olodum!

Salvador, BRASIL -- Olodum: world-renowned Afro-Brazilian cultural group from Salvador da Bahia, known for developing “samba-reggae” and for its active participation in carnaval each year. I was curious to see Olodum's drum corps (they've performed with Michael Jackson and Paul Simon and have worked with Spike Lee) so Marcos and I hit the streets of Pelourinho one rainy Sunday night to catch their first ensaio for the winter season.

For 20 reais, we witnessed powerful, heart-thumping, non-stop drum beating that accompanied the vocals of some of Salvador's most popular artists. The place was packed with both tourists and locals alike, all dancing to the intense and infectious rhythm. Wild! I'd never experienced so much energy in one show.

I think I'll pick up an Olodum CD at the mall so i can pack some of that rhythm and energy into my suitcase before I head home to Manila.

Me & Mr (Kelly) Jones

Fort Canning, Singapore--It felt almost ILLEGAL to walk out of the office in jeans and a shirt but as I raced to the City Hall MRT to meet my mate Nat with Dakota blasting on my ipod, I knew it was going to be an amazing night. The boys definitely know how to put on a good show--they played a mix of old songs (traffic, hurry up and wait, i'm just looking, local boy in the photograph, the bartender and the thief, and of course dakota as encore) and tracks off their new album (bank holiday monday, pass the buck, it means nothing). I didn't know all the words to the songs (unlike Nat who reckons she was 16 when she started listening to a thousand trees) but every inch of me was feeling it. And when Kelly came on stage solo to do maybe tomorrow (used in the movie Crash), it was pure bliss. Everyone needs to go wild once in a while, to let loose, jump and wave your fists in the air. Hell, everyone should take off their shirts and rock in their bras. And this is Singapore, mind you. God bless the Welsh!

Live from New Jersey...

It's "Ditas Turns 28!"






With performances from all over, including Nada Surf, DMB, and Justine's favorite singer, Nyoy!

Happy Birthday, Deets! You've come a long way from your no- social security- days!

One round on us when we're all together in June. Have a crazy birthday weekend adventure ;)

* note: your song should be 'blankest year' - oh f**** it, i'm gonna have a party!

* all photos from sparklemind

a lo-fi summer

summer days - phoenix

Manila, PH -- why, hello global warming! the long, hot summer on these islands has just begun. make that a long, hot, lo-fi summer. here's a preview of the next lofi issue from lomomanila, complete with soundtrack.

so nice (summer samba) - bebel gilberto

feel flows - beach boys

what i wouldn't give right now to watch bebel gilberto live, on the beach, with a cold one in my hand...

* thanks for the lomos + music, sparklemind

in this blue shade

The Huntington, Singapore-- Music for those days when you just have to wallow (but refuse to play anything that wails, drags, or just plain stretches on forever):

1. tears dry on their own - amy winehouse
2. dakota - stereophonics
3. when your mind's made up - glen hansard & marketa irglova
4. if i had eyes - jack johnson

5. feel like a woman - mary j. blige

as amy says, we should just be our own best friends. not f***ourselves in the head with stupid men.

wallowing: check.

*lomo by reese

a guy, a girl & a demo

a little gem that kept me company last night.

don't watch this low-budget film unless you: a) love music, b) find beauty in heartache, or c) like pulling your broken vacuum cleaner down the streets of dublin.

glen hansard of the frames is my hero.

happy new year too ...

Manila, PH -- Just before the new year 2008

makiling!

Manila, PH -- guess which pseudobackpacker has a lot of (online) time on her hands?


finally got to watch makiling (formerly makiling ensemble) live at mag:net cafe katipunan. excellent, excellent band. they do a mix of rock, blues, reggae and original stuff fusing ethnic & electric. ang galing. they're joining my list of gigs i need to catch again (pinikpikan, spy and urbandub included).

photo grabbed from www.mtvasia.com

audio candy # 4: not walking on sunshine

so you're not feeling perky this week. let's douse the rest of the world with pseudo-emo.

1. silver lining rilo kiley * reese

and i'm not going back into rags or in the hole
and our bruises are coming
but we will never fold

and i was your silver lining
as the story goes
i was your silver lining but now i'm gold
hurray hurray i'm your silver lining
hurray hurray but now i'm gold.

2. baby britain/elliott smith * reese

Baby britain feels the best floating over a sea of vodka
Separated from the rest
Fights problems with bigger problems
Sees the ocean fall and rise
Counts the waves that somehow didn't hit her
Water pouring from her eyes
Alcoholic and very bitter

For someone half as smart you'd be a work of art
You put yourself apart
And i can't help until you start


3. you're gonna make me lonesome when you go/ben watt *justine

Situations have ended sad
Relationships have all been bad
Mine've been like Verlaine's and Rimbaud
But there's no way I can compare
All those scenes to this affair
Yer gonna make me lonesome when you go.

Yer gonna make me wonder what I'm doing
Stayin' far behind without you
Yer gonna make me wonder what I'm sayin'
Yer gonna make me give myself a good talkin to'.

