Ulit-ulit isinusumpa
nilalait.

Subalit sa paggising
wala kang maririnig
bahagya mang himutok.

Nilulusaw ko
ang aking tinig
sa paghalik
sa iyong buhok.

I like Jamie Cullum. I like what he's doing to jazz and pop. He's taking it away from the jazz elite know-it-alls and bringing it to us jazz wannabes who can't enter the scene because the stalwarts refuse half-breeds or recent converts or strays.

As I was telling M. that I recently discovered Jason Mraz and Jamie Cullum as notables, he said, "Di ba matagal ko na sinabi sa 'yo na ok sila? Di ka kasi nakikinig sa 'kin e." To which I said, "Oo nga."

Reminds me of our conversation about Launchcast. He said the same thing after I raved about how great Launchcast is. I think he recommended it some two years ago, when there was still no limit to the number of times you can skip a song, and there weren't any ads yet.

By the way, check out Jamie Cullum's website. If you register (a swift, easy, and painless process, trust me) you'll be able to access his streaming video/music. Such frenetic performances, and on the piano, too! Do you know that it isn't an easy instrument to perform onstage with? I mean, it's so bulky, it's relatively not that sexy (compared to a sax, or an upright bass, or perhaps a violin the way the girls of Bond make it). And if you use anything other than a grand piano, it looks oddly plastic (so sue me, I'm a traditionalist -- I prefer the ivory keys to the keyboard).

But Jamie Cullum makes it look good! If you ask me, he's the male version of one of my other pianist favorites, Tori Amos (who girates on the piano bench). Now if Tori Amos truly became the total performer with her sensational hip movements over her piano bench, Jamie Cullum's gimmicks include raising the mic stand so he could sing and play the piano while standing (yes, he can still reach the pedal), hopping up on the piano towards the end of a song to sing the rest of it and say goodnite to the audience, and of course tapping on the piano wood with his bare hands as if it were bongos to set the rhythm of Frontin'.

Not to mention, super galing ng bahista niya! So far all the performances I've seen, Jamie Cullum is with his trio: himself on piano, someone else on bass, and another one on drums. The politics of it all is, whoever is the youngest or in most cases cutest, gets to name the band. And so it is the Jamie Cullum trio.

When Jamie grabs the mic and leaves his keys for a bit to romance the audience, he leaves the accompaniment to his very able drummer and very very able bassist. Imagine how playful the bassist and drummer have to be to keep a stanza or two going without the melody of the piano! But it all works wonderfully. Wow, I'd really like to see Jamie Cullum perform live. And the nameless bassist and drummer, too.

Grabe, Thursday na pala!

Mamaya book launch ng biography ni Ramon Magsaysay na kinomisyon ni Sen. Magsaysay. Smart Casual daw ang attire. Ano 'yun? Kung ano pa man yun, I shall try to guess it dahil wala naman akong choice. Nag-RSVP nga ako eh, di ko man lang alam sasabihin sa RSVP. Kunwari, pagtawag mo sa number indicated in the invitation, tapos nag-hello na 'yung tao sa kabilang linya, then what? Anong sasabihin mo? "Um, RSVP ho" or "Isang RSVP nga..." Ano ba 'yan.

The Goethe House is sponsoring a Silent German Film festival every Thursday at Megamall at 8 pm. Free, siyempre! Featuring the movies of Fritz Lang.

Schedule of Film screenings:

August 4 - METROPOLIS, music by Rubber Inc
August 11 - SPIES, music by The Sammy Asuncion Group
August 18 - DR. MABUSE, THE GAMBLEr, music by Tots Tolentino and Buhay
August 25 - DESTINY, music by Cynthia Alexander

Sino gusto sumama?

Do you know that blogging is useful when...

1. You need to finish something asap and you have some sort of writer's block or unidentified writer's disease that you'd rather focus on than the deadline that's staring you in the face.

... I'll add to my list later. In the meantime, add yours to my list!

