Looking Back While I Walking Away

Graduation has finally happened and high school finally ended. It never really was a big deal until we were declared graduates. It actually happened. We we're saying goodbye to the high school we all loved (admit it, you had great memories). We are all about to tread on different paths. We'd no longer be holding each others' hands the way we did in our last four years.

During the graduation, I kept looking back and images of our future kept flashing in my mind. The Ethereal batch, successful and happy. Wouldn't that be lovely. It's exciting to think that the people you used to goof around with would be heads of companies or successful doctors and engineers. Imagine that one solid couple in a photo together with a baby cradled in the woman's arms. Wouldn't all those be lovely? Every step towards college makes me look back and reminisce. Cheesy as this may sound, I would really miss everyone. And I know you would, too, because if you won't, then I couldn't think of anything that could justify the tears you shed right after the graduation ceremonies.

Ethereals, go forth and remember, "for us to move forward, we'll always look back to the place where we've grown and jammed our hearts out in hallways. WE'LL NEVER BE ALONE."

A toast to the future scientists, engineers, doctors, arhitects, company heads and chairmen and most importantly respectable and very happy individuals.

That McDo Experience

I personally love McDonalds. Most of us do, right? It's one of the most popular fastfood chains around. But one specific experience made me dislike them a bit.

I was one of the many students who didn't get what they expected to be delivered to school from McDonalds. Luckily, I wasn't one of the students who starved that day. I brought a sandwich for lunch and ordered a softdrink and Peach Mango pie from Jollibee earlier. But that's not the whole point here. I want to emphasize McDonalds' mistake that day when they left students waiting in vain for their lunches. Many had their stomachs growling during the afternoon practices. Many were bound by anticipation out of hunger only to find out a few hours later that their lunches wouldn't be coming and that they'd have to go through the day hungry. What shocked me most was the fact that they didn't inform us about the delay or problems. What shocked me more was the information we recieved about which branch our requests were sent to. They were transferred to the branch at Damosa. Excuse me?! Damosa is how many kilometers from Mintal? Two whole hours passed, I noticed that Beth and Mikko were waiting by the gate. Beth was obviously tired and hungry. If you'd go to Build That Geek, you'd see the list of people and their corresponding food orders. Yes, there were many of us, waiting for food which did not arrive.

The servicing branch did not contact us about any delays that were to occur. It was Mikko and Beth who had to call them! So much for the one-hour wait promised to us. Two whole hours of useless anticipation. A number of empty stomachs. Thank God no one fainted. But imagine the frustration of the students who were starving that day. Many of the students didn't have their lunches and we ended our practice at 3:30. Imagine that.

So, Pisayans, bring your own food for the next practice. I guess, we can't rely on those fastfood chains after all.

\m/

This just makes me so happy that I have to share it. Okay, you guys do know that I'm into rediscovering and searching bands that have not gone mainstream or have not been heard of especially in the Philippines, right? Well, thanks to Myspace, my job has been easier. Lately, foreign bands have been inviting me to be their friends and asking me to check them out. Their mostly rock bands, maybe because of the groups I joined in Myspace. But don't worry, not all are hard rock and screamo freaks. A lot are more of pop/punk/alternative. Some have really cool sounds. There's Charetta, Oh, Hush!, Classified and just recently (meaning, March 10, 2008), Sex & Missiles, Awaken, Patience, Honeyglass, Thestockmarketcrash, Goodbye Elliot, and Forever Always. That's a lot. Overwhelming. So far, the only bands I listened to are Charetta, Oh, Hush!, Classified, Sex & Missiles, Awaken, and Thestockmarketcrash. I can't listen to all of them at once, can I? So far, I really liked Oh, Hush!, but I found put about them through Myspace Events. Charetta, Sex & Missiles, and one other band (oops) gave me a personal message together with the invite (wee!). So far, I liked Charetta, Sex & Missiles (they're good), Thestockmarketcrash, and Goodbye Elliot. I'm currently listening while typing. Haha! (Ticket to Love by Goodbye Elliot in my ears. No screamos. They sound good.ü)

By the way, there's this Filipino band named Hungry Minds. Do you guys know about them (oops again)? I'll check them out later.

