on mig ayesa..

I’ve got celebrity fever, thanks to this guy who was super nice when we (me plus a bunch of other journalists with NU107 dj francis brew [how cool can this beat be?!]) talked to him in a teleconference this morning.. err.. you’ll have to forgive me.. i was so hyped up about him during the day and it’s past 11pm and i’m exhausted i can’t even remember anything from the conversation anymore (thank god for recorders!!).. hmm.. i might just transcribe everything and post his answers here.. i dunno..

on the cascades..

haller?! these guys are totally ancient but i had to rush to the manila hotel right after the mig ayesa thing to catch their press conference, which wasn’t too bad. they’re pretty much okay, and they sound good even if they’re like my lolo’s age already. they sang "shy girl," something i used to hear in the car whenever my mom’s driving (i have to admit one of the perks of being on doing the steers would be getting to choose what plays in the audio).

on barbie..

my third and last coverage for today (thank goodness animal planet changed its sked, otherwise, i would have done four things plus four stories.. i’d probably be dead now and not blogging things.. which may have been a good thing as well.. siiigh, the relativity of things..). err, okay.. this was a really bading event, and the host.. for pete’s friggin’ sake!! she was like the most OA host i’ve ever heard!! her voice was in the highest pitch while telling this kiddie story about a princess. Okay, given that it’s a kiddie event.. but sheez!! aargh!! aaaargh!! aaaaaaaaargh!!

I covered a conference on World War II from 8am to 5pm yesterday. It was definitely far from the movies, music and all the other fun stuff I have covered, but it was probably by far the most fulfilling assignment I’ve ever had. It was like a crash course on history. I have never encountered real historians before and chatting with the them after their presentation was [wow, i must have turned into a geek overnight] just cool. From them, I learned chunks of history that only a handful is aware of (such as the one I posted in the bulletin board), and some chismis which would probably cause a riot when revealed

Anyway, the whole thing turned out to be quite depressing not because I had to sit there all day but because it made me realize the country had such a rich culture before the war, most of which were destroyed when the Americans and the Japanese decided to throw in bombs and ammo perhaps to show who had bigger balls and all that stupid warshit they were at. We even had a gothic-inspired church (Sto. Domingo, i think) in Intramuros which was so magnificent it looked like the one I saw in Prague (San Vittorio or Vittus or something..I’m so bad at this). Anyway, the one in Intramuros collapsed during the war and its ruins were destroyed as well to give way to new buildings. That’s just really stupid cz here we are wanting to go to Europe to see all the ruins of war when in fact we used to have the similar things (btw, Manila was tagged as the Paris of Asia back in the early 20th century — that’s the 1900+ for you dummy!)….. aaargh!! basta!! it’s so saaaad.. tapos we have no sense (ok, I’m being a bit harsh here) at all of conservation and restoration.. we paint over centuries old walls of churches so they would look friggin’ new! what the hell?! lzxkdfjasklfhasjkfhskl;dh!! there.. im so pissed off.

Oh, and I also just watched a docu about a tribe in Sierra Madre (Children of the Mountains) that’s losing its lifeline because some capitalists are taking over the forests where they live. They do all these logging shit without remorse.

I don’t get it. Why do these people even get a chance to live? They should just turn into the most sensitive yet immortal grass so they can feel all the pain when somebody steps on them but they can’t die even if they are crushed into pieces. I wish all the people stupidly running the government get the same fate. Hah!! What a brilliant idea!!

On seeing the 100% perfect girl one beautiful April morning

Haruki Murakami

translated by Jay Rubin

ONE beautiful April morning, on a narrow side street in Tokyo’s fashionable Harujuku neighborhood, I walked past the 100% perfect girl.

Tell you the truth, she’s not that good-looking. She doesn’t stand out in any way. Her clothes are nothing special. The back of her hair is still bent out of shape from sleep. She isn’t young either - must be nearly thirty, not even close to a "girl," properly speaking. But still, I know from fifty yards away: She’s the 100% perfect girl for me. The moment I see her, there’s a rumbling in my chest, and my mouth is as dry as a desert.

Maybe you have your own particular favorite type of girl - one with slim ankles, say, or big eyes, or graceful fingers, or you’re drawn for no good reason to girls who take their time with every meal. I have my own preferences, of course. Sometimes in a restaurant I’ll catch myself staring at the girl at the table next to mine because I like the shape of her nose.

But no one can insist that his 100% perfect girl correspond to some preconceived type. Much as I like noses, I can’t recall the shape of hers - or even if she had one. All I can remember or sure is that she was no great beauty. It’s weird.

"Yesterday on the street I passed the 100% perfect girl," I tell someone.

"Yeah?" he says. "Good looking?"

"Not really."

"Your favorite type, then?"