I'll look for you in old Honolulu
San Francisco, Ashtabula,
Yer gonna have to leave me now, I know.
But I'll see you in the sky above,
In the tall grass, in the ones I love
Yer gonna make me lonesome when you go.

rock the rehas - updated

the erstwhile ehead

Muntinlupa, PH -- i went to jail. and the dawn was there! lomomanila covered rock ed's rock the rehas project two weekends ago at the maximum security prison. props to rock ed, it was an inspired idea to have really good bands give hundreds of inmates a day to rock out.

four documentaries about philippine jails were also premiered that night. you can check them out on oct. 18 (thursday) at saguijo. bands playing include radioactive sago project, mozzie, sound, chillitees, monsterbot, jeepney joyride and possibly juan pablo dream (yay)!

it's so fun gyud!

island life

as RT used to say: it's holy testicle tuesday!

Bohol, PH -- september was a great month for all things bisaya:

1) mag:net high street featured bisrockers faspitch and urbandub. faspitch: a pogi band that knows how to rock out. paging those screaming groupies!
and urbandub was a welcome visitor to manila. haven't seen them since the nu rock awards a few years back. first of summer and a new tattoo just made my dark, twisted night.

2) the self-declared long holiday on the island of bohol was a blast. was rushing stuff at work like crazy so i could hop on the next plane to tagbilaran. thanks to my gracious & lovely host dutchie, i had no room for pseudobackpacking at all (except for my backpack). first class all the way gyud.

alona beach

trip highlights:

• the beach! morning, noon and night.
  
• chocolate hills (and only because we got rained on when we reached the top)
• tarsiers by the road (the critters were literally perched on trees several feet from the roadside. i thought they'd be in the forest or at a zoo)
  
• poker conducted almost entirely in bisaya (i lost due to the language barrier. and my full house just didn't cut it)
• dolphin-watching near panglao island (nothing like seeing them in the big blue ocean)
• snorkeling at baricasag island's fish sanctuary (our guide: "may nemo doon sa baba! may nemo!")
• having the eskaya beach resort all to ourselves (sobrang sosi nakakaiyak. freebies make things 2x as fun.)
• food, glorious food. try to have a lazy lunch at bohol bee farm.

thanks for the care package, lim!

lazy saturday by the beach

lomographs to follow shortly...

BRASILIPINAS 2007

Manila, PH -- BRASILIPINAS 2007 MUSIC FESTIVAL
Mag:net Cafe, Bonifacio High Street
Sept 21 (Fri), 7:00pm onwards
Featuring Nyko Maca + Playground, Eileen Sison e Guarana, Aia & Zach of Imago, Aquarela, Brigada and The Company. Plus appearances by Escola Brasileira de Capoeira Philippines, Escola de Samba Manila, Futkal, & Planet Zips.

As much as I want to tell you about this night, I'll let Reese and Jan do the talking, otherwise Reese might not talk to me anymore ... LOL. ;) soooo .. please edit this entry as you please Reese.

Audio Candy # 3: Going Missing (for you, ats)

1. raphael - carla bruni *justine
2. le toi du moi -carla bruni *justine
3. tous le jours - saint privat riviera *justine
4. samba da bencao - bebel gilberto *justine
5. ghost - deepsky *reese
6. finally woken - jem *reese
7. going missing -maximo park *reese

taken

The Fort, Taguig, PH -- Sept 10, Crap Shoot exhibit closing party, Reese and Jan had excuses not to go. Seems a lot of friends are under the weather these days. Even our friend Mutch who was supposed to play in one of the bands called in sick.

Last night was just another Lomomanila organized event, predictably well attended and interesting with the usual fanfare (drunken madness, worship of idols and sexual debauchery). With a record breaking attendance on opening night, this time I was worried with the number of people who will be attending. Not everyone is willing to party till 3 am on a Monday night. The number of band members I had to feed with alcohol was in the area of 50-60 alcoholics in denial. Oh and I even got a professional host, DJ Dylan of Nu 107/Jack TV (and my new Beagle is also named Dylan). At the end of the night, I was break even and had 500 pesos left (after giving the Mag:net crew a generous tip) for a Quick Stomach breakfast. Success!

Here's a list of those who played in order ..

