The UltraElectroMagneticRecap

August 31, 2008

(yoko na i-spell at grammar-check to…)
What a roller-coaster ride this whole thing has been from the very start:

But then… … …well… … …read on.

Andun kami 5:00pm palang and we killed 3 hours before the excitement started to sink in that, “Shet, eto na talaga to!” There was an estimated 20,000 people at least in attendance and kili-kili-to-kili-kili na ang siksikan dun sa area namin (which was thankfully at the frontmost part of the Patrons section).

At around 8:30pm, a big timer flashed on the screen and read 10:00. Then it started counting down… and at that point, everyone knew that that was going to be the longest 10-minutes of their lives. People were getting uneasy and everyone was getting excited to the point of counting down each minute until we reached T-minus-zero.

And then it started… All the lights went out and a splash animation was shown onstage, which eventually culminated in all four members - Buddy, Marcus, Raymund and Ely - rising up from beneath. When the bassline of Alapaap rang through, we knew that we were in for an amazing night. Feeling ko talaga dudugo na talaga yung tenga ko nun sa lakas ng hiyaw at sigaw nung mga tao sa paligid ko. Pati ako nakisigaw na din at nakikanta. No holds barred na. If the band was gonna give it their all, the all the fans in the venue might as well do the same - me included.

“masdan mo aking mataaaaa… di mo ba nakikita…. ako ngayo’y lumilipad at nasa langit naaaa, gusto mo baaaaang sumama??”

What a trip that was. I’ve only gone to two E-Heads concert in my life and in both of them, that song was the intro. I couldn’t think of a better intro. And on that night, it was performed complete with a lightshow and pyrotechnics… Pyrotechnics!!! Amazing.

After the song ended, may humiyaw sa likod ko “Bat kayo naghiwalay?!?” Laughter. Bittersweet.

The band jumped right into Ligaya, and the people also knew immediately what the song was. I realized that a lot of us fans were still rusty because we were messing up words, mixing up verses and shit. But it was all fun. Sembreak and Hey Jay came in quick succession and it was then when I realized that none of the band-members were talking on-stage. It felt as if they were just going through the motions. At most, there was a quick acknowledgement of the crowd at the venue.

I just shrugged that observation off and then came Harana before the band followed with Fruitcake. There was a funny moment at the start of that one because after Ely sang “There are b-sides to every story  / If you decide to have some fun,” he stepped away from the mic and yelled “What?” to the crowd giving them their cue to sing. So we sang, “Take a bite! It’s alright!” - and then we messed it up. Hehe. Everyone started singing a different verse, tapos nagtawanan nalang kaming lahat. Rusty nga talaga pati kaming fans.

What was also cute was that around that same time, people would start chanting “group hug! group hug! group hug! group hug!” at the top of their lungs.Laughter. Bittersweet. It didn’t happen.

At that point, we still haven’t heard much from Ely or any of the members of the band. Then Ely speaks up: “This next song…” *roars and applause from the crowd* “…is all about love…” *WILD roars and applause from the crowd* “…and I wrote it all by myself.”

“Then try to tell use we’re too… … …old” *laughter* “Too old, too really be… … …bold.” and then Toyang kicked into high gear.

Then came a quick succession of songs: Kama Supra, Kailan, Wag Kang Matakot and Kaliwete. Although I really wanted to ignore it, a few things were starting to become clear:

• Ely really looked weak and not-into-it. That’s not to say he didn’t give it his all. I really felt he didn, pero nananamlay na talaga yung tao.

• Raymund is a beast on the drums! Siya yung pinaka-energetic dun sa apat onstage and anlupet talaga nung palo niya.
• Lastly, ewan ko talaga kung ano ang status ngayon nung apat… kung okay ba sila sa isa’t-isa o ginagawa lang nila for the sake of it… …but there wasn’t much talking or interaction on-stage. Regardless, it was a great night.

The band continued with the ultimate crowd-pleaser With A Smile, and then they proceeded to play what for me was the best song of the night: Shake Yer Head. It started with a jam-intro and Ely started to literally shake his head faster and faster until his shades flew off to reveal a pair of really tired eyes. Pero ang cool nung kanta. Most rockingest song on the setlist.