"I don’t know. I can’t seem to remember anything about her - the shape of her eyes or the size of her breasts."

"Strange."

"Yeah. Strange."

"So anyhow," he says, already bored, "what did you do? Talk to her? Follow her?"

"Nah. Just passed her on the street."

She’s walking east to west, and I went west to east. It’s really a nice April morning.

Wish I could talk to her. Half an hour would be plenty: just ask her about herself, tell her about myself, and - what I’d really like to do - explain to her the complexities of fate that have led to our passing each other on a side street in Harajuku on a beautiful April morning in 1981. This was something sure to be crammed full of warm secrets, like an antique clock built when peace filled the world.

After talking, we’d have lunch somewhere, maybe see a Woody Allen movie, stop by a hotel bar for cocktails. With any kind of luck, we might end up in bed.

Potentiality knocks on the door of my heart.

Now the distance between us has narrowed to fifteen yards.

How can I approach her? What should I say?

"Good morning, miss. Do you think you could spare half an hour for a little conversation?"

Ridiculous. I’d sound like an insurance salesman.

"Pardon me, but would you happen to know if there is an all-night cleaners in the neighborhood?"

No, this is just as ridiculous. I’m not carrying any laundry, for one thing. Who’s going to buy a line like that?

Maybe the simple truth would do. "Good morning. You are the 100% perfect girl for me."

No, she wouldn’t believe it. Or even if she did, she might not want to talk to me. Sorry, she could say, I might be the 100% perfect girl for you, but you’re not the 100% perfect boy for me. It could happen. And if I found myself in that situation, I’d probably go to pieces. I’d never recover from the shock. I’m thirty-two, and that’s what growing older is all about.

We pass in front of a flower shop. A small, warm air mass touches my skin. The asphalt is damp, and I catch the scent of roses. I can’t bring myself to speak to her. She wears a white sweater, and in her right hand she holds a crisp white envelope lacking only a stamp. So: She’s written somebody a letter, maybe spent the whole night writing, to judge from the sleepy look in her eyes. The envelope could contain every secret she’s ever had. I take a few more strides and turn: She’s lost in the crowd.

NOW, of course, I know exactly what I should have said to her. It would have been a long speech, though, far too long for me to have delivered it properly. The ideas I come up with are never very practical.

Oh well. It would have started "Once upon a time" and ended "A sad story, don’t you think?"

ONCE upon a time, there lived a boy and a girl. The boy was eighteen and the girl sixteen. He was not unusually handsome and she was not especially beautiful. They were just an ordinary lonely boy and an ordinary lonely girl, like all the others. But they believed with their whole hearts that somewhere in the world there lived the 100% perfect boy and the 100% perfect girl for them. Yes, they believed in a miracle. And the miracle actually happened.

One day the two came upon each other on the corner of a street.

"This is amazing," he said. "I’ve been looking for you all my life. You may not believe this, but you’re the 100% perfect girl for me."

"And you," she said, "are the 100% perfect boy for me, exactly as I’d pictured you in every detail. It’s like a dream."

They sat on a park bench, held hands, and told each other their stories hour after hour. They were not lonely anymore. They had found and had been found by their 100% perfect other. What a wonderful thing it is to find and be found by your 100% perfect other. It’s amiracle, a cosmic miracle.

As they sat and talked, however, a tiny, tiny sliver of doubt took root in their hearts: Was it really all right for one’s dreams to come true so easily?

And so, when there came a momentary lull in their conversation, the boy said to the girl, "Let’s test ourselves - just once. If we really are each other’s 100% perfect lovers, then sometime, somewhere, we will meet again without fail. And when that happens, we’ll marry then and there. What do you think?"

"Yes," she said, "that is exactly what we should do."

And so they parted, she to the east, and he to the west.

The test they had agreed upon, however, was utterly unnecessary. They should never even have undertaken it, because they were really and truly each other’s 100% perfect lovers, and it was a miracle that they had ever met. But it was impossible for them to know this, young as they were. The cold, indifferent waves of fate proceeded to toss them unmercifully.

One winter, both the boy and the girl came down with the season’s terrible influenza, and after drifting for weeks between life and death they lost all memory of their earlier years. When they awoke, their heads were as empty as the young D. H. Lawrence’s piggy bank.

They were two bright, determined young people, however, and through their unremitting efforts they were able to acquire once again the knowledge and feeling that qualified them to return as full-fledged members of society. Heaven be praised, the became truly upstanding citizens who knew how to transfer from one subway line to another, who were fully capable of sending a special-delivery letter at the post office. Indeed, they even experienced love again, sometimes as much as 75% or even 85% love.

Time passed with shocking swiftness, and soon the boy was thirty-two, the girl thirty.