This is something I don't tell many people (I don't think anyone knows), but I love George Michael. Just specific George Michael songs, that is. Mahirap kasi tanggapin si George Michael ng buong-buo, kasi tulad ni Madonna, ilang beses siyang nagpatumpik-tumpik sa iba't ibang phase sa buhay. His songs ride with the waves of the genre trend of the season, and since he's been around a while, it goes without saying that his music has gone through so much, as well. Not to mention I don't agree with his values and most of his MTVs.

But I like several of his songs (some are remakes, of course): Don't let the sun go down on me (originally done by Elton John), I can't make you love me (originally by Bonnie Rait), Kissing a fool, Like Jesus to a child. I think it's a particular mood of his that jives with mine. 'Yung medyo sober and melancholic... which he rarely is, I guess.

And there's something in the way you laugh / And it makes me feel like a child

After An Afternoon
Jason Mraz

I wish I had loved Jason Mraz earlier. But I think I truly disliked the hype. It was only after the hoopla that things settled down, and I could finally listen to him without the millions of girls screaming in my ear. And he's good, really good.

Let's review our recent prayers, petitions. What were they about? Were they prayers made in the assured knowledge of how much God's grace can give? Or were they tiny requests asked of a big God? Maybe it's time to re-orient ourselves on what God's grace is truly about.

Because we do not comprehend the superabundance of God's grace and generosity, we ask Him for paltry blessings, the fifty-cent variety, when we could be drawing on the abundance of His riches.

Ika nga ni Kata, I've been have!

Joke lang pala 'yung Almost na 'yan. Di ko din kasi nakita itong flash na ad na ginawa nung nag-post. Pag nakita mo, mas mage-gets mo na pang-asar nga lang siya. Siguro lalo na sa mga gumagamit ng mga tampon, mas obvious (di kasi ako gumagamit non, kadiri). Anyway, click here to check it out!

As if tampos weren't freaky enough, these people went ahead and made pre-tampos.

Pre-tampons?!

Got this link from a pretty interesting web e-zine's blog. For more irreverent and sometimes insightful media and pop culture ek-ek, check out Stay Free.

Anyway, click here for some disturbing product endorsement.

From Manuel L. Quezon III (one of my favorites):

On Aug. 4, 2005, from 9 a.m. to 12 noon, UP-ISP will be holding at the UP College of Law an iBlog Mini Summit titled: "Blogging Gloriagate." This is part of iBlog's discussion series, which intends to document the impact of blogging in Philippine society. Talks will be on: "Introducing Blogging Gloriagate" (Atty. JJ Disini)-10-10:30; "Blogging Gloriagate: The PCIJ Experience"-10:30-11; "Blogging Gloriagate: A Personal Journey" (Manuel L. Quezon III). It's free. Join us.

Oo nga naman. Did we actually let the whole Gloriagate issue seep into our blogs? Did we write about it, comment about it, think about it? Did our blog posts ever center around GMA and impeachment and election fraud? Or any national issue, for that matter. Or simply anything other than ourselves.

Of course not. Iba kasi sila mag-blog, at iba naman tayo, di ba. Sila, tila excited sa bawat balitang lalabas sa diyaryo. Halos di pa naire-report, may opinyon na. Wala nang ibang mapag-usapan kundi buhay ng mga politiko. Puro analyze this, analyze that. Puro rekomendasyon kung anong makakabuti, kuru-kuro sa kung anong dapat kalikutin sa bansang ito.

Eh ano bang pinagkaiba no'n sa mga taong ang pinagkakaabalahan naman eh puro buhay ng mga artista? (ahem) Latest scandals, latest updates sa showbiz scene. Puro pagpasa-pasa ng kwento ng kung paanong nag-break sina ganito't ganyan, o nagkatuluyan si ano at si ayan, o nag-demandahan sina you know who, o nagpa-lipo (na naman) si ganito.

Sa totoo lang, pareho lang 'yon sa pagsunod natin sa latest issues ng gobyerno, latest updates on the political landscape. Bottomline is, lahat tayo tsismoso. Sinuman at anuman ang masugid nating sinusundan, nakikidawdaw lang tayo sa buhay ng may buhay -- ke news and current events man, o telenovela.

