THE MIND

Friday, July 29, 2005

Crows: An Omen?

A couple of days ago, I was walking one morning when I saw this house. It was big, painted white, and on the roof, a murder of crows was perched. They were flying around the house making noises. I didn't understand why they were at that specific house only. The houses around it didn't have any crows perched on the roof.

It was creepy. I tried looking hard at the roof, maybe there's some sort of food in there and the crows were having a feast, but no. They were just perched, and some more are flocking on the roof. It appears they were having a meeting of some sort. Then I thought, could it be an omen? Could've someone died there that morning? I didn't dare find out. I was too scared.

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

My Brother: My Enemy, My Friend


Do you believe in the saying that the sibling that was born immediately before or after you will be your biggest enemy as a kid?

I can attest to that. My older brother and I used to fight like cats and dogs. I mean really. Fighting like cats and dogs seemed to be a weaker description. Believe me, we fought like it's the last war on earth. There's shouting, kicking, pinching, punching... You name it, we did it.

As we grew older, I found that out of all the siblings I have, we two have the most in common. He introduced me to music. As a result, I saw my biggest musical influence which lead me to play the guitar. Not only that, when he went away to college, sometimes he'd visit us on the weekends: He'd spend all his time with me. He brought me music magazines, music videos. We talked, we had debates... Nevertheless, we spent quality times with each other.

After awhile, inevetable circumstances lead as physically apart. We lost touch. We never talked. It seemed that life for both of were so busy. Until recently, my parents visited him. My mother talked about what my brother have been into, what kind of life he has. Then it hit me, I am missing him so much. Not only that, but I am so ashamed of myself that I didn't make the effort to be in touch with him. I didn't know his hobbies or what his friends call him, what food he likes, what music he listens to now... etc. It just tore me up.

Now, I try my best to be in touch with him. I don't forget his birthdays or christmas, or any other holidays. Sometimes, just for no reason at all, I write him letters or call him. It's still not the same as seeing him, but I'm hoping that someday, in the very near future, I will fly to see him or vice versa and get caught up.

Monday, July 25, 2005

Bamboo: Stellar Vocalist, Mediocre Band


To be honest, I was one among the people who prayed hard that Bamboo Manalac will at least grace the airwaves again, if not part of the super band, Rivermaya.

Rivermaya in its glory days (with Bamboo) was a legend. It combined the two most important musical elements: unsurpassed vocal performance and genius songwriting (and producing). It was dream band. It was a perfect band. Of all the Pinoy bands that came and went, Rivermaya (avec Bamboo) was the best.


Alas, good things never last, Bamboo left Rivermaya in its height of popularity. Now, the sensible thing to do for Rivermaya at that point (in my opinion anyway), was to audition for another vocalist with a great set of pipes. He had to have the same or better vocal power and charisma as Bamboo Manalac. In addition, as good looking as him, or better looking (let's face it, good looks sells). Maybe he cannot come close to Bamboo's vocals, but at least comparable. I dunno what possessed the band to think that Rico Blanco can fill Bamboo's shoes. I'm still scratching my head up to this day. No offense, I think Rico is a genius, songwriting and producing-wise, but as a vocalist?

I was overjoyed when I learned that Bamboo Manalac returned to the music scene. The Pinoy music scene wasn't the same without him. I have to hand it to Ira Cruz and company, who knew what the audience wanted. They want Bamboo Manalac, thus they named the band Bamboo.


Imagine my enthusiasm when I got "As the Music Plays" (repackaged) album. I wrestled with the plastic wrapper, too excited to listen to the cd and too excited to watch the videos.

When I heard the first track, all I can say was "WOW!", Bamboo Manalac's voice has improved and matured dramatically. You can still recognize that it's still him, but wow. I wish I could've said the same thing about the songwriting and the production though. No songs, with the exception of the first single "Noypi" grabbed me. None of the songs had the "couldn't get it out of my head" syndrome. I listened to the album once, twice, then that's it. I had my fill. Unlike Rivermaya's (with Bamboo) albums whom I couldn't get enough of.

And the videos... how shall I put it... yeah they sucked. It's obvious that they didn't spend any money at all. My home videos are better. It's like one day they decided they needed a video, then went thru their taped rehearsals and, yay! They have a video.