1. Taken by Cars - my current favorite local band obviously, more of them here: http://www.myspace.com/takenbycars

2. Sanity Kit - they played last the last time, I asked them to play for us again

3. Nancy Drool - Mutch was absent, bummer

4. Marty Macfly - back to the future! loads of fun

5. Mercury O.D. - Our friends Anne and Inna showed us they have more talent than just putting on makeup

6. Analog - Annabel Bosch still rocks! remember Elektrikoolaid ?

7. Corporate Lo-fi - everybody went hiphop on the floor! a supergroup of some sort

8. Cambio - Cambio, need I say more ?

9. Head - another girl- fronted rock band, Head will turn heads with a pretty Anne Hyde as vocalist

10. Pasok mga Bwitre - world type music using DIY instruments like bottles of beer, a biscuit can and a water jug! they did a mean cover of Radioactive Sago's Alkohol. We hope to bring them back with the way they played..and, umm, with their pretty manager. Woohoooo!

going missing

Tagbilaran, Bohol, PH-- 'going missing' by maximo park:

i'm going missing for awhile
i've got nothing left to lose
i don't listen to anything

Crap Shoot

Plug Plug Plug. Lomomanila will be having an exhibit called Crap Shoot. Launch is at Mag:net High Street this coming Monday. Reese has some photos included in the exhibit ! I hope Joy, Ditas and Justine will continue to shoot Lomo so I can have their photos part of the next exhibits. Oh, our dear friend Kate Torralba will be playing that night. A great find, this song "One Thing" will be played by new band Sanity Kit. I think I need one now.

a lazy sunday

Manila, PH -- as i've been cocooning over the past few weekends and currently lead a quiet (read: uninteresting) life, i've had time to do a few 'quiet' activities:

1) drawing. i've gotten rusty at it and should probably do it more regularly.

2) finishing what i've started. have this habit of leaving unread books piling up in one corner. having gotten book 7 (potter and the deathly hallows) out of the way, i plan on focusing on 'bitch: in praise of difficult women' by elizabeth wurtzel, she of 'prozac nation' fame. it didn't get good reviews and is recommended only as a 'catalyst for debate' but i don't care, it's quite clever.

3) doing my homework. deets, i'm not a star student at instituto but at least i've been attempting to do the espanol exercises. not my favorite thing in the world, those verbos reflexivos . our fave guatamelan maestro sends his love.

4) wake up early. since i haven't really been going out i've been pulling a surprise at work more often: i actually get there early, to the amazement of the officemates.

5) overhaul. out with the old, in with the new. i now subscribe to the idea that when you bring in something new, you have to get rid of something old. makes for balance and kills the pack rat in me.

at the rate i'm going i'll be living the life of the typical florida retiree in no time (minus florida).

recommended cocooning friends: chris martin & the rest of his merry band

The Cure

Indoor Stadium, SINGAPORE -- Adding on to Reese's end of July thanks, I would like to thank my bro who harrassed me to buy tickets to The Cure (!!!!) only to bail at the last minute due to work. So what do I do with two free tickets to see them? Scream my lungs off when the opening bars to Pictures of You come on of course! Who cares if Robert Smith looks like the goth version of the Pilsbury doughboy with nest-like hair, the man can play a mean guitar! And when he sings "Yesterday I got so old, I felt like I could die.." the 70 year old gramps jumping up and down (not an exaggeration) in the audience could not agree less.

Groove Armada

Zouk, SINGAPORE -- My friend Nimal was about to jump ship and go in-house for an MNC here in Singapore and because she NEARLY did but ended up staying with her firm and sweating it out like the rest of us, we met up for her "I-nearly-resigned-but-didn't-but-it's-still-a-pretty-darn-good-reason-
to-drink" celebration. Since Clarke Quay was not working out that night we headed to Zouk (first time btw) to pay homage to Groove Armada! Now THAT was a good reason to drink! Andy Cato (hottie in the picture) was so good with a lot of heavy beats and latin-inspired rhythm from Patrick Dawes on percussion. Reese, if you thought the DJ at the Loof was sexy, you would've loved this guy. Good-music deprived me (in Singapore) was ecstatic about being able to lose myself to the music and just daaaaaaaance! Too-touchy french men and choreographed white boys leaning against the wall aside, twas an awesome night! Here's to Nimal's first (and only?) nearly resigned moments, Shari's first B-52 shots, and my first time at Zouk! Chin!

p.s. since I can't fit a camera into my purse, this picture is from the recent Lovebox Weekender in London (thanks Lorne Thomson!)

mis primeros II

Manila, PH -- continuing from jan's list of firsts in the 'pore:

1) making breakfast (me with my hit or miss scrambled eggs, jan with her spicy instant noodles) while listening to phoenix & 'save room'

2) spending sunday afternoon on an artificial beach (ibiza by way of sentosa!)

3) getting overwhelmed by the the national library's collections (and it's such a nice building). geek alert!

4) lounging at loof while dreaming of opening our own bar back home

5) being accused of wanting to date a certain australian body part

6) getting a drunk brit sailor to sing 'stars of cctv'

7) drinking the lethal graveyard while playing bato bato pick (i.e. jack en poy, stick paper scissors etc.)

8) shophouse-hopping at quirky hadji lane (i wish i had gotten that 'pig of happiness' book). justine throw a party at pitch black!

9) having an all-cheesy song night while drinking vodka pear :just take my heart when you go/i don't have the need for it anymore



adriana at estela, sana ay maulit ang maliligayang araw noong tayo'y nasa ibayong bansa! bernardita at feliza, kayo naman ang aming guguluhin kapag nakapagipon-ipon na kami para sa biyahe patungong estados unidos! todo cherva jah jah jah!