One beautiful April morning, in search of a cup of coffee to start the day, the boy was walking from west to east, while the girl, intending to send a special-delivery letter, was walking from east to west, both along the same narrow street in the Harajuku neigborhood of Tokyo. They passed each other in the very center of the street. The faintest gleam of their lost memories glimmered for the briefest moments in their hearts. Each felt a rumbling in the chest. And they knew:

She is the 100% perfect girl for me.

He is the 100% perfect boy for me.

But the glow of their memories was far too weak, and their thoughts no longer had the clarity of fourteen years earlier. Without a word, they passed each other, disappearing into the crowd. Forever.

A sad story, don’t you think?

YES. That’s it, that is what I should have said to her.

i had fun doing this article.. i was late (surprise! surprise!) for the interview (i’m blaming it on a singer popular during the bagets days who made a comeback and decided to do his album launch same night i’m doing the interview with MSO, et. al., ok?!).. anyways, so these cool MSO musical geniuses were nice enough to wait for me at st. scho.. also got to talk to three of the Imago members.. oh, and vin dancel of twisted halo became an instant textmate (at least just for the night before i had to submit my story).. he was all too willing to answer my questions through text even if it was already past midnight.. he was probably in a gig or something cz he said he won’t be able to answer my email until i don’t know when.. and i was like dozing off while his messages were coming in the last text was sumthin like, "i hope i made sense.. im kinda amats na.. heheh" so there.. you be the judge cz i quoted him somewhere in the article

anyway, i missed the rehearsals but donna from the MSO gave me a CD which has sugarfree’s rockestra-ed version of one of its songs (and i’m super sorry i don’t know the title..).. it sounded pretty cool.. like rock being sweet and all and not to bitter or angsty at some point.. it’s rock like it’s never been rocked before (does that make sense? not that i have amats or anything.. i just hope i said it right :P)

hmm.. i wonder why the font changed.. not that i have anything more to say.. it’s just kinda odd.. anyway, perhaps i have more things to say.. like i must have reached the saturation point of my murakami craze.. i dunno.. i still want to buy "sputnik sweetheart" tho.. that would perhaps be my last murakami purchase.. unless someone tells me his kafka novel is good hehehe.. ok, so maybe i’m not so over him and i hope i find my copy of "norwegian wood" soon.. it’s a good read during rainy days (which reminds me that i hate the weather. *bow*)

wow, this is turning out to be a novel already.. hahaha!! anyway, read on:

Arts & Leisure

BY ANNA BARBARA L. LORENZO, Reporter

Classical rock

Chino David started with the violin when he was five. In 1996, he joined the Manila Youth Symphony Orchestra, which eventually became the Manila Symphony Orchestra (MSO). Armed with a classical background, he entered the rock scene with the band Silent Sanctuary three years ago.

Then came the lightbulb moment. Why not fuse classical and rock into a major production?

"I discovered some videos of foreign acts na may (that had an) orchestra like Metallica and Scorpions. Madami na. Dito sa Philippines, meron din konti pero hindi full concert (There were many. There were some in the Philippines but, just a bit, not a full concert)," Mr. David told BusinessWorld after the MSO’s recent rehearsals with the rock bands Imago and Sandwich.

The result is Rockestra which will be held on Aug. 19, 7:30 p.m., at the Tanghalang Francisco Balagtas (formerly Folk Arts Theater) at the CCP Complex, Pasay City.

He said while he had been toying with the idea for about two years he was reluctant to present it to the MSO, not knowing how the 50-piece orchestra would accept it. But MSO conductor Arturo Molina was gung ho.

"It’s a good project to promote the orchestra, especially to the young people. Marami na kaming (We’ve had many) concerts with the usual program, classical, but usually hindi gaanong naa-appreciate ng young people (they are not that appreciated by young people). With the bands, they will realize the orchestra is versatile. Hindi lang (we’re not just) classical, we can also sound as noisy as a band," Mr. Molina said.

MSO will be playing with Cambio, the group keeping The Eraserheads’ legacy while keeping its new identity in the indie rock scene with hits like "Divisoria" and "Patlang." Another band on the Rockestra list is Sugarfree, which is leading the airwaves with hit songs revolving around the successes and failures of love, among other things.

The orchestra will also jam with Sandwich, a popular group which has been reaping awards since it was formed in 1999. Mr. David’s band, Silent Sanctuary, will also play along with MSO, as well will Imago and Twisted Halo.

GIVING ROCK A CLASSICAL TOUCH

Mr. David arranged about 20 songs for Rockestra, with at least three numbers for each of the bands.

"I listened to the songs around three times, tapos hinanapan ko ng parts na bagay sa (then I looked for the parts that would suit an) orchestra. May mga na-add na melodies or notes para maiba (I added some melodies or notes to change things). It’s not the usual song you will hear on the radio," he added.