I'm sure the album's sales were great because of Bamboo Manalac's loyal following from his Rivermaya days. But if they're going to make a lot of new fans, the songwriting and production have to be improved. I have read a few fan postings about the band, and I can tell right away the old fans from the new fans. The new fans' comments were "I wanna have Bamboo's baby", "Ira, you're so hottt." Nothing wrong with that of course, good looks are important too, but not to the point that it overshadows the band.

I hope the band's second album is better than the first one. I'd still buy it, just for the sake of completing my Bamboo Manalac's collection. What can I say? He's an unsurpassed vocalist.

Friday, July 22, 2005

CORNER GAS Season 1 DVD: Super-funny eh?


I admit, I am a couch potato. Gimme a break ok? I'm just giving my brain some needed rest. I need something relaxing and entertaining when I get home.

If you're a fan of slick writing, witty sarcasms and a load of eye candy, then Corner Gas is for you. It's a Canadian sitcom. I must admit, this is the first Canadian show that I really liked (no offense). If you think that this show will disprove your misconception about Canada being inhabited by people like Cletus, the slack-jawed yokel, you are sadly mistaken.

This is pure comedy genius. The story takes place in Dog River, Saskatchewan where the place is boring, but the people never. The writing is remisnicent of Wonderfalls with its sharp sarcasms, and Buffy with its references to Pop culture.

The casting is perfect. You can never have a favorite character because everybody is so good. Well, except for most of you who likes Karen, the policewoman hottie.

Just a little warning, if you just got out of the operating room and is nursing some stitches, then you may wanna wait a while till they're healed before watching this. You'll probably burst out laughing (literally) if you don't.

Fortune Cookie or Lie-To-Me-Will-You-Cookie?


If you're like me, opening a fortune cookie is one life's guilty pleasures. I break them open like it's a christmas gift. I read every little piece of paper fortune. It's funny, why do they call it fortune cookie when they say things like:

"Never trouble trouble till trouble troubles you"
"You like Chinese Food"
"You will be fortunate in everything you put your hands on"
"You'll make a good lawyer"

Either it's stating the obvious, or stating something that's totally unrelated to your life, or stating a total complete fabrication. Still, a lot of people believe in fortune cookies. Some open one and their lives change in a hearbeat. Some get a big ego boost. Some are so foolish that they believe everything that they read and they wait for the fortune to come. Or some are so foolish that they think they're more than they really are and take stupid risks.

If family, friends and lovers would have the same credibility as the fortune cookie, imagine what the world would be like. Hmmmm....

Thursday, July 21, 2005

Of nightmares and murders

They say that when you dream of murder (witness, committed), it means that you are putting an end to old habits or beliefs. It may also mean that you are trying to kill a part of you, or a part of you is dying. It also means that you are trying to repress anger in your waking life, and our dreams become the outlet.

I have been dreaming for the past couple of nights that I was witnessing a murder. First was the murder of a young woman, second the murder of a young man, and the last, a murder of a little girl. The last one was a bit different though. Instead of me just witnessing the murder, I was trying to protect someone. This was the dream:

I dreamt that I was babysitting a little girl. We were having a stroll, then I saw a corpse (another little girl). The little girl that I was with, I was trying so hard to protect her from the sight. I covered her eyes so she wouldn't see it. As the dream went, I had the overwhelming feeling that I had to protect this girl and I don't want anything bad to happen to her.

As I was thinking about this, it occurred to me that about a few days ago, I had a revelation about life. Free will is an illusion. You see, I'm a cynic at heart. I believe that for every smile that I get, sadness will ensue. So everyday that I live my life, I am very careful. Careful to do everything because I don't want to make mistakes that will lead to sadness. Then I find out that no matter how hard I try, if something's meant to happen, it will happen. If it's really meant to be, then no amount of free will is gonna change that.

I dream of murders because a long-time belief has been disproven, and somewhere inside of me, something is dying. Though still, some part of me is trying keep it alive.

Wednesday, July 20, 2005

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

So I watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory a couple days ago. It was a good movie. I haven't seen a good movie in awhile (last one I saw was Birth with Nicole Kidman. All I can say is, what a complete waste of my time. I wonder why such a good actress like Nikki Kidman would play in a crap of a movie like that). Johnny Depp was astounding. That guy amazes me. He can play any role. I'd see him over Tom Cruise at any time.

Have you ever noticed that Tom Cruise's role is either an angry man or an angry man? Waittaminute. His role is always an angry man. Can you say, I wanna see a new facial expression please?