Then they played Wag Mo Nang Itanong, which preceeded Lightyears. That was the emotional high-point for Ely. Considering he just lost his mom a few days before, that last song seemed to have really struck a chord. After performing it, he slumped down on the floor, leaned against his guitar and hugged it. Then they went backstage for the intermission.

And then the sad news came…

The intermission was supposed to be only 20 minutes, but it started to go on longer until we were already waiting there for around half-an-hour. However, when everyone got back onstage, there was no more Ely.

His sister Lally read an announcement and informed the audience that Ely had to be rushed to the hospital for medical attention. The concert was being cut short. Everyone was sent on their way home.

For something that already caused an onset of a whole flood of emotions for a lot of people concerned, this had to happen. It was a combination of shock, disbelief, anger and disappointment. One insensitive bastard at our back even yelled “REFUND!”, which made me want to smack the daylight out of him. 15 songs na yun no, tapos refund ang una mong maiisip after you receive the news that Ely had to be rushed to the hospital?? WTF. Seriously.

But all-in-all, it was amazing. To see all four of them onstage again together and play 15 great songs to a jampacked arena of die-hard fans was a priceless experience. Kahit sabihin na natin na they were just going through the motions… that they weren’t talking much to each other or to the crowd… It’s still all about the music, man.

And the music was good… just like it has always been for the past 20 years.

Flash Fiction #3 - The Age Of The Understatement

August 25, 2008

FYI - I’m on multiply.

Even more dabbling, this time for The Last Shadow Puppets‘ The Age of the Understatement.

————

It’s a hot summer afternoon and I’m stuck inside my poor excuse for a home. I just finished “Goldfinger” on the television and now it looks like “Thunderball” is coming up. James Bond marathon. Hrmn.

Hot summer. Alone in my ramsackle shack. Connery. Beer. Nothing to do until dinner. My sister set me up with her friend from work, but that’s around five hours from now. I’ll probably whack off a bit later. Testosterone galore, but no pussy.

Of all the people she had to leave me for, she had to choose that douche. Well, he’s gonna get what’s coming to him in due time.

I always get the black widows and femme fatales. You know, the girls who milk men dry before leaving them to wither and die alone as they move to the next poor sucker they can get their scheming claws on? Well guys like me, we always fall for it. If there are chicks who always fall for rough and rugged bastards no matter how hurt they know they’re gonna get, there are also guys who fall for the bitches who make fools of us all. We fall for it everytime. The sad thing is that we know the pool is filled with acid and yet we jump in in delight. Idiotically masochistic.

Now why does Bond always get the girl? See, James Bond always has an answer for everything and he always had the easy women. Or maybe he had the hard-to-get women but he was just that damn good. He never got stood up like what Marie did to me on New Year’s Eve. It turned out that she lit her own fireworks at midnight with an old flame.

We didn’t break-up after that. Of course, she sweet-talked me as she apologized for what happened. When the waterworks came on, I was a goner. But we’re not together anymore. She left me for New Year’s lay the month after. Valentine’s sucked.

This brewskie’s getting to my head a bit… Connery’s charming his way into this French chick’s pants and he’s probably gonna get into them before the film ends. No use watching it now. I’ll just drift off for a while and… just a little rest… …before I fresh…freshen up… … …for la…

Big explosion on the television! Holy fuck it’s 7:00pm. I’m practically swimming in my own saliva and beer. Slob. Quick shower, quick change and maybe I won’t be so late for the date.

I really have no idea what I’m doing. I’m in a cab, stuck in traffic, rushing to fine dinner place to meet a woman who will only be either of two things: A perfectly fine and nice woman that may or may not exactly be attractive; or, it could be the type I fall for.

When I got to the fancy Itallian diner we were meeting at, it was easy to spot her. She was the only one who was alone and the only one who looked half-pissed. Why shouldn’t she? I’m almost an hour late anyway.