For its part, Imago is playing "Anino," "Taning" and "Akap," which are all singles from their second album. Imago is known for its alterna-rock style, with shades of folk and world music.

"We have been playing [these songs] for quite some time now so we wanted to experience and honor the songs in this league," vocalist Aia de Leon said.

Drummer Zach Lucero said playing with the orchestra also gives the songs an "epic feel."

"We wanted to give a big epic sound, and we trusted Chino with it. ‘Anino’ is a very fun song, ‘Taning’ is very heart-wrenching, while ‘Akap’ is also very… it kinda subtly hits you in the face," Mr. Lucero said.

Playing with an orchestra is a new thing to most of the bands, just like rock is a new world to many classical musicians.

"Individually, there was pressure. There are two of us trying to keep time, the conductor and myself. There’s a conscious effort to make sure I’m jiving with the conductor and making solid time because there are 50 other people depending on the time. It’s a bigger concern on my end, a bigger responsibility," Mr. Lucero said.

Meanwhile, it must be the structure and the preconceived stiffness of an orchestra that made Twisted Halo’s lead vocalist Vin Dancel say the challenge in playing with the MSO includes having to "rock out properly."

After a self-titled album released in 2001, Twisted Halo came up with In Loving Memory of the Fearless Exploits of the Bolo Brigade and is currently working on its third album due for release late this year.

"Chino told me about Rockestra more than a year ago. Being an indie playing with a 50-piece orchestra is a once-in-a-lifetime chance so there was no way we were saying ‘no.’ Nakakatakot (It’s scary). Ang gagaling nilang lahat sa MSO (All the MSO musicians are so good). Playing with them is such an honor and privilege. I had this huge silly grin during rehearsals and I’m just glad I didn’t pee in my pants," Mr. Dancel said.

Despite the bands’ apprehensions and concerns, Mr. Molina said it is fairly easy to work with them.

"There has to be balance at kailangan magsabay (and they have to go together). Sometimes they have to look at me or sometimes I have to look at them. They are easy to work with. They are musicians at nakikinig naman sila (and they listen)," he added.

The musicians, both from the orchestra and the rock bands, admitted they were pleasantly surprised with the effect of mixing the classical and the mainstream electronic instruments. The orchestra makes rock music softer, which in effect gave the lyrics a more romantic, and even dramatic impact.

"At the very least, we hope it opens up music to a whole different group of listeners, both for rock and classical," said Imago guitarist Timothy Cacho.

They all just aim to please. And on Aug. 19, the MSO, Cambio, Imago, Sandwich, Silent Sanctuary, Sugarfree and Twisted Halo will do just that.

(Tickets for Rockestra cost P975, P630, P350, P175 and P75. For inquiries and reservations, call 891-9999 or 879-4589 or e-mail manilasymphony@gmail.com.)

I was lucky to have an afternoon free last week so I killed time on The Wedding Crashers. I can’t recall ever seeing its trailer, and I guess that helped. I had no expectation whatsoever and surprise!surprise! it turned out to be actually funny. No wonder some critics from the US think this movie saved the summer for Hollywood (or something like that).

As someone once said, "Some things can’t be helped." (^&*$@#&%!!!!!!) So the Crashers had to suffer the "slashers" at the MTRCB, who did a lousy job in editing the movie. There was supposed to be a part there where the mom of the lead gurl (McAdams something) asked the lead guy to touch her breasts.

Here’s a sequence of sorts to give u an idea: guy agrees to meet mcadams outside the house "to get some fresh air" and he said he just needs to change his shoes or something. In the next scene, he looked disraught, saw his friend on the stairs and said told him what naughty mom just did, or asked him to do. (Wow, I’m a lousy story teller).

Anyhows, that surgery was a really bad one. The "cutter" did not even leave some sort of a teaser to actually justify what the lead guy told his friend, and to justify that awful look on his face after the "fondling." Too bad, cz critics said it was a good change of image for Jane Seymour (the mom whose name I obviously remember now :P), who has this boring role of dr. quinn, medicine woman.

oh well, i’m tired of talking about the Crashers.. I just remembered I should maybe ‘blog’ this cz i might forget and it seems to be a really cool thing..

I attended a teleconference yesterday and had a chance to throw one question to INXS bassist garry beers and drummer jon farris.. how cool is that? apparently, these guys are holding INXS Rockstar in search of a lead singer who can do records and go on tour with them. Also in the room with me were a few reporters, Francis Brew of NU107 and Lourd de Veyra of Radioactive Sago Project, who also writes for local mags.

One of them (I’m not sure who cz I have yet to transcribe the tape) said Mig Ayesa is "HOT" hmmm.. well, MiG is this aussie guy who has Pinoy roots.. he lived here till he was two (wow, biggie deal, huh?) anyway, so that’s why pinoys have been rooting for him.. we always love our own, don’t we?