This is fun, maybe by the time these bands hit Pinoy mainstream (if they do), I'd be over them. Haha! That's gonna suck for me but I don't mind. I like the idea of knowing about a band when they just started, or are still underground. By the time, their mainstream, it'll be a year or two after they released their albums. ü (Feeling the punk rock-ness of Forever Always in Never Say Goodbye. Beautiful.ü)

Music is forever being updated. Thanks to Myspace, and to the bands who found me there. I know, there's a slim chance you'd read this but, hell. I just want to give you the recognition I believe you deserve. :) My music, my blithe.

(Sound So Clear in my ears... "Doing what feels right, what others say is wrong, but all you hear in your head is that same old song! I see the way i used to be...before the sound came out so clear..." by Sex & Missiles)

Carmen

"This person is more than what you think. So is everybody else."

Our high school retreat was held at Cursillo, the same retreat house I was in for my grade school retreat. So, basically, the place brought about reminiscence. Former Ateneans started talking about how things were. We remembered the rooms, what we did together, and how our night ended. I believe that every class who had their retreat had a majority of their class bawling by the end of the first day's activity. I know we did. So, I was expecting it would be the same with the facilitators this year.

Our faciliatator is a teacher, a person who claims that she has facilitated many retreats in the past, but not for high school students. Her name is Carmen.

I don't know what the hell was wrong with her but she seemed to prejudge and stereotype us the whole time. There we were, sitting before her and she says that people who are highly-intellectual or with highly developed minds don't have developed hearts. That hurt me and many others since she knew we were from Philippine Science High School. The high school that needs to screen their students, allowing only 90 per batch in each campus to enter among the thousands. So, yes, we are smart. But does that have to be pointed out almost every minute? Being recognized as smart people is no longer music to our ears. It's not that we don't want to admit that we have the brains (Hell, no Pisayan is an airhead) but our intelligence has ended up being a stereotypical label which seem to flash like neon lights above our heads when an outsider finds out where we go to school.

I tried my best to keep everything in but I just exploded (in a very subtle way thanks to Dana beside me) when she said something like we didn't feel anything with our hearts "kay ang utok lang man ang naglihok." How judgemental can this follower of God ever be? I'm sorry but she just crossed the line. It's bad enough that she closed her minds on us and labelled us like the whole world does but did she have to say that our hearts weren't functioning the way they should? I have to say that our hearts are functioning well, you just can't see through the stereotype that has made you blind. Not every person can express the way you want them to. And you can't expect every question you throw at us to generate one kind of reaction. You can't always expect the probable with this kind of crowd.

Another part of the session that made people squirm and murmur in their seats was when she asked us if we attributed the bad things that happen to us to God. When we all said yes, her face distorted and she looked at us in utter disbelief. Wait, are you saying that what we have been taught is wrong? She must have mistook these highly intellectual students to be so naive (How ironic is that?). She told us that we should not blame God for the bad things that happen to us. Excuse me, but no one said anything about blaming. We know that God is not the one who creates the bad stuff, Satan does, but it is God who gives Satan the permission (Like He did with Job) to inflict harm on the human race. Janille wanted to go and say like, "But act of inaction is an act itself." How I wish she did. We aren't that naive to blame God but we know that he allows misfortune to come upon us men so that we may learn so it is right for us to attribute hardships to God. Remember, no one said anything about blaming. An act of inaction is an act itself.

But I don't want to focus on that clash of perceptions. I want to focus on the stereotyping. Once, she said something like, "You are gifted people. Of course, kami sa gawas, gifted pud mi, mas gifted ra mu mga nasa Philippine Science." That felt like a sign of insecurity. I might sound arrogant but that's how it felt. Was it necessary to emphasizes such a point? We aren't egoistic people who think that we are the only gifted people. I believe that she knows that. Well, she should know that. I f we believed such, then we wouldn't be going crazy over musicians who we think are awesome or even gods. We wouldn't go praising great men in society. We wouldn't be scouring through magazines, adoring perfection if we believed we were the only ones gifted and close to perfection. We could have just talked about ourselves all day (How boring is that?).

I'm sending this message out to everyone who has labelled and stereotyped us. This is for the people who judged us when they heard about the school we are attending even before knowing who we are as people. We don't want to be known as smart people, just people. Being people with brains isn't our only characteristic. How can you say such? Have you seen us in our lowest times, where we just cry our hearts out? Have you seen us express ourselves through music in classrooms and hallways? Have you visited our blogs, sites, and pages and noticed the depth and colors in every one of us? No. Then you cannot say that our hearts are underdeveloped. You can't judge a person as heartless when you have not spent even just a minute in each of their lives, sitting beside them as they cry, scream, and laugh. Look beyond our intelligence. Open your eyes and see us as people. We are not which high school we came from. And we will not be what society has labelled us as. We are more than what you think.