I was about to walk in, introduce myself and apologize for being late when I had this crazy thought: Why don’t I do the standing-up for once? I had this feeling that doing it would have given me some infinitesimal measure of revenge against womankind that – on some level – I badly wanted.

I spent at least 10 more minutes outside pondering over the decision to be made. I stared at her intently from outside. She was beautiful in an angelic type of way, with a certain glow that exuded kindness and innocence; but at the same time didn’t express any form of vulnerability. The gleam in her eye and the slight pout she had told me that a slight irritability had set in – surely from me being late – but she kept her poise in spite of it. The waiter approached her, probably to ask if she was ready to order. She managed a quaint smile as she said no.

She has a really nice smile. The type that makes her eyes beam and makes her face light up. I could get used to that smile.

But this is how it always starts. Always. I know how it starts and I know how it ends. I should probably walk away right now and save myself the trouble as well as get some impression of payback.

WWJD. What would James do? Bond. James Bond. Cool and slick James Bond. I thought about it more for a moment. Then I thought of the opposite. That’s what I would do.

I looked at her again through the window: Beautiful, angelic, quaint. Heartbreak. After a final glance at the lady in the diner, I walked away. 

Flash Fiction #2 - Lagrange Points

August 21, 2008

I’m not really in any sort of mood to seriously blog anything concrete right now.

Just came from Boracay. It was fun. Really really want to go back. Photos are in jquia.multiply.com - created it for photo sharing, but I might develop it sometime when I’m bored.

More dabbling in flash fiction-slash-album review. This time with Mooncake‘s Lagrange Points. <— click to listen (last.fm rocks \m/ free streaming music FTW!)

————————————–

It was like waking up suddenly from a dream that she couldn’t recollect. All the feelings, emotions and sensations were still fresh. She wanted to piece together as much as she could from her state of slumber, but nothing came. All she had were feelings: The sensation of being as light as a feather, as soft as a whisper, and everything around her was as bright as wonder in a child’s eyes.

Eyes. She remembered staring into eyes that went as deep as forever; but whose? A nameless figure. How could it make her feel this way? The emotions were swaying now: Ebb and flow; Rise and fall. She wanted to go back. She had to go back to the dream. At least there everything was beautiful and perfect. She lay down, hoping against hope that sleep would take her back, wherever it was.

An hour passed, but still no sign of sleep. She was staring blankly at the ceiling as the alarm clock rang, but she didn’t flinch. Eyes fixed straight up and thoughts wandering aimlessly, she reached out with her right arm. Almost robotically, she switched off the persistent noise set to wake her up at exactly 7:30am on this Monday morning. No need. She was already up. She beat her alarm by one hour and spent that same amount of time mulling over a dream.

The feeling was soaring now. Everything inside her was rising like a crescendo building up to a climax. The feelings were strong and the lightness was gone. A heavy sense of panic and frustration was now starting to sink in. “I need to go back,” she thought desperately. Laying on her soft mattress, 30 minutes felt like an eternity. “Am I going crazy? All this over a stupid and senseless dream…”

30 more minutes… She would be late for work now, but she didn’t move a muscle. Reality just didn’t seem that appealing anymore.

30 more minutes… She started to toss and turn and squirm, seemingly oblivious that there was a world outside that was waiting for her. A world that was waiting for her to punch in at 9:00am, process papers until 12 noon, have lunch until exactly 1:00pm, process papers until 6:00pm, then go home and do whatever people do when home alone on a Monday night. Totally oblivious.

The only thing that mattered right now were those eyes. She couldn’t get it out of her head and nothing else would occupy her thoughts while it was there.

Heavier and heavier. Darker now. No more panic. Just fatigue setting in this time. Frustration. She was about to give up. Almost all resolve was gone.

Then it happened.

At that exact fleeting moment between sleeping and waking, it hit her. Ebb and flow. Her eyes were closed and all the images started flowing into her mind. Rise and fall. Backwards, like a video on rewind. Faster and faster it moved. A smile… a face… those eyes… A soaring feeling. The crescendo building up to a climax. Faster and faster…

Then it stopped.