Kakaiba itong mga taong 'to, sila at karamihan sa mga nano-nominate para sa RM Awards, the Nobel Prize of Asia, ika nga. Kaya kahit malaking stress ang paggawa ng nominee video nila, okey lang, nakaka-inspire na rin.

Read more about them:

• Jon Ungphakorn
• V. Shanta
• Matiur Rahman
• Teten Masduki
• Sombath Somphone
• Hye-Ran Yoon

It rained cats and dogs and everything in between today. Grabe. In the middle of the downpour, I found myself off to Roxas Boulevard from Tomas Morato. I hailed a cab to get to the MRT, got off at Taft, then hailed another cab. The windshield was awash with splashes of rain whipped by the strong winds. Almost zero visibility. Times like these, I'd rather get wet commuting than stuck on the road driving. Or have Micah drive me to where I'm going... siyempre sundo na din. Solb!

For those of you who are curious about what I look like (especially with my new haircut), according to Buddy, this is it.

You can call me Dora.

I kinda like it :)

You should see Spanglish (written and directed by James L. Brooks, starring Adam Sandler). It's a finely wrought film. The narrative sucks you in, so smooth is the storytelling. The characters have dimension, I think basically because they are truly interesting to begin with: Mexican mother starts work as housekeeper for a white family (a top notch chef father who prioritizes his family despite his fame, an agressive and overbearing mom, an alcoholic grandmother, a chubby too-good-to-be-true cheeky daughter, a nondescript son, and a playful labrador), brings her daughter in to spend summer with the family. She wants to preserve her daughter's heritage, but can't cage her in it. White mother loves the Mexican daughter and all she is that her own daughter isn't. Father falls for the housekeeper (of course). Grandmother and white mother suddenly find a moment of bonding after years of dysfunction. And then, to top it off, it's a funny movie.

I think that was the secret ingredient, the humor. But really, humor can only buy you off for a while. Towards the end of Disc 1 of your VCD, you start to want something more. Spanglish delivers that. It breaks the stereotypes you will expect of it, and it'll teach you things in the more unexpected places. And it'll show you what America is like, some of America at least. The people are so real, so human, and their story is so every-man's story. There are no Barbies and Kens, and there are no dazzling happy endings. At the same time, it is also beautifully unreal.

This is the kind of candid look that the Hollywood lens allows us to see from time to time, and which makes America a little less hopeless for me.

Makes me think twice about what grace means to me in daily living. Does grace figure in my journey? It's about time it did.

My observation of Christendom is that most of us tend to base our personal relationship with God on our performance instead of on His grace. If we've performed well -- whatever "well" is in our opinion -- then we expect God to bless us. If we haven't done so well, our expectations are reduced accordingly. In this sense, we live by works rather than by grace. We are saved by grace, but we are living by the "sweat" of our own performance.

Moreover, we are always challenging ourselves and one another to "try harder." We seem to believe success in the Christian life (however we define success) is basically up to us: our commitment, our discipline, and our zeal, with some help from God along the way. We give lip service to the attitude of the apostle Paul, "But by the grace of God I am what I am" (1 Corinthians 15:10), but our unspoken motto is, "God helps those who help themselves."

Para sa inyong mga in lab at nangangarap ma-in lab o di kaya'y sadyang sirang romantiko lang (tulad ni Boy Okoy na magb-birthday na!)... Heto ang sa inyo at sa akin.

Free in You
Indigo Girls

And I'm free in you
I've got no worries on my mind
I know what to do
That's to treat you right
And love you kind
Thank you ever on my mind
Love is just like breathing
When it's true
And I'm free in you

Hindi si Peps ang may inareglong kasal -- si Peps ang nag-seg prod ng feature na "Inareglong Kasal" sa I-Witness. Basta, panoorin n'yo nalang nga. Pinagpaguran ni Peps ang debut niyang 'to, yiheeee! Panoorin natin lahat --

Inareglong Kasal
I-Witness ni Sandra Aguinaldo
Lunes (Agosto 1), GMA 7, 11:30pm pagkatapos ng Saksi

Ang kasal ay isa sa pinakamahalagang okasyon para sa magkasintahan. Simbolo ito ng habambuhay nilang pag-iibigan at katapatan sa isa’t isa. Pero ano kaya ang pakiramdam kung ikakasal ka sa taong hindi mo pinili at hindi mo rin lubusang kilala?