Not Local Mainstream Ear Candy

Due to this addiction, I've decided to make a list (this is getting boring, ya think?) of the bands that deserve recognition. As far as I know, they aren't mainstream yet here in the Philippines but the States and other countries know and love them. I grew to like these artists. Most are rock bands and some have the screamo effect (I'm sorry) but they have good lyrics. :) They're worth your time. Beside some are examples of their masterpieces/the songs I appreciated. :)

A.F.I. - The Last Kiss, Last Caress
All Time Low
Aly and AJ Michalka
Anberlin (c/o KimL) - Amsterdam
Butterfly Boucher - Life is Short
Dead Kennedys - Too Drunk to Fuck
Everclear - Volvo Driving Soccer Mom
Five Times August
Foo Fighters
Hole - Celebrity Skin
Hyde (c/o Lian. lol) - Cape of Storms
Lady Sovereign - Love Me or Hate Me
Meg & Dia (c/o KimL...ü)
Modest Mouse - Dashboard
Nirvana (Kurt Cobain!) - Penny Royal Tea
Oh, Hush! - Going Down in Style, My Neighbor Thinks I'm Famous, etc. **
Starting Line - Playing Favorites
Snow Patrol - Chasing Cars
Sublime - What Happened, Date Rape
Sunny Day Real Estate - 48
Sugarcult - Pretty Girl (It's the Way)
The Blood Brothers - Mutiny on the Ark of the Blood Brothers
The Doors (Isn't this Jim Morrison's?ü) - Touch Me
The Sex Pistols - Bodies
The Moldy Peaches
The Vines - Don't Listen to the Radio
Weird Al - Confessions Part III

I might add more when I get hold of new ones. :)

**from Myspace Events
Oh, Hush!
They're GREAT! Swear!ü

Why We Have THEM Now

Due to my music obsession and due to my sole copy of Spin (April 2003), I decided to make this entry. Spin is a hardcore music magazine ("Music for Life") and I have to thank them for they are the reason I'm discovering and rediscovering bands and music (I read it again for the fun of it since I was bored). Anyway, what I'm going to post are the list of bands who influenced the bands we know today. These albums are part of the "15 Most Influential Albums (... not recorded by the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Elvis, or the Rolling Stones)" from Spin magazine. I found this 2-page article very interesting. I'd just post a few since not every influenced band/musician is known to you. I'll just post the bands/musicians that most know.
**the ones in the parentheses are the record labels & the year they released that album. :)

THE VELVET UNDERGROUND & NICO , the Velvet Underground (Verve, 1967)
Influenced: The Strokes

FUN HOUSE, the Stooges (Elektra, 1970)
Influenced: Ramones, the Sex Pistols, Black Flag, the White Stripes, the Vines

BLACK SABBATH, Black Sabbath (Warner Bros., 1970)
Influenced: Metallica, Nirvana

WHAT'S GOING ON, Marvin Gaye (Motown, 1971)
Influenced: Earth, Wind, & Fire, OutKast

AUTOBAHN, Kraftwerk (Philips/Vertigo, 1974)
Influenced: Daft Punk, Radiohead

RAMONES, Ramones (Sire, 1976)
Influenced: the Sex Pistols, Green Day, Sum 41, anyone who lacked the patience to learn more than three chords

QUEENS OF NOISE, the Runaways (Mercury, 1977)
Influenced: Hole

DAMAGED, Black Flag (SST, 1981)
Influenced: Nirvana, Blink-182

RUN-D.M.C., Run-D.M.C. (Profile, 1984)
Influenced: Beastie Boys, Limp Bizkit, everyone else who picked up a microphone after them

STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON , N.W.A. (Ruthless/Priority, 1988)
Influenced: Snoop Dogg, Tupac Shakur, Eminem, white people who used the term "beeatch"

ENERGY, Operation Ivy (Lookout!, 1989)
Influenced: Green Day, No Doubt, Sublime, Blink-182

RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE, Rage Against the Machine (Epic, 1992) --influenced by Operation Ivy's ENERGY
Influenced: Korn, Limp Bizkit, Deftones, P.O.D.