An alarm clock sounded. The persistent noise set to wake her up kept on grating at her ear. Almost robotically, she reached out with her right arm to put it off. It was 7:30am on a Monday morning.

Time to get ready for work.

Flash Fiction #1 - Saturnalia

August 15, 2008

I’ll be dabbling in flash fiction for a bit. I was trying to write album reviews on this website; but I wasn’t satisified, so I tried this as a form of album review. Here’s one I did for The Gutter Twins‘ Saturnalia

Kung malabo… well… oo malabo talaga. ^_^ I’m not good at describing music, pero I can at least try to replicate how I feel about a certain body of music through a medium such as flash fiction. 

(sama ko na din yung cover art. wala lang.)

“This is it,” Mark said as he gazed from the hillside overlooking the city, “here comes humanity’s big fall from grace. No rising up from the ashes. No coming back from the dead.”

Greg kept silent. No response. Not even a hint that he heard and had absorbed what Mark had just said. He was staring intently at what was left of the town they called home and was absorbing it all. With a cigarette pressed subtly in between his lips, Greg took a long deep breath.

“Just like Sodom and Gomorrah,” he sighed, as thin trail of smoke came out of his mouth; and Mark echoed with a tone of sobmer acceptance, “Exactly like Sodom and Gomorrah.”“How long have we got?” Greg returned.“An hour at least, maybe two. I heard it over the radio that the time can’t be exactly accurate.”
“Hrmn…”

Once again they kept silent.

Mark squinted towards the horizon. The sun must be there somewhere, he thought. Beyond the thick dark cloud rising up from the remnants of the city, the setting sun was indeed there. However, only shafts of light that found their way through the black blanket of smoke were the only things left of it to be seen.

At one point in time, the sunset was a glorious sight to behold. On this day however – as the sun waved it’s final goodbye to mankind – Mark would have none of that glorious sight. Mark pondered over this sad reality as the light turned from bright yellow to orange and then red. Later on, it will be totally gone like everything else.

Greg on the other hand had no interest in sunsets. He was keenly observing the slow demise of their world. He was looking at the houses and buildings being gobbled up in flames. As he did this, he threw a question towards Mark’s direction: “Did you ever realize that all over the world, seven-billion people simultaneously went through the five stages of grief in a matter of a few weeks?”

Mark didn’t answer, but instead posed a question of his own, “What stage do you they’re in right now?”

Greg returned his gaze to the chaos below, and then settled with a resigned answer of “I have no idea, and quite frankly I don’t really care,” which was true. Greg really didn’t care. The question was rhetorical and he was thinking out loud. What occupied his thoughts right now is a much more disturbing thing altogether: How low humanity has sunk to in the last few weeks.

On the eve of the end of everything, everyone has been revealed: Rapists, robbers, murderers, pedophiles – everyone was trying to cram in all of their hidden pleasures and repressed desires into the limited amount of time we all had left. People were fornicating on the streets and blowing up everything in sight. Others we’re running around with knives and guns… It really is true that the freaks come out at night.

One last cancer stick and one last can of beer. As everyone was having their fun below, the two brothers were lounging on the hood of their truck with the last two objects of pleasure in their possession. They wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Cheers,” the younger brother said as he raised his brewskie, and Greg returned the gesture as he pointed his cigarrete back. The sun was totally gone now, and the whole city was covered now in blackness more than the eye can see.

As the countdown to extinction slowly and inevitably crept up to T-minus-zero , Mark let out a chuckle. For as long as he could remember, people have constantly been asking what they would do if they knew for certain that today was the last day of their lives. Now everyone has their answer.

wtf

August 13, 2008

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_boxing

Chess boxing is a hybrid sport which combines the sport of boxing with games of chess in alternating rounds. Chess boxing fights have been organized since early 2003. The sport was started when Dutch artist Iepe Rubingh, inspired by fictional descriptions of the sport in the writing of Enki Bilal, organized actual matches. The sport has become increasingly popular since then. To succeed players must be both skilled chess players and skilled boxers.

What?!?!?