Sa kultura ng mga Maranao sa Lanao Del Sur, usong-uso pa rin hanggang sa ngayon ang "karangaya," isang tradisyon kung saan pinagkakasundo ng dalawang pamilya ang kasal ng kanilang mga anak. Tradisyon na raw ito ng mga Maranao bago pa man dumating ang Islam sa Mindanao.

Minsa’y batang bata pa ang mga ikinakasal. Sa I-Witness ngayong Lunes, kikilalanin ni Sandra Aguinaldo sina Fajad Mangotara at Olily Hadjimalic, mga batang sa edad na anim na taon ay mag-asawa na!

Hindi pa nagsasama sina Fajat at Olily at di pa lubusang naiintindihan na sila’y magkabiyak, pero tila nakatakda ang kanilang tadhana sa isa’t isa.

Ang aktuwal na seremonya ng "karangaya" o pag-iisang dibdib naman ni Saminoden Pandapatan at Waheba Amirol ay makukunan din ng I-Witness.

Ipakikita pa ng programa ang mga inareglong kasal para mawakasan ang rido o away sa pagitan ng dalawang angkan. Sina Ibrahim at Johanifah Razul, ipinagkasundo ng mayor ng kanilang bayan para tuldukan ang rido. Napatay kasi ng pinsan ni Ibrahim ang kapatid ng ama ni Johanifah, na naging simula ng madugong away sa kanilang mga pamilya.

Pero hindi lahat ng mga anak, pumapayag sa ganitong kasunduan. Si Minang Sharief, isang propesor sa Mindanao State University, hindi pumayag na makasal sa kanyang tiyuhin nang ipagkasundo siya rito ng kanyang mga magulang sa edad na trese. Ayon mismo kay Minang, naging simula raw ito ng pagbabago ng paniniwala ng ilang mga babaeng Maranao sa "karingaya".

Ang tradisyon ng inareglong kasal, at ang mga isyu at kagandahang nakapaloob dito ang di dapat palampasing paksa ng I-Witness ni Sandra Aguinaldo ngayong Lunes pagkatapos ng Saksi.

Nagpagupit ako ng buhok. Balik high school na naman ang tabas ko. Para sa inyong kilala ang buhok ko noon, o ayan, nagbalik na naman.

In fairness, I kinda like it! Sabi nung bading pagkatapos ng aking 30-peso haircut, 'yaaaan... 1950's ang look! I didn't know whether or not to take it as a compliment, pero sige na nga.

Tutal pagod ako sa pakikipagsiksikan sa LRT, at sa pagkakaligaw ko mula sa pagbaba sa Monumento station straight into Ever Grand Central (bad idea pag umuulan at matao sa loob) kung saan paikot-ikot ako naghahanap ng Exit. Tinago ata nila ang mga Exit sign sa lugar na 'yon. Di pa natapos ang biyahe ko. Nilakad ko mula Ever hanggang sa lampas Jackman dahil may mga MMDA railings at di ka makasampa sa jeep hangga't meron non. Matapos ang ilang saglit ng eternity, nakasakay din ako ng jeep na Malanday. Pagkaupo ko, nagbayad ako, sabay hawak ng mahigpit sa bag at payong, at nagpa-hele sa uga ng jeep. Paggising ko, bababa na ko.

It wasn't so bad. Sa totoo lang, enjoy ako mag-commute at maglakad. Kung saan-saan ako napapatingin, kung anu-anong napapansin ko. Masarap tignan ang mga tao, ang mga lugar-lugar, ang mga kung anu-anong nakakalat sa daan. Punong-puno ng flavor kasi kahit saan ka tumingin. Love ko talaga 'tong Pilipinas.

Because my insan is a genius at blogs and comment boxes, she recommended Haloscan and I succumbed. Hehe :-) Now she will make magic with my comment box. Abangan!