DIARY, Sunny Day Real Estate (Sub Pop, 1994)
Influenced: Modest Mouse, Jimmy Eat World, Dashboard Confessional, Silverstein**

Those are the ones with the familiar influenced bands so far. :)
Obviously Run-D.M.C. and N.W.A.'s albums became the influences for present-time hip-hop artists. Most of the others inspired rock bands like Nirvana, Sublime, Hole, Green Day, the White Stripes, and the Vines.

By the way, the Runaways are female. :) It was said, "they weren't the first female rock band, but they were the first female rawk band."

And to all people who listen to today's emo music, Sunny Day Real Estate is a band to thank.ü Bands like Embrace and Rites of Spring may have begun "Emo" during the late 1980's, it's Sunny Day Real Estate that emo bands of today sound more like. Their songs "48" and "Killed by an Angel" are good.ü (As far as I know, only Gerdo and I know about Sunny Day Real Estate).

Tim "Lint" Armstrong Matt Freeman of Rancid were the guitarist and bassist respectively of Operation Ivy.

Tupac Shakur, R.I.P.

**Silverstein was not featured in Spin they claimed that Sunny Day Real Estate as one of their influences, together with Metallica, etc. (http://silverstein.imeem.com/)

Raise your glasses high for the "forefathers" of the artists you love today! :)

Ugh.

I have this particular frustration which I share with a common few. But in order for you to understand this frustration, I have to narrate the situation to you.

Let's say you landed on a really great song from a great or even an unknown musician. But you got hooked, so you tell people about it. You say it in a rather enthusiastic way. Unfortunate for you, they wouldn't care because they don't know the band/artist and sure as hell don't know the song! So, fine, you go along your merry way listening to that song that you learned to love while they go back to listening to what's currently IN. You see, here in the Philippines, it takes a year or two for songs to actually become popular and hit mainstream. So, let's say that after a year, that song you loved did hit mainstream. What a shame to hear the people who didn't give a damn about that song last year when you introduced actually love the song. Excuse me, but didn't I introduce that song last year and didn't you people just brush it off because you didn't know it? Annoying or what?

I guess people don't appreciate a song or band unless they hit mainstream. Personally, I like falling in love with a song or band when no one knows about them yet. When they hit mainstream and people go gaga over them, to me, they lose that spark or ear candy charm that I used to love back when only I or a few loved them. It sounds selfish but I don't like the feeling of listening to people go crazy over a band or song that you went crazy for last year. I could personally say, "Please, that was so last year. How late can you get?" o.0
Okay, this is getting mean. Or rather, I'm getting mean. Sorry. It's just a musical frustration since not everyone knows how to appreciate a band by looking for them. Lately, I don't wait for a new hit to be aired on Killerbee or Monster Radio, I fish around. I tell you, there are many fish in the sea worthy of your time. :)

My Love

Everyone has had really awful days. Every person has experienced frustrations and depression somehow, right? What picks you guys up? Food? A person? Spending? Different people have different and unique pick-me-uppers. They could be as mundane or as extravagant. Well, mine is very simple and yet very effective. I turn to my Love. Nooo, it's not a person. No dork can make me feel good forever. I turn to MUSIC. Yes, I go through my music stream.

There something very therapeutic about listening to music and banging your head to the beat. My usual pick-me-uppers are rock. These are a few of my loves:

-My Chemical Romance
-Fall Out Boy
-Good Charlotte
-Paramore
-The Used
-30 Seconds to Mars
-Evanescence
-Eraserheads
-Parokya ni Edgar
-Kamikazee
-Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
-Sublime

Of course, there's the popular and "in" music now. I can't deny that I like listening to those songs about booze, partying, and naughty hooking-up, or simply Black music. The beat is just so catchy. There's Akon (He rules the airwaves!), Sean Kingston, Rihanna, Yin Yang Twins and many more. I love Low, Me Love, Shake, Dangerous, Crank That Soulja Boy, Smack That, Hypnotized, Bananza (Belly Dancer), etc.
They just make me so happy!ü I don't need a guy, a sister, or even chocolate and coffee. I just need a room, myself, and my music. Turn it up loud!ü It's the beat, the lyrics, the way these artists express themselves and reach out to the people who listen. We are all bound by the beat (I don't care if that's a line ravers say on drugs*)

I'm listening to music while writing this entry (currently Paramore, a few minutes ago, Good Charlotte).
"It just feels so good..."
"Everybody sing!"
"Feel the beat now! If you got nothing left, say I don’t wanna be in love..."

My music. More than my blithe. My bliss. My love.


*According to Spin Magazine (April 2003)

Feeding the Hungry

it can be found in : Hardcore Vindication